Rolodex Cards and a Layering Tip

Hey there, friends! I have managed to go 8 days without blogging...again. My best-laid plans to blog regularly have once again gone MIA. Luckily, I am tenacious to a fault and so my stubbornness will win out on this. All a matter of not giving up, no matter how many times I stray.

I do stuff (and make stuff) every day that I can blog about, so that's not the problem. I'm still having trouble with not really wanting to share. Whether it's because I don't think anyone will be interested or I'm just out of the habit, I don't know, maybe both. Like they say, attitude is everything, so I'll be needing an adjustment, lol.

I have collected 4 different Rolodex structures over the years and all were in a box, waiting to be used. I have 2 of the wheel-types, a box and a petite file. Recently I found a lot of inspiration on Pinterest for making rolodex card art. I particularly liked the idea of making one of the wheel Rolodexes into what I have named a Scripture Dex - with Rolo cards that have my favorite Bible verses. Right now I have 5 cards in-process and 1 finished that I'm sharing today. I made a background with distress ink and my Neat & Tangled Sunburst stamp, then I used Copics to color the lighter yellow rays. Next, I took a stamp from the Stamplorations Holiday Artsy set and stamped all around the edge with it in black ink. Then, I colored, fuss-cut and adhered the Fist Hero digital stamp from Kenny K. Finally, I stamped my Bible verse, Luke 1:37, from Technique Junkies' Proverbs stamp set. The only thing left to do was to layer together two of the cards to give it some stiffness and I have a great tip for doing that in case you are like me and have trouble getting layers adhered straight enough and just right.

I first wanted to show you the cards I using. Talk about old-skool! Uh, remember dot matrix printers? I had an accounting biz for 20 years, and when I began, that was my printer! Pre-laser, pre-inkjet. And all these years I've saved this box of cards. They are the perfect standard size once unperforated, but they are definitely on the thin side.

So, the most important thing when layering these is to line up the holes, right? Easier said than done when your eyesight and fingertips are both beginning to wonk out. But with the help of my Scor-pal scoreboards (I have 1/4", the newer 1/8", and the little Scor-Buddy which is what I use on my Rolo cards), I am now giving the layers a run for their money.

I'm showing you the board from this angle so you can see the right-angle well. Now this is recessed so that the scor-mat can fit into it, but it can also be used to line-up what you are wanting to adhere together.

I simply turn the board around so that the top is facing me (and touching my abdomen, as I am standing up when I do this - I can keep the board secure against me this way). I lay one card layer down, adhesive side up, then...

I hold my second layer, adhesive-side down, over the bottom layer, line up the rolodex grooves and press down. Now, the above photo is a bit misleading, because I had to hold my camera to take the pic. But I usually hold the top card with both hands and it makes it so easy.

Et voila!  Now, you might be thinking this would be helpful for adhering layers on greeting cards...and you would be correct! This is how I do mine now, but using the bigger scoreboard. I pretty much use the 1/4" board for that and leave the newer 1/8" board for scoring. And of course, if you have something else already that has this same type of right-angle well, then you can use that.

Anyway, I have also re-joined Paper Traders, a yahoo group that I used to be in but left when I quit swapping. After being an active swapper for several years, I left my handful of groups back in 2011-2012, because I finally faced 2 facts: 1) I have so many swap cards that the ATC's alone fill 3 3-inch 3-ring binders to the brim (and it got to where whenever I was making the cards I would be regretting not making them for myself); and 2) I have a ferocious allergy to cat hair and dander. I'm talking bad. After opening swap mail filled with the stuff would render me ill in many ways (I've had rashes, welps, horrible headaches and the occasional suffocation lasting so many seconds I thought I would pass out and die - just by opening my swaps), I just got "sick" of it. Let me tell you, cats and artists go hand in hand. Many artists' cat lounge on their desks, on their supplies, yadayada. And I quickly deduced that while I could ask them to de-hair what they sent to me, there was probably no way that could happen even if they actually tried. And I completely understand the love for them. They fascinate me. I hate having to be allergic to the one thing most artists love!

So, I have re-joined this one group, not to do swaps, but to do only ONE: a monthly one-to-one monthly Rolodex card swap. The Hubster and I have a gameplan we follow whenever I receive mail from anyone owning a cat. We take the mail outside, HE opens it and then he airs it out and uses a paintbrush to wipe off any dander/hair that might be on the art. Then he smells it. He is also allergic like I am, but not as bad. If he can smell that icky cat smell, then he knows we need to bag it up in a Ziploc before bringing it inside. And then I can only enjoy the art in a limited way (and usually have to end up trashing it eventually - sad but whatyagonnado?). Thankfully, most of my regular art pals send me stuff that passes the smell test, and for that I am very grateful.

Here is my swap card I sent to my partner this month. The theme was Love-Valentines, of course. I used Copics and Sakura gelpens to color, and stamps from WPlus9, Sheena Douglass, Autumn Leaves and Leave Memories. The image of the woman is from Dezinaworld15 .

And here it is on my Rolodex (had to test it and make sure the groove holes worked! haha). I love how much it shines and shimmers at just the right angle, something the scanner doesn't pick up. In this photo you can also see my new watermark that I made in PSE. I made one in black, in grey and in white. But white will likely be my go-to mark.

I am hoping to blog again tomorrow because it will be Wednesday, and I've been wanting to join the link-up on What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday (WOYWW) for awhile. But you know me, so we shall see. May take a bit longer. [SIGH] lol

Have a great day and thanks for visiting!  I know folks are reading (per my stats), but I'd love it if you'd leave a comment, too, sometimes. It's gets a little lonely talking to myself. Have I left comments at YOUR blog? If not, leave me the link and I will! xoxo