FAQ

LuLu's FAQ Page
Sep 2016

  1. What big CALENDAR do you use? At-A-Glance Wall Calendar. It's humongous! We hang it in the kitchen. Although we keep calendars in every room, the kitchen calendar is for all to use. Fyi, When I travel, I take a normal size wall calendar to keep track of my itinerary in my hotel room. In addition, I use a small planner in my daypack. UPDATE: I just discovered these 2 planners: undated 'Planner Pad' and undated 'Passion Planner'. Wow! I'm using the Passion Planner to capture my Dreams and Goals and Brainstorming my dreams. Using the Planner Pad to prioritize goals and tasks, and to schedule and track appointments, communications and social media. I use the 'Bullet Journal' technique in a couple other 'notebooks' to track details of my projects, quotes dreams, inventions. I also use an undated  travel diary when I go on trips.                                        
  2. What COMPUTER do you use? We own 3 computers. We bought two, third was a gift. A desktop in my home office and a laptop in the family room. The desktop running Microsoft Windows operating system. Two laptops: running Ubuntu OS and Microsoft OS.

  3. What photo/image editing SOFTWARE do you use? Because I've also  been a computer software technician before retirement, I like to use a handful image editing products. Top 2 faves are: Microsoft Digital Image Editor (short learning curve) and Adobe Photoshop Elements a.k.a. PSE  (l-o-n----g learning curve).

  4. What PRINTER do you use? There are 32 color printers. For artwork, I mainly use a large format Epson Stylus Photo 1280, connected to the laptop in family room. Bought it cheap when a scrapbooking store closed! There is an HP connected to the desktop computer in our home office. There is also a new 3-in-1 connected to the desktop. These 2 printers are our business workhorses, but I sometimes print artwork on the HP and copy artwork on the 3-in-1.

  5. What CAMERA do you use? Hubby and I are both camera buffs. Also, we both studied photography in college. Also, we both have had our photos published. So there are several cameras. He has 3 cameras - 1 film and 2 digital. I have 3 cameras. I use a film camera (my fave type of camera) and 2 digital cameras. My film camera is a Canon Sure SHot90u Date. My small digital camera is a Nikon Coolpix Zoom Nikkor that I confiscated from hubby. My large digital camera is an ancient 15-year old Olympus D-490 ZOOM (2.1 megapixel). I also collect and display vintage cameras in one of my studios.

  6. What SCANNER do you use? An ancient flatbed scanner  Microtek Scanmaker i800 and a 3-in-1.

  7. What JOURNALS do you use? In addition to the journals I make by hand using a BIA and/or The Cinch, I love to buy commercial journals. Usually at Michael's craft store, sometimes at Staples office supply store. I buy small and medium sized journals. Canson Field Journal is my all time fave. I bought a couple sizes of watercolor Moleskins at a regional Dick Blick store. Sadly, the big, expensive Moleskine's spine broke, so now I mostly use other brands of wirebound journals. I'm gun shy of Moleskine... I also enjoy using repurposed/recycled old vintage books and wirebound books - especially cookbooks! These old, vintage books I find at garage sales and antique stores. But these old books are a lot more work to prep (prepare) than the new books. I prep all my journals before I start making artwork in them...

  8. What SMARTPHONE do you use? You're going to laugh, because I don't care about phones - I use an ancient Motorola   Cellular One flip phone. I jokingly refer to it as 'my Star Trek Communicator'! I like to keep my phone bill under $30 a month, that way I have more to spend on supplies for art and scrapbooking :-)

  9. What SCRAPBOOKS do you use? I started out using Pioneer 12" x 12" post bound scrapbooks that I bought with coupons from Michael's. Inserting pages was too slow. Now I prefer 3-ring binders. Archival or not, makes no difference to me - as long as I can add, move, or remove pages quickly. I buy pager protectors by the box at Staples or online. For my commissions I use archival scrapbooks and archival page protectors.

  10. What are your fave SCRAPPING SUPPLIES ? Page protectors, washi tape, pens and markers, chocolate, shiny stuff, ribbons.

  11. What are your fave ART SUPPLIES? Deli paper, wax paper, tissue paper, paper napkins, matte medium, spray bottles of inks, colored pencils.

  12. What SEWING MACHINE do you use? Although I don't sew (yet), I couldn't pass up an incredible sale in the Spring of 2011. Out of the corner of my eye while surfing Amazon.com I saw a great price for a sewing machine. I bought a Brother Computerized sewing machine for a steal! It has a push button Start, in addition to the traditional foot pedal! See right sidebar for photo. Next I want to buy a SERGER for making CQ (Crazy Quilt) tops - but after I master the sewing machine! UPDATE: I bought an ancient Singer Serger  on Sep 17, 2015, and learned to serge on it that day. I was at a crop and one of my scrapping buddies sold me her old serger and taught me to use it. Twenty minutes later, I learned to sew on my Brother Sewing machine. In Spring 2016, I bought a new Singer Serger on sale at JoAnn Fabrics store! I sew and serge as often as possible - I LOVE sewing. I love designing sewing projects. Not so much, the cutting the ironing, and pinning. I also joined [and later quit] a quilting guild in my area, and a weaving guild near Chicago.

  13. How do you PREP your journals? Over the course of several days, weeks or months (because I alternate working in my journals) I do various types of prep work that depends on what kind of book the journal is. I do different prep techniques for new books than I do for old/vintage books. The main steps I do to prep a journal are: 1) tear out alternate pages or every 3rd page from store bought journal and toss or put aside for later. 2) Using Yes! Paste' or glue stick, glue 2 pages back-to-back. 3) adhere paper borders or washi tape on page borders, or staple in 2 outside corners. 4) Do 'automatic writing' on spreads starting in back of book. 5) Adhere collage papers randomly on random spreads. 6) Glaze random pages with homemade warm glazes (yellows, pinks, purples). Repeat with cool color glazes randomly on remaining spreads.
  14. What do you DO with art journals? Mostly display them for inspiration. Also, I experiment with different techniques in my journals. I carry a mini-art journal in my purse to show ladies when they ask about mixed-media art. Some I've sold - but that's not why  I create.
  15. Are you going to SELL your journals? I subscribe to the philosophy that an artist's goal and purpose in life is to create. If I am lucky enough to sell my art and inventions during my lifetime, that's just icing on the cake! Click SHOP tab above to find my artwork for sale.





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