Friday, July 27, 2012

Prima Craftsman, or: The week of new product which excites me in the pants.

So, yeah, I have been meaning to update for two days, with some pics from the night at Paper Crown's Mix 'N Mingle.  I've also had some other idea for a post that I cannot recall at the moment.  Then, there's the idea I had, last night, while under the influence of five or six a few vodka and tonics, which at the moment I must've sworn was the best idea ever to occur - yeah, for real- I was so excited by the idea that I scrawled the entire draft of the post on my steno-pad.  I don't know if it was the booze or the moment, but I wrote the entire post in authentic old-school schoolteacher handwriting.  Full on Palmer Method.  Not joking.

I've spent the evening watching the opening ceremonies from the Olympics.  Wow.  I mean 'wow' in the 'what the hell is up with the giant baby that looks like it's head has been cut open?!' way, not 'wow' in the 'oh what a beautiful show,' way.  And I hate to sound heartless, but-  I hate the sound of children singing.  And the opening ceremonies were mostly that.  As if that's a big surprise.  Just as I was shouting, 'Is there anything more cliche?!,' I was reminded- yes, there is something more cliche than children singing at a 'big, momental event.'  What is it?  You know what it is- it's having the children sing WHILE DOING SIGN LANGUAGE.  Not that I have something against sign language or even ANY language- but really?  Someone was paid to come up with a big, hopefully awe-inspiring, production and the best they could do at any given moment is to fall back on one of the most over-used 'moments' from a grammar school Christmas show?!

Well, my commentary was nonstop.  I should've rented a space and sold tickets for people to watch the ceremonies as I commented over a microphone.  If you think I'm funny during CRAFT WARS: LIVE, then you should've been at my house for my deconstruction of the opening ceremonies.

But, the night got better.  I saw something that excited me.

What was it?

It's Prima's new CRAFTSMAN collection.  Have you checked it out, yet?  You should.  Here's my highlights:

Check out this mask:


You could use it as it, or just use the gear parts, or just use the circle parts.  At the moment, masks are some of my favoritest thangs.  Especially ones that have a multi-use possibility! 

Next:  LETTER STICKERS!!!


I should've warned you before the pic- but I didn't.  I'll tell you now.  IGNORE the stickers in the upper right corner.  Really, Prima?  You couldn't do a masculine theme without throwing 'DUDE' in there, could you?  To any companies out there who might deign to read any of my harsh yet (truly) constructive criticism:  you might think you're aiming at pleasing the mainstream with the cliché- but you must remember, the kind of people who might embrace this are not your good customer.  Be true to the theme and always, always, keep it classy.  But the rest of the stickers more than make up for the very very slight affront to taste, dude.   Especially the set in the bottom right.  Great color, great look - and as far as I can tell, not similar to anything already out there!  I love those!  I love the upper right section, but they're a bit too similar to a set from Mr. Holtz's sticker pads to be impressive.  But I still like them.

Okay, NEXT! 


Beautiful paper!  Perfect!  The blueprint theme seems to be a trend, right now.  And I love it so much.

Time for some STAMPS!!!


Excuse me, I must have a moment.

Thank you.  The lightbulb?!  The gears.  The compass.  Even the BOOM.  So much fun.  And two bucks?!  Last I checked, the biggest thrill was on a corner for twenty bucks.  You have it beat, Prima!


More sexy paper.  Sexxxy.  Would look great as is and even better if cut up to use each segment as part of a layered embellishment or background for a card or... just laying in a stack of your sexxxy papers, where it's easily accessible for viewing and admiring purposes.

PINS!

What is up with my love of pins?  I don't think I've used any, but I have a few.  And now, I will have more.  The gear and the lightbulb are the best.  The balloon is close, tho, in third.  The pointing finger is nearing 'children singing while signing' saturation point, and I don't know what the hell the little monster is...  I want these.  So much that I'm a little bit angry that scrapbook.com isn't a store down the street, open 24 hours and waiting for me to come in and snatch them up in my hot hand.

Everything is currently available in the SUPERSTORE at Scrapbook.com

Alriiiiight then?  I'm off.  Gonna enjoy this LOCKUP marathon on MSNBC.  Opening Ceremonies?  Olympics, PLEASE-  this is quality television.  Maybe I'll get lucky and it'll be the episode with the wild and crazy lesbian loan sharks.  Just like Mr. John Waters, I've always had a soft spot for the female juvenile delinquent.

-kory

8 comments:

  1. As always, entertaining AND informative! Thought I was the only one who was like, huh? with the whole Olympics thing. Kids in hospital beds? Yeah, very uplifting. Wish I could have enjoyed your full coverage. Maybe you could dub it over Matt and Meredith 'this is the soundtrack of my life'. :)

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  2. See that's why I don't watch tv, lol. I have to agree with you, this collection is great. Have a good one & drink one for me....wait never mind, already ahead of you tonight ;D

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  3. I felt it'd be too conventional and sheeplike to sit through the Olympic ceremony live (blame it on my warped mind) - so I taped it and watched it at 6am this morning (go figure). Have to say I wondered about the decapitated baby head too lol. I didn't think that overall it was too bad an effort- but then I was expecting it to be a complete disaster. It had quirky & irreverent leanings which I was pleased to see. Thought they might have hinted at Civil Partnerships or the strong gay influence in the arts but not a flicker - Frankie goes to Hollywood for a second, & that was it. Love your take on the Craftsman collection but I'm not persuaded by it yet. The mask is brilliant but I'm not sold on the images used in this collection esp. the freaky steampunk guy thing. I like the colours used in the papers though. Hope you're not suffering a hangover this morning. Pxx

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  4. You did, of course Kory, pick out the worst 'what?' bits of the show! Did you not ooh and ahh at the Queen parachuting out of a helicopter (surely you ooh'd and ahh'd at Daniel Craig? I know I did!). Did you not wonder in awe at the deptiction of the Industrial Revolution and the 5 Olympic rings being forged? Great Ormond Street Children's Hospital is a hugely popular charity here in the UK hence the teaming of that along with our National Health Service (children bouncing on beds alog to Peter Pan and kids storybook characters), which is also something us Brits hold dear. And what about the World Wide Web man? And our music? And the singing/signing children - well, at least they weren't hidden away like they would be in other countries. As you might deduce, I LOVED the opening ceremony - I think Danny Boyle did a brilliant job at showing off our history and highlighting our achievements. We're only a tiny country and we have a lot to be proud of.

    Stepping off my soapbox now, I LOVE the blueprint paper.

    ps although I don't necessarily agree with you, your write up of the event still made me giggle :)

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    1. I did love the Queen jumping out of the helicopter! But then again, I love anything about the Queen. Also, I should've been more clear about the creepy baby- while still being WTF, I also liked it and wished more of the show had been like that- but then I have to remember, I'm one person who loves everything the mainstream seems to hate. So it's like I'm pre-programmed to not be entertained by most anything mainstream. Which kinda sucks, because I just don't 'get' so many things that everyone likes. I don't think I'm making sense- I saw the National Theatre/Danny Boyle's Frankenstein, and loved it so much, that I wanted to see the opening ceremonies- because he's amazing. I've never ever seen any part of any Olympics before, til last night!

      So I do apologize for not pointing out all of the great things I did like, from the show, (the first sequence all the way up to the rings, especially. And esp Kenneth Branagh and the scene from The Tempest, and I loved the way the tree grew and people came out) but I can't apologize for wishing the children had been hidden away. I can't help it. The sound of children singing really does make my ears bleed.

      Aaaaaand: When I watch anything even remotely related to a theatrical event, I can have trouble concentrating on the actual 'story' part of the show- the stage manager side of my brain takes over and I'm counting the cues or thinking of better ways a scene change could've been coordinated. lol

      -k

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  5. pps loads of typos in previous comment, I NEED a coffee. Something to do with staying up so late last night to watch a poxy Olympics opening ceremony......

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  6. ok, I'm with you on the singing children, they don't for it for me either (mainly because children can't actually sing!). Although I really admired the kid that stood up and sang Jerusalem in front of all those people - that's brave.

    I LOVED Danny Boyle's Frankenstein too, it was stunning.

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  7. You are going to rock this kit! I can't wait to see what you will make with it Kory!

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