Scrapbooking : Ink 101

Punya hobi itu menyenangkan tetapi juga berbahaya.

Setelah selesai dengan proyek DIY Banner untuk pesta ultah anak, saya pun segera memulai proyek yang tertunda setahun yaitu : My Baby First Years Album.

Semua bahan hampir bisa dibilang lengkap, mau pita2 lucu ada, sticker2 timbul komplit, puncher2 unik sudah stok, kertas bermotif setumpuk. Tapi kok semakin saya larut dengan proyek ini, semakin banyak saya ingin mencoba menambahkan media-media baru. Dan akhirnya saya memberanikan diri untuk mencoba "ink-ing".

Dalam kegiatan scrapbooking tinta tidak hanya digunakan memberikan warna pada kegiatan stamping dan stenciling, tetapi juga dapat memberikan kesan "worn out" atau "distress" pada kertas. Selain itu beberapa jenis tinta juga dapat digunakan sebagai dasar untuk embossing.

Nah,, dengan semangat berabagi nih (karena saya juga baru tau, kalo ternyata jenis tinta untuk paper craft itu ada banyak banget), bisa langsung scroll down ke bawah ya jenis2 tinta dan kegunaannya.

1. Chalk Ink

Chalk ink, adalah jenis tinta yang dapat menimbulkan pewarnaan yang berkesan lembut seperti goresan kapur. Chalk ink merupakan tinta dengan dasar air. Tinta ini sangat cepat kering jika diaplikasikan pada permukaan yang berpori (kertas), oleh karena itu sangat cocok digunakan sebagai pewarna background dan aplikasi langsung pada kertas. Karena mudah kering, tinta ini tidak cocok untuk embossing, dan it's basically permanent once it dried. Kita tidak dapat merubah atau meng-alter warna nya lagi. Tinta ini juga dapat digunakan pada permukaan glossy, akan tetapi proses pengeringannya akan sedikit lebih lama.

Contoh merek : VersaMagic

2. Dye Ink

Tipe tinta dye ink, memiliki campuran dasar tertentu yang menyebabkannya waterproof ketika kering. Tinta membutuhkan waktu pengeringan sedikit lebih lama dibandingkan dengan chalk ink.Tipe tinta ini sangat baik untuk men-cap outline suatu gambar yang kemudian dapat diwarnai dengan menggunakan tinta air ataupun spidol. Perlu diperhatikan tinta ini tidak baik digunakan untuk media berbahan kain dan plastik.

Contoh merek : Memento

3. Pigment Ink

Pigment ink tidak mengandung pewarna, akan tetapi terdiri dari pigmen padat yang biasanya ditahan oleh bahan berdasar glycerin. Tinta ini tidak meresap kedalam kertas, akan tetapi mulai mengering dari bagian atas permukaan. Oleh karena itu tinta ini paling lama membutuhkan waktu untuk kering. Karena fiturnya ini, maka pigment ink sangat cocok jika digunakan dengan embossing powder (bubuk yang dapat memberikan kesan emboss pada gambar, kapan2 dibahas cara praktek embossing ya,, :P). Pigment ink tidak akan kering jika digunakan pada media glossy, kecuali menggunakan "heat gun" untuk mengeringkannya. 

Contoh merek : VersaColor

4. Fast Drying Pigment Ink

Beberapa jenis pigment ink menggunakan bahan dasar resin dan bukan gliserin. Tinta tipe ini membutuhkan waktu lebih cepat untuk kering, sehingga tidak cocok untuk digunakan embossing karena tinta bisa jadi sudah kering sebelum kita sempat menaburkan bubuk emboss di atasnya. Beberapa jenis merek walaupun fast drying tetap dapat digunakan untuk embossing, dan beberapa jenis merek lainnya dapat kering dengan sempurna pada media plastik tanpa harus dikeringkan dengan heat gun. 

Contoh merek : Archival Brilliance

Nah sekian cerita2 tentang jenis2 tinta yang dapat digunakan. 

Untuk lebih jelas bisa liat video youtube di bawah ya:

A Happy Mom Makes the Family

It's late night, and I found this article shared on Facebook news feed. 

A Letter From A Working Mother to A Stay At Home Mother, and Vice Versa

It seems a never-ending argument. Picking which one is better, is like discussing which comes first between a chicken and egg. Stay at home moms are often judged as the woman without passion with so much free time while the babies are quietly playing with their toys. While working moms are often judged as a "part-time" mother, who is deliberately free to take care of their kids and family on weekdays, and burden the family needs to grandmas or the help.

Being on the working moms side, I may sometimes feel that I don't spend much time with the family. Imagine spending 14 hours for work (including the traveling time), spending only 10 minutes in the morning, and 30 minutes in the evening to catch up with your family. So I set up a few ground rules for myself.

1. It is Quality over Quantity. Having so limited time at home on weekdays, I have made a pledged to myself that no works are to be brought home. When you're at home, leave your works in the office. Home is a place where you can put down the weight from the "work bucket" for awhile.

2. If it's going to take you away from your family, you better love it! Sometimes people find a job just because of the money, just to find something to do, etc. But whatever the motivation is, you better make sure to yourself that you're happy doing it. Look, you're trading hours of watching your baby's first step with hours of doing what your boss told you to do. So it better be something that's worth it, something that you are willing to do over the sacrifice.

3. Your family is not an excuse to not excel in your career. I have a single friend, she rarely stay at work late, and bring her work home unless it's super urgent, yet she still is one of the top employee in the company. Always doing her job right and on time. The key is, when you're at work be efficient. We often put more energy on the coffee breaks, lunches and stopping by each other cubicles rather than putting the energy on our work. Then at the end of the day, we make excuses that there's so little time to work, you can't take more load as you need to go home right away and take care of your family. Well, we have got to stop making family excuses, work more efficiently and effectively. 

Just in time, couple weeks ago the HR division in my company just held a "Woman Empowerment" Talk Show as part of their diversity program. They invited a psychologist to fill in the time. One of the discussion was the Juggling Balancing Act for working woman. The psychologist reminded us that women works for a reason, and you need to remember why you are working, whether it's for family income, passion, or self actualization. If the world despise you, then you just have to remember that the role of a mother is just the community's perception on the role between men and women. Being a mother doesn't make you more responsible on your child's well being, the father has just as much responsible as you have. Luckily, the pyschologist also brings up the term of happiness, yes! It's all a matter of what makes you happy. A mother is the one who creates the atmosphere of the family. When momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy. 

In the end, it's just a matter of choice. Being a career woman doesn't make you less of a mother, nor being a stay at home mother makes you less of a visionaire woman. Do what you think you need to do, avoid living in despair when you're old for not doing things or be more productive when you're young. Bottom line is be happy.
Remember the story of a father and a kid with their donkey. No matter what you do, there will be other people who criticize what you do, and we're not living by their standard. Your life, your choice, your rule. For me, it's all about loving my family, loving my job, and loving my life!

April Calendar Quick Page

April is the month of everything.
Company wise it's the month of Q2, and by the end of Q2, we all know what will happen. Yes, it's budgeting time!
Well to start off Q2 with something fun I'm sharing a calendar template using the kit from Romajo's Self Portrait. 

I just had a univeristy class reunion last week. It was fun, I guess the last time so many people turn up for a gathering is about 5 years ago. After that people just got busy, earning money, travelling, making babies, finding love, and other stuff. Meeting this goody old friends remind me of those younger years. Back then, we always came up with some ideas just to have a gathering (e.g. The Independence Day Game, The Let's Skip Class Today Event, The Volley Tournament, The Annual Halal Bihalal, The Annual Break Fasting, et cetera,, et cetera,,). Well, those were the days, when we love to make fun mistakes.

Note. As usual image is link. And to change the picture, just put your picture on the "Place Photo Here" layer, and use the mocca frame as guideline.