Dear Scrapbooking Manufacturers ...

Dear Scrapbooking Manufacturers,
As you will, no doubt, soon be deep into planning scrapbooking products for 2013, I wonder if I might offer some suggestions from my own recent experience which I think have real marketing potential?

1 A corner-rounder which, in order to get a nice curve around the edge of an admittedly thick card-and-grungeboard sandwich, does not give up and crack when you stand on it.

2 Cardstock which is edible and fruit-flavoured like jelly beans: yellows taste of lemon, blues of blueberry, oranges ... you get the picture. Oh, and with a zero calorie content. Waste would be greatly reduced and crops would be such fun. (NB Sheets of kraft should taste of wheat so they can be popped into a lasagne.)


3 Craft mats which do not buckle and bend like a road in an earthquake when you iron on top of them. (In my defence, do your products say 'Do not iron' on them anywhere?)

4 A braking device for the Spellbinder die-cutting machine. I am currently suffering from a close encounter between a chunky Sizzix die and my kneecap, following the swift ejection of the former from the said device. (Have you any figures for the velocity of this ferocious beast? Scaled up, I think it has real potential which might interest the Pentagon).

5 Money-off coupons towards one's next purchase of double-sided sticky tape, proportionate to the amount of time it took to get the supposedly-unsticky shiny strip off the previous one. Stamps towards a voucher for a manicure would be equally acceptable.

Hoping that you will give these suggestions serious consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you - just as soon as I can hobble to the postbox, and remove my tongue from my cheek.

Very best wishes,
Alexa

PS I am going to ask my kind and imaginative blog readers for some suggestions of their own, and will forward them in due course. Thanking you all for your kind attention. :)

Comments

[Cheri]

I would also like self-loading refills for my ATG gun (or any adhesive) - I think you should just place the new roll of adhesive on the spool and it should correctly wind itself into position. I mean, hey, if cars can parallel park themselves, how hard can this be???

[esther_a]

Another one guilty of standing on punches in order to make them punch things no punch was designed to punch!! Live and learn...
I'd love some double sided tape that didn't spontaneously unravel itself from the middle.

[Dawn Cheshire]

I'd love an alphabet, that when you used a letter another one was produced in it's place ending the oh I can't make that word saga!

[Alexa]

That's a great idea and would be welcomed by scraphookera everywhere, Dawn!

[Jacky S]

I so agree about the double sided tape....and how about silicone glue that does not solidify and seal itself between uses.......not to mention a cold glue gun to save burnt fingers......and Sizzix dies that never ever refuse to totally cut through a fiddly shape.
Oh dear......I could probably go on and on.....though I'm not sure you'll get a refund on a jumped on corner punch.....I somehow think it's not in their job description!!!!

[Wanda Jorgensen]

It sounds like you've quite the exciting scrapbooking time lately! Reading this makes me glad (again) that I'm digi--it seems safer somehow.

[kjjc]

Gaveme a real chuckle. Been there and done that type of chuckle!!

[Amanda]

I'm with you on the tape :) How about a use for all those tiny squares that you have to prise off foam pads? Or dare I say it tacky glue that doesn't go tacky in between uses making it impossible to squeeze out?

[Sian]

Jelly bean flavoured cardstock. Oh, wow..Everything apart from root beer flavour please

[Linda]

Oh how I laughed at the thought of edible cardstock:)) particularly low -cal!!!
I'm with Dawn on alphabets that self generate! I'm forever cutting them up to make other letters:)

[Fiona]

This really made me laugh! Drooling at the thought of jelly bean flavoured cardstock, as long as they are not Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans!!
I think you might need to invest in a Corner Chomper, mine has withstood the beating I have given it!

[Melissa]

Oh Alexa this has me laughing out loud this morning - a great way to start the day! I would like my papers to automatically sort themselves by color - lighter shades of each color to darker, then the next color and so on . . . and if I happen to get them out of order, they will correct it themselves inside the drawer and be ready for my next perusal!

[Honoré]

All of these are great and the flavored, edible card stock takes the prize! Know only so well what you mean about the cutting mat vs iron. I just totally ruined one two weeks ago...and was well on my way to #2, when thankfully, my brain kicked into gear. I think it's all a plot to get us to buy a new one periodically.
Thanks for the fun!
Cheers~

Ooh! You changed your banner again! I like!

[Alison McInnes]

Fun post Alexa...would settle for any of your suggestions!
Alison xx

[Louise]

great post Alexa - i would like ink that's stays on paper and does not transfer to fingers, face and clothes!

[Joanne]

I like Melissa's and Cheri's suggestion too. Or a never ending ATC glue as I hate when it gets to the end. Really made me laugh today - thank you

[Jen Hart]

Very good Alexa :)

My pot of many mini things to have each individual item to have it's own very fine bungy, so that when I drop it onto what I can only describe as velcro-like carpet.....

[Jimjams]

LOL - brilliant requests Alexa - Would you please ask for glue that doesn't clog or dry out between uses which would not then require the use of a pin/needle or scalpel blade to function again, which would not then need cleaning in turn! Clogged glue has consequences!!
Oh and yes we need alphabet stickers that have *just* the right amount of E-numbers! And Ss and Ts and every other letter that I run of!

[sandie]

Oh Alexa... I am going off to bed now with a huge smile and ideas running around my head like a dog chasing it's tail! I was just remembering the Dear.. letter post and thinking I would like to use the idea again. Now you have set me a challenge! Your sense of humour is wicked!! High five!!

[Nathalie]

LOL!!! Love your solution for my overloaded box of scraps!!! Yum!
Loved reading the suggestions too!

[Helen]

All of these sound absolutely necessary - but my request is for controllable self adhesive gems. My experience is that they are so self adhesive that you have to prise them off the backing sheet only for them to fly across the room like badly handled shellfish in a predictable movie. Once (if) they are retrieved they them stick to the pokey tool that I'm using to position them, eventually sticking to the project in not quite the right place. Shortly afterwards they seem to give up the ghost, become unstuck, fall off and are never seen again. Please help ...

[Alexa]

You've really made me chuckle in sympathy. I only used gems once and my experience so paralleled yours, you might have been looking over my shoulder! Very amusingly described!

[Danielle]

This made me smile! I did a similar post a while back geared toward manufacturers - all I want is to have supplies clearly labeled if they are recycled, FSC-certified, use vegetable based inks, etc. Not all companies do this. That would make me happy.

[Julie Jeavons]

You stood on a punch? And ironed on cutting mat? What are you like woman!?
WHSmith sell a very good double sided tape in a dispenser which saves all that bother. One side of backing comes off as you pull it out. Once it is stuck down the other backing strip comes off super easy because it is wider than the sticky tape.

[Lisa Ransom]

Love your blog and totally feel your pain... I have a mega green cutting mat that was originally bought to use whilst quilting... never thought that a heat tool would warp the bloomin' thing! Christmas day just gone... there I was using my new pressie (a Happycut, bit like a joy trouvaille but white) and the handle sprang back smacking the back of my hand and bruising it so much I was unable to peel the spuds for Christmas dinner ;-). How about a self extending desk... never enough space is there? ooh and lastly a spell to tidy up all sorts of crafty stash when it needs to be put away vamonos!.

Lisa
xx