THEY HAVE BEEN SHIPPED!!

Got an email from 3M today.....they have finally shipped our order! ATG 714's will be here on Friday! If you have placed an order, you will be served first come, first served! Should be a busy weekend!!! Thanks for your patience.

Julie

3M Backorder

I am so frustrated I could scream!! I went to place our regular monthly order from 3M only to find out that 2 of our 3 top selling items are back-ordered. We pulled some strings and called in some favors and got 30 of the 714 applicators shipped to us. They arrived today....I have coincidentally 30 orders to get out by tomorrow morning.

Then it looks like it may be like pulling teeth to get the rest of our order before March! We are bugging everyone we know how to bug to see if it will help and have several 3M employees working on our behalf to try to find some for us....helps to have connections, I guess. We'll keep you posted. Keep your fingers crossed. ;)

We are in business once again

Thanks to our wonderful and dedicated site manager (who has spent HOURS rebuilding our website), we are up and running again! Please let us know if you encounter any issues while on our website as once in a while we run into a little glitch!! Thanks for your patience and continued support!

Julie

WEBSITE ISSUES

I have heard from several of you who are almost as frustrated as we are that our website is down. We have been working frantically to get things up and running again, but to no avail. We have been down about a week.

At this point, you can contact me via email at Julie@CropandStick.com to place an order through email. We are still trying to figure out what to do. We can give you prices and shipping quotes and call you for your payment information when you are ready to do so. Thanks for your patience with us.

Apparently Microsoft Windows recently did an update that messed up our storefront software. We are NOT!!!! getting very good support from them and Gina's husband has been working feverishly to try to bypass the problem. Will keep you posted. Hopefully soon we will have good news!

SALE ON ATG 714

We have decided to run a sale on our most popular product, the ATG 714 from 3M (Scotch). For a limited time these babies will be only $39.95 and include a free roll of our favorite adhesive, ATG 987 1/4"x60 yd. If you've been waiting to get one, the time is now! This is our lowest price and we are lower than anyone around! Check it out! http://www.cropandstick.com/

ATG 50 and tape

We recently came across some message boards where they were posting about this cheaper version of the ATG 714. Just for the record, it is not made by 3M. I'm still not sure who makes it. It is called the ATG 50. There were people who were really excited about it, because the cost is less and the tape was also. So, we thought...we'd better get one and try it out. We purchased one, plus some of the tape. Next we enlisted 2 "experts" to use it and write a review for us. Here is what they have to say.

The first review is from Sue Neal, a PC Pro:

Thanks for sending me the ‘other’ ATG to try out. I have to say my first impression was good. It seemed a little smaller and less wieldy than the Scotch ATG. I was also surprised by the quality of the housing, it’s strong and smooth and actually feels pretty good in my hand. The handle and trigger were fine for me and didn’t seem any harder than the Scotch ATG. I’m afraid that’s where the good ends for me.

As I started to use it I was having a hard time tracking it’s placement position as I adhered. I compared it to my Scotch and realized the tape was riding about mid-way on the roller. That is why I couldn’t track it very well. My Scotch rides right at the LH edge and I can see easily where I’m placing tape down. I opened the casing to see if I could adjust that. It seemed like I could lift the tape, but there really wasn’t really anyway to keep it there, so it kept slipping down.

In the process of trying to lift the tape up, the tape broke. It was at this point I noticed the tape was also riding back on itself. In other words, instead of feeling onto the ‘spent’ reel, it was coming back around the tape roll. Either way, I had to re-insert it. There were no visual instructions on just how to do this (the Scotch does have those instructions embossed right into the gun and it’s amazing to me, after all these years of using it, I still double check myself…showing my age!). I assumed it was filled the same way, but wow, the whole thing ‘exploded’ on me! Literally! Parts just starting popping off! Good opportunity to check out the mechanics of it though…there is a spring that is screwed down, but I’m not entirely sure why it’s there.

Lastly, I’m not really thrilled with the quality of the actual adhesive. It seemed thinner than the scotch and definitely didn’t rub-off like the scotch. I absolutely LOVE that about Scotch. It’s just a lifesaver for me. I also noticed the tape didn’t ‘cut’ off as sharply as the Scotch. There were left-over pieces I had to kind-of fold over the end. I didn’t love that.

It’s hard to give this gun an overall rating, as I’m not sure, again, if it was loaded properly. But if I took that out of the equation I would give it a B-, as it’s definitely better than the little adhesive rollers and I suppose you could adjust to where the tape rides and the poor cut-off. I would give the Scotch an A. I’ve used this gun for years now (and you know how much I use it) and have never (isn’t that amazing!) had one problem with it.

This second review is from a friend of mine, Terri Bateman who is a mechanical engineer:

So, after using the tape gun last week, I would say that I like it, especially for the price. (The ATG 50 is around $25). It does have a couple of issues, but I feel that they are minor.

The main issue with it is that the tape seems to move around back and forth a lot on the roller, making it hard to predict exactly where the tape will be on my paper. But, because the roller is only about 3/4" wide, I know the tape will go onto my paper somewhere within that 3/4" range. Therefore, for me, the tape placement issue is not really a big one, because most of the time I'm not taping anything really narrow and so I don't have to be all that accurate. If I do tape something narrow, I usually use the Tombow tape gun, because I can put the tape EXACTLY where I want it. (plus, I don't have a narrow 3m gun anyway :-) (She has the ATG 700.)

My second issue is not with the gun, but the tape itself. I do not love this tape, so it would be interesting to use this gun with 3m's tape. This tape seems to stretch out and not break where I want it to. After I roll the tape onto my paper and then let go of the trigger, sometimes the tape stretches way out and doesn't break until it is hanging way off the edge of the paper. This is annoying, but not a deal breaker. I could live with this tape, I just like 3M's better. 3M's tape also stretches out and does not always break where I want it to, it just doesn't seem to be nearly as bad.

Valentines Card Make and Take

This was my make and take for our card group on Thursday night. I got a cuttlebug for Christmas from my son and his cute wife, Kelli (thanks, guys!!), so I had to use it for cards. It came with 4 dies that are like "stamps". I used the new scalloped edge punch from SU to scallop the front of the card and a pop up glue dot for the 3D effect. Brads are from bright flowers set (5 mm) on our website http://www.cropandstick.com/ .

We Now Carry Cricut Cartridges!

Crop and Stick now carries Provo Craft Cricut Cartridges and other supplies! Check it out here. Isn't this Hello Kitty set adorable? It should be here any day now!! I got one of the Cricut machines for Mother's Day last year....so much fun! My daughter in law, Kelli has even cut her own vinyl lettering on it! How cool is that?

ATG

We have been selling ATG products since April 2008 on our website. I know that prices on everything from toilet paper to applesauce are going up (I work at Costco and have seen huge increases on food products) I guess mostly because of the cost of gasoline. But since we began selling ATG Adhesive Applicators and ATG tape refills, 3M has raised their prices TWICE! The first time, we just ate the cost because we were brand new and trying to compete with some of the big boys out there. The second time, we just couldn't, we had to raise our prices too. Luckily, so did our competitors...but, ouch! Twice in 4 months seems a little much, doesn't it? Good thing it is such a good product or we would have to kiss it good-bye! Gotta have that ATG 714! Just had to gripe a little. It doesn't change anything, but it makes me feel better to complain about it! :p

Hmmm...comparing adhesives again! ATG wins!

I found this comparison about Scotch 3M ATG applicators and ATG refills on a forum today.....thought it was a pretty good argument for buying one!!



"My favorite tape runner was the red one by 3L, at $5.99 each. By the time I bought just 8 tape runners (easily done within a 2 month time frame TOPS), I could have purchased an ATG. And refills for my ATG are $5.99 at my LSS and lasts at least 4 times longer. So here's the break down:



1--ATG dispenser= about $45 (with S&H)= about 8 disposable/nonrefillable tape runners

2--3L Tape runner =$5.99 for 28 feet=21 cents a foot

3--ATG refill= $5.99 for 36 yards=108 feet=6 cents a foot



Roughly speaking"

Pretty convincing, isn't it?

Create Mini Albums With Bind-it-all

I have been on vacation for the past 10 glorious days!! So I have been a little lax in my blogging...
This is a wedding album we (Gina, Ginay, Stacy, Michelle and I) made for my Canadian brother-in-law Danny and his new wife Laura who were married on December 31, 2007. We just got back from a vacation to Alberta, Canada via Kalispell, Montana where we spent a few days with them at the mother-in-laws place! We used the Zutter BIND-IT-ALL 8x8 chipboard covers and pages and bound it together with the nifty Bind it all tool itself. I must admit it was way too fun! The front was a double sided sheet of patterned paper that we antiqued using distress inks by Tim Holtz Old Paper ink pad. The name plate is a cricut program (I'm thinking we need to add these to our inventory!).


And look how cute (and creative) some of the pages turned out. The red corners were white photo corners that we inked to match. See Gina's tutorial on Fun with Photo Corners . The corner stamp is from Heidi Swapp and is called Love Corners.This page was created using a stamp from an Autumn Leaves Set called Romance of Spring. We added a little glitter to the center of the flower dot above the "i" in beautiful. The three diamonds are really square brads. I love how the partial binding looks (just 10 holes centered on the pages and covers instead of all the way from top to bottom).The album was finished at approximately 2:00 a.m. the morning my family and I left for the great white North! I think it was worth staying up late to finish it though! Thanks to everyone who helped! This is us at Bertha Falls in Waterton, Alberta. You can't see us very well, but what beautiful scenery!!

MAKE YOUR OWN PATTERNED PAPER

Here is a page of patterned paper that I made out of white cardstock, Tangerine, Wisteria, and Chestnut Roan Clearsnap Chalk Box Inks, and a stamp set from Autumn Leaves called Spring by Sande Krieger. The Tangerine ink is linked to the Orange Crush Bazzill Cardstock on our site as a matchability set, so I pulled some of the cardstock and created this card. You will never have to worry about finding just the right patterned paper again....you just make it yourself!

Card is antiqued by using Antique Linen Distress Ink by Tim Holtz and the butterfly is from Romance of Spring Stamp Set, also by Sande Krieger.

MATCHABILITY

We have something on our website that we call "Matchability". That means simply that we have taken the guess work out of matching up items that you purchase from our site. We stamped all of the ink pads, both Clearsnap Chalk box and the Distress Ink by Tim Holtz, from Ranger. Then we took Bazzill Cardstock samples and matched them to the color of the ink. Next, we took all of our brads, ribbons, buttons, and other embellishments and found colors in the packages that match the paper and ink. When you click on any of those items, a flower icon pops up that is a link to other matching items. You can totally coordinate your scrapbook page using this system. Cardstock, ink and embellishments that you know are going to match, makes scrapbooking or card making that much easier!Have you ever made your own matching paper out of white cardstock, an ink pad or two, and a stamp set? Very fun, easy and guarantees a patterned paper that matches your solid color Bazzill. I love making my own matching patterned paper.

Clear Acrylic Stamps

I have used Stampin' Up and Hero Arts and other rubber stamps for years and loved them. They have a huge selection of different designs and words. However, if you have not used clear acrylic stamps, you don't know what you are missing! Clear stamps have been becoming more and more popular in recent years mostly due to two things; affordability and ease of placement.

You generally get more stamps for the money (I guess maybe because you don't have to have a wood block mounted on each stamp...? and maybe the process of manufacturing is just less...who knows). With clear acrylic stamps, like Autumn Leaves or Heidi Swapp, you buy an acrylic block that is reusable over and over again. And clean up is simple with soapy water or clear stamp cleaner. Look at this darling Autumn Leaves clear stamp set by Rhonna Farrer called Big Swirls.
But, the biggest difference is being able to see through the stamp and place it exactly where you want it. No more re-stamping because you stamped something too close or too far away. You can see exactly where the image will end up. This is sooo handy for adding words to your scrapbook pages or handmade cards or for putting one image on top of another image (like a candle on top of a cake!).

COMPARISON OF ATG TAPES

We have had some questions from some of our customers on the differences in the tapes available for the 3M Scotch ATG 714 and ATG 700 transfer tape applicators. We carry 3 different varieties of transfer tape: ATG 908, ATG 924 and ATG 987. They are all permanent tapes and work great! The biggest differences are in the stickiness or adhesion power, and the fact that the ATG 908 gold is Acid free and therefore is desirable for scrap booking (or at least for your photos). I use the 987 or 924 for everything else and acid free only when I am applying photos just because the 908 costs more to use. The ATG 987 is a high-tack acrylic. I have learned not to press down until I have whatever I am adhering centered and in the right place. I read in a forum somewhere that someone used their embossing gun to heat up the tape and was able to remove something from a project, but I have never tried that! The bond is so strong that it can tear the paper if you try to pull it apart after pressure has been applied, but I have also been successful pulling things apart if it is soon after it has been adhered.

The ATG 924 is a little more forgiving, it is a medium-firm acrylic tape. It will come up a little easier if you happen to stick something on in the wrong place, or crooked! All three varieties go on clear and the excess is easy to rub off. The biggest reason paper crafters love these applicators and tapes is because of the affordability. They are the most economical adhesives on the market today!

Kind words...

This is a posting from a gal who ordered from us and has nothing but wonderful things to say! It made my day! Maybe I should hire here for PR or something!!http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/showthread.php?p=9897636#post9897636

Life in the Fast Lane

I have dreamed of owning a business for years and it has finally happened. In April, my partner Gina and I, got our scrapbook supply website http://www.cropandstick.com/ up and running. We just assumed that we would be able to carry whatever supplies we wanted...our main one being the ATG 714 and 700 (thus the word "Stick" in our name.) We were disappointed when it didn't happen. Finally after months (9 to be exact!) of fighting and jumping through all kinds of hoops we finally got a 3M Account so that we are officially 3M Distributors and can carry our favorite adhesive for scrapbooking and card making (and posters, and home repairs!! etc., etc.). If you have never used an ATG tape applicator, you are really missing out! It takes a little getting used to, but I will never go back...It's easy, inexpensive and all the rage! We had a customer post a comment in a forum on http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/ (one of our favorite card idea websites) about what great customer service we had, and we have been busy ever since. Now if I could just quit my day job... :p