Creative substitutes

If you run out of M's or N's in your Thickers etc, you can nearly always use W's and U's upside down instead!
-Carol Houghton, TPE design team

Embellishment storage ideas

I keep all my little embellishments like brads & eyelets even my fibers and ribbons in little ziploc bags (the ones you find by the jewelry making section at Walmart) and they are on my own version of a clip it up in my scraproom, but if Im going to a crop I just grab some book rings and load each one up with ribbons, fibers etc.
-Trudi Wilbur, TPE design team

I store all of my buttons, beads, charms, eyelets, brads, etc in the little containers from the fishing department that have small compartments in them. I can stack them all easily on a shelf in one of my cabinets. I keep them seperated...one for buttons, one for charms, etc. I can then pull out all of my buttons at one time to choose what I want to use and then easily put it back when I am done.
-Robin Willis, TPE design team

Help with rhinestones...

It's not always easy to pull the rhinestones off their backing without leaving behind the sticky tack. With scissors, make slight cuts between the rhinestones. They will come right off.
-Lori Roop, TPE design team

An easy way to hang onto those bitty rhinestones or gems......Use a paper piercer to remove them. They stick to the tip of it like a magnet.
-Lori Roop, TPE design team

I bought an alphabet set of rhinestone sticker really cheap !!! Love that word 'cheap' and guess what happened to Z and Q??? Or any of the letters/shapes you don't need....cut between them with the scissors to get really useful tiny gems. Great way to use the extra bits.
-Ann Cutts, TPE design team

Need a specific color of rhinestone and only have clear? Place how many you need down on the sticky side of a piece of tape to hold them. Then, use a Sharpie marker (or other permanent marker) of the color you need and color it. This can also be done with buttons, brads, dew drops, etc to customize to your project. I buy alot more of the clear, silver and white of things and just make them the color I want with inks, markers, paints, etc.
-Robin Willis, TPE design team

Just a touch of glitter...

This may be one that everyone knows about but then again perhaps not. To add a bit of sparkle (but not glitter cause that would be too much) I scribble onto an acryllic block with my Sakura Stardust clear pen and then use a wet brush to paint the clear sparkle over my coloured images. It's very subtle but just adds that added touch.
-Ann Cutts, TPE design team

Brilliant brad placement ideas

Just the other week I discovered that you can get the hole for the brad in exactly the same place on each corner by using a square of plastic canvas used for yarn embroidery. You lay the corner of the plastic canvas on top of the corner of your card/paper then you can use the holes as measures for where you want your brad. You have to make sure that you push your brad through the same part of the hole in the canvas for each corner. I've seen people use plastic canvas to make mock stitching lines but not to ensure their brad holes are spot on. It used to drive me mad when I got one brad lower in one corner than the other. Maybe it's just me that does that but possibly I'm not the only one.
-Ann Cutts, TPE design team

Another alternative if you don't have plastic canvas on hand is to use a piece of scrap cardstock. Determine where you want your brad on the scrap. Punch a hole in the spot. Now, lay your scrap card on top of the card you are setting your brads into. Punch a hole through the existing hole and into your card in the upper left corner. Flip the template from left to right and lay it on the upper right corner of your card and punch. Now, flip it from top to bottom and punch the bottom right corner. Flip one more time from left to right and punch your final corner. Set your brads in the four corners. They will all be lined up evenly.
-Robin Willis, TPE design team