Those of you who watch our YouTube channel may have heard me mention that I changed out my craft mat about six months ago. I had a Cricut, Self Healing, 18" x 24" Craft Mat which worked great and did its job. I chose this mat in particular because it had both imperial and metric units. I just cannot bring myself to use inches and feet again even though I grew up in the U.S. using them. After 28 years living abroad, I just can't.
So why did I change my craft mat:
I use permanent inks and silicone based glues, if either of these dry on a self healing mat, that's it. You can try using acetone for the glue with the end result being the printed graph on your craft mat disappearing from existence. I also like using my mat as a mixing palette for a variety of mediums, it's just natural to me to have it right there as I am working. Needless to say, after 3 months I couldn't bare looking at that self-healing mat.
Now some might think that's ridiculous, it's just a mat and that's what you use it for, to protect the surface underneath, right? Yes, that is true, and I may be a bit weird but I cannot begin a new project unless my workspace is completely clean and without anything to "bother my eye". Whether it's a bit of dried glue, a smear of sepia colored ink or an electrical cord dangling in the corner, it can drive me crazy to the point of obsession.
So, I decided that a glass craft mat was what I needed, and it was!
At first I looked at the Tim Holtz glass media mats as I had seen him demonstrate them on YouTube. Just my luck, no metrics. So I continued to search Amazon and found that We R Memory Keepers had exactly what I wanted. A very large, glass mat (16" x 22" or 40cm x 56cm) and a smaller one (13" x 13" or 33cm x 33cm) that I use for mixing, ink splotching, etc. Both have metric and imperials units.
Why two? I use the small one exclusively as a palette and it's not touching the bigger surface where I do my main work (cutting, folding, glueing). And I can take to the sink where it fits easily into the sink for cleaning.
After using the glass mats for over six months I have to say that I am more than happy with my decision. You can scrub them, scrape them, cut on them with a utility knife, let anything dry on them and it will come off. You can clean them with detergent, turpentine, alcohol and acetone, nothing effects it.
This is the large We R Memory Keepers glass mat I purchased:
And this is the small one:
Hey there everyone, it's me, Arwen from Inky Fingers Society! I wanted to let you know that we may make few cents when you click a link and purchase one of my favorite items on Amazon. This is at no expense to you, Jeff Bezos has to pay me.
I have bought and used every item that I have linked to and wrote about and I only write about items that are worthy of my time.