Whats all this QR Code Stuff?

What's all this QR Code Stuff?? 

We live in an amazing digital age that is changing at the speed off light OR perhaps faster with microchips, 3-D printers, QR and BAR codes...

A long while back QR codes seemed to be all the rage...I remember seeing them at events from Home Shows to Pinterest shows. You could use an app from your smart phone to "see" what the person wanted you to. The home show QR code displayed in a frame might link you to their website... all you needed to do was use your QR Code app to scan the code and BOOM you were visiting their site and probably at the page of their "special" from the show. 

StampinUp used them in catalogs in 2014 to take a customer to specific projects... in fact I even bought QR codes from them to use in my cardmaking to add that special touch for my card receivers, unfortunately if you "lost" those in your craft space for 3 years like me they were no longer useable <sigh>. 

In that same timeframe I received a really cool Christmas. The giver had added a QR code designed to share more about the family. I loved it!

Back then I realized that the QR code could be for so-ooo many uses. But then I digress. How did I start down memory lane? 

"Did you know that QR codes can be read directly by YOUR smart phone camera?"

Over a recent weekend our business teams participated in a show. Since we were selling products and each of us was handling their own sales we needed various methods of payment besides cash. The group used Paypal and Venmo which both produce unique QR code identifiers to ensure your customer pays you not another with the same name. That use seemed so far away from the creative uses I had first seen QR codes used for. It brings me full circle to HOW CAN I, the CREATIVE maker use these QR codes for more.

I was thinking...could I invite more people to my blog using a QR code? Thats when I researched and found a website where you can create your own QR code...it is free, and quite varied in application. I decided to start with the most simple and recognizable QR code, black and white blocks. Here it is.

So lets ask a few questions... 

Who is THIS QR code representing? Me or more specifically The Scraproom.

What does this QR code do? It is designed to lead someone, (you) to take action. 

When does a QR code lead you? Hopefully it creates urgency to use your smart phone camera (or QR code reader app to scan the QR image NOW.

Where does it lead you? This QR code is designed to lead you HERE to my blog!

Why? That is a very good question... Our digital age has provided us with so many wonderful tools to make life easier if only we know how to use it. 

I am amazed when I get a Facetime call from my 1 1/2 (now 2 year old granddaughter. Put a phone, or just about any controller in a young ones hands and they seem to intuitively know how to use it. 

If we take a moment we might find the QR code can help us with many areas of life. I'm thinking it could help me keep track (as a sort of cataloging) of my boxed items in my attic and document what is inside.  It might also help me create order from the chaos that is my craft room currently. 

I loved how simple it was to create a link directly to TheScraproom.blogspot.com! I want to explore the more creative QR codes I have seen and try one out! 

FUN NEW TOOLS and TOYS FOR this Creative Junky

Are you a CREATIVE Junky? I am...I feel as though I never get enough and that includes the great new toys being introduced yearly!  

CREATIVATION 2020 happened in January and because of it there is all sorts of BUZZ going on! Youtube videos have been hitting the airwaves showing bits and pieces of the show, demos of exciting new products and lots more. 
Have you heard the quote "There is nothing new under the sun"? Funny how the old can become new again...I watched a video today demonstration a fun new product. Suddenly I had a flash from my past of a really cool toy I had received in my youth. Funny we may have grown up but we still LOVE what we LOVE. 

Check out this fun product, the MOLD PRESS 

from WE R MEMORY KEEPERS.

 Interesting how the company name even connected to that specific memory :)

Were you one of the lucky kids who owned Mattel's VACUFORM? 

They had the best ads!! Curious? Check out this youtube. I loved this toy!  

2020 Addicted to Creativity

Wow! Can you believe we are  2 months+ in to this brand NEW YEAR and a new decade!! Has your world been crazy? Mine has, and it has taken me to new and different paths and brand ways of creating. Those who follow me know I am in love with the arts and I love to experiment with interesting new products, cool amazing techniques I see on Youtube, Pinterest and more but the most fun comes from sharing and seeing the excitement of others as we dive in together. Some use the words "addicted" to describe some new thing that has captured their attention, desires and heart. I then would have to admit having a multi-addicted life when it comes to my world of creativity and I feel ok with that though because our Creator is also! 

One theologian writes:

We reveal His glory when we are creative. It is a part of His nature and He has given us creative powers.  We, His creatures, love to create.  We paint, build, draw, sew, design, mold, form, write, and so many other things – often for no more reason than enjoying the act of doing it.  There is creativity in thought, culture, art and literature, work, economics, and in all other areas of life.

When I read those words I really identified, I am grateful to to enjoy many means of creative expression!

Do you ever think of something you love and say "I'd die without... Art in its many forms is that "love" for me BUT here I am experiencing a very long drought. 

Painting had been a daily expression, I was always in the middle of a variety of pieces whether they were for an upcoming Spring Boutique or for a commissioned artwork... then there was Life Interrupted.

Last year my I had shared a video with my sweetheart. It was intriguing, I  had watched someone  playing with paint in a way I hadn't tried before. A great descriptive would be "LET IT GO, LET IT GO". 

Oh wait a minute, there is a song from kids movie with that song featured, hahaha! 

The video showed something so very simple but so beautiful in the end. 
We promptly assessed our art tools and paint supplies then found ourselves drawn to setting up our own dedicated "Art Pouring" space. Of course we couldn't keep it to ourselves so before long we hosted a Pour Birthday party for my sweet friend Melanie Diane.  That was a year plus ago and it has spurred me to do more. 

It is not where I want it to be creatively speaking but it is growing!

What has been going on in your crafty world friends?