Imaginisce I*Rock Tool & Gemstones

Hi Everyone!!

I hope you're having a wonderful weekend so far.

Today I wanted to share with you my experience with the new Imaginisce I*Rock Tool & Gemstones.

If you haven't heard of it, it's a heat tool that will set gemstones that have a heat sensitive adhesive on their backs. I could not wait to get my hands on this!!! So when Vic sent me an e-mail about a huge sale on them @ Scrapbook Warehouse I ordered it right away!

Depending on where you get it the tool it's self is about $9.00-13.00.

The gemstones come in large containers (below) which range in price from $10.00 - 13.00 and have approx. 800 gemstones of various sizes and colors. - Clear, Pink/Black/Clear which come in multiple sizes

and Assorted Colors which all of the gemstones are one size.

There is also in this same line nifty little containers ~ they actually remind me of lip gloss bottles~ which contain metallic, mirror or pearl accents. (shown at the bottom of this photo). These bottles run anywhere from $3.00-4.00 and contain about 300 little stones.

Imaginisce also offers smaller packages that include a small stencil which will aid in gemstone placement. I didn't buy any of those....I don't follow directions very well and I like to do my own thing ;) But they run about $3.00 - 5.00 and contain a stencil, a few flowers and 100 gemstones.

O.k...now you're asking why I couldn't wait to order it right????

Well I am cheap (as you well know) and I though I love the look of the sticky gemstone flourishes and other nifty icons I just can NOT bring myself to pay $4.00-10.00+ for a sheet of stickers which might have 1-4 designs on the sheet!!!

I just won't do it!

So I did a little figuring...

Most of the store bought/pre-made designs contain anywhere from 20-70 gemstones...some have far more and others less but that's a good range. So I averaged it out to about 50 per design. Each of the large containers hold 800 gemstones - divided by 50 per design means you could in theory make 16 designs from one container. A container is 13.00 (if paid full price) divided by those 16 designs means you'd be paying about $ 0.81 cents per design.....a FAR cry from 3.00, 4.00 and up per design!

I for one think that's a pretty darn good deal!

Now, my experience....

The tool takes 3 AA batteries which I loaded just as I should. I then proceeded to add some gems to various cards I had made. Worked great for about the first 2 cards or so then not so good... You have to slide to on/off switch forward then press on the little button. Well, my switch stopped working :(

So I e-mailed Imaginisce... They have great customer service and knew about the flaw and promised to send me a new one which they did! She assured me this tool works great and should not break like it did.

Immediately I had trouble with the battery door on the replacement... It kept wanting to pop off (as you can see) so I had to hold it in place to make it work. This second tool worked pretty good for about the first 3-4 cards or so and then the little center button went down and wouldn't come back up again. It stopped working too :(

I haven't e-mailed them again but I will on Monday to see what they say.

BUT, in the mean time I have found a way cool alternative....

My wood burning wand!

It doesn't hurt the gemstones or other stones one bit AND the best part is that the wood burning wand works much quicker than the I*Rock tool did anyway.

USING the I*ROCK GEMSTONES -

They are very easy to use....simply pick up the gemstone and place it where desired....

(This is one of the nifty little tools to help pick up the smaller gemstones)

Touch the tool or wood burning wand to the top of the gem for 5-10 seconds (depending on how hot it is and which tool you're using.). Some people say they have trouble knowing when it's set but I can actually feel the gemstone sink a little bit when the adhesive on the back melts. I can also see a slight ring of clear adhesive come out around the edges. If you're unsure you can heat it, let it cool a few seconds then try to move it.

That's it!

Here are a couple flowers I added colored gemstones....

If you've noticed in the past few days I used several on the cards I made using my new stamps....

Here is one using the Pearls....

and the gemstones....

Now, I have to say I'm not too taken with the tool it's self since I've had so much trouble with them right out.... I've seen a few videos on You Tube where people just rave about them ~ Maybe I've just gotten a couple duds but I can't honestly say I'd recommend the tool until they get all of the bugs ironed out.

The I*Rock Gemstones though are another story! I would HIGHLY recommend them to everyone!!! They are the best ~ easy to use, inexpensive for what you get and very beautiful. Not only that but you're free to create whatever design your little hear desires!

So there you go...

my Ink Stained opinion on the I*Rock Tool & Gemstones!