April's Review	Andrea's Review	Chris' Review	Renee's Review	Pomaika`i's Review

Review by April

Bold, intense, energetic, intricate, striking, and vivid are all words I would use to describe Tinkering Ink's new Retro Metro Collection! As usual, Tinkering Ink has created another truly unique collection and this particular crafter's palette is filled with sumptuous colors and stylish patterns. There is a little something for everyone in this collection and I was anxious to play with it!

For this review I received Tinkering Ink's Retro Metro Complete Collection. The complete collection contained 12 double sided papers, one sheet of custom die cut tab and tags, one sheet of custom die cut alphabets, one package of rub on transfers, and one sheet of coordinating adhesive backed cotton rip strips. With 12 different double sided papers, you actually end up with 24 individual patterns and a ton of possibilities! Each of the 12x12 patterned papers in this collection are acid free, heavy in weight so they are great for altering, and have a 1/2" bar code attached at the bottom that contains the name of the collection, the paper itself, the item number, and Tinkering Ink's website address. The color scheme of this collection consists of turquoise blues, lime greens, bubble gum pinks, neon yellows, carrot oranges, royal purples, dark rosy pinks, sun bright yellows, slightly russet reds, white, and black. There is a large variety of patterns like intricately designed flowers, large and small width stripes, flower vines, and several other nifty geometrical themes. The die cut alphabet sheet contains a total of 44 letters and numbers, and includes a few punctuation marks as well. Each letter is set in one of the coordinating colors of the collection and there are a few extras of the more well used letters. The die cut tabs and tags sheet consists of 15 distinct paper embellishments that exhibit patterns from the collection's papers and come in shapes like squares, circles, tabs and even a 12" border piece. The retro metro rub on transfers come on a 5" x 8" sheet that is packaged in clear plastic and contain 31 transfer images. The transfer designs represent the flowers found in the collections patterns and come in coordinating colors as well as plain black and white. The Rip strips are truly one of a kind, and are basically adhesive backed cotton strips that have matching geometric patterns and colors. They are meant to be ripped off the sheet and either used as is, or created into distinctive embellishments by pleating, scrunching, or ruffling them. There are over 10 different strip choices depending on how you rip them, and you can either keep them in their 12"x12" length, or simply cut them off as desired. A great feature I noticed about the rip strips is that as I used them to create different looks, if I messed up it was very easy to peel them back up or unscrunch them and start again.

For my first project, I slipped my daughters picture into a blank frame and then decorated around it. I added the Retro Metro Betty paper around the picture, and then placed a few flower transfers above that. What I had the most fun with was using the Rip Strips. I tore them and molded them into a flower stem, flower petals, and cute decorative flowers which I placed on top of transfers. I also used a mixture of patterned paper, die cuts, and rhinestones to dress up the flowers. The Rip Strips were a lot of fun to play with and I think with a little experimenting you could make a ton of unique embellishments with them!

Title: lil' Miss Frame
Products used:
Patterned Paper (Tinkering Ink: Retro Metro Collection)
Transfers (Tinkering Ink: Retro Metro Collection)
Die Cut Tabs & Tags (Tinkering Ink: Retro Metro Collection)
Die Cut Alphabet (Tinkering Ink: Retro Metro Collection)
Rip Strips (Tinkering Ink: Retro Metro Collection)
Magnetic Frame (Bazzill)
Rhinestones (Wal-Mart, & Heidi Swapp)
Pens (Sakura, American Crafts)
Stickers (Making Memories)
Ticket Stub (Jenni Bowlin)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

To create my second project, I cut up squares from several of the Retro Metro patterned papers and placed them behind my photos at different angles. I thought the bright colors in this collection looked awesome with black and white photos and even though I used several different patterns together, they all coordinated beautifully. On this particular layout, I used the Rip Strips to create a ruffle that I punched brads through, a couple of small tabs, and to journal on.

Title: She's Actually Five
Products used: Cardstock (Prism Prismatics)
Patterned Paper (Tinkering Ink: Retro Metro Collection)
Die Cut Tabs & Tags (Tinkering Ink: Retro Metro Collection)
Die Cut Alphabet (Tinkering Ink: Retro Metro Collection)
Rip Strips (Tinkering Ink: Retro Metro Collection)
Brads (Karen Foster, & Making Memories)
Pens (Sakura, American Crafts)
Paint (Ranger Paint Dabber)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

I have been waiting to scrapbook one of my favorite pictures from our Disney World trip and I thought the Lola paper from the Retro Metro collection was perfect for it! To dress this layout up, I used Tinkering Ink's Retro Metro die cut alphabet letters, tabs & tags, and transfers. I love working with Tinkering Ink's transfers because I think they are some of the best I have ever used. They transfer so easily and completely and they look fantastic after you apply them. I added a small strip of Rip Strip and then added some glitter glue and journaling to complete the layout.

Title: Magic Carpet Ride
Products used:
Patterned Paper (Tinkering Ink: Retro Metro Collection)
Transfers (Tinkering Ink: Retro Metro Collection)
Die Cut Tabs & Tags (Tinkering Ink: Retro Metro Collection)
Die Cut Alphabet (Tinkering Ink: Retro Metro Collection)
Rip Strips (Tinkering Ink: Retro Metro Collection)
Glitter Glue (Ranger Stickles)
Pen (American Crafts)
Brad (7gypsies)
Paint (Ranger Paint Dabber)
Rhinestones (Wal-Mart)
Stickers (Making Memories)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

There are so many vibrant colors and patterns in this collection that one could create a plethora of original projects and layouts. Since you have the option of so many colors it would be easy to match both color and black and white photos with all of the Retro Metro products. Also with the variety of patterns in this collection, you can create almost any themed layout you desire. The quality of Tinkering Ink's products are always outstanding and a pleasure to work with. At $25.99, you get a large amount of product for a great price when it comes to the complete collection kit. This is a super cute kit and one that I would recommend if you are looking for something fun and funky!

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Review by Andrea

Classic, amorphous shapes transfused with color is what comes to mind when looking at the Retro Metro Collection from Tinkering Ink. Organic is another word that fits it very well too. Imagine flowers, geometric squares and lava lamp flows with mostly soft lines and you've got the type of patterns found in the collection. Add Tinkering Ink's bright, vivid colors to those patterns to get the overload of eye candy!

The colors are often the first thing you notice about Tinkering Ink products - bold, sexy and prominent. Retro Metro has that great pink, lime green and red from one of their earlier collections called Perfectly Posh, some orange from the Gibson line and a unique luscious purple for this series. The 12" x 12" heavy weight and double-sided paper has duplicate patterns on each side with one side having a large version of the pattern and the other having a reduced sized design. Individual elements can be cut out for single use and some have an actual patterned scene that is unique to that page. There are no solid colored full sheets in this collection so many options are available to maximize pattern usage.

There are 12 double-sided sheets to pick from, yielding 24 patterns total. Also part of Retro Metro is a set of 12" x 12" Tabs and Tags. These die cut pieces add a nice coordinating embellishment to any project. The Die Cut Alphabet has mutiple lowercase letters in solid colors making it easy to use with any of the patterns. The Transfers sheet has full color individual pieces that can be used together or separate. The last item included for review were Rip Strips. As an adhesive-backed fabric, these strips can be torn into pieces adding to their texture and function. They stick practically anywhere too!

Tinkering Ink leaves the distressing up to you, so anything goes! For this page, I used paint and markers as my distressing medium on the bold background. The paper is nice and thick making sure that the paper doesn't have a problem with the addition of the liquid and texturizing. The Alphabet really made the title stand out against the busy background!

Title: Full Harvest Moon
Products used: Patterned Paper (Tinkering Ink Retro Metro: Phyllis and Lois)
Alphabet (Tinkering Ink Retro Metro)
Stamp (October Afternoon)
Ink (Tsukineko VersaFine)
Paint and White Pen (Ranger)
Charm (Flair Designs)
Moon Template (Creating Keepsakes)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

This next page used a lot of scraps that I had from this line and the Noir Blanc collection. By using a solid colored background and mats, I could really have fun with the patterns for layering. It's a fun idea to try some time!

Title: Jail Birds
Products used: Cardstock (Prism Exclusives, Celeste)
Patterned Paper (Tinkering Ink Retro Metro: Stella and Gladys plus Noir Blanc)
Grungeboard (Tim Holtz Ideology)
Stamp (Stampers Anonymous)
Ink (Tsukineko VersaFine and Ranger Distress)
Pearlized Sprays (Ranger Perfect Pearls, Distress Reinkers and Mini Mister)
Brad (Making Memories)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

The last project included a pink painted mini mailbox that matched perfectly to the pink in the Retro Metro Collection. I applied the Transfers directly to the metal box with no trouble whatsoever. The Rip Strips pleated well against the metal also. Pieces from the Tabs and Tags sheet added some extra dimension to the otherwise flat decorations. I really loved how the Transfers seemed to melt right into the metal exterior. I loved how the bright colors fit so well with the mailbox.

Title: ATC Mini Mailbox
Products used: Tabs and Tags, Rub-on Tranfers and Rip Strips (Tinkering Ink Retro Metro)
Mailbox (Target)
Letters (KI Memories)
Adhesive (Ranger, Glossy Accents)

Another winning collection from Tinkering Ink! If you need that organic feel, go for the Retro Metro collection. Classic, amorphous patterns with bright, bold color, what else could you need? Distress or leave bold, it's up to you. Try the Rip Strips, you'll have a blast with those! Need a quick border on an altered project? Rip Strips are it baby!

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Review by Chris

Bold, bright, fun and fabulous. It seems as though I use those four words to describe every new collection from Tinkering Ink, and I will use them once again to describe their new Retro Metro Collection. And yet every time I use those same four words, it is to describe a collection totally unique from any of their other collections. How do they do that - use a bright color palette paired with bold designs to create striking and unusual collections time after time? Inquiring minds - at least mine - want to know!!!

The Retro Metro collection contains 12 different, double-sided, cardstock-weight patterned papers. Some of the papers have a larger pattern on one side and the same pattern reduced in size on the reverse. Yet others feature coordinating yet completely different patterns in similar color schemes. The diversity of the designs in this collection is outstanding! There are no solid color papers, but the variety of colors in the collection would make it virtually impossible to include enough variety of solid colors in the paper pack, and matching the patterned paper with coordinating cardstock from my stash was quite easy. Also included for my review were a sheet of tabs and tags, a die-cut alphabet, a sheet of printed fabric "rip strips," and a sheet of rub-on transfers. This is truly a complete collection requiring little else to create fabulous layouts, cards and projects.

My son's long, curly hair from his Sophmore days in high school reminds me of the 70's. The fun and funky papers from Retro Metro match that theme perfectly! I used four of the papers: Bernice, Stella, Lucy and Evelyn (where, oh where did those names come from??? They're fantastic!). A rip strip and the alphas for the title finished the layout. I love the bright colors against the black background. A word about the fabric strip. These "Rip Strips" are printed self-adhesive fabric with little slits cut in one end, allowing the user to rip off a strip. You could also cut your own slit wherever you wanted to rip your own customized strip. The edges are nicely frayed and the strip is ready to use as is, or it can be pleated, folded, ruffled or anything else you'd like. Very unique idea!

Time Flies
Products used: Patterned paper (Tinkering Ink, Retro Metro, Bernice, Stella, Lucy, Evelyn)
Fabric strip (Tinkering Ink, Retro Metro, Rip Strips)
Alphas (Tinkering Ink, Retro Metro, Alphabet)
Rub-on (Tinkering Ink, Retro Metro, transfers)
Cardstock (Prism, Prismatics, black)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

The flower design on the Betty paper is so pretty, I thought it would make a beautiful card just by itself. I used a craft knife to cut some of the petals to give the flowers dimension. Adding a tab and a greeting was all that was needed.

Hi card
Products used: Patterned paper (Tinkering Ink, Retro Metro, Betty)
Alpha (Tinkering Ink, Retro Metro, alphabet)
Round tag (Tinkering Ink, Retro Metro, tabs and tags)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Tape Runner)

Many of the transfers in this collection are perfectly symmetrical as are some of the designs on the patterned papers. I immediately thought of using them back-to-back on a clear card. I cut two of the flower designs from the Maggie paper, placing them back to back on the front of my card. I used 6 transfers to create the three designs on the front. Both the outside and the inside of the front of my card are identical. A strip of patterned paper and a tag stamped with "thanks" completed the inside of the card.

Thanks card
Products used: Patterned paper (Tinkering Ink, Retro Metro, Maggie)
Tab (Tinkering Ink, Retro Metro, tabs and tags)
Rub-ons (Tinkering Ink, Retro Metro, transfers)
Stamp (Hero Arts)
Clear card (Hero Arts)
Ink (Stewart Superior, Memories, black)
Adhesive (Xyron)

What can I say about a company that continues to produce exciting, innovative product? The quality is always outstanding, the designs bright, bold and beautiful. At first, the boldness of the design may not be for everyone. However, I can promise you that once you work with Tinkering Ink's amazing product, you will become a TI addict. I know I am! And this collection has done nothing to cure me of that addiction. "Must have Tinkering Ink!" That's all I have to say!

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Review by Renee

Ask me who my favorite scrapbook company is and I would have to say hands down it would be Tinkering Ink. Their products are always fresh and funky, in bold, bright colors. And for the timid at heart, there are smaller patterns on the second side of most pages. And if that weren’t exciting enough, the lines are coordinated with matching alphas, tabs and tags and other embellishments, depending on the kit.

For this review, I received product from the Retro Metro collection. These papers feature prominently my new favorite color palette of lime green, dark pink, yellow, red, orange and black. The Retro Metro collection features twelve double sided, cardstock weight patterned papers. Each paper features two different patterns to use in your projects. In addition to these papers, the collection includes one sheet of coordinating alphabets, and one sheet of tabs and tags.

We also received a package of rub-ons, called transfers, from the line as well as a sheet of the new rip strips. These are strips of fabric that you tear apart, combining whatever patterns and colors you desire for your project. These strips are one of the newest embellishments made by Tinkering Ink and are really fun to use on layouts to add a bit of texture.

For my first project, I used pieces from the Maggie and Lucy papers (small pattern side)to make a geometric pattern along with my picture. I also used a rub on from the Transfers sheet and two strips from the rip strips. I love the results.

Title: {Cutie Pie}
Products used: Cardstock (Prism Prismatics White)
Patterned Paper (Tinkering Ink)
Rub on (Tinkering Ink)
Rip Strip (Tinkering Ink)
Grommets (Making Memories)
Chipboard Alphabets (American Crafts)
Journaling tag (Making Memories)
Pen (Sharpie)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

For my second project, I used a strip of the Phyllis paper (smaller pattern) coupled with the red and black areas from the rip strips to create a block to pair with my large photo. My son absolutely loved this paper, and loved the large patterned even more than this one. According to him, this paper is “fly” making it the perfect compliment for a photograph of him.

Title: Learn
Products used: Cardstock (Prism Prismatics Black)
Patterned Paper (Tinkering Ink)
Rip Strip (Tinkering Ink)
Cardstock Alphabets (Tinkering Ink)
Buttons (Stash)
Journaling sheet (Making Memories)
Pen (Sharpie)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

For my final project, I made a bookmark for my son at his request. He sat with me as I scrapped and really loved the Phyllis paper. He asked me to turn it into a bookmark, so I couple it with a rectangle of mulberry cardstock and used the cardstock alphabets to spell read. He absolutely loves it and has asked for another to take to school. I still have a little more of this “fly” paper left, so I guess I will be making another bookmark.

Title: read
Products used: Cardstock (Prism Prismatics Seaside collection)
Patterned Paper (Tinkering Ink)
Cardstock alphabets (Tinkering Ink)
Button (Stash)
Ink (Color box chalk)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

This Retro Metro collection is really cute and fun to use. I can see myself using much more from the collection in the future. In fact, I may have to quickly order a few more sheets of Phyllis paper as it seems to be a favorite in our house.

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Review by Pomaika`i

Bright colors and and full of energy is how I would describe Tinkering Ink's Retro Metro Collection ($25.99). Just looking at the papers in this collection will energize you to get moving and get scrapping! Totally the opposite of boring, this collection has comes with 12 gorgeous double sided 12 x 12" papers, one sheet custom Die-Cut Tabs and Tags, Die Cut Alphabet, Rub-on Transfers and a sheet of the cool new Rip Strips.

I was struck at once with the variety of colors and patterns in this collection. The colors range from just black and white, to black, white and red, to lime green and purple, to pink, blue and orange and more! A montage of glorious colors for a variety of scrapbooking projects. Patterns...let's talk about patterns! Dots, squiggles, vines, flowers, stripes, shapes, and squares abound. Large designs are repeated in smaller sizes on the reverse side of the paper, allowing for many creative possibilities. These designs like flowers or shapes are either regularly spaced or randomly placed on the page depending on what side of the paper you are looking at. This is great because you can mix and match or use one or the other for you projects. Retro Metro is a collection with creative flexibility!

My first project is a layout. I used the front side and back side of "Lois" with her squarish motif. Here, the large "squares" and the reverse side small squares allowed me to create a page with design interest with no hesitation or worrying about finding the exact match.

I love the 12 x 12 sheets of Tabs and Tags because having a good variety of coordinating embellishments to choose from made my layout come together super easily. I used one of the large tags for a journal square and a small one as an accent for my title. I added a little rhinestone in the flower centers for "bling."

In the past I wasn't too thrilled with punching out and sanding the edges of the Alphabet Die-cuts, but this time I really came to appreciate having the alphabets available. They were perfect for my title. I didn't have to look high and low for matching alphabets (which I don't have anyway), and I love the look they created for my layout. I think it's great that numbers are included!

60 feet
Products used: Patterned Paper (Tinkering Ink, Retro Metro)
Die Cut Alphabet (Tinkering Ink, Retro Metro)
Tabs and Tags (Tinkering Ink, Retro Metro)
Rhinestones (Rhinestone Party)
Ink (Ranger, Adirondak)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner)

I fell in love with "Flossie" for "her" colors and her cheery feeling. I decided that my light switches needed a face lift. Yuck, green boring green. I cut a rectangle the size of the switch plates, traced the holes, and cut slits to fold the under to the back. I used Mod Podge to adhere the paper to my switch plates after lightly sanding the surface for better adhesion. I decorated some Tinkering Ink Peek-a-Boo Pieces (chipboard), stamped and adhered them to my switch plates. I have to say that though I love the look of the embellished plates, the chipboard gets in the way when I turn the switches on and off and I think if I were to do it again, I would use flat embellishments.

Rip Strips are printed cotton with adhesive backs. The material feels a little like vinyl on the surface and lends a nice texture to any project. Rip Strips come in a 12 x 6.5" sheet with pre-cut "snips" at intervals along the top short edge for easy tearing. As with all cottons, if you snip an edge along the grain of the fabric, then tear it, it tears easily in a straight line. Same thing here. I was able to tear myself a strip of purple with dots to use as accents on my switch plates. I tried pleating the strip, but didn't like the look of it for this project, so I stuck with laying the strips flat. I like the decorative possibilities of the Rip Strips and look forward to trying different things with them in the future.

Switch Plates
Products used: Patterned Paper (Tinkering Ink, Retro Metro)
Rip Strips (Tinkering Ink, Retro Metro)
Peek a Boo Pieces (Tinkering Ink)
Stamps (Hero Arts)
Ink (Ranger, Adirondak)
Pen (Sakura Gelly Roll Glaze)
Adhesive (Mod Podge)

I wanted to take advantage of the double sided nature of Tinkering Ink Retro Metro paper. Since the holidays are coming up, I made some bows to dress up future presents. I used progressively shorter 1 inch wide strips in three sets of four to create three, four-petaled flowers (6", 6", 4"). I layered the three flowers together on top of each other and topped the center off with a little loop of matching paper. I alternated the paper pattern for each layer. The small bows were made with .5" wide strips (4", 4", 3"). I used tacky or liquid glue rather than tape runner for these as they are constantly under stress to keep their form.

The Tinkering Ink Retro Metro Rub-on Transfers are terrific! The designs included coordinate with the whole collection perfectly. You can use them as a single image or use the whole line for more decorative choices! You won't have to worry about hurting your arm by having to rub hard, these transfers do what they are meant to do, transfer to the surface you want them to be on. To go with my bows, I decided to dress up some tags. The transfers look good on these metal charms.

Bows
Products used:Cardstock (Prism) Patterned Paper (Tinkering Ink, Retro Metro)
Charms (Making Memories)
Ink (Ranger, Adirondak)
Ribbon (Offray)
Adhesive (Adhesive Tech, Permanent Bond Glue Runner, Joann's Tacky Glue)

I highly recommend the Tinkering Ink Retro Metro Collection to put some color and energy into your scrapping. You don't have to have any "retro" photos, this collection is fresh and fun! The fun doesn't have to stop with the pieces in this collection. Tinkering Ink also has Retro Metro Beadles (for making paper beads) and a coordinating Doyle Stamp set. Personally, the only element that is missing that I would love to see for this Collection would be some Felt Finery (icing on the cake). However, the pieces in this collection are more than enough to create numerous projects you will love! Another A+! Keep them coming Tinkering Ink!

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