My 2017 resolutions are complete.  In my own way, I did channel my inner Jennifer McGuire.  On December 31, 2016, we were at roughly 1,800 subscribers and thought 3,000 was a stretch, but really wanted to achieve that by the end of this year.  Today, we have 3,001 subscribers.  I’m sure a large percentage of that growth had to do with focusing on cards and different techniques that Jennifer McGuire uses, but the fact remains, 3,001 subscribers!!!!!

We uploaded the craft room tour video on October 29, 2015, and I was hoping 100 people would eventually watch my videos.  It is amazing that in a year and five months, we’ve grown to 3,001 subscribers and have on average, five hundred views per video.  Rich and I are so blown away by it and are really proud of what we’ve created.  If we continue growing at our current pace, we will have 5,000 subscribers by year end.  I can’t even begin to imagine that, but that’s what the numbers are saying.  I’m really happy that we’re doing well with the channel and staying true to our original mission and still having fun doing it.

With that being said, today I spent the entire day labeling stamp sets and putting them into cd cases.  It sounds like I would be done, but sadly, I still have several more sets to put into cases.  Rich, on the other hand, spent his day, editing a video I made of a card box.  In theory it was a great idea, but in reality, the video is at 42 minutes and he’s not done with it yet.  Holy cow, I had no idea it was going to be this long.  I wish I could think of a way to shorten it, but I just don’t have a clue.  The card idea was a good one, but I couldn’t find a sentiment that I liked to go with the paper I used, so the sentiment and the paper seem odd together.  I hope people can get past the confusion of that and just watch the video for the technique.  It’s a cool card and I think people should try to make one, but I think they will be put off by the time the video takes to watch.  I feel horrible when a video goes over 20 minutes and have no idea how we could make this into a part 1 and 2.  I really hope we can figure out a way to shorten it.

I went to the dentist today for my regular check up and everything was fine, so no need to sweat for another six months.  Several years ago, my dentist told me he thought I was the biggest baby in the dental chair until he met my mother.  Somehow that made me feel a lot better about myself.  I don’t know why I’m such a chicken, but I am.  I had to have a root canal many years ago and my dentist sent me to a specialist and made sure I had Valium so I wouldn’t freak out.  I took the Valium and about an hour later, I was in the dentist chair and his assistant came in and started talking to me about the procedure.  She told me that in the future, I should consider Valium as it would help me with the anxiety.  I didn’t have the nerve to tell her I’d already taken it (and just think what a mess I would have been if I hadn’t.)

I did my part of the editing on the video of different papers and how they respond to blending alcohol markers, so I’m hoping Rich will get that video up tomorrow.  I also have a lot of stamp sets that need to be put into cd cases, so I’ve been working on that.  It’s a mystery how I end up with so many that need to be put away and a little bit odd when I don’t remember buying some of them.  I’m happy though, when I find sets like this, as it’s almost like getting an unexpected present.  Being ditzy isn’t all bad.

To finish the day, we met a bunch of our college friends for dinner.  It was a really nice night and it’s been fun getting to know the wives, as I graduated with the men and Rich played football with them, so they have that camaraderie that exists when you are teammates.

Although we got home relatively early, I thought I’d want to make a couple of cards, but decided to go to bed.  Sometimes it just goes like that.

I have nights where I can’t sleep because I’ve got an idea spinning around in my head and until I do something with it, like write it down, I just can’t sleep.  Last night was all about blending alcohol markers on different papers.  I was obsessed with the idea of trying to blend them to see if cost would make a difference, or type of paper, etc.  So tonight I tried it on video.  I had a really difficult time trying to find a color family where I had three colors that weren’t necessarily in color order.  I wanted to find a range where there was a big skip in my colors so the markers would have to really blend to make up the difference.  I started with green markers, but one of the three wasn’t wet enough to complete the task (naturally), and I ended up using red.  I’ve always heard that red is one of the most difficult colors to blend, so what better color to choose?  I used DR1, DR4, and DR5.  Oddly enough, the skip from DR1 to DR4 wasn’t very noticeable, but the difference between DR4 and DR5 was.  Sometimes I wonder if they mislabel markers as I’ve got some colors where the higher number is actually lighter than the lower numbered marker.

I used six different papers, some watercolor, some inexpensive and some expensive.  My results were surprising, but I’ve often found this to be the case when I test out a theory.  I have not been impressed with the performance of Neenah Solar White Classic Crest cardstock.  In the video where I tested black inks, Neenah didn’t out perform the other papers, and this was no exception.  I was really happy with my results and hope you’ll enjoy the video as it should be going live tomorrow.

I was really pleased with the video of the card I made for our great niece’s birthday card.  I got such a great response to it and had so many wonderful comments and it really made my day!

Tomorrow I have a dentist appointment and I’m not looking forward to it as I really hate the dentist.  I have pretty good teeth, but just dread the whole experience.  I wonder how many other people fret about the dentist?

I write these daily blogs and sometimes wonder if I should.  I’m not sure if anyone really cares what I do in the course of a day, but since I’ve done it since starting my YouTube channel, I thought I’d continue doing it until I can find a reason to stop.

My channel has been growing steadily, and I was really happy that Jennifer McGuire chose to feature it on her Facebook page, but when I looked at my growth, her Facebook reference only increased my subscribers by an additional 5%.  I guess I was kind of surprised by that, but then I thought about the number of people who would be put off by my hands, and am happy for the 5% increase.  At this point in my life, I can’t remember a time when my hands were “normal” or the last time I ran anywhere.  I mean RAN.  I’m sure it was in college or right after, because a year later, things were already going downhill.  I don’t miss running but the one thing I do miss sometimes, is shoes.  I loved shoes.  High heels, I lived in them.  I loved every kind of high heel and I wore them year round.  No boots for me, high heels all the way.  I used to run on stairs in heels.  I have trouble remembering doing a lot of things, but I can vividly remember running downstairs in our dorm in heels.  It’s weird the things that stick with us.  Maybe that memory is there for a reason, and if so, I don’t know what it is, but it’s forever.

When I was in high school. I took a biology class and the teacher said that things you remember forever are in your chemical memory and things you’ll forget are in your electrical memory.  I’m not sure why, but I decided the moment I heard the difference in memories, that I would put that in my chemical memory.  Well here I am over 40 years later, and I still remember.  Weird.

I’m not sure what any of this has to do with anything, just thought I’d share.  High heels were awesome.

I needed to make a card for our great niece for her 18t birthday and I really liked the stamps from Rubbernecker Sammy and Spot and Pup plus stamps from A Shore Thing from Stampin’ Up that’s retired and is available on Ebay as well as So Happy for You another Stampin’ Up retired set for my sentiment.(also available on Ebay.)

I used a lot of alcohol markers to stamp with from Spectrum Noir.
Rich wrote all of the markers I used on the video so you can see them there and I listed them before I started as well.

I used Versafine Onyx Black Ink to stamp all of my images and put Ranger Clear Embossing Powder over it and then heat set the powder.  This ensures that the inks stay where you put them as well as making sure the ink doesn’t smear when you use the alcohol markers over it.

After coloring the images, I stamped the sand with the Shore Thing stamp from Stampin up using a Stampin’ Up marker in creamy caramel.  I stamped the crab on a piece of scrap card stock and used Really Rust and Only Orange Stampin’ Up markers to stamp the crab. Use the side of the brush tip to ink your stamps or you will ruin your markers.  I fussy cut the crab and then placed him in the sand on the card.  I would recommend that you stamp your crab on the card before putting your sand down (but I forgot to do that.)
I used my 1″ chip brushes from Harbor Freight Liquidators (cutting about 1/2- 3/4″ off the top) to lay down some background colors.  I used Creamy Caramel ink from Stampin’ Up on the sand area and Cool Caribbean Ink from Stampin’ Up for the sky.

I had some cute tear shaped sequins that I got from my friend Bekki, and used them for the rain drops and applied them around the umbrella and in the sand over the dog.  I applied Wink of Stella on the card in the areas that I wanted to look wet, so I put it on the umbrella in the darker areas of the umbrella as well as on the dog where he is the darkest (his back, feet, top of his head) and on the girl’s and dogs scarves as they would be glittery in general. I put foam tape on the back and applied it to a bright pink card base.  This card is 5 1/2″ x 4 1/4″ and the white card stock is 5 1/4″ x 4″.  The white card is Strathmore Bristol paper that is supposed to be great for blending alcohol markers.  (I didn’t really notice a difference, but it gave me an idea to do a video on blending with different papers.)

I used a sparkly pink washi tape for the envelope.

Well, I got my taxes done and didn’t cry or pass out, so it was a good day.  I have to say that the relief I feel when taxes are done is so great, I just can’t say.  So we came home and had date night that involved pizza and a movie with all of the dogs laying on blankets on their own private spots.  Aggie likes to lay beside me on the couch, but gets bored with that after about half an hour, and gets down, then Bella moves from another couch onto the couch with me, and at some point, she moves back to her couch and I have Honey.  Apparently I am the chosen one.  I think they know which one of us will buckle and give them a small bite of pizza crust.  I am a big sucker for a sad dog face.

Rich tried to upload a video today and I had one segment that was corrupted, so he couldn’t play that part.  He asked me to recap it for him so he could write notes about what I did during that segment, went back to the computer and he lost everything he’d uploaded.  He was so frustrated that he’d lost an hour’s worth of work, that he threw in the towel for the day.  It happens.  I’ve lost so many hours of video footage, I can’t even begin to count.  So another day and no video, but he promises me, one will go up tomorrow and I’ll be working on another one to add to his pile.

I have to say that sometimes I just want to throw in the towel on card making.  The last two nights, I’ve made cards and didn’t like them.  The first card was iffy, so I kept the video in case I’m ever seriously desperate to put a video online.  Last night’s card was a total failure.  After I put the Glossy Accents on it, I really thought it was redeemable, but, unfortunately, it wasn’t.  I worked on it again this morning and then decided it was time to give up.  So I deleted the video and the card is sitting on my desk while I contemplate throwing it in the trash.  These are the things that happen when you just don’t have a plan.

I’d had two Rubbernecker stamps sitting on my desk for over a month with a vague idea of what I planned on doing with them.  Tonight I put my plan into action and I finally have a card that is video worthy.  I often wonder if other crafters have as many fails as I have, but it might be too depressing to consider.  I would prefer to think that they fail as many or more times than I do,  as it makes me feel better thinking that way.  Not that I want anyone to fail, I just want them to fail one more time than I do.  That still seems wrong.  I might need to rethink this failure idea.

The other HUGE accomplishment was getting my taxes ready to take to our tax preparer.  Is that the correct term?  I’m not sure.  Anyway, I spent the afternoon going through everything I had, and made sure I’ve got things organized for her.  You’d think I’m getting ready to do surgery on someone with all of the preparation I’ve done.  I’m not sure what’s left for her to do, since I’m so obsessive about making sure I don’t forget to take something with me.  Let’s just hope I’m not crying when I leave there, as I dread sitting there, and break out into a cold sweat when they say, “Let’s see where we stand.”  Yikes!  Oh well, tomorrow is the big day and we’ll wait and see how things go.

I’ve been wanting to try a technique with my peg stamps where I glued a foam circle to the bottom of them and then dip them into white pigment inks to make a circle backing for flowers.  I tried it by itself and didn’t love it.  Then I thought I might like it with embossing powder to make the circles more white.  I hated the texture I got from using embossing powder on kraft card stock.  I’m not sure why the embossing powder bubbled so much, so I re-inked it and tried again.  Still looked bubbled, so as in all things that make me frustrated, I gave up.

I really wanted to make something with a branch and some flowers, so gave that a try.  Then for added color, I added a white gel pen and other gel pens and then decided, why not use some Glossy Accents?  We’re at the drying stage right now and I’m not very hopeful.  Some days I think aren’t meant for crafting.  I’m not sure what the difference is between a successful day and a fail day, but today really feels like a fail day.  Even worse, tomorrow I need to do our taxes as we meet the tax people on Friday.  I hate doing taxes more than just about anything.

When I was a senior in college, my major was accounting.  For my internship, I did personal taxes with a pen and 1040 forms for the entire internship as it was 1981 and personal computers hadn’t been invented yet.  I know, I’m seriously old.  We didn’t have cell phones and when we wanted to call home, we used a pay phone.  Wait, what was I talking about?  Oh yeah, Accounting and doing taxes.  I realized right away, this was not the career for me.  It’s not the best time to decide something that important, one semester away from graduation, but that’s when I knew.  And now I just about get hives preparing to do our taxes, and I don’t even prepare them.  Geez, I’m a mess.

This video was on one of the memory cards that disappeared.  I just found it while cleaning my craft room and I thought, hey, let’s put it up.
I wanted to make a card that was simple water coloring and had a really pretty brown satin ribbon that made the flowers really pop.  I started by using a bunch of Prismacolor pencils in cream, canary yellow, true green, sienna brown, dark green non-photo blue and used a Stampin’ up blender pen to liquefy them.  The stamp set was from Stampendous Build a Bouquet that I stamped with Ranger Archival black ink and the sentiment was from My Creative Times Many Greetings set that I stamped with Black Soot Distress ink.  I cut my flower down to fit on a 4″ x 5 1/4″ green base and then put it on a yellow base that is 8 1/2″ X 5 1/2″ scored on the 8 1/2″ side at 4 1/4″.
I attach the bow to foam tape on the back of the green layer of card stock and then lay it on the yellow base before I tie the bow.  Somehow I find it easier doing things in this order.

I saw a video from 2010 of a lady making a card that was also a box.  I thought it was really unique and it made me think about all of the ways I could use it.  I thought about putting tea bags inside, or decorated paper clips or a bookmark.  In the end, I made one and it was really simple, but my decorations took forever and I probably could have made it a lot easier, but you know me..;  I had to find the most difficult options and then change my mind a couple of times before I was finished.  I started out with paper decorated with tea cups on it and thought, how cute.  But then I couldn’t find a sentiment that worked with it and did find one that I thought one of my college friends would like, totally unrelated to the tea cup paper, but by then, I was committed to the tea cups.  The decorations were vegetables.  You might ask yourself, “What do vegetables have to do with tea cups?  Nothing.  That was kind of my problem.  In the end, I think I made them work together, but it might be a stretch.  I do like the box card idea though, and will definitely be giving it another try.

Poor Aggie is still struggling with peeing on the floor.  I’m not sure what the vet thought we accomplished, because she didn’t give us anything to help Aggie with her bladder.  Since the vet couldn’t find a UTI, but did find red blood cells, she thought it was kidney stones.  She x-rayed Aggie and didn’t find anything, so we went home with a big bunch of nothing to help her with it.  I feel so bad for Aggie.  I don’t think a fifteen year old dog should have to be in pain for no good reason and wish the vet would come up with plan B.