I bought an 18″ straw wreath form at Joanns recently when they were on sale for $2.49 minus another 25%.  I couldn’t pass it up since the 14″ straw wreath was not on sale and would have cost more.  I’d already bought some wire ribbon and mesh that matched.  I have never used mesh and didn’t know what to expect.  I decided to start my wreath by wrapping the form in a couple of layers of the mesh to make sure you couldn’t see the straw.  Since I’ve never played with mesh, here are my observations.  When I tried to pull it tightly around the form, I could put my fingernail through the mesh and tear it, so I had to be fairly gentle with it.  When I was finished, I decided it looked like a cast you would put on a body part and that look was not for me.  Instead of taking the time to remove it, I just covered it with a layer of burlap ribbon I had in my stash.  I think the burlap looks 100% better than the mesh.  My mesh was green to match the checked pattern in my other burlap inspired wire trimmed ribbon. (Try saying that three times fast!)  I think it was the combination of the shine from the mesh and the green that was off-putting to me.  Regardless, I’ve decided I’m not a mesh girl.

I cut my checked ribbon into 15″ long pieces and had a thinner blue burlap (also wire trimmed) that I cut into 6-7″ lengths.  I turned the checked ribbon into what looked like huge bows by pinching the centers and using greening pins to attach them.  I’ve seen a live demonstration of a straw wreath being made and every once in a while, it seemed like they had a problem getting the greening pin into the straw through the plastic.  I never had that issue and was really surprised at how easily I could insert them (although after placing about fifty of them, my wrist and elbow are really hurting.)    The smaller ribbon I used as accents and pinched the centers and inserted them for pops of color.  I had a mesh glittery gold ribbon in my stash (also wire trimmed) that I made loops with and it added a little bit of elegance to the wreath.  All in all, for my first attempt at straw wreath making, I’m pretty pleased with the end result.  I think the wire trim on the ribbon is the key to making a nice looking wreath and hope you think the end result looks as good as I think it does.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder or maybe it should be “to each his own.”  I’m not sure,  but I think every person has a different idea of beauty so the wreath might not appeal to you.  Either way, the video should be up in a week or so (I’m not sure because of the amount of videos Rich has ahead of it.)  Let me know in the comments what you think.  I always appreciate honest feedback, or at least I pretend.

Last year I made a series called Totally Terrific Tags and Trimming.  I know, it’s a hard one to say.  I made a tag that I really liked but started rethinking it this year, and decided it would be a really great Christmas ornament without the tag.  It’s a Christmas tree made out of paper I folded over and over.  Really simple concept.  I bought some really nice 3-d pine cone and other fall and Christmas style metal embellishments from China on Ebay, and thought I would decorate the trees as well.  I have another idea about how to alter them.  The shape of the tree is perfect for the bottom of an angel.  Now all I have to do is find something for a head and make wings and I’m in business. If you have any ideas, please let me know.  I thought about using a big pearl for the head, but it couldn’t be a really white pearl as the paper is old and distressed looking, so the pearl would look really odd (in my opinion.) It could be a little while before this video goes live because, as you know, Rich is kind of backlogged, but I definitely want to give this some air time.

I’m also going to make another paper bag album, only this time I’m going to videotape the process.  I found some cute snack bags  at the Dollar Tree (where else), that have a random pattern on them.  Most of their Christmas snack bags have a pattern that is in an up and down design on the bag.  Since the albums are side to side, those bags won’t work, so I had to do some digging.  I did find two designs that I believe will work well.. It’s just a matter of time until I know for sure.  I do like the idea of them though, and hope I can make them work.  They seem to be a heavier weight than the cheap Walmart ones, but I haven’t opened the bag to check them out in detail.  You get twelve in a pack, which would make two albums.  Not bad for a fifty cent investment!  Those albums use a ton of tape runner, so I’ve pulled out the big pink ATG gun.  That thing is huge and so cumbersome, but it does make short work of gluing paper.  Rich absolutely HATES filling the ATG, and would rather poke himself in the eye than fill it, but it’s on his calendar for this afternoon.  Poor guy!

 

I had a terrific day today.  This morning, I met my two close college friends for breakfast.  We each drive almost an hour to meet in the middle and it makes it so we’re able to see each other at least four times a year.  Since we’ve been out of school since the early 1980’s, it’s a commitment we’ve made to each other over the years to ensure that we never lose touch.  Of course we also keep in touch by email and telephone, but seeing each other is so much better.

The place we meet is by a mall, so Rich and I did a little bit of shopping and couldn’t get over how crowded the mall is for Christmas shopping.  I think I’m out of touch as I am amazed how the “Christmas shopping event” has stretched from Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving), to now having another Black Friday any Friday in November.  I saw Christmas decorations in stores in September.  Are we stretching things just a little bit, or is this a way to make me feel guilty that I haven’t even thought about Rich’s birthday which is the beginning of December, let alone his Christmas gifts.

I think when you are as old as we are, you’ve basically accumulated the things you want and don’t really need much anymore either, so it’s difficult to find gift ideas.  I have a couple of girlfriends that I exchange gifts with and one is retired like I am,  and has everything she needs.  It’s so hard to think of ideas for her and I try very hard to make every holiday special and every gift to have some meaning.  I think I might have one of the photos Rich took of her puppy and have it made into a throw for on her couch.  She loved the album I made her (there’s a video of it on my site and if you search “puppy album”, it should come up for you.

Christmas is such a high pressure time for people, with money and time both at a premium.  I’ve been trying to focus my Christmas videos on one or both of those ideas to try to take some of the pressures off of my viewers/subscribers.  I hope I can do just a little bit to help them get through this very stressful time.  I feel the stress and I’m not really sure why.

 

I have been meaning to make this video for a long time but this was the perfect opportunity to make an ink pad specific to the stamp.
I used Simon Says Stamp Thankful Heart and Printworks Celebrate America stamps for the sentiments.  The flag stamp didn’t have any information on it other than the store it was purchased at and their telephone number from Rubber Monger phone number 928-536-5128. but I don’t know if it is available any longer.
I used Ranger Cut n’ Dry foam stamp pad to create our ink pad.  The first thing you do is place the stamp in the corner of the Cut=n-Dry and then using a Sharpie, trace around the stamp.  Using a black archival ink, stamp inside the box you created and then cut it out with good scissors, I used Tim Holtz scissors.  Once you’ve cut it out, you will color the appropriate colors with dye based re-inkers.  I used Stampin’ Up Real Red and Night of Navy re inkers.  Don’t be shy when you use them and you will only be putting the re inkers on the dark spots that the archival left behind.  All of the white areas don’t need re inker on them.  This ink pad should produce thirty or more images, so it is perfect for Christmas cards.  Once you have inked the entire stamp, place the stamp on the new “ink pad” and try it.  If you don’t have enough re inker on it or you need to put more in an area you missed, now is the time to perfect it.
The process works better if you have a more etched stamp but if you have a stamp that is thin lines, you can use a water brush and move the ink around the image, but if you do this, I’d recommend you stamp on watercolor paper so the paper doesn’t ball.  In the time it took me to stamp one image normally, I stamped five flags.  This process is terrific and I hope you give it a try.
You might try using fun foam instead of the Cut-n-Dry, but the ink would definitely bleed through to whatever is beneath it and that doesn’t happen with the Cut-n-Dry.  You can purchase Cut-n-Dry for $3.74 at Joanns (full price) and $3.82 at Walmart..
I made several cards with this process and showed them on the video.  I used A2 size card bases, 8 1/2″ high and 5 1/2″ across scored at 4 1/4″ on the 8 1/2″ side.
I apologize for the light that showed in the entire video.  Geez.

I have been meaning to do a video that was a throwback to something Tim Holtz and Carol Duvall did on a video that’s now on YouTube for Christmas over ten years ago.  He showed the audience how to make a stamp pad with colors that would be specific to the project you are making.  With today being Veteran’s Day, I decided that this was the perfect opportunity for me to not only make a bunch of cards for service people, but also to use this technique in a video so others can apply it to their Christmas card making.

The video should be live in an hour and I made Rich back burner all of the videos ahead of it, so it would be live on Veteran’s Day.  I was amazed at how quickly I could put cards together once I had the focal point stamped.  When I made a stamp pad with the focal point on it, it was just a matter of stamp and go.  I really think this is the perfect idea for people who make a lot of Christmas cards (or even a few using the same stamp.)  I’m hoping it will be a big time saver for them as well.

My sister loved the Primrose Petals card I made early in my YouTube channel.  I wanted to show you the cards I made that were similar but different to the original card.  I made a lot of sentiments to go inside the cards and showed you how to make these easily in another video, so I linked that video to this one as well.  This video was a way to show you how to make the same card but try to make it look different by changing the colors, papers and embellishments.  The embellishments that were resin flowers I bought on ebay for 94 cents for thirty of them and the item number is  222091402976.  They take a while to get from Japan and they came in a variety of colors,  I really like them.  I hope you like the cards.

Today I focused on cleaning and then went crazy making videos.  I’m so excited about this series of videos for saving time or money for Christmas, that I just can’t stop.  I made three tonight.  The first is a haul video that I end by making a gift out of part of the haul.  The second is how to make your own DIY dry dog shampoo and how to turn it into a gift and the third is how to make your own perfumed powder or perfumed glimmer powder.  All three are very inexpensive and make great gifts (in my opinion.)  I’m hoping people will like this series as much as I am enjoying making the videos.  The upside is that I’m taking care of some of my Christmas gifts along the way.  I love it when a plan comes together!

I’m not sure if I have mentioned this or not, but when Rich and I travel, I always have made a journal.  I include some memorabilia and recap every day, and at the end of every trip, Rich and I share the top three things we’ve eaten and our favorite moment of the trip.  I’ve been wondering if people would enjoy a video that describes my system and to see a few examples of journals I’ve made in the past.  I can’t decide if this is something that people would be interested in seeing or not.  It’s just one of those things that’s been spinning around in my brain while I think through whether I should make the video or not.  Any ideas you have on the subject would be terrific!  It’s always great to get someone else to give me input and I’d really appreciate getting some on this.

I just never know which videos seem to resonate with people.  The glue dot video wasn’t (in my opinion) a new idea, but a lot of people seem to have been unaware that you could make and store your own glue dots.  I’m thrilled when I find a topic that hasn’t been covered repeatedly on YouTube.  It’s not easy to do and sometimes I think everything has already been done on YouTube.  This video is the first of the videos I’m planning to do for Christmas to help save people either time or money and possibly both for the holidays.  There are so many pressures for people at this time of year and I’d just like to give a few simple, inexpensive ideas that might make people’s lives a little less stressful this time of year.

I know that Rich has a big backlog of videos that he needs to upload and I feel sorry for him that I am inundating him with work.  He says he doesn’t mind, but I have been giving him on average, two to three per day to put online.  It’s not easy having me hand a couple of memory cards and some scribbled notes that don’t make much sense, but he does his best with it.

At this point, I’m not totally certain what videos he still has to put up from a couple of weeks ago.  I’m hoping you’ll enjoy them!