I decided to do a haul video with the things I bought yesterday at A C Moore and Michaels plus the Dollar Tree.  I had bought a large pad of lined post it notes as well as a set that goes with stationary like a small miniature post it note pad, and matching clips.  I decided to make a set to take to our friend who fell and is in assisted living until she heals.  I thought it might come in handy to have a pen, pad of paper and clips to keep by her bed to remind her of things the doctor says, or items she wants her daughter to bring her.  I think the set came out really cute and made a video combining the haul with the stationary set.

I also made a birthday card video and am pretty happy with the results.  Some days my videos come out a little off because I sound confused.  It’s not that I’m confused, I just can’t do two things at once.  Isn’t that typical?  So these two videos both sound like I’m very distracted, when I’m really just off my game.  Some days just go that way!

I really should stop watching Lindsay the frugal crafter, and I’m not kiddding.  She makes me think I could be a painter, a jeweler, an artist.  In general, she makes me think I can do things I probably can’t.  It’s not that I don’t want to do these things.  It’s that I don’t have the years of training she’s had.  She makes me think I can pick up a paint brush and voila, painter!  It hasn’t stopped me from buying tools she recommends or from giving some of these things the old college try.  Wow, there’s a saying that really needs some background info.

From English Language and Usage—A newspaper column by that title by Billy Sunday which has a 1917 copyright by The Bell Syndicate Inc. Appears in an Elyria Ohio paper October of 1918.

Actually, the evangelist puts the expression on the lips of the great Giants manager John McGraw who after watching an rookie outfielder just out of college miss a heroic catch which resulted in a homer. While the “sapient birds of the Giants gave the kid the cackle” McGraw is quoted as saying, “That’s the eye, young fellow. The old college try.”

 

So the phrase dates back 100 years.  Pretty impressive that someone (namely me) is still using it today even if it has nothing to do with sports.

Regardless, I drew an artichoke with oil pastels and wasn’t overly disappointed with the results.  But I would love to be able to paint with watercolors.  So based on Lindsay’s recommendation, I set out to A C Moore today to buy a small set of travel watercolors.  Did they have them in stock?  No, but I did find out that they would special order them for me but can’t guarantee an arrival date.  I made my order and am breathlessly awaiting the arrival of my new kit.  I plan on painting very small images so that I don’t feel badly when I have to throw them in the trash.  If I ever get to the point that I’m clear on the color wheel, I may even be able to blend colors on my own.  I’m not holding my breath for that. I know that Lindsay has been painting since she was a small child.  I’m 56, so if I’m able to make a color other than mud, I’ll be thrilled.  Hey I might even be happy if I make mud,–there’s a lot you can make with mud.  There’s mud, dirt, dirty things, brown things, the list goes on and on.  The bottom line is I need to give this a try or I’ll never know if I can do it or not.  Besides, I’ve got Lindsay to show me the way.

I found this lovely old wicker rocker at a garage sale. It didn’t have a seat anymore but that didn’t bother me. There is an “X” in the base that was all I needed to take something old and make it new again. This rocker is supposed to be 80 years old, but you can be the judge of that. It was in excellent condition (other than the missing seat), and I thought it would be perfect as a planter for on my front porch. I took a large plastic planter and filled it with a variety of plants and good potting soil. I dropped the plastic planter into the spot where the seat would have been, and rested it on the “x” below. I took moss that you can buy at the Dollar Tree and placed it around the pot to cover the base of the chair and something old is now new again. Since I paid $20 for the chair, I didn’t think it was too expensive, considering you can spend more than that on an inexpensive planter, and this looks much better. I strongly recommend you looking for chairs like this one at flea markets, garage sales, thrift stores or your grandma’s attic. I also think a child’s chair would work well for this project and already bought a chair to make for a friend. I hope you’ll check out that video as well.

Some days you just want to hang out and do little or nothing, so we went to see “Jason Bourne.”  There’s nothing like watching a good action movie on a Tuesday afternoon and eating so much popcorn, you feel kind of sick.  Of course as soon as we got home I started thinking about my next video and some cards I need to make.  I need to make a couple more sympathy cards, a birthday card and a thinking of you card.  I didn’t want to make any more sympathy cards until I got a new set of sentiments.  I think it’s important when you are making cards for someone’s loss that you really say something that shows how much you care.  I don’t really like “with sympathy” or “for your loss” as neither really says much in the way of “I am so sorry for your pain and for the heartache you are experiencing.”  Isn’t that what they should say instead?  I found a stamp set that had a lot more “heart” in it and it finally came today.  I’m going to get serious about making the next two cards now and get them mailed.

As for the birthday card, it’s for a friend who is in his early thirties. I have this funny herd of animals stamp that will make a great card for him.  I even think I’ll be gluing some googly eyes on it.  I’m rolling my eyes even considering the use of googly eyes, but I guess I’ve finally turned into my mother.  Yikes!  I think I’ll watercolor the animals and make them really frisky.

The last card is a thinking of you and it’s for our friend who has been extremely ill.  I’ve been trying to send him cards every couple of weeks so he knows we are thinking about him.  We’ve been friends since college, 1978 is a really really long time ago.  He was so much fun and so full of life, that I can’t even begin to imagine him ill.  I have so many photographs from those days and he was always doing something fun in them.  I’d like to have the chance to visit and remember some of those crazy times with him. One of his son’s is 20, and  I think he would love to hear all about some of the things his dad did when he was young.  I think we all love to hear stories about our parents.  Although it was a lifetime ago to his children, to us it seems like yesterday.  Life is funny that way, isn’t it?

I thought it would be fun to make a project that I could make and stamp a bunch to give to my local library for a kid’s art project.
My card stock was 8 1/2″ tall x 3″ wide and I used a variety of colored 65 pound card stock.  If you use tape runner, you can attach two of them together to make a thicker book mark as well as ensure the alcohol ink doesn’t bleed through to the back of the book mark.  I used a monster stamp from Woodware as well as a giraffe stamp from Penny Black and a To and From stamp.  I used a variety of alcohol ink markers from Spectrum Noir, as well as Bic and Sharpie markers to color my monsters.  I also used a white Uni Posca paint marker on the teeth of my monsters and the eyes of them.  I used a black gel pen and drew around the edges of all of the monsters and outlined their teeth and eyes.   I cut a piece of clear contact paper about 3 1/2″ wide and the length of the width of the contact paper then pulled enough backing off of the contact paper to lie the length of my bookmark on it.  Then I laid the bookmark on that contact paper and started pulling the backing off of the rest of the contact paper and carefully covered the other side of the bookmark with my contact paper.

I decided I’m going to start making projects for the kids at my local library so I made a bookmark and stamped a bunch of them to give to the library.  I’ve given them a lot of markers and colored pencils and scrapbook paper, but never anything they could use to keep kids occupied.  I love the library and donate money there in memory of people who have passed away instead of flowers.  If they designate where they want gifts to be sent, then I send the money there, but otherwise, it goes to the library.  Rich and I really enjoy spending time at our local library and I’m crazy about reading.  Rich reads a lot on vacation, but normally, reads magazines at home.  I only read magazines on vacation and always take a lot of books with me when we go on trips.  I have a Kindle but prefer reading the old fashion way.  I love the smell and feel of books and hope that libraries do not become obsolete in my lifetime, but they probably will.  I remember when we were in school and had to write term papers. It seemed we would spend forever doing research in the library.  I wonder if kids do anything but use the internet for research today.  Probably not.

At least little kids still read books the old fashioned way and my bookmarks will go to good use. I’m going to stop by and ask if there are any other projects they would be interested in having me make for the kids who spend time there.  It’s a great place for kids to go, especially when it’s hot and they don’t have air conditioning in their homes.   It’s also a great place to donate craft supplies that we no longer need or  want.  Libraries are always looking for crafty ideas to occupy young minds.

I made another sympathy card today and had one complete fail and then a card that I think will be ok.  I’m starting to think that my cards look a lot alike.  I like to mix the medium I color with, but generally, my cards are fairly straight forward.  I think a lot of card makers have a distinctive style.  I’m not sure exactly what my style is, but I think it usually involves layers, fun foam, a large open stamp that I can color, and some type of coloring medium. Oh, and of course, ribbon.  I need to break out of my box and make different cards that don’t resemble anything I’ve made before, but the times I’ve tried to make a change, the card isn’t worth sending and ends up in the scrap pile.

I do admire other card makers and their styles and especially Lindsay, the Frugal Crafter, because her cards are never the same and that really impresses me.  She tries all kinds of techniques and layers things you wouldn’t think would go together, but when she tries it, they do.  I realize that she has been making cards for a very long time, but I wish I had more of her creative vision.  I’m going to need to break out of my comfort zone and try something new and different.  It could be soon!

I’ve been looking for new ideas for a background for my YouTube crafting videos and found this roll of wallpaper for 25 cents at a yard sale.  You can always find wallpaper at thrift stores as well or ask friends and family for their old wallpaper..
I used my old background as a base, but a poster board from the Dollar Tree for 69 cents will work, as would a piece of cardboard (chipboard), or nothing at all.  Just folding a piece of wallpaper in half and gluing it together should work just find.

Measure the length of wallpaper you want for your project.  In my case, the width of the roll of wallpaper is perfect for my needs.   I attached a piece of 1″ wide double sided tape (you could use wet glue or any other type of adhesive) across the bottom of the front of my poster board and across the top of the back of my poster board.  I wrapped the wallpaper around the back of the poster board and  folded a couple of inches around the bottom front and made a fold at the bottom.  I removed the backing of my double sided tape on the bottom front of my poster board, and pressed the wallpaper into the tape.  I then lifted my poster board and removed the backing from the double sided tape that was on the top back of the poster board and keeping the wallpaper straight, pressed it into the tape and made another fold at the top of the poster board.  I added another piece of double sided tape across the top and middle of the poster board, removed the backing off the top piece and pressed the wallpaper into the tape, then did the same with the middle.  I ended by putting double sided tape over the wallpaper at the bottom of the poster board on the front, removed the backing, and pressed the wallpaper into the tape.  I then cut the wallpaper so it was even with the bottom of the poster board.
The thing that is great about this, is that wallpaper won’t reflect the lights and would be perfect for photographing things you want to sell on ebay, act as a background for any kind of smaller photography, as well as act as a background for YouTube craft videos.  I think it’s a great use of a product that normally ends up in the trash.
Best prices I have found on double sided tape are at Punch Place Plus. com for 30 yard rolls and Ebay.  On Ebay, I like the seller named my_1989 as his prices are low for 10 yard rolls.  The only drawback is waiting for their tape to come from China.

I bought a bunch of stamps from Joanns.com from a company called Woodware and I am crazy about them.  They have so many really large stamps that are perfect for coloring and I am OBSESSED with them.  I’m not sure exactly how I’ll store them, but will probably have to revert to the three ring binder system as they are too big to fit into the cd cases that I have been using. I have to say, I am really loving the cd case system, especially when I watch them on videos.  You can clearly see the stamp set, the name of the maker and the name of the stamp set from the label I attach to the top.  For me, I can readily find the sets I’m looking for and have them categorized by sentiment, animals, flowers, and other in my storage case, so I know where to look to find the stamps I’m looking for.

But back to Woodware.  I think their stamps are really interesting and classic so they won’t go out of style soon.  Speaking of classic stamps, I found another Carolyn Shores Wright bird stamp that I have never seen before.  I didn’t care that I had to pay too much for it, because I know I’ll use it a lot.  It’s two birds sitting on a limb above what looks like a frame and inside the frame is a sentiment.  I think the sentiment is fine, but I think I’ll be masking it a lot and putting my own inside.  I’ll be stamping and coloring it today and a video of it will go up in the next few weeks.  I have to say few weeks because Rich is so backlogged with videos, I’m not sure when he will get to it.  I think he has seven or eight that he needs to put up, including an album that will take him a long time to edit because it involves several small clips.  He’s a trooper though, and has been working out all of the kinks we’ve had.  The audio is now fixed and the only thing that was left was to make sure the music volume was the same as my voice.  He corrected that in today’s video of the background out of wallpaper, so we are on a HUGE roll and I am thrilled!  YAY!  Life is GOOD!

I found a really cute little kids’ chair at a garage sale with a wicker seat.  I’m not sure about the color of it, but I think it will be a great planter once I’ve refurbished it.  I almost hate cutting the wicker off the seat because it is really cute, but the wicker doesn’t really work for my purposes.  I have a very good friend who has a lake house and I’d like to make a gift for her.  She just had a huge tree removed from her front yard and isn’t able to grow anything there.  Because it was such a large tree, the stump has left a rather sizable mound behind and the chair should work perfectly there.

Becky’s been through a rough couple of weeks with her mom, who had a horrible fall resulting in breaking her hip as well as needing screws and plates to repair it.  I think Becky would benefit from a little “thinking of you” gift and I’d like to turn the chair into that present.

I need to make a trip to see her mom, so I should get serious about refurbishing the chair today.  The reburbishing will require a trip to my local plant store, where they are offering huge discounts on their hanging planters.  I’ll take the hanger off and drop the planter into the chair to complete the project.  Luckily, I was at another sale where the seller had a bunch of silk flowers, bags of moss accessories for wreaths and little embellishments that will work for this project as well.  All in all, it was a great day to find things to remake a child’s chair into something cute.