I’m really excited that we might have found a solution to the audio problems we have whenever we switch to a new video.  I’m so frustrated that you can almost never hear the opening to my videos and it is literally making me lose my mind.  Every time I listen to the opening line, I cross my fingers that Rich got the audio to link.  More often than not, the audio doesn’t sync for at least a couple of seconds and that’s unacceptable.

So at lunch today, Rich and I were talking about the problem and trying to decide just what the cause could be.  I thought we had tried everything.  I started asking about how over YouTubers are able to fade in and out from one sequence to another and Rich said, “Sure, we can do that.”  I asked if that might solve our audio problem and he thought there was a chance that it could.  So in the next few videos, he’s going to give it a shot.  I really hope he finds a solution to it because the software company couldn’t help him and their tech support people couldn’t, so it’s up to us.

My goal for the next few months is this.

1.  Stay in frame 100% of the time.
2. Make sure the audio and video sync
3. Find good transitions from the end of one segments to the next.  Right now we have the same problem with the audio cutting out and it is horrible for everyone, especially the viewer.

You would think I could make my timeline a lot shorter, but frankly, we have been working on this audio mess for a long time and I’m not sure what it’s going to take to fix it.

 

I realize that my blog is about crafting, but I need to talk about more than that today.  If you watch my videos, you’ve noticed that I send a lot of “thinking of you” cards.  I’ve mentioned that I have two friends who are ill.  My heart is heavy as last night a lovely wonderful woman named Tammy passed away from brain cancer.  She and I worked together for many years and I watched her sons grow from very young, to adult men.

When her boys were in first and second grades, they had a day that you could bring your mother to lunch.  Tammy asked me if I wanted to come with her and of course, I said yes.  The boys were so happy to see her and talked throughout the lunch period about their day and things going on at school.  They were so excited to see me and made sure I liked my peanut butter and jelly sandwich.  I’ve never forgotten that day or how much she loved her kids and how much they loved her.

When I heard she was ill, I called her and said I’d do anything she needed including making sure her son could come home from college to see her whenever he needed.  Within a couple of weeks, we got a call from him and asked if we could bring him home.  It never crossed my mind to do anything but help him.  I knew how much he loved his mother and his desperation to see her.  We had a couple of hours to reconnect with him and we were glad to spend the time together.

Tammy divorced when her kids were very young and raised her boys with the help of her mother and her sister.  A few years ago, she found the man of her dreams and they were married in September.  We had lunch together a couple weeks after the wedding and she said she was a Mrs. now and giggled really hard as she was so happy and proud to be his wife.  I can’t help but cry when I think about that moment and how fleeting life can be.

She knew she was sick and wore her wig with pride.  She’d talk about how itchy it was and would pull it off without hesitation.  That’s one of the many things I loved about Tammy.  It didn’t bother her that she was bald (at least she never acted like it did.)  She never complained about her disease or the fact that she wouldn’t see her granddaughter grow up.  She always had a big smile on her face and seemed determined to live forever.  The last time I spoke to her a couple of months ago, we were going to have lunch, but Tammy had a cold and didn’t want to expose me to it.  So I was going to call her in a couple of weeks.  I will never forgive myself for not calling soon enough.  A couple weeks later, hospice was called in and my calls to her cellphone went unanswered.  I’ve continued to send cards to her almost weekly and  miss her sweet personality and smiling face.  I’m so angry that she that she spent so many years alone and finally found her true love only to lose everything.  I’ll miss her very much and know that her sons will carry on her legacy of love and laughter.

The wedding card is for my friend who is getting married and has a denim and lace theme.  I already made her a denim and lace card for a late engagement card, so this card just references the colors of navy and white.
I used Recollections 110 pound white card stock from Michaels for the card base.  It is an A2 size card which is 8 1/2″ long scored at 4 1/4″ and 5 1/2″ wide.  I cut a piece of green patterned paper 2 1/2″ tall by 5 3/8″ wide and cut two pieces of a different green patterned card stock at 1″ x 4″ long and two pieces of navy blue card stock that were 1 1/8″ x 4 1/8″.  I used one piece of plaid cardstock that was 1 1/2″ x 4″ long and a piece of navy that was 1 5/8″ x 4 1/8″ long.  I used my Misti to put the sentiment on the inside and it was from MSE the set is called Hand Written.  The ink I used was a Memento Dew Drop called Bamboo Leaves.  I used plastic embellishments from Stampin’ Up called Adornments Dahlias that were retired and can be found on ebay.  I put three of the dahlias on the widest plaid paper centering them on the paper. The glue I used is from Scotch.  I used Stormy Sky Distress Ink and distressed the edges of the card front.  I took the three small papers and layered them on the navy blue backing and then put dimensionals on the back of them Then I layered the 2 1/2″  piece of green in the center. I put the three strips centering the middle wider one and then putting the two matching ones on either side spaced the same distance from the middle piece.  This card could be used for really any occasion.

I need to make a video for my friends and family as they don’t know how to subscribe or how to leave comments.  I’m not sure how I figured both out for myself, usually I ask Rich for help with things I’ve never tried.  I know I just winged it and left the first comment for my favorite crafter, Lindsay.  I had a heck of a time trying to leave comments and then one day it just worked.  I’m not sure if I wasn’t signed in or what I did wrong before, but all of a sudden, paydirt!

Friends and family leave a lot of thumbs up in Facebook, but I’m pretty sure it’s because they don’t know how to leave them in YouTube.  My sister says signing in and leaving comments work differently when you are using different types of devices.  That could hamper my tutorial as I only use a laptop.  No cellphone, I Phone, tablet, just a laptop.  I’m not sure what I’ll be able to do once they eliminate laptops.

I do need to get serious about setting up Instagram because A C Moore want to feature my channel on their social media that includes Instagram.  I’m thrilled and hope that it actually happens, but need to do a few things first.  Like set up Instagram and get my photos loaded to it as well as make a bio for it.  It’s so exciting and it’s something that means a lot to me because it will allow people with physical limitations to have access to my channel.  I’m thrilled to be considered!

I spent all day finishing the album and making the wedding card.  After the recipe box I made for my niece, I’m a little skittish about whether or not the bride will enjoy the album.  She’s pretty close to my age group, so even if she doesn’t like it, I’m sure she’ll make sure I think she does.

This marriage has been a long time in the making.  They met as kids and worked on each other’s farms and were family  friends.  The bride always had a crush on the groom, (and vice versa) but  didn’t want to be a farm wife, she wanted to see the world.  After living a very full and interesting life, her marriage had ended and she was home for her high school class reunion.  She saw the groom and  started talking through Facebook and eventually started dating long distance between Florida and Pennsylvania which lead to her relocating back to Pennsylvania and the life of a farm wife.

They are so sweet together, he’s tall and sturdy and she’s very petite.  It’s so wonderful to see a couple who have virtually known each other all of their lives finally find true love,  and it’s written clearly on both of their faces.

Today was their wedding which was on a hilltop on their farm.  We were lucky to be invited to the reception and I’ve never seen the groom smile so much or so big.  He was so cute.  The bride glowed, especially when she was looking at her groom.  It’s a wonderful thing to find your soul mate when you are sixty years old.  Love is the best of things at any age, but somehow I think you appreciate it so much more when you’ve lived a while.  So congratulations Lynne and Bob, we are so happy for you both.  It only gets better from here.

I couldn’t sleep last night because I was fretting about making sure I finished the album in time for the wedding reception tomorrow night.  I need to make a bunch of photo corners and decided on an easy way to do them.  I’m going to take the scraps of paper I cut from the ends of the pages that are in the album and put tear tape on the back of them.  Then I’m going to take my photo corner punch and punch out a bunch of each page and include them in a homemade matching envelope that I’ll put in the album.  With the photo corners included, all the bride will need to do is pull the corners out of the envelope and pull the backing off of the tear tape and put her photos in place and adhere them with the corners.  I thought it was a terrific idea.  Now all I have to do is make sure it actually works.

I bought heart shaped buttons that Rich is going to cut the loops off and I’ll apply them to my pull tabs that I bought for on each journaling card.  If those work, this project might actually come out looking pretty great.  I know you are crossing your fingers for me and no matter what, I’m sure this bride will be appreciative.  I’m really looking forward to seeing her reaction because she’s been really supportive of my YouTube channel and the crafty things I’ve made for her.  Now all that’s left is making the card–a piece of cake compared to the album.

I found the notebooks in the $1.50 section of Michaels.  They were two to a pack and are well made.   The ones I bought were 5″ tall and 3 1/2″ wide so I cut my paper 5″ high by 7 1/2″ wide and scored it at 3 1/2″ and 4″ on the 7 1/2″ length.
I covered the outside with a cute designer paper from my stash and used tear tape for my adhesive.  I used a 2 1/2″ circle punch on light pink card stock and a 3″.scalloped circle punch in orange to match the background.  I used the following Peg Stamps from Rubber Stamp Tapestry.  They are from the Brambly Rose set.
Sprig Crackled
Small Brambly Rose
Leaflet Rose

The colors I used are from Memento Dew Drops and are:  Espresso Truffle, Sweet Plum, Elderberry and Northern Pine.  I used some alcohol markers in coordinating purples to fill the roses in with color.

The pens were in a set of five from the Dollar Tree and I used the same paper and wrapped it around the pen with a strip that was 3/4″ wide and about 6″ long.  I lined the image on the back of the book with the paper making room for the pen.  I put tear tape inside the strip up to where the pen was and then put more tear tape on the front of the strip and lined the strip up with the pattern on the back of the book and then attached the strip to the back of the book.  You may need to cut some off as you won’t need a really long piece on the back.  I attached the scallop circle with tape runner as I did with the circle.  You could put dimensional foam tape under your image but I thought mine would go inside a purse, so I didn’t want to have anything get pulled off when it’s pulled in and out of the purse.

Lindsay the Frugal Crafter has a great video making labels with her peg stamps aka Rubber Stamp Tapestry stamps.  The link to it is  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziutWsP05j0

Lindsay’s discount from Rubber Stamp Tapestry is 20% off through 7/24/2016 and the promotion code is LABELS to get the discount.

I hope you enjoy this video.

https://www.youtube.com/edit?video_id=I0snxOpldg4

I went to some garage sales today and found something that I needed but felt was an unusual acquisition for a garage sale.  I found strips of fleece with paw prints on them.  I’ve been looking for fleece blankets to cut into strips to then turn into, get this, dog toys.  What are the chances that someone would have already cut paw printed fleece into strips, and have it in three different colors, exactly what I need?  Sometimes it’s almost unreal how I find things I need but just haven’t taken the time to buy in a store.

I’m still diligently working on the photo album for my girlfriend’s wedding this weekend.  Luckily it is on Sunday, so I have time to finish things.  I went to Joann’s today and bought some additional things I needed.  I am putting tags in jeans pockets inside the album.  I thought the tags could use something interesting to pull them with and found some heart shaped plastic white buttons.  They’ll work great once I get the backs taken off, which is clearly a job for Rich.  I also bought some Tim Holtz vintage looking pulls to attach the buttons to.  So far I’m pretty happy with the album.  I’ve been videotaping bits and pieces of it, but it’s really hard to tape a project like that because there are so many little components and I think it looks really choppy when I’m done.  I think I might just show a few pieces and then do a walk through of it.  It would definitely make for better viewing.

I had kept all of my acrylic stamps in 3 ring binders, but realized I don’t use them because the binders are too cumbersome for me to use.  I had bought some used stamps from a lady that stored hers in CD cases and really liked this storage method.  I was at a garage sale where they were giving away a milk crate full of CD cases and I started the process of converting all of mine over.  I have to say, I’m using the stamps more and finding sets I forgot I owned.  This system works well for me.  I have a wooden storage box that I have them separated by the following categories–animals, flowers, sentiments, backgrounds and other.  They are much easier to find and the wooden box I found (at a garage sale) has allowed me to find the sets I am looking for almost instantly.
If you go to thrift stores, they sometimes get a bunch of empty cd cases and have trouble selling them.  You can ask if they have any to sell.  They just might give them to you.  Same with garage sales, you might find them for little or no money.  Check your basement or attic and you might find the ones you used to have.  One additional idea is asking friends and family for their old cd cases.  I’ll bet they’d have enough for you to finish the project.   If all else fails, you can purchase them from Amazon.  Make sure you buy the standard size and not the slim as the slim is to narrow to hold your stamps.  Here’s an example of one you can buy that you’ll use the screwdriver to remove the black insert, you’ll copy and paste the information below.

https://www.amazon.com/Premium-Standard-Single-Black-Jewel/dp/B002ROILDA/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1469112968&sr=8-1&keywords=cd+jewel+cases+100+standard

Here’s what I’ve been doing.  Take a flat head screwdriver and stick it between the outside cover and the inside plastic piece and pull them apart.  Recycle the inside piece and the paper inside if possible.  Cut your stamp sets to fit inside and make sure your images face the outside of the case so you can read them easily. Use glue dots to attach everything to the inside of the case.  Using your label maker, write the name of the company and the set and attach it to the end of the cd case that doesn’t open.

https://www.youtube.com/edit?video_id=qOiXdGc8T3U

I covered a small notebook with designer series paper and then made a circle and covered it with rose stamps.  I think it is one of the best things I’ve ever done.  It was so simple, but yet looked so lovely when I was done.

I’ve been watching Lindsay’s videos with peg stamps and of course needed to order more for myself.  I really love them and they are so easy for me to use.  Of course it doesn’t hurt that Lindsay offers a coupon code and they ship them almost instantly.  I love the owner as well.  Rebecca, the owner,  has been so supportive of my channel and given me so much great advice about YouTube and marketing my brand etc .  She’s also referred me to other customers of hers that have physical limitations.  How’s that for a great company?  She’s a really lovely woman and one of the nicest people I’ve encountered.  When I started the channel, she reached out to me and asked if I would test her stamps to tell her if they would work for people with hand issues.  I was thrilled and we’ve been talking ever since.  I’m so excited that she has teamed with Lindsay as there isn’t a better voice on YouTube for crafting today.  Speaking of which, Lindsay left a nice comment on the video I made for postcards.

You know how much I love her and I was really happy that she reached out to me if only for a quick note.  It really means a lot coming from someone who has put crafting on the YouTube map.  It made my week.