I’m not sure if I mentioned this in an earlier blog, but I decided to go along with Lindsay (the Frugal Crafter) and try to use pastels.  I’m starting with the oil pastels because I’m not crazy about how dusty and dirty I get with “normal” pastels.  Let’s just call them chalk.  I also don’t really want to worry about it smearing or smudging or having to put a fixative on it.  So long story short, I decided to try my hand at oil pastels.  The set Lindsay uses is really inexpensive on Amazon Prime, so I got mine there.  Her first tutorial was of an artichoke, so I drew it.  I showed it to Rich and he actually knew what it was.  (This is all sounding familiar, so I apologize if I’ve already told you this.)  Now I’m getting to the point of the story.  Today I found another tutorial from a different YouTuber, that was of an evening sunset or the night sky, I’m not sure.  I watched the video three times and then paused it and attempted to recreate it.  I’m not sure what I did wrong, but mine looks like a blue/black abstract of I’m not sure what.  I was really encouraged when I made the artichoke but I might be destined to stamping.  I’ve never been very artistic and today I remembered the feeling I get when I try to draw, and I’ll put it into words.  “Geez, what is that?”  Or maybe it’s, “This looks like crap.”

I guess I’ll wait for Lindsay’s next tutorial and try that before I throw in the towel.  You know it’s another saying that I have no idea where it originated.  Here’s the scoop.

Origin

This little expression of course derives from boxing. When a boxer is suffering a beating and his corner want to stop the fight they literally throw in the towel to indicate their conceding of the fight. This earliest citation that I have found of this is in the American newspaper The F ort Wayne Journal-Gazette, January 1913:

Murphy went after him, landing right and left undefended face. The crowd importuned referee Griffin to stop the fight and a towel was thrown from Burns’ corner as a token of defeat.

It was very soon after that that the phrase began to be used in a figurative sense, to indicate giving up in non-boxing contexts; for example, in the Australian author Clarence James Dennis’s WWI patriotic novel, The Moods of Ginger Mick, 1916:

No matter wot ‘e done. It’s jist a thing
I knoo ‘e’d do if once ‘e got the show.
An’ it would never please ‘im fer to sling
Tall tork at ‘im jist cos ‘e acted so.
“Don’t make a song uv it!” I ‘ear ‘im growl,
“I’ve done me limit, an’ tossed in the tow’l.”

Throwing in the towel was preceded by throwing in the sponge. Sponges were a common ringside accessory as early as the 18th century. Throwing in the sponge was then the preferred method of conceding defeat. This is recorded in the mid-19th century, in The Slang Dictionary, 1860:

‘To throw up the sponge,’ to submit, give over the struggle, – from the practice of throwing up the sponge used to cleanse the combatants’ faces, at a prize-fight, as a signal that the ‘mill’ is concluded.

So I guess I think I’ve been beaten, the towel is poised for flight, we’ll just have to wait and see if I actually throw it.

I went to the stamp show today and made a list of things I wanted to purchase before I went.  I thought it would help to keep me on task.  Well, that worked and it didn’t. Something I really try not to do is fall for really cute animated animal stamps.  I love them and buy them and then can’t think of what to do with them.  Did I avoid them, yes and no.  Did I buy any?  Of course, and more than I should have.

I was trying to find the “perfect” tool for the following:  craft knife, bone folder, glue tip or glue bottle, and glue gun.  I bought some glues but didn’t find any of the others that I considered “perfect.”

The big trends this year were the Ken Oliver Color Bursts, Brusho (pretty much the same as Ken Oliver’s Color Bursts, stamping with markers, and both Pan pastels and oil pastels.  We went later than usual with a two hour drive, and I didn’t really have time to watch any of the demonstrations, but did find time to shop.  I was really kind of surprised at the repetitive nature of the booths.  About 75% of the booths had a Ken Oliver type color burst product.  Although Stampers Anonymous had a booth, a lot of the vendors were selling the Distress Ink product line.  All in all, it was a lot of fun and I did buy a lot of things I probably didn’t need.  I thought I’d do a haul video, because there are some pretty cute stamps that you may never see otherwise.

I watched Lindsay, the Frugal Crafter, use oil pastels to make an artichoke painting and it was for beginners, so I thought, why not.  So today I used my oil pastels (the same set Lindsay had), and made my own artichoke.  Of course mine had absolutely no resemblance to hers but honestly, it did look like an artichoke.  Rich immediately recognized it for what it was.  I can’t tell you how happy I was that he knew what I had painted, drew?, pastelled?  I’m not sure what you would call what I did.  The bottom line is this.  I never thought I could free hand draw anything, so this is a huge moment for me.  I can’t even begin to tell you how thrilled I am at the results.

So tomorrow we are headed for Akron, Ohio, where they are having a stamp show called Adventures in Stamping.  I love stamp shows and spend way too much money on way too many stamps etc.  I’m like a kid in a candy store and just want to look at everything and watch the demonstrations and buy whatever hits my fancy.  I really love finding new and different things, and I’m hoping tomorrow will be no exception.  I’m like some light Spectrum Noir markers in tans and reds and hopefully I’ll find more of the acrylic blocks with the pink handles to buy for my next giveaway.  I’ve had so many people ask me about them, that I’m hoping to find them for viewers.

I also found a lady on Splitcoast Stampers that was a Tim Holtz trainer and is getting rid of a lot of her inventory.  I found a punch that my friend Linda told me about a long time ago.  It is a punch for punches with buttons so I’ll be able to use those punches without using my feet on them.  I can’t wait to get it.  Of course I bought a bunch of other things from her and will probably be buying more.  She had so many great unusual things that I couldn’t pass them up.  Well I could have, but didn’t.  I’m looking forward to getting these things in the mail and then using them in projects.

 

I chose a Stampin’ Up small flower punch as well as two Martha Stewart punches. A leaf and branch punch and a cherry blossom border punch. The stamp set I’m using is from Stampin’ Up and is called “Another Thank You” and it is retiring at the end of June, so it is still available to buy.

I used 5 1/2″ x 4 1/4″  which makes it 8 1/2″ long when unfolded, white cardstock as well as an orange piece the same size.

I used a variety of brads and glittery sticky backed embellishments that I bought at Michaels.

The inks I used were real red from Stampin’ Up and Versafine Onyx Black.

I used a wooden stamp that says “You’re simply the best.” that I don’t know where I got it. The background stamp that is used is also a retired set from Stampin’ Up and is from a set called Confetti.

I used an acrylic block that I bought at a stamp show for $2 and Tombow Mono Aqua adhesive to attach my flower border.

 

 

 

I made a card that’s really masculine and really attractive for the fourth in the series of scrap and punch cards.  It involves a ticket punch and a lot of tickets, I mean A LOT!  I really liked the way it ultimately looked like wallpaper and I’m pretty happy with the results.

I’ve gotten a lot of great ideas of projects to do going forward and it’s helping me to see what others are interested in viewing.  I really like finding out what others find interesting and am looking forward to putting some or all of them into videos.

I got a request today to discuss my favorite crafting knife.  I don’t think I have a favorite, but am definitely going to be looking into buying more so I have a good representation of them.  I’ll do some research first to make sure I find ones that are both sturdy and light weight.  I’m also going to do a comparison of bone folders as that was one tool that took me seemingly forever to find one I liked.  The ideas keep pouring in and I’m so excited that they are.

I got an email from a friend that warned me about people assuming other people’s identities to win YouTube prizes. I even watched a video of a woman who had it happen to her channel.  Is that crazy or what?  I can’t imagine the prizes would be worth the work it would take to assume someone else’s YouTube identity.  Honestly, can people really be that desperate?  I know the answer and that is, no, they aren’t that desperate, but they are either that bored, or that greedy, or that pathetic.  My career was spent watching people do whatever they could to defraud the bank.  People will do virtually anything for money.  And I mean anything.  I’ve sold things on Ebay that were antiques and people would buy them and then tell me the inside of the lid had a chip from shipping.  You can’t get a chip on the inside of a lid from shipping.  It is impossible.  So I would tell them to send it back so I could look for the mark that I put on my pieces that can only be seen with a black light.  I never heard from them again.  Huh.  So they had the same piece with a broken lid and they wanted a new lid for free.    When you spend almost twenty years making sure people didn’t steal money from the banks you were running, you most certainly know when you are being scammed.  So if you are thinking about trying to take one of the prizes my viewers will be winning, think again.  You are messing with the wrong girl.

The 500 subscriber giveaway video went live last night and it’s really taking off.  We’ve had ninety views already and I’ve gotten a lot of really good ideas for upcoming videos from the comments viewers have left.  I’m thrilled that it’s getting the response it has.

The second “scrap and punch” card video also went up this morning.  I really liked it and hope the viewers do too.  I also have the third card video done as well.  I’m not sure when Rich will put it up.

I got a really great idea for the fourth card.  I bought a set of dies that are puzzle pieces.  I’ll need to find a paper punch to use as well, but my thinking was to use the back of scrap paper to stamp a design on and then die cut the puzzle pieces from the watercolor.  I can separate them a little and line them with black paper so they stand out.  At least that’s my plan for now, it could be a huge failure if the paper is too thin for water coloring on.  I’ll have to look at my scrap paper to find one that is thick enough.  So that’s the idea, and I hope it works.

Our 500 subscriber contest is live, YAY!  I’m so excited and hope we have a big response to it.  The video has only been live for about an hour and we already have three comments.

I thought I should get busy with the scrap and punch card series and made a card with flowers punched all over it.  I thought it came out pretty well, but maybe not as nice as the second card,  with the bird on it.  Unfortunately, Rich put the videos up in the wrong order, so the bird card will be uploaded tonight and go live tomorrow AM.

I also did a little cleaning in the craft room today, and it could stand a few more days of cleaning, so maybe tomorrow I’ll make another commitment to clean.  Maybe not.