I was thinking today about the new video I wanted to do and wondered if I would “burn my hands off” as the Frugal Crafter would say.  The thing is, I’m not really good with a hot glue gun and often feel the need to scream for a medic when attempting to use one.  Today was no exception. The only real exception was that I was being filmed.  No matter how big the injury, the show must go on.  I don’t think I even winced when the tag with molten glue attached itself to my thumb.  Yes there was pain and yes, I wanted my mommy, but I didn’t want anyone to know that I was in fact, that gifted.  Maybe gifted isn’t the word, maybe the opposite of gifted.  The point is my thumb may never be the same. What? Yes, I am using it to type this, whatever!!

Even though maybe 50 people will see that video, isn’t the goal to “Never let them see you sweat?”  If that’s the case, should I have used antipersperent  on my thumb, or does that commercial only apply to armpits?  I don’t think people necessarily see you sweat there, but do when it’s rolling down your face or you shake with your clammy hand.  What was I talking about?

Right, I wanted to appear professional even with the tag attached to my thumb.  I know very few people see the videos and even less read this blog, but I have a very strick rule.  Never ever let them see you cry.  No matter what.  There was a brief moment today when I almost broke that rule, it was very brief.

It was a dreary day today, so I had plenty of time to think.  I’ve come up with a Christmas ornament that I have never seen on You Tube and since I don’t know much about Pinterest, I definitely didn’t see it there.  I have these clear cups that Stampin’ Up used to sell that make a shaker card.   If I attach two of them to each other, instant snowglobe.  I’m in the final stages of finishing one and it might end up being the one I use to do the video.  Now the only thing to do is figure out what other people could use instead of these now defunct cups.  It’s kind of a quandary, but we’ve narrowed it down to clear containers you get with take-out for salad dressing or ketchup, or some other 2″ in diameter clear plastic round lidded container.  I think when you buy beads or fake pearls, you can get them in a container that would work as well.  The trick is to make sure it’s round and 2″ or under.  Still thinking….

I also came up with a Christmas tag idea for my first tag video and it involves something that is like a paper doll.  I know you can’t stand the anticipation.. If I tell you more, it won’t be a surprise.  (And quite frankly, I have absolutely no idea if it will work).  Yikes!

Rich and I went out to lunch today and there were two women talking pretty loudly directly behind us.  One woman was talking about some kind of medicine she takes to remove metal from her blood.  Of course I immediately thought she might be Iron Woman, but maybe not.  She said she had one dose of her medicine left and when she went to find it, the container was empty.  She said she knew she wasn’t crazy, at least not about this, and then went on to talk about the ways she was crazy.  Her lunch companion decided to offer input into where the missing meds might be.  She said, “Have you ever considered poltergeists?”  Now whose wearing the crazy pants?  Maybe we should move.

I wanted to continue the discussion I started about paper punches in the craft room tour video.  I narrow down the punches by showing the results of trying to punch through 110 pound cardstock.  My recommendations are the same–I like the Fiskars squeeze punches and not any of their other varieties.  I recommend EK Success and Stampin’ Up punches across the board.  There is a product that my friend Linda told me about.  It’s called the Craft Punch Mate and works only with button punches.  You place your punch inside and then the punch mate turns it into a lever punch.  We only found it at one place on the internet and here is the link to it in case you are interested.  http://www.1stopsquare.com/crimper.html

This video is a first in a series called Totally Terrific Tags and Trimmings and is the first “trimming” video.  We couldn’t find a word that sounded good with ornaments and I will be doing some projects for this series that aren’t ornaments, thus the name.

A tongue-in-cheek look at updating a boring wreath.  I had a great time making this video because I didn’t want it to be like all of the other “makeover” wreaths.  I thought the title was so quirky, people might just watch.  We’ll see if they do.  (Cross your fingers!)

We hit our first milestone for the You Tube channel with 100 followers!  You have no idea how thrilling it is to know that 100 people think your videos have value in nine days.  I am by nature, not a patient person.  I worry that I’m not doing enough to spread the word about our You Tube channel or this blog, but ultimately, I think it will be word of mouth that will grow the viewership.  I need to remember something I always told the people in sales that I worked with and that is this.  “If you do the process, the results will come.”  What I meant by that is that if you stare at your sales numbers every day and fret about them, you’ll never grow them.  If you do the steps necessary to makes sales, those numbers will grow.  Today the same is true.  If I stare at how many viewers we have, it won’t make a difference.  But if I work on more and better videos with Rich leading the way with technology, word of mouth will change the number of subscribers.  And I am completely committed to that.

We made three videos yesterday and one of them was pretty scary.  I did a Christmas ornament that I had a vision of, but had never made before.  Throughout the video, you’ll probably laugh at my doubts.  I really wasn’t sure if it would fail, but if it did, I still would have aired that video.  After I was done, I was thrilled that it looked great, but realized that I really didn’t care if it looked bad because the point of these videos isn’t to create the best and brightest, it’s to show people that you should TRY.  I want everyone to see my successes and failures because that will be the nature of crafting for me and others like me.  I know that the crafters that have 100,000 viewers have fails, but I would bet they never let anyone see them.  At least I have never seen a complete fail.  That’s not entirely true.  The frugal crafter showed a fail or two.  I admire her even more because she did.  I’ll take the bad, because if I do, it shows I tried, and that’s really all that matters to me.

So today I am full of crafting ideas and want to get a couple new videos up and running.  I want to do a product recommendation about punches because although I’ve used them and talked a second about them on the tour video, my reasons for my suggestions are pretty sound.  There’s a product you can buy for the “button style” punches that I rarely use, called a “Punch Buddy.” My #1 fan, Linda, remembered seeing it and asked if I knew about it.  Since I use most of my punches upside down, it’s not a product that would work for me, but might work for others so I’ll make sure I add it to the video.

I watched videos of some Christmas ornaments that people made from paper and their ideas were great, but too labor intensive for me.  I did think of ways to streamline the ornaments to make them easier to do and perfect for our channel.  So maybe we’ll change our Christmas tag series to tags and ornaments.  Still no catchy name for them though.  “Tagament” sounds like something you take for an upset stomach.  How about “Tag, You’re It!?  I have absolutely no ideas that are quirky and I like quirky titles.

So I’m off to Joann’s as it’s the only craft store in 50 miles and I need to pick up a couple things for my first ornament, and I may even make a Dollar Tree run…I have a serious problem with the Dollar Tree and someone needs to make it STOP!  I do love that store though!

It’s going to be a craftastic day..who said that, that’s a good name.

Rich and I don’t send Christmas cards and with the cost of postage, a lot of people don’t send them anymore either.  In doing the You Tube channel, I thought about making Christmas cards and I might make one or two, but I’m thinking more about what kinds of gifts can I make.  I definitely want to do a series of Christmas tags because everyone will use them and they are quick to make.  I really love to watercolor with pencils and I’ll be able to do lots of tags with pencils.  I’m also thinking about making a Christmas album for a friend.  I think she’ll really like it.  I’m also making a memo pad holder for on a couple of friends’ desks at work.  I have lots of ideas and I already feel like the clock is ticking.  I want to make the tags memorable because I love it when a package is pretty.     I’ve never been big on decorating but really love making my packages look beautiful.  My love for ribbon actually started with Christmas ribbon and making huge ornate bows to go on my packages.  I love shiny giftwrap as well because the lights on the tree reflect off of the packages and makes the floor under the tree glow.  In the upcoming days we’ll start on our tag project.  I’ve been trying to think of a cute name for the series like “Falalalalalalalatag.”  I know it’s bad, it’s a work in process.  I’m open to suggestions, so please email them to me at saundralparker@yahoo.com.  I’ll be waiting, “Tag ’em, Dano.”  Still thinking….

I was happy to finally get an organizational video up.  I know we’ve only been live a little over a week, but I have so many ideas I want to share.  My videographer, editor, producer and manager isn’t thrilled with all the work I’ve created for him, but he’s dealing with it.  We bought a new camera that hasn’t been delivered that should make his job a lot easier and in turn, mine.  Rich did rig this really great overhead tripod for me so all of the videos (except the room tour) have been done with the contraption he made.  If you saw it, you’d laugh.   It involves a Parker family stable–duct tape.  I’m amazed at how well it has worked, but we can’t use any of Rich’s  “good” cameras on it because of their weight.  I think the new camera is even lighter, YAY!

This process has really been great for me and Rich.  We’ve been so encouraged by the great responses we’ve gotten and the people who have been excited to find an outlet for their crafting because of the You Tube channel’s videos.  I watched a video of a woman from England who was shutting down her channel because of the time and expense and  the fact that she wasn’t generating the income she thought she would from it.  I’m sure her life is busy, but I think she went into it thinking it would make her independently wealthy, and I can’t imagine many people on You Tube ever get to that level of income.  We really talked long and hard before doing it, but not for any of her reasons.  Since Rich and I are retired, we don’t have many time constraints and we definitely are not doing it to increase our income.  We just want to fill the void out there for people like me who have limitations and need the product information and tips and tricks we offer.  The only reason we held back was because of the mean comments we have seen posted on other You Tube sites.  The appearance of my hands is fodder for mean-spirited people and Rich wanted to protect me from that.  He saw the need for the site, but was mainly worried about my reaction to negative remarks.  I’ve heard things for thirty years and felt that I could handle it.  So far, people have been wonderful.  I know it’s coming and I think I’m ready for whatever comes my way.  I just wanted to take a moment to thank those people for holding back, and more importantly, to thank the people who have been truly wonderful with their words of praise and encouragement.  The Splitcoast Stamping community have been great and have given me tremendous tips.  Linda, the Card-i-ologist, put me in her blog this week and gave me tips before I started, and my #1 fan, Linda (uncballfan), continues to be a great support.  Rich keeps all the balls in the air and I couldn’t do this without him–I’m only the face in front of the camera, he’s everything else.  So one week in and we already have 95 subscribers.  I’m over the moon!  Thanks everyone, for coming along for the ride–it’s going to be a great one!

The one thing you don’t want to have happen is your reinkers end up on their side and accidentally, spill.  Nightmare!  So I made these little trays to help avoid tipping and they work really well.  One plastic shoe box will hold 50+ so it’s a great storage solution.  I also dab some of the ink on the top and keep colors together so it’s easier to find them in the box.

This card looks great and is really so simple.  Even if you don’t own any punches (and I know I referred to them as stamps several times), you should consider making this card.  Use your paper trimmer and cut pieces out in squares and it works the same way.  If you have one tree stamp, make a row of trees, some lower and some higher to get a similar look.  It’s a really great card.