Today, Rich and I went to “Adventures in Stamping” in Akron, Ohio.  It’s about two hours from us, and I really enjoy going to these stamp shows, as I learn a lot of different techniques and what new products are being launched.

I wanted to video tape several crafters who were demonstrating techniques.  I asked Rubbernecker Stamps if they would do a video, and they said yes, so we made a nice video with the owner, David Miller.  I spoke to David a year ago and he sent me a box of products.  I found some really interesting felt stamp paper that they sell, and bought a pack to try out.  During the videotaping, a woman asked me if I have a YouTube channel and said she recognized me, then several other ladies in her group said they’ve watched my channel too.  I was so impressed that people recognize me from my YouTube channel, and was blown away by it.

Then I went a booth sponsored by Impression Obsession, and they did a really great demonstration with large background stamps and gave me the image they created in the end.  I loved it and they did such a great job explaining their products and tools.  Then onto Close to My Heart, where they let me make my own card and video tape it.  And it was so much fun.

And lastly, and most importantly, I met Wendy Vecchi…..one of the people that works with Tim Holtz.  She’s created her own line of inks, that just rolled out on Monday, and I bought them and thought I’d work with them for a video or two, since they are so new.  I could watch Wendy create all day long, as she’s so creative and her projects are just lovely.  I think you’ll really enjoy watching how she makes her projects come to life.

It was a fun and exhausting day, but it was all worth it.  I have four videos to share with everyone and hope you will enjoy them, and their different takes on techniques…

I know we need to get a video up, but haven’t felt like pushing Rich to do so.  Tomorrow we’re going to a stamp show in Akron, Ohio, where I’m going to try to ask people to video tape them doing different techniques, and we’ll see how it goes.  I’m not sure what to expect, as people are great, but they’ll be busy, so we’ll wait and see how it goes.  I’ve seen Lindsay do this, but I’ve never tried it myself, and really want to make sure that people are OK with me doing it.  I’ll have to find a time when they aren’t super busy to to ask them.  Crossing my fingers that people will allow me to video them, since I don’t sell anything on my channel.  Sometimes just saying I’m doing this for the crafter with physical limitations will open doors for me.  I’ll let you know how it goes.

I made a video that was focused around scrap paper.  I don’t know what happened. but after the introduction, I didn’t mention scraps or scrap paper ever again.  I guess I’m wondering what the point of a video using scrap paper, when I never actually use scrap paper or talk about using it.

What a mess.

I forgot to give dimensions, and struggled throughout.  What was the point of that video?  At this point, I’m not really sure.  Jeepers Creepers, I think I’m losing my mind.  I can’t wait for all of you to see the video, because the card is cute, but the video is a mess.  I know you’ll all want to give the card a try, though..It’s pretty frisky.

I had another sleepless night, only this time thinking about mixed media.  Where do these ideas come from and why do they keep me awake?  I have no idea.  I will tell you this, though.  I decided to try some mixed media in a journal I made specifically for that purpose almost two years ago.  I wanted to give it a try.  If a page turns out great, I’ll rip it out and make a card out of it.  If it doesn’t, well, you know the rule, it’s only paper….so it’ll go into the trash.  Although if I’m using a book/journal, I won’t be able to rip it out very easily, so I guess it will just be one of those pages I do a flip through–you’ll still probably never see it.

As in all things Sandy, once I wrap my head around something, the next step is buying tools.  In this case, I thought I needed some Dylusion paints.  I really like the bold colors and wanted to use stencils and actually “play” for a change.  I know other crafters think card making is playing, but for me, it’s serious business (well, as serious as I can be.)  I try to make sure every card I make is for a purpose, and want each one to be good enough to be worthy of showing on a video.  That’s really not as much fun as it is stressful.  I’m still not at the stage where I feel comfortable in my crafty skin, so really work at it to ensure the cards I make are video worthy.  I’m hoping I’ll be able to let go, and not really think about the process, and just live in the moment when playing in the journals I have.  I guess we’ll wait to see if I can relax and just play, but for now, I’m waiting for the paints I ordered and we’ll go from there.  Cross your fingers for me, we could be in for a bumpy ride.

It started to drizzle last night, giving me the day off.  I really wanted to work more on the album, but drizzle has a way of shutting down the best of intentions.
I did get a great gift from a viewer in England, and will make sure I show it on the next video I make.  I’m thinking about making a few cards tomorrow, so I don’t have a bunch of long videos in a row for Rich to edit.  It takes him upwards of eight to ten hours to get a large video edited, music added, and uploaded to YouTube.  I don’t want to work him too hard, so will focus on a few shorter videos before the album…

I watched an impossible card being made on Mixed Up Crafts, and wanted to make mine more impossible by also heat embossing on acetate (clear plastic.) I started with an old Inkadinkado stamp #91406 of an old car and stamped it on clean acetate, then put black fine detail embossing powder on it by Ranger and heat set it. The secret to heat setting on acetate, is heating the gun a lot before taking it to the image, then heat, move away. Heat a different area, move away, and do it quickly. To make an impossible card, you’ll need a 5 x 7″ piece of card stock that isn’t heavy weight, so I used 90 lb card stock. On the 5″ length, make a mark at 2 1/2″ across the entire card. On the 7″ length, make a mark at      3 1/2″ to the center line. On the opposite side of the center mark, make a line at 1″ and 6″ to the center. Then cut on the three lines we made to the center, but DON’T cut on the long center line, but score the center line, (even though I haven’t seen anyone else do it.) I liked the look of rounded corners, so rounded all of mine. You’ll want to flip one of your sides over so it makes it look impossible. I layered paper on mine, but if you want to make an example of this card that is super simple, you can make this with one layer and put all of your work into the center piece that is 2 1/2 x 5″. I used Old Paper ink by Distress Ink and used a foam distressing tool on all my edges. I cut the black center piece to be 4 7/8″ wide by 2 3/8″ tall and cut the dictionary piece to layer on it, 4 3/8″ wide by     1 7/8″ tall, and used wet glue to adhere it. I cut out my car and put Glue Dots behind it so it is more dimensional (and you can’t see the Glue Dots.) I cut another piece of black card stock to cover the back of the center piece 4 7/8 by 2 3/8″ and glued it to the back so it looks finished too. Layering paper on the card is a little tricky. I cut a piece 3 1/4″ wide by 4 3/4″ .  To cut out the “leg,” I trimmed it by putting the long length on the ruler of my paper trimmer so the blade cut at 2 1/4″ and cut it upwards to 2 1/2″ and then turned the paper so the short length of card stock faces the ruler on the paper trimmer. Move it so the paper is at 3/4″ (to the left of the trim blade, and the trimming you’ve already done is to the right of the trimmer.)  Pull the blade from the top down to the cut line and it should cut the leg out. Round the corners if you’ve rounded all of your other corners like I did. (To make the second one, you could flip over the one you made, and trace it on another piece of matching cardstock and then cut it out.  An alternate way of doing this, is to lay the dictionary paper cut to 4 1/2″ x 3″ wide on the black card stock that’s already trimmed  and make a mark where you need to cut the leg and where to cut the middle cut. It worked so much easier for me doing it this way and you might want to use this system for the black layer too by laying it on the card and making marks where you need to make the cuts.  If your paper has a direction, make sure it is left to right on the 3″ width. Round your edges.  I cut two 5″ long by 1″ tall pieces of black card stock and rounded the corners. I used Princess Gold embossing powder by Ranger and an old Stampin’ Up stamp for my sentiment. I stamped it with Versamark ink and attached one on the front and one on the back. I used two peg stamps http://www.pegstamps.com, Happy Birthday and Doggy Running Happy stamped with Versafine Onyx Black ink to stamp the envelope.

I seriously hate to whine about my continuous screw-ups, but this one is so irritating.  I put the lock on the front of the album and then never looked at it again, until it was time to work with the letters I’m adding to the front.  That’s when it occurred to me that I might have attached it to the back cover instead of the front….And that’s not all….it’s also upside down..Oh yeah, I wanted to throw the whole thing through a window, but instead, I’m going to let it sit there until I’ve decided what to do next.  CRAP!!!!!!!!

I got great advice from a couple of people about how to fix the brass colored corner covers and how to make them look coppery.  One said to try different embossing powders, which I will, and the other, from Lindsay, was to use copper alcohol ink.  I probably have some and never thought about trying it.  So if one idea doesn’t work, we’ll go to Plan B.  I have a lot of the corners, so can ruin a few until I get this right.  I’m still hoping that this plan will come together and I’ll be proud of my end result, but right now, I’m stuck in the “hot mess” phase, and I’m not really sure if I’ll ever come out of it.   I live in hope.

I was lucky to be asked by the makers of Glue Dots to review a prototype Glue Dot product. When they sent me the prototype, they also sent me a huge box of all types of Glue Dots. I did some research and learned a lot about Glue Dots along the way.
The first thing I learned is that we, as crafters, remove them from their backing incorrectly. It’s no wonder mine are always curled.  To properly remove Glue Dots from their backing, you should take the embellishment to the Glue Dot and adhere it to the Glue Dot, vs trying to remove the Glue Dot from it’s backing and then attaching it to the embellishment. Once I learned how to do this, my Glue Dot application was so much easier.
They also recommend that you don’t touch the Glue Dots, as our body oils will make them less sticky.
You can buy dispensers for Glue Dots that will allow you to refill them and have a permanent way to dispense the size of Glue Dots you use. (I attached two sites to purchase Glue Dots and the dispensers at the bottom of this information)..Of the two dispensers. the blue was empty, and can be filled with any of the varieites that I show in boxes. The second, pink one, came with Mini Glue Dots.

Here are the varieties of Glue Dots available: (There’s a circle on the top right side of Glue Dot boxes that shows the size of the Glue Dots in the box.)

Micro Glue Dots- used intricate, possibly beading on a bag, 325 to a package, 1/8″ across.

Ultra Thin- When you need a flat piece of glue. 300 in a package. 3/8″ wide

Removable Dots- Temporary, made to be removed, 200 in a package, 1/2″ wide

Pop Up Dots- Thick, three dimensional. 75 in a package 1/2″ wide.

All Purpose Dots- Hold up to 8 Lb. Super Strength, all purpose, 3/8″ wide 300 in package

Mini-Dot– bigger than the micro 3/16″ wide 300 in package.

Glue Lines–1″ long, 200 in a package. I think these would be great for homemade envelopes.

X-Large Glue Dots–come in a baggie and are perforated, 60 to a package, and 1″ across.

Glue Dots make runners: There is a wheel on the side of the Glue Dot runners. Roll the wheel so it moves one Glue Dot to the exposed area, then it’s simple to remove only one.

Mini Dots 300 pkg. 3/16″ Kiwi green
Super Strength 3/8″ 200 pkg. red
Ultra-Thin 3/8″ 300 pkg blue
Super Strength Glue Squares 3/16″ 450 pkg. dark blue
Permanent dots 3/8″ 200 pkg. (these Glue Dots are blue) clear blue container
Removable–temporary 3/8″ 450 pkg. green packaging
Removable Squares-temporary darker green packaging

Refillable Glue Dot Runners
Super Strength (Blue) 3/8″ by 72 feet long strips that are perforated.
Temporary (Green) 1/3″ by 52 ft. easy removable, perfect for projects that need to be held down temporarily.

Here’s a link to purchase Glue Dots—

Amazon:  http://tinyurl.com/y8j2lfcm

Today was the local library’s book sale, and Rich took me so we could stock up.  There weren’t a lot of people when we got there, so we were able to read back covers and hopefully, find new authors we might like.  Since we already have a lot of books we haven’t read, there’s a good chance that we have most of our favorite authors’ books, so buying them only leads to duplicates.  We’ve found this out the hard way.

Rich came home and opened one he really thought he would like, only to find instead of a suspense/mystery, it appears to be a romance novel.  Let’s just say he was under impressed, (but I thought it was really funny.)  If I had to bet, I’d say it’s going in the donate pile.

I spent most of the afternoon and evening working on the album I’m making.  I’ve had so many things go wrong with this project…From gluing pages together, to gluing the cover together before I put two brads through it, and so on.  I’m pretty sure I’ll be adding a pocket, or some kind of embellishments to the inside cover to ensure that I cover the backs of the brads, but before I do that, I need to finish the front cover so I don’t have the same problem with another embellishment I choose for the front.  I showed the lock and key I’m using for the front cover.  Tim Holtz has one in his lock embellishments that’s coppery colored.  It was perfect for my cover.  And because there was only one coppery colored one, they only provided two coppery colored brads to attach it.  I knew they were small, but the minute I tried to insert one, it disappeared.  I search myself for over an hour, before enlisting Rich’s help.  Luckily he found it, but it did take him quite a while.  He wondered if they could maybe make them smaller, so they would be completely invisible.  (Let’s just say he wasn’t excited to be crawling around looking for the smallest brad known to man.)  I ended by attaching the second brad and throwing in the towel for the day.   I do need help with something.  I have corner covers that are metal(ish).  I don’t know what they are made out of, but a magnet won’t pick them up.  The ones I’ve bought look like brass.  Do any of you know how I could make them look coppery?  I thought about spray painting them, but they look antiqued now, and I don’t know of any spray paint that would allow them to look antiqued once spray painted.  I’d appreciate any help I can get to make these look like they belong on the album.

I decided I have stalled long enough on the album for our friends, and today, I started working on it.  I wanted to make a video detailing how I made it, but I didn’t think anyone would care if I did all of the measuring, cutting, tear taping and punching, that needed done.  I was surprised by the time it took to do those things for an album that is maybe nine pages in length.  I guess we’ll see how long it takes to make the video tomorrow.  I think I’ll glue most of the pages together so you won’t have to watch that either.  It’s hard to know what people would like to see and what they would prefer to have me skip, so I’ll show a little bit of everything, but not all of anything.  Wow, that could be the mission of my channel….haha.

Rich worked on editing the Glue Dot video and I’m hoping that it will go live tomorrow.  There’s a book sale at our local library in the morning, and after that we’re both going to get serious about our YouTube responsibilities.  I guess it’s more like a privilege than a responsibility.  OK, for me, it’s more like fun.  There’s always time for that.