I had a really great day today, as I went to my rheumatologist for an appointment. I’ll bet you’re wondering how great that could be….Well, the long story is this. At least three years ago, I was put on a new medication for three months and in that time, without increasing what I ate, I gained over 30 pounds. It’s a side effect of the medication and I just couldn’t lose it. We went online to find out what others had to say about it, and they all said the same thing. They didn’t change what they ate, but they gained a significant amount of weight and no matter what they did, they couldn’t lose any. The same was true for me. The last time I went to my doctor, I’d gained five more pounds and was starting to get really disgusted because I don’t really eat very much.
Today when they weighed me, I’d lost twelve pounds since my last appointment three months ago. I haven’t done anything differently, and somehow the weight is finally coming off. I can’t tell you how relieved I am that it’s starting to go back down. I thought I’d just keep gaining and gaining without any reason. I’ve been on a low dose of steroids for a long time as well, and most people gain weight for that too. I made the nurse re-weigh me and had Rich come and look at the scale. It was a very good day!
Today I hung out with a good friend who wanted to take a road trip to Cleveland. It’s a little over two hours one way, so we got to catch up and have a nice talk. She’s catering the food for her niece’s wedding reception, and wanted to check out the facility to see what else she needed to bring with her.
The wedding is small, about 100 people, and I think with the food, the DJ, the cookie table and tables for everyone with a dance floor, this facility will be packed as tightly as possible. They said it will hold up to 98 people. That’s a pretty specific number. I wonder who came up with it and decided not 99 and not 97, but 98 people will fit. Odd, but then again, aren’t I a little odd for contemplating this number for so long?
Rich has been having problems with his lower back and right hip for at least a year. We’ve tried almost everything we can think of to relieve the pain, and today tried something new. We went to a rehab facility that does something like acupuncture, but targets the actual nerves in the areas that hurt. They use the same needles but then attach a “stim” unit that puts shock pulses into the needles. Rich seemed to feel a little bit better and he seemed to have more mobility in his hips when they were done, so I’m hoping at some point after many sessions, that he will have permanent relief. Next week, they’ll be adding laser treatments to his therapy. Our yellow lab that’s in the photo with me at the top of this page had laser treatments on her hind hips and it really helped her. Apparently, animal owners started asking for the same treatments their pets were getting and found the same kind of relief from it. Since I know how much it helped our dog, I’m really encouraged that Rich will get similar relief. Let’s cross our fingers that he does.
I saw a video on Mixed up Craft making this card and thought it would be fun to make.
You’ll need:
Four pieces of 2″ x 12″ paper that matches your card base, all scored at 2″, 4″, 6″, 8″ and 10″
A card base (I used black), that is 6 1/4″ square
A piece of patterned cardstock to line it, that will coordinate with the small squares of cardstock on the “legs” of the card that is 6″ square. If you have a paper pad that’s 6″ square, this is a perfect card to use some of them on.
I lined the underside of the black paper with a 5 3/4″ square white piece of card stock to write my message on.
If you write a sentiment on all four “legs”, you’ll need 4 white 1 1/2″ square
and 16, 1 1/2″ squares that match the paper that is 6″ square you lined the base with. If you don’t want to add a sentiment, you’ll need 20 of these.
2 black strips 7/8″ wide by 3 1/4″ I don’t recommend using 110 lb card stock, use something not as heavy as you’ll need to punch through these.
You’ll need another black circle that is 1 1/2″
an a 1″ circle in the patterned cardstock that is on the “legs”
Glue your 20 squares on top of each other, patterned paper on black paper.
You’ll want to bend the 12″ strips down then up, then down, then up, then down, and you want the ends to face down.
The third square down is where you’ll put your sentiment, so I made sure to glue those down first. Then glue two above it and two below it, so the last box is empty. Make sure you watch your paper patterns to ensure that they are facing the direction you want them to face. Mine were faced away from the bottom box, pointed toward the top.
Take the 6″ square patterned paper and draw a cross at 3″ mark on the top and side on the underside that is white.. I took one of my legs and put glue on the back of the bottom empty square and glued it to the bottom underneath, centered on the lines I made. If you do a great job, all four will touch each other. Of course I didn’t do a great job, so mine did not, but it will still work, even if you do it like me.
Once all four “legs” are glued to the underside of the patterned paper, glue the black 6 1/4″ piece of cardstock to the side where you have the pencil marks, and glue the white cardstock to the other side of the black cardstock.
Next take your two 3 1/4″ strips and glue them together in the form of a plus sign. Fold all of your legs down onto the card and lay something on top of it. Once the glue is set on your strips, poke a hole in the center of them. I couldn’t punch a hole as mine was too thick, so had to use a pokey tool and put the plus sign on a foam piece and poked holes on it so I can get a ribbon piece through it.
I took a pencil and marked each sides of the plus at the 1/2″ mark and made sure I only put glue on those spots. You’ll want to glue the top and bottom of the plus sign under the “legs”, but only glue it up to the line we made. Once those two have set with glue, do the left and right legs by putting glue on them and laying the plus side down on the card and laying the legs on top of it. They should lay on the 1/2″ marks automatically. If they don’t, then you’ll need to line them up on those marks.
Next, take 12″ of ribbon and your two circles that you glued together. I punched out a 1/4″ square in the center of the circles. Push the folded ribbon through the circle so the top is a loop. Then push the ribbon through the plus sign. I put tear tape and laid it under the top of the plus sign and glued my ribbon ends to the sides of the plus sign.
I used the Hampton Arts Hello stamp and die set for this card.
Today I decided to hang out in the house as it is really chilly outside. OK, it’s probably 60 degrees, but it feels a lot colder to me. I started reading a book by James Patterson and another author called “The Store.” It’s about an online store that’s driving all competitors out of the marketplace. A husband and wife decide they want to work for and infiltrate the organization to see if there is anything illegal going on. After they start working there, they find the town, the people and everyone at the company are basically like Stepford Wives. They are always being watched, and if anyone says anything against “The Store”, they are “transferred,” which means they basically disappear.
It’s one of the books that makes you think about the future and the use of technology to watch and keep track of everything we do. I get really paranoid when I read these kinds of books, so I needed to take a break and relax.
I’m getting a couple more videos ready for Rich to edit, and that should take up the rest of the evening. Luckily, I shouldn’t have much time to read. haha
Rich and I went out to lunch then to see “Adrift” with friends. If you haven’t seen the trailer for this movie, it’s about a couple taking a sailboat on a sea voyage and getting caught in a hurricane. I have to say, if you are looking for a high suspense movie, this is it. At one point I caught Rich with his arms crossed, looking super anxious. He has a thing about being in the ocean without seeing or being able to get to land. I leaned over and said “You’ll never be in this situation,” and he seemed to relax. I recommend this movie, as it’d a great ride. I liked how they didn’t present the movie in actual time, but kept going back and forth, from when they met, to being adrift and back again. There is one big twist, and you won’t see it coming, which makes the movie that much more fun.
I finished the card I talked about yesterday. It’s a fun fold card and is like a concertina, if you know what that is. It’s the most unusual fun fold I’ve done and I think people will enjoy making and giving this card, as it is so unusual. I had a lot of little strips of black paper from making twenty photo backings for 4 x 6″ photos for the album I made. I decided I needed to use some of these, and this card is the perfect excuse. You need a ton of scraps, and if you have a lot of one color scraps, they’ll be perfect. I hope you give this one a try. I’ll ask Rich to put the video up tomorrow so you can see what it looks like.
I was asked to show a watercolor paper comparison, and I wanted to use insexpensive papers.
I used:
Crayola Paints set of 8 $1.99 Target.com
Niji Yasotomo Pearlescent set of 16 Amazon $6.62. I bought a bigger set at Hobby Lobby for less, so recommend you check there.
Kuretake Gansai Watercolors 36 set Amazon $29.38
Crayola Markers set of 10 $1.00 Office Depot
Distress Marker 1 at Joann.com $3.99 full price without coupon
Stampin’ Up Marker $2.50 Stampinup.com
Prismacolor 36 set watercolor pencils Dickblick.com $22.91
Distress Crayon set o 6 $14,99 Joann.com
Perfect Layering Circles https://pegstamps.com/perfect-layering-circles.html
Tim Holtz Watercolor Paper Distress 20 pkg 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ $5.39 scrapbook.com
Fabriano Hot Press 9 x 12″ 140 lb 50 sheets dickblick.com $22.25
I bought mine at AC Moore for a lot less with a coupon
Winsor Newton Cottman Spiral Bound Pad Cold Press 5 x 7″ dickblick.com 15 sheets 140 lb $9.99
Canson XL cold press 9 x 12″ 140 lb 30 sheet $5.97 Walmart.com
I really liked the Fabriano Hot Press paper for paper crafts, as it is really easy to stamp on, and with all things considered, the other papers performed the same in all other categories.
Lindsay the frugal crafter did email me and said her favorite for
stamping is the Fabriano hot press, so we are both on the same page.
I decided to make a video on different stamp cleaners and how they work. What I found is all of the commercial ones I have work the same….As does my homemade stamp cleanser. I also found that I got decent results from using alcohol to remove some of the old Staz-On and archival inks on red rubber stamps. I really liked using hand sanitizer for cleaning clear stamps and the MISTI. Funny how things we have on hand at home, work just as well as the expensive cleansers we buy in stores.
I talked Rich into uploading another video today. I have a lot of long videos finished, and I know he’d really like to put those off for a long long time, so I gave him an easier one to put up today. It’s comparing different inexpensive watercolor papers.
Some days I’m inspired to do a few videos and I think I’ll make at least one card video today as well. I have a few really great ideas I’ve been sent from viewers, and I’d like to get some of those cards done. I’m hoping the rain continues so I feel like working in my craft room. Rain has a way of motivating me like snow does in winter.
I have a viewer in Montana named, Sherry, that had made a paper purse that holds several cards inside. It makes a terrific gift, and I really wanted to make one. Sherry said she would send me a template and I received it today in the mail. I couldn’t believe all the work that she did for me. She not only created a template, but made two different purses in different stages so I would be able to see what they would look like as I created them. She also sent me a stack of 12 x 12″ Graphic 45 paper, as she and I both have a fondness for it. If you are ever doing a project that you want to last a lifetime, Graphic 45 paper is made for just such a project. It’s beautifully colored, strong, but doesn’t crack, and looks rich and elegant. I can’t recommend it enough. Sherry also sent some dies, a glue pen and other goodies, and I’ll make sure to share them in a video. I have the nicest viewers. So kind and generous–I’m truly blessed to have them.
If you watched the video with Shelli and Linda, it’s really choppy, as I used an old memory card that had issues. I probably had five or six different segments to the video, but the memory card didn’t record most of them. It’s so frustrating when that happens. Then I lost the card and just found it under a chair. Luckily, the additional footage was on another memory card, and I couldn’t bring myself to delete it, even though I was pretty sure the rest of the footage was lost. So in the end, Rich pieced it together so there is a little bit of footage of our afternoon together. I wanted him to write an explanation on the screen about the memory card loss, but he forgot, so viewers really won’t understand what happened unless they read the information below or this blog post.
I guess these things happen to other crafters, although they probably don’t share when it does.
Sorry, I had a memory card that had issues, so I lost the video with Shelli, Linda and I. I feel so dumb when these things happen, but luckily I found the rest of the video (under a chair.)
The card boxes were garage sale finds, and I thought they would be a great project for us to update as they both had a 1990’s feel to them. My box is wood and can be found in almost any big craft store and I put a link to one at Joanns that looks just like the one I covered. The papers we used on them are from DCWV from Michaels in their discounted paper pad section. I bought them last fall to they might not be available any longer.
I’m sorry I had so many camera issues with Linda and Shelli, as they are so much fun to craft with…And I wish you could have seen and heard our antics.
I decided today was the day for making the video comparing different brands of watercolor paper. I thought it made sense to also compare different coloring mediums on the paper, to see if there was a significant different in them. I used Crayola products and compared them to more expensive paints and markers. I really wanted to do a thorough job, and hope that I did.
As usual, I made a big mess and had to clean a large area, as I got watercolor paint all over myself and the craft room. I probably should wear some type of Haz-mat suit when I’m crafting, because I make such a mess. And what was I thinking when I decided to wear white pants today? Let’s just say that they are no longer totally white. Darn it.
