The best part about having a YouTube channel, is the relationships I’ve developed with people from all over the globe.  I made friends with a lady in England, and hadn’t heard from her since before Christmas, and I was starting to worry about her.  Her husband had a heart attack last year, so I was dreading something bad when I emailed her to see how she was doing.  She told me a story that’s inspired me to make a card and to make sure other people don’t ignore the signs they are being given from an unlikely source.

Her sister had rescued a one-eyed chihuahua who never really liked her, and spent his time with her husband.  Lately, when she has been lying in bed, the dog would lay on her chest and cry.  It happened several times, and she had no idea why.  She wasn’t feeling well and went to her doctor.  She told the doctor about the dog and the doctor took the dog seriously and did tests on her.  The diagnosis was breast cancer, and the doctor said it was an aggressive variety, but because her dog caught it early, she would be able to get treatment that could stop it.

I wonder how many people ignore their animals when they give them a warning?  The only story I can relay is about my Mother and her cat.  Her cat was a rescue and never left my mother’s side.  When my Mother went into assisted living, the cat went with her.  She was in assisted living for several years and her cat was always on my Mother’s lap.  The day before my Mother passed away, her cat was laying on Mom’s chest, smelled Mom’s face, jumped down and hid behind a chair until she died.  My sister and I were surprised when the cat jumped down, but as time passed, we realized that the cat knew my Mother was going.  Maybe he didn’t want to see it happen, or maybe he was afraid for his future, but he never looked back.

Animals seem to have a sixth sense about these things, and I for one, will definitely take notice if either of our dogs lays on me repeatedly and cries.  I’m allowed to share this lady’s story on YouTube, and I hope if someone else has a similar situation with their animal, that they too will take their pet seriously, and contact their physician.  It will really be something if her story can save someone else’s life.

I inked the wrong side of the embossing folder on my first attempt to do a double inking technique, so decided to make a single inked embossing folder card insteadl Hey, why waste the card stock when it’s so easy to do this technique.
I used Couture Creations Magical embossing folder and Hero Arts Charcoal ink, then rubbed the ink pad gently over the top of the embossed card stock. I used a water brush and dabbed it into my gray ink to add ink on places that needed more ink. I used Canson XL watercolor paper cut to 4″ by 5 1/4″ and the sentiment came from a Stampin’ Up set called Another Thank You. The card stock I used was a deep gray color from Gina K. and it came from her neutral collection. The card base is 5 1/2 x 4 1/4″ . I used a black layer that was 5 3/8 x 4 1/8″ and I adhered it with ATG tape to a black fun foam layer, then tear taped it to the card base.
The sentiment I put on a strip of the same Canson XL paper with Versafine Onyx Black ink that I added clear embossing powder over it and heat set it.  I ran the edges of the sentiment on the gray ink pad, then adhered it to the front of the card with ATG tape.
I cut four 1/4″ strips and put them on either side of my sentiment on the front of the card. I stamped the back with the Made for you by Sandy Parker stamp.
I used peg stamps http://www.pegstamps.com, the grass sprigs and a leaf from the Autumn Glory set with the same gray ink to decorate the envelope.

I wanted to make a card for a friend who likes the color blue.  I started by using four different blue Distress inks and rubbed them across a piece of watercolor paper.  Then I wet it and blurred the lines so you couldn’t tell where one ink stopped and another started.  I dried it with my heat gun then stamped a floral pattern all over it with black ink, then embossed it and heat set that.  The floral stamps were layered, so I used the outline stamp first and colored that with alcohol markers.  Then for the next layers, I used Distress Oxides.  And in the end, I painted everything with Wink of Stella.  I’m not sure if people will like it or not, but Rich gave it a 10 out of 10, and he’s a pretty tough critic.  I always know when a project isn’t good enough to go on YouTube, because I’ll show it to him and he won’t say anything.  That’s never a good sign.

I don’t know what I’m going to call that video, as I used so many techniques and showed so many different products, it’s like a garbage can full of ideas and products.  Do you think people would watch a video if I called it “This Card is a Garbage Can of Ideas and Products?”  I think I’d get a few people wondering what the heck I was talking about, but probably not my regular viewers, they’d know it’s another off-beat Sandy moment.  That’s why I love my viewers so much…They get me.

I wanted to try this technique where you put ink inside an embossing folder, run it through a die cutting machine, then rub another color over the raised part of the card. I advise you to run card stock inside your embossing folder through your die cutting machine first, to see which side is raised and which side is depressed. You will want to rub the ink pad over the side that has the depressed image then holding the paper in place in the center of the folder, close the folder and run it through your die cutting machine.

On the first card, I used Hero Arts Hello Stamp Set and the Cuttlebug folder called Pomegranate Paisley. I used Gina K Sweet Corn ink for the yellow ink and Hero Arts Pale Tomato for the redder ink.
On the second card, I used Couture Creations Magical embossing folder and the inks used were Simon Says Stamp Willow and Hero Arts Forever Green. The paper I used was Canson XL watercolor paper cut to 5 1/2″ x 4 1/4″. I used the Willow ink on the depressed side of my embossing folder, which is the front of mine, and ran it through the die cutting machine. Once it was removed, I took it out of the embossing folder and rubbed the Forever Green ink pad over the entire card front.   If you miss some spots on your coloring, you can use microbrushes that I found on Aliexpress.
Here are links to some I found for them.
Fuzzy Brush: https://tinyurl.com/fuzzybrush
Foam Brush: https://tinyurl.com/foambrush

I used the sentiment from Impression Obsession stamp set called Wishes. I stamped it in the MISTI on the same Canson XL watercolor paper. The strip was 4″ tall and 4 1/4″ wide so it fit on the card. I knew I’d have to cut it thinner after stamping on it. I stamped Willow ink on it and stamped it three times to ensure a dark image. I then used NUVO clear embossing powder to cover the sentiment and heat set it. I rubbed the Forever Green ink pad over the entire paper to make it as dark as the background. Once the whole sentiment paper was Forever Green, I wiped the words with a clean cloth to remove any ink that was on it.
I used Gina K cardstock in a dark green color and cut it in half on the 11″ length, then used my scoreboard to score it at 4 1/4″ to make a 5 1/2″ x 4 1/4″ card.
I trimmed the embossed background to 5 1/4″ x 4″ and trimmed the sentiment to as narrow as possible and 4″ wide. I had a thin strip of the sentiment colored paper left over and decided to run it through the Xyron to make the back of it sticky.
I used my pink ATG tape and wet glue called Easy Paper Glue to glue the embossed image to my card base, then put ATG tape on the back of the sentiment as well as the wet glue and adhered it to the embossed image. Then I took one of the strips of paper I’d run through the Xyron and placed it below the sentiment.
I stamped the back with Made for you by Sandy Parker and stamped the envelope with a peg stamp from http://www.pegstamps.com with a stamp called a little Pumpkin leaf
and here’s the link to it. https://pegstamps.com/little-pumpkin-leaf-tiny-peg-stamp.html

The stamp I used on the back of the card came from Stampanda. I went through Groupon to get a discount code for Stampanda, then went to the Stampanda site and found their square self inking address stamps, and looked for the one that I liked, and changed it from an address to “Made for you by Sandy Parker”… Hope that helps if you want to make one for yourself. I think it ended up being around $20 to make it.

I get emails from Gina K from Stamp TV when she puts up a new video and she’s releasing new products.  Today’s email talked about a video from her daughter.  She did it in her dorm room, and shows her craft room which includes a tripod made from an old text book, and a peanut butter jar.  I have to say I loved her video.  She made so many mistakes that we’ve all made, and I think she’s a great addition to Gina K.’s site, where Gina comes off as very formal.  Having her daughter show the flip side of crafting, really made me happy.  Sadly, I can relate more to her daughter and her crafting techniques, than I can to Gina.  Gina’s very put together and her videos are professionally done (at least they look like they are.)  I felt so much more comfortable knowing her daughter’s tripod looked like something I would have used.  I know that Gina has been making videos for several years and owns a card making supply online store.  Maybe someday I’ll grow up, and relate to Gina more than her daughter, but in the meantime, I’ll remember that peanut butter jar trick, as I might need it sometime in the near future.

I made a couple of inked embossed cards, but put one piece of cardstock in the embossing folder backwards.  That gave me an inked back, and a white embossed front to the white cardstock.  Instead of throwing it out, I decided I should come up with a plan for it.  Why not just color over the top of the cardstock?  So I decided it should be in neutrals, whites, grays and blacks.  In the end, it came out fine and I ended up with two videos.  It’s one thing to make the mistake, but it’s another to explain how to fix it.  I think we all have made mistakes like that at least once.  In the first video I told people to make sure they practice with their embossing folders so they know which side is embossed and which side is debossed.  Of course I only knew how to do that because I’d already screwed it up.  If people did try it, then every crafter had the extra cardstock with no ink on it.  So in the end it was a win-win for everyone.  It’s not very often that a plan comes together for me, but this one did.  I can’t wait until you see them.  Rich is putting the video up and it should be online tomorrow.

I spent some time working in the craft room today and came up with a great idea for a card.  I decided to try coloring on embossing folders….I’ll let you know how that goes when I do it tomorrow.

On the flip side of that, I got an email from a nice lady that I had sent a card to.  I’d sent several that day, including one to France.  Of course I put them in the wrong envelopes, so the one that should have gone to France, went to a lady in the US, and I’m hoping I only messed up those two…I could have put all of them in the wrong envelopes.  How do I manage to do things like this?  In this case, I think it had to do with using two cards that I just made that look very similar to each other.  I probably made sure I was putting them in their matching envelopes and never thought about if I used the wrong card…The lady in the US that got the wrong card was really gracious about it, and I’m hoping the lady in France has the same sense of humor.  It’s definitely a good lesson for me to be more careful when sending cards.  I’m pretty sure I won’t do this again for a least a few weeks…

I was asked to review this set of 36 Bangood watercolor markers, and found them to be really fun to use. I never receive any monies for products I review, and if you want to purchase them, here’s the link.  They were $12.99 for the set, and shipping to the US is free.  I didn’t check for the rest of the world, but believe the offer free shipping to most places.

36 Colors Washable Watercolor Pens: https://goo.gl/URZ7jT
Banggood.com: https://goo.gl/Y6BfRd
Stationery Supplies: https://goo.gl/fv9sqM
Stationery: https://goo.gl/88JsGh

I used a new stamp I bought from Rubbernecker Stamps called Floral Circle and here’s a link to it. http://tinyurl.com/floralcircle

I inked the stamp with Versamark Ink and used silver embossing powder from Stampin’ Up and heat set it on a 5 x 5″ piece of Canson XL watercolor paper.. I used the set of 36 water based markers from Bangood to color the image, but unfortunately, my camera cut out the blending. I wanted to make sure you could still see me blend, so did some blending with several colors in the middle of the video.. I used a water brush to liquefy the lighter bluish purple color that I used on the background. I used a circle die to cut out the image, then used a piece of silver foil paper and the next bigger circle die to layer under it. I took a label banner die from Die-Namics and used an old Stampin’ Up stamp set called Good Greetings for my sentiment “Happy Valentine’s Day”.. and another Fiskars set for the inside sentiment “You’re the best.” from the set called Petals from Scratch.  I used red card stock that was 11″ long by 5 1/2″ wide, and scored in half at 5 1/2″ to make a 5 1/2″ square card.
I centered the floral circle on the silver card stock and used tape runner to adhere them together and glued them to the center of the card. Then used glue dots to hold the ends of the banner down and put foam tape under the center and then glued it to the card.  I used Versamark ink and the same silver embossing powder for the sentiment on the banner and inside the card.

I decorated the envelope with the Cobblestone Heart from pegstamps.com and here’s the link to it. https://pegstamps.com/cobblestone-heart-mini-peg-stamp.html. I used Versamark ink and the same silver embossing and heat set it so it matches the inside of the card.

I really liked the markers, and thought they blended well.  I showed a couple different ways to use them, direct to paper, as well as scribbling on a tile and picking the ink up with a blender pen.  I think they are a good value for $12.99 and would recommend them to someone looking for a good variety of markers at a reasonable price. The only thing I didn’t like about the markers was the container they come in. There are small circles in the bottom where you put the markers, but once I pulled markers out, I couldn’t figure out where the holes were that the marker came out of. I would either figure out a way to remove the circle slots in the bottom, or store them in a different container.

So our Punxatawney Phil saw his shadow, so it’s six more weeks of winter.  I wish it was only six more weeks.  We’ve had snow in May, so six weeks is a real understatement, but that’s a groundhog for you. I’m not sure if they use the same calendar as us… I’m not sure who came up with the brilliant idea of using this rodent to determine weather, but it definitely brings a lot of people and money to the small community of Punxatawney.  Although I’ve never been there to witness the event, I’ve been to Punxatawney, and it’s not exactly a booming metropolis.  I’m glad they came up with an idea so outrageous to bring tourists and their dollars to the community.  It was a genius idea.  I wish our community had thought of it first.  Maybe we could have an early winter prediction from how many acorns a squirrel hides….Squirrels are much more attractive than groundhogs..I’ll be thinking of ways to use a squirrel’s hoard to my advantage.  Then again, some squirrels might be better hoarders than others, or maybe the squirrel that’s chosen is an over eater…these things have to be taken into consideration.  How much does the average squirrel hoard?  I think it’s more work than it’s worth, but if any of you have a great winter prediction, let me know and we’ll give it a whirl.

I wanted to do something creative today, but Rich’s cold got a lot worse, and I was starting to worry, so stayed close to him all day.  Of course that meant taking a nap, watching some action movies and television shows, and basically, just trying to keep the day low-key.

I know he’s feeling terrible when I offer to make something simple like homemade apple sauce, and he turns me down.  I had to ask a second time before he reconsidered, and was glad I made it for him.

I’m a worrier.  I’ve always been that way, and when Rich gets sick, I fret until I see him rebounding.  I know a lot of people can shrug off almost anything, but I’ve always been the opposite.  I can make myself a wreck over the smallest things, and no matter how much Rich reassures me, I’ll still continue to worry until he’s better.  Today he’s started to cough a lot, and even though we have a lot of cough and cold medicines, they aren’t seeming to do anything to stop his cough.  In case you’re thinking “this is just a cold,”  I might have thought that too, but that was before our friend’s 57 year old healthy wife, died on her way to her doctor’s appointment from the cold/flu that’s been going around this year.  I’ve heard of so many people ending up in the hospital with this bug, and I just don’t want Rich to get any sicker.  If I could have a plaque made for “World’s Best Worrier,” that would be great..I definitely think I’m at least in the running for it.