Can't belive it's 36 weeks already! Time is literally just flying by!!!
In case anyone missed them here are links to all the previous update posts:
To watch directly on YouTube click HERE <-----click!
Hello everyone :)
As always busy busy busy here ;), but still attempting to get things done - lately more-so on my YouTube channel.
I finally uploaded a "channel preview" - if you're already subscribed to me on YouTube you won't have seen it - it's meant to somewhat explain what it is I DO on there to people that are totally new to me:
You can watch directly on YouTube HERE <-----click!
And something else I've been trying that I talked about on my FB page is uploading my videos as a larger file size. I always forget that a LOT of my blog readers and YouTube subscribers are not on my facebook page, so addressing things here is needed as well.
Lately I've been getting *some* "complaints" that my videos are "blurry" or they think I need to "zoom out more" b/c it's not crystal clear. Or that I need to purchase a HD or better quality camera.
Well for one thing I DO have a pretty good camera (one that cost me a pretty penny when I purchased it!), that DOES film in HD. BUT that is a MASSIVE amount of data to upload/edit/process/upload to YouTube, and not only is it the camera but my computer and my internet connection need to be top notch as well.
What a LOT of people don't realize is that I do this mostly as a hobby (AKA I'm not making near enough $$ to classify all this as a business - literally I make nothing when one figures out all the time I put into it - I do it because I enjoy it - I LOVE stamping and have learned to love making videos and sharing them with all of you). And I pay for EVERYTHING out of my own pocket. I saved up for months to buy the camera I have (and actually sold off a lot of my stamping stuff that I'd stockpiled for years), and saved up for a couple YEARS to purchase my iMac computer. I've been paying extra to my internet provider to have faster upload speeds (which sadly is being downgraded in a couple weeks b/c the bills are piling up and I won't be working as much soon!) in order to handle all the video files.
Up until recently I've been uploading all my videos as a "medium file" (it's just an option in iMovie - I honestly am not all that savvy on "tech-speak" when it comes to all this stuff - I do what I can), which isn't the "best" quality.
So after getting too many complaints I thought I'd *try* uploading a "large file" for my videos. It takes about 3x longer for my computer to process and upload to YouTube - and so far I see a tiny bit of improvement? And I haven't had any complaints recently LOL ;) ;).
I can honestly say that I have NO plans on filming and uploading in HD - at least not in the near future. It takes a LOT of time to film, then edit, upload, process, post, etc etc etc for every single video I do - and switching to HD would basically more than triple that amount of time. Time that I just don't have. And with a baby on the way I DEFINITELY won't have that much free time!
All that being said - I only thought it was time to better explain what all this is like for me. I'm not catering to the complainers (much *wink*), it was more of an experiment on my part to try something different. I've always tried to make my videos as well as possible and explain everything as simply as possible (which was the main point in my opinion), and I KNOW that you can't please everyone! It's a learning process too - my videos have come a loooonnnggg way since I first started making them - now I'm at well over 300 (hundred!) videos on my YouTube channel. And I'm sure they will keep improving as time goes on (I hope anyway).
It's also easier for me to type all this up here for y'all rather than try to explain the whole process over and over and OVER again to the people that don't understand and feel the need to criticize.
Thankfully the vast majority of my subscribers, my readers, and my Facebook fans are more than appreciative of what I do - and I appreciate all of you just as much. I also really appreciate y'all for sticking up for me when a "hater" does creep out of the woodwork, and for sticking by me when I seem to disappear for weeks on end when my "real" life tends to take over! It makes what I do on here worth it that's for sure.
And if you're still reading at this point THANK YOU ((((hugs))))
I have to head to work now (my "real" job that actually helps with the bills and puts food on the table LOL), hopefully I will have something more "creative" to post for y'all very soon!
OK time for another update. In case you're just checking in and have missed what all has been going on the past several months you can start at the beginning:
To watch directly on YouTube click HERE <----click!
I wanted to get this one posted too before I forget (which happens a lot lately :P). Forgive me if I come off a tad (prolly a LOT lol) sarcastic in this one - FYI if y'all knew me in "real" life you'd see I'm quite a sarcastic person (that's putting it mildly *wink*), and I prolly shouldn't have filmed this on a Monday morning (that started out rather rotten as Monday's generally tend to do) and had no coffee in my system LOL!!!
And if for some strange reason this is the first you are hearing/seeing all of this (lately I've been getting a lot of comments along the lines of "so good to see you back!" and "we've missed you!" and "omg congrats I didn't know!", so I think my posts and videos are getting lost in the interwebs for some - and then some people are new to me and my whole online presence which is totally OK (and pretty cool that you've found me)) here are all the other relevant posts/videos too:
So now today's video:
To watch on YouTube click HERE <-----click!
And yeah if you missed my earlier post/video you can see it here:
I've become one of those people that LIVES for weekends. Even though when the weekend finally gets here (like now!) it just means I have a TON of laundry and housekeeping and "catching up" to do (but with my current "condition" I can at least sneak in a nap here and there between loads of laundry and whatnot *wink*).
Also it's becoming the only time I have to stamp and get crafty. After a full day of work I don't have the energy (or creativity) to make things after - but that's also been due to the lack of sunlight here during the winter. It's still winter outside here in SK (we don't even hope for spring 'till the end of March at the earliest - double blah!) but it's been staying lighter outside for longer each day and that makes SUCH a huge difference.
**OH and before I forget (I meant to announce this yesterday but ran out of time) - All That Scraps is now a Member Company at Splitcoast! If you're not at all familiar with splitcoaststampers.com head on over there. It's FREE to set up a profile and you'll have access to the forums and gallery and tutorials etc etc etc. I've been a member for years now (I've even got a couple tutorials on there that were published years ago). I haven't been all that active on the forums for some time but now that ATS has their own forum on there I plan on popping in from time to time to "chat".
You can find the ATS forum HERE <------click! It *just* went live yesterday so it will take a while to get some conversations going!! :)**
OK now for the card without a video.
I made this card last year for my oldest daughter's birthday (you can see the one I made for her this year HERE). Obviously I enjoy using The Greeting Farm stamps for my kids cards :).
I can't for the life of me remember what patterned paper pack this is from - I'm sure if I dug through my stash I'd find it but I'm 99% sure it's not available anymore anyway (though when I say that I usually get proven wrong LOL!).
Again I colored her as a redhead - my oldest girl's hair isn't *really* that red - hers is more of a really pretty deep strawberry blond now - it's hard to explain and looks different all the time.
*side note - last year during parent-teacher interviews her teacher informed me that one of the boys in her class had THE biggest crush on her and went on and on during *his* interview about V's "beautiful red hair". It was hilarious (as it always is when they're little - give it a couple more years and I'll prolly SEE red any time a boy starts batting eyes at my girls LOL!!!).*
ANYWHO - back to the card:
The sentiments were from my Magical Wishes stamp set. Rather fitting ;)
Patterned Paper (forget which!)
Stampin' Up! YoYo Yellow cardstock (discontinued)
Prima flowers and brads from my stash
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I have had a lot of people asking for my address to be able to send a baby card, gifts etc. So I will post my mailing address for those that want to send a card but honestly other than that I don't want anyone going out of their way to send gifts, money etc!
I have already had a couple of people send me "tips" via the tip jar (it's located on the top right here on my blog - if you're reading this via Google Reader etc you won't see it) which has been greatly appreciated. Usually any little tips I get go towards the fees I pay to keep this blog running (since Typepad isn't a free service I pay a rather hefty amount b/c I use up a LOT of bandwidth every month!) - however any of the ones I got that were earmarked "for the baby" I've been putting towards the baby fund. Since we're starting from scratch with this one every little bit helps (and is greatly appreciated) but NOT necessary.
I don't want anyone to think I'm begging for money here people! ;)
But yes if you'd like to send a card - doesn't even have to be a baby card - any sort of card - it is what we DO after all ;) - here is my mailing address:
Amy Rysavy
PO Box 906
Rosetown, SK
S0L 2V0
Canada
I'm thinking I'll have to set up a little album either here on my blog or on my Facebook page to post pics of any cards that arrive (I've been really bad about doing that in the past - I generally keep anything that is sent to me but have a REALLY bad habit of setting things "aside" then forgetting where that was - and now with prego brain I'm even worse. I'm lucky if I can find my car keys every morning.....:P) but that will be later.
Thank you ALL for all your comments and e-mails and well wishes so far. It's definitely been a "different" pregnancy for me this time around and sharing it all with you guys has made it even more interesting (in a good way) LOL!!
((((hugs))))
OK I really have to run - I'm going to be late for work! Make sure to scroll down and check out the birthday card and video I just posted!! bye!!!
LOTS of people requesting this so here it is :)
To watch on YouTube click HERE <----click!
And if you've missed any of the previous card posts (as I've been posting a ton lately) be sure to scroll down and check them out :)
It seems a lot of people missed my last update video as I'm still getting a lot of comments asking if I'm feeling better etc etc - I had posted this video a few weeks ago but here it is again for those that missed it:
Watch directly on YouTube HERE <-----click!
*and yes I'll do a NEW update video soon once I get the time! ;)*
After much trial and error I FINALLY have a half-decent update video for y'all. It's still not as good of quality as it should be but I'm tired of fiddling with my camera settings and repeating myself over and over (and over!) again trying to get it right!
You can watch directly on YouTube HERE <-----click!
Now I just need to finish the card video I'm posting right after this before I head to work!
This post is for any of my readers that are in or around the Saskatoon, SK area! Just Scrap It - one of the main scrapbooking stores in Saskatoon - closed down recently (sad face). They still have a TON of stuff left including all the fixtures, shelving etc etc. It's all listed on auction here:
McDougall Auctions - Just Scrap It!
You need to be in the area b/c anything bid on and won has to be picked up within 3 days of the closing bid (which is noon Thursday Jan 24,2013).
I was just looking through it and there is a TON of stuff in that auction. If I wasn't in the middle of doing some serious cutting down/reorganizing/not sure what I'm doing lol I'd be tempted to bid on some of it. There's huge tables and everything.
So yeah I thought I'd give my "local" readers a heads up - hopefully someone scores some awesome things (let me know if you do!).
I had stopped by the actual store (JSI) last time I was in the city for a doctor's appointment - I didn't buy much as there wasn't anything that stood out for me (after 10-ish years of stamping I have a TON of stuff - so much of it not used yet - and lately it's been harder and harder to justify buying more when I have so much sitting here waiting to be used LOL). I did get my kids a few artsy things to play with since I got it for 60% off - that was nice. As far as the auction goes there's quite a few "lots" of scrapbook supplies - something that doesn't appeal to me but for people just getting started or who have limited funds you could get a TON of goodies for dirt cheap if the bidding stays low. :)
*I'm not affiliated with either Just Scrap It! or McDougall Auctions. I just wanted to pass on the info b/c there's a TON of stuff available and you could get an awesome deal. The terms and how to bid info will be on the auction site - I've never bid on there before so I have no clue how it all works - I might have to figure it all out tho if there's something that catches my eye!*
On an unrelated note - I'm still *HOPING* to be back more regularily soon - I think I might do another little update video if people are interested (I actually put makeup on today so I don't look like hell - making it more possible for me to sit in front of a camera LOL). And I'm TRYING to get my creative mojo going - it's taking some effort.
I haven't forgotten about my blog/videos or you guys - all the comments, e-mails etc wishing me well have been read and are greatly appreciated!! :)
I'm gonna finish my coffee (first one I've had in 3 months! I was too naseous to even consider it for so many weeks - it was horrible) and see how this day goes before attempting a video (it's pretty dark still here and too dark to film).
Have a fab day everyone!
I posted this on my Facebook Page but obviously not everyone that reads my blog is on FB too so just posting here as well.
Sorry everyone - I haven't been feeling well and have way too much on my plate right now :( Something had to give and stamping needed to go on the back burner for a bit. My creative "mojo" just isn't there right now. Too many things vying for my time and energy all at once!
If you're jonesing for some inspiration you can check out my Christmas and Holiday category on my blog - I have a couple pages of card posts in there.
As well as some non-card Christmas ideas here:
Hopefully I'll have some current posts soon. :)
{{{{Hugs}}}}
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