There are heaps of videos on YT, largely from three or so fairly distinct groups of crafters...
The first group of folk seem to live and craft in darkened cellars (might even be caves, the lighting is so poor in most that it can be difficult to tell), splashing paints and spraying inks across recycled junk mail, brushing on unknowable (they rarely show you the label) glutinous substances with dashing abandon across crowded desks piled with equipment and materials amongst which they burrow frantically in search of one thing or another...but mercifully, like me, displaying grubby fingers and short stained nails. Their videos are often unedited and very long...these crafters recycle piles of unlikely objects and found materials into often quite stunning objects of original but obscure desire, they are creative and imaginative and often gift or swap share the products of their imaginations...
Then there is the group who show off their well stocked cupboards of all sorts of desirable pastes, gels, sprays, mediums, pens, brushes,machines and markers...with long colourful, beautifully manicured hands and wrists encrusted with rings and bracelets in gleamingly decorated and furnished crafting shrines. This group often need to use tools to pick up objects as their nails do not allow them any actual finger contact with the item they are demonstrating...they never have stained fingers because they never actually touch anything. their videos have magical intros, are sharply edited to remove any hint of a glitch or wasted time...the narrative is often focused on speed of execution and completion. This group do not ever seem to have budgets that constrain them in any way. The items this group produce are often well polished and designed and are available for sale in their Etsy shops. The tutorials they offer are usually portions of the completed article, rather than the whole deal...
Then there is a third group, these souls have uncluttered work spaces with good lighting, clean and sparsely adorned fingies, inhabit crafting spaces cribbed from their living spaces and furnished with items repurposed from other portions of their lives. They produce projects that are quite often CASE'd from their YT friends. As a undefined and nebulous group they refine and add individual tweaks to the development of techniques and projects across their area of interest. Their videos are informative, often made more precise with strategic editing, but these souls have no reluctance to admit to wrong turns or glitches along the way. In fact they often use these to pass on helpful tips that may just help you to avoid similar issues.
One thing almost all of these inhabitants from the mixed medium country have in common though, even if they don't always speak my language, is their generosity, willingness to share techniques and projects, and helpfulness in answering my often inane questions about products, techniques and materials.
I am grateful for them all! They all increase my knowledge and understanding. I am slowly coming to realise that there is no road map in this unchartered place, just the occasional street sign. One simply needs an enquiring mind, initiative and a mature self confidence...I am not sure yet if I am destined to become a member of any of these clans or am simply a tourist, wandering about and getting in everyone's way, agog with the splendour and richness of an unexplored and unknown country...time will tell.
Mind you, while we are on this subject, it took me quite a while to realise that very often the most profligate of MM folk are on design teams, employed by or married to a giant online craft store owner...the sort of connections that ensure a continuous supply of the newest, shiniest and most desirable of messy finger painting goodness...one lady who's demonstration of using lots of alcohol ink to "paint" with I started to watch just recently proves my point rather - she was not using large economy bottles of the stuff as would seem reasonable when producing a large, many layered canvas, but was simply pulling the ends off a multitude of Copic markers and pouring the meagre contents of each onto her art work...I struggle to purchase any Copics at all, they are close to ten dollars each here in Tasmania! I couldn't watch! Oh, I have mixed medium supply envy in such a bad way! But hey... it's ok...I will get over it in time...there is a cure, you know, for all diseases!
While waiting for that event to finally put me out of my misery, I have had to make do and utilise what I have, adding to the supplies surreptitiously from time to time and thinking hard about what I could do to produce similar results from my limited means, which in all fairness I do know is the reality for most of us in the crafting community.
To this end, now my circumstances are more subscribed than when I was earning a regular and goodly wage, I have stopped impulse buying (almost!) and now think long and hard before any purchases...do I really need it, is there anything else that may be less expensive and do the job, are there any YT videos with a recipe to make at home...all of the above.
Having rambled on aimlessly about nothing, I will get on with what I originally intended to talk about...homemade stamps!
A YT channel fairly new to me, Kagedfish, was making some MM backgrounds and was using a few obviously homemade stamps to add texture to her work. I commented on the video and expressed an interest in how she made the stamps, to which Karla replied that others had said the same and she would make a video showing the process...which she duly did.
Just a couple of days later...this video link appeared in my subscription list..see what I mean? How cool was that? You should pop over and check the video out, she has lots of ideas for making stamps and stencils and some great low cost alternatives too...
So, anyway, today I set to and made some stamps similar to hers, not as good mind you, but using her process. I need to make myself a circle stencil with my punches, but I have made seven stamps today and I am keen to make some more as they can add interesting texture effects to backgrounds.
I made mine from fun foam, of which I have a goodly supply (it comes in packs the size of a wool bale!).
Karla mounts hers on cardboard panels or recycled jar lids. I don't have many jar lids that aren't attached to preserve bottles, (precious, precious things!) and the cardboard and gaffer tape versions seemed a little temporary, so I simply cut a few more rings of foam and glued these in a stack...and they work brilliantly!
I made a video of the process, view here or on YT...
Bye now,
Di