I believe that I have officially entered the video age!
(Click on thumbnails for bigger detail)
This technique is an ‘oldie’ called Polished Stone that I have seen less and less these days, so I dusted it off and shared it at my ‘Technique Freak’ club in January.
Polished stone is a technique that is better ‘shown than described’ so I present to you my first ever video (actually made back in January) that is being published after a lot of tears, blood (and ooops, maybe some mild swearing).
Details on materials: 91% Rubbing Alcohol, dye re-inkers, glossy cardstock, gold embossing powder, Versamark pad, Always stamp set (#113620), and the background stamp is Gratituitous Graffiti (#111636).
I used an inexpensive webcam on a tripod and after some minor editing (the drawback of a cheap recorder is that you need to convert the video format to one that is compatible with online services… fortunately I found a terrific FREE converter). I uploaded it to OneTrueMedia.com which by the way if you have no editing software, you can do some editing there as well… such as flip it (I video’d it upside down) and you can also watermark it (so if it is shared, it has your watermark in it). For more information on what OneTrueMedia.com ask my (or any) 14 year old… my Sarah was a huge help, all her friends use it. I’m so happy that she was in the room when I was doing this… she was very into the process (I can only hope that her and her dingy friends don’t have some videos out there somewhere…). For networking reasons, I also uploaded to YouTube, but for $25 a year, I got a cool ‘TV’ looking player with OneTrueMedia.com (I’m such a geek!).
By the way, I’ve since moved on to a hard drive video camcorder, Sony Vegas Studio software as well as Adobe Premier Elements and after that huge investment have not had time to go back and use any of it. Actually, that’s not true, I reshot the video and edited it and didn’t see any different (ouch!), so you are seeing my ‘cheap’ rendition I did first. I will blog this journey and share my video trials with you… what you’ll need and what you don’t, shortly!
I have been an inconsistent blogger lately, I had surgery last week and my website work schedule just gave me no time off to enjoy the pain killers. (I have a bottle of Oxycotin just calling to me that I am going to flush today). I have had hearing loss in my left ear for years due to an undetected cholesteatoma in my inner ear that eroded bone and nerve. This is my second rebuild (next time, I’m going all-body rebuild). So now equipped with the finest titanium inner ear parts, I hope to hear better (when all stuffing comes out–and if I don’t itch out brain matter). I don’t think I am imagining that I already hear better even with layers of packing (probably all the way back to my brain, LOL!
If I don’t hear better, perhaps I’ll pick up XFM radio or better cell phone reception at least… so be kind, how did I do?
I enjoyed your video! Thanks for sharing the technique! I can’t wait to try it.
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Amy Reply:
April 29th, 2009 at 7:33 am
@PamBrowne: Thank you! I know I should have done this sooner!
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Friend, this is absolutely wonderful! I’ve done Polished Stone many times beore, but never thought to add the excess alcohol/reinker mixture to fill in….so beautiful! Blessings on your ear…I hope you get to see (and hear!) me at convention!) Jan Lindsey Louisville, KY
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Amy Reply:
April 29th, 2009 at 7:32 am
@JanLindsey Huh? Speak up! Thank you for your feedback!
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Amy, I think your video is great. The quality was fine and your were excellent. Please do more! Thanks for sharing.
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Hey, great job with this video! It’s better than a LOT I’ve seen out there, and you really should be pleased with yourself for how it turned out. I enjoyed seeing the polished stone technique again, too — think I may have to pull out my alcohol and reinkers soon now. I look forward to seeing future projects, especially on video. Yay!
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Amy — A fabulous job! Don’t wait any longer to post more. I could see great — loved the close ups of what you’re were doing and I learned some new twists on a technique I’ve done many times. I will be putting your great ideas to use right away. thanks for sharing and hope you recovery quickly. See you in August I hope.
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Great Job on your first video tutorial. I love that its in the TV and that you turn the knob for volume…this is the first i have ever seen!
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Hey Lindsay Wagner…(get it? bionic woman–cuz now you got da titanium earz??)…nice video. Seriously, you were way worried for nuthin’. I still haven’t done my first video because all I have is an old webcam and it’s on the computer across the room. I don’t even know how I could get it close enough to my stamp desk to work. And I’m too lazy to take my stamp crap over and clear off a space on my computer desk!
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Amy Reply:
April 29th, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Clearing off space to take the video was another challenge I didn’t get into, LOL!
I bought a cheap handheld webcam and put it on a small tripod and video’d it upside down. Flipped it on the editing.
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Amy, Great video! You make this look so easy! I can’t wait to try it. Keep those videos coming!
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Amy, great video. I’ve always wanted to try this technique and now I will. Thanks for sharing and taking the time to make the video.
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Great job Amy….thank you for sharing. It’s a tried and true classic technique that deserves to be used again and again. Thanks for “bringing it back”. I was just looking at the three pkgs of glossy cardstock that I have and wondering “hmmmmmm….what on earth should I do with this?” Guess you must have heard me .
And, when I run out of table space–I grab a new folding table…..YIKES! who made this mess…..and better yet, whose gonna clean it up!! I know the answer to both questions……ME!!!
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Great video Amy, LOVE the little funky TV set LOL!
Just one request (and maybe you didn’t mean it literally) PLEASE don’t FLUSH your extra medications…return them to the pharmacy to be disposed of in a safe way…meds down the Toilet are bad for the water systems and oceans.
OK..stepping off my soapbox!
Thanks for always being inspiring!! I have been meaning to try videos also…and you know what..I never thought about using my tripod…LOL. I just asked my hubby to build me a frame to hold the camera abouve my hands …he’s gonna be happy.
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Amy Reply:
April 30th, 2009 at 4:21 am
Thank you VERY much for that warning… I read one time long ago about flushing instead of throwing out meds (so they aren’t found in the trash and poison someone). I received a few warnings privately and it probably bears a public warning for ding bats like me who didn’t even think of that, LOL! Thanks!
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That was an awesome video!
You did awesome.. You so do not want to see mine I am can never stop laughing in my videos! lol 
Love that tech. and of course NOW I want that background stamp lol..
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I love the technique – not one I have seen before so thanks for sharing. The cards are lovely. And the video is great! Nice work for a beginner!
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This is your first! Unbelieveable! I’ve always loved the polished stone look. Thanks for sharing your marvelous talent. Hope your hearing is greatly improved, too. I’m mostly deaf in one ear and can’t hear out of the other, myself.
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Beautiful card but when I tried it, the gold never dried. Any idea why? Thanks so much for sharing an old technique that i have never really understood until now.
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Amy Reply:
June 22nd, 2009 at 4:59 pm
Two reasons the gold never dries… the ‘puddle’ of gold ink is still too thick… also, you can spray seal it with clear acrylic sealer to hold it in.
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