MAKING BEADS WITH BEAD ROLLERS - TECHNIQUE VIDEO IS UP AND RUNNING

I wish posting videos could be an every day thing. But, unfortunately it won't be. Here is actually the first video that I shot and produced. This video took me longer to edit and so that's why it's just now coming to you.

Here's a little You Tube viewing tip: Im sure this works with any YouTube video. If you notice at the bottom of the YouTube viewing screen there are some buttons. The second button from the left (next to the play button) will allow you to view thumbnails of all the videos that I have currently running. If you slide your pointer over the top of one, it will list the video name. So maybe you already know this...but if you are like me and new to all this advanced technology stuff..you might find that little feature pretty handy. The menu button allows you to either embed or copy the URL to another site. Please email me for permission to do this so that I know where links are being placed.

Please keep checking back on the blog or on my website for more video updates and mini video classes. Without further adieu....enjoy the show!

Bead Making Videos on You Tube!

Remember the post where I said, "Persistance pays off"? Couldn't be more true in this case. It's finally here and I'm so excited to present the first... in what I hope to be a long series of short how-to videos!

It's been a very educational experience to say the least, with moving furniture for the shoot, setting up lighting, tripods and all kinds of electrical cords, I really thought for a while I was in a real studio and not just my house. After loads and loads of takes...mostly for technical reasons...and for reasons that I couldnt even remember the name of my book or what I was doing at time...it's finally here!!!

My goal is to have a DVD available as well as "mini" classes for you available on my website. So that's all coming up! I have to say, this was loads of fun!

So sit back...take about a 6 minute break...grab a cup of coffee (ice tea for me) and enjoy...(sorry folks- it's not long enough to break out the popcorn!)

Learning from your mistakes...Persistance pays off!

The last couple of days have been extremely frustrating. In an attempt to update the website, I ended up deleting it. I had a back up copy, so I wasn't that concerned until everything...and I mean everything .....I tried didn't work. No matter what I tried, I couldn't get my pages to upload, the server kept cutting me off and dropping the connection. FRUSTRATING... This was day 3 of my efforts.

But, amidst the frustration and a few tears, I was able to get the site to load this afternoon. How? I left home! I took the computer with me to the doctors office and guess what? They had wireless internet. I thought what the heck? Let's see if my website uploads while Im here...and it did! So I sat there, in the office, frantically uploading pages to my site. Most of it is working, I only have a do a few tweeks!

Now, looking back on that experience, I thought about what I learned. First of all patience and persistance ( sometimes Im not too good in that category). Thru many phone calls to tech guys, I learned how to do FTP (file transfer protocol), I learned how to connect my new camera to my computer without buying a webcam! All of this is useful for those online classes I intend to hold and have going in January. Now, I'm learning video editing.

When you get a chance, check out the new website. I re-formatted all the Project of the Month club's so that you can buy the entire collection - that's over 130 projects folks!...... you can by your "fave 10 - just pick em' out and let me know which ones when you check out" or you can buy each project individually. Think of each as a little mini class. They're full of step by step photo's and instructions. They will come to you via a email download along with a disk in the mail. The only exception is the "entire collection" it's way to big....

Here's what's coming up on the website in the near future:

A new gallery - jewelry, figurine and papercrafts/digi-art
New Online Class Schedule
New Videos
New products - I've designed a line of unique wooden scrapbooks...look for these online in the near future
And eventually, a guest book.

Thanks to everyone who responded to the blog poll. I appreciate your time and thoughts!

Technical Difficulties.............

The Blog is great....my website? Not so great! I went to update it yesterday and POOF! It disappeared into thin air!!

I'm working right now to restore it - and downloading some new software to actually make that happen. Hope to have it up and running today...or as soon as possible!

Be sure to email me if you have any questions, comments or would like to purchase books or POM club project sheets!!

off to cyberspace....

Food Crafting - A recipe for some family fun!

Today, I'd like to share a little bit of a personal story. This is the time of year that my husband, Dana longs for. This is prime time hunting season. I'm sure if you are a hunter or if you are a hunting widow like I am at times, you will relate to this story. For hunter's, and for us, it's not about the thrill of the hunt. It's an opportunity to teach conservation to our kids and to put alot of meat on the table. We don't buy much meat by choice, because Dana happens to be an awesome outdoorsman. Our freezers (all three of them) are full of a variety of wild game from venison, turkey, wild boar, some occassional frog legs along with a variety of fish and fowl.

About this time every year, we teach the kids how to process the deer that Dana harvests. We even have a burger making day - quite a tradition in the Peterson house. We even package it with cute little personalized labels. Today was no exception. Although we didnt process deer or burger. We did take the burger we've already processed and embarked on a fun food crafting experience.

We made brats! Crafting doesn't always have to be with paint or clay....it just has to be a fun time with family or friends and creating something....

So if you are up for a BRAT making experience...here's a little tutorial. It's actually quite easy.

We purchased a Brat seasoning kit from Walmart. It came with the "hanks" which are the casings that you stuff the sausage into. We made four pounds of three different kinds, a plain, italian sausage and our favorite beer and cheddar cheese...so here goes

This is what the hanks (casings) look like. Gently separate them. Open one end and put it on the end of the faucet. Turn on the water and watch it fill just like a water balloon. Let the water flow thru for a couple of minutes. Drain the water. Put the wet "hank" in a bowl of cold water with one of the ends hanging over the bowl. Repeat for 5 hanks. (We made 12 lbs with using 5)

Mix in a can of beer. But the recipe is 1/4 cup per lb. Then mix is a bunch of cheddar shredded cheese. Make sure it is well mixed.

Now it's time to put it into the meat grinder. Ours came from Bass Pro Shops. It's a monster, but a hand crank will do just fine...you'll just need some elbow grease. Notice that the hank is completely on the sausage stuffer attachment. Turn it on and fill the casing with just a little bit of sausage. Tie it off with a string.

We add enough meat for approximately a 6" brat, then twist. Now the key to twisting is alternate. On your first twist - twist toward you, on the next - twist away from you. This way your brats will always be ...well...a little "twisted"...

Just keep twisting until you use up all your meat. When your done add another string and tie off the end. We wrapped in sets of 3 and froze them. Now....reap the fruitage of your labor. I highly suggest making an extra brat or two because you are going to want to throw them in the broiler for a taste test. YUM YUM!!!

Sorry Johnsonville....guess we'll be making our own brats now!

Thanks to everyone, who's given me their feedback on classes. I bought a webcam today...so we're on our way to online classes and videos! Stay tuned!!