SUPER Easy Faux Leather Technique & Cheating Death?? Chat

My apologies, I couldn't find any paper weight measurements listed on the kraft paper rolls I looked up. I didn't want to lead anyone astray, so I didn't add any rolls to my faves list, sorry about that!
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0:00 - intro
2:56 - varnish/paint mixture
5:39 - crinkle paper
7:34 - 1st method
10:21 - 2nd method
23:29 - sanding 1st method sample
25:37 - rubbing ink pad on 1st method
28:32 - rubbing ink pad on 2nd method
29:30 - clear spray
31:22 - varnish on backside of 2nd sample

[@KodyK2024]

Anyone else say out loud, Welcome back, welcome back.

[@NiktheBooksmith]

😅

[@xVentax]

Always. It makes me smile, in a warm & fuzzy way. ☺️

[@mikegoulet7883]

Nik, as a retired jeweler, i used New Skin(liquid bandage) on my dried skin cracks. Also Nexcare makes the best bandaids, they stayed on the longest with my frequent hand washing! Enjoyed the video. We all walked by ourselves in the 60's!

[@amandaharden4063]

Agreed It's masking paper used for painting in the house... Both Lowe's and home Depot sell it. Several thicknesses and lengths! Super cheap too

[@user-hd3tc9rp7h]

When I was about 10 years old ('55) I slept upstairs with 3 siblings and my mom, dad and baby sister slept downstairs. My dad urned the furnace on for the first time that fall. During the night sometime I started throwing up and the three siblings did, too. I got up and walked downstairs but I was hitting either side of the walls. I made it to the kitchen door and opened it. I felt better and told my parents that we were all throwing up upstairs. They must have shut the furnace off. In the morning my dad checked the chimney and said that a bird had built a nest in it. In 2003 I said something to my sisters about me saving the family and they said I was lying. they didn't remember it. We asked my mom, who was about 80+ then, and she didn't remember it! She remembers everything otherwise. Well, I saved the family and it doesn't matter if no one else remembers. We are all here to say it.

[@user-hd3tc9rp7h]

I've also had cancer 3 times. Lots of chemo. God held my hand thru it all.

[@Marilynlovesebiking]

I like your cheating death stories. So glad your safety sense kicked in when your were little. For me, one time I was driving down a rural road in a light snow condition with my two children in the van with me. I came around a bend a saw a pickup truck laying on its side in the middle of the road and a school bus over on the shoulder. I slammed on the brakes and started sliding straight toward the overturned pickup truck. I thought for sure we were going to slam into it. At the very last second our vehicle stopped and did not hit the truck. I felt like our guardian angels stopped our van. We were all fine. Turned out there had been black ice on the road.This was in northern CA where we we seldom got snow. Now I live in Pennsylvania and I much better at driving in snow and ice etc.

[@jaizebrookstone3329]

Something very similar happened to me. I live in northern PA, so driving in snow is something I am accustomed to. Driving home from work one evening during a heavy snowfall that was sticking to the roads, I had to travel on a road with small hills (over hill & dale lol) and was on the last down hill bit before a town I had to go through before the road flattened out. The last bit of the hill was on a curve to the right and the road ahead wasn't visible. I was going very slowly and as I started around the curve, I saw a semi-truck in the opposite lane that had gotten stuck trying to go up the hill. Beside it (in my lane) was a car that had tried to pass it - also stuck! I started tapping my brakes and letting off when my car started to slide and just kept continuing this with the brakes, but knew I wasn't going to be able to stop in time. There was nowhere to go except to the right side of the road where there was a large snowbank. I figured I'd rather hit the snowbank than the car, so I steered for that, thinking I was probably going to flip. I just held my breath and went for it. My right wheels rode up on the bank and I slid past the car, then was able to get back on the road. Heart pounding, I pulled over in a parking lot that had been plowed and had to sit for a good while while I cried with relief heart pounding and shaking like a leaf. Somebody up above was looking out for me that day!

[@fazestorm4441]

I love the book box

[@LedgerAndLace]

I guess one of my cheating death stories would be when I had that emergency appendectomy. "No, I don't need to go to the hospital as long as I can lie here on the floor . . . . " 🙂 Some people are horrified that you were walking home. It's amazing how normal that was just a coupla generations ago. Like dancing in DDT clouds and riding in the back of a station wagon with no seatbelts, never mind car seats. Good times!

[@NiktheBooksmith]

"The floor is my home now, I'll be fine. Everything is fine." 😳 Oh, and you forgot running with scissors and drinking from the garden hose 😂

[@LedgerAndLace]

@@NiktheBooksmith and juggling with knives and chainsaws. Hahaha

[@tiffanymichaels2429]

One of my experiences could have cost a lot of lives. Basically there was a huge sleepover at my sister and her roommate's apartment back when I was in my teens. I was dreaming about a horrible smell and it all of a sudden hit me something was burning. Woke me right up. I jumped up and immediately realized a couch cushion was starting to burn and woke everyone up. Turned out a light weight extension cord was used for a heavy duty air condition. It got super hot. The couch cushion from the pull out bed was sitting on top of it and it started to burn it and the carpet. The cushion was quickly thrown outside just in time as it quickly burst into flames. If the apartment had started on fire the whole building would have burned as my brother lived in the apartment next door and he was an artist. So he had his fresh oil paintings everywhere trying to dry and paint thinner in cans. That couch cushion seemed to burn forever out in the middle of the street. Even when you think the fire was put out it would all of a sudden flame up again. I believe the couch was from the 70s. I don't know what that foam was made out of but boy it's hard to stop it burning once it starts.

[@phoebea]

Great video! The papers do look like leather. I miss your Craft Time Mystery stories. You have such a gift for storytelling.

[@NiktheBooksmith]

Thanks, I have been thinking about a mystery to write a script about. It's def on the to-do list as soon as I get caught up again. 😭😄

[@marikareimer4411]

I think I've been missing out on something wonderful. What is this mystery story you are talking about? I'm quite interested. 😊

[@phoebea]

@@marikareimer4411 Nik has a segment called Craft Time Mystery, where she tells a true crime story while doing a mostly self-explanatory craft on screen.

[@bonnierosendale]

Cool lookin' leatherish paper! I am former military, a former police officer, and retired as a domestic violence crisis intervention and family stabilization therapist. I also was in a horrible motorcycle accident where a pickup truck ran a stop sign and I T-boned him. Then when I had my first child (50 years ago this year!) I had a medical emergency and after over 48 hours of labor with no progress had an emergency C-section. Death of us both was imminent. So, too many "close calls" to count! But I'm still kickin' it and enjoyin' my retirement and now 2 great-grandbabies! YAY!!! Life is GOOD! 😜

[@MissRoux]

Hi Nik! Love today’s project! I will share it with my Mum, who is the Mixed-Media connoisseuse from the two of us. She will love it! Thank you for always sharing your knowledge with us. Regarding your experiences, I will share a story that I’ve never told anyone (out of shame mostly) that happened ten years ago. For the record, I’m 31. At that time, I was living in a not so-small-five hundred thousand people city. It was a Saturday, 8:30 in the morning. I was walking from my house in the suburbs to downtown (a thirty minute walk) as I wanted to buy some art supplies. Not a lot of people choose to go downtown on that day and I’ve always been a certificated introvert with some sprinkles of social anxiety of top (just to add an extra fun layer to myself), so it was the perfect choice for me. Because of that to go downtown I always chose an alternative rute to the one I was supposed to take (mostly main avenues) which included going on some sketchy blocks in the middle of my trip. When I say there was not a single soul that Saturday, it may be an understatement. I started that eerie portion of my route not paying much attention at my surroundings until I stopped to cross a street. I guy in a motorcycle passed by and while he was passing he stared at me firmly and intensively. For a minute I though he was going to rob me but I quickly discarded the whole thing and keep walking. When I reached the next cross a red car pulled over. I froze for a moment because it was so out of the blue. The passenger’s window was down and a 50-45ish-year-old woman (who was in the passenger sit, I don’t recall the driver) in a weird accent asked me about a direction and as I was answering her, in the middle of my explanation I stopped. I will never forget her facial expressions as I was talking. They were weird and unsettling. All of a sudden, I didn’t feel comfortable at all with the whole situation. My only two brain cells connected and I knew exactly what was going to happen. I backed up, stopped talking, circled the back of the vehicle, crossed the street and started to walk quickly for a couple of blocks. I shut it off for a long time, never gave it that much of a thought. I will never know if the guy in the motorcycle and the car were connected. For me, they were. But a couple of years ago, the memory came back and I could analyse it with more mature and adult eyes. Until this day I keep thinking that if someone wants to do what I think they were going to do with me, it would be a waste. I’m a big unattractive girl. So I’ve always assume I was ‘safe’ in that sense. But I guess I was wrong. As a more adult woman now and living in my country’s capital, I’m always careful where and when I go to a certain place (even more when it’s my first time in that part of the city). Remembering it makes me feel upset and unseasy, even to this day. But I try to take it as a lesson. Sorry for the long text and thank you for taking the time to read it. Have an amazing day.

[@mariep-MAPAT]

You shouldn't be ashamed of this, the persons who frightened you should! no matter if you are 5, 8 or 20, no matter if you are attractive or not, big or small, nobody should have to feel unsafe! but you did the right thing and you are here to share it with us. And you learned something from it! Thanks for your courage!

[@MissRoux]

@@mariep-MAPAT Thank you so much for your kind and warm words. And for taking the time to read and reply. Hope you have an amazing weekend 💜

[@tearalewis7532]

Have 2, first, much like you, I would walk places when I was young, and although our neighborhood in Chandler AZ was huge (mid 80s) everyone kind watched out for everyone's kids. Parents would let me sell my school candy (worlds finest chocolate bars) door to door. One day (I was about 8) and I was on my street but about 8 houses from home. A car pulled up beside me and the driver was trying to talk to me. No passenger in the front, but someone was in back with dark windows. I only looked once, never spoke, but walked faster. I decided I was too far from home so I just ran up to the next house, and opened the door (thank God it was not locked) and walked in. Though the older lady and her husband were startled. I kind of knew them, I said I was sorry and told them what happened. They walked me home and spoke to my mom, who then called the cops. Never saw them again. 2: I was about 11, and our house was a corner lot with wooden fencing. The homes backed up to an alley that held large dumpsters for trash. We had the road in front of our house and to the side that curved around to the street behind us. In the back corner of our yard was our swing set. We would sit on top of the monkey bars, and hang out all the time. That evening, I felt the need to stop dead in my tracks and go inside. My friend tried to make me stay, and for some reason I was adamant about going inside. As we stepped into the house and I was closing the sliding glass door, I heard a loud screeching followed by a crash as a car came through our wooden fence and right into my swing set. The guy hit reverse and hit the gas as hard as he could dragging half our fence and swing set with him. My dad ran out and got his plate before he could get away. Turned out it was a drunk man in his early 20s who lived a few blocks away with his parents. He had to replace everything and not sure what the law did aside from that. But had we not left we would have been dead.

[@NiktheBooksmith]

Wow, talk about a close call!

[@rosalindfeemster8049]

Great to see you back. I will have to try that technique. My sister and I went swimming without parental consent. I was 11 and she was 9. I could swim but she couldn't. I swam out to middle and she followed. It was too deep to touch Bottom. I went to help and woke up later on the bank. We both almost drowned but was pulled to safety by some teen boys. Scary time I still think about that and I am sure thats why I don't like swimming.

[@CarolynsArtAdventures]

I had a few scary moments as a teen growing up in NYC in the 80s. One time when I was on my bicycle someone called out to me saying they needed help opening their car door (NOPE!) and another time I was going for a walk and the same car kept passing me and slowing down, then it pulled over to the curb slightly ahead of me, I booked across the lawn of the house I was in front of and rang the doorbell, and the car took off. Looking back, those were much more sinister than I really realized at the time.

[@brandiperelli4090]

Story not of me but one of my kiddos cheating death....My granddaughter 3 times in her life she lived when odds were she wouldn't. Firstly, when my daughter was having her 20 years ago she had the umbilical cord wrapped around her waist, for 20 minutes she tried to deliver her, she would come out half way and then go back in. Finally the doc maneuvered her around. When she finally was born she was not blue but purple. I had not seen anything like it. Not breathing, we were all freaking out of course but doc was great and she got her breathing. We felt right then that her little self was totally determined to be here. Fast forward to her being 4 years old. I had custody of her by then. I was finished with collage for the day and went to pick her up at after school day care, in the car just minutes from the school we where approaching the light signal and out of nowhere a car comes flying in front of us, our car is hit two inches from her car seat and they scream away. We were absolutely blown away that she lived threw that!!! Two years ago this month she and her stepdad are driving up to a signal and a car pulls right in front of them. Tboned as they say... she goes to the hospital but is able to walk out. She is not okay from that and will have life long pain but you know what she said about it as we recounted her near deaths? I was meant to be here! Such a good attitude!

[@sarahslame]

"This car pulls up slong the sidewalk-" and the then the suspense nearly did me in. I'm sure you didn't mean to leave that cliff hanger but damn. My heart! (of course remembering that this was a story about you as a child and that you clearly lived through it helped)

[@cheryldimatteo9046]

I cannot believe your “5 year old” story!! I’m 67 and so I too, walked home from school with my little brother and friends. My brother was probably 6 and I saw my brother up ahead in the street with a tall man (tall to an 8 year old) outside of a dark colored car. I ran up to him grabbed his hand and had the presence of mind to walk in the opposite direction from where we lived. I went to a little deli and called my mom from the store. Very scary, my brother was so sweet and beautiful. The thought of what could have happened haunts me still.

[@jlouutube65]

TMI warning!!! I could have died from a miscarriage as I was gushing blood every 20 min into the toilet not knowing what was wrong. I started to feel a bit weak so my husband fed me eggs for breakfast. He advised I go to the hospital while he watched our toddler. I ended up in the triage line at the emerg in so much pain. I told the security guard I was going to faint so he put me in a wheel chair and I waiting for half an hour in agony. As they moved me to a stretcher, blood went everywhere. They put an IV in me to get my blood pressure back up and I started to loose consciousness so the doctor got me sorted out as well as a gynecologist to remove the fetus that was stuck and why I kept bleeding. If I had not gone to the hospital I would have died at home. Thank you God!!

[@mybrainymess]

I had one incident that could have been a bad situation but my instincts kick in. I worked at a restaurant and we were not allowed to park close to the restaurant. I worked closing and had to walk to the back part of parking. I was alone and as I was walking to my car, I saw a car coming towards me. Instinct told me to run to my car and lock it quickly. When I was locking my door, the car stopped beside me and a guy opened his door and he was naked. I immediately turned my car on and raced my car out of there. Scared me! I made my boss walk with me from then on.

[@tiffanymichaels2429]

I'm glad you're okay. It's always good to have someone accompany if you have a distance to go in the dark. I used to have to park in a dark area of the lot where I used to live. It would sometimes give me the creeps. Not everytime but sometimes if felt like somebody was watching. Turned out a violent sex offender was stalking our landlady. Didn't know until he approached her one time in broad daylight and told her he'd been watching her for a year and what he planned to do to her. He had worked at a lumber yard and had delivered materials to the building the previous year. She started yelling and thankfully someone was nearby. When she called the police and described the man and where he had worked they knew who he was. He didn't care about age or gender. When he set his eyes on someone he wanted to assault he was serious. Thankfully he never got to her and she eventually moved. But it explained why some of the women would at times get the creeps and feel like there was someone in the parking lot. Turns out there was. I say always trust your gut feeling.

[@NiktheBooksmith]

😳

[@nancyt2848]

My cheating death story is similar to your last one. I was about 5 and we lived on a corner. My elementary school was across the street from the side of the house. My sisters were playing in the fenced in kindergarten playground but I was too little to climb the fence. After running home to get my sisters’ sweaters (it was dusk), I had just thrown them over the fence when I turned and saw a man sitting in his car on the side of our house. He motioned for me to come over. I burst into tears and ran into my house. The school janitor (my hero) saw it happen and ran and jumped in his car to follow and get his license plate. Cops were at my house by the time he got back and gave the plate. The guy was a sex offender coming to my town for his court ordered psychiatric treatment. (This was 50+ years ago!) That janitor was my mother’s favorite person for a long time. He just retired as that school’s janitor about 10 years ago.

[@primrozie]

I love the faux leather projects. Your way is my new preferred. I had a miracle. I was stopped to make a left turn at a blinker light having no special turning lane. There were 2 lanes heading north and 2 lanes south in a semi rural area about 40 years ago. Suddenly my car shook from side to side and a speeding car was now in front of me. I'm sure it was a God thing. Thank you Jesus!

[@Valeri4561]

I'll share my one time cheating death story. It was in February. It was really cold, but not freezing. It was in the afternoon. My husband was working midnights and sleeping so I decided to get out of the house as to not wake up hubby. That day although it was cold the sun was out and it was a pretty day. So, I decided to go out to the barn to visit my horse. (I boarded him a few miles away) When I was putting on my layers of barn clothes, I was putting on my riding boots just in in case I decided to ride outside as opposed to just going in circles in the arena. (My riding boots were English riding boots. Those type of boots go up to just above the knee, they are leather with no zippers. You have to use boot pulls to get them on, and often a boot thingy you lodge your heals in and pull hard to get them off. (those boots are waterproof) At the last minute I changed my mind and chose to wear my heals down sneaker type shoes. (just sneakers with a short heal and just above the ankle but are for horseback riding) I got to the barn, groomed my horse and tacked him up for a ride. So on my ride I ended up at this park near the barn. It had a walking track around a man-made large pond. So as we approached the park we were approaching the pond from a steep hill with large rock lined run off ditches to guide the rainwater down to the pond. I had to ask my horse to jump over those ditches and he did that for me. We went around to the lower side of the pond and were standing at the edge. As a reward to him jumping over about six of those ditches I gave him his head to take a drink of water. But he thought I relaxed the reins as a signal to jump in the water. The next thing I knew I felt his muscles moving and whammo!! we were in the water. He jumped pretty far into the water. B/C the pond was man-made it was over our heads from the very edge. When we hit the water b/c his feet didn't reach a bottom it caused him to go down moving sideways which washed me off the saddle. (I'm laughing right now b/c it's funny to me now, but it was horrible then) He started swimming to the other side of this very large pond and I panicked and tried to turn him to go back to the close shoreline b/c I was thinking if he couldn't swim as far to the other side there was no way I would be able to reach shore and would go down with him. It was a choice I almost didn't make b/c I love him and didn't want to leave him. But I had to. So.... I let go and started to swim back to where we jumped. But b/c of all my clothing I couldn't stay afloat. I stopped and pulled off my winter coat and was able to get to the edge. But b/c it was still over my head and I was so exhausted from the struggle of it all I grabbed the grass on the edge with both hands to keep myself above water just long enough to regain my strength so I could pull myself out of the water. Once I got out of the water I looked back to check on Ex. (His name is Excalibur, but I call him Ex) He made it across, got out of the water and ran around the pond and up a lady's driveway a few yards away. My coat was floating out in the middle of the pond. Two teenage boys were winter fishing on the pond and had watched this all happen. They started running to help me and here I am yelling out to them: "NO I'M OKAY PLEASE CATCH MY HORSE!" LOL I started running to catch him too. I reached him first and caught him. The lady that lived at the house came out to help me. Both Ex and I were soaked from head to toe/ hoof. LOL But Ex was so upset he refused to take shelter with me in a garage to get out of the wind. the two of us had to stand soaking wet in the cold wind until my husband made it there to help. He walked my horse back to the barn while the lady drove me there. In the meantime, those two kids fished my coat out of the pond and brought it to me. If I had chosen to wear my riding boots that day, when I went into the water they would have filled with water and prevented me to be able to swim to shore. Whew! Sory this was so long.

[@mariep-MAPAT]

Just WOW!!!

[@lisagauci3354]

I was born with a heart condition called Tetralogy of Fallot. I have had 2 open heart surgeries. It's amazing what science does 😊

[@carribelle44]

Love the papers. When expecting my first daughter, I thought she was due in June, as I knew date of conception, but i had several false periods so doctors decided she was due in august. After some problems with swelling etc, I was admitted to hospital. My daughter was delivered on the 13th July, Paediatrician told me she was overdue and would have died if she had stayed in the womb another day! She is now 45. My son, born on Friday the 13th, had twice been close to death from cot death. Saved the first time by my mum suddenly waking and felt she had to check him, he was turning blue. Second time about 3 months later my husband was watching tv and rushed to his room to find him in the same condition. A lucky boy 40 yrs old now.

[@NorthlightsStudio]

Hey Nik! Great technique. I have a harrowing story. We lived on a race horse farm for a while. One summer day the horses were milling around the fence near the house. My 3 year old brother was playing in the grass near the fence, occasionally pulling the long grass by the trailer and passing his hand through the fence to give to the horses. The thing with stallions is they get excitable easily. One stallion decided he wanted more then my brother was giving him and as he walked away I saw this stallion push against the fence and it began falling down. My brother straight was straight in the path of the soon to be stampede out of the pasture. I quickly ran out being narrowly missed by one horse grabbed my brother and dragged him under the trailer sitting a couple feet away. Was quite the day! Haha.

[@karenkettering1725]

Nik, you are such a great story teller! I have one for you. Driving in our new little Honda Accord, we had just merged onto the 5 freeway in heavy commuter traffic. Passing the next onramp, we were sideswiped by a pickup truck gettin into the same lane. It was hit and run, so he took off with his back bumper hooking onto our back fender. He spun us 180* into oncoming traffic. We were hit head-on by someone going 55 mph, pushing us into another lane, and hit head-on again by another car going the same speed. We got away with my left hand bruised from hitting the stick shift and a passenger in another car broke his wrist bracing himself on the dashboard. If we had spun any more or less than the 180 we did, we would have been hit in the doors and someone would have died. Our little Honda was totaled, with the front of the engine completely smashed in. One of the witnesses took off after the guy who hit us and reported his license plate to the police. They tracked him down and the police report said he was driving with a suspended license. I give God the glory for sending angels to turn the car exactly the right way to keep us from getting hurt. It was one of those slow-motion moments. I remember praying, "Ok God, I'm either going to get hurt really bad or I'm going to die. Please protect us." And He did.

[@adriennegonzales2636]

Yesss! You had me with the caliper measurements 👏 👏

[@auntlizzy1308]

1) My daughter had spinal meningitis at 8 months and was comatose in the ER. Her spinal count for bacteria was 21,000 (normal is 300, they said). The ER doc told my mom to “be prepared because she won’t live the night” but she did and is a 40 yr old nurse today! 2) DH had a bad accident where he left the road and hit a tree head on. The medic (family friend) said he had no pulse and called my mom to take me to the hospital because “I was going to need support”. He was taken to a big city hospital and they saved his life. 3) I was 12-13 and walking home from a friends house when a guy stopped and ordered me in his car. I said no but he opened his door as if to get out. A neighbor happened to be outside and yelled at him so he took off. I didn’t realize until years later how bad it could have been. (Very naive country girl) 4) We kept having terrible headaches and someone suggested we have our furnace looked at. Yep, we had a cracked heat exchange and were being poisoned by carbon monoxide. 5) DH fell at work and went to the ER. Doc took X-rays and told him he had bruised his ribs but was fine to go back to work. A couple of days later he came home and said he really didn’t feel good. I looked at him and said “you look gray! We are going to ER” (we live 35 minutes from ER) We made it about a mile from home and he said “I can’t breathe!” So I called 911 and they found he HAD broken a rib and it punctured his lung. {he has a very high pain tolerance}

[@margueritemitchell1829]

Wow my friend sister lost her 2year old daughter to meningitis they took her to the ER 2x and they sent her home.very sad . Same age as my younger daughter.

[@TheJemmaGrl]

Yup - I love this kind of paper. I usually have it on hand to cover my working surfaces since it's supposed to help with paint messes. It's CHEAP too - at a Home Depot or Lowe's. It comes in varying thicknesses, length, and colors.

[@marikareimer4411]

Hello Nik, my cheating harm (perhaps not death) is extremely similar to your story about being a little girl. I was in my front yard playing and a nice car with a nice looking man stopped and asked me for directions to the candy store down the street. Well after not going any closer to the vehicle and his persistence, I ran inside my house and he drove away. Thank you for your wonderful videos! I always look forward to them. Take care and see you soon 🤗

[@I_am_Michelle]

Wow! From someone who just had a kidney stone surgery TODAY you scared me 😢. I get stones all the time. But I’m religious about taking my meds. I’m glad you came out ok.

[@vickiefowler1429]

In my 30s, I rode a motorcycle to and from work. One day on my way to work, I was stuck behind a large delivery truck on a two lane street. No problem, I wasn’t running late or anything… just couldn’t see what was ahead of the truck. Suddenly, from behind me, a woman in a sedan speeds up and comes along side me and starts forcing me to the left - into the oncoming lane. I stepped on it to pass the delivery truck and then saw that there was another truck coming at me. I gunned it even more and zipped back into the right lane just barely missing both trucks. It seemed like there had only been about a foot between my handlebars and the two trucks as I passed through the gap. Scared me so badly, I had to pull over at the next corner and catch my breath. I was still shaking when I got to work, but knew I had been very lucky! I’ve often wondered what that woman’s problem was or if she even knew she almost got me killed.

[@kymmaraldo1365]

Hey Nik. Thanks for this little tutorial. Just what I am looking for at the moment for a mini book. Regarding applying a band-aid to the tip of a finger, before removing the two release strips to apply make a cut in each to reach the 'gauze' pad. This allows you to wrap the flaps around the tip of your finger in a sort of cross shape. Hope that helps. Very glad your spidey senses were activated when you were so young!

[@GoddessBlessYou]

I like your technique. I had a bunch of 3-ply brown paper grain bags from the farmers' co-op (I feed the deer), so I separated them and made a ton of faux leather in a variety of colors (browns, blacks, blues, green, deep red, white, pink, golds--all aged to look really old). I just used my acrylic paints since I'm not doing fine art anymore and still have a lot of paint. After I glue them to the covers and/or spine, I work them until the wrinkles flatten out, and when they're dry, I rub them down really well with waxed paper to make them feel nice to the touch.

[@petriekaspardlov7787]

Great video! Love your stories as well I have a couple “cheating death “ stories One involves being held at gun point and one similar to yours , when young being followed and approached by a van ! Keep in mind, I was in lovely, great neighborhoods! Will say , I have great instincts and reactions ! 😊

[@tiffanymichaels2429]

Held at gun point!!! Glad you're alive. Can't imagine how terrifying.

[@silver_csmith]

When I was about 14 I was with my 18 year old cousin who was driving. We were in the country at night driving out to a friend’s house that we weren’t totally familiar with getting to. We ended up turning the wrong way down a gravel road. We turned around and were heading back when this truck that was speeding towards us started losing control on the gravel and was crossing the middle of the road to our side. Our vehicles were so close to hitting head on but they ended up scraping along the side of eachother (I could see the sparks coming off the metal scraping against eachother) and it nocked off her side mirror. Other than that thankfully no one was injured!! Definitely had a guardian angel watching over us that night!! 🙏🏼

[@donnaevans8420]

Had the same thing happen on a wet road. Hit a big puddle & water planed across the yellow line into oncoming traffic. I could see the whites of the other driver's eyes. Our mirrors connected & pushed my vehicle back onto my side of the road. His mirror shattered through my drivers window, hit me in the head & landed in the passenger seat. The nice policeman picked pieces of glass out of my ear. LOL!

[@Jeannette.akaJnett]

The first time you said back pain, I said to myself kidneys. I have something kind of similar. Had strep go into my kidneys. Hospitalized for ten days, cultures taken nightly. Now we're talking back in 1965 and they could not find an antibiotic to kill the infection. Labeled chronic pyelonephritis, I was sent home and told I was prescribed six weeks of complete bed rest and they hoped my body would fight it off. It did pass with the prayers of my mom. I was told to do all I can to never get strep again as I very well could succumb to it.

[@wonderwonder30]

Oh talking about cheating death, my son and I were taking turns riding an atv up our really steep driveway. I got the brilliant idea that I should let him drive (he was 6 at the time and weighed was less than I did) and I will hop on the back. As soon as I hopped on the back he guns it, the atv flipped over both of us and had some how missed hitting us, I don’t know how or why it worked out that way but that was one of the scariest moments of my life.

[@samanthacramer1612]

Love your channel, I find brown show polish works really well

[@suecox2308]

My story is brief--a driver lost control of her car and hit a telephone pole three feet from where I was standing on the sidewalk. While I was paralyzed with shock (that really does happen), the telephone pole snapped and missed me by less than a foot.

[@thedomesticfox717]

Finger tip fabric bandaids, my friend, they are exactly what you need. Usually come in a pack of finger tip and knuckle bandaids.

[@kayhammock]

Hi Nik. Love the faux leather on the right. Boy, I have two stories. Both involve cars.... In 1978 my parents decided to move from California to New Mexico. I had just graduated high school, was 18 and not interested in moving! I bought a used car and got a job at a hospital in the next town over. Oh, job was graveyard shift. It was maybe a 45 minute drive by highway and less if I drove the backroads. Meaning driving on a two lane road through farmland. My parents move to NM and I'm adulting in CA! On my way to work one night I decide to drive the backroads. Big mistake. I came to a curve in the road and lost control of my car. While the car was rolling I saw myself out of the car watching this happen. I landed in an irrigation ditch, sideways. Shoes came off my feet. Step out of the car and I'm standing in a field, not really knowing which way the road wa as there were no street lights. Finally my eyes adjust so I stand out in the road, waiting for anyone to drive by. I can't remember how long I waited but I was finally picked up. By a bunch of guys that were stoned! Everything was funny to them. They took me to my apartment complex where my roommate took me to the hospital. Luckily I didn't have a scratch on me. This was way before seat belts were mandatory. The car had dents on every single side, including the top. I hadn't even made a payment on the car yet. I had to call my parents and tell them that 'I kind of bent the frame on my car.' A few months later I arrived in NM and am so glad that I live here now. This one I hadn't thought about it on a while. Your story reminded me of it. I was 16 and driving my parents car. I'm driving along and stop at a stoplight. A guy walks up to my car and I freak out. I reach to the passenger door to lock it so he doesn't open the door and my foot slips off the brake and goes to the acceraltor. I ram right into a school bus!!! I never told anyone what really happened. Was it a wild imagination or was the guy really going to try to get into the car? Again in CA in the northern valley not far from San Franciso. Think Zodiac killer, Manson family, etc. Maybe it was my crazy thoughts. Who knows. Now to see what others here share. Kay.

[@scubajenn5]

This is GREAT!! I'm going to have to do this and make some fancy cards with it or some scrapbook embellishments!! ❤

[@mariep-MAPAT]

-My first recall of cheating death was when I was 6: My mum and dad split 2 years before that, but my mom continued to visit my paternal grandma. So, we were going to spend some summer days to her place, and the car trunk was loaded with our luggage. My mom was driving on the highway, my sister who was 4 and me, were sitting on the back seats with no seat bells, only my brother, who was 2 at the time, sat in an infant car stool. My brother was eating a croissant and had enough of it, so he wanted to give the rest to my mom. She said like: "give it to your sister, I am driving", but he wouldn't do that. After several attempts from me and my mom, she finally gave in, and wanted to take the said croissant from him. But, in doing so, she turned her head to the back of the car as she reached for it with her right hand. But she turned the steering wheel too and the car did a roll over, and landed on its roof. I remember my mom was awfully quiet, and I remember my only thought was :"I have to get out of here!" I noticed the window on the front passenger side was broken, so I crawled out of the car on my hands and knees. I remember being pulled in the air by someone, and put to safety on the side of the road, on the berm. Then I remember seeing all our luggage spread on the road, and all the cars who had stopped. I then wanted my mom, and I was only reassured when she was put next to me. She was kinda fine, but she had a concussion, that's why she was so quiet in the car. We went to the nearest hospital in an ambulance, and we were all "fine". I had a few glass shards in my right knee, from crawling outside, but I even didn't feel pain until my mom was next to me! They discovered, that day in the hospital, that my little sister had a congenital heart defect, and that she shouldn't be alive! She had to have 2 surgeries after that, but it did save her life! We all could have died, and the accident actually saved my sister's live!!!! -I also had a similar story to yours when i was about 7-8-ish: I was coming back from music lessons on a Wednesday afternoon, on foot, by my self, when I stopped to watch some pigeons who were eating crumbs somebody left for them. I didn't want to disturb their meal. As I was wondering how to pass them by without going on the street and without frightening them, a man approached me and ask if I liked birds. I said yes, and then he said he had birds at his place and he could show them to me if I went with him. My inner alarm bell rang, and I said politely that I wasn't interested. Then I didn't care for the pigeons anymore, and I ran back home (also only a block away). I didn't know then what I had probably escape, I only felt awkward about this guy I didn't know, but my brain saved me, I guess!

[@jam4441]

Love it when you tell stories, any stories real life, true crime and craft. The ink that is truly water proof once heat set and I have found great on any absorbent substrate ...paper, fabric etc is memento LUX inks ( not memento dye inks) . I think the LUX inks are pigment inks and do not move once heat set. Archival inks are not always waterproof in my experience.

[@charlottesnyder8694]

Yes, I walked 1 mile to and from school myself, from kindergarten to 6th grade. Never had such an incident, though. You were lucky--and wise.

[@kjmav10135]

I used to work in an emergency department, and I’m listening to this story-from the beginning, and as soon as you described you initial symptoms, I was like . . . “kidney infection.” And, yeah, sepsis. In the future, if you’ve gone through an entire course of antibiotics, but still have a fever, are grey, in pain, too weak to budge, but especially the grey part, just go to the emergency department. You probably would have been triaged in pretty quickly.

[@margueritemitchell1829]

I get that paper from Princess Auto, Canada's "Harbour freight "

[@MelinaDahlDesign]

The Distress inks are water solvable. The Archival ink is permanent if it's completely dry 🤗

[@tabbyhoards]

Hi Nik, I had a similar incident well two!, first one I'd been off school poorly and on the mend walked to our local library, instead of going straight home I went into the local park next to the library. I was a bit of a tomboy and climbed over the railings surrounding an underground reservoir in the park. It was about the height of a two storey house and the slip was covered with privet and hawthorn. The top was grassed over and about an acre big. I sat on the edge and looked at my books. A man, youngish I think can and spoke to me and sat nearby. He chatted a while and then offered to show me a nest with chicks in that was the other side of the area. I genuinely had no alarms! The only reason I refused was that I was already late back and I needed to go. Don't really remember if he tried to persuade me or how I left and got back over the railings but I did. Can't remember how young I was, I was reading and going to the library with my sister at four years old! But I'm guessing maybe 10 - 12. The other was in the same park. We'd been playing and there was a tap for drinking water on the edge of the playing field, I was ahead of my friends and at the tap was a man getting a drink. As I stood there he jumped up and at me, I fell with the force with him on top of me. I started screaming and my friends were near enough to shout too. He ran away. He had ginger hair and a navy suit on. My dress was dirty and wet, mum threw it away and it was new. I think she had to to erase the thought of what might had happened. Think I was twelve or so. Hope this interests you. It happened in Liverpool, UK. Kensington Park in the late 50's.

[@sandikalin636]

Love making faux leather. I’ve learned to always go with my instincts. If it doesn’t feel right it probably isn’t. You were an old soul, very smart and mature. I miss your mystery stories. Stay warm and safe

[@marnitabahmer2597]

Love your videos, I miss the big journals you make with the amazing stories that go along with them. My near death happened a couple years ago. I had breast reduction surgery December. They did not put drains in. Post op appt they said everything looked fine but I was in a lot of pain. Christmas comes and goes I'm still in a lot of pain. Taking lots of pics to document everything. Messages to the doc with photos. No response. New years day my breasts are turning red and still no response from doc. I go to the ER and they opened me back to suck out all the fluid (700cc). I was septic and spent 4 days in the hospital. This ended being a 2 year ordeal with one breast having three surgeries and it's still not right. But I'm alive, my hair has stopped falling out and I finally feel like myself again.

[@Kitty4Catz]

Nik!! Yeah!! Just in time for my watching time during supper! 😄❤

[@valeriedoyle]

Mine is similar to yours. 17 months ago I had a kidney stone. No choice but to go to ER in the middle of the night due to incredible pain. They did the surgery to remove it and said it was an infected stone. About 8 hours later I went into A-fib and my blood pressure crashed. I woke up to 6 doctors standing around my bed. Full blown sepsis. Went home 5 days later not realizing at the time how sick I was. Still recovering.

[@donnaevans8420]

Can I ask what ur symptoms were? I'm having back pain. Was treated for UTI, but no symptoms. Just the back pain.

[@blueviolets2022]

How interesting, I just made some "leather" from paper like that. Lol it can be found in the paint section, used for masking off areas to paint, maybe in the automotive paint section. Thanks!!

[@NellMckay]

The paper looks like baking parchment if that helps. Thank you I do enjoy your videos xx

[@whatifitnt]

Thanks Nik… love to listen to your stories… ❤😊

[@tiantuatara]

When I was 4, my temperature spiked one night and my parents took me to the hospital. Spinal meningitis. The reason they realized it quickly was that a nearby Navy base was having a bunch of cases. I had the highest temperature on record at the hospital at the time. When I woke up from the fever and asked the nurse for water, she cried. They hadn't been sure that I wasn't going to have brain damage from the fever and she was relieved. Long time ago.

[@barbarawafer94]

Hi Nik. Thanks for the great video. I think the paper is called painters’ masking paper. I got mine at Home Depot. It is really inexpensive. I have the brown and a kind of army green one too. It comes in different weights and widths too if I remember correctly. I bought mine years ago.

[@fernandachristensengama5245]

Hello my dear. Miss you! You me make us happy. Thank you. Love to heard your voice and tour way o talk. 😊

[@JannyHaak]

Thanks for sharing, Nik! Your stories as well as the techniques ❤

[@nelsonsherbs9477]

Looking at the paper it reminded me of masking paper that I buy at the hardware store by the roll. I think it is supposed to be used to mask windows for painting walls or cars, but I use it for my books. It comes in green and brown. I will be trying it for this! Thank You!

[@andrewlee6152]

My two near death experiences, were as follows... the first when I was around 7 years old, 1967, when my father had a huge radiogram, a giant piece of highly polished, wooden furniture, on which my mother placed a few ornaments, on an ornament cloth, to protect the finish, I was always doing stupid things, the daredevil of the three boys and the eldest.. I decided to climb onto the top of the radiogram, to get something from the shelf above it.. I can't remember what it was, but I do remember I was told to never touch anything on that shelf... Well I'm guessing g many of you can imagine what happens, when a 7 year old climbs onto a polished surface, about four and a half feet above the floor, after removing yhe ornament and the cloth, wearing only my socks... Yep... I reached up, went bass over backwards, landing on my head, on the fire hearth ( we had a big open fire back then) cracking two of the tiles, which were I guess, approximate an inch think... and the next thing I remember was opening my eyes and seeing a giant of a woman, leaning over me, asking "so how are you feeling today"... I was told that I got very upset and started crying, u til my mother came into the ward, ran over to the bed and started crying too... while saying ... " Don't you ever, ever scare me like that again"... As a result, I suffered from epilepsy, right up to around the age of 20, when I just stopped taking the medication and since then, no seizures nothing... The doctor said I was very lucky to be alive after literally cracking my skull open. The second close call, scared both my brothers, one of whom ran home, thinking I was going to die... out in the fields, at the back of our house, and we had a couple of those, rubber band powered planes... One of which end up in a tree, that we had all climbed countless times (something you see very few kids doing these days).. anyway I headed straight up the old oak, grabbed the plane, tossing it down to my brothers, then as I climbed back down placing my foot of the final stubby branch, it snapped off, I lost my grip and fell straight down onto the barbed wire fence that was nailed to it... My back was cut up pretty bad, but it was the really deep gash on the left wrist, where there is still a scar to this day.. Blood was using out of it, as my other brother ,helped me back home.... "What have you done now?", my mother asked, when she saw the blood, she immediately called for the doctor... They visited you at home back then... and stemming the blood flow, Co tinie to tend to the many cuts on my back... while complaint that she had only just bought me the pullover I was wearing... which was only a couple of days old .. First and only time I have required stitches and if cirse a tetanus jab, after all the barbed wire was pretty rusted... So yes twice so far I have come close to breathing my last... though of course that wasn't my last stupid stunt, but those two were definitely two of the most stupid things I ever did as a kid.. I still do crazy things now, but in my 60's I am not as fit as I was, so the truly stupid stuff has been resigned to better days.

[@danaroth1525]

Nik this was a super helpful technique. I have used the scrapbook paper that you were mimicking and it is just too thick. But this totally worked for me. I found rolls of that paper at Lowe’s a few years ago. They have it in tan and green. They keep it back where the paint supplies are. I don’t remember what I paid for it though. Thanks for the tutorial!

[@rochestermanagementservice6082]

Cool idea. Thanks! From Cheryl in AZ

[@debbiev.1311]

Great technique & great cheating death stories too...TYFS!! 😘

[@FranMiniCrafter]

Great new technique, thank you! I devised a similar faux leather for my mini luggage some years ago. I love it and it works very well, buy I may tweak that method a bit now that I have seen yours. So glad you cheated death; I hope that's your quota!

[@margueritemitchell1829]

Hello from Beautiful British Columbia Canada 🇨🇦 Snowing-5C we already have 15 inches 🎉

[@ChantelleArts]

this is wonderful, such a fantastic idea ☺☺☺

[@sherrireeves8110]

My finger tips also split like that. A dermatologist recommended super glue. It doesn't burn at all and by the time it wears off, split is healed

[@NiktheBooksmith]

I was just hearing about super glue, thank you for reminding me! Will do that before I go to bed =)

[@caroltanzi29]

Good projects and good stories to learn by. Carol from California

[@margueritemitchell1829]

One bandaid over the top ..another around your finger...or a finger tip bandaid. Or Take a rectangle 2in x3 cut triangles out of the long sides. Put the gauze over the fingertip. Wrap the front towards the side then the back on the side towards the front or purchase finger tip bandage..former first aid attendant..

[@iamdawt]

I love masking paper!! It's cheap, crinkly and fairly strong, and it can take just about anything you throw at it. It also makes fun pages for journals if it's something you're not worried about as far as acidic paper goes. Regarding the close call... I had one similar to yours when I was around 10. I was walking home from a little store on a military base we lived on back in the 1960s, and a man slowed down super slow, rolled the passenger window down (manual window) and asked if I'd like a ride. I said no, and he kept asking. Then he leaned over and opened the door and tried to wave me in and said c'mon, I'll give you a ride. (yeah, I bet) I was nowhere near my house but still pretty close to the store, so I turned around and ran back to the store and went inside and acted like I was shopping until I thought the guy was gone. I don't know why I didn't tell the clerk, I just hung around for a few minutes and walked home.

[@jobettney2337]

Great video tutorial as always, thank you. I was listening to your first near death story and i felt it rang so similar to mine at the start that i guessed it was going to be sepsis. 2022 I'm in my early 40's. I have a pain in my leg. I'd been moving a load of stuff the day before and remember pushing a box with my foot and assumed I'd pulled a muscle. A few days went by and I start to feel crappy but assumed I was coming down with a bug( I have a genetic disorder that seriously affects my immune system so I tend to catch every bug going around, so didn't think much of it, until my sister in law says you don't look right and took me to A&E. The last thing I remember was sitting in a very busy A&E waiting to be seen and feeling so sleepy. I woke up a few days later in Critial care my. I had sepsis and had gone into septic shock. Before I woke up my family were told i had about a 2% chance of survival and to prepare to say goodbye, my organs had started to shut down, i was on a ventilator and couldnt breath for myself. Due to previously said health issues I was in hospital for 6 months. The sepsis i had was fungal and was in my leg( he seems the leg pain) they had to remove a serious amount of muscle and tissue etc to remove it. I have developed severe arthritis in the leg/knees, have a huge gnarly scar down my leg from groin to knee but am alive and all being said i feel pretty healthy almost to the point where i could imagine it hadnt happened. I have developed other issues due to damage to my organs from the sepsis and remain in the clinically vulnerable list but I feel so lucky.

[@valeriedoyle]

For me, it started with an ache in my back just above my waist on my right side. Initially I thought maybe I had pulled a muscle but kept getting worse until it was intolerable. Symptoms of bad UTI kicked in while I was in the ER. I was in too much pain to remember much of that. So you can have pain from a kidney stone without signs of infection. Hope that helps.

[@lindamorgan3069]

Another great tutorial, thank you ❤

[@DeerheartStudioArts]

luv yer stories! great vid for faux leather too! 🦌💌❤️📚

[@veronicaparkerzielinski4973]

Great technique!

[@MsShalomOut]

A long, long time ago, when i was in college, I was hanging out in the student center and a guy suggested we go to Wendy's. I was like, sure. So jumped in his van and ran to wendys. Ate and headed back to campus, except he started going down back roads and pulled over and suggested we climb in the back. I wasnt interested and said so. Well, he was insistant to the point that he got in back and opened his jeans, trying to entice me, i guess. Anyway, still said no. Then he got upset and pulled a butcher knife out of the roof liner and started threatening me. Saying things like he'd be in Mexico before they found my body. Then he pointed out that he also had a hand gun and he was going to do whatever he wanted. I said several very stupid things trying to lighten the mood and get him to take me back to campus...things that really probably should have gotten me killed more quickly. But, i believe that God had him hear what I should have said instead of what i did because finally he got back in the front seat, said, if youre on your period, you could have just told me. Dropped me at the dorm and drove away. Crazy stuff.

[@tiffanymichaels2429]

Some of the stories I'm reading are terrifying. Probably shouldn't be reading them before going to bed. Guess I'll have trouble falling asleep and be having some nightmares tonight.

[@christinecaronnabeard1369]

Would tracing paper work for this, Nik? Great video, thank you! Hope to try this soon! My stories: when I was a young high school teacher, fresh out of college, age 22, I moved three hours from home for my first teaching job. I got in the car of some man that I didn’t know, because my Volkswagen bug broke down and I had left the vehicle on the side of the road. I got in his truck and about a half block from where he picked me up, I suddenly realized that I was in a strange place with a strange person and he could take me anywhere and do anything he wanted to me and no one would know. Luckily, he took me where he said he was going to take me - to a service station to get a tow truck. Second: I was a young mother with an infant under the age of one, and there was a knock on the back door of the apartment we lived in at the time. A strange woman wanted to use our phone to make a phone call - she needed some sort of help, I can’t remember now what she said. She demanded that I let her in to use our phone and, against my better judgement, I did! After she left I realized that I had put my child and myself in danger because she could’ve done anything to us but luckily she didn’t. Finally, one morning driving to work it was icy and I was just about to enter a major highway and I thought my car was doing well on the ice so I accelerated to get up to speed and my car did a 360 in the middle of a 3 Lane highway. When the car stopped, I ended up facing the right direction and I was stunned that I got to work unhurt and without hurting others.

[@johnibrazzell764]

love this tutorial Nik, ty for sharing. i have too many close calls to even want to think about. and might be to um...out there for sharing if ya know what i mean...? anyway the good lord spared me and all i can figure is, he must still have better plans for me. and im grateful everyday. be safe

[@donnaevans8420]

Well...I'm curious.

[@blackcoffeeandwildflowers]

Thanks for this tutorial. I’ve seen others but they all use lotion of some kind. I will have to give this way a shot. Maybe I will have better success. I’m old so walking to and from school or friends houses was a given. Even selling candy by myself. Had a few incidents but sadly all with people I knew. Anyway, I enjoy hearing /reading stories like this. Thanks we missed you! Hugs ❤️🤗

[@tiffanymichaels2429]

I'm sorry to hear that. Often it's from people we know and not strangers. People really need to focus on teaching children that. It's not just stranger danger that kids need to be aware of and encouraged that they won't get in trouble if they tell a responsible adult like a teacher if they are being abused. Sadly they are more likely to take it seriously then some parents. Just watched an interview of a woman who when she was a child she told her what the mother's boyfriend was doing to her and she didn't believe her daughter.

[@blackcoffeeandwildflowers]

@@tiffanymichaels2429 “don’t bring disgrace to the family,” “stop lying he would never do that”, “what did you do to make him do that”. Always trying to make the kid feel like it’s her (or his) fault 😕

[@annajavier5712]

That looks like paper I got at home depo in the painting section

[@MollyCutie]

I'm trying to figure out how to make faux leather out of my used coffee filters (brown, made of bamboo). Or something else that I can do with them. Also, used tea bags (the paper bag part).

[@wandaspencer9523]

I really like this faux leather paper. Was the paper an untreated deli paper or a spa paper? I have both and they are just a bit heavier than tracing paper, but very sturdy. Very interesting stories. I always enjoyed the true crime episodes you do in your videos. Thanks for sharing ❤

[@caitlyanna]

Here is my cheating death story for you and sorry that it's kind of long. On November 22, 2014 I needed to have my gall bladder removed. A few days later I felt a sharp pain in my left leg. I thought it was a cramp. I went to the ER on the 26th and was tested for a DVT in my leg and it came back negative. The next day was Thanksgiving and I came out of a room and almost fell because I couldn't breathe. My mom called 911 and I was admitted to the hospital with excessive bilateral pulmonary embolisms. My pain got worse through the night and I was rushed to ICU in the morning. I spent 4 days in the hospital & couldn't be flown to a big city. I live 200 miles from the nearest large city. One of my ICU nurses said they didn't know how many blood clots were in both of my lungs because my doctor stopped counting at 50. From what I've read, the survival rate for 1 clot only is around 85% and for just 2 it goes down to around 65%. When I was going in the ambulance, we kept thinking it was an asthma attack. Several years later, a cousin of mine was needing surgery for his back. I warned him that after my lung debacle we found out my uncle (his grandfather) had a clot in his lung following surgery. We didn't know that before my surgery or precautions would have been taken. My cousin told his doctor and they ended up finding many DVTs in both of his legs. They wouldn't have tested had I not said something and my cousin would have died. Like they say, things happen for a reason.

[@Marilynlovesebiking]

PS Your faux leather paper is cool. Have you ever used Kraft-Tex product? It is leather like fabric/paper and very easy to use. Can sew it, stamp it and handle it like paper.

[@NiktheBooksmith]

Yes, kraft-tex is a great material! Too bad it's too thick for miniature books =/

[@aliloucreations1817]

I guessed right away it was a kidney infection just hearing your first symptoms Nik 😢 I went through the exact same thing , I’m from the uk and we have what’s called a walk-in and I ended up being rushed into emergency A+E was put on intravenous antibiotics, apparently I have a very high pain threshold,, I’d gone right through your first 2 visits in emergency care, without noticing it , I have had 5 kids (set of twins in there ) without any pain medicine ( just bit of gas and air) but it just shows eh Nik sometimes you just don’t know how sick you are 😢 Plus believe it or not , I was followed home one day from infant school I was with a friend that was really scary ❤

[@kathrynlester2352]

Could the paper be like brown baking paper? It looks much to thin for mailing paper as I could see the darker squares on table cover through the paper. It also looks to slick to be kraft paper.

[@bettylongshore9594]

Wow, all of these stories of near miss kidnappings or worse! Makes you wonder!!!!!! I was always jealous of big families where kids were together. My sister and I are 7 yrs apart and were just never close as kids. I always felt like an only ane wanted kids to walk to and from school with. I had my 2 kids so close most people thought they were twins!!!! lol

[@aliloucreations1817]

What about Matt medium nik ? Would that work instead of varnish ❤

[@CL-kn1rq]

I was driving home from my aunt's farm, driving too fast on wet roads, i hit a bump at the beginning of a long bridge spanning a gorge. The car's back end slid left and i over corrected and ended up going 180 degrees in the other direction as i slammed on brakes. I came to a stop so close to the bridge that if i reached out my window i would have touched it. The second time i crashed into a chevron in a corner and by luck or God's grace just kept hugging the curve and got back on to the road again, significantly slower. Not cheating but it makes all food taste like wood, nothing kills my apetite more, i have hyperemesis gravidarum (too much morning sickness) i had it with all three children and the baby gave me a parting shot at about 8 months into my pregnancy. I craved meat pies and when i ate them they tasted like wood, i cried 😂😂😂

[@kathrynlester2352]

Nothing close to tragic in my life at all. Lots of illnesses but nothing to even be hospitalized for until I had to have my first knee surgery at 17. I used ride my bike to school quite often in high school. It meant a couple miles on a rural no shoulder road, then at least 5-6 miles on a very busy highway with speed limit of 55 but notoriously speeds of 65-75mph. I grew up were my siblings and I were the only kids for around 15 miles one way, the other was 2 miles but they were a bit younger than us. The neighbors were all our grandparents ages, in fact one set of grandparents lived on one side of us. They moved, to the other side of us, then moved 3 miles further down the road with a final move back to where they lived when they first married and my mom was born. That was a 25 minute bike ride away going at a fast pace except for two big up hills.

[@betsyturner2747]

I had a similar experience in school when I walked by myself when a guy pulled up and asked hey little girl want a ride? He rubbed his crotch and I turned around away from him and took off, I ran the rest of the way to school. My Brother had had a Doctors appointment and missed school that day.

[@happymailmagic]

~🙏💙🙏~

[@Aegopodium]

I made faux leather using craft paper and hair conditioner. Just saying! 😘

[@donnaevans8420]

What was the texture like after using conditioner?

[@Aegopodium]

@@donnaevans8420 It depends on how much you crinkle it. The pattern remains but the paper is very soft and bendable.

[@bambieargyle9000]

Would paper from a brown paper bag be to thick too work with this technique?

[@NiktheBooksmith]

I don't see why not, as long as the paper isn't too thick for what you want to use it for =)

[@bambieargyle9000]

@@NiktheBooksmith I'll try it and get back to you. Need to get some supplies (the liqitex).

[@bambieargyle9000]

@@NiktheBooksmith I tried the Leather look” method with two brain paper bags. One was thick and one was the thicker kind. Both worked well, but I don’t think I achieved the leather look. (I could not find a brown ink pad in my town.) I used them for covers on little 10-page sketchbooks.

[@donnaevans8420]

Use brown shoe polish.

[@clc3897]

Hey Nik! Your stories reminded me of a few of mine, in retrospect I always wonder how am I still here? I almost bled to death when I was about four or five years old. I tried climbing a fence that had sharp spikes one of which punctured me along the inside of my jaw when my foot slipped. I somehow managed to get myself down from the fence and went to my mom with blood coming down my clothes. Immediately I was rushed to the hospital or some kind of clinic. The doctor took me into the operating room (this was back in Romania) telling my mom to wait outside. He wanted to give me a shot in my buttock but I didn’t want him to take off my underwear, so to “calm” me down he took the biggest scissors I had ever seen and hit me in the head with them. I don’t remember what happened after, only that when I got home my mom found the huge bump on my head and wondered if I fell down and hit my head as well. I told her the doctor hit me in the head with the scissors. Should that have happened here in the states I would have probably been a very very rich woman right now. Unfortunately, the system back then and there was unkind to victims. Anyways, almost 50 years later I still bear the scar from my impaling as well as the scar/bump from my encounter with the giant scissors. Are you familiar with MOMIGAMI? The process is very simple. You take paper and lotion and knead the paper with the lotion until your paper becomes very much like cloth. You can then stain the paper or paint it or do anything you want to it. I used a regular brown paper bag and the end result looks a lot like leather without any staining or additional painting.

[@NiktheBooksmith]

What a scary experience, I'm glad you're here to tell the story! As for the lotion technique, yes I know of it, but I hesitate to use that if I'm covering a book. I thought the oil/wax in lotion might inhibit the glue from attaching the faux leather to the cover boards. But, maybe I'm overthinking it 🤷

[@clc3897]

@@NiktheBooksmith I understand that you can also knead it using arrowroot. Maybe that would be better for the glue.

[@donnaevans8420]

What is the texture like after using lotion?

[@clc3897]

@@donnaevans8420 it feels very much like leather.

[@RockinStacy]

That paper roll appears to be masking paper.

[@NiktheBooksmith]

Yep, I think you're right! Thank you, Stacy!

[@RockinStacy]

@@NiktheBooksmith Your welcome!

[@Steph_here]

😮they wanted to kidnap you! I almost got hit by a car once. Stopped about an inch from hitting me.

[@2CraftySeniors]

Oddly I have tried many times to tell you my story... but my comment keeps disappeareing. It looks like it's here, but when I refresh, it's gone. I don't understand. If at some point several of the same comment appears here... I am so sorry and will return to delete some. Anyway, if nothing appears, then I guess I'm not meant to tell you my story. Sad... because I think you'd find it fascinating.

[@NiktheBooksmith]

I'll keep my eye out for your comment, not sure why it would keep disappearing??