There are lots of exciting things going on at Sophie's World lately. Last month, curious.com, where I am a Certified Teacher, asked if I’d be interested in hosting an hour long crafting event. For those of you who don't know, curious.com is a website that curates learning videos in a multitude of categories and houses them all under one digital roof. You, the viewer, can experience a wealth of knowledge with a single click. The event they were asking me about was a live, streaming DIY.

Me crafting, chatting, and answering questions. Did I mention that I would be by myself?  Did I mention that it was an hour?  Did I mention that it was live?

Some of my curious.com courses

Needless to say, I jumped at the chance.  I’ve never been one to shy away from a challenge, and although the notion of having to talk and create continually for an hour made me nervous, I also saw it as a great opportunity to learn.

And so it was that on September 9, Scott and I loaded up my little car “Bitty” with back-to-school crafts and made our way down to Curious headquarters for a test shoot in their studio. Their studio is amazing.  It’s got 3 cameras and a professional control room.  It reminded me of how they do newscasts or sports broadcasts. There is an operator in a booth switching live from one camera to the next seamlessly while I worked.  Granted, duct tape folders are not as exciting as breaking news, but working with multiple cameras and being aware of the close up, overhead, and a wide shot is something I’ve been dying to learn.

Backstage at the curious.com studio

The biggest thing I learned is that an hour goes by quickly, and a minute can be an eternity!

When I was on, teaching and answering questions, everything went seamlessly. One thing flowed into the next. It was really just like teaching at one of my library sessions, or running a party. The hard part came when the monitor flashed  “1 minute”. My instructions were that when I saw the “1 minute” sign I was to wrap things up, and basically say goodbye. However, it’s really hard to know how long a minute is when you don’t have a clock in front of you. So I basically wrapped up in about 30 seconds, and had this very awkward 30 seconds of vamping where I was watching desperately for the “off the air” sign. I remember saying - “And...and...and (about 12 times) I’ll see you next time”. It was pretty funny. Definitely, a good learning experience.

So much fun on set!

So now, the really exciting news is that I get to do this once a month!  I have to admit, I’m pretty stoked.  The best part about it is that viewers can ask any and all questions they have about crafting, supplies, ideas, recommendations....anything, I love the spontaneity of it all.  I like the “anything can happen and usually does”, quality of live video.  I like the thrill that comes with performing without a net.  When we were doing our first session I had a bunch of crafts as set dressing, and in the middle of the session one of the items fell down. I immediately deemed it the “curious” ghost.  We’ll see if he shows up in further episodes.

I hope you’ll come check out my next live streaming event on Curious.com. The event is scheduled for October 7th, from 5:00 to 6:00 Pacific Time. The theme will be Halloween Decorations and Crafts.  You can reserve your spot by clicking on this link.

Perfect time for the curious ghost to make another appearance!

Streaming LIVE, October 7th 5pm PST/8pm EST