1 down 11 to go

Every year I make an attempt to post every single day. I've come close but always end up missing a few days. I posted every day for the month of January so I'm off to a good start.

Yesterday was cold. It was

When I left work but with the windchill it felt like 5. The store I work in is always cold but the bakery/deli area is always warm because of the ovens and stove. Not yesterday. It felt like the air conditioning was on. I have a jacket that I leave there for when I have to go in the freezer and I wore that most of the day. And in case you're wondering, yes, I told the store manager and his response was, it's always cold. I'm hoping today isn't more of the same.

It took all day

My plan for yesterday was to work on some Valentine treat boxes. It took me all day but I did it. I still want to make more but now I know for sure what I want to do.

I started out with a plan to make triangle boxes but I didn't like the way they were looking.

I liked the box itself but the hearts I made to go on them had white in them and they didn't look good on this brown craft  paper. I stuck the stickers on them and then hated them even more.

I could have just tried this style again with different colored paper but opted to scrap this whole plan and go with something else.

My next attempt was a pillow box

I liked these better. They are a nice size to hold a few pieces of candy.  The hearts were the ones I was going to put on the triangle boxes.

Now I guess I should go clean up my desk.

What a mess

Saturday when I was finishing off that sign I showed you yesterday I was also attempting to make some more cards.

Can you believe that I can make a mess like this

and only end up with one card

My intentions were to do two. Same design, different colors. The second one never got finished. I seem to be seriously lacking any kind of motivation when I'm at home.

Today I'm going to attempt to make some Valentine things to share at work. We'll see how far I get with that.

I got my sign

I had told you that one of those cards I made was for one of the guys at work who was leaving. He was our butcher and had been there for 14 years. He started when he was in high school as a stock boy. Over the years we have had our disagreements but we were always able to end them with agreeing to disagree. Whenever I was having a rough day he would look at me and say "Smile Annie, Jesus loves you." Then he would ask me if I needed a hug.

January 20th was his last day. I was off but he left me a note hanging on my table. I took the note, copied it, shrunk it and glued it to some scrapbook paper. Now I have my sign.

Sorry, bad picture. It was a rainy and dark day yesterday and I took this a bit late in the day with my cell phone. 

Oh and the p.s. is because I told him that Jesus may love me but he loves you more because you're getting out of here.

A rant of a different color

Yesterday I mentioned a rant. This one isn't it but it will do.

The reason I love all of you so much is because you come here with no preconceived notions of who I am or what I'm like. You judge me based on what you see or read here. You form your own opinion of me. Some of you may like me, some may not. If you don't like me, that's fine. At least that opinion of me was based on your own decision and not on what someone else told you about me.

So many new people at work are told right off, watch out for Ann. She's mean, she'll get mad if you don't do things her way. When they meet me they already have an opinion of me. They treat me different than they do other people because they're already afraid of me and what I might do.

A recent new hire had been told by one person how mean I was. I worked with the new hire on Wednesday and it was just her and I for most of the day. Later another person asked her if I was as bad as she was told I was. Her response (so I was told) was "not at all but I wouldn't want to piss her off". Ok so that's good, she sees that I'm not the person she was told I was. On the other hand the "wouldn't want to piss her off" comment baffles me. She wouldn't want to make me mad but what? she wouldn't mind making someone else mad?  Why would making me mad be different than making anyone else mad? Ah!! I think it's because she's still got it in the back of her mind that she needs to watch out for Ann, because she's mean.

This is why I would love to run away and start over where no one knows me.

Not much to see here

I got home from work yesterday and I was cold and feeling lazy. I chose sitting on the couch with a blanket over anything else. That doesn't make for good blogging material. I could tell you about what is annoying me the most right now but it's not that interesting and it would only put me on a long rant. That takes too much energy. I decided the best option was to dig up an old picture of Gibbs

Put your pants on

Lary did. Plus he/she got arms

And I still do more work than a cashier

Remember the othe day when I posted this?

Well it's starting to take on a bit of a personality. Sunday I added to it. The idea came when I saw some string on the counter. It started with the hair. Then a little later in the day I decided to add the shirt.

One of the kids working with me named it Larry. The other girl wrote the name on the shirt but spelled it Lary. I said it didn't look like a Larry with the pink shirt and long hair but I was told that guys have long hair too.

This isn't the end of Lary's story though. There's more. I just need another piicture.

The store manager shook his head and said you guys have too much time on your hands. My response was "And we still do more work than a cashier"

Uninspired

I spent yesterday trying to do something but coming up with a whole lot of nothing. A big mess in my craft room was about all I was accomplishing.

That's when I decided to go to my Pinterest boards and pick something to copy.
I chose this card

This was from a blog called A Handmade Tale  Not a blog I follow and they haven't posted since 2013.

So anyway here's what I came up with.

Just because all of you make my day when  you stop by here and leave me comments, I want to say

Thanks.

It'll be here soon

Valentine's day isn't that far off so I thought I would make a card for the occasion. I actually started out with a premade project in Cricut design space. I was all ready to cut it out and realized it was one that I had to purchase. Instead I decided to design something simple on my own.

So are you tired of seeing cards yet? I'm thinking that I want to build up my inventory of cards for this years craft show. The only thing is, I'm wondering, how big of a seller would cards be. I've offered them in the past and as long as the price was cheap they did sell. What occasions do you buy cards for? Or do you prefer to send online greetings?
My other thing is that if I do sell them I need to find more professional looking packaging. I had them in Ziploc bags before because it was all I had at the time. I had looked locally and no one sold anything like that.

Should have left it plain

I made another pop up card. This one was a plain white cutout on a colored background for the front of the card. The inside has the same cutout in plain white but popping out from the inside of the card.

I thought it would be a neat idea to color the one on the outside of the card. I did a lousy job of coloring and ended up hating it and wishing I would have left it white. Live and learn.

I'm pretty sure there are elementary school kids who could have done a better job of coloring this.

The inside turned out nice though

Really nothing lost here because I can do the card again. I hadn't purchased any new paper for it, I was just using stuff that's been in my craft room.

It started with a circle

Excuse the bad pictures today. They were taken quickly with a cell phone.

This story begins with a circle. One day at work I twisted a few twist ties together to form a circle. Please don't ask me why I did this because I have no answer for that. I did it and that's the only thing relevant to this story. I left my twist tie circle laying on my table when I went home for the day.

A few days later I come in to work and find someone had made two little twist tie hearts. One was left on my table and the other one was taped to the door leading in to the deli/bakery area

Yesterday I got to work and found that someone had added to the door.

And I bet you thought twist ties were only for keeping bags closed.

It's little things like this that make it bearable to go to work.

Good luck

I made another card last night. There's another person leaving at work and I wanted to get it done so I could take it to work today and get it signed by everyone before her last day next Tuesday.

This one is simple but pretty. The butterfly is two layers. The bottom is a darker color wing and the body which I covered in holographic embossing powder. I added some texture to the top wing and only glued down a small portion close to the body so the wings lift off the page a bit. I also stamped some swirls and used more of the holographic embossing powder.

The inside has a simple message written on a soft pink paper.

Popping

Still playing and learnig so I've got another new card I made. I'm so lovin' this machine. I've never made a pop up card before but with this machine it is so incredibly easy.

This is one of the ready made projects that are available through the design space. The front of this card didn't have anything on it so I added some patterned paper then cut out a circle, a scallop and had the machine do the writing on the circle

Having the ability to use the pens with the machine pretty much eliminate the need for stamps or ink pads.

Ok, you ready for the inside?

And how about one looking more at the side.

Now I just need someone ot have a birthday so I can send them this card.

You gotta start somewhere.

So the things I've made so far aren't perfect but then again, it's next to impossible to get perfection when doing handmade. I do have some practicing to do though before I start making things to sell.I do plan on doing that too.

I made another card. I thought this little bird was really cute. I got a little crooked with glueing on some of the pieces. The little bits can get pretty tiny and I had to use some tweezers. He doesn't look too bad though. The other thing is that just the pieces along coming out of the machine are a bit bland when you glue them all together. I used some glitter pens to spiff him up a bit

The background was embossed in my cuttlebug machine and then I swiped a blue ink pad over the raised portions to emphasize the snowflakes and swirls.


Then I made you a cupcake with a cherry on top. Again I jazzed it up a bit with glitter pens. I drew on the swirls in the frosting and the pink lines on the cupcake paper.

Not all bugs are created equal.

Yesterday Steve made the comment that he though my new machine was the one you had dies to cut with.

And the answer to that is that the two cricut machines I have are electronic die cutting machine. Or maybe they don't even refer to them as die cutting machines but that's what I've always called them. Any way, the machine that uses the actual dies is a bug by a different name. That would be the cuttlebug

This is not my picture. I took from online just to show you. This one uses dies and embossing folders and the paper is manually cranked through the machine. I do also have one of these. Some bugs aren't bad when you've got them in your house.

Yesterday, Wade and I had to travel to the big city (30 mile trip) for his doctors appointment. We were going to be real close to A.C.Moore and I had a gift card from there. After his appointment we stopped and I picked up a couple of accessories I wanted for the new toy.

I got a stylus which will make score marks on your projects and pens so it can also write. I did do a little more playing but I'll save those for tomorrow's post.

What have you done?

In a comment yesterday Pam from Life through My Eyes asked me what I've done with my new toy. The answer is not much. Mostly I've been trying to figure things out but I did make a card for one of the guys at work who's leaving at the end of the week for another job.

The only thing in the card that was made with my machine was the words Best Wishes. But hey, it's a start.

This is the old machine on top and the new machine on the bottom

The machine on the top has a cartridge inserted with a keypad to choose the shape to be cut. There is also dials to select the size, depth of the blade and pressure of the blade.

The machine on the bottom has a dial to choose the type of material you are using and you use the cricut design space online to create whatever it is that you want to cut. For some reason, there are a lot of things that just are not clicking with me when I try to figure it all out. I've been going back and forth between design space and YouTube videos to try and make myself understand it all.

One thing I don't like about this machine is that you have to be connected to the internet to use design space.. One thing I do like about it is that you can choose a picture from the many available, print it on your printer then send it through the cricut to cut it out.

So there you have it. Almost a whole week since I got this and I've made one measly little card.

Observation

I couldn't take it yesterday. I've been cooped up, other than going to work, far too much lately. I went out, shoveled the driveway and cleaned off the car. I had to let the defrost run for a bit to melt all the ice off the windshield.

Then I headed to Walmart. Not the most fascinating trip, but it got me out.

While shopping I made some observations. Even though this isle is pretty empty, the store was quite busy.

About half the shoppers were with someone else wether it was a friend, child, spouse or other. The other half that were shopping alone were split about equally between men and women.

The men who were shopping all appear to be on a mission. Get in, find what you want and get out.

The majority of the women who were shopping alone were talking on their cell phones while browsing the isles. There was only one shopper that I noticed who was taking picture to use for a blog post.

Hanging.

Just like these icicles, I guess I'll be hanging around the house today.

These were taken last week before our warm up. They're all gone now but it started raining yesterday afternoon then turned over to freezing rain and finally to snow.

No particular plans for the day. I'll play it by ear and do whatever.

Roller Coaster

After all those frigid temperatures and tons of snow, the past two days we've had a warm up. Alot of the snow is gone and this was the temperature when I left work yesterday.

It felt so nice to not freeze and this would be great except it's very temporary. There is already a winter storm warning in effect starting at noon today until 10 a.m. Saturday. The forecast has our high today at 51 with a low of 12. Tomorrows high is only 14. I so hate this time of  year. What I hate even more though is being on the weather roller coaster. I know it's supposed to be cold this time of year so just stay cold until it's time to warm up and move directly into spring. 

Well that sucks

I bought myself a new toy with money I got for Christmas and it came yesterday. I didn't have much time to play around with it, not to mention the brain power or the energy. Now I have to go to work and I have to make it through 2 whole days of work before I can really sit down and have some fun. Do you have any idea how long those 2 days are going to be?

Oh what did I get? I bought a new Cricut machine. That is the link to the macine I bought. I actually got it cheaper than that through another place. I already have a cricut but it's an older one with a smaller size mat. I tried to talk myself out of this then Wade said if I wanted it I should get it. So then I talked myself in to it by saying that I could make things with this to sell so it's more like an investment.

Saturday is supposed to be another really cold and crappy winter day so it'll be perfect to staying home and playing.

This is an old picture but I had to throw something in.

Do you see what I see?

Take a look at this bread I made yesterday at work and tell me if you see what I see.

OK, more specifically just look at this one loaf of bread. Now do you see what I see?

Am I the only one who sees bread with a little face?

A day in the craft room

What I thought was going to be a warmer day turned out to be wrong. I woke to find raindrops on the window. The temps were up to 31 but it wasn't long before it started snowing again. Since I wasn't going anywhere I headed for the craft room which also doubles as the computer room.

I spent a lot of time surfing the web, I did a little bit of shopping and spent my Christmas money and I finished off another sock mouse. This one is going to be going to live with Ginny.

This one is less seasonal than the first one and he's got a little wedge of cheese in his little mouse hands

I did a little editing too. This was a close up of Mr. Mousey

When I set out to do one that could sit out other times besides Christmas I knew I had to replace the candy cane and thought cheese would be perfect. I started cutting different materials and it just wasn't working the way I wanted it to. Then I saw the sponge laying on the end of my table and I had an UH HUH moment and knew that was the perfect thing to use for cheese. I've also got some little witches hats and plan on doing a Halloween version. I'm thinking there are other mice in the making as well just not sure what they will be just yet.

Pondering

Blog

VS Facebook

I've been wondering why I bother doing both. Granted I don't post all that much to Facebook but mainly it's because when I do, about the only comments I get are from people who comment here. So why not just post everything here? There are a few people who on a rare occasion will comment on something I post there but they never ever visit here.

I did consider deleting my Facebook account but decided that just because I don't post there doesn't mean I have to get rid of it. I still like it for the funny things I find there and now for the craft hoarders group.

I never ever considered deleting my blog because I would miss all of you stopping by to see me.

Another cold one

Yesterday was another cold day and a good one to stay inside. I didn't go anywhere all day long. I did take down all my Christmas decorations and get them packed up and put away. I went through all the stuff I had, even the stuff that didn't get put out. I repacked everything and labeled the totes to make it easier for next year. Now I just need to start doing some deep cleaning. After the packing though I was exhausted and decided that was enough work for one day.

I played a little in the craft room and I did this little edit.

I recently joined a group on Facebook called craft hoarders. I posted a picture for the first time yesterday and I was blown away by the response. It's a large group and everyone is so nice and supportive and encouraging. I really like it and would recommend the group to anyone who's interested in crafting. There are some remarkably talented people in this group. 

You gotta dress in layers

When the weather outside is frightful, the fire may be delightful, but when you have to go outside you need to dress in layers. Even inside layers may be necessary.

I was talking to a few of the younger employees the other day while I was putting my layers on to leave for the day. I told them that back in the day I wouldn't be caught dead wearing a hat when it was cold outside. No scarf either.

These days when I prepare to venture out, it's hooded sweatshirt, coat, scarf, ear warmer or headband whichever you prefer to call it. Then for good measure the hood on my sweatshirt will go up

When it's cold outside, I could care less what I look like. Just give me enough layers that I don't freeze anything off

What are you smiling about?

Snow, snow, cold and snow. I'm very tired of cold and snow. Easy to smile when you're a snowman.

This isn't real clear since I did a screen shot on my computer and then resized it in pse. This started with last night (Thursday) But look at that high for today. 6 degrees. And with the wind chill factored in we're talking negative numbers.

I guess I better put an extra layer on before I head out to work today.

Posting

The other day, Grace wrote about posting every day this year. That has been my goal for several years but somehow I always fall a little short.

From the beginning of this blog
2008 - 50
2009 - 249
2010 - 354
2011 - 349
2012 - 352
2013 - 293
2014 - 245
2015 - 351
2016 - 305
2017 - 350

So you see I have come close. And why do I make an effort to post that often? Aren't I just putting undo pressure on myself? No, I don't think I am. I think I'm challenging myself to think of something worth sharing. Granted the something I share isn't always real interesting. I'll be the first to admit that some of my posts have been pretty lame. But they force me to think. They force me to use the part of my brain that would otherwise turn to mush staring at a tv.

Grace is going to try and post something thoughtful. I don't plan on aiming that high. I'm just going to try and put something out there even if it's just a post that says I can't think of anything today, I'll try harder tomorrow.


Maybe I'll even create a happy memory or two along the way.