Crafting overload

 I have several projects to show today

I don't think I've shown you this table runner yet. Amanda had mentioned that she would like one for the 4th of July. She had seen fabric on Hobby Lobby's website but they were out of stock. While I was there the one day I spotted that same fabric so I bought it. This is a double sided table runner so it can be used for two different seasons/occasions.

I don't know if you can tell from this picture but this side of it has little sunflowers on it.

Next up are post it note holders. I'm planning on also adding a mini calendar to the little box that holds the post it notes. These do stand up too. I thought these would make cute Christmas gifts for friends.

I found a tutorial for these adorable bows and put them on barettes.

This is a pen holder on a matching lanyard. How I wish I would have had one of these when I was working. I was forever looking for my pen.

Finally is yet another Christmas gift. This one I'll be giving to Presley. This is a reading pillow. It has a pocket on the front of it to hold a book.  I made this one from 3 fat quarters of flannel that I bought at Dollar Tree. There's a handle on the top of it so they can carry it to their favorite reading spot. 

And that is what I've been doing with my time.

Gibbs loves his blankets

 I don't know what it is, but Gibbs has to have a blanket when he is laying on the couch. When not in use I fold the blanket and put it on the back of the couch. Sometimes he just climbs up there and lays down on the blanket. More often than not it's a whole production of him pulling the blanket down to lay on it.

Gibbs, what are you doing?

Honest, I swear I wasn't doing anything.

Oh good, I don't think she's looking any more.

Almost have it

Ah, that's better

On another note, Ms. ~K asked about pricing on my t-shirts. I sell them for $10 plus shipping (not sure how much it would be for that. I would estimate $6-$7) If you're interested you can contact me at iannieam@gmail.com

T-shirts and a tote bag

 A local friend had seen the t-shirt I posted that I melted plastic on. She said that if I was selling them she would like one. But of course I can sell them.

The second time around the perfectly imperfect t-shirt came out great and no melted plastic on it.

I also made a cat mom t-shirt for Amanda

And finally a tote bag that I will give to a friend for Christmas. She's an avid reader.

Pretty stuff from the park

 Back on May 5th, I had taken another walk at the park just to get out of the house for a while. As I was walking, there was a slight breeze and I could smell lilacs. When I rounded the one corner, there they were. I had to stop and get a picture or two.

Then just before I got back to my car I spotted these little flowers that looked like daisies. They were only a few inches high but oh so pretty.

Backing up to Mother's day

 Since I haven't talked about how I spent my Mother's day, I'll do that now. On the actual day I spent most of it home alone because we did everything the day before. Amanda did come over and visit for a while though.

First on Saturday was breakfast with Amanda at Bob Evans.

We were all done and almost ready to leave when Amanda reminded me to take a picture of our food so this is the leftover we had boxed up to take home. First hers, then mine.

Afterwards we made stops at Michaels, Kohls, Dollar Tree, Lowes and Sams Club.

Later that afternoon I got a text from my son asking if I wanted to meet them for ice cream. I forgot to take pictures there but I got a picture of the pretty pop up card and mug they gave me. I also got an Amazon gift card.  I should have taken a pic of the ice cream I got though. It was a chocolate raspberry and so incredibly delicious.

I also got a really pretty card from Wade's youngest son. He's so incredibly thoughtful.

Out in the yard

 These pictures were all taken on May 5th. Everything is looking so good.

This is the lilac that Amanda gave me last year.

I thought I would try something different with my peonies this year. The blooms are always heavy and droop down, especially after it rains. I took an old tomato cage and put it upside down over the plant to help everything stand up straight. Hopefully this works.

Reminding myself and jumping through hoops

 I recently had to put gas in my vehicle. In order to save a little extra money I purchased a gas card that gives you 10 cents off per gallon when you use it. I filled my tank and there was still additional money left on the card. I wanted to leave it in the car but didn't want to leave it in plain sight. I tucked it under the visor but thought I'll forget it's there. So I took a picture and now the reminder will be on my phone.

This didn't last though. While driving, I forgot about the card being there and pulled down the visor. I did this more than once so now the card is in the cup holder.

I may have mentioned before that one of the requirements for unemployment is that I apply to at least 3 jobs per week. This isn't always easy but I eventually find three. Recently I drew the line when they made me jump through hoops during the application process.

First it asked me to verify my email address

Next it asked for a password

Then it informed me that passwords had to be 14 characters long

I finally gave up after I created a password that was that long and I got this message

passwords cannot have 3 consecutive numbers or alphabet characters in a row ascending or descending. 

Week 48 drawings

 We're getting closer to a whole years worth of drawings. Here we are at week #48

Taking control

 Gibbs normally will lay on the opposite end of the couch when we are in the Ann cave watching tv. The only exception is when I've got an extra soft blanket that he wants to share.

The one night he uncharacteristically came and laid down right next to me. That's when I noticed he had taken over control of the remote

Apparently he didn't find his choice very exciting though because he only closed his eyes for a minute and soon he was snoozing.

Just because

 I do things these days just because I have the time and I can. 

I recently made this shadowbox card from Myscrapchick.com 

It was very easy to make and it folds flat if you want to mail it.

Other than that, today I have a picture I took of a recent very yummy dinner. It seems like I do very little cooking these days. I rely a lot on things I've cooked and frozen in smaller portions or easy meals like airy fryer wrap sandwiches. I decided to try some pork chops in the air fryer the one day. I coated them with some shake and bake for pork that I had in the cupboard. It came out super yummy and cooked in just 15 minutes.

By the time I got done eating all this I was stuffed. I probably should have only gone with half a baked potato.

Experimenting with fabric

 I already showed you the hexagon mat that I made. I did another one though using Christmas fabrics and made it bigger.

Excuse the bad picture. It was later in the evening and bad light in the cave. Any way, I liked this except not crazy about how the outer rings fabric looks. The pattern of the fabric not matching on the strips kind of annoys my OCD. I like the fabric itself with the other two it's just that one little thing that gets me.

I also played around and made a mug rug beause I wanted to experiment with binding. I used all scrap fabric to make this.

After making the front you take a piece of fabric that is a half inch larger all the way around. You fold in the corners and then the sides to create the binding on the front. I obviously need a lot of practice on that. My seams are all crooked and the corners don't match up. My biggest problem is always accuracy in cutting. This was just for me so it's no big deal I'll keep trying and see if I can get it better.