Not enough time to craft

Lilith and I took an Archiver's class tonight and it was fun. First I love to hang with Lilith and visit and I love to take Archiver's classes so it combined 2 of my favorite things! We had fun girl time and a good supper, too. Yeah today!

We made a scrapbook called the Doodlebug Photo Album. It's really cool, and very pretty. However, it was the first night for the workshop and that's usually when they work out the kinks. It was a two hour workshops to make a 15 page album. No freaking way was that gonna work.

We got all our paper cut and the pages in the right order, and the cover and first three pages done. We got the book bound and that was it in 2 hours. They sent all the supplies home with us so we can finish on our own. I was so bummed because my plan was to finish the album and put pictures in it- which I had even remembered to bring with me. But no.....!

I really hate that but what could I do? I wish they would give enough time for everyone to finish the whole there. We weren't slow, I didn't think. Here's a link if you want to see it! And when I get mine done, I'll post a picture! And all I can say is that I'm really thankful that there was no heat embossing.

Mags

Holy Cow- it's cold! Finally! And other news...

It didn't get above 61 degrees here today, and that was in the sun. There's a terrific breeze (maybe we can call it a wind?) blowing and it's just beautiful after all the we must be in hell HOT HEAT ICK we've had here in the Midwest. It's so cold that Daddy-O's hung around the house in long pants, socks, long sleeves and a hat on his bald head. ITSam wore jeans and a long sleeved t-shirt. I told them they were wusses and there would be 10 feet of snow outside and I was still wearing flip-flops, short sleeves and my capris. Man, I hate it when I shoot my mouth off. Once I finally lit in one spot long enough, and right in front of a window with the wind blowing on me, I was sort of wishing for socks and long sleeves. However, I am sticking to my resolve to wear flip-flops only...

Yes, those are flip-flop socks. Think mittens for your toes with the big toe playing the role of thumb.

In other news...

I heard from Mac today and the phone is officially stolen. No one has seen it, heard it, turned it in for lost, etc. It's gone, gone, gone. And all that stuff we hear about on tv about not being able to trace the "throw away" phones? Well, that's true, so if you want to commit a crime and need a phone, get a throw away! I wanted to see if there was any activity on the phone between when it was lost until now, but AT&T can't do it since it's the "disposable" go-phone. The other thing that sucks is that I can't get a replacement because of that so I have to buy him a whole new phone. And of course the college wouldn't do anything to help with this either. That just ticks me off. Mac, while a butthead in other ways sometimes, isn't at fault for the phone being stolen. I bought it on-line as a refurb, and might order him another the same way. I'm sitting here with a $50 re-fill card for it so I might as well. I hate crap like this. The good news is that whomever got the phone can't use Mac's number and minutes because the phone company killed the SIM card in it; however, the perpetrator could go to an AT&T store and just buy another SIM card and still use the phone. That so sucks.

This weekend Archiver's hosted ANOTHER free craft weekend- they SO rock! This time is was making 3-D flowers. Here are our efforts:


I went to Wally World to grocery shop and the shelves, and as Mother Hubbard would say, are bare. Since it's a holiday weekend so many vendors haven't been in to re-stock ,and pickins were slim on lots of things. It's a good thing that Daddy-O hates the Slimmwich bread rounds with all the grains, nuts, twigs, and oat flakes on top because I couldn't buy any of those; all they had were PLAIN- much to father's liking but too bad for anyone else- and one package of Plain, which I snagged! I also looked for either Club or Townhouse crackers, the original flavor. Not garlic, not low sodium, not light butter, not wheat, not pretzel, not Flipz, not herb, but PLAIN BUTTER ORIGINALS. None. I even broke my cardinal rule and asked an associate (Oh Lord help us, but I didn't kill anyone!) but to no avail. The associate who helped me said she thought there were some on a display somewhere and she looked and called someone else to help her look but couldn't find any. None. But near the door, I found the display, AND the last box of crackers!!!!!!! (I have to giggle that they "lost" a whole display... guess that's the way the cracker crumbles! *I can hear you all groan, you know!*)

And in the category of "I'm an idiot"... I put on a gray shirt this morning but didn't like how it fit so I grabbed one of Mac's old t-shirts, that's bright BRIGHT green! Then I went grocery shopping and when I came out and caught sight of a bright green shirt reflection on the car window, I literally turned around and looked behind me for Mac. Then I looked down and saw the green was me... I was really surprised and went "hey, I'm wearing a green shirt!" Oh. my. goodness! No, I am not blond.

I get a phone call from ITSam that goes something like this:
him: "Hypothetically speaking, how do you clean up hand-cream that was in a tube that might have been on the floor and then might have been stepped on and say, hypothetically, shot out all over the carpet in a big oozing puddle glob?"

me: "Oh gross. Did you step in it too, hypothetically speaking?"

him: "nope, but the hypothetical carpet smells good. I scooped it up with cardboard. Do you want me to put it in a jar or baggie or something to keep it?"

So, a tube of my Bath and Body Hand Cream- gardenia scent- was on his bedroom floor and is now ON THE FLOOR and he wants to know if he should keep it for me? Ummm, I think not. I also want to say he took a picture of the mess and I was going to post it here but this blog is rated PG-13 (an occasional R thrown in)- not X! Ick! You really don't want to see that...

Finally, I know it was a 4 day weekend for me but I am so not ready to go back to school tomorrow. And I know that means I only have a 3 day school week but I still don't wanna go. I am SO lazy!

And that's it from here.
TMI?
Maggie

Surprise festival, and a lazy weekend

This weekend there was a really neat free craft at Archiver's and I just 'had' to go. I made a free page and a free card. It involved sewing. By hand. On paper. It's a cool concept and has neat tools to make this happen but it was sewing. On paper! By hand! Let's just say I did it this one time and if I were to ever do it again, it would not be all the way across a 12x12 piece of paper. Maybe 2 inches, but not 12!!! See the holes on the left? I used thread and followed that pattern all the way down the page. But it was fun, and free! And Archiver's is a great store with so many wonderful ideas! I love to take pictures of their crafts and samples so I can try and re-create stuff!


We then found a festival in downtown Northern Civilization. When I lived there I knew about all the festivals and activities going on all over the city, all the time, concerts, displays, anything that there was to do, I was in the know. The Chamber of Commerce should've hired me! Since I don't live there, I'm never sure of what's happening so it was a pleasant surprise to run across a small faire and food tasting event. The faire was all about the Arts around the city with demonstration from the Civic theater to ballet to belly-dancing classes to South African drumming to museums to galleries- anything that had to do with arts or fine arts, had a booth or display or demonstration or performance. It was pretty amazing to walk around and talk to the folks involved, see the displays and watch performances either at the booths or on the three different stage areas. Then the fundraising part was food. Attendees could buy tickets and then go to any for the 30+ local food booths to eat. All food booths were local restaurants, not chains. It was wonderful! Cheesecakes, micro-brewed beers, ribs, gazpacho... so much to choose from. A foodie's dream come true!

It was such a beautiful day, not too hat, perfectly blue skies and sun and a wonderful time.

I love to find things like that around the city. Makes me miss living there even more than I already do! A little magic in the heart of the city! What a fun way to spend a lazy Saturday!

And speaking of lazy... lazy spilled over into Sunday. The weather was gorgeous so we opened up the house. I don't think it got any warmer than 70 degrees. I was a totally lazy bum and just laid around in my pj's all day, watching the box set of season 2 of Mad Men (one of the best shows on TV- how did I miss this all these years???). I ate cold roast chicken and warm rolls out of the container. I refrained from taking a nap, but barely. I read and watched and just was lazy, moving from one piece of furniture to another to keep from sleeping. But I didn't run around the house working or around town, play on the 'net, talk on the phone all day (one call with Curley!), text or anything. I just was a totally worthless layabout. I didn't even do laundry, which I feel like I do all the time. I just 'was'!

It was a fabulous weekend.... Can't believe I have to end it all and go back to work...

Maggie

Random Monday musings

I have really big hair because of the humidity. I have no idea how to control it.

I agreed in a moment of weakness to watch The Hangover I with Mac tonight. Ugh!

I found out today that I'll get a raise of my summer school teaching pay- a dollar more an hour than last year, so I think I'll make about $14/ hour for teaching! (Hey Sam, I might just come down and see you after all!!!!!) I also agreed to teach an extra course so EXTRA money!!!!!!

OMG- Weight Watchers starts tomorrow.

OMG- Lilith and I are having a scrapbook night again tomorrow... this is a GOOD OMG. Not only are we scrapbooking together, we're seeing each other twice in 2 weeks. A new record!!! Pictures will be forthcoming.

Mac was helping move a piece of furniture of mine the other day. He said, "hey mom. The paint on this thing is all cracked and peeling and looks like shit. Why are we moving it? Can't we just throw it away?" I said, "It's supposed to look like that. It's called 'rustic'!" He said, "Oh so it's a cracked and peeling rustic looking piece of shit" and he hauled it to the garage, giggling to himself!

I love Fiji water. I would like to say it's because of the taste of the water, but in reality, if I'm completely honest, it's because of the square bottle.

ITSam and I had a fight so he wouldn't give me Netflix at work. Yeah, I know. So I revamped my entire lesson plans since my Classic Film History class started today. I was actually thrilled to be back at work and I have a really small class of all girls who LIKE to have discussion so it was a good day. We started talking about a classic movie is. Since it was the first day and I didn't want to scare them off, I showed part of Titanic and gave them the challenge to decide if it was a classic or not.

And that's all there is............
Maggie

10- Take a scrapbook class

I took a scrapbook class, quite by accident. And for free. Yes, free.

This last weekend, Archiver's, a scrapbook chain store, was hosting a free 'make & take' project day. I happened to stumble in the store that day and had forgotten that was going on. Forgotten, I say because I get their online newsletters and knew it was scheduled but it had slipped my mind.

I was looking for a Mother's Day gift for Daddy-O (hey, he's the only parent I have left and often has to take on the role of mom AND dad to me, even though I'm almost 40 yrs old.) and the clerk asked if I wanted to do the 'make & take' of the day. Well, heck yeah I did.

Only ITSam with was with me. And it was to take an hour. And he had just spent 40 minutes waiting for me at Lane Bryant while I tried on pants. Which was not pretty.

But he said for me to go ahead and he would watch.

And he ended up helping!!!

It was cool. I got to use all their papers and supplies. I punched stuff out and got to play with some of the scrapbook/ card making toys. I used ribbon and buttons to make a flower, which I had never done before. It was pretty cool.

Everything we did was standard. What I mean is that every single person who came in was given the same materials and showed how to use the same tools and shown the template and then we could arrange it any way we wanted. It was actually 2 scrapbook pages- two completely different styles of scrapbooking. And one came with a sleeve protector.

It was pretty easy and fun to do.

I apologize in advance for my crappy pictures. I'm having camera issues (gee, how nice, just in time for graduation, damn it.) so I can't do lighting for crap (with or without the flash or plastic cover. It really seems to be a camera issue rather than a user one this time). But here's an attempt to show what I did.

Here is one page. This is a clear plastic sleeve with 6 slots. I filled 2 of them with scrapped projects. You can see one is black and the other is the green one. In the remaining 4 slots, I'll slide in pictures. In the one slot you can see little flowers and butterflies- those are to be adhered to the 4 pictures I use to tie it all together. I'm also supposed to put a picture in the yellow circle (the yellow circle on the green)

Here's a close up of the decoration panel. I have no idea what this is called. I was probably told but I don't remember.

Here's a close up of the black panel.

Here's the ribbon and button flower Sam made for me. I was having no luck with sticky stuff and ribbon. I was sticking everywhere but to the ribbon and it was nothing like a flower shape, either.

Here's a picture of a 3D butterfly that I "distressed" the edges to give it 'depth.'

Another 3D butterfly, that's dimensional (how is it 3D and dimensional, I want to know...?), without being distressed.

And finally, here's the other page, in finished form! It's the more traditional scrapbook style page think of when they think of scrapbooking. I'll drop in either 2 small picture on the green or one large one. And in the thing that looks like a piece of film across the bottom? I can add either small pictures or embellishments in those spots.

Pretty cool, eh? Don't I look talented?

And it was all free!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Almost 40 and fabulous,
Maggie