Monthly Archives: March 2014

Bowl Buddies – A Fun Sewing Project!

Last week, I attended the monthly Craft Corner class at Alamo Crafts, a local craft-mall store in San Antonio. I look forward to Craft Corner because it gives me the opportunity to hang out with crafty people and I get to do a project that someone else has planned and prepped. After we do a simple but fun project, we enjoy a pot-luck meal together. A totally awesome was to spend a few hours.

At this class, Kim taught us to how to make a Bowl Buddy – a much better alternative to a potholder when you want to enjoy a bowl of something hot in front of the TV set. The bowl nestles in snuggly, and it is machine washable, too!

I decided this would be a good way to use up a stash of fabric, so I made 6 more:

Then I got bored and did something else. I had better get “un-bored”, though, because when my friends saw them, they snatched them up! And told me that they wanted more, too!

If you want to make some, there are instructions online!

And while I had the machine out, I made some simple fabric bags, too:

What do you with YOUR fabric stash when it is getting too big?

Flower Class was a Hit!

The Flower Class yesterday was a huge hit! It did take a bit of time to create these fun flower crates of roses but everyone had a great time. there were 2 more participants that did not finish their projects but promised that they would do them at home.

This is not the type of class I normally do but once in a while, it’s worth it!

Guess what I am doing today?

To keep up with my schedule and find out what classes I offer, be sure to sign up for my mailing list.

Be Sure to Backup Your Computer

In preparation to move into an RV, I purchased a new laptop computer. My plan was to gradually move everything from my desktop computer to the laptop over the next few weeks. But, as many plans do, my plans went awry when my desktop refused to boot up. That has never happened to me and I have working with computers for a very, very long time. I am hoping that I will be able to access the hard drive soon and get data off. And, I have a backup drive. And I have an offline backup. Hopefully I will be able to retrieve what I need. What I suspect, though, is that I had way too much unnecessary stuff on that computer (like in my house) and maybe this is a blessing. A pain in the butt, for sure, but maybe a blessing.

Make Your Own Envelopes

I mentioned a couple of days ago that I had made some boxes to hold cards and I wanted to show you another project of envelopes. Some years ago, I bought a beautiful calendar with Mandala images. This envelope was in the pile of “someone take this or it is going into the recycle bin”. I saved it and made an envelope with each page. I think they are striking, don’t you? I am going to use them for my next 12 “Thank You for your order” cards, so if you want one in YOUR mailbox, place an order at my Stampin’ Up! store. While you are at it, you might want to order your own Envelope Punch Board (113774). But if you don’t have an envelope punch board, you can still make your own envelopes by using an existing envelope as a pattern – just trace and cut!

Spring Flowers Class

One of my team members, the very-talented Erica Cerwin, designed this absolutely adorable flower crate project – all made of paper! I would be honored to teach you this project at my Spring Flowers Class on Saturday March 29th starting at 11:00. We will make this project plus at least one more. This is not a difficult project, but it does take time due to the detail, so I am limiting the class to 8 people. Please sign up by Saturday, March 22nd to ensure a seat. Email me if you have any questions!!

Use this convenient PayPal button to sign up or email me for other arrangements.

Convection/Microwave Oven?

I have been doing a lot of research lately on things I never thought of before. One of them is to find the best way to cook in the RV. Alot of people don’t use their ovens because they run off propane and no one wants to run out of propane, right? One option is to use a combination microwave and convection oven. While surfing the web, I came across a great article by Mary Beth Goff: Five Things Not To Do In Your RV Convection Microwave Oven. I asked her if it was ok to share her article with you and she graciously agreed. She also has some recipes on her site that I want to spend some time looking at.

What about you? How are you cooking in YOUR RV?

RV Shopping

A couple of year ago, my son Brian told me about the Open Range RVs. I looked at them online and really liked them, too. But they have not been at the RV shows I have gone to and the closest dealer than sells them is over 50 miles away. But I wanted to see one up close and so, last week, I drove to Houston, picked up my daughter, Jacqui, and headed up to Spring, TX to check them out. Loved the bunkhouse model, 427BHS. Here is the floorplan:

You can see the bunkhouse room at the left. My thought is to take out the bunks and add some storage. Jacqui and I went to Ikea to see what we could find there. I really like the Galant series: there are drawers, shelves, file cabinets, and more in a choice of colors (birch, white, and black/brown) like this:

But the more I thought about it, the more worried I was that it would be too much weight on the slide outs. So I am thinking that I can take 4 of the Galant units (probably 2 with drawers like the one above, and 2 with shelves) and position them smack in the middle of the room. That would require 63″ x 35″ and I think it would *just* fit. I will have to remove the other built-ins to do it, but it will be a good use of space. Then, I can put it in tables and (hopefully) file cabinets in the slide areas. I think that will give me plenty of work area as well as storage.

What do you think? I am open to any and all suggestions!!

Is Soup Your Comfort Food?

I was watching the Pioneer Woman today and she made some Mulligatawny Soup. It looks delicious with chicken, onions, apples, curry powder.

A box popped up on the screen that said that 3 out of 4 people over 55 called soup their go-to comfort food. I for sure agree! When I am feeling cold or sick or just need comforting, I go for Cambell’s Chicken Noodle Soup (the original one). But I love clam chowder, chili (is that a soup?), chicken vegetable, and so many more. Oh, and split pea, bean, too many to keep naming!

Is soup your go-to comfort food? What kind do you like best?

International Women’s Day!

From www.internationalwomensday.com:

International Women’s Day (8 March) is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women past, present and future. In some places like China, Russia, Vietnam and Bulgaria, International Women’s Day is a national holiday.

I say that everyday is a good day to celebrate women (where would the world be without them?) but March 8th is as good a day as any!!

I have been a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator since March 9, 1995 (look at that: I was celebrating back then!) and I have loved every minute of it! From the creativity of crafting to the pride of owning my own business, this has been one amazing journey. Because of Stampin’ Up!, I have traveled so much: partly from attending conventions and partly from earning incentive trips that have taken me to Alaska (twice), Hawaii (twice), Bermuda, Panama Canal, Mexico, and the Caribbean. I even earned a trip for 2 to Fiji!!

More than that, though, I have achieved independence! For the first 14 years of being a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, I also worked full-time in the software industry; as much as I loved the people and the paycheck, I feel so much better about who I am now that I am running a full-time business. I’m not rich, but I am supporting myself and I have the freedom to do what I want when I want. Seriously, who wouldn’t want that?

And friends, oh the friends I have made! From all over – the kindest, most generous, creative people, GOOD people! With the new life that I am planning now, I will meet even more, and we will have crafting in common – I can’t wait!

If you are a crafter AND/OR you want your own business, whether you are a woman OR a man, I invite you to join my team of demonstrators who love what they do and share what they love. Click HERE for more information and/or to get started.

More Upcycle

In my craft-room purging, I came across some large plastic boxes. They turned out to be the boxes that my JC Penney 2″ blinds came in. It is a textured, translucent, heavy duty plastic and I decided to try my die-cutting skills on some. So it cut some pieces 5-1/2″ x 8-1/2″ and die cut a mini milk carton and a purse. Cute!

Here is the milk carton with some leftover Valentine candy in it:

And the purse, next to one made from cardstock:

I chopped up all the boxes and have enough to make about 60 more…. I better get busy!

If you want to make some yourself, here is what you will need:

Big Shot die-cutting machine (113439)
Mini Milk Carton Bigz L Die (117310)
Petite Purse Bigz L Die (125606)
Sticky Strip (104294)
In Color Boutique Details (130938)

You can shop for these supplies and so much more at my Stampin’ Up! store.