Welcome

Just a few rambling thoughts and crafts from a mind that is full of both. I am talented in my mind but regularly run full throttle into the wall of procrastination. I have raised procrastination to an art form. A friend once told me I have a BS in BS and a minor in excuse making. If there is anyway to get out of doing my best, I will do my best to get out of it. Welcome to my saburban life. : ).. Lol.

Sunday, September 3, 2023

Helllllllooo? Hello out there??

Wow!  It's literally been 364 days since my last post!  One whole day shy of a whole year?  Yikes!!  How in the heck did that happen?  Lemme see.  Umm.  Time flies when you are having  ..  Fun?  Umm.  Work.  Work.  Visiting my MIL at her Ladies Home.  Work.  Work.  A two day craft fair that actually went very well!!  RSV.  Work.  MIL.  Work.  Work.  

Somewhere in all of this, I ended up being blessed with a new Sawgrass Printer and an 8 in 1 Heat Press.  My brother in law loved the 4 in 1 Can Cooler cups that I made him and my sister in law, so he saw potential to help me earn some money with better equipment.  I'm still struggling with gremlins here and there, issues with ghosting, issues with printed wine cups when the printed area was too high on the cup, issues with my old printer and the Sawgrass needing more ink (Whoa!  Ink runs $300!).  My brother in law wanted me to try and mass produce cups to sell in downtown Kansas City, but I'm not great at design yet.  I can't use anyone else's designs, especially NOT here in KC.  I would get shutdown in a heart beat!  "Do you have a drone?  You could send it up to take aerial pictures of Kansas City."  Umm.  Noooo.  Fresh out.  Great idea.  But.  No.  I do not.  

In the meantime, I've made a few cups.  Made some "Wine Doozies" aka "Koozies" (can't call them Koozies because that phrase is trademarked).  Made some Air Fresheners.  Made some Car Coasters.  Sold quite a bit at the 2 day craft fair, despite being up on the 4th floor and not being the only sublimation booth.  I tried selling some of my faux leather keychains but lol, I couldn't even give any of those away!  What the heck?  Alrighty then!  Made some keychains for a friend battling Breast Cancer and then some Air Fresheners and Car Coasters when her 2nd sister started her own battle with it.  

Other than that, I've been distracted by other craft projects.  Wooden name signs.  Wooden heat gun and stencil items.  However!  It will all tie together in one nice, neat little wine bundle.  I'm going to make wooden trays, charcuterie boards, wine cups, wine "doozies", and some other assorted wine items for a basket deal.  Figured I could also toss in some BBQ bundles with a tray, chef's apron and hats, engraved tools, charcuterie boards, wine cups or glasses for the ladies and a few other odds and ends.  I figured this idea would be lit!  Literally!  

Alrighty then!  Until next year..  Umm..  Next time!

Peace!!  I'm outtie!!

Sunday, September 4, 2022

Annnnndddd.. Surprise! I'm back again.. Again..

I'm back..  Again..

Not just here on the blog..

I'm back..  At my group home again..  Again..

A month of training 22 miles from my house wasn't good for my car..

It smoked like a BBQ grill when I got to work and when I got back home again..

The odds of it breaking down on the way to work, especially after starting a shift that would be 

0530-1400 wasn't going to be very good at all.  The people on the way drive like crazy!

Soooo..  I'm back in my same position / days / 2.5 miles from my house again.

: )..  The break was nice..

We made a cup for our training supervisor at my new job too..

He loves Batman..

He loves Legos..

He's been working for 3 years, "Saving Lives and Protecting Properties"

and has been married to his husband for 3 years as well..

Sooooo..  Here's his cup..



He of course loved it..
: )..

Alrighty..
Back to the group home grind!!

 

Sunday, July 17, 2022

Last couple days at my group home before I start back at one of my old jobs.

My resume goes in circles and I'm sure it's getting dizzy by now!

I have finally burned out of everything group home related.

Grocery Shopping for 8 clients plus staff.

Running everywhere, dropping people off or picking them back up.

Taking clients in for lab work.

Getting supplies from our main hospital.

Cleaning 8 people's dishes, loading and unloading the dishwasher.

But mostly, answering 8 different client's questions in rapid fire succession such as,

"What time are we going to leave?"

"What time are you picking us up?"

"Do we really have to go to work today?"

"We're out of milk!!"

"We don't have any food in the house to eat!" (despite still having 4 days of food for the week)

and client's "attempting" to sing.

Blissfully - I will either be back at my alarm company job - or at a new position of Transportation Director.

But... One more day after this and I am dun. 

Sunday, March 20, 2022

Been busy busy busy as usual.

Pups.

Work.

Pups.

Work.

MIL.

Pups.

Work.

The usual.

It's getting closer to the time where my coworker can retire which is great news for me!

She always told me I can't leave work until she does.  Her last day is at the end of July!

Time for me do possibly do something else with my life.  Orrrrr.

Just go back to Customer Service again.

Hopefully I can find someplace quiet to work this time.

I know that sometimes we can ask for certain things to help us do the job we are supposed to do,

I can ask them for a quiet noise proof clear box to work in.  Lol.


Been working on some other craft items too.  Kept doing my research after seeing

someone sublimating a tumbler on TikTok.  I loved the idea and it looked so easy!!

I gathered all of the necessary supplies, a new printer, ink, paper, tumblers of all kinds

and then I was finally ready to give it a shot.  I just started yesterday and so far, it's been 

mixed results!  The Chiefs cooler cups are great - except that the print is upside down!  Lol.

Tried it twice, thinking that I had the paper right side up last time only to have another

upside down print.  However!  I did a Hello Kitty cup for myself with a Fruit Infusion

cup and it turned out fantastic!  Most people cover the entire cup with the picture, but they

also fight "ghosting" and usually have a well defined line on the back where the ends of the

paper meet.  I chose to leave space at the bottom, top and the side of the cup instead.

I bought a Cricut Air Explorer 2 and some vinyl and added my initials in my

niece in law's font that she calls, "HeartFreakinTastic!"  I love it because it looks

great and has hearts on the letters.  It looks great on the cup as well.


I have a used convection oven that worked yesterday but with some issues!

It doesn't have a setting for 400 degrees, and stalled at warming up at 350 until

I turned the dial past 400.  Then it got TOO hot, and then too COLD while trying to do the 

cups.  One cup had a silver metal tab at the bottom that not only made the cup and oven

smoke, but also burned the tab off.  That can't be good!  I'm replacing the oven after

finding a great replacement on Ebay.  All in all, I did pretty well on my 1st day, even

with my boo boo/s!!  Here are the pictures!




Our dog Milo helped with my cup making yesterday, running in and out constantly
as well as bringing part of the outdoors inside, not only grass, but mud too!  What Fun!!
Here's the picture of my upside down Chiefs cup..
I will get it figured out though!
Wish me luck!
: )..



Sunday, November 7, 2021

Luna Sea Designs.. 💙💚🤍💚💙

Found some new things to do to occupy any time outside of work, home, the pups, my MIL who moved back to KC in April.  I need to set up our spare bedroom as a partial craft room for now.  Dang Tik Tok drew me in and taught me all kinds of fun things to make.  I’ve finally gotten all my supplies, just need to set it up and let ‘er rip!  Got some of these cuties done today.  😁😁.

Blingy Thingy #1!

Blingy Thingy #2!

My favorite Hello Kitty Kat Thingy!
Reowr Thingy #1!

A more sedate, "manly" choice and one that was 
popular with the guys at my group home. 
Macho Thingy #1!
 
Celebrating the unconditional love
from the doggos..
Doggo Thingy #1!

They are my minifobs that are $3 for 2”, $5 for 3” or $7 for 5”, or might be tossed in for a freebie prize with the purchase of upcoming items.  I will be glad to finally get set up and going!  Been planning this for months.  It’s go time! 

💙💚🤍💚💙  Introducing Luna Sea Designs  💙💚🤍💚💙 


Sunday, March 28, 2021

Hot Dog Bar..

 Doesn’t seem like I make it over here much these past few years. Things get busy and the weeks fly by.  Tried something different with our guys today and made a hot dog bar.

We had regular chili dogs because some aren’t very keen on experimenting with their palettes. 😁..  For those who gave it a shot, we had three choices.

#1 A"Seattle Cream Cheese Hot Dog" from an idea found on Vixen's Kitchen on Pinterest.


It was scrumptious!!

#2 A Kraft Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce and Crushed Pineapple Hot Dog from an idea found on the Strawberry Blondie Kitchen website on Pinterest too but I left off the Grilled Pineapple Cucumber Salsa because I was footing part of the lunch bill and I'm just not that great at cooking / making things!  Lol.  This was probably my favorite hot dog out of all three choices, although it was awfully close!!
It was absolutely amazing!!
The Brown Sugar really sets it off!!
Here's the link!!

And finally #3 A Walmart / Great Value Mild Wing Sauce (because I'm a wuss with hot stuff!) and Ranch hot dog inspired by this offering from Lemon Tree Dwelling, also found on Pinterest.

It was fantastic!!

Definitely a winner, winner, hot dogs for dinner winner.

Here's the link!!

Here's a pic of most of my ingredients..
Some of the onions are raw and some were sauteed..
I used Bar S Jumbo Dogs and Air Fried them to a lovely brown char in spots..

Our guys really liked the different options, so we might have to do this again 
and possibly try some other hot dog ingredients!

I really wanted to make a Reuben Hot Dog too!  I love me some Reubens!

Alrighty!  Hang in until the next time I drop by!



Wednesday, July 29, 2020

7 months away and things have changed a lot!



It's been crazy busy the last 7 months.
Christmas.
New Years.
FebruaryCovid.
CovidMarch.
CovidApril.
CovidMay.
CovidJune.
CovidJuly.
Shutdowns.
A few re-openings.
I'm an "essential (peon) employee"
but it's funny how low the totem pole
people are the actual ones who keep the
business running.
Those above?
They couldn't have done the work us
lowly peons have done at all!
Then there were Murder Hornets.
Talk of the 17 year Locusts this year.
Masks.
A horrid death in Minneapolis that we ALL
agree was unjustified and unacceptable.
Don't get me started on all the political stuff.
Work.  Work.  Work.
Milo and Fergus.
Milo and Fergus.
Milo and Fergus.
Fergus with a double ear infection who had to go
to the vet several times for treatments
that finally have worked and he's
all better now.
Milo and Fergus versus several Paper Mulberry
trees and now "bushes" after the trees
were cut down.  If anyone has ever encountered these
Paper Mulberry trees!!  Ohhhh!  They are just as bad or worse
as any Poison Oak or Poison Ivy and it makes them
itch just as bad!  They are miserable even if I spray them with an
anti-itch spray, or give them part of a Benadryl at night.
Those trees aren't a joke at all!  I was itching just trying to rake the
leaves up and dispose of them last fall.  They alllll fell off at
the same exact time and fanned out all around our little clump of
trees that grew up in the backyard.
Coin Shortages.
Politicians.
Don't get me started on the whole Wayfair and
Chrissy Teigen deal either.
I will say - deleting thousands of tweets made over
several years does NOT make one look guilty..  Does it?
#SheWasOnlyJOKINGFolks
#SheSurePickedUpThatPedophileLingoPrettyDarnFastAMIRIGHT?
Don't Google "Pizza" OR "Ranch Dressing" if you
don't want to know.
TRIGGER WARNING!!!



But don't worry folks.
She was just joking.
Or was hacked for 11 years.
Right.
Her kids need to be removed IMMEDIATELY
and she needs to be investigated thoroughly!!
Nothing to see here folks.
Just move along.
It's just a revenge / conspiracy theory.
And finally - changes to Blogger.
It took a LONG time to figure out how to created a
new post.  They changed the format and layout.
But I am back.
For a bit.
Until next time.
Keep your eyes and ears and mouths open!
Children need you and me to be their voices!!



Sunday, November 3, 2019

Spaghetti Sauce... Alrighty! With Raisins.. Wait! Whut? Yup!! Raisins!

Growing up, one of my favorite dinners was spaghetti.
My mom used to make the best spaghetti sauce ever.
I found the recipe in her book and have made
it from time to time, but it's been so long
since I made it.

I told the guys I work with that I would make it for
them and so I finally got around to starting it today.

I made some with raisins and some without.
The key is to let it simmer and plump
up the raisins, because the sauce
soaks in and gives the raisins a great saucy taste
and the sauce a great, sweet taste.

I can't wait until lunch.
This house is smelling great.


Add all ingredients and let them simmer for 4-6 hours.
Add some extra water to thin it out if needed.
Enjoy!


Wednesday, October 16, 2019

My Favorite Part of the Zoo... : )..

Survived the zoo on Monday..
Made it even though we
walked around almost the entire
park.  Missed seeing the Tigers and the
Tree Kangaroo areas, but
we ended up getting to see a lot of other
great exhibits instead.
A lot of the animals were taking a breather
and just laying around not doing much..


But then!  There was this great treat!
Stingray Bay!
We got to pet the Stingrays..
I know that a lot of the zoos and
aquariums have this activity now and I'm glad
that the KC Zoo does too.
I realized after petting a few of them,
the longer you leave your hand in the water,
the more stingrays come to greet you.
I think I had about 5-7 lined up in a row just waiting
to cruise by and be pet.
They feel a lot different than what I expected.
Some had hard bodies and some were
super soft and squishy towards their little wings.
 : )..  Lol.
 I absolutely loved it!
And I highly recommend it if y'all ever get the
chance - don't pass it up!!
These little creatures are super duper friendly and sweet!
Check out this great video!