Cricut.. Air Explore 2.. Joy.. Joy Extra.. Oh My!!

 I'm a bonafied crafter!  Lol.  This actually means that I've got more "projects" and craft items

in my collection than actual completed craft projects.  I've become the Ariel of the Craftdom.  I've

got Who's It's and What's It galore!  I've got Thingamajiggy's and Whatchamacallit's a plenty!

If it wasn't bad enough that I went down the Sublimation and Alcohol Ink Tumbler rabbit hole that will cost an arm and a leg, I ventured headlong into the Cricut world of vinyl's, weeding and cutting

tools and things to put designs on.  

There are several different options in the Cricut world alone, in addition there's a Silhouette line as well. I started with the Cricut Explore Air 2.  After looking at all of the available colors, I chose the safe white model, although in retrospect, I wish that I had found this gorgeous red or purple model!  Dang it!

Boooooooring!!  Lol.

Unless you cut out a little design and put it on..

It won't let me upload some of the neat ideas.  Lol.

But here's the red Cricut..

                                                                   And the purple..    

And a really neat Mint color!

 However, my Cricut Air Explore 2 used to gaslight me.  I would put my vinyl at the top and it would cut down at the bottom.  I would put my vinyl closer to the bottom and it would cut at the top of the strip.  I finally decided to put a bigger patch of vinyl on the mat and that kind of fixed my issue, but it didn't always help.  I gave up completely and sold my machine after having repeatedly threatened to toss it out into the middle of a busy street!  Lol.  OMG.  It was literally driving me insane.  

One of my coworkers had a Cricut Joy so I found one and have been able to create some really nice projects, even if they are smaller than what the Cricut Air Explorer 2 would cut.  I really like how easy it is to put the vinyl on the smaller mat, feed it in and hit go and not have it dodge my vinyl.  It contains it soooo much better than the silly former bleepity bleep bleep!  : )..

When I googled Cricut accessories today?  I found out that they have come out with a new Cricut Joy, called the Cricut Joy Extra.  The reviews look great, and apparently, I'm not the only one who was having issues telling Cricut where to cut with the Air Explore 2!  This little doohickey not only cuts as well as the Joy, but it makes bigger projects like the Air Explore, while still cutting (literally!) down on the surface area on the mats.  It may just be my next big purchase! 

          

If these machines weren't enough, I also have three other Cricut machines.  Lol.

I have the Cricut Mini Press that helps make uber small projects easy..

I have the middle sized Cricut Press that has been a HUGELY successful piece of crafting equipment since I started making crafts.  I have pressed Air Fresheners, Car Cup Coasters, Bookmarks, Wine "Doozies" (can't say "Koozies" because that name is trademarked), and a few other odds and ends.....

And last but least, I have one of these on the way..  It's a Cricut Mug Press..  I've done lots of sublimated tumbler cups, but usually just print the page off, tape it and make them in my convection oven because it's soooo much easier than to try and use my 8 in 1 Heating Press (Yup!  I've got one of those after a Margarita fueled text message debacle with a relative who felt bad after it, despite the fact that I wasn't too worried about the whole deal. He said, "You could make a lot of money with better equipment, right?"  Umm.  Sure?  Lo and behold!  Here comes a Sawgrass Printer and the heating press.  Umm.  Alrighty then!!) because I haven't figured out how to set the temperature on that thing and the instructions from the press are no help at all!

Needless to say..  I realllllly have a lot of crafting equipment.  And craft supplies.  And a few completed craft projects..  However..  I have a lot of craft supplies that are just hanging out, waiting to be used.  I think I will be good once I get the Cricut Joy Extra.  Lol.  There are a LOT of other projects that I want to create, sooooo if I buy another machine, maybe I will get them done?  Right?  Right?  Suuuure.

Well.  Maybe.  Wish me luck!!

Old People Being Clumsy For 8 Minutes Straight 😂

😂😂😂

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!!

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!!

 

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. 

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!

: )..

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  💙💚🤍💚💙 

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.

Here's the link!

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!

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!!

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!