Definition

Crafter: a person who stores supplies for her 1000 project ideas that she never quite gets to and no longer make sense to make. 


All props to Miriam, from Crafter by Night. Okay, I couldn't help editing a tiny bit.


I've updated my sale page. 


I owe some people invoices, and I do need to visit the post office. They closed* the one across the street from me, and now it is a giant hassle to go. The closest one, which I drive by regularly, has three (3) parking spots on the side of a busy road; the other one is in a part of town I never visit, though they do have adequate parking.


*They're thinking of closing the B. Free Franklin Post Office. Now where will I get the fancy franking for special occasion cards?

Thing-A-Day

You didn't tell me about Thing-a-Day. You probably realized that it was way more than I could handle. But I found out anyway, and I'm doing it (unofficially).

Here's my thing for today, a shadowbox of the dude at four (not sure when he made the handprint). But that stuff has been cluttering up our bedroom. And now we can hang it on the wall. (In addition to 15 minutes a day in the craft room, I'm doing 15 minutes a day in the master. I'm making much better progress in there, and it's keeping me going on the craft room.)

The striped paper (from a Christmas paper pack!) almost matches his little 1970s shirt. He's so cute!

Today marks 18 years together, so it will double as a nice little anniversary gift.

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Michelle asked about the cookbook. It was Cake Mix Doctor which is my favorite dessert cookbook. I buy cake mix in bulk because with just a few tweaks you can make it taste fabulous!

It's true that I can't cash the checks (unless I find an unobservant teller)--checks go "stale" (technical term) after 6 months. I did call my aunt to apologize, and she offered to make them good. But it is absolutely wrong for me to expect the offer of money to be open ended. Especially since she retired yesterday. Catherine's right. I should hang one up to remind myself to oh, say, not shove mail into a backpack that I don't open for four years. And then let three dozen pairs of shoes (and a stray boot) pile up on top of it. Live and learn.

Put One Foot in Front of the Other

I want to thank you for all your kind comments on the State of the Craft Room. I am happy to report that I have taken that giant stash of plastic bags to the recycling. (In the first photo, it's the pile to the left of the chair.) The plan was--and you know I am awesome at planning--to make two--or perhaps a million--totes from fused plastic bags. I was collecting all the plastic bags from my trips to Joann's, Michael's, and AC Moore so it could be a craft bag craft bag. Sigh. So clever on the initiating, so crap on the follow through. Oh, and I also looked up the place to send my sneakers to be recycled. So soon those shoes will be up off the floor. One step at a time. Don't want to push myself too hard.

Today, I am baking. I made the dude some cashew scotchies for his lunch and for our neighbor, chocolate cherry bars, a staple in my family since the 1970s. Run, don't walk. At Christmas, we gifted him with a "dessert of the month club" because we knew he wouldn't take money or a gift card for all the things he does for the neighborhood.

Long weekends

I thought I would get a lot of work done over the long weekend, and I did, just not in the area I expected. The extra room--the one I hope to turn into a craft room someday--was a real pit. Nothing like the one we had at my parents' house growing up. Still a few episodes of Mission: Organization and Clean Sweep have led me to believe that most Americans have a room like this. It was uninhabitable, a storage dump for books, papers, craft supplies and stuff that needed to be stored (like the giant roasting pan I only use at Thanksgiving). It's almost there! There is definitely a place for everything, and as soon as we can get rid of a couple of spare computers and I can get my husband to recycle his dissertation research--and I part with some general craft magazines and the Aussie Embroidery and Cross-Stitch (or should I work harder to find a spot for them?)--we're done. Unfortunately, this means I only did a few hours on the afghan. I was usually too tired to manage it. We also watched a foreign film, and I had to watch too closely to stitch. I did get to Michael's, and I picked up a skein of pearl cotton so that I could finish the Wooly Zipper by Bent Creek. It's done. 19 more to go! I'm still on jury duty and I did a little work on the Hearts and Flowers sampler for DH while hanging out in the jury room. But that won't last (we hear closing arguments tomorrow).