Sunday, March 31, 2013

DYI Smash Journal

Despite great intentions, I've come to the realization that I'm not much of a journal keeper. So when I first heard about Smash journals, I was intrigued. Supposedly they're really easy to use - just fill up the journal with your stuff. That's it.

I'm a sucker for any kind of gimmicky, bandwagon type craft. The probem with the Smash journals was that they sold out super quick. And they were $40.00. So, out of sight, out of mind,  life goes on unrecorded. 😃

A year goes by and I start hearing about Smash journals again. This time, people are making their own. I'm still intrigued. A few weeks ago, I see them for the first time in person and was really not impressed. Not liking the colour choices either and all the extra stuff they want you to buy. The only thing I liked about it was the pen - it was a pen with a glue stick on the other end.

I came home and found an old organizer cover I had forgotten about. Put a couple of sheets of card stock in the printer and using the graphs found at Polar Graph, I printed several nice patterned sheets. I liked the idea of using a ring binder rather than a wire bound book so I can move the sheets around and insert things if I wanted them.

Total cost for the paper - $.68 for 17 sheets of card stock. I was able to cut three out of each sheet giving me 51 small sheets to start with. Total time including punching holes, printing the lines, rounding the pages came to just under an hour. As for the glue stick pen, I always carry a pen and glue stick in my bag anyway.

If I never use this, no big deal. The worse that could happen is that I'll have a notebook that I liked and didn't spend $40 on it. That makes me happy.


Sunday, March 24, 2013

Fresh bagels



Found this recipe for easy Easy Bread Machine Bagels and they were really easy. They look like real bagels and tastes like real bagels!

Good thing I snap this picture...a few of them have already been consumed. We call this "testing".  We have to make sure they're ok, you know.

Googled to find out the best way to store fresh bagels and the general feeling is to store them at room temperature in a ziplock bag. Putting them in the fridge would make them go stale faster.

Pinterest

This is bad...very bad...I'm on Pinterest. This brings time-killing to a whole new level. Happy Spring!

Monday, March 11, 2013

A bit of this...

Sometimes being creative can be a small thing. You don't need to break out the heavy duty art supplies to have a bit of creativity  in your day. Sometimes it can be as simple as bending paper clips into heart shapes.  Or manipulating a photo taken on your iPad. Sometimes that's enough to keep you going.

Thankful for...
1. Lately, it's been hard to feel thankful for things when work is going from worse to hell bound. I know  that there are people with a lot less than me and I shouldn't complain. Work is trying to kill me. My boss just resigned.  I'm glad for her - she got out. Sad for me.  On the other hand, I have to think of the positive of this situation. Not sure what that is yet, but I have to keep looking for that positive.

2. I'm thankful for my fibre friends. It's been a long time since I've seen them but I'm thankful for them.

3.  Two years to go! There is an end in sight!