Craftless...... Sort Of

Last week we entered the season of Lent.... That may not mean a lot to some of you, but for me this period always signals a time of great inner thought. What kind of person am I? How can I improve myself? What do I need to add into my life? What can I eliminate? It is also the time of the year when people often try to give up something- if only for the 40 days of Lent. Lots of people give up meat or sweets or chocolate. For me, I chose to give up something different.

One of my big weaknesses has to be that I like to buy craft supplies- those little sheets of labels in the Michaels dollar section often call out my name. As a matter of fact, that dollar aisle happens to be one of my favorite places. My husband has learned over the years that the way to make me happy in a new town is to find the nearest Hobby Lobby or Michaels and drop me off to cruise through the aisles and see what is new.

Lately, I haven't been purchasing as much on those shopping trips. The bags that I carry to the car are smaller and the stacks of items in my craft room are smaller. That is because I have built a large supply stash and I am not using it at nearly the pace that I would like.

Because of this, I have decided that during Lent I will not shop at either a Michaels or a Hobby Lobby. I will not walk down the paper aisle and randomly flip through 10 different paper packs, examining the colors and trying to decide if I need them. I will not pick up the 3 new shades of adhesive rhinestones or pearl beads, even if they are only $1 a pack. Instead, I will make a deliberate effort to actually examine what I have in my supply closet and decide what I can do with the items. Will I use them? Do I need them? Can I make something for someone else?

I won't kid you..... it has not been easy, and I am only into the first week of this craft supply fast. On Saturday I had to go pick up some things that my daughter needed for an upcoming prom. The ULTA where I was shopping is directly across the parking lot from........

Yep..... right there beckoning to me was the Michaels craft store. To make things even more difficult, I was all by myself. There I was, having driven an hour and a half, finished with my daughter's shopping, all alone...... but I didn't crack.....

I got in the car, drove to Chick-fil-A and had lunch, then I treated myself to frozen yogurt from my favorite fro-yo place before driving the hour and a half back home. It actually felt good to resist the temptations of paper, stickers, and rubber stamps.  I know that the next 39 days will not a breeze, but I am really going to try....

Who knows, when Lent ends I may continue this craft supply buying freeze...... We will see.

I would really appreciate whatever support my fellow crafters can offer. Have you entered a spending freeze? If so, what did you do to help you through it? Are you using more of your stash now?

Let It Go.......

Every time I turn on the television I hear that song.... "Let it Go". While I love the song, the only thing that comes to my mind when I hear it is that I wish that winter would let go! Sunday night the ice started and then yesterday the snow fell, measuring a full 5 inches in our front yard.

I have not braved the roads yet because our own side road is still covered. A friend posted this photo of the MAIN road that goes into town.

I am hoping that the road conditions will begin improving today; I have heard the snow plows go by at least 3 times in the last couple of hours. Maybe once they get the main roads looking better they will turn their attention to our side roads.

Today is the 28th day that we have missed school this year. I figure that it will take at least one, maybe even two days before the bulk of this snow melts, so we may not make it back in this week. My daughter, who is a senior, just keeps saying, "I will never get to graduate." I assure her that she WILL, it just may not be as soon as she would like.....

Come on Old Man Winter, just let it go and let spring come our way!

Winter..... Will it Ever End??

I know that the sweet (or not so sweet) groundhog told us that we would have 6 more weeks of bad weather, but I am REALLY ready for some of this white stuff to go away! We got three more inches Sunday night.

The sound of the road crew going down the main road several feet in front of our house has become a common thing during the wee hours of the morning. Those guys have been working overtime to get the roads clear and safe.

This got my daughter and I thinking that maybe it would be nice to do a little something for them. Yesterday we dug out a new favorite recipe, "Lunch Lady Brownies" and decided to make some for these hard working guys.

After the brownies cooled and were iced, Kari and I headed out to the transportation garage with two pans of these luscious creations---

When we got there we tried the first door marked "office" but it was locked and seemed empty. We saw a truck running at the nearby building so we headed over there. We were greeted with a, "Hello, You bring me something?" from one of the guys. Once we explained that we actually did have something for them, the two gentlemen who were working seemed truly overwhelmed. They took the two pans of brownies and put them aside, promising that they would share with the road crew when they came in this morning.

As we left, one of them said, "Bless you." I don't think anyone had ever thought about THEM, their early hours, late hours, and the danger that they face on the icy roads. It truly made me feel wonderful inside to be able to do such a simple little thing that meant so much to someone else.

Just in case you are interested, I thought I would share this WONDERFUL recipe. They are so delicious AND easy to make! (A big thank you to whoever posted the original recipe on Pinterest! It is one of the BEST ones I have discovered there. The original recipe is posted on the Saltbox House Cookie Exchange blog.)

Lunch Lady Brownies

Ingredients:

1 cup of butter

1/2 cup of cocoa

2 cups of all purpose flour

2 cups of sugar

4 eggs

4 teaspoons of vanilla

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Mix. Pour into a greased and floured 9X13 baking pan. (I actually dusted my pan with cocoa instead of flour since I was making a chocolate sweet.)

Bake 20 to 25 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Check them at 20 minutes- You don't want to overbake them. Allow them to cool for at least 10 minutes before frosting them.

Now make the luscious frosting:

Frosting Ingredients:

1/4 cup of softened butter

1/4 cup of milk

1/4 cup of unsweetened cocoa

3 cups of powdered sugar

dash of salt

Mix together and ice the cooled brownies.

A New Love

For years now I have been one of the many women who was busy scrapbooking and documenting family history, but lately I have been finding it very difficult. The kids are at the ages when I don't get a lot of photos, sweet hubby and I are far too busy with work to do much that was worth documenting, and the amount of time that it took to get out all of my supplies and actually create something was just something that did not exist in my personal calendar.

With all of that said..... I still found myself with a desire to create and a HUGE guilt about all of the supplies that I have stored away that were just gathering dust.

This week I discovered a new love......one that would still allow me to use my creative energy AND my supplies, but could be done with a smaller amount of time---- cardmaking!

I have seen many ladies posting pics and tutorials online for cards and I even jumped in and tried it a time or two, but I just didn't feel really good about the results. That changed this week when I created THIS card.....

Recently our women's church group met and asked me to create a special card that could be sent to a women's charity, along with a love offering. Given those facts, and the fact that Valentine's Day comes this month, I thought this design would be perfect.

I bought the Spellbinders at Christmas- one of those personal splurges that I allowed myself.  These are the Spellbinders Majestic Elements Opulent Ovals- I LOVE them!! (I think I may have to splurge on several more Spellbinders.)

I dug into my stash for the following items: cardstock: 2 different patterned papers, a border punch, a flourish stamp, a distressing ink, a pink dye ink, a heart stamp, 5 rhinestones, and pink Stickles. I even dragged my sewing machine out so I could stitch the panel to the paper below.

I definitely think that I will be making more cards- guess I better head over to Pinterest for some more creative inspiration! If you have some comments to share about my card.... or if you have some great cardmaking advice, I would really like to hear from you!

YUM!!!

 

Ice Cream for Breakfast Day!!!

 

Waffles with Waffle Chocolate Chip ice cream topped with caramel topping....... A girl could get used to this for breakfast!

I do have to share a conversation though.....

Last night when my daughter and I dropped off at the grocery store to pick up our ice cream we had the following conversation....

Me: Do you have any homework?

Kari: Just a quiz in my online psychology class, but I can do that tomorrow.

Me: Why don't you do it tonight so we can go shopping tomorrow?

Kari: I think there is something wrong with you.

Me: Why?

Kari: First, ice cream for breakfast...... Then, shopping...... There HAS to be something wrong with you.

Guess I will have to try to find more things to keep her guessing...... LOL!

Ice Cream for Breakfast???

Earlier this year I vowed to evolve.......

to try new things......

Well, tomorrow is one of my first opportunities to do something JUST FOR FUN!!!

Because tomorrow is......

Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast day!!!

Yes! This REALLY is a celebration!

In case you are not familiar with this particular celebration, allow me to give you a little background:

Several years ago there was a family who lived in the distant corners of New York state, the part far distance from the bright lights of Broadway. In that area winters could be cold and brutal. The weather could also cause life to become very boring.

In order to brighten up the dreary days of winter, the family decided to celebrate something a bit out of the ordinary, something that was just for fun, so the family created what they called Ice Cream for Breakfast Day. Even when the two children, Ruth and Joe, headed off to college they continued to celebrate the holiday every year on the first Saturday in February. Word spread and now people all over the globe celebrate right with them.

The only rules are that you eat ice cream for breakfast- whatever flavor or ice cream treat you prefer. 

Tonight I plan to stop off at the local grocery and splurge for a special pint for myself, as well as my teenage daughter. I am fairly certain that she will think I am a bit crazy, but I am also fairly sure that she will not mind jumping in and celebrating right with me.

Won't you join in too?

I would love to hear from you if you plan to celebrate. What flavor will you enjoy? Leave a comment and join in the fun right with me.

Back to School...... At least Temporarily

It had to happen, sooner or later.

After weeks of snow and cold here in good old eastern KY, we are finally getting back in school. It is hard to believe that this will make only 5 days that we have been in school during the month of January.

The sad thing is...................

I am not really sure that I WANT to go back.

As I get older and closer to retirement, I find myself getting more and more dissatisfied with the job of teaching. I got into this profession because I wanted to help children and I still do. I wanted to see the joy that comes when a student finally "gets it" and I still do. I wanted to help students realize that there was a whole other world out there where THEY could make a difference and...... I still do.

Sadly, there is so much that gets in the way of those things:

Meetings

Paperwork

New Programming

More Paperwork

Lack of Student Motivation

Even More Paperwork

and Even More Meetings

Teaching just isn't what it used to be. THAT is why I find myself sighing a bit as I prepare to load my bags and books into the car and head back to work this morning.

I do have one consolation............

This IS Kentucky and it IS JUST THE END OF JANUARY.

THAT means............

There is sure to be another storm front bringing more snow, ice, or both our way within the next few weeks.