Hello Fresh meal kits

I've been in a rut when it comes to making dinner. I can't blame it all on shopping, being alone, or other aspects of restrictions under COVID but all of that has made the rut deeper and longer. I've considered meal kits for months, did research to figure out which would best suit me, and talked to friends who have tried them. A neighbor has been happy with Hello Fresh so that is what I chose.

I made the first of three dinners last night. Each of their meal kits serves two people so three kits will make 6 dinners for me. I don't mind having leftovers so I will stagger the meals (cooking and then reheating leftovers) and see how this goes.

Last night's dinner was Creamy Dreamy Mushroom Cavatappi. The directions said it would take 30 minutes to prepare and that is exactly what it took. I supplied the utensils, water for cooking the pasta, butter, olive oil, salt, and pepper. Everything else was provided in the amount required. Here is the amount that I served myself in front of the recipe from the kit. My mushrooms seem to be hidden in the bowl but are visible in the pan. It appears I didn't evenly divide the amount because what remained looks like more than I consumed, but it truly was plenty and very good.

Here's to eating better and getting out of my rut!

I'm tired of bullies and herd mentality

The incident that sparked this post is going to remain vague in my description because I am not going to name the troublemaker and give her any more attention. The crafting community is mostly very generous by nature. Sure, each designer and manufacturer hopes you will purchase their design but most don't run each other down.

The key word in that last sentence is "most". Someone with a history of attacking other designers is trying to paint a well-known figure in the craft world as a racist. Her story didn't ring true and is being discredited by many who are in a position to know, but that is only part of what angers me. There have always been people with agendas and that isn't likely to change.

Perhaps worse than the people making false accusations are the herds who follow them. Why do so many people believe something because they read it online? We've all fallen for a few falsehoods that seemed plausible but most people that I know have learned from those experiences. We've all seen phishing emails that look legitimate until you read closely and see that the sender's email address is not from Amazon, it is from Almazon; Facebook posts that tell you that Bill Gates will donate $1 to a worthy charity each time a post is liked or shared; and stories that tell you not to buy a certain nationally known product because hidden in their logo is a secret message for a subversive group. If a person thinks "huh? That doesn't sound right" they investigate for themselves or at the very least, they don't perpetuate the rumor.

Why do so many believe outrageous stories? It doesn't help that we currently have a narcissist in the oval office who labels anything that favors him as the truth. In the past, when the country as a whole was hurting, presidents have set an example by speaking to all of us, assuring us, telling us at least part of the plan to get through the turmoil and be okay again. I am appalled that he continues to make comments that widen the racial divide in this country. I am angry that he granted clemency to Roger Stone who committed 7 felonies. I can't fathom that he discredits military experts and scientists. I am sickened that he is ramrodding the opening of public schools amid a pandemic that he still isn't taking seriously. With this as an example of leadership and what is morally right, I shouldn't be surprised at anything and that is very sad.

Making birthday invites, thank yous, and candy wrappers to fit a theme

The theme was Rainbow Six Siege, something this grandma doesn't play or begin to understand but as his Gigi, of course, I was willing to try! This image was used to create invitations that were handed out to his friends. I've removed his name and age in this photo, along with the address and RSVP info. I didn't use anything fancy to do this. I'm still using this free image editor for projects like this. They have many fonts available and this one looked right to me. After searching for the image online and saving it, I created a canvas within the program, inserted the photo, and added the info. After cropping and resizing it, I saved it and printed multiple invitations on white paper which I cut and attached to black cardstock.

Birthday favors and decor were a bit more difficult. Favors weren't an issue when my sons were the age of my grandkids and children did not have a birthday party beyond immediate family and cousins every year. When children reach a certain age, choosing a favor that is age-appropriate and not terribly expensive is difficult. I found the Game On! favor bags online and doctored another Six Seige image to include my grandson's face. To do that, I used Face in Hole, another free site. 

Favors included silicone bracelets that had sayings that were related to gaming in general, not this particular game. Among other a few other things, I included three Hershey Nuggets with these logos on them. I used Avery Labels 8160 and created a page full of labels with Six Seige images.

The same images were used to create these picks that went on cupcakes. I used circle punches to cut out the print image and a two larger black circles to mount them on and use on the back to cover the top edge of the cocktail forks.

Four months later....

Coronavirus hit Michigan hard this spring. No one in my family has had it but I did lose one friend to it and know of others who have had it, and a few who didn't survive. I don't usually speak of politics but the president has shown no leadership at all in this. Trump refuses to wear a mask, still holds rallies because this is an election year, and says the virus is going to disappear one of these days. He is a despicable person at best and that is all the space I will give him here. Numbers of cases are spiking again, restrictions for our safety are returning, and I can't guess when we, as a country, will be finally on the other side of battling coronavirus.

All of this and a divorce in my family have been the reason I haven't blogged in so long. I still made things, mostly cards, but didn't feel like talking about anything. I know of only a few people who read my blog. I appreciate them and this entry is written to explain the absence.

The reason for this blog has always been to catalog what I've made for my own purposes, including details that might interest another crafter. I will be entering many posts that are dated to reflect when the items were made rather than when the blog entry was written or shared.

Blogs aren't read the way they once were. I'm just not an Instagram gal, partly because I do a lot of posts from my PC and Instagram is a mobile device product.

So.....what am I working on, thinking about, and what am I reading currently?
I am crocheting an afghan that will be a surprise gift for someone. I hope to have that done and photographed soon.

I am thinking about kindness. I try to always be kind and perhaps set an example. I have no problem avoiding those who are spreading negativity to the point of hiding and sometimes unfriending some people on Facebook, even relatives. I know I'm well past the halfway point of my life. There will always be problems and difficult people to deal with, but I can choose who I spend my free time with in person and on social media. It is a kindness to myself.

I just finished reading The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett. Wow. I love a novel that makes you think and this is one of those.

No longer sweater weather, but a new photo won't happen until
after a haircut (finally!) in four more days!

Birthday Cards using Lawn Fawn's Magic Iris die set

I saw this die set before it was available to order and knew I had to have it. I have many plans for it. Lawn Fawn dies are wonderfully engineered. As someone who has always enjoyed learning how everything works, creating the iris assembly was fascinating to me. To think that this can be done with paper amazes me!

  

The first card was made for my grandson's birthday. His uncle (my other son) has always called him "his bug" so this was an appropriate card from Uncle Burger (his toddler name for his uncle) and me, his Gigi. Click on each below to see the cards in action. 

The day after his birthday is his daddy's birthday, daddy being my first born son. We are going on a cruise soon but of all the stamps and dies I own, I didn't have anything that looked like a cruise ship. I drew a sailboat and used that instead.

In addition to the Magic Iris die set, I used Lawn Fawn's Hey Lady,  A Bug Deal, and Stitched Balloon Frame stamps and/or die sets for the bugs, the magnifying glass, and leaves. The waves and seashells were from a Karen Burniston die set called Tropical Scene.

Another Birthday with disguised cash

Some of the past birthdays have required more work from my great-niece and great-nephews before they got to the cash but frankly, I'm running out of ideas!

This birthday boy turned 15 this month. This is an awkward age as fifteen is too old for some things, too young for others. I don't think my card hit the mark but this sweet boy is polite and thanked me anyway.

I neglected to take a photo of the inside greeting which said Level Up in a bold font with Happy Birthday under that graphic. Both the stamps and dies are from My Favorite Things.

I have experimented with binding scrap paper into pads. Once upon a time, I had a jar of a pinkish red stuff specifically for that, but that is long gone and I am not inclined to hunt down another jar of that which was a rather large amount. I used a low melt glue gun instead. Low melt both for my safety (have you ever burned your fingertips on a hot melt gun?) and to lessen the possibility of setting fire to paper. Maybe that isn't likely but in my head it is.  The scratchpad experiment worked but the glued edge isn't pretty. You do have to be careful in tearing single sheets off, but I don't find that any different than commercially made pads that sometimes tear rather than release.

This project began with a stack of new bills. Their crispness prompted the birthday boy to ask if I had ironed them! 😄 I cut a piece of chipboard the size of a dollar, then squared up the stack of bills on the chipboard and clamped them together. I ran multiple lines of the glue along the edge and then tapped that edge against a silicone mat to make this less bumpy than the scratchpad test. That edge was still ugly and I did trim it a bit with a craft knife.

I covered both sides of the chipboard and added a contrasting paper to cover the binding. Double-sided tape (such as Sookwang, not merely Scotch brand) was used at first to hold the stack of bills to the binding, but the tape didn't adhere well to the bumpy area. I used a reliable liquid glue next, and even that wasn't perfect. This just had to survive the presentation though, I knew the money wouldn't stay in the book for long. 

All that was left was decorate the cover which was black cardstock, no chipboard involved.

I have second-guessed my choice of paper for the initials but the birthday boy could read it. The arrows were added to cover up mistakes. 😞

The birthday boy thought this looked like a checkbook. Here he is experimenting with removing a bill that thankfully worked perfectly.  He was happy and therefore, so was I.

To see other ways that I have given cash as a gift, go to the Search This Blog on the sidebar and enter "money as gifts". 

Happy Galentine's Day!

According to a report I heard on talk radio, Generation Z (born between 1995 and 2015) doesn't treat Valentine's Day as previous generations did. Many aren't in relationships but there is a new trend for women, and that is recognizing the value of their gal friend relationships. As a card maker, I don't spend much time in card aisles anymore so I don't know if companies like Hallmark are onto this, but at least one stamp maker is. Gina K Designs included a Happy Galentine's Day sentiment in this kit, called A Big Hello Card Kit. That greeting is in the upper right portion of this image. I didn't think to take a photo of the inside of any my cards. Oops! 

I realize that I forgot to photograph a few other designs in my rush to get them mailed. So much for using this blog to keep track of my work!

This sloth and the photo frame around is from MFT (My Favorite Things), the stamp is Picture Perfect, the frame die is called Polaroid Shaker Frame. 

This stamp and greeting set is also from MFT, named Close Knit.

These animals and sentiment are MFT's Sweater Weather on Safari.

This card has cats from Tim Holtz's Snarky Cat Collection stamped on colored cardstock and then attached to velum over a collection of stamped sentiments from various Dylusions sets.

With the velum lifted, you can read the sentiments underneath.

The dog was created with a Stampin' Up punch called Dog Builder. The heart balloons were die cut.

One more from MFT, this stamp set is called Seaside Gulls.

These calls were stamped from Art Impressions Uptown Girls which has 4 women in the grouping but I masked (blocked out) two of them.

The first three cards were colored with Prismacolor pencils, the last two were done with Copic markers. The images chosen were specifically chosen for each recipient. I hope they enjoy them, I had fun creating them.