Its been a long time coming

 I just looked back at the last post I typed.  2016!!!  Where did the time go. I have not been very crafty, well that is not completely true.  I did teach myself how to sew and starting making bags.  I made my first bag from a pattern and was so proud, then when I started using the bag, I decided I did not like the bag, so used it as the base to design my own bags.  I did very well at selling these.

This was my first bag.  I actually made the insert before the bag.  There was also a credit card holder, a cell phone case and two little zippered bags.  The handle was flimsy and the bag did not have a very good lining so it did not hold up well.   So I gave it a try at designing my own.  

This was my next attempt.  Still a little on the flimsy side for handles.  I had to come up with a sturdier handle.

 This was THE BAG.  The handles are much better. I added a tab across the top with a button closure, a zippered pocket inside along with 3 other open pockets inside and a key fab sewn in so I could find my keys quickly. Lots of pockets around the outside and now that I got a design I liked, I could make this bag out of lots of fabrics.

 Then in March the Pandemic hit and we were all told to stay home, and wear masks, So not only did mask making taking over my whole days but I could make complete matching sets of mask, bag, wristlet, journal cover.

Now on to new things...

I received a Cricut Maker for Christmas.  To be honest.  I was so excited to begin with, but after opening the box (which comes with practically NO INSTRUCTIONS.) It did not take long to get very frustrated with my new toy.  To the point that I was contemplating returning the machine.  I have wanted this version of the Cricut for a few years now but I could not justify the cost since I already owned the Cricut Explore Air and the Silhouette.  The biggest draw for this machine was the fabric cutting abilities.  I should have done a little more research, though.  My old pc is a dinosaur and takes forever to boot up.  

I have a great laptop that I absolutely love but Cricut Design Space does not like it at all.  It is a Chromebook and guess what?  It is not compatible with Design Space.  

So I pulled out my next favorite gadget, my tablet.  I am a die-hard Kindle fan.  I have owned ever version of Kindle since it first came out, including my new 10 inch HD Fire I just purchased at an awesome price this past Black Friday.  But lo and behold Cricut Design Space is not a friend of Kindle, either.  This too, is not compatible.  

I spent hours the first night with my new machine in total disbelief.  How can this machine, that can do so much, not be up to par with the newest technology?  I was totally baffled.

So it left me with these options...

Return the machine and go back to using my Silhouette, which is another awesome die cutting machine (without the extras of thicker material and fabric).

Buy a new computer, which was not in my budget.

Move my machine to my office and use the business computer.  This option was my least favorite.  The computer is top of the line with tons of memory and bells and whistles.  But it is for work and it's not set up for Bluetooth.  Which is another reason I was excited about getting a Cricut Maker.  

Plus, if you have read any of my past posts, you know I have a whole room dedicated to my crafts and is loaded to the max with supplies.  So I would have to move supplies up to my office.  Not an ideal situation. Or constantly be going up and down the stairs for supplies.

My excitement was diminishing very quickly.

I starting looking up Facebook groups, You Tube videos, any posts I could find for a work-around.  And it looked like I was back to returning the machine or buying a new computer.   AAAUUUGHH!!

I did start using it with the office computer.  The machine was easy to use, since i was already familiar with die cutting machines.  Design Space is another story.  Why does it seem so difficult to add my own images?  

At about this same time a good friend asked me if I would teach her how to use Cricut.  I was still learning the system myself but we had a little play date and made a few things.  It turned out to be a perfect combination.  She knows computers way better than I do. And I know die cutting machines so together we figured a lot of things out.  To top the day off, we even made a trade.  She had an old ipad she was going to recycle and I had my older Cricut machine the Explore Air.  I gave her my older Cricut machine and she gave me her i-Pad. I feel like I was making out so I added a bunch of paper, tools, a paper trimmer.  I forgot to give her the brayer I told her about.  But she will get that they next time we have a crafting day. 

Yah!  I still have no idea how to use an  i-pad but I am learning.  The nice thing is there are tons of videos available using an ipad with Design Space.  I just need to take some time to watch some of them.  

So I will be moving my Maker back into my craft room as soon as I feel comfortable with the ipad.  

I will share what I have made so far...

First I decorated my machine,  The colors are very light but I was trying for the pale green of Grogu from the Mandalorian. I download this image, cleaned it up a little and made it a cut file.  Afterwards I found out I could have saved time and bought the SVG file but it was a good learning experience.

Then I started looking around my house to see what I can label.  These little buckets I found at the Dollar store,  perfect for crafting tools.  These little white boxes I usually will scatter around on tables when we have company.  They have small games in them, Yatzee, Left, Right, Center, playing cards, etc.  Now they are labeled so people will know what they are.

   I started a new job this week as a Hostess at a local restaurant and decorate a clipboard and a little bag for items I need while at work.

 A had a blank canvas on the back so decorated that side too.

So that is my lastest update.  I hope to post what crafty things I come up with using my new Cricut Maker.  

Donations have found a New Home

I am happy to say I did find a place to donate the 2 car loads of paper, punches, die cut equipment, crayons, markers, etc... I was trying to get rid of.


Eastern Nazarene College is the new proud owner of all this stuff.  They have a beautiful library there and I have used it in the past when I needed more room to spread any big projects I had been working on.  I do not know why I did not think of them sooner.  But they were thrilled with everything. I even gave them a quick lesson on how to use the Cricut and Sizzix die cut machines. 

Of course the very next day, one of the schools I contacted, emailed me saying they would love the donations.  Unfortunately, I sent them the message over 10 days ago and could not wait anymore to get rid of what I had packed up.

So I am back to the next session of cleaning.  You would think after 2 car loads I would have tons of free space in my room now.  No!  Not even close.  Everything I gave away was tucked away in cabinets and drawers.  My counter tops, floors and table tops are still loaded with stuff I have to sort through.  The toughest thing to go through will be my homemade scraprack.  If you want to go back to my original post of how I made this Click Here

I was so proud of this when I first made it.  ALL of my scrapbook paper, stickers, die cuts, clear stamps sets, etc...are organized by Theme in this giant book.  IF I was working on photos from a Cruise, say, I could pull out the spinder labeled "Cruise" and everything I owned that had to do with cruising was stored in this section.   It made scrapping so quick and easy.  It did not matter whether I was scrapping at home or away at a crop or even poolside in my back yard.  I just needed to pull out the theme I was working on and my tool kit and I was ready to scrap like crazy. 

It has been at least 2 maybe 3 years since I have even had the desire to scrapbook anymore.  I am more into card-making now. So I have not opened the pages of this scraprack in years.  I would love to get the countertop space back but almost hate to give this up.  It really is made incredibly well, even if I do say so myself.  It has held up for years.  the Velcro is super strong to hold all the weight of these pages.  But, I think it is getting close to the point of going through all these pages and pulling out what I want to keep and try to sell the rest. 

This is the disaster of a room I have right now.  I hate even posting the photo but this is what makes me want to get rid of everything.  It looks like such a dump when I know if can be so beautiful!  I need to keep plugging away.  The bags and boxes on the floor are my next plan of attack.

There is still plenty of stamp sets for sale on etsy.  Etsy Shop

Once I get to my CTMH heart supplies, I will take photos of these and post them on etsy, as well.

Be creative today.

click here for  Stampin' Up!

A day in Boston

For a few weeks now I have wanted to spend some time just walking around Boston.  Since getting my new camera, I have wanted to do this even more.  I love the history we have so close to home.  Boston is only 11 miles away and I can walk about 100 feet from my front door to get a bus to take me to a train station.  I can be in downtown Boston in about 20 - 30 minutes.

So what has been holding me back.  Trying to get my daughter to go with me.  She loves history as much as I do but she always has other plans on the days I ask her about going in.  I gave up this weekend and said I was going in by myself.  She finally gave in and went with me.

This isn't the train we took into town, it is the Acela train.  I took a photo because I would love to take this train from Boston to Washington DC for a day.  It is listed as being very spacious and fast.  Speeds up to 150 miles per hour.  There is a schedule that leaves Boston as night and arrived at 7 am.  Spend the whole day seeing as many sites as possible then board the train at 10 pm that night and arrive back in Boston as around 7 the next morning.  A day of sites without paying for a hotel.

Anyway,  This was our first stop.  We got off at South Station.








 From here we started walking toward the Boston Tea Party museum.

This is a strange photo.  As we walked we saw a guy in full Star Wars custom on a bike with a plastic gun attached to the back of his bike.  When I tried to get a photo he walked behind these shrubs and column.

 

 The Boston Tea Party Museum

 I have never been inside so thought we might do this today.  You get a little show of the famous dumping of the Tea event, then you can board a replica ship and throw a box of tea overboard yourself.

Well, for $25 per person, we decided to just peek at the gift shop and take photos from the street.

From here we continued walking along the waterfront, past the giant Hood Milk Jug and the Children's Museum with Arthur sitting up on top.

 

 Then continued

Just taking photos of the views we saw along the way.  It was a beautiful day for sightseeing.

The Custom House.  This has always fascinated me.  You may not know, when this was built, it was actually right on the Boston waterfront.  The ships could dock right at this building.  It was commissioned by President Andrew Jackson in 1835.  Construction was completed and the building got dedicated in 1847 while Polk was President.  It was built to hold the offices that inspected and registered cargo from the ships entering and leaving Boston harbor.  There was a contest held to decide on the design of the building.  A winning design was by Ammi Young.  He had 36 columms around the building.  The columns were all cut from one piece of granite from Quincy, MA. (where I live) 

 

The tower that we see today was not part of the original design.  It was added in 1913 and made the Custom House the tallest building in Boston at the time, standing at 495 feet.  Even the Hancock building is not this tall.  It is 1 foot shorter.  The clock you see did not work for most of the 20th century.  The motor installed was too small to handle it.  In 1915 the land recovery act in Boston took place extended the land area further out into the harbor.  This is why the tower sits further into the city now.  They did not move the tower.  They added dirt to the ocean pushing back the harbor so more property could be built.  Everything was built on pilings to make sure they were secure. In 1986 the maritime offices were moved out of the Custom House and the building remained empty until the Marriott corporation bought the building to convert it into timeshare suites.  There was very little usable space inside the building so to make these suites they had to come up with 22 different floor plans.  Today there are 87 one bedroom suites that you can stay in if you have time share property. (you can trade your time share for a week here)

 

OK, now to continue are walk...

 

My daughter and I were getting hungry so we headed to Quincy Market for something to hold us over.  While there we decided to go into Faneuil Hall.  Another old historic spot. 

 

Faneuil Hall

 

It was given to the city of Boston as a gift by Peter Faneuil.  The purpose was a market and meeting house.  It was built in 1742.  The first floor was all open for market stalls and the upper floor was used for town meetings.  In 1761 a fire destroyed everything except the brick structure itself.  The town paid to have the building restored the following year.  Many famous meetings were held in the meeting hall.

 

As things were heating up between the British and the colonist, the weathervane that sits on the top of this building became a symbol that could affect your life.  If you were captured, you were asked what sits atop Faneuil Hall?  If you knew it was a grasshopper you were freed, and if you did not know then you were convicted of being a British spy.

 

In 1805 Charles Bulfinch, a name you hear quite often in Boston Architecture, greatly expanded Faneuil Hall.  He doubled the size and height of the building, added a third floor and closed in the open market area on the first floor.  He also had the cupola with the grasshopper weathervane moved from one end of the building to the other. I am not sure of the reason why.

 

Webster's Reply to Hayne is the giant mural hanging in the great hall.  Daniel Webster as well as Andrew Jackson held debates in this hall.

Here my daughter is signing a declaration much like they did back in the 1700's, quill pen and all.

 A photo of the back balcony of the hall.

The only known full-size portrait of Abraham Lincoln.

 

On to some more sights...



 

  Some of the oldest streets in Boston.  In the 1600's William Blackstone was a preacher that settled in what is now known as Boston.  To walk down these streets feels like you are walking back in time.  The Union Oyster house is the oldest operating restaurant in the country.  The building has existed since the 1600's .  It was first a clothing shop.  The location was so close to the waterfront to make it very convenient in getting fabrics from the ships to the shop.  More recently in history, the late 1950's early 60's John F Kennedy would often eat here on the 2nd floor.  He had a favorite booth which was later dedicated to him. 

 

 

On to the Northend of Boston.  I actually lived here for a very short time of three months.  I loved it here.  Every evening you could look out your window to see the older neighbors sitting in their aluminum chairs out in front of their stoops talking to each other.  I would put my infant son in his stroller and we would walk for at least an hour every night.  It was a great place to live, but not easy to drive around or park a car in.  I had to pay a monthly fee for a parking spot.  If I was not working outside of the city I would not have needed a car. 

 

Anyway, Mike's Pastry is a famous bakery that for whatever reason I never found the time to go into.  So yesterday my daughter and I headed there.  The line was going down the street. So, once again I did not get to get anything but I snuck inside just to see what the inside looked like.

 

Not much further down and off a side street is Paul Revere's house.  Another place I have seen but never been inside.  Yesterday we did get to go inside.  It was only $4.50 for the two of us. 

 

Did you know Paul Revere had 16 children?  His first wife died shortly after having her 8th child.  Paul remarried and had 8 more children with his 2nd wife.  Yikes!  Paul Revere is famous for warning the colonist "The British were Coming"  He was also a goldsmith, silversmith, made fittings for ships and forged bells.  He never missed a church service, and was the founder of the first coppermill in the country.

 

On the way to Old North Church we came upon something really cool.

 

 There is a memorial set up for soldiers that served in Iraq and Afghanistan.  There are hundred of dog tags.  Some with names on them, most are still blank.  But it was beautiful.

 

I have no interesting facts or history about this.  I didn't even know it existed until we walked by it.  Definitely worth taking photos of.

 

 

 

 

Old North Church.  The famous location of the lanterns being held. One if by Land, Two if by Sea.  Paul saw the lantern's glow and took off on horseback to warn as many people as possible.  The gentleman to the right was a tour guide.  I love that these guides not only dress the part but talk the part as well.  He spoke as if today was 1776.  We didn't take his tour but I would hear a glimpse of his stories as we passed him.

I just realized I never took any photos inside the Cobb's Hill burying grounds.  We walked around here for quite a while.  Most graves were of Sea Captains or their family members.  So many woman passed away in their twenties.  We did not see any graves with the year of their births.  They did list when they died and how old they were, though.  My photo was me trying to be artistic and taking a photo of the iron gates around the cemetery.

And this symbol was in the ground at the entrance.  The USS Constitution should have been our next stop but I was getting tired of walking so we turned and headed back into the city.

Oh, I nearly forget about this printing company.  The Printing Office of Edes and Gill.  The only colonial era printing experience in Boston.  A gentleman by the name of Gary Gregory spent 6 years finding the all the various parts to assemble a wooden printing press, such as was used back during the revolutionary war.  Once he gathered everything, then he had to teach himself how to use it.  It is truly an old style press.  Each letter has to be set into the block by hand.  A newspaper size print could take 9 - 12 hours to set.  Then the letters get carefully inks so they print evenly. The paper lays on top and a press pushes the paper down onto the letters.  It was really interesting to see the effort that goes into each printing.  Then to make print after print after print...each print has to be carefully re-inked again, paper laid down, pressed twice in the machine, then lay flat to let the ink dry. 

This is a man with a true passion for history to do this all day long.  It was a bonus we found this little shop.

 

From here we found an Italian festival.  I think there is a Saint's festival each weekend in August.  So we got to play a few carnival games and share some fried dough before moving on.

 

Next stop was Cheers in Quincy Market.  It was more just a break from walking while we decided where to head next.  We could here there was a Gospel concert going on at City Hall Plaza, it was a little too crowded for my taste so we kept moving.

 

Then it started to rain.  I tried to catch it on film in this photo of the Old State house, but it doesn't really show.

 The site of the Boston Massacre.  Another bit of history that fascinated me.  It was a cold evening in March, 1770 when a British soldier is serving sentry duty.  A young boys runs from him bruised and crying.  A crowd of civilian address the soldier about it.  He calls out for assistance.  A Captain and 7 other soldiers joins him.  A bell is ringing to warn of a fire.  More people show up confused as to what is happening.  There is no fire.  They start arguing with the troops.  Telling them to get off the streets and go home to England.  A man by the name of Crispus Attucks was there and he was angry with the soldiers.  Snowballs were being thrown at the soldiers then the snowballs changed into pebbles and pebbles turned into rocks, then Crispus bumped into the soldiers and knock one of them down.  The shout of "fire" was heard and the soldiers set off a rally of gunfire into the crowd.   When the dust cleared there were 3 civilian dead and more wounded.  2 others later die from their wounds.  It was found that the civilians were not even armed.  The British government wanted the soldiers to be pardons, the Civilians wanted the soldiers to pay with their lives.  So a trial was scheduled with John Adams serving as defending attorney for the soldiers.  This was not an easy time for John Adams or his family.  People gave them a gard time about defending the British.  He came back with his duty as a lawyer and these men deserved a fair trial.  Which they did get thanks to him.  7 of the soliders were aqquited while 2 were charged with manslaughter.

 

The old State House.  The Declaration of Independence was read for the first time from this balcony on July 18, 1776 by Colonial Thomas Craft, he was a member of the Sons of Liberty.  Abigail Adams was in the crowd listening.  She later wrote to her husband, John Adams about the event.  She describes it as there being a great hush over the crowd as each line was read, upon completion three cheers arose from the people.

 

Old South Meeting House

This was a gathering place for many discussion about how to deal with the British in Boston.  One such meeting included the one on December 16, 1773 to discuss what the colonist should do about the whole "tea" issue.  The meeting was coming to a stand still when the  signal was given and a group of men from the Sons Of Liberty (175 in total, including Col Thomas Craft and Paul Revere) dressed like Indians and dumped 342 cases of tea off the ship in the Griffins harbor.  In 1775 the colonists were leaving Boston and the British had taken over the city.  While there, they were destroying any sites that they felt were strong supporter of the Son's Of Liberty.  The Old South Meeting house was one.  The soldiers tore out the pulpit and all the pews and burned them all as fuel.  Then they brought in tons of dirt and used the building to train in horse maneuvers.  Once the British were kicked out of Boston it took 8 years to raise the funds to restore the meeting house to the way it was.


As far as my daughter and my walking tour, this was the last place we stopped at.  By the time we got to The Old South Meeting House it was closed for the day.  So I snapped this photo, them we got back on the train and headed home.  We will have to see the rest another day, or I may just go into town all by myself.


Stampin' Up!


Etsy Shop

West Virginia Mission Trip

I have been away for a while.  My daughter and I just got back from a church mission trip to West Virginia.  Honestly, I was not looking forward to this trip at all.  I have medical issues that had my husband very worried about me the whole time I was gone and I was a little concerned myself that I would not be able to handle the heat, the hard work, the long days, the 13 and 1/2 hours of driving to get there and 14 1/2 hours to get back home.

This was my co-driver.  Good thing we had a GPS with us. he he he  Only kidding. He only slept when he wasn't driving.

I have never met anyone that truly lives off the land. The family we were helping this week does just this.    They eat what they can hunt whether it be deer, rabbit, or even squirrels.  They can and preserve their own vegetables that they have grown in their garden.  They raise chickens for the fresh eggs. 

And they appreciate everything they have.  Unlike my teens, they do not cast anything to the side.  Everything is well taken care of, cared for even, nothing goes to the trash if another use can be found for it.

What we did for this family seems so small in comparison to some of the other crews that were working for the same organization.  On the last day we drove around and saw some of the jobs being done at other locations.  The Community Center was being expanded and updated,

a couple of homes were getting decks built, a new house was being totally built from the ground up. 

What we did was finish an addition that was started 2 years ago until the family ran out of funds to buy anymore stock.  We simply went in and finished what they had started to give the parents their own bedroom and their daughter a bedroom, as well.  This is the first time the daughter has EVER had her own room. 

When I say we simply finished what they had already started.  It was not that simple.  There were 3 adult volunteers and 9 students ranging in age from 11 to 17.  Out of the 11 of us, my daughter and I probably had the most building experience only because my husband has had his own construction business for the past 25 years.  So some of that knowledge wore off on us.  They others did not even know how to hammer a nail, let alone installing OSB, insulating or cutting wood. The photo below is where we were working all week.

We had no one assigned to us to give us guidance because the home owner was expected to be there.  He was called to work, so Dani, the coordinator for the program, stayed with us and assigned us all jobs and got us going.  She is one tough cookie.  Or as my daughter called her, a slave driver.  I truly admired her, though.  She knew she only had us for 4 days and she wanted to get as much as she could from us while we were there.  So she did not take kindly to water breaks or any complaining at all from any of us.

The first day I was to run the painting crew.  Three of us primed all the OSB that was on hand and laid it out everywhere and anywhere we could find space to dry.  In the 95 degree weather, that did not take long at all.

While we were outside, there were two crews working inside.  One crew was putting up insulation in the ceiling.  The older, fiberglass, ITCHY, kind of insulation.  These guys were scratching themselves for the rest of the week.  The third crew was cutting OSB board to put on the ceiling and the walls.  I do not understand why the home owner wanted to use OSB (partical board)  It is very heavy, not water-resistant, has a very textured effect to it because of how it is made.  It was also 5/8" thick while the screws we were using looked to be only 11/4 inch so there is not much holding these boards into the ceiling or walls.  But this is what the home owner wanted, so this is what we worked with.  It is difficult enough putting sheetrock or drywall on ceilings just because it is awkward to try holding these board up over your head while someone screws it in.  OSB is even more difficult just because of the weight of it.  We had 6 people holding these boards while two people screwed it in  place.

 

Then there are seams that are left exposed with OSB board that you would not have with drywall.  But anyway.  We insulated the walls next.  This was the newer soft insulation that does not get itchy, so it was much easier to work with.  Once this was done we put up the walls and were able to start painting.  Kayla's room is painted in two shades of purple.  It looked great and she was so happy to see her room all painted in the colors she asked for.  Mom and Dad got a soft rose color on their walls with white ceilings in both rooms.

 

I would have liked to have gotten to the point of helping them move their furniture in and have the rooms completely done but we ran out of time.  I think all that was left was to let the paint on the walls dry,  hook up the ceiling lights, and add any trim work.  Plus to add doors but we did not have any doors to install otherwise these might have gotten done, as well.

 

 

This is a photo of the front of the house with Karen, my new friend, and Pastor John from the church we went with.

 

And this is the crew that did all the work along with Karen and Kayla in the front and center of the photo.  I am so thankful for meeting them and helping them with their project. 

 

It was so hot while we were there.  The living conditions for us were not the best. We had a shower trailer with 7 stalls, but only 5 working showers.  The students got timed, 7 minutes to enter, get undressed, shower, dry off and dress again.



Here the boys waiting for their turn in the showers,  The next photo is the outside of the shower trailer and then the inside.

                                                       

 Our meals were provided 45 minutes away from where we were sleeping.  And there was no drinking water where we ate so we had to bring coolers full of water from the church we were staying at.

 

 

 

The girls in our group were all together in a bunk room.  8 girls with all their stuff.  The room was so warm when they closed the door.  We kept trying to tell them to keep it open to get air but they wanted their privacy.  The left is a photo from about the 2nd or 3rd day and the next one is once they packed up to head home.

 

 

We were officially woken up at 6 every morning.  Myself and Jennifer shared a room that was the storage room from the overflow of luggage from other groups so I woke every morning starting around 4 am while people came in with flashlights looking for things.  We never got a minute of free time.  Worship took place every evening from 8:30 until 10:30 then we had our own Church worship time for another half hour and lights out was exactly at 11:00 every night.  I was over-tired the whole week, my legs were in pain every night to the point I was in tears by Thursday night.

 

We are home now and back into our regular routines.  With time to reflect on the whole week.  I have no regrets!!  We met and became friends with a wonderful woman and her daughter.  We learned to appreciate all the little things we take for granted every day after hearing how tough some of these families have it in the area we were in.

And here are our new friends, Karen and her daughter, Kayla.  They are what made this whole trip worth it.  They were so welcoming, friendly, giving, caring people that welcomed us into their homes and their hearts right from the first day we met. 

 

It was exhausting, hot, long hours spent in a van everyday, thirsty all week long, not much sleep each night,  but yes I would do it all over again if asked.