Terra Farms - Total Fail 2026

Sunday is my domestic diva day. Getting things done around the house as I avoid going anywhere. I like to meal prep for the week so I only have to clean the kitchen once a week. 

I've been wanting to order from Terra Farms for at least a year. It's a local farmers group that delivers to your area at one location for you to pick up. Because I was always at the thrift store on Saturdays, I could never do the pick up. Since I'm not at the thrift store anymore, I finally was able to place an order. I was so disappointed and shocked with what I received. It was so bad that I'm sure the stuff was pulled from a compost pile. The onions were already going bad, ends were moldy. The broccolini was so old the ends were dry and hard. Had to be weeks old. The cherry tomatoes were soft and mushy, again picked a while ago. I really hate to leave a bad review, but paying premium prices for subpar food isn't ok. 

 

Persimmon Soap - Does it work?

With all the recalls/lawsuits on shampoos and soap, I've gone down the rabbit hole looking into alternatives. Many years ago when I traveled a lot to some very remote places, I tried solid shampoo bars. Back then it felt like  you were washing your hair with straw and grass clippings. Didn't like it at all. Fast forward to now and small companies are making good solid soap bars, using very simple ingredients. During my search I came across persimmon soap. As we age, we get a build up of oxidized lipid = old person smell. The persimmon tannins in the soap is suppose to neutralize the body odor. There isn't any solid science behind this claim, but it's been popular in Japan for years. I was at the Japanese grocery store picking up several boxes of green tea for my daughter. She flying back for one of her best friend's birthday. It dawned on me I should check and see if they had persimmon soap. Bingo! On the very bottom self  there was a whole line of soaps. The upside was they didn't cost an arm and leg either. This type of soap is very pricey online. One of the many reason it's great living is the bay area with a big Asian population. 

 

Vintage paper & Lawn Fawn HB

This background paper has to be at least 25+ plus years old! Don't even know how many moves it has had with me. I also found out I have three of the Lawn Fawn happy birthday die. I know one came from the big buy out I did several months ago, but not sure where the other two came from. The little beaded cupcake was an extra I made awhile ago. I thought the card needed a little something. I'm still in the process of trying to use up my crafting supplies. Doing the Gentle Art of  Swedish Death Cleaning, crafting version. :)

I'm finally back home after pet sitting for almost a month. I once again have piles of stuff that I swear multiplies when I'm gone. Sorting and tagging on high on my to do list today. 

 

Life of a reseller - Savers and Goodwill Haul

 I wasn't planning on doing any picking when I did a drop off at Savers. It's been a few months of finding nothing at the thrift stores. 

First thing I found was this Waterford vase - $10. Vases in general are hard to sell but Waterford is the exception. Doesn't sell for a lot but the name recognition is everything.  The pumpkin ($12.00) is a hobbyist piece, but very well done. Paid a little more for it because I liked it. If it doesn't sell, it will just go into my collection. William and Sonoma ginger bread men candle holders, new in the box $2.45. 

Since I was having such good luck at Savers, I stopped by Goodwill on my way home. This is a smaller store and most of the time I find nothing. They get a ton of donations, like traffic jam to drop off donations. Not sure where it all goes, because it doesn't end up in the store. Found several uranium glass pieces. Candle holders $3.45 each and toothpick holder $1.45. Covered turkey dish $6.00, covered candy bowl $3.45.

The best score was the wine glasses made in Czechoslovakia. There are millions of wine glasses at thrift stores. I been looking for ones with a flat rim, which I've been told by wine snobs are the good ones. These wine glasses are still current and sell on Amazon for $86. Having the box is a plus and the labels are still on the glasses so I know the glasses are legit. Paid $3.45 which is way cheaper than buying the cheap ones individually priced for $2.50.The only impulse buy was the large German Christmas market tin $3.65. Thought maybe my daughter would like it for storage as she actually goes to that market during the holidays. 

The Christmas Stocking Die

I was happy to find out my Christmas stocking dies from FabMo will cut felt! I'm going to try and cut Warm & Natural batting next. If I had to guess this was originally purchased from Temu. The quality just feels off and it came with no packaging information. I think I paid $3.

Now I have to decide what size I should make. The plan is to make a garland with stockings and ginger bread men. Still working on how I will embellish them and stitch them. 
 

Stitched Christmas Card - WhMemory Bite and Gold

Memory Box Stitch Die

I tried something different with my stitched Christmas tree cards. I've almost used up all my green DMC floss, which is a major goal! Even with selling off a lot of my thread stash, I still have a ton if it. For some unknown reason, I have a lot of white. Thinking maybe a white tree would be interesting and maybe adding pink rhinestones? I also have a lot of gold metallic thread but it's was really hard stitching on paper. Not sure if metallic embroidery thread is just hard to work with in general. 

I think the die I'm using to make the holes for the tree is a Memory Box die. 

Hero Arts Color Layer Stencils

Today was a meal prep day. While I was making my standard pasta dish, I whipped up some peanut butter cookies. By making them super big, it cuts the baking time. 

When I finished all the cooking and baking, I gave my new Hero Arts color layering stencils a try. Not as impressive as the poppies set but still fun. Very tight fitting on a A2 card size. Getting them to line up was a challenge too. Plus the very skinny parts would lift up if you weren't careful. I think my distressed inks aren't the right colors to use. I'll have to dig out the older ink pads I have. Fingers crossed they are still good. I'm glad I didn't pay full price for them stencils . 

October FabMo Crafting Haul

October Fabmo Haul $30.00

Do I need more crafting supplies? What a silly question. :)  

One thing I have been looking for is the Hero Arts color layer stencils. I had so much fun making the poppies a few months ago, that I've been waiting to see if more would get donated to FabMo. Was so thrilled when I found three in designs that I liked for $3 each. I was also looking for small cling sentiments stamps so pick up this set ($4.00) which I think is a Tim Holtz design. The snowflake die, embossing folder and stamps I'm pretty sure came from Temu but for a $1.50 thought I'd give it a try. The Christmas stocking die is another Temu item which you can get for $1.50 but FabMo priced it at $3.00. Planning on make some mini felt Christmas stocking like I did a few yers go. Fingers crossed it will cut felt or if all else fails, thin fabric. 

Quilts and FabMo

In the guest room where I'm pet sitting, there is this lovely quilt. Made for their daughter by her grandmother. It was done really well, grandma must be a pro!

I'm schedule to volunteer at FabMo this morning to help set up for the sale this weekend. Because morning traffic is so bad in that direction, it's a toss up if I'll have time to go home first to shower and make breakfast. I do have everything here except coffee. Sit in traffic or just take care of business here?

This is what I picked up last month at FabMo. I went late so it  was slim pickings in the paper crafting section. It was still fun and I did find a few things that just had to come home with me. :) 

Thimble holder display is for my booth $4, rusty felting needles and handle .50 (going to find out if that works), stencils .25 each (for my sun printing) and felt sheets bundle for $1

Coffee Cards & Tim Holtz Stamping Platform

I'm stilling pet sitting but I do go home everyday. It's just easier for me to shower and make breakfast at my place. Thankfully owner doesn't require me to be at their place all day. 

I'm still having a lot of fun making cards. This coffee set came from the crafter's buy out I did several months ago. 

When Tonic (Tim Holtz) lost the trade mark lawsuit with Misti, I went out and brought 3 of them. Those three cost the same as one Misti back then. He was able to sell whatever was in the stores at the time but could not restock them. That really was a bummer as his stamping platform is so much better. I do have two Mistis that came in a bulk buy, I don't like them at all. Very cheap plastic feel for such a high price tag. The hinges are known to break and the measuring tape sticker fades quickly. Plus your limited on what you can do with it compared to the Tim Holtz one.  I only keep the Misti ones around as back up for my classes. What I like about Tim's besides the cost at the time, is the removable lid. It's great when I'm stamping with different stamps (clear or red rubber) and not have to take my card out of the base. Being able to use both sides of the lid, using multiple lids and open ends is a game changer. Tonic who made the stamp platform discontinue making them after the lawsuit, which is sad. Paying anything on the secondary market of Tim Holtz if super $$$$.
 

Christmas Tree Card 2026

The crafting project I'm working on while pet sitting. I may have finally used up all my green DMC floss!  One of my life goals is to use up my craft supplies. This was one of the cards that was scheduled for the FabMo workshop so I had all the parts ready. 

I can't decided if I should go for the minimalism or maximalism look. As I get down to the last of my floss, it may force me to do the minimalist look. :)

Bird Babysitting

I'm pet sitting for the next two weeks. First time babysitting birds. Mr N bites and he does it a lot! Every time I move, I get bit. It's like a really sharp pinch and so far he hasn't drawn blood but has some close. He's a free range bird so is allowed to fly around the house. Yes, there are droppings but not as much as I thought there would be. It's still a little gross when I do find it on the the kitchen counters. The owner said it was OK to keep him in his cage if I didn't want to deal with his bad behavior. I feel bad keeping him in his cage all day but I'm so over getting pinched. The little dog Ms M, is a sweet heart. She's a senior dog and just likes to sleep when not actively looking for food. Very very food focused. She's a small dog but when it comes to food, she can jump pretty high. :)