Be That Mom

Be that mom! My daughter and grandson did a mud obstacle course this past weekend. Great to know my daughter is one of those mom who will get muddy and dirty with her kids. Not to sure if Mees had a good time as it was pretty cold. But mom was prepared with warm clean clothes at the end of the race. :)
 

ATC - Still A design in progress

 

I have a lot of crafty projects on my list! While I'm dog sitting I bring along some of them. It's great because I don't get as distracted when I'm at someone else home. I've been working on ATC cards that I plan to take to Craftcation 2027. I found a stack of kimono cut outs from my iris folding classes. I could never throw them out but you can only make so many cards with them! It's just a little too big for a true ATC but I'm think maybe I'll use them anyways. Sort of my business card, with my contact information on the back. I like the inset of the flower die but thinking maybe the hello one is better as an intro. What do you think?

Life of a Reseller

$7.20

People come into Cottage Crafts all the time asking if I'm interested in buying their "antiques". 100% of the time they want the highest price they find listed, (not sold) on eBay. Why do they think as a reseller I would buy something I can't make a profit on? It's happening so often now that I told the store it isn't worth their time or mine to take their number. 

The nativity scene is what I picked up at the Maxsold auction this past weekend. I really didn't think I would get it, so completely forgot about it until I got the alert from my credit card. It has all the main characters but I think some wise men were part of the set at some point.  It's not a money spinner but it did lead me to getting a car load of good stuff for free!

Bonus Auction - The Free Stuff

I got a great surprise at my last MaxSold auction this weekend. They posted that there would be a lot of free stuff at pick up. Most of the time it's things that can't be sold, open cleaning supplies, very old printers, broken furniture etc...  I didn't rush to pick up as I'm dog sitting and had to make sure his morning routine was done. In the past I may find a few things but it's never been worth rushing over for. 

The stars were all in alignment! Found parking right in front of the house, that's rarely happens. On the lawn were tubs full of Christmas, clothes and kitchenware. Again I didn't think I would find anything as I was there about 30 minutes into the start of the pick up time. Resellers are early birds. To my surprise the owner was a cow collector, which was my mom's lucky charm. It was a sign that I should take the time to dig through the boxes. Found some clear uranium glass which aren't big sellers but when you get them for free there's a nice profit margin. But the best surprise of all was the brown spotted cow that was in a small tin with a bunch of junk jewelry. See center photo. Nothing in the tin was worth anything other than that cow being a sign of good luck for me!

The other thing that surprised me was this footed cup thingy. At first I thought it had a top so I held on to it hoping to find it. Then I thought without the top it still would make a cute mini plant pot. When I got home I looked it up to see what the top  would looked like. Found out it's a vintage Carlton ware walking egg holder and retails for around $35 - $55. Who knew!

By The Teashore

 Took two of my buddies out for their birthdays. Getting to the age where I think we should celebrate more as we don't have many more left! 

By the Teashore in Half Moon Bay opened up last year. I went the first week they were open and it's nice to see they worked out all the hiccups. There aren't many high tea place around. Makes for a nice special day outing.  It was scorching hot in the valley but by the ocean it was perfect! 

ATC Still a working in progress

I'm working on making ATC cards for when I go to Craftcation next year. I have more than enough supplies to make thousands! I made some of the background papers using a gel plate years ago and have hauled it around with me during all my moves. I still haven't picked a final layout but they will be all different. The best part is I found the plastic sleeves for ATC cards at Dasio during my search for incense. 

I'm thinking maybe I'll do a side hustle of iris folding kits at Craftcation. Doing my ATC cards with a mini iris circle or the seahorse. Teaching people how to do from my hotel room and selling the kits at the pop shop. All this is OK to do at Craftcation. Maybe I'll make enough to cover all my expenses!

Honey Bee Water Station

Bee Water Station

I can't remember where I saw this idea but it was cute and more importantly I have all the parts!  Now I'm testing it out if bees really use it. One mistake I made was not pointing the shell up a little more so the water doesn't run off. I only have small shells so it doesn't hold a lot of water and dries up pretty fast. 

I finally found a parking space at the new Campbell library. I've stopped by several times in the morning and the parking lot was packed. Now I know in the morning it's story time for the toddlers. It's better to stop by during nap time. It's a state of the art new build so the AC was working great. Three floors of steep stairs and of course the elevator wasn't working. Not sure how the moms with strollers handled all that. It's a very noisy place with all sort of buzzers, high pitch pings and people (including the staff) talking like they're at a crowded bar. Chairs were comfy and I'm hoping maybe on my next visit I'll get one of the booths. 
 

Another Great Find at GoodWill

Before - at Goodwill

I'm still in my shadow box phase so when I saw this at the Goodwill for $9.50, I picked it up. Selling off  the little tchotchkes inside should more than cover the cost of the frame. For now I'll use it as a display piece in my $5.00 booth. This booth is where I sell off death pile before it gets donated away. 

When the boys come out this summer, I'll add their photos and what ever rocks they pick up when we go hiking. After that I'll sell it off. 

After - in my booth

 

Going down the witchy rabbit hole

 One of the down sides to only being able to read and speak English. I like doing creative projects with things I already have. I've been watching "witchcraft on a budget" by Laura Bailey and it's a crack up. The thrifter in me just loves it! Going down the rabbit hole looking up spells, I have most of the stuff in my spice cabinet or out in my garden. One thing I use to do when I lived up in the Cupertino Hills was light incense sticks in my zen garden. It's the Buddhist in me. :) I really didn't want to drive to Japantown in downtown San Jose because parking is so bad. I instead went to Daiso because their website said they sold incense sticks. Looking at just the picture, I thought I was buying a whole kit. The few words in English said "set". Well something got lost in translation but it's just an empty case. You fill it with things you would take to a Buddhist cemetery ceremony.  

I then wondered if people would buy premade spell kits. I have two of these containers that I need to fill. Thinking as Laura said, I could use birthday candles. Candles are a big thing in witchcraft. Then I remembered I have about 2 pounds of bees wax. I could make my own small dipped candles. How witchy would that be! Something else to add to my list of projects to try. 

Result of sachiko test with cross stitch canvas

Well you can tell which side was done free hand and the other with a cross stitch backing. :) 

Using cross stitch fabric took a super long time. Pulling the threads out wasn't that bad but it does make the stitching loose. Thinking about it, if I used wider cross stitch fabric it probably would have been faster. I used what I had for this test run. I know I can draw lines using tailor chalk, which I'll try at some point. This is a project I'll do while I'm dog sitting. Doesn't require a lot of supplies and easy to put down if something comes up. 

 

Apple Award Win

My son in law is in town for some Apple award for an app he helped developed. The guy smiling in the photo is Jip. Not sure what the awards means but he's very good at what he does, even if I don't know exactly what it is. :)

But in true baby boomer form I have long list of computer questions to have him fix before he heads back home.

Cyanotype Garage Set Up

Garage Set Up

 My sun printing set in the garage. I even have a special shirt that I wear. Well it's special now because I got ink all over it. :) Doesn't matter how careful you are, splash marks happen. The storage clip boards (got at FabMo for .50) I use to hold the treated paper and the 8X10 glass. The drawers hold all the stencils and leaves . Under the table is all the fabric I'm hoping to dye. Just having to decide what image I want to use. 

I picked up two Tim Holtz die cuts (like I need anymore dies!) that I thought would work well with sun printing. Only $2.00 at Cottage Crafts, so I couldn't pass them up. 

Tim Holtz Die Cut sets $2.00 each