Diary of a Crafty Girl

I realize that I'm still no good at this blogging thing. I think of things that I want to talk about on here, but never make myself sit down and post something. Work has been busy, but is slowing down and I couldn't be more thankful. I love my job, but I have been a little overwhelmed transitioning from the Front Desk to an office position. Last weekend we had a Staff Social at the home of one of our board members. The party was to introduce us all and kind of get to know each other. The funny thing was, the groups didn't really mingle. The East directors talked with each other while the Central directors talked with each other and then there was us - the office people. We just hung out with each other and only talked to the other groups when we had to. This wasn't really by choice, it was just a really awkward situation. We drank, ate, played ping pong and watched soccer. I say 'we' but I really mean everyone else. I only ate and people watched and conversa

So I took today off of work for several reasons: I wasn't scheduled in the Nursery, my sister needed a ride to the dentist and I'm making up the hours on Sunday, so it wasn't that big of a deal. I got up early to take L to the dentist and, on the way there, I blew a tire :( I was in the middle lane on the expressway during rush hour and going up a hill - WORST time to get a flat ever! I calmly pulled over, parked the car and turned on the hazard lights. I had to exit via the passenger side so as not to get plowed into by a semi whizzing by. I assure you that this was not an easy task for someone my size with a car as tiny as I have (my emergency brake knows me pretty intimately now, if you know what I mean...) So I got out and examined the situation. Whatever happened caused some major damage - it was sliced in multiple places and my dad said he's never seen anything like that on a tire. Go figure it would be me who has special situations with my car (there's a long

So apparently it's been a lot longer than I had planned since my last post. I haven't been doing anything - working, babysitting, hanging out with my friends... At least I'm trying to have somewhat of a normal life haha I usually just work and come home. This past weekend has been the best I've had in a while. My parents both had their company picnics this weekend - one at Coney Island (ginormous pool and amusement park) and the other at a park near the office. I was supposed to go to both, but I ended up getting tickets to the Reds game on Saturday. For those who don't know, the Reds are a professional baseball team in Cincinnati (near where I live). My friend in Columbus loves the Reds and said if I ever got Saturday tickets to let him know and he would come down. As soon as I got the tix, I texted to invite him. Of course he accepted so, after work on Saturday, I got to hang out with my buddy! He got to town around 2 so we went to Gold Star for lunch and then h

Hi Everyone! I said I was going to be crafty today and I'm proud of myself for not breaking that "promise". I decided to make something for my dad that I've been putting off for a while. He loves gnomes and I bought a stamp set (over a year ago) that has a gnome; some flowers and other garden-y things; and the statement, "Gnome Sweet Gnome"; but I have yet to use it for anything. I also have a paper pad that is earthy/woodsy that I bought to use with my Create A Critter Cricut cartridge, but, surprise, have yet to use that for anything either. I decided when we moved to our new house (in December) that I wanted to make him something to put in a frame that uses the stamps and paper, since they were just hanging out in my craft room collecting dust. I used the paper to inspire me and I planned out what I wanted to do, but have yet to execute it - until today, that is! I finally decided to get the ball rolling and make this piece for my dad. So here's w

So we've been getting a lot of rain in our area. And by a lot, I mean it's rained heavily every day since last Monday. Today was the first time that it hasn't and I decided to celebrate the sun by going to Rookwood with my friends. Rookwood Commons (aka Rookwood) is a shopping center with several restaurants and a lot of stores. My friends had suggested going to Yagoot and I had never been so I decided to go with them and try it. I had no idea what to expect,  but it was pretty good - I gave it a B+ when asked by my friend to grade it. They didn't have a lot of flavors, but they have a lot of toppings you can add to make it your own. I got strawberry and added oreos and cheesecake bites. Yum yum! And we, of course, had to go to the Nike factory store since we were up there. Sammie wanted to get a pair of shoes and I wanted to check out options for new running shoes. Ever since I got my Icarus' I have wanted to get a new pair to run in that has the same sole as tho

Since we had a day off of work due to the holiday, my friends and I ventured to Color Me Mine, a paint your own pottery place. We had been wanting to go for a while, but since we all work together, we never have a time where we are all off. Today was the perfect day to go for 2 reasons - 1. We were all off work because it's a holiday and 2. It's raining, making today kind of a blah day, perfect to spend time doing crafty things with your friends. After we painted, we headed to Moe's for lunch. It was one of the most memorable times I have spent with these girls and I'm glad that I have them all in my life :) The gnome I painted for my dad. Sammie's Squirt/Ohana/Beachy plate Natalie's Fleur De Lis bowl Erin's chevron/Cincinnati Reds wishbone C mug A little team work to finish painting the handle Kate seems bored lol She took the longest to decide what to do and the shortest time doing it I didn't get to take a pictu

So I promised a tutorial, and I hope that this qualifies... I saw an idea on Pinterest. (Where else do I go to find genius ideas?!?) It was for a Food Passport. Basically it's a cute little notebook that you fill with places to go to eat in your area  (See note after tutorial for more ideas). I thought it was a great idea because me and my friends from work go out for sushi all the time and we are always saying we should try something new, but never come up with anywhere to go, so this Food Passport was perfect for our group. Here's a list of supplies needed: A small, passport sized notebook (I used one that I found at JoAnn Fabrics, but they had cute ones at Archiver's as well. I bought both and let my friend decide...) Scrapbook paper, cardstock, or construction paper - We choose scrapbook paper because it's pretty and I have a million sheets of it lol Scissors and/or an Xacto knife Adhesive - we used a glue dot runner because it's my favorite thing, but

So tonight was pretty crazy, but before I get into that, a recap of the week is necessary... Wednesday was pretty ordinary - work job #1, work job #2, laundry and then I worked on the story I've been writing. The rough draft is complete so all I need to do is write the final copy :) Thursday was a long day. I worked a long shift, but I felt like I got nothing done because I kept having to move around and work all over the place. I work at a health club and can work a lot of different positions (since I've been there 11 years...) and I ended up having to cover a shift for an hour and a half and then another shift for an hour so that didn't leave much time for me to get my work done :( After work I did a pilates class and then attempted to run, but failed because pilates was intense and I couldn't push myself to finish the run... Friday I worked both jobs and then got to go home to my new Stampin Up! shipment! That excited me because I've been waiting for it to

Hey there! So it's been a weird few days for me... Sunday was mainly awesome - I was at work from 12:45 pm to 11:45 pm, mostly working, but also working out... During my work period I got to ogle a lot of hot guys since it was the first night of basketball and we had a lot of new teams (I work at a health club and run the men's basketball league). During my workout I ran a mile! I know that doesn't seem like a lot, but when you weigh almost 250 pounds and are trying to get back into shape, this is a big deal... I also started on one of my stories during one of the slower basketball games. I'm glad I can multitask or I would get soooo bored trying to keep score at these games. Monday was unusual - I didn't go into work until 4:30 because I was up until about 1am since I had to work Sunday night. I did next to nothing during the day (watched TV and read some fanfics, nothing productive...) yet somehow when I got to work I was super cranky and it made my shift go b

So I haven't been on here in over a year... I could give you a million excuses as to why, but I don't even know the actual reason :/ I got busy in life and let this slip away from me and I sort of regret it.  While it was fun to think that I could do a challenge a week, I simply couldn't and it became more of a chore than a fun thing to do to get my creative juices flowing. While I haven't really been crafting in my time away, I have had a lot going on. My grandpa passed away, I have attended Origins twice, went to Florida and Las Vegas, got a promotion at work and have moved with my family from Burlington back to Crestview to the house that we lived in when I was younger (weird, I know, but it's also really cool). After a lot of thinking, I don't want this blog to just be about crafts. I want it to be about my life and the crafty things that I get to do while living it. That being said, I hope that I will be more proactive in posting things and maybe that w