Meijer Gallery Wrapped Canvas Print

Not too long ago, I was given the chance to take part in a Bzz Campaign for the Meijer Gallery Wrapped Canvas Print.  Since I already shop at Meijer stores to begin with, and I am a huge photography buff,  I jumped at the chance to give this one a try.  I received a printable coupon for one, free 11X14 canvas print, valued at $39.99.


We live 45 minutes away from Meijer, but it's my favorite store to buy groceries at, so I make sure to go there as often as possible.  It was kind of a spur of the moment when we decided to make our bi-monthly stock up trip to Meijer, and I hadn't had a chance to decide which picture I was going to use for my canvas, so I just made sure to grab my coupon and my 8GB SD card (I grabbed that one because I know it is full and has lots of good pictures on it).


When we arrived at the store, I sent my husband and kids to get started on the grocery shopping while I went to order my canvas print.  The clerk at the store asked me if he could be of assistance, so I showed him my coupon, and he got me all set up at the photo kiosk.  It didn't take long for me to decide on the photo I was going to use.  Once I cropped it to size and made all of my selections, I completed the order.  


The clerk told me he had no other current orders to process, so he should have it all ready by the time we were done grocery shopping, which was a nice surprise, because I wasn't expecting it to be finished until the next day.  


I went ahead and helped the family finish up with our shopping and then returned to get my print.  It wasn't quite complete yet, so I waited nearby for about 10 more minutes until it was done.  I was so surprised and happy with the final product.  The print looked exactly like the photo, but being on the canvas, it made my photo look more like a finished work of art. 


I am really impressed, and I definitely plan on getting more of my photos made into works of art by getting them put on to the wrapped canvas prints.


Shown below is the canvas print I had made...

The Crayon Project

I was browsing on one of my favorite websites, StumbleUpon, a couple of weeks ago, and I found this really cool art project, so I just had to give it a try.  It was a lot of fun and very easy to create.  With a  little help from my daughter, we created a cool little piece of art.

The first step was using a hot glue gun to attach the crayons to a canvas board.  I removed the browns, white, and black, and doubled up on my favorite colors. I also made sure to use only Crayola crayons.  After having used the kids Crayola Crayon Maker in the past and seeing how the different brands of crayons melt, I knew these would work best as the other brands tend to be more oily and not as colorful.

Next, we used our blow dryer to melt the crayons.  This part took a while, but my daughter really enjoyed watching the crayons melt.  She made a race out of it to see which crayon could reach the bottom of the canvas first.

This is the finished product, and the red was the winner.

Here she is peaking over the edge.

And happily displaying the finished product.

Another perspective..

And one more (the blues and purples are my favorite colors)

Moving On...

And so Halloween is over, as well as October.  Seems like it arrived so fast, and then just like that, it's gone for another year.  Now it's time to put the decorations away, and break wide with the Thanksgiving stuff, and before you know it, we'll be moving on to Christmas and then another new year.  Time moves on, and I struggle to keep up...


I've been working on and off at my job.  They are going to be closing down for the season on the 18th of this month, but they've had a couple of cancellations, so that has meant time off.  I hear next week will be packed, so I should get in a full week, and then after that I think that will probably be about it for me.  Still trying to decide whether to look for a winter job, or just work on my Amazon store for the winter.  Thinking the latter will end up being my decision, but I hate not having a steady paycheck and not being able to know how much I will bring in every week.  Oh well, at least I will be able to get some organization back in this place.  Seems like since I started working, it has gotten so disorganized here.  Time to take out the trash I suppose...

Working...

As you may notice, it has been a few months since my last entry.  I finally found a job, so it has been a major adjustment going from a full time stay at home mom, to a full time working mom who also sells books on the internet as a side job.  The job I got is working for the Walter Reuther UAW Education Center in northern Michigan.  It's a pretty physical job, so by the time I get home from work, I am usually pretty worn out.  I can't complain though, the pay is decent for our area, and since I've started working there, I've lost ten pounds, yay me!!

Other than work, life has been pretty dull, other than the constant arguing going on between my husband, kids, and myself.  Somehow, I have to learn how to manage my time better so that everyone gets their fair share and I still get my "me" time, which is quite rare these days.

My marriage has been on the rocks, and I thought going to work would help, but it seems it has only made things worse.   My husband doesn't understand the issues that I deal with, and I feel like he's being insensitive.  I know that he loves me, because he's worked very hard to support us, but I just wish he would want to do more than work, watch tv, and sleep.

Still Looking

Well, I am still on the hunt for a job.  I have had a couple of leads, but nothing has panned out as of yet. It really is hard trying to get back into the workforce when you haven't been employed by someone else in 13 years.  Yes, I have been self-employed, and yes, I have worked for my husband, but it seems like everyone who I have talked to about my resume, seems skeptical.  One place, a temp agency, wanted me to produce income tax records or a DBA to prove I've been self-employed.  No problem there, I can do that, but there is just no way I am going to produce my income tax records to go to work for someone who can't guarantee me a permanent job.  


In the meantime, I keep selling the books.  I have my good days and bad days, but lately it seems I don't have as many good days as I do bad days.