Time Goes By...

So, it's been a spell since I've had any time to blog.  It has just been a really busy time for me lately, but I should be back in the swing of things soon.

I was laid off from my job two weeks ago.  It's only temporary though.  I am considered a seasonal worker, so once the company reopens in March, I will be right back at it.  I really do look forward to my time off, as I have lots of housecleaning to do.  I've decided less is more and I've about had it up to my neck in clutter.  

My husband has taken an out of state job for two weeks.  He leaves this Sunday, so I have a plan.  I've asked my mother to come stay with me for a few days, while he is away, so that I can get her help with the housecleaning.  The first thing I am going to ask her to help me do is thin out the book room.  Sales have slowed considerably since I took on my job, so I have decided to be more selective on what I sell.  If I don't make at least a $5.00 profit per sale, I will not sell it.  Anything I have in inventory that is worth less is going in a box and I will have a HUGE book sale here at my house in the spring.  After that it will all go to donation.

Next on my agenda is to get my daughters room in order.  She really has a hard time letting go of things, and I have warned her before "if you don't thin out the toys and clothes, I'm going to do it for you".  She hasn't taken me seriously, so I think after next week, she may get the hint!

The next few days I will be researching organization tips.  We are so out of sorts around here, and I need to get my space clear, so my head can be clear too!

Smarterer

Here's a fun webpage I discovered through BzzAgent.com.  Test your digital, technical, and social skills on various social networks, games, browsers, and blogging tools to see how smart you are.  It's a lot of fun and you can share your results with your friends on Facebook and Twitter.  Be careful though, it's addicting!

 Here is my BzzAgent score, looks like I could do better here!

And really, was there any question that I would not score this high on my Facebook test? 

Enter To Win One of Five iPod Shuffles

The Randomosity Blog is giving away 5 iPod Shuffles.  If you would like to enter the giveaway, click here.

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)