Sunday, November 27, 2011

Gauging saved my Thanksgiving!

So, if you know me you might have noticed that I have a rather unconventional look.  I have tatoos and gauged ears, amongst other things.  As the title of my post suggests, I was able to combine my gauging with my holiday activities to "save the day," or rather "save the turkey."

We fry our turkey each Thanksgiving, ever since the last Thanksgiving I had with my father.  That makes our frying rig 7 years old.  I have never had top update our setup.  Why would you?  Why fix what isn't broken?  That is until this year.

We hooked the propane tank up to the hose that runs to the burner just to hear the sound of leaking propane.  Upon further inspection we discovered that our "o-ring" had disintegrated and had a large gap.  Enter the gauging... I have a ton of o-rings, as anyone who has gauged before would.  These things are free (practically), but when you need one you need one and usually can't wait.  So I swapped out the o-ring for one of my jewelry grade silicone o-rings and voila!  Thanksgiving was saved!

I hope everyone else had as good a Thanksgiving as we did, and here's to the holidays to come!

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Back (again.)  So, I have moved back to Glendive, started working at Head Start again, and am considering going back to school.  I have had exactly no time for the crafts I love, but seem to have more requests than ever.  I don't know how on earth I plan on keeping it up, but I guess time will tell!  At least the living situation is good - I am loving sharing a house with Ben and Anissa - their family is so cute and they seem to have their heads screwed on straight.

On another front, I have started doing surveys through a website called swagbucks - I have already gotten paid $10 for a minimum amount of work.  Awesome!  I am also enjoying being a BzzAgent - I get to try things (free) and just spread the word - did I like it?  Did I hate it?  Did it fall apart in the first five minutes of use?  Was it the greatest thing I've seen in my life?!

Overall everything is going to work out great because it can.  And I have the best family to help me make it work.  Finally, a parting shot of my baby, growing older everyday...  and no I don't mean the cow.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Look ma, I'm Spinnning!

I love my kids.  I love their enthusiasm for anything they see me doing that they think might be fun.  Today it was spinning.  Brand new to me wheel?  Check.  Roving to start with?  Check.  5 year old that wants to treadle like the wind?  Check.  13 Year old that wants to do the same?  Double Check! 

So off to the races we go!  I purchased "Start Spinning" off of the interweave website, (Spinning daily if you are interested...) watched the first few minutes, and then the begging began. 
"Can I try that?"  followed by "Mom, it's MY turn!  Abby had it a long time!"

I did manage to make a skein today.  It isn't gorgeous, but it's workable.  I had a bit of a problem with my brake band, and will probably end up going with the counter weight tension brake system, but for now the leather strap will have to suffice.  I also need to pick up some rubber feet or something, 'cuz she likes to glide right out from under me when I'm treadling...

Pics coming soon of my first skein on the Babe...

Sunday, May 15, 2011

Making time for wool

I  have recently joined the "Tour de Fleece" on Ravelry... I am one the teams:
Team A Spinner's Study 2011

Team Rookies 2011


I can't wait to get started!  I am goiong to attempt challenge #2 for a spinners study - I am goiong to process some of the fleeces I have had sitting around here.  I got my fleece a year (2?) ago and have had it sitting in the garage in bags since...  So my ultimate goal is to process enough wool to spin a little each day. 
 
I also have a spinning wheel waiting for me at the post office.  It's a Babe Production Wheel with a total of 10 bobbins, an optional single treadle, and extra goodies.  I was able to find it here in North Dakota - the other side of North Dakota, but North Dakota none the less.  That made shipping ultra cheap.  Thank you Ebay!  I will post pictures of the wheel when I get it - the fleece I can add pics of before processing, but as far as the rest of it, I have to wait until July...
 
Vivé la Tour de Fleece!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

New blog...

For anyone who's been wondering, I have a new blog.  It is my crafty side.  If you are interested, just look for me at http://erikasarts.blogspot.com/ and come see what crafty stuff I have in store... 

Other than all of that, I got new tires for my car, only to find out that one of my rim's is cracked - must be fixed or replaced.  So, I had to drive home from Dickinson on a donut, in a snowstorm at 50mph with no wipers, as they seem to be out as well.  What a great day for a drive!  (At least we made it ok, and before the worst of the storm.)  The family seems to be doing well, but my phone is a piece of junk.  It randomly makes calls, or just loses them.  Sometimes it doesn't ring.  Sometimes when I call my hubby I reach his mom.  Or the school.  Or a restaurant.  Just anyone in my phonebook, really.  I so can't wait for my new phone from AT&T.  At least I'll have a little while to decide if I want to keep my service.  Hopefully any problems will show up before I have to make my final decision...

Tuesday, January 25, 2011

More crafts...

I have been working more on paper crafts this week.  I made up another thankyou card - this time for my uncle who helped me when i was in a tight spot.  I need to come up with more occasions to send cards I guess, since I love making them so much!  It's just a quick easy craft that satisfies my desire to create as well as the whole instant gratification thing.  My cricut and gypsy bundle should be here on Wednesday, so I have spent the whole week updating my computer so that the cricutsync software will load correctly when it arrives.  I am so excited about all of this! 

First project with the Cricut will be a card for my daughter's friend - she moved away almost two years ago now and we miss her so much.  They still talk on the phone regularly.  The second project will be to help my son with his diarama for school.  The cricut will be arriving just in time!  I am so excited to already have a short list of projects to share with you once it arrives!  (Yes, there's more - but we'll make it a suprise!)  I do plan on making this blog a little more crafty in the year to come - more as a journal for myself to remind me of things I've accomplished than anything else.  I think we lose sight of that sometimes.

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Crafty!

I ordered my new Cricut expression and Gypsy bundle from HSN yesterday - it should be here next week on Thursday if all goes according to plan...  Which it rarely ever does.  I am going to go pick up Cody this weekend to bring him back to Beach - he is not excited and I feel very bad for him, but life can't always go the way we plan.  You have to be able to "roll with the punches" I guess.  I do look forward to seeing Cody again.  We miss him alot when he is in Miles City.  It's going to be hard next year when/ if he chooses to go back there for his senior year.  He'll be 18 then, so it's his choice, but I wish he would stay here...

I made a card for the family he was staying with.  They really helped us out in getting Cody here to start with.  So without further ado...

Friday, January 7, 2011

...Sweetest husband EVER!

This year for a treat my husband has decided to buy me a kindle.  I think this is the sweetest gesture ever since he decided just for me - not because he wants one, not because he has some plan to spend a ton of money on himself, just because he loves me.  I am somewhat unaccustomed to this since we usually do a "we each have this much to spend" sort of deal...  How sweet is he?!

In other news, I have decided to start doing more with card making as a way to use up some of the little odds and ends that I end up with from scrapbooking...  I have found a couple of challenges to get me motivated, and so now I am "off to the races" as they say.  Card making is a lot easier than doing whole scrapbooks since I only have to pull out 1/4 the supplies that I do for a book, and I can have it done in no time.  I just need to find a better storage solution for all of these supplies that I am accumulating...

Not really a whole lot to update you on today, but there it is!  Oh, and if you are my sister, get ahold of me sometime?  I haven't heard from you in a while...

Sunday, January 2, 2011

New Year!

I have (had) a plan!  I want to finish a mini scrapbook each month in 2011.  I am off to a great start - so far I have one done (started on the first...) and I have nearly finished 2 more!  So, when all is said and done, I guess I will have to just say that I plan on finishing at least 12 mini albums this year.  I recently discovered the Cricut cutting system and promptly fell in love with it.  I plan on buying a Cricut Expression with my tax return this year - along with some awesome cartridges. 

So far I have purchased the "Freshly Picked" cartridge and the "Trim the Tree" cartridge.  I have made a couple cute projects using the Freshly Picked cartridge... (Sorry - no looksies!  It's a suprise for someone!) and I am still waiting on my Christmas cartridge.  I hope that you all have a great new year, and that you have a ton of fun with your families and friends in 2011!  I know that's my plan!