Yes, I am a hand model!

So many jobs, so little time! You may already know that my day job is in Human Resources at a local manufacturing company. You've probably noticed that I have stores on Etsy and 1000 Markets, so you could easily guess that my second job is crafting. You most likely don't know, however, that I have a third job. It's not full time, it's hardly even part time. It's more like a once in a while kind of thing. My third job is being a hand model!

The above photo comes from my hand modeling portfolio. Ok, I don't really have a portfolio, I just have a few .jpgs of my work. The opportunity to model came through my day job. Our company produces an annual catalog that is mailed out to our customers. Some of the items we sell are distributed products, so we buy them from a manufacturer and sell them. In that case, they provide the photos for the catalog. However, we also manufacture many of our own products, so then we need to create our own photos. We have a small photo lab where our Senior Designer photographs the products, and sometimes he needs models. Many of our employees have modeled products (we manufacture items for hospital rooms and nursing home rooms) but I am the only hand model.

It's fun and a unique opportunity and affords me the chance to use the phrase, "I can't, I'm a hand model" when asked to do something that I don't want to do like lift heavy things or steer a pontoon through a channel (if you don't live by lakes that may not make sense to you, but if you're from Minnesota it's a completly normal thing to do!).

If you are a Seinfield fan you may remember when George got a job as a hand model and he wore gloves all of the time and made a big deal about possible injuries to his hands. I don't take it that far, although I do wear gloves when gardening and I do live by the motto:

Don't break a sweat or a nail

It's not easy being me!

Your what hurts??

I can honestly say that tonight every part of me hurts! Here in Minnesota we spend months in our homes trying to stay warm. Then spring comes, and everyone enjoys being outside! Walking, biking, gardening, boating, swimming, eating, reading, sitting and chatting . . . we want to be outside for any and every reason. Along with all of the "fun" things comes a chore that people in other areas of the country may need to do all year long - mowing the lawn.

Today was my first full day outside - partly because my day job keeps me inside and partly because the weather hasn't been cooperating. Today though it was beautiful outside and being a Saturday I didn't have to work, so I spent the day outside. It started innocently enough with a nice long walk with my daughter and her dog. Hunter, the dog, loves to go for walks and luckily for me my daughter is in a walking mood as well. We've been on several walks in the week that she has been home. YAY me!

After a quick lunch I decided to go out and mow and trim the lawn. It was fun (it's always fun at first!) and I didn't come in the house until after 6 p.m. Now my everything hurts, but in a good way!

I did start my day by listing a new item in my Etsy shop - a set of dog themed, blank cards shown here:

Everyone loves dogs, right? Ok, I don't really love dogs - the smell and the licking get to me - but most people do so I made a fun set of cards just for them! Stop by my shop and check them out!

Sewing Basket

Like many crafters, my craft obsession is all inclusive, so although I concentrate on paper crafts I also enjoy other types of crafts.

Years ago I was given the basket shown above as a gift, and it has since been my sewing basket. I mostly use if for cross stitching but also for small mending projects. I love the basket because it's functional yet cute enough to sit out to be enjoyed. If you know me at all you know that cute is an important factor when I'm chosing items such as decor, cars, organizational containers, etc.

Currently the basket holds some Christmas (or winter) cross stitch projects. I have several little squares stitched and I'm slowly (over about 3 years!!) making them into little hanging decorations. I'll eventually get them done, at least that's the goal.

In other news, I went to the doctor today for a routine exam and they encouraged me to get a tetnus shot because I guess I was due. When I told my daughter they made me get a shot she said, "that stinks" and I said, "no, it didn't smell, it just hurt". Ahem. We were actually texting, not talking face to face, but I swear I could hear her eyes roll.

Look what I did!

Finally, as promised, a glimpse of the projects I completed a few weeks ago when I went away for the weekend with some friends. As you can see, I managed to accomplish quite a bit! I'm happy to say that a few of these things have already sold, a few have been listed in my shop and several still need decent photos before they can be listed.

We had two Cricuts and several cartridges available that weekend so we had a good time cutting out various shapes and words. Ok, one friend in particular didn't think it was as much fun as it was frustrating . . . but overall we enjoyed it!

I was working on editing photos this morning but I decided that several of the photos will have to be re-taken. I used a different location in my house to take the photos and they just didn't turn out - way too dark. I think I'll go back to my tried and true basement window on the west side of our house. We have a very wide window ledge and the lighting there just works the best. It's a little awkward to get to as my husband has his wooden duck decoy collection displayed right below the window but luckily I was in gymnastics as a kid so I can make it work!

Happy Mother's Day

This is the hanging plant that my husband gave me for Mother's Day. It looked like this when I received it - I did not kill it. The story I've been told is that it looked nice before it rode in the back of his truck for 30 miles. In the cold.

While I don't know that I deserve Mother of the Year, I think I deserve more than this! I clean the toilets around here for crying out loud! Jusy sayin'.

Hope your Mother's Day is a good one!

By the way - I am trying to space between paragraphs but for some reason it's not working. Any ideas??

busy, busy, busy!

It's been a while since I've posted but it doesn't mean I haven't been thinking about it! My life has been busy lately and I'm a bit behind. I do have several new items to post and will write about them, with pictures, very soon.

In the meantime I'd like to direct you to Becky Higgin's blog for a great salad recipe! There's a link to her blog on the right side of this page . . . see it? I went out of town last weekend with a group of friends for a scrapbooking/card making weekend and had the most delicous salad (thanks Peggy!). Turns out the recipe came from Becky's blog (is there anything she can't do??) and I would recommend that you check it out. It's called FRUIT & POPPY SEED SALAD and you'll find it on the "recipes" tab at the top of her blog. trust me, it's worth the time to look it up!

Back soon with new items to share!