I bought the cardboard “K” at A. C. Moore and decided to cover it with glittery washi tape.  It would have been the easiest project ever if the washi tape had any adhesive on it..Alas, it did not.  Not as easy as I had hoped.  Still, pretty cute for our little girl’s room though.

 

I made the video of the corner rounders and was kind of surprised at the results.  I had always heard that the corner chomper (and yes, that is the real name of it) was THE corner rounder to own.  I knew it was heavy and cumbersome, my friend Linda gave me the heads up on that.  But I really thought for the money (almost $30), that it would be a great tool.  Not only was it cumbersome, but it didn’t round corners any better than the other corner rounders and in fact, the $7 corner rounder made the corner champer appear ineffective at best.

I used so many different corner rounder and kept having the same results.  I started to wonder, “Is it me?”  Maybe the reason so many corner rounders fail is because of the way I use them.  Maybe I’m the fail and not the punches.  I did get two different punches to work so I’ve decided it might not be me, but I’m not ruling it out.

Rich bought a new computer today so that we don’t have the problems we’ve been having with downloading videos.  He will get to 95% downloaded and his computer crashes.  It happens at least twice for every video he uploads.  In his shoes, I would have dropkicked that computer as far and as fast as possible.  He’s so much more patient than I am.  I can’t believe he hasn’t given up on it yet.  I’m more than happy he’s decided to upgrade his computer if it makes his life easier.  I just wish I had known that was the problem all along.  Maybe we could have saved him some aggravation.

The only downside of a new computer is the set up and getting oriented to whatever changes have taken place since we purchased our last one.  I’m hoping it’s not any worse than having the system crash two or three times a night, but you never know.  Let’s keep our fingers crossed that it’s a smooth transition.

I have a plan for a video.  It’s one that seems pretty ridiculous but just hear me out.  In the paper crafting world there are punches made specifically for rounding the corners on paper.  You would think that this would be a pretty easy feat.  I thought so too, until I started using different corner rounders.  Some round the corners but leave a weird edge on either side of the rounded area.  Some you can’t figure out how to put the paper in to accomplish the paper rounding.  Some are too hard to squeeze, and there are those that require brute strength to push the lever.  Tomorrow will be where the rubber meets the road (so to speak).  What does that mean anyway?  If the rubber didn’t meet the road, your car wouldn’t go anywhere.  So I guess tomorrow the tires will spin and the car will move forward (or in reverse) depending on which gear it is in.  I’m not sure why anyone felt the need to make an analogy where there is rubber or a road, but such is the nature of this blog.

Back to the plan at hand.  I’d decided I needed to buy a variety of punches and will pnly  keep the one or ones that actually work.  Believe it or not, there is a huge selection and  different types of corner rounders.  I went to Joann’s and there were two aisles devoted to punches and I bought one of every variety.  I’m excited about this experiment because this is exactly why I started the You Tube channel.  To help others ultimately purchase the product that will:

A.  Work for them, because not all punches were created for people like us.

B.  Do what the product says it will do (in this case, round corners).

C.  Find the product at an affordable price

D.  Allow us to buy one and done..I’ve never used that saying before, but it makes sense here.  Why do we have so many of a certain product?  Because whatever the product is, it doesn’t work for us the way it should. So we keep buying products until we find one that does.  (Please refer to my scissor video.)   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dh2Elfn2xAk

I’m really looking forward to this discussion.  I have a corner rounder that works, but is really hard to use.  I’m hoping tomorrow to find “One and Done” and I hope you’ll join me in my quest.

Today I’ve been thinking about a song my dad used to sing.  It was a Bing Crosby song from 1944 called “Would you like to swing on a Star?”  I always loved it when he sang it and never really thought about it.  I knew there were animals in the song but couldn’t remember past the first verse so here are the words.

Would you like to swing on a star?
Carry moonbeams home in a jar?
And be better off than you are?
Or would you rather be a mule?

A mule is an animal with long, funny ears
He kicks up at anything he hears
His back is brawny and his brain is weak
He’s just plain stupid with a stubborn streak
And, by the way, if you hate to go to school
You may grow up to be a mule

Or would you like to swing on a star?
Carry moonbeams home in a jar?
And be better off than you are?
Or would you rather be a pig?

A pig is an animal with dirt on his face
His shoes are a terrible disgrace
He’s got no manners when he eats his food
He’s fat and lazy and extremely rude
But if you don’t care a feather or a fig
You may grow up to be a pig

Or would you rather be a fish?

A fish won’t do anything but swim in a brook
He can’t write his name or read a book
To fool all the people is his only thought
Though he’s slippery, he still gets caught
But then if that sort of life is what you wish
You may grow up to be a fish

And all the monkeys aren’t in a zoo
Every day you meet quite a few
So you see, it’s all up to you
You can be better than you are

You could be swingin’ on a star.

 

I don’t think my dad sang past the verse about the mule and probably didn’t know the rest of the words, but in reading the lyrics, the song is kind of mean.  But then if Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra or Dean Martin sang a song, you always thought it was a sweet ballad about love or in this case, swinging from a star.  In 1944, it won the Academy Award for best song in a movie.  I wonder what songs didn’t win that year?

I still love that dad sang me the first verse and maybe today he’s “Swingin’ on a Star” while he makes sure I stay out of trouble.  He was quite a dad.

Are hot glue guns the work of the devil?  I watch people use them on You Tube all the time and I swear that they have asbestos hands.  It’s either that or they are really good at pretending they are not crying both on the inside and outside.  You can’t tell me  when they touch a molten surface directly after application there isn’t at least a little screaming going on.  Maybe they hold it in, but really?  That stuff hurts.  Not only does it burn, but it doesn’t stop burning just because it cools off.  Once it has adhered itself to your skin, you might as well just call 911.  It’s gonna leave a mark.

I’m a wimp.  I’m willing to admit it.  That’s why I bought the finger tips for hot glue.  Those should work great if you are using those three fingers.  Today I used the right finger with the silicone tip and still burned myself.  That’s a gift folks..not everyone can accomplish a feat like that.  Also, if you just happen to use another finger, you’re screwed.  I must be challenged, because I forget to use the finger with the silicone tip on it and go straight for the third degree burn.  I have so many projects lined up that involve hot glue.  Darn it.  I even own a low temp hot glue gun.  They might as well advertise it as “this will never work.”  My glue got hard before I even got it on the surface I was gluing.

I’m starting to see a trend here.  It may not be the hot glue after all.  Maybe I am, in fact, the problem.  Oh, who is ever going to believe that one.  (Besides me.)

I did some serious destashing today.  Put a ton of things on ebay, most of them not craft related but still, I feel so much better.  You know how you accumulate other things, let’s say purses.  And then you should have gotten rid of those and you didn’t.  I feel better just knowing I’m trying to get rid of them, even if I never do.  At least I am making the effort.  I started working on the crafting things as well, but frankly, it’s a lot of work.  Maybe I’ll wait until 2016 for the bulk of the craft things.  Or maybe I’ll keep plugging away at it.  I’m just not that committed at this point.

PS Another box from Michael’s arrived today.  I didn’t have the heart to open it or move it into my box filled craft room.  I’m thinking of renaming my craft room,  Hoarder Heaven.  Too much?  I’m not sure.

My restashing continues.  My craft room was finally looking like a normal person played there, but then I found some great sales at Joann’s, Michaels and A.C. Moore, and now there’s kind of a hoarder’s path to walk through.  Technically there is barely a path because the presents I’ve purchased for Christmas have spread into my craft room as well.  I also have a few larger crafty things I’m working on for Christmas that are real space suckers (if you know what I mean.)  My real problem is that when I moved into my new craft room, I left a lot of things behind.  And I mean A LOT.  So even though I am destashing those things, they don’t make any impact in my craft room.  The restashing I’m doing, does.  Everything I buy goes into the craft room and let’s face it, I need to stop buying things and well, use the things I have.  I’m proud that I’m starting to finally purge the things from the old craft room.  Just think what could happen if I did the same thing in the new craft room.  Ok, it’s just not going to happen for the short run, or maybe ever.  I’m getting really attached to my chaos and maybe I am turning into a hoarder.  Only time, and boxes stacked to the ceiling, will tell.