Craft

All posts in the Craft category

So, medical bills are super fun…said no one ever.

Published May 11, 2021 by Malia

(The following post contains shameless self promotion)

The bills have started rolling in from the kidney cancer fun (and the surgery hasn’t even happened yet).  Yes, we do have insurance.  We’re already facing fights with them to cover things that absolutely were necessary, but they have determined were not.  Personally, I’m not sure how a CT scan to get images of a giant tumor and decide if surgery is needed can be considered “Not medically necessary.”

Things were already a bit tight, but we’ve been really careful. I’m not yet at the point that I can return to working a traditional job. So, I’m getting creative in an effort to help bring in some extra money.

Introducing my revamped Etsy shop, Made by Mannaberry.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MadeByMannaberry

Right now, my main offerings are what I’m calling “In A Pinch Card Bundles.” The idea came to me a few months back, when I once again forgot to get a card for an event until the day of. There is little I hate more than going to the store on Sunday afternoon. It occurred to me that having cards ready to go at all time would save me from last minute Walmart visits. I realize that I cannot be the only one who constantly forgets to buy a card. Hence, the In A Pinch bundles.

Thanks for reading my plug for my shop. I promise tomorrow I’ll be back with a regular post.

May we all live in uninteresting times.

Published May 6, 2021 by Malia

Behold my glamorous life…

I’m doing the slightly monotonous work of making inserts for greeting cards. I have all this really pretty cardstock paper that I’m cutting down into correct size.

I’ve also got New Girl on in the background. I realized yesterday that I fell off the show, completely unintentionally, after the second season. And since my memory sucks and it’s been a few years since I last watched it, I started it over from the beginning. The show is quite a bit funnier than I remember it being. One small problem though, since I spent so much time throwing up, my abdominal side muscles hurt super bad every time I start laughing. On the bright side, I still haven’t thrown up since before I made my non-post post yesterday. And I realize that is way too much tmi about my bodily functions. The whole point is, this show is making me laugh so much, but because it really hurts to laugh, my laughs start out normal and then quickly turns to me going, “Ow, ha, ow, ha ow ow ow!”

Tune in tomorrow for another exciting installment of “Malia is either actually getting stuff done or she’s been disassociating for the last 8+ hours.”

P.S. I do have regular dissociative episodes that frequently involve me just staring at a wall for hours on end. I frequently deal with my mental health issues by making jokes about it.

I’ve taken up yet another craft.

Published April 27, 2021 by Malia

So, almost a month ago this happened:

@memary84

I needed it. #cricut #craft #adhd #dopamine

♬ original sound – memary84
Yes, I am an Elder Millenial who has embraced TikTok. You should follow me for my videos, especially the Golden Girl re-enactments.

So, I LOVE my Cricut Joy (this is not a paid advertisement, I just love my toy so much I need to squeal about it for a moment!). I spent years wanting a Cricut, but couldn’t bring myself to buy one because they’re pricey and I couldn’t figure out what I would make enough of that would justify buying one. The Joy is tiny (which automatically ups its cuteness factor), and it lets me make all the greeting cards I want.

@memary84

#cricutjoy #cricut #seashells #cricutcard #fyp

♬ Surfin’ U.S.A. – The Beach Boys

I haven’t yet decided what to do with the mountain of cards I currently have sitting on my dining room table…but I have ideas.

Idea #1

-Card of the Day: Basically, I make a handful of a specific card each day and put them up for sale. When they’re gone, they’re gone.

Idea #2

-Emergency Card Pack: These would be packs that, when someone has forgotten to get a card for an even (birthday, wedding, funeral, etc…) they can just pull from the pack, instead of doing a last minute trip to the store. I admit, this idea has been inspired by my ADHD brain constantly forgetting to get cards until the very last minute. Running to WalMart on Sunday afternoon because I forgot to buy a card is one of my personal nightmares.

Thoughts? Interest? I’m not convinced that either of these are terrible ideas, but am open to input from you, my readers.

Until tomorrow, unless Groot does something ridiculously cute between now and then and I feel the need to show her off. Speaking of Groot, here’s an adorable video of her from a few months ago when we were trying to get her ready to go out in the cold, deep snow:

@memary84

Groot is just done with us right now 😂 #pugglesoftiktok #dogsoftiktok #winter2021 #dogmom #nebraska #omaha

♬ Oh No – Kreepa
That weird breathy sound is me laughing at my poor baby’s distress.

A Colorful, Crafty Year

Published January 2, 2019 by Malia

I’m diving into 2019, throwing all my energy into my crafting.  There’s a possibility that later this year, I’ll be trying to sell some of my creations at craft shows.  However, if I do that, I have to have some inventory.  Which…at present…I don’t.  Over the next several months I’ll be slaving over a hot iron, as I make piles of fuse bead key chains, magnets, and ornaments.

As if that wasn’t enough to keep me busy, I’m also wanting to make myself a blanket.  Earlier this fall, I was on Pinterest, and I discovered something called a temperature blanket.  Basically, over the course of a year, you put a blanket together.  You use colors to indicate the daily temperature.  I decided to crochet a granny square blanket, because it’s an easy and beautiful pattern.  It was a bit cold yesterday.  Supposedly, it was only 15 degrees Fahrenheit, but it felt so much colder!  Here’s the start of my blanket:

IMG_20190102_103908.jpg

I’ll be updating the Temperature Blanket section of this blog daily so that everyone can see my progress.  And if you’d like to join in, I’d be thrilled to follow your progress as well!