Go to liveitscrapit.blogspot.com

She has blog candy posted. She is a Swedish c/marker living in Malaysia. It's a bright c/ful site w/music.
Interesting people I can meet on the web,sure is good therapy for the soul!!

Whipped wax

No more whipping wax,it makes too much mess & hand strength. I did have fun making more wax chunks. I have 1 bunch of candles w/ chunks in them .
I did get to clean put some of the boxes that have been packed away.

Back to my s/bk table Monday!!

I want to make my g/kids their Easter cards. I need to cut out some circles I have stamped w/ small spring @ summer stamps . I haven't done any LO's in awhile on my s/bk project.
We're supposed to get really nailed w/ a really bad sandstorm Mon. It looks like I really pulled it off getting my candle making & greenware cleaned o/side before the sandstorms hit.
The Lrm corner is full right now. Later on I will have 6 boxes out of my closet & Allen's office. I hope to go thru some boxes of books in his room. We don't have room here for more b/cases. I found GEMS, a scrappinliteracy group I can donate books to.

Greenware NOT BROKEN after 7 YRS!!!

I got 2 more boxes out my closet. G/ware has been packed away when we put up our house for sale in Ft. Worth. A shop was closing down & I bought some Southwest pieces. Amazing after being moved around in 3 places & on a moving truck out here,they were intact
G/ware is fragile. Case in point, I forgot to put n/paper on my table. I had wet a piece to put stars in it. The bottom came off since it had absorbed the water.
Ceramics is on its way out too. I had Allen to set up a table o/side for me to clean it up because of the dust it creates. I had on my face mask for the dust & the mulberry tree pollen . My hands & elbows hurt from all the strain from engraving my designs on them. I stayed o/side most of the a/noon working on them. I picked a real nice day to be o/side. I wanted to get this done before the major sand storms hit this week.
2 of them are votive c/holders. I designed them to look like Franklin Mtns. theme The 3rd piece is a Southwest Wedding jug. I was trying to look@ some pic's I had saved to think of a design. The tree next door I was looking @ jumped into my mind. One side of the jug has the tree etched into it. It represents the tree we planted 30 yrs ago & has grown. The other side has our initials w/a diamond triangle separting them. The top part w/the handle will be glazed. The other parts I'm using Duncan s/west underglazes .I want to show the contrast between the 2 of us who have made this 30 yr bond.
This will be my last ceramic pieces. This time I will keep them for us .I have given away many of my projects as gifts. I started doing this in 1976 as a creative diversion from stress @ BYU.

4 candle pours this week.

I poured candles,Wed. being my last day. I won't be making candles a/more. I'm on 0-2,Allen had to melt the big kettle of wax. It has to be watched & melted on low heat so wax doesn't catch on fire. He also had to spray the candle release into the molds o/side for me since it's smell bothers me. I don't have the patience or the fine dexitry to thread the wicks into the molds or to set up the votive molds(6 in a set.) I lost the Midas touch,my candles had pit marks on them which means I didn't get the melting temp. right
I made 3 container,12 molded & 24 votive candles. I also made green & red candle chunks to put into 1 pour of my candles.. I whipped some wax for 2 of the container candles. I made Laura a ice cream float using a Braums mug. She used to work there in H.S. It has a straw in it& the whipped wax looks like whipped cream on top.
Last night I got out the wax addtive for paints. I have 4 candles I poured clear for this purpose .
One has red & blue stripes,1 side left white,for July themed candle.Another multi-sided one has pink,purple blue& green colors w/ polka dots later added. The round pillar one I painted bright green. I later put a floral sticker border on it. I found some animated bug stickers on it. These will be fun for spring decorating in my L.rm. for small places. The last one I had some gold floral o/line stickers I put on Modge Podge to make sure they stay on. I added Diamond Stickles to the floral centers & a l/over blue jewel on a blossom.
All of my stuff is now packed up & ready to put up for sale. I want to sell it as a bundle,3 boxes of items. I need the money for supplies for my Iraq card project.

Monday more candles

I hope to be able to finish up my candle pours in 2 more days. I need to make a 30th b-day card for a friend also. I'm hoping we can work in th e yard this Friday. Allen needs to put weed&feed down to keep allegries down. Even though we rent,hopefully may save us money on allegy med's etc. Allen needs to work the planter strip by the patio. I'm hoping if we put in some tomatoes etc. in this strip it will keep the dust down. I'm hoping we get them in time enough to get the roots grown before the hot sun in June hits. It also would give us fresh produce for the table.
I hope to get put the ceramic boxes in my closet to go outside Friday to clean them if not broken.
Later I want Allen to help me get to my book boxes in his office to sort thru them. I found a group that collects books for literacy. Maybe they trade some books for my g/kids for C-mas gifts.

Company Merges sucks!!!

We're on the short end of the stick this time again. EDS sold out to HP,Hewett Packward. In April we'll be down to 15% less salary.
Last time Citzen phone co. left Texas,7yrs ago,we had to sell our house since we got downsized. We no longer have any assets left. Our 401 K went in the trashcan. Our stick is getting shorter 7 shorter. If Allen gets layoff,no insurance=no 0-2 & med's =a dead ME!!!!
Thompson hospital treats illegal alien,free baby delievery @ gunshot victims treated from Juarez. But if we show up we have to pay the bill!! Where is the JUSTICE in this ,the taxpayer!!!
We bailed out big corp,line CEO's pockets, mortaged our g-kids future. There is not going to be any middle class. To think Allen & I worked hard to get thru college so we could have a better future. There is no money for retirement,or safty net for me who has serious health problems & disabled. I worked hard when I was younger,raised 4 kids& was active in my community. This is a slap in the face for being hard working,tax paying Americans.

Perlpexed,frustrated&MAD!!!!!!!!!!

Fiday HP announced as April all employees get a 10% pay cut. It's supposed to be for a month. We will see on that. We have already have had 5% paycut,so this means we're going to be short 15% short on income.We have medical bills incurred from my rapid weight loss. My medications are expensive even w/co-pay. I get no SSD,I'm 4 credits short. I can't work to make up the loss income. I'm have to cancel my heart appt. They will want an echo & the co-pay up front. I have pushed my sleep study till June. They have to adjust the pressure on my machine since I lost 30 #'s. Dr Diaz willl work w/us on a payment schedule
Allen was supposed to have a day off to do things around the house &yard before its gets too hot & windy here. They kept calling him. This is what makes me MAD,MAD,MAD!!!! He puts hours in for them & we don't have the money to leave the house to get away!!!!!!!!!!! They made him a T-val,mgt postion w/no extra money,no raise ,& now 15% salary cut. Allen is under great stress both @ work & trying to scrap up money.We're now @ the point of 3yrs ago salary. We couldn't make it then.
No trips for s/bk supplies. I using my stuff in my stash. I'm lucky a friend mailed me extra stuff she wasn't using.@ C-mas. This means my Iraq card project to another soldier is put on hold. There is no Hallmark store for the troops to get cards to send home etc. My 1st shipment in Feb. was graciously accepted. She was able to use my cards for V-day to send to family etc. I never sell my cards, I give them away. It would take away the fun of making them. I love the fact I can make somebody's day. I have the twins 30th b-day coming up in July.

Candle making &cooking day Sat.

I had set up my molds Fri. nite during Numbers on T.V. I had forgotten how long it takes to thread the votive molds & anchor the wicks.The wax sealer wasn't sticking to the bottom of the mold. I finally had to get out the wax remover. I had to open the front door to let the smell out. Allen had to take the molds out & spray them w/mold release spray. Another reason to give up candle making. The new sealer I hadfrom Light house wouldn't stick &it was making me mad. I loce votive candles the most to burn but they are time consuming to set up the molds. I don't have the fine motor coordination I had when younger.

I had Sweet potoatoes & acorn squash in the oven while my wax was melting. I later froze them up in small containers. I have small quick meals when it's too hot to run the oven for my gluten free diet.

I found Heidi's bag of chunks,butterscotch scent& candle paint that I had packed away 6 yrs ago.When our house went up for sale I had to pack up my messy crafts of ceramics & candle making. I finally found thebox w/my scent & my candle making making books. I had to reread the directions since it's been 7 yrs I have made candles.

I poured 3 containers,3 molds,2 votive molds. I used pumpkin spice,cinnamon & baked goods for scents. I melted down a red candle to use for red candle chunks. I took an ugly green wax& added some yellow to make green chunks. I put these in my molds next time & pour a clear wax over them. Using these odd candles up saves my good wax& stops me from having to dye separte batchs of wax. I'm glad I covered the table w/n/paper my 1st pour was messy. I found my pouring cup. I was able to keep the big pot of melted wax warm & dip out wax to put in my double boiler to make small batches of scent wax for different molds.

While my scrap wax was melting I finally baked Allen's pumkin waffle cookies. I had a a really busy day in the kitchen & was really tired.

I've been busy!!

I decided I want to make candles before it gets to hot here. I can't make candles by myself anymore because of my 0-2 & the gas stove. Allen had to melt the wax chunks in a big kettle on slow. I also want to get 4 more boxes out of the house. I need to sell all my supplies in a bundle to have money for the twins 30th b-day.
It took 2 hrs Fri. to put my corner back together.The wax supply box was on the bottom. I had all kinds of stuff on top of it. I found an empty big plastic box in Allen's office unused. I emptied out my ceramic glazes out of 1 drawer,some went in the trash & others in a box. I took my thread out of a drawer & put it in a another empty plastic box. It's in my corner w/my sewing chest. I used the big bottom drawer to store my Xyron 500& Cheetah in since I don't have money for refills. They had been sitting out on top of some drawers. I used the empty 2 drawers to get some items out of 2 jammed drawers. Embossing powder is out of my ink pad drawer. Now my clear stamp blocks won't get jammed in the drawer. I put small c/stock cut pieces in 1 drawer to find them quicker. I took buttons from 3 places & put them in a basket for quick finds. That leaves a drawer w/my rolled ribbon in it.Now all 4 sets of drawers are all paper craft related.
Next week I get out greenware in my closet to see if it is broken or not. I have to clean it outside because of my asthma/ If's it not broke I make it up.Another craft I have to give up. I don't have the fine motor coordination to do my engraving of my s/west designs. I started ceramics as a stress reducer @ BYU in 1977. I mainly given away alot of my projects as gifts thru the years. I luv doing it because I could make designs 3-d since I can't draw in 2-d.