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Archive for January, 2013

Toasty Warm On A Frigid Day

Posted in Everyday, Food, tagged , , on January 21, 2013| 7 Comments »

How are you all on this lovely Monday?  Things couldn’t be better at the Auntie B’s Wax World Headquarters.  I’ve been away from the day job since Thursday afternoon and this long weekend has been spent gloriously.  So many things accomplished!  So much well-deserved rest!  Tomorrow I return to the day job, but I’m not going to think about that right now.

An interesting thing about this weekend ~ I didn’t turn on the computer for two whole days!  I know, for some of you that may seem like nothing.  Others may wonder, how did she do it?  For one thing I’ve noticed my right (mousing) wrist is a little painful.  I didn’t avoid the computer for that reason, but I’m sure my delicate wrist appreciates the vacation it got.  For another thing, I found plenty of other things to do.  That’s right, there is a life outside of Facebook and Monkey Gems.

I may be sharing posts about some of the things I’ve been up to.  Like what I found when going through three boxes of stuff I nabbed from Husby’s parents’ house when we cleaned it out for sale.  Or like what I’ve been thinking about while laying about in bed in the mornings, not having to get up at the crack of dawn (earlier, actually) to go to the day job.

One thing I’ll share with you today is that it’s -6 degrees here at the headquarters in Minnesota.  I’m happy to be cozy in my house without any reason to go out into the blistering cold weather.  But I’m also happy it’s cold out, because that’s what winter in Minnesota is supposed to be.  On icy cold days like this how can one resist baking something sweet and delicious?  I know I can’t.  So I whipped up a couple of loaves of pear bread.  They’re cooling on the racks as I write this, and I can hardly wait to dive in and taste some.  The house smells of cinnamon and sugar and juicy, ripe pears.

If you have an itch to make some of this wonderful pear bread, you can find the recipe I used here.

I hope you’re savoring all the winter season offers, even if it’s something as simple as a piece of warm pear bread you’ve made yourself.

Off I go to make the best of the rest of my day, for tomorrow I’m back to the grind.  Stay warm!

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There Is No Better Motivator Than A Flannel Nightgown

Posted in Everyday, tagged , , , on January 17, 2013| 6 Comments »

It all began with an uber productive weekend.  I couldn’t believe all the things I was accomplishing and thought some kind of weird energy pill was slipped into my morning Diet Dr. Pepper.  (No, I’m so immune to caffeine by now the pop didn’t give me the energy.)  Not only was I accomplishing things on Friday when I got home early from my day job, but Saturday and Sunday were also filled with satisfying task completion.  I felt so good about all I had accomplished I wanted to keep it up…for the rest of my life.

Then came Monday.  I went to the day job and when I got home I was exhausted.  Husby said it’s no wonder, seeing how hard I worked all weekend.  I brushed that excuse aside and continued to berate myself for not feeling like doing anything.

As I sat on the couch staring at the TV my mind began to wander.  I was thinking about going to bed, even though it was only 6:30 p.m.  It was a good thing, though, because I visualized myself in bed with my favorite winter nightgown.  What?  I hadn’t worn that nightgown in two winters!  Where is it?  I need its flannel lovliness! 

It was stored in the Rubbermaid hamper in my closet, along with all of the other sewing and mending projects I had put off for, yes, years.  Although I was tired I decided I could at least mend the torn seam on the sleeve of my nightgown.  So I did.

How refreshing it was to take to the needle and thread and hand-mend that seam!  Not only did I get it mended up, I came back to life and decided to do some more! 

I finished up a pillow covering I had started years ago, made from an old blanket from my grandparents’ house.  I sewed a couple of buttons onto a sweater I haven’t worn in years, and I stitched up a torn seam that was separating the neck from a sweater.  These things had been laying around for (do I have to say it again?) years.  And now they are repaired and ready for action!

I wore my favorite nightgown to bed that night, and none of my stitching came undone, so I think I did a pretty fair job.  As much as I didn’t want to do anything that night I was amazed at how just a little motivation and discipline kind of snowballed. 

P.S.  The rest of the week has been going well too!  Getting lots of things done and feeling very energized about it!

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Wordless Wednesday

Posted in Wordless Wednesday, tagged , on January 16, 2013| 2 Comments »

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Of Cleansers And Vampires

Posted in Everyday, tagged , , , , , , on January 11, 2013| 6 Comments »

Oh what a sorry excuse for a blogger I am.  But the good part is I’m actually writing every day as I resolved.  None of it is good enough or interesting enough to show you, though.

It’s a dreary, wet day here at the Auntie B’s Wax World Headquarters, the kind of day I just love.  It inspires me to be domestic and cozy.  I like Fridays because I get to leave the day job at 10:00 a.m., which gives me a long weekend every weekend.  I also use Fridays, for the most part, as a homekeeping/cleaning day.  Another of my resolutions that I didn’t site in the resolution post is to honor Friday as a homekeeping day more than I have been.  It’s so easy to look upon the hours ahead of me as freebies.  But now that I’ve become more disciplined I should be able to get my weekly housekeeping chores done while most people are still slaving away at their day jobs.

The best part about getting the house work done on Friday is that there are still two whole days left to do as I please.  I can work on creating things for the upcoming 2013 craft shows.  I can write blog posts.   I can list things in my Etsy shop.  Husby and I can go out and do something together, like go antique shopping or take on a home improvement project that requires both of us.  I can also just laze around and watch movies or read magazines if I want.  The possibilities are endless!

When I’m finished with my cleaning and tidying today Husby and I are going to settle in by the fire and watch Dark Shadows.  I used to be a huge Dark Shadows fan when I was in grade school and would race home so I could watch.  Of course looking back on that dreadful soap opera it is practically comical, and I hear the movie isn’t much better.   But it’s got Johnny Depp as Barnabas Collins, so it can’t be all bad.

Are you old enough to remember the Dark Shadows soap opera?  Have you seen the movie yet?  I’m looking forward to it.  For now I’m going back to my cleaning duties, and I’ll leave you with this little bit of ’70s entertainment.

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New Year, New Ideas

Posted in Craft Business, tagged , , , , , on January 8, 2013| 5 Comments »

During the last week or so I’ve been working on the business taxes, my eyes getting tired from looking at the grids of my spreadsheets and wishing every state had the same method of submitting taxes online.  Some sites are much easier to navigate that others.

With such a deep inspection of the business numbers and the sales activities of 2012 I naturally get eager to start the new year of production.  I also wonder what new things I can offer to my adoring public not only to satisfy them, but also to make the new year even more lucrative than the last.

I was commissioned to make a special set of drink charms and with my customer’s permission I’ve decided to take her idea to the public.  Tell me what you think…

Of course this is a display of the images only and not the charms themselves.  I hope they appeal to fashionistas everywhere.  I’ve got a few charms up for sale in my shop and these will be a nice addition, don’t you think?

I also have some ideas for votive cups and candle hurricanes that will take a little developing.  It won’t be long before I get back into Craftland and start creating.

Another thing I’ve been up to is designing new business cards.  The design is a little more in tune with my “brand” and has the same look as my blog and my Etsy banner.  Check it out…

It’s not horribly imaginative and I forgot to include my little tagline, but it has every contact source I have, so there’s no excuse for anyone not being able to get in touch with me or keeping up with the latest happenings at the Auntie B’s Wax World Headquarters.

Not only that, I put in an order for my copy of Midwest Art Fairs which should arrive early next month.  I’ll spend a lot of time going through that to get an idea of what shows I’d like to apply to in addition to my usual favorites.  I’m hoping to do one or two more shows this year compared to last and may also cut some shows out of my repertoire.  Stay tuned by checking in on the 2013 Events tab above.

So, yes, I’m off and running, which always happens during sales tax submission time.  Planning, working, and anticipating make the winter months so much fun!

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