Favorite Tools

4. Favorite Tools To Create With

Ah, finally! A topic a little more up my alley!

I create a lot of things. As a result, I have a lot of tools. My very favorite is my needle and thread. I am not the best seamstress and a lot of my sewing creations are sewn by hand but I really do enjoy sewing. (Well, OK, a lot of times I don't love the sewing while I'm doing it. Mostly because I end up stabbing myself a lot. I love the end results though.)

As weird as this sounds, I also love my glue. I actually have a bunch of different types of glue. Regular ol' white Elmers, a heavier crafting glue, some no-name glue sticks. But my very favorite glue is the E6000. It's an industrial strength adhesive that I use when I make earrings or need to glue a hook to a pendant. I recently used it to fix some masks for my daughter's dance studio. They aren't coming apart any time soon!

Finally, I love my jumpring tool. It's a ring with little slots. When you want to open a jumpring, you slide it into the appropriate slot then twist the jumpring a little with your pliers. So instead of needing two pairs of pliers to open them, you only need one and a finger. I find it easier to use since I can put the ring on my pointer finger and still hold the jumpring a little with the rest of my hand.

Don't get me wrong. I love crafting tons of things. These are only my very favorite tools. I do still enjoy my beads and my paint and all of my other tools. These are the ones I really love.

My Ideal Day

3. My Ideal Day

My ideal day would be pretty boring. I'd sleep until 9AM. (Mmmmm....sleep.) Breakfast would be creamed chipped beef on toast, which I did not have to cook or clean up after. Then I would spend the day making jewelry, watching TV, maybe doing a little writing. I would have a gorgeous salad with a lot of different veggies for lunch. Then for dinner, I'd go out for crab legs at Joe's Crab Shack.

I wouldn't have to wash dishes or do laundry. I wouldn't have to drive an hour each way into work. I wouldn't even have to talk to anyone if I didn't want to. It would be relaxing and blissful. Maybe one day.

Describing Myself

2. How I would describe myself to a penpal

A couple of years ago, I actually had a few snail mail penpals. That first letter where you describe yourself is both the easiest and the hardest thing to write. Here is my basic introduction:

I am a 37-year old married mother of one. This October will be my 13th wedding anniversary. It's hard to believe so much time has gone by! My daughter turns 12 next week. She is currently in 6th grade and keeps me very busy with all her activities.

During the day, I work as a bookkeeper for a company that does continuing education for accountants. Super boring. I keep myself sane by crafting. I make jewelry, chalkboards, plushies...just tons of things. I spend a lot of time on Pinterest looking for new ideas.

Hm, I'm not sure what else to tell you. So let's hear your story!

I know, it's a pretty lame intro. Generally, you want to keep the conversation going over a couple of letters so you don't want to get everything out on the first letter. You'll run out of topics to discuss. And a lot of my personal life revolves around my daughter. I never know how much to tell up front. I don't want to be the mom that only talks about her kid but, at the same time, she's a big part of my life. It's a fine line to walk.

It's Magic Time!

Today is March 1! That means today is the first day of the 30 Days of Lists! Let's get this started:

1. Ways to add magic to my life

I guess this depends on your definition of "magic." Obviously, we're not going to start casting spells a la Harry Potter or anything. And going by the Las Vegas magician definition is lame. So I'm going to list things that would make my life sparkly and interesting.

• Move to the beach :)
• Look at the stars on a very clear night
• Get back into theater
• Move to Japan :)

I really don't have any clue on how to make my life more magical. If I knew, it would be doing it! I want to hear your opinions. How would you make your life more magical? Maybe I'll use some of your ideas to make my life more awesome.