DIY

Crafting on the Go with EasyPress Totes

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Cricut. The opinions and text are all mine.

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Do you ever want to take your crafting with you somewhere else but not sure how to safely travel with everything?  I know in the past when visiting family, I wanted to be able to show off my crafting skills and make them some personalized crafts with Cricut Iron-On but was worried about my EasyPress™ getting damaged in my travels.

Luckily, Cricut has released the EasyPress™ Totes so that you can now take your iron-on skills on the go.  The EasyPress™ Tote are the perfect way to safely carry your EasyPress™ 2, Safety Base, mat, and small accessories.

The EasyPress™ totes are assembled with a study, heat-resistant material to keep your machine protected from the bumps along the way as you travel. Whether you use the padded should strap or the strong handle, your machine is kept safely in place by the velcro strap.

EasyPress Totes with machine

Each totes is creatively designed so that you can included your safety based underneath your EasyPress™.

EasyPress Totes with base

As well, there are pockets on both the front and back of the tote to carry almost all your needs including your mat and Cricut iron-on accessories (both sold separately).

EasyPress Totes with Mat
The Cricut EasyPress™ totes are available in three sizes (compatibility is based on the EasyPress™ you currently own.)

  • * Small – Cricut EasyPress 2, 6″ x 7″
    * Medium – Cricut EasyPress 2, 9″ x 9″
    * Large – Cricut EasyPress 2, 10″ x 12″ and Cricut EasyPress, 9″ x 9″

EasyPress Totes complete

Now you can take your crafting inspiration on the go with you.  You are not longer confined to your home to craft, you can share you style and Cricut iron-on creations wherever you go.

EasyPress Totes Will Travel

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Getting Fit · Parenting/Life

My Experience with an Internet Troll

It’s one of those messages that I wish I had saved instead of immediately deleting.  It wasn’t my first message from an Internet Troll and it definitely won’t be my last.  I should have saved it to remind me that haters are going to hate but instead of bringing me down it, it will push me to do better.

If you follow me on social media, you know that I often post about going to the gym, trying to eat healthy and trying to lose weight.  And you would also know that I’ve fallen off the wagon more times than not, gained weight and eaten unhealthy.

And I know that people probably wonder why I even bother posting, if I am constantly going to fail.  The internet trolls have asked me that on more than one occasion.  And it was one particular comment just recently that made me really think about why I post and why everyone needs to ignore these type of people.

It was a day I had posted in my stories about going to the gym in the morning and then another story about indulging in snacks and a few drinks with friends.  I was enjoying life.  The next day, I was checking in on Instagram and there was a message request.  Obviously a message from someone who didn’t follow me but wanted to send me a message.  We all know that 9 times out of 10, those messages are usually some sort of spam.

My curiosity got the best of me and I opened the message.  The long and short of the message was they couldn’t understand why I talk about a healthy lifestyle and then turn around have a night of eating and drinking crap.  I should stop posting and give up.  No one wanted to hear it.

This was someone I didn’t know, I didn’t follow and they didn’t follow me.  They must have found me via a hashtag that I had used on my posts.  At this point it made think about a lot of things about this person and myself.

At first it made me think about my posts.   In one thought, I agreed with him calling me out on my shit (pardon my language).  I try to be healthier and I fall off the wagon.  And a lot of times, I fall hard.   Sometimes it is more of a 1 step forward 2 steps back instead of the other way around.  BUT, eventually I brush myself off and start again.  And at one point, hopefully it’s only continual steps forward.

The reason I post about my life and my successes and failures is that is what my blog is all about.  My life and the journey.  Keeping it real. Maybe it reminds people that we all are human and everything isn’t always perfect and we all have our struggles.  Even if one person reads it and it makes them smile or feel better about their own life, then my job her is done.  I’ve accomplished what I wanted to do.  I know that others have done the same for me.  Reading blogs of others on similar journeys have helped me tremendously.

I’m not going to lie, those unkind comments stung a bit.  It wasn’t the first time someone had reminded me of my failures.  I know I need to try harder some days.  Absolutely, no questions asked.  But when it comes from someone I don’t know, I’ve never met (or ever want to) it is a different kind of hurt.

And this is not a oh boo hoo, poor me type of post.  Having an open social media profile opens me up to anyone seeing my posts and commenting as they please and I’ve accepted that.  I’ve see other bloggers have way nastier and hurtful comments flung at them on almost a daily basis.  And we all know that there are people out there that aren’t the kind and sincere person their social media profile leads everyone to believe.

But then I thought about the person that sent the comments.  If they didn’t follow me, then they had to have intentionally sought out my profile and others like mine by searching through countless hashtags.  What I can’t understand is why?  Why do people or these Internet Trolls feel the need to search out others just to bring them down?

I was brought up with “If you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all”.  Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate constructive criticism but people being down right insulting for no reason other than to make themselves feel better, is not acceptable.  If you feel that bringing others down makes you feel better, you aren’t the type of person my content is aimed at.   There are a million other blogs, and social media profiles out there that I am sure you can find something out there that interest you and you enjoy instead of criticizing others.

It’s a conversation that I’ve already had with my son on more than one occasion.  He’s seen the likes of Internet Trolls when watching videos on YouTube.  He’s seen the nasty comments and we’ve discussed why it needs to stop.  Bringing others down just to make yourself feel better about yourself isn’t the way to go about things.

So that being said, I will continue to blog about the things I want to blog about.  I will share on my social media as I see fit to share.  And to those that don’t want to read it or like it, that is your prerogative.  But don’t waste your time or mine with your nasty comments and messages.

DIY

Spring has Sprung – a DIY

Raise your hand if this has seemed like the longest winter ever?  Spring has to be right around the corner, doesn’t it?

I decided that if perhaps I started a little spring cleaning and decorating, it might entice spring to actually show up.  Sound like a good idea?

First stop was a trip to my local Dollarama for a little inspiration and supplies for my DIY.   I wasn’t quite sure what I wanted to make, but I knew that I wanted to make a sign of sorts and use my Cricut Maker for the lettering.

When I found a wooden slat like square, I knew right away it would make a great base for my sign.

Supplies needed:

  1.  * Wooden slat square
  2.  * Acrylic paint – various shades
  3.  * Paint brushes
  4.  * Artificial Flowers
  5.  * Cricut Maker
  6.  * Cricut Vinyl
  7.  * Transfer Paper
  8.  * Hot glue gun
  9.  * Glue Sticks

Step 1 – Paint the base

I decided to use 3 different spring colors and alternate painting each slat a different color.   I found the acrylic paint  only needed 1 coat to get the color I was looking for and dried within just a few minutes.

Step 2 – Attach the flowers

Depending on the size of the stems you may need to cut them to fit the length of your base.

Using your glue gun, add a few drops of glue to the stem and fuller area of the flowers to attach them to the base.  Be careful not to burn yourself.

Step 3 – Lettering

Using the Design Space app for my Cricut, I found a font that I liked and printed out the phrase “Spring has sprung”.  I had to view it a few times on screen to make sure the size of the font would fit properly on each of the slats.

Once I had the font size confirmed, I printed it on to my vinyl.

After printed and weeding off the excessive vinyl, I attached the lettering to transfer paper to help me apply it to the base.

I then cut each word out separately and applied it to the base.  Once I had each word in the proper place and firmly attached, I removed the transfer paper.

Step 4 – Ready for display

Now my picture is ready for display.  I decided to stand it on my mantle but all you would need to do is add and hanging fixture to the back and it would make a great alternative to a wreath for your door.

Spring was the theme of this month’s Inspire My Creativity link-up party and I can’t wait to see what the other hosts have come up with.

Meg  |  See The Happy
Candice  |  She’s Crafty
Julia  |  The Quiet Grove
Brooke  |  My Beautiful Mess
Heather  |  Glitter On A Dime
Carmen  |  Living Letter Home
Cathy  |  A Boy and His Mom
Sarah  |  The Strawberry Nest
Adree  |  The Keele Deal
Alexandra  |  EyeLoveKnots
Be sure to check out our link up party for all our spring inspired crafts to make for yourself!  Do you have a spring themed craft that you would like to share?  Be sure to add it to our party for everyone to enjoy!

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter

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For Kids

Getting Back to Creative Play With Playmobil

Although items were provided to us by Playmobil, all comments, opinions and photos are strictly mine.

This past week, our social media blew up with talk of the Momo Challenge.  Whether or not it was a hoax, it definitely made me re-evaluate the quantity and the quality of screen time my son was having.  And surprisingly enough, he did as well.  It was the perfect opportunity for him to take a break from the screen and have some creative play time with his Playmobil.

I had been starting to think now that he’s pushing 11, that he was starting to move away from imaginative play with his toys but I happily surprised how much he enjoyed playing with the new sets that he received.

Playmobil setting up

Playmobil has launched four new themes this year for all kinds of imaginations to enjoy.

  1. 1.  The Mars Mission for the space lover
  2. 2.  The Police Tactical Unit for rescue missions here on earth
  3. 3.  The Shopping theme with a Grocery Shop and the Bike and Skate Shop
  4. 4.  The Pet Hotel for the animal lovers.

My son received 2 of the sets from the Pet Hotel themes and they were perfect for the animal lover that he is.

Playmobil small pets

Playmobile Cat sanctuary

What I love about the Playmobil sets is that although the kids get to put them together, they don’t take much time before they are able to use there imaginations and start creating stories in their head.  And there are so many different themes, every kid will surely find something that interests them.

Playmobil House

Each set really focuses on the details.  Whether it was the tiny little cat food cans or the colors of the hamsters, every little detail made them seem so realistic.

Playmobil hamsters

I was happy to see the boy spend several hours at a time just playing and telling me stories based on his animals and the people within his sets.  He even was able to convince to take him out to buy some additions to what he already had.  This was a pleasant change from the Fortnite and other video game stories he often tries to tell me as I just smile and nod as I have no clue what he is talking about.

Playmobil cats

A few days later, he wasn’t feeling well and I kept him home from school.  One of the first things he asked is if he could just lay on the floor and just play with his Playmobil sets.  I was happy to oblige.  The fact he didn’t want to just lay on the couch in front of a screen all day was music to my ears.  It was so nice to see him enjoying imaginative play.  He’s even added several other sets to his birthday wish list, so I don’t see him losing his interest anytime soon.

It’s been a nice change to have the TV screen off and engaging with him while he enjoys his Playmobil and I hope that his love of creative play never goes away.