A little batty

I thought I'd take a minute to share one of my recent mail art creations, sent to my daughter at college a few weeks ago.  The picture I had of it did not contain the address, and I thought it looked way better addressed...so I digitally added an address.

I'm working on a minion costume for Halloween at the moment.  Thank goodness for Pinterest, where I got the idea.  Of course I had to have appropriate shoes, so the most time consuming part is the shoes.  I took an old pair of shoes that I absolutely love, but were scuffed up, and painted them to match.  While I forgot to take a picture of the shoes as they were originally, I'll try to remember to take a pic of them after the paint job.  It will be interesting to see how the paint holds up.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

~Cyndi

A Little Ramen and Another Letter

With my oldest child in college, and my source of income on hiatus, I've been pinching pennies everywhere I possibly can.  I often buy a pound of ground beef and divide it into four, and use it in four different meals.  Mac and cheese is my base for a LOT of casseroles.  I'm constantly on the lookout for inexpensive recipes, as well.

My family and I have made the following recipe for years. I'm sure I got it on the internet somewhere, but I would be hard pressed to tell you the original source.  I just now found three or four locations for nearly identical recipes. 

Anyway, in my never-ending endeavor to stretch my grocery dollars so I can bring my daughter home for Christmas, or send her a little cash (or pay one of our medical bills!), I discovered that I could feed my family of three for only $2.64!  When my older daughter was home, I used to serve this dish to all of us, but would add something else like a salad.  With just the three of us, we don't need anything extra.  There is plenty of food, and it has starch, vegetables and protein.  If I were going to add something, maybe a cut-up banana for dessert.

Ingredients:
2-3 oz.  packages of Oriental Ramen Noodles (20 cents ea.)
1/4 lb. ground beef ($1.15)
Bag of veggies ($1.09)
2.5 C water
1/4 tsp. ground ginger

Directions:

Boil the water in a large sauce pan.

Crush the ramen noodles with a can or rolling pin, etc., before opening. Remove the seasoning packets and dump the noodles from both packages into the boiling water. Cook for 3 minutes.

Turn the heat down on the noodles a little and add your bag of frozen veggies, one seasoning packet and 1/4 tsp of ground ginger. (If you do not have ginger on-hand, it will also be tasty without it.)

In a skillet, brown the ground beef and add the contents of the other seasoning packet.  When the beef is done, add it to the noodle mixture.

Serve.

Optional:  

I have changed this recipe up, depending on ingredients on-hand, by adding any or all of the following:  peanuts, water chestnuts, pea pods.  While my version of this recipe calls for 1/4 lb. of ground beef, if you have more on hand or are not needing to pinch as many pennies as I, go ahead and use more beef.  The rest of the recipe will remain the same.

*******
I got a nice little text from my college daughter today.  It simply said, "I got my mail today!"  I asked, "Brown or green?" She replied, "Both!!"  Translated that means that she got both the fall mail art envelope I shared the other day and the green one I will share now.  I would like to think she did not get both today as I sent them nearly a week apart.

Closeup of the "A".  The stamp image is from Stamper's Anonymous.

The pink flourish outline was made using Sepia Accents from Ranger.

Closeup of the flower on the back.  The flower image is from Northwoods.

Enjoy this wonderful day!

Please share my blog with your friends and pin my images to your Pinterest boards.  Thanks!

~Cyndi

 

Autumn has arrived

It is a beautiful sunny autumn day as I sit here typing this.  It is the perfect day to share with you my latest piece of mail art, also sent to my daughter.  She has to have received it by now, although she has not said as much.  I think she's frustrated that I'm not sending more care packages.  I think when she said, "I want more mail," she actually meant "I want more STUFF!" At $12 a box to ship her stuff, she can count on more letters and fewer boxes.

For this piece, I used a leaf stamp from Stampland along with big and mini leaf punches. I have no idea who made the "autumn" stamp.  I created a stencil and mask with the leaf punches, and then added the cut-out pieces in her envelope like confetti. The color is from Dylusions ink sprays from Ranger as well as brown and black StazOn ink pads. And of course I had to create a piece of stationery to go with the envelope.

I'm still working on getting into the studio daily, or at least doing "something" creative.  The other day I used my creative time to decorate the house for the fall.  I put a fall leaf wreath on the door, a fall tablecloth and place mats on my table and decorated my fireplace and mantel.

I've read a  LOT of books lately.  A lot of GOOD books.  The last time I was at the library, I checked out three books that were 14 day books...usually not a smart thing for me as I wind up not being able to finish but one in that time. Well, I am on book three and I have one week left to go!  The book pictured below, "Sting of the Drone," by Richard A. Clarke, is the one I read right before picking up my newest batch of three. 

Here is the synopsis from Amazon:

In Washington, D.C., the Kill Committee gathers in the White House's Situation Room to pick the next targets for the United States drone program. At an airbase just outside Las Vegas, a team of pilots, military personnel, and intelligence officers follow through on the committee's orders, finding the men who have been deemed a threat to national security and sentenced to death.

 

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, in the mountains where the drones hunt their prey, someone has decided to fight back. And not just against the unmanned planes that circle their skies, but against the Americans at home who control them.

 

In Sting of the Drone, bestselling author Richard A. Clarke draws on his decades-long experience at the very highest levels of national security to craft a thrilling novel that has the feel of nonfiction, taking us behind closed doors to meet the men and women who protect America--and those who seek to do us harm.

Richard Clarke served in intelligence during four presidential administrations and it is fascinating, and sobering, to read his epilogue. My dad suggested this book to me, not that he had read it, but when we were at the library together, he saw it and said he thought it sounded like a good one.  He was right. 

You've probably heard the stories about how, maybe as early as next year, private companies have the go-ahead to start using unmanned drones.  Amazon had actually said, initially, that it was going to use drones to drop off packages.  I don't know about you, but I don't want little unmanned aircraft buzzing about all over the place.  Besides the sheer annoyance, the security risks of people being able to fly these little robots all around our homes is just mind-boggling...if you put your mind around it.  I think most people would rather just put their heads in the sand, or don't have time to think about the possible intrusion.  I hope that when these little flying robots start filling our skies, our right to defend our property gives us the right to shoot them down if they fly into our own airspace.  However, if they are armored like the ones in this book are, our little pea shooters won't have a chance. 

Read this book.  I highly recommend it.  It is a well-written story and a good read.  I read it very quickly - always a good sign.  Let me know if you read it and what you think.

Finally, I'll leave you with this:  We put braces on my oldest daughter's teeth.  She got them off in May of her senior year and after removing them,  the orthodontist fixed a small chip in her front tooth (that he had made during the course of treatment). Her teeth were beautiful, and they should've been;  we paid enough for them!  Right before my daughter left for college I scheduled her for a routine cleaning at the dentist office.  She hadn't been to this particular dentist since she got the braces (our other dental insurance required us to go to a chain). The hygienist made her cry...made her feel awful about her teeth.  Not only did my daughter cry for that reason, but the hygienist so fiercely chiseled away between her two front teeth that she chipped off the veneer that the orthodontist had added to fix her teeth.  I called that same day and told them about it, and asked them to try to squeeze her in before she left for college the next week.  They did.  I sent my daughter with pictures showing her teeth right after she got the braces off (just a few months prior), before the veneer, and after. Just so they would be able to tell for sure that, indeed, her teeth had been repaired and what the repair had looked like.

A couple of days ago I got THE BILL.  FOR SOMETHING THAT THEY CAUSED!!!  I am not a happy girl.  My younger daughter has an appointment next week for some fillings.  Please think of me, say a few prayers, send some positive thoughts, etc.,  as I will have to confront them about this.  I hate having to constantly fight people for things like this. I should've never seen that bill.

Have a great autumn day everyone!

~Cyndi

When You Care Enough to Send the Very Best

My oldest daughter left for college this year - far away from home.  While we stay in touch by text messaging every day, and also by phone calls, everyone wants mail...right?

Enter my plan to be creative every day, and my mail art factory began.  When my daughter received this piece, the first I've made, she texted me right away to tell me it arrived.  "My friends are taking pictures of it," she said.  Later I learned they were sending those pictures home to their families.  I have set the bar pretty high...I think I may have made a few enemies. :-)  (The bar is now high for me, too, as I have to keep sending arty envelopes.  A plain white, or colored envelope, will now seem very boring.)

We had hand carved a lobster rubber stamp for her grad party thank-you's. (It went along with a hand-carved grad cap stamp.) I used that, along with an enlargement of the same image as a stencil.  I also used stencils from The Crafter's Workshop, sequin waste, Brown Staz On Ink,  and Dylusions ink spray from Ranger Industries.  (Note:  all of these supplies are from my own personal stash, not things sent to me for the magazine.)

Below is a picture of my work table along with the envelope and the matching piece of stationery.  A plain white sheet of paper inside the envelope just seemed wrong.  You can see in the background the hand carved stamp and stencil.

On a side note:  her grad party was nautical themed, with the lobster wearing a grad cap adorning her memory board and table center pieces.  I'll have to post pics of her centerpieces sometime.  I think they turned out very cute.

Thanks for stopping by.  Please share my blog on Facebook and Pinterest. I'd also be especially thrilled if you would subscribe (follow by email).

Have a wonderful day.

~Cyndi