Janet's Smiles

Welcome to the letter E in the A to Z Challenge for 2018.  During the month of April I am using the alphabet to work my way through Michaels Arts and Crafts store.

Today we are looking at Events and Classes.  Every month there is a different schedule of events, usually themed around the next holiday.  This month it was all about Spring and Easter.  You can find the details and schedule right at the front of the store with some examples of the projects you can make. 

Then there is the ever popular slime!  (In case you don’t have little kids around, slime is a concoction made with glue, water, saline solution and sometimes shaving cream, depending on the consistency you want.  It’s kind of like silly putty but not).  You can add food color and glitter and all kinds of things.  One of the first weekends I worked I helped with a Halloween slime event.  The slime was pre-made and tinted orange by one of the Michaels staff.  A sandwich size baggie was given to each child and there were different kinds of decorations like glitter and tiny sparkles that they could use to decorate it.  This was a free event and the kids got to take home the slime when they were done.  I tell you, the amount of glue alone that gets sold in the making of slime is ridiculous.  Elmers has something going with this one because glue is expensive!  We sell gallons of them for $30 and they are “Everyday Value” items so the coupons don’t work on them.  Many a parent has come to the register with their 40% off coupon only to be dismayed that it cannot be applied to the glue.  Some very interesting discussions between parent and child at this point – LOL.   

The classrooms can be rented for other types of things too, like Girl or Boy Scouts meetings and things like that.  I’m thinking of renting one for a scrapbooking event.

Did you know Michaels held events like this?  Would you take a class?  Leave the kids while you shop?

Make sure to stop by some of the other A to Z participants, and come back here tomorrow for the letter F!

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Welcome to the letter D in the A to Z Challenge for 2018.  Each day during April I am taking you through the alphabet at Michaels Arts and Crafts store.  Today, D is for Drawing.

Michaels has a great section with all kinds of tools for drawing, from books for the beginner to the specialty pencils, pens and markers,

drawing pads and sketchbooks, both regular and watercolor,

charcoal bits and pencils,

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Welcome to the letter C in the A to Z Challenge for 2018.  This year I am alphabetting my way through Michaels Arts and Crafts store.

I said I wasn’t using crafts as a word and I covered coupons in the A is for App post.  I’m choosing candles for my letter C.  We have walls and walls of these jar candles in all different scents.  They have fun names like Sunset Lily, Coral Amber, Lilac and Hyacinths, Vanilla and Macaron, etc.  This was just one wall.  Aren’t the colors pretty?

Turquoise Waters…doesn’t that sound beachy?

There are the standard stick taper candles.

And pillars.

 

Ginger Citrus

and wax melts that don’t have a wick but you put them in a holder with a tea light underneath and as the wax melts, it gives off a great scent.

I think there was room for five or six taper candles in this holder.  I couldn’t fit it all in the picture.

with a matching pillar holder.

I think I see some washi tape rolls in this picture!  This must be from the planner section.

The wooden deer head would make a great Father’s Day gift for a hunter, don’t you think?  Stain or paint the background and then decoupage a picture of you and the kids in the center?  Actually, this was probably leftover from Christmas and could have been used as Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer.

This looks like some clearance from the baking section…cookie cutters for sure.

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Welcome to the letter B in the A to Z Challenge for 2018.

You may not think of baking when you think of Arts and Crafts but Michaels has quite a baking section.  Wilton is one of our main product lines.

There are all kinds of cake decorating supplies like different tips for applying frosting, decorative cake holders and the containers to carry the finished cake so it doesn’t get wrecked.

My attempt at a castle cake about 15 years ago.

Gingerbread Easter House

Cookies for decorating with frosting included!

So, the next time you need something in the bakery department, check out your local Michaels!  Are you a baker?  Make any fancy cakes lately? 

Make sure to stop by and visit some of the other A to Z-ers!  Coming tomorrow, the letter C. 

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Welcome to Day 1 of the A to Z Challenge for 2018.  Yes, it is April 1 but this is no April Fool’s joke.  This year I’m blogging my way through the alphabet in Michaels Arts and Crafts Store.  I wrote about starting to work there last September and Jacqui Murray from Word Dreams made a comment that it would be a good subject for an A to Z theme and I had to agree.  So, thanks Jacqui!  Here we go.

Since the name of the store is actually Michaels Arts and Crafts, you might have thought I would start with Art but I am using neither Arts nor Crafts as letters in my alphabet!  Instead I am starting with App, as in the Michaels App that you can download for your smartphone or tablet.  This is what it looks like on my screen.

The Anatomy of the App as defined by the handout that Michaels gives.

This is what my home screen looks like.  From it I can navigate to lots of different places.  By tapping on the little scissors on the upper right corner I can get to the latest coupon deals.  I can say that there are usually coupons of some sort EVERY SINGLE DAY so it is to your benefit to access this information from your phone and even more benefit for all concerned if you access it BEFORE you get to the check out counter.  If you have trouble, the cashiers will be more than happy to help.  If you are a Michaels Rewards member (and you should be) your rewards code will be there as well and the cashier can scan that too.     

Also available in the app is a map of the store.  Michaels can be an overwhelming experience, even to a veteran shopper.  This map will show you aisle by aisle where everything is.  True, you may need a magnifying glass to see it, but it is there!  There is a search bar and you can use that to search for something specific.  If you find a product and you want to know how much it costs, you can tap the bar code icon and a scanner will appear so that you can scan the item and find the price.

You can also just shop by category.  Say you are looking for some baking supplies.  You would click on that and it would take you to the things available in the baking section.  Say you wanted to bake 48 muffins.  We have a pan for that!

There are also Holiday and Seasonal crafts to choose from.

You know I am a paper crafter so I chose that category.  From that I saw that there was a craft using Washi Tape.  I am in love with Washi tape so if I choose that, it shows me this craft to make, the  Washi-Embellished Round Box.  Scrolling down shows me what I need to make the project, where to find it in the store and the instructions:

Isn’t that cool?  You can literally spend hours just on the app before you even head for the store.  You can add the things to “your list” and then when you get to the store you can go right to where you need to go.  Also, if you would rather order things online and save yourself a trip, it is possible to order through the app.  It takes you to Michaels website and if the products are available there, you can order them and save yourself a trip.  Be aware though, that some things that are sold in the store may not be online and vice versa.

And so begins the A to Z of Michaels Arts and Crafts.  I hope you have enjoyed the lesson on the App and how valuable it can be as a tool to navigate the store and find the best deals.  If you have any questions, leave me a comment and I’ll try to answer them.  Come with me tomorrow where we will discover what B has in store! 

Make sure to stop by the A to Z Challenge list and see what other participants are offering.  There is always something new and unique going on!

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Here we are at the end of March.  Before we get to the April A to Z I just have a little more meandering to do.

I finished the book “Boys Will Be Boys” about the Dallas Cowboy glory years.  Unbelievable how much goes on that you don’t know about, even when you think you know it all! 

My next book is The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie.  She is my favorite mystery author and when my blogging friend Jay Cudney said he was going to do an Agatha read-a-thon I had to join in.  You can too since we are starting the challenge tomorrow and reading four books through the month of April.  I am hoping I’ll be able to finish them in that amount of time!  You can get all the details here.   

 Talk about zoom huh?

I love getting the shots through the trees.  Almost makes me think they are hands, playing with a ball.

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It is time for the big A to Z Challenge Theme Reveal!

For the last two years I’ve been participating in the A to Z Challenge with several hundred others and I’ve posted about that a few days ago. 

Jacqui Murray of WordDreams actually gave me the idea for this theme when I first started working at Michaels in September last year.  Thanks, Jacqui!

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We are about to embark on the A to Z Challenge for 2018 and I thought I’d take a minute to share the Reflection posts from the two prior years I have participated.  Each year music was the basic theme.

In 2016 I wrote about something to do with music for every letter of the alphabet.   Some of the topics were a little off the beaten track such as Funiculi Funicula for F and Xylorimba for X. 

This was for the letter “C” – Cowboy Jack

I was able to finish the whole challenge on time and I am pretty proud of my first abecedarium.

In 2017 I wanted to incorporate my love of scrapbooking with my love of music and so I went through the alphabet showcasing the concert album I am making of all the bands we have seen.  I did take the liberty of using some song names to cover the letters rather than the names of the bands.

This was from my letter A for Adele

I overestimated my abilities for this challenge and could not finish on time, although I did eventually do all the letters and they are linked in that recap post.

Next Monday, the 19th of March, is the big Theme Reveal for this year’s challenge.  There are already over 300 participants signed up and there will probably be many more.  You can find out all the info and sign up to participate here.

It is a really fun challenge and I have learned so many things and made so many new blogging friends through my participation.  I highly recommend it and even if you don’t want to blog, there are many interesting themes out there to explore.

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Earlier this year I wrote about getting the Sherlock Holmes Tarot cards.

The book notes on this card say:  “You possess clarity and power and from this new ideas arise.  Truth and ethics keeps you focused….”  The “keys” keys of this card are Strength and Power.  Given that we had just returned from our trip to Reno where we did the Big City Hunt and that I had an idea to make mini-scrapbook albums based on those adventures, this seemed very fitting.  I even thought about trying to collaborate with the Big City Hunt people to offer my scrapbooking services to other people who went on the hunts.  Strength and power speak to the weight loss efforts and being more focused on what I’m eating since we came back from vacation.

The next week I pulled the Peeler card from the Suit of Deduction.  This card talks about seeing things through to the end, taking pride, being patient and determined, trustworthy and methodical.  Okay, that fits with where I am wanting to go.  So far I am being methodical and finishing up some other projects and making lists of things that still need to be done.  I’m a great list maker!  I have lost a few of the pounds I gained on our trip and I am being patient and not expecting results overnight. 

Last week I pulled the Hansom Cab.  It’s legend says “Purpose and determination to move ahead in the case.  Mastery of skill or ability brings a successful outcome.  Self-confidence and self-discipline.  Navigate with a clear sense of direction.  Determination and courage.  Leap forward with your hands on the reins.  Success and fame are the rewards.  Victory.  Well, I’m not so sure about the fame part but success would be nice.  Self-confidence and self-discipline are things that I am pretty familiar with so again I’m thinking I’m on the right track.   I’m doing some research and taking some online classes to learn new techniques. 

This week I pulled the Five of Observation.  This was a strange card and talked about theft of identity, slander or loss, thwarted plans, abuse or assault.  A sense of defeat.  Cowardice.  At first I was a little apprehensive.  I checked all our bank accounts and told myself to be really careful when I was using a credit card.  I tried to make sense of this in relation to my goals.  Identity theft is all we need right now!

I’ve started to take daily walks around the neighborhood to help with getting in some exercise and I find it a great way to do some thinking.  On my walk it hit me…the card was talking about ME, not an outside force!  Words like fraud and phony started swirling around in my brain.  Cowardice!  A sense of defeat!  The card was telling me that I need to stop my “list making” and “learning new things” and actually DO some of the things on the list!  Stop talking about the plans and actually start with some action!  Stop being a coward and take the plunge!  Thinking back to last week’s card about taking the reins in my hands and leaping forward made me realize that I’ve been procrastinating on some things.  What am I afraid of?    

So, action steps this week were to add a few blocks to the walk I have been doing.  I walk a bit faster during some of it so it only takes me a little while longer.  I started making some more cards to add to the Etsy site and I am working on a travel mini-album.  That immediately made me feel more in control of the situation.

I’m still going to keep my eye on our bank account and be careful when using credit cards, etc., but I really believe that the card was telling me to stop talking and take action.  How about you?  Ever use a tarot deck?  What do you think of my interpretations?  

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Every year for the last few years I’ve been making Vision Cards, as introduced by the wonderful Jamie Ridler.    Half the year is gone so it’s time for me to check in and see how I’m doing.  Here are the ones I made for this year:

The first has to do with self-care.  I have done pretty well with my Hungry Girl eating program and have lost about 18 pounds since January (44 total since last year).  Not a huge amount but at the same time I don’t feel like I am depriving myself or starving.  We eat out occasionally and I certainly don’t kill myself exercising but for the most part, I am happy with the way things are going.  In the last month I have really stepped up my walking, taking a walk around the neighborhood almost every day.  I have set myself some weight loss goals and so for the next six months I am going to make a more focused effort in that regard. 

Next has to do with my creative life.  My goal is to be able to increase my income by either selling the cards and mini-albums I make and/or earn some money through affiliate programs.  I haven’t really worked very hard in this area yet, although I am now an affiliate for both Blitsy (an online craft store) and Creative Live, an online education resource.  You can see both of those on the right side of this blog (if you are seeing it on Blogspot – I haven’t added them to the WordPress site yet).  I have been taking some of the free courses offered on Creative Live about how to utilize my Etsy site better and be found in search engines.  In the second half of the year I hope to put all the research I’ve been doing into practice.  I do have one craft fair scheduled in November.   

Travel and Adventure is the next card.  I think we really covered that well with the Big City Hunt that we went on last month in Reno.  We have the voucher for one in San Francisco that I want us to do now that the weather is getting nicer.  I’d still like to hit Carmel and Monterey but I’m not sure that will happen this year.  

Finances is something that is a never ending battle it seems.  Just when I think we are getting ahead, something happens to stall us.  I’m not giving up though and will continue to work toward making our retirement less stressful.

Finally, we have our home.  The makeover it got last year did wonders and I wanted to continue the trend.  We used up our financial resources for the most part so the things we do now need to be at minimal cost.  We have made a great start in the last month in two areas.  The backyard, where I have started to detangle the jungle that has grown there and the garage where my husband has really made huge improvements on cleaning out and organizing.  It is a tricky area because I can only offer my opinion when asked as the things in the garage are mostly his.  I wouldn’t want him to come and organize my craft room though, so I totally understand. 

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