"Just One More Thing To One More Person....."

     Ah, the struggle is real.  There are days I just want to SCREAM "I cannot be one more thing to one more person!" While making a dramatic exit and leaving whomever has just used up that proverbial last nerve in a wake of instantaneous understanding as to why I just I had melt-down.   As a grown up (most of the time anyway) I attempt to act as if I have at least some sense, I've never actually done this, I do however fantasize about it occasionally.

Perhaps we tend to lose track of the number of hats worn in a day; mom, wife, employee, business owner, housekeeper, laundry doer, chef(well ok that's a stretch, make that food preparer), and taxi driver just to name a few.  It can be completely overwhelming! Not so long ago I had a complete "I Quit!" attitude related to running my own business, the demands were too much, I was sad, I was irritable and I just gave up.   While I absolutely LOVE being able to "create"! Hey! "Makers gonna Make!" as they say but I had NO PLAN for how to work full time, run a nearly full time business and still be a mom & wife.  NO PLAN!! And because there was no plan, I failed..... failed myself miserably.  I took the summer off (summer off - that's how I refer to it now, sounds so much nicer than I QUIT!)  I did not make one single thing from June thru the end of August 2014.  It felt good, I felt refreshed, we took a vacation with our kids, some of the pressure was gone, but something was missing! I had found MY passion how could I just walk away? I couldn't!!!  So I regrouped with A PLAN:

1.  Plan what you'll do and do what you plan! - Simple huh? Should've thought of this sooner! Everyday now I review the "landscape" of what needs done that day and what is upcoming.  I know every single day the list of MUST DOs! This ranges from being at my son's sports banquet, creating the grocery list to what Etsy orders must ship the following morning. Whatever it is, IT. IS. ON. THE. LIST!

2. Advance preparation - Dinner always left me feeling inadequate.  I could never answer the "what are we having for dinner" question which lead to the Wendy's drive thru. Very healthy!  Now, every week, typically on Sundays we plan the menu for the week and my hubz heads to the grocery store. It's no longer a point of contention and everyone always knows the "what's for dinner" answer.  Another example, if I have a "hot seller" and an order pending, I always make an extra cut of vinyl so when the next order comes in, I just press & go.  That old killing 2 birds with one stone analogy.

3.  Learning to say No - I am still not a fan of the word no.  I'm a people pleaser to some degree and I do not want anyone to be disappointed.  Well, how about you tell someone YES and then find out the answer is really NO... that is 200% worse, OK may 1000% worse for the client you already told Yes only to figure out that you are overextended. Now your customer is in a lurch and I guarantee you they will not be back.  They'd rather you say no so they can make other arrangements and they will probably think of you again in the future when you may be able give a resounding YES! So, now when I get approached to do custom work, I assess everything in the "plan" (See #1) and respond accordingly.

4. Review the Product Line -  I assessed my "product line";  I knew what sold and what didn't for the most part.  I also looked at where to get the most "bang for my buck" so to speak.  For example,
I Love Jesus! (and I drink a little) is selling like hotcakes all over the country but somethings that had no activity I removed.  There are some things that are great to do/make but if you spend 2 hours and make $1, that might not make good business sense.  I ditched the things that either didn't get much response or that cost me more to make than I sold them for (yeah, I actually used to do that, very profitable - :) )

5.  Find an order management process  - Orders! Orders! Everywhere there were orders! Text! Messenger! Email! and every single thing was a custom request.  I moved most everything to Etsy! It was a no brainer for me, as Etsy is designed for handmade items, the system was there, and it's easy to use, it manages my orders and I have a clear, concise picture of what needs done.  It also allows my customers to request custom order and for me to post their custom listing back to them for payment. Game changer!!!

6.  PRAY - I saved the best for last.  If you checked out that "about me" page, you know I'm a "God girl" so prayer is a pretty big part of life for me.  Sometimes I think the day is just one big prayer.  I start each day with "show me where to focus" and I end each day with "thanks".  If I focus on following God's lead, it works for me.  I stay calm, it gets done and the need to scream "I cannot be one more thing to one more person!" becomes much less of a "thing".

I love! the above quote from Steve Jobs (I'm a Apple girl too!) "The only way to do great work is to love what you do.  If you haven't found it yet. Keep looking, and don't settle. As with all matters of the heart you'll know when you find it."  It's not easy, mistakes will be made but the journey is so worth it even if it looks like a beautiful mess some days!


Peace, Love & Glitter!!!
-Tammy

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer - HAD A BLAST!!

Super Sunday to you!

Yesterday I had the pleasure of participating in my very first "vendor event".  I honestly was not sure what to expect and I was really nervous about it.  It truly was fantastic! I'll get more into that in a minute!Making Strides - Springfield put on a wonderful event and I was just honored to be a part of it in a small way.

I've always declined vendor events as my #1 concern since I also work full time, have the kids & hubz and did NOT want to jeopardize any commitments related to my orders and/or Etsy store was having the time to do such an event, and actually have "inventory".  But, as God does, He put the beautiful & talented Melissa Jerome in my path to suggest it and she even offered to help me do everything - She truly was such a blessing as I am certain I would not have taken the step without a "support system".  God puts people in your path for a reason, the hard part is sometimes recognizing the gift.  Melissa is totally awesome and  she also owns Gypsy Sunless Tanning Co.  Locally Owned, personal service! and you know that tanning bed isn't good for your precious skin - so when you're needing a little bronze, check out  Melissa & Gypsy Sunless Tanning Co.

So, it was really chilly (see me there with my gloves & coffee) :)  we only had one minor (nearly major) OOOPPSS! when the lattice we had everything hanging on fell over due to the wind and knocked everything over.  Yes, I nearly had a breakdown! The photos shown here are "post OOPPS!" and we have now tied the lattice to this awesomely placed gazebo that was there with, what else, tulle!

The absolute best part about the day was seeing and meeting so so many beautiful, strong & courageous women.  I do not want to lecture you here, but you KNOW early detection is key! so GET YOUR MAMMOGRAMS!!!! I so enjoyed talking to folks, seeing past customers and learning about others!

What I would do differently... #1 Take Credit Cards.  I didn't really think that thru and with technology today, you can basically get an entire point of sales system right in your pocket with your cell phone.  I got that cared for and choose Square as my vendor, so as soon as the card reader gets here, I'll be all set with a credit card point of sales system.

#2 Get a new display set up -- Im still working on figuring out what that may look like and for indoor events wind is probably not an issue, but something a bit more portable would be awesome.

#3 For this specific event for next year, I will probably participate as a "full on" vendor in the Be Aware Women's Fair sponsored by Memorial.

While we did actually only "sell" about 20% of what we brought, it was so worth it to be out in the community supporting a wonderful cause! 10% of my sales will go back to Making Strides - Springfield in addition to our team donations.



Supporting local business supports the community and to each and every single one of you! THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT!

Peace, Love & Glitter!
-Tammy

Let's MERGE!

Well hhheeelllooo there!!!

It's been a while!  I've really been focusing a lot since summer came to an end on my little business, It's Scrapicated so haven't had much time to manage the blog.  If you're coming over from It's Scrapicated, I also have this little blog called "Livin the Midllife" and here is my plan to deal with losing my web hosting for It's Scrapicated......

Ssssooo as the story goes, I got a notification from the folks that host my  "It's Scrapicated" website that they were no longer going to be doing web hosting and I need to move my website to another host.  Well, isn't that just DANDY!  I thought ... I can barely figure out how to create a post let alone figure out a new "web host" so I decided to just combine all things here.  I like BLOGGER, it's easy and super-bonus... It's FREE!!!! Since It's Scrapicated is such a huge part of who I am, and well, it is definitely part of "Livin the MidLife" for me, and I must say having one big ole' WWW site vs. two makes things easier for me.

*****For those of you com in' over from "It's Scrapicated" I will only share posts related to Its Scrapicated specifically on the It's Scrapicated FB page as not to present you with content that you may not be interested in. ******

I also have a "Living the MidLife" Facebook page which you can find HERE if you'd like to have "un-Its Scrapicated" blog updates related to this crazy thing we call "MidLife" appear in your FB Newsfeed.  All other social media channels (Pinterest, Instagram & Twitter) will continue to be a mix of all things me and are in most cases named "Its Scrapicated". You can use the "Let's Connect" icons to get tuned to all my social media outlets related to It's Scrapicated  if ya fancy! (see em' over there to the right near the top?.... the little flower looking' things) It only took me about 6 hours to figure out how to do that... Please feel free to silently applaud - :)

This may just very well be a blessing in disguise and I'm looking forward to having just "one" website/bloggish thing.   I have my first vendor gig this weekend with It's Scrapicated.  I'm both nervous & excited.  It'll be interesting as I have no idea what to expect..... having said that, there are metal pumpkins (Hot Pink & white CHEVRON) that are in need of polka dots & ribbons and the clock is ticking so I better scoot!

Talk to you very soon!! & I hope you get out to enjoy this beautiful fall weather!!!

Peace, Love & Glitter!!!
-Tammy

Roads that bring you home...

I really wanted to share in some clear concise manner how I've come to this place in my life of enjoying the moment I'm in and being so thankful for it .... To find some "magical" words that would bestow the wisdom of the ages, that would part the clouds revealing beautiful rays of sunshine that contain the ever elusive "secret to happiness". Then I woke up!  

I've never really shared my full "story" with anyone, so it's a wee bit scary……

I've walked the road of unhappy, the path of bitterness, the trail of loneliness and the streets of unsettledness.  I've also made life decisions while on those journeys and those decisions left me feeling even more empty when they were supposed to "fix" it.  However, there really was a revelation that allowed me to get off those winding roads.  So as the story goes.... I was one. hot. mess! a few years back.  On the surface everything looked relatively ok, unless you count the fact I was divorced 3 times by the age of 35, drank WAY more than was socially acceptable and made really  awesome decisions while intoxicated.  Yes, I still have a few drinks and thankfully I can now exert power over that demon because I am no longer "looking for answers in the bottom of beer bottles".  That is something my mom would say to me "Tammy there aren't any answers in the bottoms of those beer bottles." As is the way with mamas, she was right.

I need to give you a little "back story".  When I was a child my mom took me to church, I knew Jesus, I didn't understand the whole thing but I had been raised knowing God.  We didn't go to church regularly or as a family, but my parents raised us to know there was something bigger than us and my parents ALWAYS showed us the importance of giving back thru their actions.  When I was in high school I started going back to church.  I have to admit, while I am bearing my soul here that it was from what I remember of it a social event for me more than anything.  While it probably kept me from acting stupid earlier in life, I don't remember it being a TRUE spiritual experience because I just didn't "get it."

Fast forward; I'm approaching 40, I'm doing a much better job at keeping my mom priorities straight over my work priorities (there was a time in all my madness, nothing much mattered but climbing to the next rung on the corporate ladder) and I'm only acting like an idiot on the days my kiddo is with his dad.  I'm making progress, right?  It was progress, and again on the surface, it looked picturesque.  Great job, nice house, good car, successful, all the things you think you are working for…,BUT - I still felt completely unsettled on the inside, I still felt "there HAS to be MORE than this" and I just wasn't "happy."

In my quest to fill this "void" (when I wasn't looking for all those "answers in beer bottles) I took up running... it was short lived... I'm not a runner, as a matter of  fact if you ever see me running, you should start running too because someone is most likely chasing me. LOL!  I saw that little funny somewhere and thought it was hysterical, though I cannot remember where I saw it to give appropriate applause…,probably Facebook…isn't everything on Facebook? 

   

Any way, I'm running on the trail, I have my ear buds in and I'm just jammin' out, the next track loads and starts to play, cool groove but it isn't a song I know..... I listen.... Whitesnake?  I listen.... I stop running.... I listen..... and in my head I hear "I've been right here".  I look around, there is not another person I can see anywhere.  I'm perplexed, I  suddenly have tears and I'm really NOT sure what is going on but I can hear the words to this song like every word is piercing my soul.  It was the strangest experience I have ever had, and no I do not know how it got on my iPod.  Downloaded in error maybe, I still don't know for sure....I know it sounds INSANE!  But God kind of works like that I think. Here is the song, I do so so hope you will take the 4 minutes to listen before I wrap this post.  If you'd prefer just read the lyrics, they can be found HERE.

I still listen to this song frequently; If I get frustrated, or sad, or a pity party is beginning to commence, or if I just need to remember.  The short ending to this is… I did NOT go immediately back to church.  I honestly don't know how long it was before I returned.  When I did finally step back into the church I had gone to in my teenage years, I did not make it thru even 15 minutes of service before I had to leave in tears because all that garbage that I had been carrying around came flooding out.  I think I cried more in those 7 days between my first Sunday back and the next Sunday than I had cried in my entire lifetime.  I just kept praying.  Well, more like pouring out my soul in an erratic fashion.   I have no idea how to really pray, it isn't like there's a class for it, well maybe there is but I haven't taken it. I just talk to Jesus just like I'm talking to you.  

I just see things in the world very differently walking the road of faith which I think is what gives me such peace.  There are still days I struggle with forgiving myself because no matter how strong my faith may be I don't get time back and I cannot take back some of the things I've done.  BUT I can choose to learn from them and do it better!  Today,  I'm such a better mom, I'm a wife again and I actually understand what being a wife means, and I have the honor of being a step mom too! We  all the same issues as most anyone raising two teenagers in a blended family.  

There are three very distinct things I have come to believe are true on my journey and maybe you will find them truths for you too:

1. God allows you to repeat the same struggle over and over until you learn the lesson.  I am HARD HEADED! It takes me a while to "get it" so now if something seems to keep coming up or is bothering me,  I always pray, "Please show me what I am supposed to learn" It helps. 

2. God's ways are bigger than our ways - I just TRUST and have complete FAITH that whatever happens that God will make a way.  I honestly do not worry, well, I'm a mom, so I obviously worry, but I mean really, really fret over things.  I do my part, and I leave the God parts to God.

3.  In order to "hear" God you have to BE QUIET and LISTEN -- This one took me a while, I'm a talker! No duh, right?  I really enjoyed and learned a TON about recognizing when God is speaking from Priscilla Shirer's book Discerning the Voice of God.

So that's it, I am a God girl! and it's changed my life.  Of course, I am still a sinner! I do NOT get it right a lot, I still have a few cocktails now and again, an expletive still passes my lips, I can still be down right hateful if pushed, I am human,  but it's just different now…I'm pretty much way ok with being perfectly imperfect!   It's enough for me to know that Jesus is my compass, that  I am forgiven by His grace and He is the road that will always bring me home.  

Peace, Love and Sunshine!!!

XOXO

-Tammy 

The "While You're Makin' Dinner Drink"

Here's a little ditty bout Jack and Dianne...... oh wait; random flashback..... Do over....

Here's a little ditty I call the While You're Makin Dinner Drink. (Because I'm original like that.)   Making dinner usually seems like a mundane task, well unless you have oodles of time, but who has that during the week?!? Not me. Sometimes a random thought even sneaks in screaming "do these people really need to eat EVERY DAY?!?" ...Jjjuussstt kidding..(wink) 

So while you're bringin home the bacon AND fryin' it up in a pan - Get you're drink on! It's good for the psyche after a long day of wearing all your pretty hats. 

I'm not a regular drinker during the work week, (been there-done that, hhheelllooo 20's) BUT! I do enjoy a nice wind down from the workday from time to time.  Isn't that just the way too; there you are happily going about your day, extending  grace to people all day long,  from the lady who blew thru the ORANGE light on your way to work, to someone in your workplace that no matter how many different ways/times you've explained it, you've come to the conclusion that maybe they just do not understand the spoken word.   And then comes the realization you've begun drawing pictures to help them understand while smiling the entire time, because that's just how you roll!  So you - Yes, YOU! are more than deserving of the While You're Makin' Dinner drink.

A simple rule of  thirds applies here:

1. 1/3 Alcohol of your choice - mix it up! (I use Malibu, Black Cherry Rum and a bit of Triple Sec)

2. 1/3 Fruit Juice (I choose Pineapple)

3. 1/3 White soda (I prefer Sprite)

Use whatever size glass tickles your fancy and just go thirds - easy enough! Well maybe not the super-gulp cup, that's probably not a good size for Wednesday night, but hey... It's your call.   

Here's my cast of characters! Not Pictured: Pineapple juice ... yes, you guessed it...camera-shy, who knew? Ok, I drank it all….. that potentially could be because I've also occasionally deemed this "the while I'm doing dishes and cleaning up my mess drink".

I'd LOVE to hear what flavor combo's you come up with! Have fun with it, and jam out to some tunes while you're in there wielding your spatula, makes the asked 10 times "when's dinner going to be done?" question way! more! tolerable!

ENJOY!

-Tammy

Slutty Brownies! Ugh…

I'm ALWAYS in search of something yummy to take to a get-together.  My mom would kick my butt if I showed up empty handed to someone's house.  That's part of what I love about being this age, you know the "manners" oh so well, because you are TRYING so so hard to get your teenagers to comply or at least show some glimmer of understanding as to WHY it's important (without turning into "crazy-mom" of course…)

So -- Slutty Brownies, yes… well, the name might be slightly inappropriate.  While, I didn't make up the name, I do think the name is relatively appropriate, if slutty is defined as generally having loose sexual morals, these little critters definitely have some very loose caloric morals. Let's be honest, these are clearly NOT good for you! I would definitely recommend taking them to a potluck/get-together vs. leaving them in your home because they seriously ROCK! Here's the original link from Pinterest that I started with:  Slutty Brownies  Oh, and if you eat them warm…. Simply sheer chocolate gooey love!

These oh so delicious creations really could not be any simpler, well maybe, try asking your husband/partner to make them for you - SERIOUS BROWNIE POINTS folks, serious brownie points.

I digress, here's all you do:

1. Take that big ole' tub of pre-made Toll-House cookie dough, chunk it up and press it into the bottom of a 9X13 pan for the crust. (I did not grease the pan and it worked out fine)

2. Lay your DOUBLE STUFFED in rows on top of the cookie dough  (the original recipe did not call for DOUBLE STUFFED Oreos, but hey! if you're going to do it -- DO IT!
           *Note - When (not IF) I make these again, I will do a "rough breaking" of the cookies because I thought they were a wee bit hard to cut once cooled as whole cookies.  Go on - be rebellous!

3. Prepare brownie mix according to the box instructions, and pour that on top of your Oreo layer.  (Do you feel your heart working harder yet?)  I used the Betty Crocker Triple Chunk mix (sure, why not?).  Please note the box if it says for an 8x8 pan, you will need TWO mixes for your 9X13 pan.

Bake them in accordance with the instructions on the brownie box.  Also noted that these took WAY longer than the box instructions.  I baked mine for 45-50 min but started checking them at time stated on the box (I have zero recollection of what the box said)  Just insert a toothpick to check them, you'll know.

As I said earlier they are HEAVEN warm and still incredible cooled.

ENJOY!!!!!
-Tammy