New Nerdy Video Added to YouTube

 

Here's a new video that I just uploaded to YouTube.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yFIfYEQlT8U

Dreams Can Be Crazy - Keep a Journal for Them

Every night before I go to bed I wonder where I'm going to go before waking up. My dreams are so real that I really think I'm living them. Some are so crazy that I wonder how my mind can actually make them up.

I've recently been journaling them because some of them are so out there that I don't want to forget about them. They are actually fun to read later.

I'll share two favorites of mine that I never want to forget:

Our parents live in Florida and we were down there visiting one day (yep, 2000 miles for just the day) and they put out a big spread for lunch. The only thing funny about it was that the sandwiches were made from felt. Fabric felt sandwiches. Yummy!

My all time favorite dream was about three years ago. My friend and I were riding our bikes to the Gary, Indiana lakefront. I actually live by the lake several miles from Gary so I don't know why we rode to Gary instead of our own part of the Lake. The best part of the dream is that my friend and I were riding our bikes while carrying ironing boards. IRONING BOARDS! One of us got a flat so we stopped at a gas station to fix it. While we were there someone stole our wrench. I then said to my friend that we could buy another ironing board at WalMart for around $20 so we left our ironing boards at a laundrymat and went on our way. I seriously can't read that one without laughing.

If you plan to keep a journal for them, be sure to jot them down right after waking up. They are so easy to forget about if you don't do that. I always have a notepad everywhere in the house where I can quickly jot things down. If I don't have time in the morning, as long as I jot down some notes, I can record them in my dream journal later.

Designing Back In The Day

 

Long before PDF patterns and in the hoop embroidery designs there was Craft Magazine among many others. There were also so many hard cover craft and sewing books. It was so hard to get your designs published. You had no control over where your designs were used or seen. Once you submitted a design for publication, if you were accepted and hired, you usually signed away all rights.

One thing that was definitely different was the publication schedule. You'd submit your design in February or March, then if it was accepted, it would appear in their November or December issue. You also had to wait that long for your payment. It was fun and I was a regular designer for some of the publications but these days, it's so much easier for us designers. With that said, the competition wasn't as fierce as it is today. Today anyone can sell their designs and even their finished items. The internet has completely changed the sewing, embroidery, and craft design industry.

You want to know the worst part of it all? Back in 1993 when my first design was published in a magazine, I had to type the instructions on a typewriter! Can you imagine that? No backspace or delete button to be found. It would take me a week to get my instructions just right. Plus, different publishing companies had different requirements. One would want everything typed up with a two inch margin on the left and all pattern images had to be made with a technical pen while others wanted double spaced and wanted your pattern writing to be with a special blue pencil that didn't show up on copiers. I wonder if today's copiers could read that blue pencil?

I was so excited to get that first pattern published! Then when I saw it was on the cover, I was over the moon with excitement! I don't know if you can read the price on the image, but it was $3.95 back then. That's a lot of patterns for $3.95.

I'm sharing some links below about the pencil and technical pens so you can see what I'm talking about. Some of you might know already but the younger readers may not have heard about some of them. I didn't even know what a non-photo blue pencil or technical pen was until I was told to use them. I also want to mention that I dreaded using that pen. I had to use it for one of the publishing companies and it had to be filled with ink. I always made such a mess filling the pen!

https://margretputspentopaper.wordpress.com/2019/02/24/non-photo-non-reproducing-pencils

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Technical_pen

Homemade Vanilla - So Easy!

If you've never made homemade vanilla, you really need to do it. It's so super easy. I made several batches last Christmas as gifts. I first had some when my daughter made them for Christmas about ten years ago. When it comes to flavoring your baking, it doesn't get better than that! If you plan to give some as gifts, you'll want to make it about three months before giving because the flavors need to mingle for that amount of time. How you make it:

Get yourself some glass jars (got mine from Amazon)

A bottle of liquor. I chose bourban, but any will work.

One vanilla bean for every one ounce of liquor.

Slice your vanilla beans down the length and put them in the glass jars. Pour liquor to fill. Set them to the side and give them a nice and vigorous shake every other day. That's it!

They really make great gifts especially if you're going for a baking theme.

The Nerdy Side of Me

I'm not sure if you all know that I have an extremely nerdy side!

I have a new side hustle! Part fun, part business, and showing the nerdy side of myself! I hope you'll stop by my nerdy blog to see what I've been up to lately. But don't worry, I'm still creating fun and new things in the embroidery studio! And I'd love to hear what you think, especially about the youtube channel.

https://nerdynanasher.blogspot.com/

Sculptures

One of my serious obsessions is sculptures of all kinds. I especially love to see the ones where the artist is mentioned and information is displayed. Here is one that I saw while leaving San Antonio. The thing about this one that got me excited was the old suitcases. I'm probably going to age myself here but those are the suitcases our family used when traveling as a child. I can still smell the rubber in my mind. This must have been so much fun to make! And the memories of long ago trips are now flooding through my mind.

And for the record....

We had the suitcases in navy and beige. We even had the toiletry case and hat box case. Do they even make hat boxes anymore? At least I don't think so in the United States.