Petite Tags Now Available In a 4-Pack

With accessorizing groomsmen gifts in mind, I'd like to present a new item at Of The Fountain: The Petite Tag 4-Pack.  This set of 4 custom leather tags is an adorable (and super manly!) way to mark gifts for those involved in a bridal party and beyond.  The wee little tags (2" x 1") can be customized to read initials that are unique to each recipient.

Of course, if more or less tags are desired, I can accomodate.

The perfect touch to add to toiletry bags, laptop bags, Kindle cases, golfing bags, or whatever the cool kids are gifting to each other these days. :)

Hoping The Ghosts Take Pity On Me

This past week my husband was out of town.  I was left all alone in the new house for 8 days.  I didn't really think this would be a problem.  I could get some alone time, I could work on orders, I could continue painting the walls in the house. I had stuff to occupy me.

What I didn't think of when agreeing to this arrangement (Husband Guy did check to make sure it was ok to abandon me for over a week), was how I'd feel about sleeping alone.  I can be a semi-paranoid person when I am left alone.  My nighttime imaginations can scare the crap out of me.  When I was little, I'd wake up from a nightmare and sit up in the bed.  I couldn't go back to sleep because I'd scare myself into seeing a line of shadowy ants walking above the baseboard, going around my room.  They were everywhere. [And no where.] My point is, that I can work myself into quite a fright.

Since Husband Guy is working out of town, I'm alone in the bed, with the cat joining me periodically throughout the night.  He likes to venture into the attic, so I leave the door open so he can roam up there as he pleases.  What bothers me most, is that when he is under the covers with me at 3 o'clock in the morning, I hear noises up in the attic.

A room in our super creepy attic.

I get that we now live in an old house, and old homes inherently have creaks. (RIGHT?!)  However, it still scurrs me.  When I am laying in bed, I can hear noises from all over the house, not just the attic. Eeek.

I hope that 1.) The noises are, at the worst, friendly ghosts (and NOT EFFING PEOPLE HIDING IN MY HOUSE THAT ARE WAITING UNTIL I GO TO SLEEP TO CREEP NEXT TO MY SLEEPING FACE AND KILL ME), and 2.) The ghosts think upon me in a kindly fashion. ie. They see that I want to make the house nice and that I appreciate it and I am all alone and I'm not snooty and I brush my teeth twice a day and I try to be a good person while I'm in the house, etc.  Surely, if I have such qualities the ghosts will have to be nice?

I wonder at what age I will be when I am able to not freak myself out.

Off To College Gift - Custom Key Chain

SCENARIO:  Student will soon be starting school.  Student will be living somewhere that requires that they have a key to gain entry.  Student needs something to attach to key so key doesn't get lost.

SOLUTION:  Custom key chain.

Frustration.

I recently moved into a new house with mah husband.  Luckily, there isn't too much work that needs to be done.  Mainly just painting.  Our bedroom was the room that needed paint the worst.  It had a lot of cracks and blemishes on the wall that I needed to spackel, sand, and then paint.

The awesome thing was that I loved the paint color that was already on the walls, AND there was a full gallon of this paint color in the basement. Free paint = Happy Brandy.

When we were moving in, I had all of our bedroom furniture deposited in the spare room, leaving this bedroom empty so I could get to work immediately. I tried to repair the walls as best I could (though I fear the wall above will need to be replaced in the future), taped plastic over the floor, and then taped around the trim. I was ready to start painting with the free, awesome paint that I had in stock!

I retrieved the paint can from the basement, and upon attempting to open it, I ran into a few problems.  Problem #1: Since I didn't just buy the paint, I didn't have any paint can openers (or paint stirrers, but I remedied that by using an old ruler). How the hell was I suppose to open this paint can?  I first tried using our can opener from the kitchen (It has a metal piece on it that I could wedge in the top of the paint can). That didn't help too much. I then grabbed a butter knife and started hammering it into any cracks I could find in the lid.

Problem #2: Pain. This method eventually got the lid off, but it hurt like a bitch.  I repeatedly hit my knuckle, and well, it hurt.  But I needed to get this freaking lid off!  I didn't want to go buy new paint when I had paint on hand. After 20 minutes of hammering the butter knife around the lid (and numerous hard strikes with the hammer on my knuckle), the lid was off. Well, it didn't come off completely.  I was able to pull it mostly off with some pliers, and then the lid stayed attached to the can like a hinge.

 Ew, son.

Problem #3: I've finished painting the walls, but I now can't close the lid and store the rest of the paint.  I had a little empty container and put a small bit of paint in that to keep for touchups.  I guess I'll have to find a way to dispose of the rest of the paint and the can...

This is the knuckle that I often wound when stamping tags, so this type of injury isn't new to me.  Poor hand. :(

This is a different wall in the room post-painting.  I think it'll do until we decide to change the color.  It should help hide the plaster blemishes once we add in furniture, things on the wall, and some nice, fluffy curtains.


Next, to tackle the pink dining room!

Keep On Keepin' On

Keep on keepin' on.

I love it when people say this to me. The situations where this comment is directed towards me are usually kind of out of no where (random, per chance?), but it always gives me a comforting feeling when I hear it. Perhaps it's because it is instruction that requires minimal effort to accomplish...  :)

Anyhoo... I've finally got all the backordered supplies required to fulfill custom tag and keychain orders, so the shop is now open and taking orders! Yay!

In other news, I've moved into a new studio space, which is odd. ><  I'm used to everything being in a certain space for the past few years (ie. spread out haphazardly over my entire dining/living room in my old apartment), and now that I've moved, well, things are just different.  I have my office in one room, my work station in another room, and my "supply closet" in  different room.  While it could prove less productive to have all my work areas not in one place, I'm hoping I can make it work. Maybe some ingenuitive storage solutions will enable me to pack everything I need into one room. I see a day-long visit to Ikea in my future. :)

Home is When I'm Alone With You

Today will be our second Big Day, I guess. Husband Guy and I will soon close on our first house. Yay!

I actually made this tag for a customer.  After inspecting this photo of the tag a few weeks later, I realized the quote and the date* is applicable to our situation. Neat! :)

*9th August 2012

Impulse Buys of the Week

Snack overload.

Yeah...this week was not good.  Not only did I go to the store starving to death, but this grocery store visit was about a week too late.  As in, I didn't go to the grocery store the week before, like normal, so we had to scavenge in the pantry all week for random crap to eat for meals and snacks.  I was too busy to go to the store the week before, and we technically had stuff to eat...it just wasn't good stuff.  So, I kind of went crazy when I finally did make it to the grocery store.

As I mentioned before, I am a dessert fiend.  After dinner I HAVE to have something sweet.  Though, since we've been trying to eat better, I've been trying to make do with a hardboiled egg or some yogurt in place of my regular chocolate-laden dessert.  (The glorious cookies shown above were inhaled rather quickly...)

The purchases made during this week's impulse buys were satisfactory.  

The Dill Triscuits are a new household favorite.  They are quite tasty.   

The veggi-bacon tasted like veggie bacon.  I don't recommend burning it.  I think we'll stick to turkey bacon, though...

The Chobani greek yogurt tasted like greek yogurt.  It's a little too sour for me, I prefer my yogurt smothered in fruit or cookie bits. :)

On the rare occasion that we eat pasta, we usually eat whole grain simply because it is healthier.  Whole grain linguini + 1 can of Progresso Red Clam Sauce + sprinkling of shredded parmesan cheese = instant, cheap dinner!

No need to comment on taste of the cookies.  They literally made my day better.  I would rape an Oreo (well, not a reduced fat Oreo, only a regular Oreo) if it were possible and if for some reason the Oreo wouldn't have me and if I knew I wouldn't go to jail.

Also, never buy cookies when they aren't on sale.  If you've ever tried buying a full pack of Oreo's at a gas station, you'll know what I mean. $5.99 at the gas station vs. $2.50 at the grocery store.

Even though this visit to the grocery store had a pile of impulse buys, they were all on sale! And some were healthy...  

Unplanned, Brief Hiatus

I try to be responsible when it comes to running my b'ness.  When I am running low on a supply that is required for me to make my tags and keychains, I reorder with, what I think, is plenty of time to spare. Though, sometimes things are just outside my control, and this does not sit well with a control freak like me!

Case in point: I ordered some supplies 2 months ago.  They were backordered.  Fine, I'll wait. It's ok, because I left a buffer to allow for things like this (judging by past orders I had made that were back ordered). However, it is 2 months later, and the supplies are still on backorder, and I have run out of reserve supplies. Well, frick. :(

So! I am forced to "take a break" until I can get these necessary supplies in my possession.  Needless to say, this break was not planned, and has me kind of...well, upset.  My vendor has informed me that these items will not be available to be shipped to me for a few more weeks, totally screwing up my "I take orders at the beginning of every month"-plan.

The ONLY positive thing I can see in this situation, is that Husband Guy and I will likely be moving during this "break," so I guess now I have time to pack up our crap and move without stressing about work.  [Before this incident occurred, I had just planned on packing/moving during my "off hours."]

I've been pretty bummed with this news, and I feel terrible with not being able to take orders.  I guess it is as good a time as any to catch up on chores and assignments my husband has given me - like photographing all the recent origami he's folded...

 Grizzly Bear

 Lyrebird

Moose

 Lion

 Lion vs. Lion

Lion

....and getting rid of all the empty booze bottles we've accumulated over the past 3 years...

....and trying to pay attention to the cat, which actually has not gone so well. I started off this hiatus by locking him in the bathroom for a hour (with his litter box) so I wouldn't have to listen to him whine at me and bat at my face. Yes, I know I am an unfit mother.

I am still available via email if anyone has any questions regarding custom luggage tags, keychains, etc.  I hope to have the shop reopened by mid-August, but that is completely dependent on when I get my much needed supplies.  You can email me at brandy[at]of-the-fountain.com with any inquiries.

3 Months of Dinner

A few months ago I started keeping a calendar of what was planned for dinner for the week.  This helped me to make sure I used up all the food I bought for the week (and thus decrease waste and save money).  However, it also turned into a great way to guilt my husband and myself into eating healthier. With the calendar being taped to our fridge, we are constantly reminded of what we have been eating (even if it is only dinner). It has really helped us be more proactive about eating more nutritious things.  Also, it has helped to cut back on our eating out at restaurants.  Before I started documenting what we had for dinner, it was commonplace for us to eat out for lunch and dinner every weekend. Now, that is a rare occurrence, and we try to only eat out when we are away from home for an event (movie, concert, vacation, etc.) or I am mentally/physically unable to prepare dinner (July 30th).

The only drawback is that with us preparing more dinners at home our recipe rotation is getting pretty old.  Things that we once loved (and would get me so excited when I thought of it at lunch), are now so blah.  Now just to find new recipes!


Key:

L.O. = Left overs
*OUT* = Went out to eat...
CHIX = Chicken

Sadly, we have stopped eating linguini and clam sauce (our cheapest and easiest meal) due to OD'ing on it.  Husband guy has also informed me that grilled cheese sandwiches are now a 'no' - he/we are trying to cut back on bread and cheese.

Interestingly though, I have gotten good about making meals out of random crap we have in the fridge (see July 24-27).  It saves money and helps to clean out the fridge! I always thought dinner had to comprise of, well, "dinner food."  Now I am comfortable knowing that for us the only requirements for dinner is that it includes food, and that it would be great if the food was somewhat healthy.  So, hardboiled eggs + random fruit in smoothie form + assortment of leftovers can be a perfectly acceptable dinner.