Showing posts with label Drama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Drama. Show all posts

Friday, April 17, 2015

Groups.

It's about time to be honest. I'm just gonna jump right to it and tell you the big secret I've been keeping.

I'm addicted to Silhouette Cameo Creations, a group on Facebook. 

For people that have the cutting plotter, Silhouette, it's for people like those to share ideas, projects, and ask and answer questions and advice. I'm constantly on there, looking at other people's creations and sometimes I offer my wise wisdom to those in need. LOL.

Since being in this group for several months, it has increased my creativity, insight, helpfulness, knowledge, and sheer desire to craft. Happy. has REALLY become a business since I joined. I now have started crafting with vinyl instead of paper. I bought a heat press to make my creations professional instead of mediocre. I've thrown Hobby Lobby out of the window and invited API into my world and made them my best friend. I've created a Facebook site for Happy.. (thought to self: I should've really updated my blog AND FB at the same time to keep up with the blogging half of the world!)

I've invested SO. MUCH. into this, it's crazy and I love it. Sitting behind me are shirts in every size from newborn onesies to adult XL (soon to carry bigger sizes),  wine glasses, towels and towels and towels (dish ones), 2 different kinds of ring dishes, tons of plastic storage bins, stuffed animals, tote bags, tote bags, tote bags, and tote bags (SO many different colors, sizes and even patterns!), and in the kitchen are 72 mugs (red, white, and black) ready to be beautifized!

"Funny story" about those mugs... I opened up the first box and pulled out a mug. There was a giant paint "drip" down the side of it, like the color wasn't even and it looked awful and I couldn't sell that! So I went through that box. And the next one. And of course the next one. I found 24 (ONE THIRD) mugs that were defective, had drips like the one I just described, one had a chip out of it...



Most were not TERRIBLE, but definitely not sell-able!



I ordered everything online, and luckily, after several days, they are re-shipping a full box to me and it should be here in the next few days.

Speaking of the next few days.... Yesterday I asked my Facebook friends to choose a color from these options:



and didn't tell them what it's for (I love doing that). They picked the bright pink on the bottom, the dark purple on top, and then Adam chose the dark blue up top.

I'll be posting what I'm doing with the goods soon! I can't wait!! I love glitter!

<3

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Vendor.

Today's big announcement has to do with the physical world. 

I strongly believe that mental illnesses are not something to be ashamed of. People should neither be afraid to admit any sicknesses, nor should others have a negative feeling towards those that are sick. I've talked before on my blog several times about my mental issues and struggles, so I don't try to hide it. In fact, I think it's better for people to know it about me so they don't wonder why I never leave the house, why I cry at everything, and sometimes why I am up all night long. Those of you that know me personally know that I prefer things in the internet/computer/craftination station world(s). Dealing with things in person is hard for me. 

One of the issues I'm going to really have to deal with is my agoraphobia (diagnosed by a dr, for reals), because... 

I've been invited to be a vendor at a store in downtown Manitowoc called Favorite Things! 


A lovely Tammy Potter saw my advertisement on a local Facebook buy/sell page for Easter baskets, and approached me. She said she'd love to see what I had and would love to have me come down to look at the store. 

The store is right smack in the middle of quaint Manitowoc downtown. There are other vendors that have rented space in the store - I guess the whole store is made of crafters/artists that bring their work there for display and purchase. 

I have so many ideas and things that I want to do. I need more time! I want to be able to put everything together tonight *and yes, leave my house,* and go to Favorite Things to drop everything off and help organize but I have orders to fill, pictures to watermark and put on the website or list on Etsy, the rest of my website to finish... then I have to make the product to go on the shelves! And I have to make forms for custom orders! And I have to put together catalogs for certain things - like for vinyl decals.

Omg I'm growing anxious just typing it out. 

Go work, woman!

<3

Sunday, November 23, 2014

Keychains.

(I know, key chains is two words, but I only use one word for my post titles. Deal with it.)

I've been meaning to post about more exciting things! Being unemployed really makes you busy! 

....lol. 

No, it's my sleeping. My sleeping pattern has been off for almost a year now - since I opened Etsy and got a few sales near Valentine's Day. I worked so hard and so much that I wasn't sleeping entire nights. I was working straight through them and then working a full day at my day job. 

Come the weekend though, it was filled with sleeping. 

Really, just that. Sleeping.

My record is approximately 62 hours of sleep, accumulated from Friday night after work until Monday morning when it was time to go into work. I was always so tired that I couldn't stay awake for longer than three hours. 

To my defense, it wasn't all my Obsessive Compulsion Disorder which made me work incessantly on Etsy orders, but my brain medication (for bipolar, depression, anxiety, ADHD, and whatever else I can't remember) was all sorts of out of whack this year too. 

My brain medication is quite better now. Adam is very kind, understanding, and is helping me to get my life back on track like an everyday person. 

The struggle to have a normal life is real.

-----

I'm done complaining today. I'm going to share with you my latest product that's not quite up for sale on Etsy yet, but I've been making several for friends around town and trying to catch up on Etsy orders before they go up, but they shall be soon!

CUTE, CUTE key chains!







with so many different styles and backgrounds to choose from, and there are going to be even more soon!




(that's a copyright image, not a Chicago Bears logo)


I made the first (12) key chains for a friend - a sample of what they looked like is in the first picture. She took the key chains to the parents and aunts/uncles in her family to announce that she was pregnant! Howe so, so cute!?

Next up, I'm almost done with an order for one of Adam's coworkers. She ordered five and she went all-out. We added a metal charm and also a bead charm to each one! It was a lot of fun, but a lot of work, too! I made almost 30 bead charms (so that she could have a variety to choose from) and had to teach myself how to make them. FUN, FUN! I love new stuff. Love, love, love it.

Candid photos of her key chains (because I'm too excited to wait until they're *actually* done to show you!):







I should finish up my 2 coupon book orders. That'll make me feel better about being behind.

Contact me if you want a custom key chain order!


Friday, November 14, 2014

Enormous.

This turned into an unexpected, unintentional, enormous post. However, I have pretty pictures, and that makes it okay.

I should really be working right now, but I'm not. I'm here to say "TWENTY-FIVE (25) VISITORS ON MY BLOG TODAY SO FAR!" Whuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut? Since when did I have anyone looking at my blog besides the 52. (52 Reason I Love You) post!? I'm an internet sensation! Ha. I'm hilarious and you know it.

I also see that I'm getting some visitors via Pinterest to my Legoman. post where I shared this awesome card I made for my brother last year:

It's a Lego!

The visits on my Legoman. post are from a pin with over 70 repins! You know what that means? It means that other people like my work. It means I have something in me somewhere that can come up with good stuff now and then. It means that I'm getting better. It means all of the fails for the past (almost) 28 years have been worth it because I have learned from my mistakes and I have grown from them. It means I'm awesome.

How exciting is that?! This used to be a nothing blog. A place where I put my thoughts down and sometimes a picture. I documented a lot about my crafting failures. NO ONE visited my blog. No one except for a dear interweb friend from Australia (I can never spell Australia), Michelle from Amusing Michelle. She's sincerely nice and personable, and very, very good at what she does.

My real joy and excitement in regards to visitors is my Etsy store. One day in June I got 250 views!!!!!211)%$@*&W$)%!!! I have screenshots to prove it! That's a lot for me! I only have a few items in my store, and they're not very common items that everyone is looking for, y'know? 





I just about died when I saw that number go up and up. As you can see, I stayed up past 1:00 A.M. the following day to see what the final number was for that day.

Not only that, but there's a Pinterest pin out there that has 500 some repins! NO JOKE.



----------

I think I've done enough bragging for today. I think now I'll get back to work.

Today will consist of:
  • Mailing out a chalkboard coupon book (maybe I'll tell you about that drama tomorrow), which looks a little something like this on the inside:


(I'm paranoid about other people stealing my work, so I put a huge watermark
over any screenshots I take. Sorry for the annoyance.)
  • Cutting white vinyl for a HUGE project, which I'll share later,
  • Applying to 4 jobs as required by the State of Wisconsin for those unemployed that are receiving unemployment benefits,
  • Taking pictures of 2003974 pieces of paper for a custom order to create a custom sized binder. Yes, yes. I have to take pictures of pieces of paper, edit them, upload them to a photo sharing website, then the customer gets to choose what she likes, and THEN I can make the binder. SO. MUCH. WORK. I didn't charge enough... lol...


  • Typing reasons into the computer for a reverse blue deck of cards for a 52 Reasons I Love You order, which will end up looking a little something like this:

  • Doing other things that I forgot,
  • Kicking Nuke (my cat) out of the Craftination Station a few dozen times. He likes my beads. and to jump in my light box. and pens. and my Silhouette Cameo. and stepping on paper. I may or may not want to strangle him sometimes.
  • And hopefully I can do the dishes like I've been meaning to for two days. (DO NOT judge me. I will smite you with a curse if you do.)
  • Oh, and hopefully do a load of laundry.
  • And fold Adam's laundry that he refuses to put away.
  • Maybe a little food in there too. 
  • Probably a panic attack or three.
If you were me, what priority would you set these items at!? I DON'T KNOW, EITHER! 

/off to go turn in slow circles a few times, trying to figure out what to do first, and then sitting back down with a feeling of dread and hopelessness. Where to begin?

/sigh

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Returned.


Well that whole Adoption blog was a bust. I wasn't sure what I could post and if anyone would be interested and if **I** would even be interested... so I never bothered posting anything. lawl.

Despite me deserting my blog for the better part of the year, this place has been quite active. How? Thank you, 52 Reasons I Love You (most colors, blue/teal, & Star Wars)! Dude, those things are so popular! All I did to get where I am was blog about it and link up to 52 Reasons I Love you original maker's website. And because I linked up, tons of people are clicking on my picture and coming to my blog! Not even just that, but some people are going to my Etsy store from my blog! And visitors, as we all know, equals sales (sometimes), which equals money, which equals a newly unemployed Tessa very happy!

There has been SO MUCH crafting going on 'round here. SO MUCH AWESOME with little fails mixed in. Okay, a lot of fail (wait until I talk about the dreadful purple binder). 

I want to document all of this so bad, and I thought Facebook was a decent way of doing so. But it's just not cutting it. I'm pretty sure that I can share whatever I want about my crafts and the sales on Etsy that I've gotten, as long as I don't give names. Right? Does anyone know anything about this? 

Here's to hoping I don't get sued. 
/cheers



Thursday, May 29, 2014

Blog.

I created a separate blog for the Rathsack Adoption Option stuff. Mostly it has a ton of info about the 52 Reasons I Love You decks that I've been selling like crazy on Etsy. Not much else has been on there. There are like three blog posts, but I don't care. It is what it is. Rainbows, unicorns, babies, and love.

If you feel like it, help yourself!

or click on the picture below





http://rathsackadoptionoption.wordpress.com/

Saturday, January 11, 2014

Pissed.



This is my cat.





His name is Nuke.





I just watched him pee on half of my clothes waiting to go into the washer.






I hate this cat. 






So adding these pictures is really pissing me off.





Should I try to wash the clothes?


Or should I throw them away?


Or should I just cry? Because that's what I feel like doing.


It's not that I'm attached to those clothes per se, it's that my effing cat urinated on my clothes. His owner's clothes. MY clothes. Does he pee on my bed, too? On the couch?

He just peed on my HEART. 
/cries
lol

We don't have the money to replace these clothes. 


I hate this cat right now.

Monday, December 30, 2013

Baby.

I don't have any real pictures to share today, but because I know that pictures helps break up the monotony of the walls of texts, I'm going to put some that I adore in here... and they just so happen to go along with the theme.

There are a few things that I want to discuss. They're uncomfortable for me to talk about, so I would expect it's going to be uncomfortable for you, too. The only reason I'm doing this is because I like to be open about big circumstances in my life. I don't see why there has to be an issue with discussing something going on in my life. Everyone enjoys their privacy, but I find it important for me to open up about problems that are close to my heart. Or my brain...

Tenderness.

Here's a recap of rants I've had in the past:
It looks like I covered everything in just one post!

Playful.

Today I'm going to cover:
  • We can't have kids (probably).
  • We are too poor to adopt or to go through fertilization treatments.
  • We worry about my mental issues interfering with the stresses of being a foster parent.
  • We want to be parents anyway.
  • I have opened an Etsy shop and will be starting to promote my (hopefully decent) work to try to earn money to purchase some sort of human being. That sounds so effed up, but it's true.
  • I don't know why SO MANY of the pictures in my previous posts vanished. That actually really pisses me off, because the only reason I even KEEP a blog is to document my life and work! WHAT.THE. CRAPF(&SFJAsd;fo*%($@&%!!!!!!!
Friendship.

1.  We can't have kids (probably).

True story. Everyone else says "oh, you will. It will happen", "you're young still", "you never know what can happen". Fine, I'm young, but chances aren't looking so good. PLUS, WHO ARE YOU to tell me it'll happen? Ugh, that irks me the worst. I haven't been trying *that* long, in the whole scheme of life (6 years), but that's a lot of failed attempts and so, so many monthly heartbreaks. I'm pretty convinced that if we keep doing what we're doing (essentially everything they could do 2013 years ago, nothing more), we won't be able to have a baby. We've "stopped trying" for a year or two now, hoping that we would be one of those lucky couples that have them on accident. No dice.

I have had some medical tests in the past. Some tests have come back either normal or slightly abnormal, but there's not a lot that we can do because of the money issue.

Joy.

Which leads me to:

2.  We are too poor to adopt or to go through fertilization treatments.

I suppose we're not poor, because we're not in the poverty range, but we're definitely not rich. Most people call it "well off". We're on the lower end of that description.

My enormous medical bills require us to deplete nearly all of our monthly "fun" money to pay them. We don't have $20,000 to invest into an adoption. Don't try to tell me that it's cheaper Here or There, because I feel like I've looked into everything! Even the so-called not-for-profit organizations charge a minimum of $20,000. Doctor appointments are costly just to try to see what's wrong with one of us. Once we find out what's wrong, what's the treatment? What if we go through $10,000 in medical tests and find out that the only option is In Vitro anyway? Either way it's a moot point, because we don't have $10k to drop in the first place.

HOWEVER! There is a place in Madison that has a guarantee that their services will work! Adam is begging me to try that before we go through the process of fostering. The only problem I have is that Madison is THREE HOURS away. We'd both have to take an entire day off of work just to go to one appointment! That's an entire adventure! That's a lot of time in the car and a lot of money spent on gas!

Content.

3.  We worry about my mental issues interfering with the stresses of being a foster parent.

It's not secret that I don't handle stress well. In dire situations, I can be unusually calm, collected and cool, but when constantly pressured, I break. If a troubled child pushes me to a breaking point, obviously that's not good. But, also, who is to say that I'll break? What kind of a break? Will I cry? Will I need to go get my meds adjusted? Will I need to go see a counselor? (probably a good idea, anyway.) Those are all ok. But what if I need to be admitted? Highly unlikely. But what if!? That's always going to be in the back of my mind.

I think that the best option for us would be for us to foster. This may sound wrong or inappropriate, but it's the cheapest route, and therefore the most feasible and practical in our situation. Getting into severe debt just to have something that will cost us even more in the short and long term and forever term doesn't make any sense to me.

Precious.

4.  We want to be parents anyway.

"We" is a relative term. Adam is more of a "if everything is peachy keen, let's do it", whereas I'm the irrational, spoiled brat who always gets what she wants, and throws a fit when she doesn't get it. I believe what everyone else says, that there is never an opportune time to have children. You just have to do it, and things work out somehow.

I've been trying hard to be patient. When I pray and plead with God to give me a child, I hear him tell me to "be patient". Ugh! Fine. I guess I don't have a choice much, do I? lol.

Soul.

5.  I'm making this post because I want to explain that I'm going to be shamelessly promoting my (hopefully decent) work so as to earn money to obtain a Precious. 

I don't know why I feel like I have to announce this. Maybe so it's that I can tell myself that I should do this. Because I AM awesome and I CAN do this. Maybe my stuff IS good enough that people might want to buy it. And if I do get money from it, I want people to know that it's going to something that I'm passionate about.



However, I know that if none of this goes my way, Adam and I will just grow old together. 
And that will be ok.

Endless Love.

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

Newsletter.

UPDATED: I reposted this with some more photos that I found later HERE.

I have a lot of fun doing little things that end up taking a long, long time:

The Rathsack Family's Second (Not-So-Annual) Christmas Newsletter!

I did a newsletter in 2011, but not one in 2012 (it was a sad year), and decided to do one this year because so much happened!

They were printed on off-white paper so the print on the inside was not a stark difference from the backside.

Did you know that Office Max still charges you $.49 per color copy, even if you use your own paper? RIDICULOUS.

This is how the cover page turned out once printed with some AWESOME lighting... yes. it's awesome. You're jealous. Most of the covers ended up with dirty spots somehow, so I used some iRocks (SHINY!) to cover them up. They turned out pretty random on most, but I don't care. That's how I roll in the first place: Random.

Better Lighting, less bling.


The newsletter was a tri-fold card, and because I like to mix things up to break the monotony, bound either by a ribbon across the folds or by tying the corners together with small ribbon, shiny silver string, or red baker's twine.

I shamelessly stuck my brand stamp that Erin purchased for me a long time ago that I don't really use. I really like the stuff I do, but if someone else doesn't like it, I bet they think "I TOTALLY wouldn't put my name on THAT piece of crap". You know what I have to say about that!? DEAL WITH IT! People are dealing with things now, Ted. (if you know what I'm referring to here, then you just made my day.)

Tri-fold in action.
I forgot to take pictures of the corner-tied cards. I liked these ribbon-on-the-fold cards (as pictured) better, but they were a lot more time consuming, so I didn't do a lot of them.

The first page of the newsletter!
CONGRATS a million times to Adam for his promotion ( and his raise :D )

The second page! 
I posted about this story earlier.
It was like being on an HGTV or TLC show about a poor newlywed couple that got their house made over for free! We are truly blessed.

The third and last page!

It's hard to pick my most favorite part of the newsletter. I think I'm hilarious, so I'd probably have to pick the "© T to the Essa, Inc.", or the "Love, Smooches, Rainbows and Unicorns".

I love the way this project turned out. I had a really fun time making them, even though I stayed up until 2 AM a lot of nights adjusting, re-adjusting, tweaking, moving this or that an eighth of an inch here and there... then they took me hours upon hours upon hours to complete by hand once printed. I only had to make 65 of them.

<.< 
(looks left)

>.> 
(looks right)

So much fun!!

Wednesday, October 23, 2013

In the Making: Effect.

The Big Effect. Affect. Whichever one it is. Pretty sure it's Effect.

I'm really behind in work, but I'm just so excited about the progress at home that I just have to take a minute to post a picture:


The living room.  Minus the mess on the coffee table, the mess on the floor, and a few other things, I am done! I have a white cloth to put over the coffee table and the side table, another curtain to hang in place of the blue one, and some spider webs around the place, but the most time consuming and hardest parts are complete!

This year I planned to focus on "The Big Effect". I wanted to do a small amount of work that would produce big results. So much for "small amount of work", but I think this "big effect" is pretty much there.

Rather than just have a few pumpkins lying around to call it a Halloween party, that's right, this girl goes all the freak out.  And I love it.

I told Adam that all I want (other than for people to have a ton of fun) is for everyone to say how cool just ONE thing is. Just say "hey, cool party", or "hey, this eyeball Oreo truffle is amazing", or "hey, I'm not touching those chocolate intestines... they look disgusting", or "hey, these games are fun", or "hey, this photo booth is radical", or "hey, you're the bomb".  Preferably all of them, but I just want a compliment. I know I'll get them from Erin and myself, but I hope everyone else thinks it's cool! I love to share my love for crafts and for stealing other people's creative ideas (thank you, Pinterest!).

Hopefully everything goes as planned. I pick up Erin from the airport tomorrow evening around 6, so by the time we get home (around 7) we will have time still to do something a little fun.

On tonight's agenda: Blood Sample Lollipops with Adam and dead trees with Adam. Adam said he's going to try to splice the speaker wire that I have, put the wires in banana plugs, and hook up the fancy speakers I got from my first boyfriend when I was 15! Wow, that was 11 years ago. Those are old speakers for having almost never been used...

Tuesday, February 5, 2013

Rabid.

I just cancelled all of my appointments with every one of my doctors. The medical debt is up to $21,000. That's more than I make in an entire year. I don't understand how the world can work this way. I feel so defeated, so angry, so depressed, so panicked.

I can't even see my counselor. I left a message on her voice mail; I wanted to tell her myself that I couldn't see her anymore. As soon as I heard her voice on the recorded message, I crumbled in tears. She may not even understand my message through my cries. How embarrassing.

I wish Wisconsin wasn't a marital state so I could let all of my debts go to collections, trash my credit, and never pay them. I don't care that it's dishonest. I feel cheated and they don't deserve anything from me. $500 for 5 minutes of a doctor's time is so outrageously wrong and I get rabid with anger when I think about it.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Dolls.

I'm finally getting around to posting my last few pictures of my Halloween party.

I wish I loved to blog more!  I have SO many things I WANT to write about, post pictures about, etc... but it's kind of a pain putting a post all together.  And I hate how much I complain about it. lol

I still need to post pictures of the living room and the spell books I made, but today I'm sharing the creepy dolls and Kelsi and I made.  Here are the inspiration pictures from Pinterest:






Super disturbing.  Who comes up these things?  
Who finds these images inspiring and wants to make some themselves?  
I'm kind of embarrassed to say that I am inspired by them!  

I found a bunch of cheap dolls at Goodwill and St. Vinny's and I already had the paint we used.  
So it was a relatively cheap project (under $10), and really fun.
Here are Kelsi's and my versions:




Before

After
for some reason this picture won't load right side up!  It's driving me crazy!








There were a few more dolls that we did, but I can't find the pictures.  I'm assuming pictures of them weren't taken because they were somewhere other than on the main tables/displays.

When I was detaching the heads, I thought it would also be disturbing to paint the hands, legs, etc.




I also had more pictures of the hands, legs, etc., but maybe I didn't load then onto my photobucket account.  

- - - - - - -

Anyway, I had a great Christmas, even though Adam was sick on Christmas day, then I had the flu for the three days after Christmas. 

My body physically has been feeling a lot better for the past month or two, so that makes me very happy!  

Speaking of pain, I've gotten several emails from my family recently.  One of my cousins has been diagnosed with breast cancer.  My nephew had enlarged kidneys that caused him so much pain he couldn't even move his toe without screaming in pain.  He had to stay several excruciating days at the hospital.  He's better now, but it was scary.  Once of my sister-in-law's mother had a stroke a few weeks ago.  A month in a half ago, one of my brothers was diagnosed with Bell's Palsey (half of his face is paralyzed) which he got from a cold he had while he was in Korea.  He can't close that side's eye and has to wear a patch over that eye.  Another sister-in-law reports that her sister has ovarian cancer.  

I thought my life was horrible because of my firbomyalgia, mental issues, and debt.  I gained perspective from all of this horrible news.  Someone (or millions of others) have it so much worse than you.  It's crazy how fast your life can change.

Count your blessings.

Love and Happiness,

-T