Upside Down File Cabinet

(You can't laugh when you read this...Promise?)

I have been in desperate need of a file cabinet. I keep checking craigslist for freebies. Can't help it, it's the Tight Finn coming out in me. I finally found one on clearance at Target for a whopping $7.46! It's two drawers and "wood". Of couse, I scooped it up and raced home. It sat in my office for a few days as I was too busy to get to it. I was secretly hoping it would "put itself together". But alas, it didn't so, on Saturday afternoon I decided to put it together. The directions were "dummy proof" and since I had to together much of my dad's office furniture, I figured I could do this one.

As I was attaching the bottom to the sides, one of the screw caps busted. Guess you get what you pay for. Never fear!! Husband to the rescue!! He took his handy dandy wood glue and glued the top and the bottom to the sides. We ended up going somewhere right after that so the cabinet sat until this morning.

With my children gathered at my feet this morning, I finished it up. I went to put the drawers in and they didn't fit! I realized I had put one of the drawer runners on upside down. I fixed it and the drawers still didn't fit! I looked back at the directions and saw that the runners in the cabinet were upside down. I was slighly puzzled at myself for that one because I thought I had been careful to get them on "just so". So, out came the screw driver again and I put them "right side up". The drawers still didn't fit right. At this point, I was more than slightly frustrated and tempted to put it aside and have husband rescue me again when he got home from work. I took some deep breaths and went back to the diagram.

It took me less than two minutes to realize that when my husband had glued it all together, I had forgotten to make sure the top was truly the top and the bottom was truly the bottom! I turned the file cabinet on it's head, re-fixed the drawer runners and.... Viola!!! They fit perfectly!

Okay, so I'm not always the brightest bulb on the tree.

(How come your computer screen is covered with coffee?)

Brain Dumping Ahead!!

A few notes from the life of one of the able mabel's....

• The last couple of days have found JB and I hunched over her dining room table stringing beads. Guess you could call it making jewelry. We have another sale for our church coming up. This time JB got roped into being the big cheese, for which I am very thankful it's her and not me! We're doing a project night every Tuesday night between now and the sale (April 12th). This past Tuesday was jewelry. I was the "teacher". It was like the semi-blind leading the blind....but we got it done and nothing has fallen apart yet. I've made some with the help of sister M but never on my own, much less teaching others how to do it. As the evening was winding down, JB was getting into the swing of things but we were almost out of beads. Her solution....run to Walmart in the morning and buy some more beads. We then spent yesterday afternoon (just the two of us) making a dozen or so more. It's actually pretty relaxing, this bead stringing business!
• Our first stash-n-go pouch sold on Tuesday, a few hours after I listed it. We still haven't received payment but it's a new buyer so she/they might not realize it's a two step process. I'll send her a little note today about how to send money. We have two more listed. I really should retake pictures of one of them...sigh...story of my life!
• We dropped off a few things at a placed in Maple Grove called The Studio at Rush Creek. My mom has taught a doll class there before. It's an art "classroom" and a coffee bar. They also have a little gift shop area. Since the commission is 60/40, we definitely won't be bringing some of our stuff there. Only the things that have a higher profit margin. She really liked our light switch covers.
• I walked into our living room the other day and realize my baby can sit up! She was playing Little People with the other kids and sitting there like she's been doing it for years. No more Leaning Tower of Baby! She was rim-rod straight and steady as ever! (just thought I'd share....) She's nine months old so it's shouldn't be suprising that she can sit up but...
• It's 9:16am and my house is so peaceful. I put baby back to sleep after her 6:30 am feeding and she's still sleeping. The other kids are already playing outside. The only noise in my house is the mad typing of my fingers.

Have a Happy Day!

Done...

We got our first clutch listed today. I really don't like the word "clutch" so we named it the Stash-n-go-pouch, but I'm not super fond of that one either. Any suggestions for a good name for it??!?!

Our big pouch was made so it would fit a couple diapers and a travel pack of wipes, but the possibilities are endless with it!

I have sooooo much stuff to list but not enough time in my day to do it all! My goal is to get at least two to three things listed every day. We'll see if I can manage that!

Wandering aimlessly

That best describes me today. I have so much to get done and I really don't feel like doing any of it. So I wander the house hoping the mess will disappear by itself. Instead it seems to multiply!


On the plus side, I did get two cards listed in mom's shop today. I'm having issues getting a really great pictures of them so I'm waiting for sister K to e-mail the images so I can upload them.









We also got some bags listed in our shop this week. I made the executive decision to call them "Alice Handbags". Mainly because my lovely sassy three year old is our model and one of her many nicknames is Alice.












Now back to my wandering....

A few pics from yesterday's

photography session. I took 509 pictures yesterday! Most of them didn't turn out because I'm still trying to figure out what settings I need to have my camera on. We decided to start using models for some of our shots. Here are a few samples. The first two models did really well until the three year old got bored and started acting goofy and the baby doll decided it was time for a nap. The five year old did awesome for what we needed him for. JB is quite the model, I tell you! She posed perfectly everytime (but we ran out of daylight!)!

It's all fun and games...

until our model decides it's time for a nap!

The sale update

The sale on Saturday was kind of a dud. There weren't a lot of shoppers and those that came were just browsing. We did sell some stuff and gave out every business card we had with us. That many more people have now heard of able mabel. Who knows where those connections (from the business cards) will take us. There are two other sales near us more towards fall where the buyers come out in droves. I told the sisters that we can't give up until we've tried those two.



Now we have all this product on hand and the possibilities are endless as far as what we can now do with it. We've gone from production mode to marketing/selling mode. There is always the option of setting up a darling display in one of our garages, putting out signs and seeing what happens. Of course our Etsy store will be restocked and I think we'll try sell some of the smaller stuff from our blog.

Sister M took these pictures with my camera since I was working the sale for Pampered Chef. I was disappointed I couldn't be at the able mabel booth but I have been neglecting my Pampered Chef business and would really like to get that going again.

Tomorrow morning our internet service provider is going to send out a tech to look at our modem. I haven't been able to connect to the internet in the mornings. I like to get into my office first thing in the morning, update my blog and take care of our Etsy details. The rest of the day gets so busy, it's hard to find the time to do it. It'll be nice to get that taken care of.

Time to put the kiddos to bed! See you in the morning!

Which switch is which?

Alright, gather 'round for a pop quiz!

Pictured are four light switch covers that were made by myself and JB.

Who made which ones?

(Hint: we each made two)

We Interrupt This Photography Session...

as the worlds-most-precious-baby-doll decides to come check out what was happening in the dining room!

I had set up on the floor of the dining room this morning because the lighting was the best there. I was so absorbed in taking pictures that I forgot the little dolly can crawl, and when she sees something she wants, she crawls very quickly! She thought it was great to be part of the action!

Spring Fling is Here!

able mabel belongs to a group on Etsy called Fabulous Artistic Moms. The group is hosting a Spring Fling Giveaway. Here's how it works...

HOW TO PLAY:

Each participating Etsy store has hidden the image of our FAM Frog or the text “famfrogs” in one or more of their listings or listing photos. Find the frog image or text in 5 participating shops and be entered for a chance to win! All purchases made from participating shops during the promotion will also be entered into the drawing.
Send your guesses to: BamDesigns on Etsy and include the following information:

- Your Name

- Your Etsy Username

- The URL to the item where you found the frog!

- You need just one frog from 5 different shops!

Drawing will be held on March 26, 2008. The winners will be notified by convo or email. All entrants agree to have their names announced in the Etsy forums and on blogs.

PRIZES:

The prizes being awarded are FAM Bucks which are coupons used in participating FAM stores on Etsy. FAM Bucks are codes that entitle the bearer to receive discounts in participating FAM stores. FAM Bucks allow the winner to choose their prize from participating FAM stores!

Grand Prize: $50

Runner Up (x3): $20

Honorable Mention (x19): $10

Click here for a list of the participating stores.

We worked like

dogs yesterday! It was so much fun and at the end of the day, I collapsed into bed and fell into a deep sleep! We started out in the morning at JB's house, sewing. At the end of the afternoon we did a quick count from our two and a half weeks of sewing...

• 22 bags, totes, purses


• 3 full size aprons


• 1 half apron


• 5 small "clutches"


• 13 or so large "clutches" (not all the way completed, but for the most part all are sewn up)


• 7 burp cloths


• 4 stroller blankets

Cut out but not yet sewn...

• 6 bags, purses, totes


• about 6 blankets and/or burp rags


• some more "clutches" (I can't remember how many)

Plus we still have more fabric to dig into. Obviously we won't get it all done by Saturday but I'm pretty impressed with how much we did get done.

After we got our kids in bed, JB came over and we worked on paper crafts. I think between the two of us, we got 12 light switch covers done plus she put together 3 mini signs. It was definitely an "on" day!

It's here! It's here! It's here!

(take a deep breath, settle down) It's here! I am so excited (duh)! My new camera came in the mail today. I got home from JB's this afternoon and it was sitting on the front porch waiting for me! My husband opened it up, took everything out of it's packages, charged the battery and it's ready to go! I promise I'll post pictures as soon as I get a chance!

Now, though, I have to go get ready for a church fundraising meeting.

Don't forget to enter the light switch giveaway on Ribbonrockstarhairbow's blog. I'm so impressed with the response to it! Loads of fun!!

Short and Sweet

I am, once again, dashing out the door this morning to JB's house. We've been sewing like mad. Yesterday was the first day that it felt like we were getting things done. My kids ignored me and we were on a roll! Finally a day of visual progress! So much time is spent on first decided what to make with what, then coordinating fabrics, finding linings, thread...We end up with stacks of fabric everywhere and it all looks like a huge mess (okay, well maybe it is a huge mess!) Yesterday I was cutting like a madman and JB had the maching doing 90!

Ribbonrockstarhairbows is doing a giveaway on her blog using our light switch covers. You might just want to head over and check it out! I'll try get a more direct link later, I think she blogs all day long!

Off to hunch over the cutting table again today! Anyone want to come over and give us massages?

Another feature...

Remember I had posted on the Etsy message boards about looking for shops to features. StarvnRtist was one of them. (love the name)

I didn't have to look very far into her store to find something I liked. Wow! I love the colors, the picture (black background looks stunning!), all of it! Here is the link to this particular picture.

Has it really been that long

since I've blogged?!? Look at the last entry, it was done last Wednesday! Where in the world have I been?!?! Good question, I'm not really sure why I've neglected this blog.

I finally bought a new camera on Saturday. I ordered it from newegg. I tried to add an image of it, but it wouldn't work. Sorry! My budget goal was to stay around the $200 range. We previously had a Canon PowerShot SD600 and I had just started learning how to use it when I lost it.

I ended up buying a PowerShot 750. I am so excited to get it! I was trying to decide between the 750 and 1000. The reviews on the 750 were better, so that's what I went with. Newegg has combo deals and last week you were able to get a free 2G memory card with either camera. By the time I made my decision on which one to order, that particular combo deal was no longer available. I started to get irriatated at myself until I checked out the other combo deals. I found one with a 2G memory card, screen protector, case, tripod (i'm super excited about that part), extra battery, and something else for only $15 more than just the camera. I need all those other things anyway...

I'm also excited because JB got a pattern for a purse from sister M. We're going to try sew up a couple of them today. As soon as she calls, I'm outta here! (unfortunately the housework around here never goes away, so in the meantime, I'll get done what I can) We keep saying that we're not going to buy any more fabric but we're having a hard time getting inspired with what we have. JB has a dentist appointment this evening and her dentist just happens to be close to three fabric stores....

grrr...having spacing issues today! I hate when it's all squished together, so I added a few spaces between paragraphs...okay, I give up!