So if you live in Michigan you probably already know the economy here stinks.  If you didn’t, well, I need to come move in with you under that rock.  Anyway so I was driving home yesterday and passed a house nearby that has been for sale for awhile now.  There are TONS of houses for sale it seems.  Everyday I swear a new one pops up.  I digress… so I’m driving by and I notice as I”m coming up on it there is a Lexus in the driveway with a big neon pink sign on it that reads…

Free Lexus with the purchase of this HOUSE.

That says it all doesn’t it?  I really had a good laugh, which I’m sure wasn’t the intended reaction, but come on.  I guess they really want to get rid of the house, and apparently they aren’t all that attached to the Lexus either.

It’s Monday and with Monday comes a school day for both Ethan and Dylan.  Dylan has afternoon preschool so it really breaks up the day.  It seems like by the time I get something started it is time to go.  And then the same thing happens when I pick him up.  I have cards to work on today (I know you’re shocked), and I’d like to get at least two prepped, packed and checked off my list.  I’m not as far along with them as I’d like to be so I really need to get motivated! 

In my defense I’ve been distracted the last few days.  Denny is refinishing the kitchen floor.  UGH!  This is the second time I’m life that I’ve had to go through this, and let me tell you, it stinks.  Really, it stinks.  Yes it is a pain in the butt for sure, but the smell of the polyurethane that he uses is really something.  I had wanted to go with a water based product this time but the color just wasn’t what I wanted.  No pain, no gain right?  At least this time it is only the kitchen area.  Last time we took on this task it was 90% of the house, and I flew off to New York just so I’d miss out on the stink. :P  Yeah, I’m smarter than I look.

So the kitchen is a MESS, and Denny and I are slowly rewashing all the dishes and such.  Gee, it seems like I just did this in July when he fixed to soffit and spread drywall dust all over…  Anyway, he told me last night not to wash anything because he was going to “take care of it” and that he “had a system.”  Uhh sure.  In true Jen form, I started to do it myself this morning, because I have found that the old adage “If you want anything done right, you need to do it yourself” is true just about 100% of the time around here.  Well he put so much stuff is the most ridiculous places I thought it best to just start over.  I mean the person who uses the kitchen least should not be the one responsible for the location of the brown sugar in relation to the poultry seasoning.  I mean really, which one of the two do you use more at your house??  Well I had to DIG for the brown sugar this morning.  I called him at work and let him know that his system was, uhh, for the birds.  I’ll be rectifying that today too.

Now if you have gotten this far into my witty banter you deserve a little something, lol.  So here is a tip, and every time I show someone I get that “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that” look…

I paint chipboard a lot.  I ink chipboard a lot.  I do a lot with chipboard.  I don’t like a big mess.  Now this doesn’t require you get any special “equipment” really, but I’d invest in a Craft Sheet if I was you, but again not necessary for this.

Take your Craft Sheet or a piece of scrap paper and run some lines of a repositionable adhesive on it.  EZ Dots by Scrapbook Adhesive by 3L works well for this.  Now arrange your chipboard on the lines so that they are face up.  It doesn’t matter how you arrange it, conserve your space and you’ll find this tip works even better.

Now that your chipboard letters/shapes/etc. are stuck down paint over them with a foam brush, or ink them directly with the pad.  This works great to hold the letters/shapes in place while you do all sorts of different things to them, i.e. doodling.  Now while it dries between coats you can just lift up your scrap or Craft Sheet and move it someplace safe to dry, going back to it for more coats, etc.  It works great and your fingers won’t be a mess!

Why the Craft Sheet?  Well it can be rinsed or wiped right off as it is Teflon coated.  I highly recommend it, and I’ve found that I use mine a lot.  I got a small sized one (8.5×11).

Enjoy the tip and have a great day.

~j