Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Half a Month Gone

Yikes! The realization of that hit me last night as I was doing email maintenance and trying to make myself come over here and post. Don't get me wrong, I have an almost continuous conversation with you guys, just in my head. The day they invent a think-it-keyboard that I can afford, I'm blogging 24/7/365! Til then, though, my poor readers must deal with my pain-killer-induced ADD and patiently wait for me to finally blog the old fashioned way, LOL.

Anyway, today is the 16th. Hard to believe, huh? There's just under a month until Valentine's Day. Double yikes! I really wanted to make lots of Valentine cards this year, but I have so many things artsy and non-artsy on my plate begging for service that I am wondering if that's possible now. OH, well, such are the ups and downs of Life. We'll see....

Thanks again to all of you who took the time and care to express such loving comments to me. I've been laying low the past few days, spending lots of extra with Reggie and just basically flitting from one chore to the next when I'm not sleeping. The weather down here is typical January wet cold, just miserable.And, looks like we are going to have an entire week of it, too.

I've been keeping a list of stuff to blog about, so I'd better get to it!

First up, not a toot, but a little artfart maybe. LOL One of my layouts is on the Scrap the Girls blog. One of the things I love about these kind of sites is the collective display of readers layouts. Challenge sites that have the guest designers and the design teams all the time get old after awhile. The readers gallery follows no set theme, so you never know what you are gonna see. I like that!

Next, congrats to AMC's Mad Men and its star, Jon Hamm. Hamm, who plays Don Draper, won best dramatic actor at the Golden Globes, and the show won Best TV Drama. Another of my shows won too: Glen Close won Best dramatic actress for Damages on Fx. I cannot wait for both shows to return for another season.

Next, I have a product review of a new item I just received yesteray: the second generation Crop-A-Dile, called The Big Bite! I love it! This is how it came shipped to me from HSN. I never watch the shows, I just get the email promos. HSN's shipping and service is top-notch, by the way. This is my third order since Thanksgiving, the first two being the Bind_It-All and then a card-scorer and box maker.

Right off, I encounter probably my only problem with this product: getting into the package. Boo! This is ridiculous. Took me 7 minutes with my utility scissors. I timed it. The entire perimeter of the packaging had to be cut away on the seam.

After that, it was all sweetness and light. This is all that was included in the package HSN was offering. That's over 350 gromments. I've not used a grommet yet, but I plan to compare this tool with my MM Grommet Tool real soon, for another blog review. I wanted the Big Bite, so I had to buy the grommets since they came with the tool. For now, I'll just assume it grommets nicely, too.

To test the hole-punch power (which is why I got the dang thing), I used a popsicle stick.
My guess is that the pop stick is like 3 mm thick, cuz it looks about the thickness of .03 cm on my ruler. Never could get the hand of the metric system!

Anyway, on one end of the stick is a hole made with the original CAD, and on the other end, the Big Bite. No diff. Both went thru like butta. Vundabarrrrrr!

The Big Bite is awesome because it now gives you a 6-inch reach into the page to punch holes and set metal. It has removeable feet that keep it standing upright and anchor the tool for when you press down on the handle to punch or set. It sets the same size eyelets, too, plus the grommet sizes. And we get slightly better instructions on this one. WRMK has sucky directions. They are too small and hard to read. The Big Bite's could be better, but I'm glad it's an improvement, much like how I feel about the Big Bite overall. I give it an A-, and I am very glad I took the plunge and went ahead and got one now. Lots of places are now out-of-stock. Mine only took 5 days to get to me, so I am doubly lucky.

Well, that's it for today. Have a great Hump Day and evening!

13 comments:

csimmers said...

I am SOOOO jealous. I curbed my curiousity when everyone was telling me about the HSN deal. Now I'm wishing I had caved in. I love my crop-a-dile, so I know I'll really love the Big Bite.

And, guess what. Not only is it close to Valentine's Day, but it's also close to your birthday. This year you can actually celebrate your birthday on the right day!! LEAP YEAR!

I hope you're feeling better and I'm happy to see you blogging.

Kim Langston said...

I am right there with you sister on the Big Bite. I couldn't resist the temptation. Of course I ordered mine that evening of the Today's Special Value so I won't get it until the beginning of February. I am so excited.

Can you believe there are folks out there that don't even own the original Crop-A-Dile!?!?!?!?! When I commented that I bought the Big Bite, I received all sorts of responses about no one uses eyelets anymore so they don't need this! Who uses eyelets anymore? I bought the Big Bite so I can punch holes in ANYTHING I want!

Lida said...

I want that one sooo bad!!! I am getting it as soon as posible, I don´t live without my crop-a-dile and I know this one is going to be awesome too!

Linda said...

I have been trying to resist the temptation and here it is! I'm this close to caving in, good thing everyone is sold out!

Ryzmomplus2 said...

Your posts always crack me up! Love the review of the new cropadile - might have to check into that???

Heather said...

Oh Aimes! I'm so jealous! I always lament about how I wish my CAD would punch farther in and low and behold they come out with this thing!

Anonymous said...

This tool sounds awesome! Have sooooooooooooo much fun using it!

Maureen said...

Oooh, I love my Cropadile, have to keep my eyes open for this one too... was it very pricey??? I waited with a 40% coupon at Michaels to get my Cropadile...

Anonymous said...

You're so lucky!! I have the CAD but I wish they came out with this sooner! Enjoy yours.

jillconyers said...

Glad you like your new toy. It's nice to hear some positives. I was tempted but I didn't give in. Now I'm reconsidering...maybe.

Valentine's Day...can't seem to get my hear there yet.

Gina said...

Congrats on having your LO featured! It's bang at the top of the list too - lovely colorful LO! Way to Go, Girl!

Thanks for the Big Bite review. Glad it's working well for you. I'm still trying to get used to the original CAD!

Anonymous said...

I'm glad you've been taking it easy and getting some rest. I'm agreeing with you on the Big Bite. I've read the posts on 2 Peas where people are having troubles, but other than the fight to get the package open, I'm loving mine. I put one of the ring type Gromlets on the hole of a tag - dead center! I should post some examples. Have fun - keep posting, and take care of yourself!

Barbara Eastwick said...

I just noticed that your categories - too cool! Now, if you want, just post on two peas or add to the blog challenge for the new topics! We'll get everyone to read all of the great information and ideas!