Blogging From A to Z - 2018 - Reflections

I want to thank everyone who came by my blog and commented or liked my showcase of things found at a Michaels Arts and Crafts store last month.  I was pleased to be able to finish the challenge on time this year and it was a lot of fun.  I was also a little afraid that it would be boring but it seems to have sparked some inspiration in a few people to check their local Michaels for things they would not have done before.  Now if I can just get Michaels to give me a kickback, it would be perfect, right?

In case you missed an installment or want to see something again, here is a recap of my Blogging from A to Z  of Michaels Arts and Crafts store:

A - App
B - Baking
C - Candles and Clearance
D - Drawing
E - Events and Classes
F - Floral
G - Glitter and Glue
H - Home Decor
I - Iron On
J - Jewelry
K - Kids
L - Lighting and Liquitex
M - Miniatures and Missions
N - Necklace holders and needlework
O - Organization
P - Picture frames
Q - Q-Line
R - Ribbons and Rocks
S - Scrapbooking
T - T-shirts
U - Unique and Unusual
V - Velcro and Vases
W - Wedding and Washi tape
X - X-treme, X-acto and X-tras
Y - Yarn
Z - Zentangle, Zippers and Zots


In addition to my recap, I have to put a shout out to several new people I met along the A to Z this year:

Leanne from Cresting the Hill - She blogs about midlife and the empty nest.
Wendy at Wendy's Waffle - She wrote about sports, the usual and the unusual.
Trudy at Reel Focus - She had a great movie game where you were to guess the title from the tagline.
Deena at Deena's Days - She was great with Elvis as her theme.
Sue at Sue's Trifles - Her A to Z was about occupations.
Jeanne Bryan Insalaco at Everyone Has a Story - I thought I knew a thing or two about Nancy Drew until I started reading her A to Z.


My friends from previous years:

Jacqui Murray at WordDreams who talked about the different genres in writing.  Jacqui, in addition to being the inspiration for my A to Z theme, was also the 100th follower of my blog!  Thanks Jacqui!

Patti at Scarlett 79 who shared great movie quotes.
Erika at Dorky Mom Doodles who doodled her way through her past.
Cathy at Curious as a Cathy who used her iPad to create some really neat sketches.
Iain Kelly at Iain Kelly Writing who took us on a trip through Europe.
Deborah Weber who gave us wonderful new words to learn in her manifesto.
Joe Owens at Fiction Playground who wrote a great detective story.


and we can't forget the founder of the A to Z and his wonderful assistants:

Arlee Bird at Tossing It Out who talked about cleaning the clutter.
John Holton at The Sound of One Hand Typing who played his word games again.
J. Lenni Dorner at Blog of Author J Lenni Dorner who once again gave us a thrilling tale of speculative fiction story of life on another planet.


If I've left anyone off my list, it was not intentional.  There were hundreds of participants again this year and while there were a few minor glitches with linking some of the days, all in all I thought things went very smoothly.  Of course you can't visit everyone every day and there are probably many more blogs I would have enjoyed reading so I'm thankful the lists are still available.  There is also the Road Trip starting on May 23 which should be fun.

Just a couple of things I tried this year and felt that they really helped was to get a draft post started for each letter, even if I didn't have the pictures or even the writing done.  There are a few paragraphs at the beginning and the end of every post that were the same so by having those things in place at the start made it much easier when I got down to putting the pictures in and writing the story.  The next thing was to start this recap post at the beginning of the challenge as well and then each day after I officially posted my letter, I would link it here that way once the challenge was done, all my links would be ready and I would just need to add the fluff.  It was also nice to see the number of draft posts I had start to decrease as the days went on.  When I was down to 3 to 4 drafts left I knew I was gonna make it!

Did you have a good time with the A to Z?  Do you have your theme for next year yet?  Any bloggers out there I should immediately go check out?  Any tips you want to share?  Let me know.

Blogging From A to Z - 2018 - Y is for

Welcome to the letter Y in the A to Z Challenge for 2018.  We are down to the last two days here in the A to Z of Michaels Arts and Crafts.  The letter Y is definitely for Yarn.

Yarn has a whole section of its own.  There are so many different colors and thicknesses of yarn for any kind of project from blankets to hats to baby items.  It's hard to tell from my pictures but the yarn in the picture on the right is SO big.  You can kind of tell on the teal one on the bottom and the cream colored one above it how thick the strands are.  If you look at the same teal color in the picture on the left the strands look much thinner.  I have no idea what people do with the yarn so thick.   

Red Heart, Loops and Threads and Vanna White are some of the brands. 

Yarn can be expensive so it is kind of a big deal when there is a sale.  

These are called Sugar and Cream.  I don't know why they want to call yarn by food names but whatever.

They call these Caron Cakes.  They come in Big Cakes, Cakes and Cupcakes.  Mix them with the Sugar and Cream above and you have cakes with frosting - LOL.  I think they are pretty neat in that when you are making something you don't have to change colors, it is automatic.  I suppose you might have to pay attention to what pattern you are making so that the colors match but mostly I make blankets and shawls so I think it would be okay.  

Perhaps these big knitting needles are for the large yarns.  I don't think I'm coordinated enough to handle something so big.  I'm not a knitter anyway, crochet is my thing. 

Fortunately there are plenty of both knitting needles and crochet hooks to satisfy everyone.  Well, almost everyone.  One of the unpleasant experiences I had while working was with a customer who could not find the size needle she was looking for.  When I tried to help her she was less than courteous as I explained to her that we didn't seem to have the size she was wanting.  It ended up with me calling the manager over because I just could not satisfy her.  I had to bite my tongue and not tell this lady she was wacko.  It was situations like this that reminded me how lucky I had been to be able to work for myself from home for the last 18 years and it helped me make the decision to stop working at Michaels.  I mean, look at this selection!    

There are even loom sets for those more adventurous.

And lots of instructional books and patterns to chose from for all manner of things.  

Even the Celebrity baby fashions!  How cute is that?  

Two of the scarves that I crocheted are on sale in my Etsy shop.  I got the yarn from Michaels :)

Okay, tomorrow is a day of rest from the A to Z and then Monday is our grand finale, Z.  Hope you'll be able to make it to the end with me.  

(Note:  I decided I should add a disclaimer to these posts because I certainly don't want to give the idea that I am being paid by Michaels to do this or that they are furnishing me with material.  All pictures used in this blog series were taken by me at local Michaels stores, or are my personal pictures and every Michaels store may not have everything shown.)

Blogging From A to Z - 2018 - X is for

Welcome to the letter X in the A to Z Challenge for 2018.  This year I am highlighting the alphabet as seen in Michaels Arts and Crafts store.  You might think I would have a hard time with the letter X but fortunately there are a few products whose names help me out!

We have X-acto knives.  These are handy for all kinds of things and do come in a couple of different styles.  Look at all the different blades the first one has!  I didn't even notice that until just this minute when I was typing this.  I may have to get one of those - when I get a 60% off coupon!

Next is X-treme.  These are tape runners in the scrapbooking section.  With some of the items I make, like the mini-albums, I like to use this kind of tape to make sure it will hold up to lots of wear.  Xtreme will hold things in place for sure!.

Last but not least is the Xyron brand.  These are sticker maker systems and come in a variety of sizes.  I don't have the Creative Station but I do have a couple of the smaller sizes.  

I have this size that I can use to make any piece of paper a sticker up to about 2-1/2 inches wide.

I have this one too and it will make stickers up to an inch and a half wide.

You just put whatever you want to make into a sticker in the slot and pull it out from the other end.  

You get this and those embellishments are now sticky on the back.  Pretty clever actually.

Xyron also makes a tape runner.  Theresa Collins is one of the bigger scrapbook designers.   

Those are the legitimate X's but I'm going to stretch things a bit and add some X-tras because these are things I found when going through the store that didn't make it into other posts and I didn't want to waste the pictures.


Michaels is also a place to get interesting gifts.  These are some cute animal themed mugs and things for the dog and cat lover (pet parent).

Since it's getting close to Mother's day they also have some bath-related items and summer totes, etc.

There is a whole section of "design it yourself" ceramic and plastic items that you can paint and personalize to your hearts content.

While I showed you the styrofoam heads in the "Unusual" category, there is a whole section of other styrofoam bits and pieces that you can use for wreath making and any number of things.  The round ones are used a lot for the kids who have to make the solar system projects.  

In addition to the wedding section, there is a section with gift bags, bows, tissue and filler for presents for all occasions.  

There are summer themed dishes for the backyard barbecues that will be coming soon (provided winter goes away).

Paints, paints, paints galore.  

Lots of different sizes and fonts of letters too.  You definitely can get your A to Z here!

This is modeling clay.  I just took a shot of the small packages but there are tubs of modeling paste available too.  

I noticed these in the home decor section the last time I went.  I love the vibrant colors.  

Not sure what I would do with this big flower but I thought it was kinda cool.

Finally, my last X, fancy shoelaces with decorative buttons.  

That about covers the X's and the X-tras.  What do you think?  

Only Y and Z left.  I have the pictures and the posts drafted so I think I'm going to make it this year.  Please stop by and see what others have come up with for the letter X.  Hope to see you tomorrow - Y? because I like you!

(Note:  I decided I should add a disclaimer to these posts because I certainly don't want to give the idea that I am being paid by Michaels to do this or that they are furnishing me with material.  All pictures used in this blog series were taken by me at local Michaels stores, or are my personal pictures and every Michaels store may not have everything shown.)

Blogging From A to Z - 2018 - W is for

Welcome to the letter W in the A to Z Challenge for 2018.  I am making my way through the alphabet as seen in Michaels Arts and Crafts.  Today is W for Wedding and my favorite, Washi Tape.

First is weddings.  Michaels has a pretty good selection of do-it-yourself wedding ideas.

Beginning with the Save the Date notifications

and the invitations.

Celebrate it is the brand for a lot of these things.  They even have fancy seals and sealing wax to prettify the invites.

There are fun things for the bridesmaids and the pre-wedding parties.

We don't have wedding dresses but the garter and tiara can be found.  David Tutera is the brand for these things.  I am not planning any weddings so I am not sure if he is a special maker or not.

The flower girl's basket is there as well as the ring bearer's pillow.

Cake cutting tools as well as props for picture taking and other decorations.

Candles and other things to make the day special.

Bubbles to blow

And finally, the thank you cards.  

I can't see spending a ton of money on something that I can do myself.  If I was planning a wedding, I would try to do as much as I could to make it simple and easy.  After all, it's not supposed to be about the things, it's supposed to be about the love, right?  

Speaking of love, the next W is for Washi tape.  Washi tape, for those who may not know, is decorative tape that you can use in all different kinds of ways.  They come in all different colors and styles and themes.

Some have words on them and some are just plain.

This was a huge sale as these tubes normally are $15!  Plus my employee discount - SCORE!

As you can see, this is another thing that Michaels has a large selection of.  

Ummm, this is my collection.  I'm not sure how many I have (I'm afraid to count), but these rolls cover my table top which is about 3 feet by 2 feet.  I think I'm in love with washi.      

I use these in my scrapbooking projects and to decorate the envelopes that coordinate with the cards I make, to name a few things but there are books on the subject of Washi tape and what you can do with it.  

Have I covered weddings and washi tape enough for you?  Are you surprised by the amount of things you can get at Michaels?  3 letters left.  Make sure to stop by the other W participants and come back tomorrow for X!

(Note:  I decided I should add a disclaimer to these posts because I certainly don't want to give the idea that I am being paid by Michaels to do this or that they are furnishing me with material.  All pictures used in this blog series were taken by me at local Michaels stores, or are my personal pictures and every Michaels store may not have everything shown.)