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.)

April 2017 - #Atozchallenge - Continuing with C

One of the artists that has been around awhile but whom we'd never seen was Cher.  She said she was making a final tour in 2002 and then seems to continue to tour every few years.  When I saw she was going to be at SAP Center in San Jose, I was determined to see her.  Once again, our seats were not the up close and personal that I like to get, but we were able to see her and the monitors so I managed to get some good pictures.  Cyndi Lauper was her opening act, so she gets showcased as well for the letter C.

Once again, I started with a search for papers that would complement the photos.

This paper is also from Paper Wishes and is called Mirage Double-Sided paper.  I thought the name of the paper matched as well, since Cher changed her outfit with almost every song and had a lot of circus-type stuff going on behind her during the show.

I used another template from Lea France, this time the "Say Cheese!" stencil.  In addition I used it twice, turning it sideways for one page, thereby creating a totally different look for each page.  On the first page, the one of Cyndi Lauper, I backed the pictures with a large black sheet, cut in the main shape of a camera.

On the Cher page, I left the background alone and just added some stickers.  That's what makes these templates so useful.  You can do many different things with them.  If you look closely, you can tell that I switched paper from the picture above to the final one below.  That's another part of the process.  Once the pictures are placed, I don't always like my first choice of background paper.

Sometimes when I have small things that I want to attach to a page, I use this Xyron sticker maker.  It's like magic.

Here are the finished pages.  I managed another 10 for this concert!

 It was kind of funny because Cyndi Lauper stopped one of her songs in the middle to take a camera away from somebody in the front row.  She asked him if he was video taping her and she told him to stop looking through the camera and live in the moment!  At that point I was glad I wasn't sitting closer!

As I said, Cher changed outfits with almost every song and had a whole circus going on behind her, including acrobats flying above and sword swallowers!

She even had a trojan horse!

She did a lot of chatting with the audience too, commenting on how old she was and yet how she cold still get into her "If I Could Turn Back Time" outfit ("Take that Katy Perry!" she said).  She did look pretty darn good for 68!

She said she couldn't do a concert without mentioning Sonny and did a virtual duet with him, showing footage of them from their early years.  It was quite touching.  For the final number she got up on this little platform that was attached to pulleys and glided her way around the arena, singing and waving to her fans.  I'm so glad we got to see her.


And there we have C for Cher (and Cyndi Lauper).  Hope you enjoyed the show :)  Feel free to leave me a comment.  I love them!  Also, click on one of my "follow" links so you don't miss any of the alphabet!



You can click over to the main A to Z Challenge page to see what other participants have come up with for this letter, and come back to see what D has for us!