This week (Amanda's old blog)

I was going to do the rat cage post yesterday, but I was feeling icky. I had a big allergy attack in the morning and it stayed with me all day. I ended up getting to bed early. But that post is next on my list. I may do it today or tomorrow. We shall see!

For now, a teaser photo:

Take a wild guess what she wants!

I was just catching up on some of my favorite blogs, and I noticed that April is frugal bento month on justbento.com. Maki posted a couple of excel spreadsheets people can use to track their savings as they make their lunches instead of buying them. I downloaded the couples one to try and encourage Brandon to pack his lunches as well. The nice thing is that Maki set it up such that I can track my own progress separately from Brandon, but still encourage him to use it as well.

I put today's entry into the excel sheet - it's only the first of the month and I'm already down! I was still feeling icky this morning, so I slept in a bit, leaving me no time to make breakfast. I made a miscalculation in my schedule and thought I would be on campus all day - so I ran to the bagel shop and bought a bagel sandwich for breakfast. I don't regret it, I love starting my day with a bagel. But it is $8 gone (I also buy a muffin for later - the bagel shop here has the most delicious muffins), so it's something to think about.

I will be on campus all day tomorrow, which means I need to pack a bento tonight! And then tomorrow I can get my $8 back on my little spreadsheet (my storebought lunches and breakfasts cost about the same - the Jimmy John's sandwich I like comes to about $8. I know it's steep, but I love the avocado spread!) So, that's my latest project.


Big Announcement!
I have one other thing to tell you! It occurred to me the other day that I have completely failed to mention the biggest crafting project I've got going right now. What a huge oversight!

I recently got a group of my craftiest friends together and proposed that we combine our efforts and start a costuming company! We had a meeting, ironed out the details, and decided we would start by opening an Etsy.com shop! Our deadline is July. We all need to have some items ready for the inventory, and we need a name, a logo and business cards. Then, on July 1st, we will apply to Etsy.com, create our profiles, pay the fee and we'll be open for business (hopefully). If I recall correctly, there are about seven of us. Here's what we do:

-Val is my best friend, I've known her since 3rd grade. She's been dabbling lately in embroidery, knitting, and the like.
-Kelli is a good friend of mine from high school. She's the one who gave me my pet rats! She sews - she's extremely talanted. She already has an Ebay.com shop where she sells cloaks and robes. (I don't remember her username off the top of my head. I'll let you know when I talk to her next.)
-Will is one of my college buddies. He started doing chainmaille a few years ago. He makes lovely chainmaille jewelry, and accessories.
-Gini is Will's girlfriend. She dabbles in a number of things, I've seen some of her knitting, she's really good.
-Kittie is Gini's roommate. She crochet's with the best of them, and she writes her own patterns!
-Alex is a childhood friend of Brandon's. Lately he discovered chainmaille, but his style is notably different from Will's. He like spikes and leather and other manly things - haha!
-And then there's me! I dabble in knitting, though I need a good excuse to get better. But mainly, for the company, I plan to make books and linoleum block prints. More on that later.

So there you have it! When we have a name and logo, I'll let you know. And I will definitely be making an announcement when our Etsy shop opens in July. You'll likely be hearing more and more from me about books and paper and block prints between now and then, as I have a lot of work to do to get ready for the shop to open up.

That's all for now. Rat entry coming soon, I promise!