Behind Mytutorlist.com

Goodbye, Mytutorlist.com!

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Fri, 15 Jun 2018 20:38:00 +0000

Oh my goodness, it's been forever since I last wrote on here! So much has happened since then. I got married, I moved to a new home, I started investing in real estate... I have so much to tell you! But before I hop into any of that, I want to tell you the very sad news that I have decided to finally close shop on my tutoring classifieds website, Mytutorlist.com.

I've had that website since my university days and it has served many students and tutors (and apparently people selling stuff from overseas). However, it is very old now and uses outdated software. It really needed an overhaul. I was stuck between paying a lot of money to revamp the website, or paying a lot of money to keep that old site running old software. They charge you to run old software. Did you know that?

Well, I had started listening to this new podcast called The Bigger Pockets Money podcast. They talk about money, financial independence and early retirement. Now, I dunno about you, but I LOVE the idea of retiring early. I mean, I would retire now if I could. My friend sent me this awesome video of a guy quitting his job. I wish I had the guts to do this.

Wouldn't it be amazing if we could all do this one day and kiss our stressful jobs goodbye? Well, anyways, I decided that I would like to work towards early retirement. So following the sage advice of those podcasters, I took a closer look at my expenses to see if anything was unnecessary. Sadly, Mytutorlist.com didn't make the cut. It costs me hosting and domain costs every month and yet I hardly look at the site anymore. It makes maybe a few dollars per month in advertising. That definitely does not offset the cost of keeping it.

So thank you to those of you that were along with me on the journey of creating and running an online classifieds tutoring website. I had fun creating it with my clever programmer, M. Paniagua Lojero and my trusty pal, V. Nand in 2006. It's been a good, long run and it will be a fond farewell.

xoxo,
Marie

Old Fashioned Christmas Ornaments Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Tue, 06 Dec 2016 20:26:00 +0000

We have a rather old fashioned Christmas tree this year that I have covered with little handmade wired bows so far. I used old fashioned looking ribbons by Martha Stewart. We bought the ribbon rolls last year from Sears after Christmas for maybe 75 cents each! It was too good to pass up, and now they are useful this year.

Now I'm thinking of what other cute handmade ornaments I would like to add so here are some pictures I've collected to inspire me (and you!) in your Christmas ornament making.

This has bows, my tree has bows... we could continue the theme?

One of my ribbons looks like this. It would match!

These would really challenge my embroidery skills...

More embroidered cuties.

Somehow a picture of someone holding the ornament like this makes it look more precious... I'll keep that in mind if I ever sell something :)

Oooh, houses! Gnome houses are a favourite of mine.

Grey... it has a certain look to it. Not sure if it would go with my more tradtional tree...

A traditional Christmas coloured star and heart with little sewn on details.

Aha! Something that looks easy!

Whoa! Cute overload! But I love them! In more muted colours they would be perfect!

Rustic birds... I like them! They look like chickens a little bit...

Super cute! I would probably make them into puffy hearts though for more dimension.

These are pretty cute! I wonder if I could use cinnamon sticks on the bottom for some nice smell too? Or would that be too fragile/messy?

I was telling my husband the other day about making ornaments out of walnut shell halves in elementary school. These are like the grown up version!

Well, that's all the pictures I have collected so far! I hope your Christmas planning is coming along well!

If you're looking for some cute crafting how-to books for adorable handmade ornaments, here are a few that caught my eye!

(Okay, Proggy Menagerie is not really an ornament book. It does however have a photo of a hedgehog and Proggy sounds close to Poggy, so WIN!)

When You're Having A Really Bad Day At Work

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Fri, 16 Sep 2016 09:13:00 +0000

As a nurse, I can't really talk about everything that goes on at work. So I figured I would paint about it. You can interpret whatever you like about this picture, but it's probably not what you're thinking since I'm not being literal. It's just that sometimes everything goes wrong and there's not much you can do about it. So you fall apart at the end of day and make a really big deal about it. The bad part of your day seeps into everything and everyone around you. It feels like everything is wrong and everything is falling apart.

Except it's not worth it. At the end of day, you did the best you could and will keep doing the best you could. You will keep fighting for better things and better ways of doing things. You will survive. Your poor family probably will remember all the terrible ways you acted and the stupid things you said while you were angry and upset, but they love you and will keep supporting you. They understand that you are just reacting very humanly to very inhuman things.

And so it goes on.

Skirt Tutorials I Want To Try

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Fri, 26 Jun 2015 00:52:00 +0000

Here are some sewing tutorials for skirts that I would like to try. I'm saving them here for when I have time to whip one of these up. Well, at least that's the plan :D

http://nothingtoofancyblog.blogspot.com.au/2013/06/finally.html?fb_comment_id=fbc_218039131677206_814810_223901531090966#f2dc09c4d8

http://www.blogforbettersewing.com/2009/08/sew-full-gathered-skirt-part-one-make.html

http://www.eleganceandelephants.com/2012/06/summer-stripes-skirt-tutorial.html

http://www.cottonandcurls.com/2012/10/tulip-wrap-skirt-tutorial/

http://www.oneaviandaemon.com/how-to-make-my-chalk-lines-skirt/

http://lilybirdstudio.blogspot.ca/2011/12/mia-skirt.html

http://grandrevivaldesign.typepad.com/grand_revival_design/2011/10/pleated-wrap-skirt-tutorial.html

Wanna Add Pockets?

http://www.makeit-loveit.com/2013/03/adding-hidden-side-pockets-to-anything-skirt-pants-shorts-etc.html

I also came across some skirt tutorial books on Amazon. Do you recommend any skirt tutorials or books?

Let me know if you end up trying any of these. I would love to see pictures!

Happy Sewing!

Gardening From Your Kitchen Scraps And Saving Seeds

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Thu, 25 Jun 2015 00:23:00 +0000

Do you throw away the seeds from vegetables that you buy from the store? Did you know that you can actually grow new vegetable plants from them? You can! And it's super fun and easy!

Check out these tops that I saved from bell peppers. I usually throw them away, but I figured I might as well run an experiment and dry them on the windowsill. Once they were good and crispy dry, the seeds fell off easily.

Here are my nice, dried seeds.

I planted them into soil, watered well, and...

Holy moly! A whole bunch of little sprouts popped out today! I am now eagerly waiting to see how these new bell pepper plants will turn out in my garden this year. Maybe I'll grow my very own bell peppers, maybe I'll just have cool plants. Anyhow, it's pretty neat!

I have also been saving other seeds from plants. Last year, I planted a bunch of kale and brussel sprouts. They survived over the winter and have now gone to seed.

The dried seed pods pop open very easily and drop two rows of small seeds.

These are dark kale seeds.

These are brussel sprout seeds. The greener looking seeds are the ones that are not dried well yet. Once they are all dried and brown, I plan to drop them onto the soil to grow new plants. If you do this yearly, you'll never have to buy brussel sprout and kale seeds again!

These are various kinds of pea and bean plants. They are all grown from seeds that I have saved from last year's crop. See? No need to buy new seeds. You just have to make sure that you save a lot of beans and peas each year so that you always have lots of seeds to plant for the next year. My mom ties colourful twist ties onto beans/peas throughout the growing season to mark those as seeds so that we don't accidentally pick them to eat.

All beans/peas that have accidentally over-ripened are also kept for seeds. Seed pods should be allowed to completely swell and dry up before you pick them for seed stock. If it looks like it might go moldy, pick them sooner once the pod is overly swollen and plump (big fat seeds).

Other vegetables that I have tried to grow from seed successfully:

Tomatoes - harvest the seeds from your ripe tomatoes with all the goop and juice. Put them in a cup with a little water and let them sit for about 2-3 days so that they can ferment. Rinse the seeds clean in a sieve. Let dry well on a windowsill for a week or more, well spread out. Once well dry, you can plant them or store them for later use. There's a pretty good tutorial on this here.

The best tomatoes are those overly ripe, rotting ones so make sure you try this out on those tomatoes you forgot in the fridge instead of throwing them out. I suspect that an overly ripe, rotting tomato on your soil will also eventually yield usable tomato seeds that will grow where they fall.

It's worth a try if you plan to throw out the tomato anyways :)

Potatoes - If your potatoes grow roots and sprouts, just pop them into the soil and let them keep growing. In late Fall, you can harvest the small new potatoes that grow from the one you put in the soil. You can save any potatoes that are too small in Fall to plant again the next year as your potato seed stock.

Green onions - save the last 1-2 inch with roots from your green onions and plant them into the soil. New green onions will grow from this base.

Shallots/Garlic - if your shallots or garlic bulbs sprout, plant them and eat the green onions that grow from them.

Squash/Zucchini/Cucumber/Pumpkin/Etc - Save the seeds from ripe squashes and dry them on a windowsill. When very dry, plant them in the soil and grow new squash plants.

Persimmon - Save the seeds from persimmons, rinse them, dry them well on a windowsill, plant and they will grow small persimmon trees. They will probably not grow persimmon fruit unless you live in a hotter climate, but the trees are short with shiny pale green leaves and look very nice.

Raspberries/Blackberries - My raspberry bushes at home drop raspberries each year onto the soil because I can't always find all the ripe fruit and eat it in time. This means that lots of tiny new plants emerge each year all over the bottom of the original bush. In the same way, you can basically let a raspberry dry up and then break it up to plant the seeds. You can also smush a fresh raspberry up through a strainer (being careful not to destroy the seeds), rinse off all the fruit material, and then let the seeds dry on a windowsill. Once the seeds are good and dry, plant them to grow new raspberry bushes. You might want to just discard a rotten raspberry on the soil and see what happens.

Other random fun:

Plant the tops/bases of everything you discard from your kitchen such as carrot and beet tops, the base of different cabbages/celery/etc. Some of them will grow roots and some of them will just rot away (and become compost). It's fun to see what will grow and what won't. In some cases it won't grow you a new vegetable to eat, but it will amuse you for a while.
Dry and plant any seeds you collect from your produce. It's fun to see what will grow. You might be pleasantly surprised.
Plant any fresh herb stems that you don't plan to use, such as rosemary and basil. Sometimes they will actually grow roots and become a new plant.

There are actually whole books on this fun process of growing foods/plants from kitchen scraps. Have you ever grown food from your kitchen scraps? Let me know how it went!

Good luck and happy gardening!

Habits of Financially Successful People

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Mon, 15 Jun 2015 07:56:00 +0000

I came across this article about rich vs poor habits and found it very interesting. Some points that I gleaned were that I should watch less TV or spend less time on the Internet (use my time more productively), read more (learn continuously), don't play the lottery (recognize that making money is not magical and does not depend on luck), and keep in touch with people more (network throughout my life as part of my lifestyle/habits).

I also liked the point about teaching children to make To Do lists and to aim to have those lists 70% complete each day. I like To Do lists and tend to be more productive when I have them to look at everytime I get bored or run out of things to do. Daily To Do lists that have to be 70% complete each day is a new thing. I decided to give it a try and, voila!, it is pretty cool.

Not only did a get a whole lot more in one day than I usually do, I felt pushed to do more than I usually do because I have a 70% completion goal for each day. I found that I could not meet this easily, so I might have to fill the daily To Do lists with more tasks that can be done in one day. Perhaps I could make a separate To Do list with items that can be completed in a longer time frame?

Anyways, it's something to think about. The weather is really turning pleasant and the garden here looks fantastic. I included some pictures so you can see what's been inspiring me lately.

I can't get over how cool it is that this hydrangea bush is a whole kaleidoscope of colours! It's so pretty!

I popped into Home Depot today and picked up some pink begonias too. I wonder what that financial guy would think of spending time on gardening. Life's not just about making money though; you have to live and enjoy it too!

If you're looking for some inspirational literature on habits of successful people, here are a few popular ones.

Have a great week!

xoxo

Frilly Hedgehog Pincushion - Tutorial

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 21:52:00 +0000

Some corsage pins I ordered arrived, but they came in a flimsy ziplock bag. For safety reasons, ahem, I had to make a new pincushion... with ruffles.

I had previously sewed some swatches of fabric and backed them with cotton batting for another project, but it didn't work out so I had this quilted material just lying around in my scrap bin. This little project was a good opportunity to use up this fabric.

If you want to make something similar, this is how I made this:

Materials

Fabric

Cotton batting

Polyfil Stuffing

Thread

Needle

Sewing machine + hand sewing

Lots of double sided ribbon (Each row is about three times around the pouf)

Peanut butter jar lid (or other similar lid)

Other lid about 2-3 times as big as the peanut butter jar lid

Instructions (Sorry! No photo steps in this tutorial!)

(Note: this assumes that the fabric is already backed with batting.)

Preparation

1. Cut one circle about 1 inch bigger all around than the peanut butter jar lid

2. Cut strip of fabric long enough to wrap around the outside of the lid plus about 1 inch all around

3. Cut large circle about 2-3 times the size of the base (bigger circle makes bigger mushroom top)

4. Cut 3 strips of ribbon that are long enough to wrap at least three times around the outside of the dome. These are for 3 layers of ruffles.

Dome Top

5. Create running stitch around the entire perimeter of the dome top circle. Pull to create a draw string that closes the circle into a pouch. Stuff pouch very full with stuffing. Pull string tight and secure in place (knots). You should have a puffy ball.

Base

6. With sewing machine, carefully sew the long strip of fabric around the base circle (wrong sides facing out, right sides facing each other. When you turn it the right side out, you should have a cup that the peanut butter lid can fit into.

7. Sew running stitch around top perimeter of the cup and pull tight so that the edges pull in to the middle. Stuff full with batting or fabric scraps. Secure thread in place (knots).

Ruffles

8. Sew (hand-stitch) the end of one strip of ribbon to the side of the dome top.

9. Create two stitches of a very loose running stitch.

10. Push ribbon down the thread to create first ruffle.

11. Sew ruffle down to side of dome.

12. Keep creating ruffles and sewing them down around the entire side of the dome until a full circle is created. Adjust how tight you want your ruffles as you go and keep an eye on how much ribbon you have left to ensure that you have enough to go around the entire circle.

13. Create two more circles of ruffles. You should have one ruffle about half way down the side of the dome, one at the bottom edge of the dome, and one ruffle layer in between those.

Put it All Together

14. Center the base in the middle of the bottom of the dome.

15. Use a ladder stitch to join the top and bottom (hand-stitched). I sewed the bottom to the last ruffle layer as that was easiest.

16. You are done! Enjoy your new ruffly pincushion!

I had a lot of scrap fabric and fleece so I stuffed my pincushion with that instead. The downside is that scrap fabric is very dense and harder to stick thicker needles (ex. corsage pins) easily into. You may wish to use batting in the top and fabric scraps only in the base so that you can more easily push needles in. Smaller pins and needles will have no problem pushing into fabric scrap.

Have a great week!

Mom's Steamed Ginger Egg Custard Recipe

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sat, 23 May 2015 06:06:00 +0000

My mom makes this steamed ginger egg custard as a dessert in our home. She usually adds ginger when someone is feeling ill in the house as she believes the ginger is good for helping you when you are sick. The ginger is optional though, so you can make this steamed egg custard without it.

Ingredients

6 eggs
1 small can sweetened condensed milk (3 oz)
3 cups + 450 ml very warm/almost hot water
pea sized amount/pinch cornstarch OR 1 drop vinegar
Optional: shredded ginger
Very large metal pot with lid
smaller ceramic pot with lid that fits inside the metal pot easily

Steps

If you want ginger custard, pre-soak shredded ginger in the water. If you want plain egg custard, skip this step.
Place ceramic pot inside large metal pot. Add cold water to no more than half the base height of the ceramic pot. Bring to a boil on high heat.
Beat eggs well
Add sweetened condensed milk and mix well. Avoid creating too many bubbles.
Add very warm/almost hot water and mix well. If you have ginger in the water, pour the water through a strainer to remove the ginger pieces.
Add pea sized amount/pinch of cornstarch OR 1 drop vinegar, not both
When water is boiling in metal pot, slowly pour the egg mixture into the ceramic pot through a strainer.
Cover with ceramic lid, and then cover with metal pot lid.
Turn down heat from high to medium-high (9, if you have numbers on your stove).
Steam for 25 minutes.
Turn off heat and let sit for 10-15 minutes.
Enjoy!

Roll Up Make Up Pouch Completed

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sat, 23 May 2015 04:59:00 +0000

I finished a new roll up make up pouch for myself!

This is my old one. It didn't have enough spots for my brushes and it was a pain digging around to find eyeliner colours in those typical make up cases. Well, the problem is gone now!

Ta da! A custom-made make up pouch with elastic spots to fit each brush I own. Also, pockets to slide in all the eyeliners. The colour indicator faces up out of the pouch so I know exactly which colour I'm pulling out.

The best part of all? There is a real zipper pouch built in on the side that stores all the eyeshadows, blushes, pluckers, scissors, etc. For ease of travel, the whole thing rolls up and is tied closed. It's magic!

I took photos of all the steps as I was making it so maybe I will put together a tutorial one day. Let me know if it's something you would be interested in. For now, I am really enjoying this new pouch. I'm so glad I learned how to sew. It's really coming in handy.

Have a great day!

Painted Wedding Card Box

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sat, 23 May 2015 04:26:00 +0000

I finally finished painting the card box for my wedding. I made it out a Frozen-themed treasure chest. I know, I know, Frozen-lovers all over the world are probably mad at me for defacing a beloved Frozen product.

The end result is quite nice though and will match my wedding cards perfectly!

Even the back is painted.

If you would like to know how I did this, visit my wedding blog here.

Have a great day!

Apron Tutorials I Want to Try One Day

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Thu, 21 May 2015 08:27:00 +0000

I saw some super cute aprons on my trip to Victoria. I probably should have just bought the cute apron, but of course I decided I might want to make my own one day instead... maybe with hedgehogs on it :D

Here are some tutorials that might work well. I'll let you know how the apron turns out once I make it.

Ruffles and Buttons Apron by Flamingo Toes - I like the three layers of ruffles, but I think they stick out too much. I think it would be better if each ruffly layer was free falling instead of attached to one backing. Also, the bodice is a bit too complicated for me. Overall good shape though, and okay length.

http://www.flamingotoes.com/2012/04/ruffles-buttons-apron/

DIY Hostess Apron - it looks pretty good like this, right? I wonder what it looks like on? I like that this apron has pockets for things.

http://www.stylemepretty.com/living/2013/03/20/diy-hostess-apron/

Garden Apron Tutorial - I usually just garden in my pajamas (much to my mother's disappointment and horror). I wonder if she would approve more if I wore this handy gardening apron? Hm? :P Knowing me, I'd probably stab myself with the shovel while kneeling down.

http://www.make-it-do.com/sew-it/garden-apron-tutorial/

Gathered Apron Tutorial - I'm a bit mesmerized by the little brown cows all over this fabric. Rather cute!

http://fortworthfabricstudio.blogspot.ca/2014/09/gathered-apron-tutorial.html

Christmas Apron Pattern - this looks like something that could double as some kind of lingerie get up. Maybe because she's wearing red heels in the kitchen. I dunno, the apron is actually pretty nice.

http://so-sew-easy.com/christmas-apron-pattern/

Remember Provence Apron - simple, yet beautiful. I like the rounded edges in the back and the abundance of gathers in front.

http://www.sewcountrychick.com/remember-provence-apron-tutorial/

Harry Potter Apron - Um, hell yeah! This apron is awesome! I would need that tie sewn down though... fire hazard.

http://bakingdom.com/2011/04/harry-potter-gryffindor-apron.html

Vintage Style Frilly Apron - cute!

http://kaelaelliott.com/vintage-style-frilly-apron-tutorial/

DIY Wipe Down Aprons - This one is for little girls, but it's exactly the length I want it to end on me. Also, it has pockets.

http://www.rufflesandstuff.com/2012/07/diy-wipe-down-apron-tutorial.html

The Hostess Apron - I don't like this gauzy ribbon they have up top or the excessively pale girly prints, but I like the three gathered layers, the length, and the sweetheart neckline. I would do this with some brighter colours and a little bit of contrast for the straps.

http://www.sew4home.com/projects/kitchen-linens/hostess-apron-comeback-series-5-romantic-cottage-style

Flirty Perfect Fit Apron - I like how this apron looks on the bum. It is definitely flirty, which is good! I would opt for some other kind of pocket shape though. Maybe 1-2 large U-shaped pockets with gathers at the top and a band. Could be fantastic!

http://gingercake.typepad.com/gingercake/2011/03/flirty-perfect-fit-apron-tutorial.html

Well, I think that's enough inspiration to get me started. Now to start choosing my fabrics! :D

Have a great day and happy sewing!

Spring Gardening

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sun, 03 May 2015 21:43:00 +0000

It's Spring in my garden again and everything is starting to grow and bloom!

The crab apple tree has lovely pink and white blossoms.

The honey crisp apple tree when it was getting ready to bloom.

Here's what appeared afterwards! A future apple!

The blueberry bush has lovely green and pink honeysuckle-like flowers.

Pretty white and yellow strawberry flowers.

Even the brussel sprout plants left over from last year are blooming! As a side note, I recently discovered that you can eat brussel sprout leaves, not just the brussel sprouts. These leaves are actually quite tasty, so what a plus that you can basically eat that plant all year long!

Here's a Kale plant that is still growing from last year.

This a a parsley plant that also survived Winter.

Pretty purple chive blooms (you can eat those!).

This is some strange leafy prickly plant that my mom calls "Gao Choi" in Chinese. She picks the leaves off and makes a soup filled with it. It doesn't taste half bad, but I have no idea what it's called in English.

My sister's in-laws gave us two persimmon trees that they grew from seeds. They are still small as bushes, but the leaves look pretty.

The raspberry bushes are starting to fill out. I can hardly wait for when they start to produce fruit.

The oregano and thyme plants from last year are multiplying.

Some kind of kale-like plant that grew last year from seeds. I cannot be sure that it is Kale since it seems much shorter than the other kale plants we have, but it tastes good. It might be the mustard plants we planted last year? Anyways, it's not just a weed and we have been eating it all Spring.

There's a whole plot of them growing among the English mint and Lemon Balm.

The seed potatoes on the shelves outside got raided by the local rodents, but it looks like some seed potatoes got left behind in the plot since some healthy potato plants are growing out of the soil already.

Here are some pansies that look quite pretty. I guess we must have had a very mild Winter since almost everything survived this year. I'm excitedly waiting for other good stuff to pop out of the ground.

So far I have planted different kinds of peas and beans, beets (first time!), and kale. We put crushed egg shell around the sprouts to deter snails and slugs.

There are some store-bought tomato plants that need to be put in the ground too.

Happy Gardening!

Biodegradable Toilet Paper Roll Seedling Planters Tutorial

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sat, 02 May 2015 23:18:00 +0000

It's Spring and time to plant seeds! Here's a nifty idea on how to recycle toilet paper rolls and get free seed planters at the same time. Best part, it's biodegradable!

You will need:

Toilet paper rolls

Scissors

First step! Flatten the toilet paper roll. You can use the back of a spoon to make the edges well creased for each step.

Step two! Match up the two first creases in the middle and flatten the roll again.

If you open up the roll, it should now have 4 straight edges like a box.

Note: If you want shorter boxes, cut the toilet paper roll in half and make two. You can also control the height of a box this way if you plan to use the whole roll to make one box.

Now take a sharp scissor and snip up all four bottom edges. Aim to cut it about the length of half the box opening.

Fold all four edges neatly up.

Going in a circle, fold down the flaps one by one.

For the last flap, tuck it under the first flap.

If it looks like this, your snips were too short. Or maybe you want that hole on the bottom for better drainage? I guess that's okay too.

For mine, I liked them nice and closed like this afterwards. I basically cut the snips too long and just trimmed off a bit off each flap to make a perfect fit.

The two shortest ones are using half rolls, the two taller ones were made from whole rolls.

Now just add soil and seeds and you're ready to grow some new plants!

Happy Gardening!

My First Year of Nursing

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sat, 02 May 2015 20:44:00 +0000

My first year of nursing has gone by! Hurray! I would love to say that it has been magnificent, but the truth is that it has been rather appalling (and has passed very quickly).

Too Many Night Shifts

I have experienced the very terrible four night shifts in a row (which I should never ever do again!). It lead to a very zombie-like nurse and I got sick the week after. I think my body couldn't handle it. I couldn't sleep much during the noisy day time so I basically had four sleep-deprived nights in a row. It is a very bad thing. Don't do it :)

Nurse Bullying

I experienced situations where I got criticized for not doing things by another nurse. Afterwards, I discovered that no one else had time either (somehow three shifts later no nurse had done it yet) and, in some cases, no one wants to do those tasks either (you realize it's a task that no nurse actually does). So... why am I getting criticized for not doing them? You quickly learn that nurses that complain the loudest and most assertively get away with the most. Unfortunately, I am not that brave and not that loud.

Not Enough Time

I have tried and tried to do everything every shift, but I have realized it is not possible. I get aching feet, super fatigue, and I end up hating my job cuz I'm so burnt out. On the plus side, I have really happy patients and families on those days and the other nurses benefit because the families bring goodies like hot coffee and pastries for the ward as thanks for their family member being so well taken care of.

It's not sustainable though. When you have 8 hours and 7 patients, you can only do so much each shift without completely obliterating every last ounce of energy and patience you have. If you're lucky, some of these patients are independent. If one or more of your patients' condition turns sour, you're screwed.

Burn Out

For a short while, I thought it was just me. Maybe I was the only one getting burned out so quickly after starting nursing. To my surprise, I found other nurses that talked about getting burned out and considering dropping out of the field. They told me that it helped to do things like changing wards to get a fresh start, or getting into a specialty area. Also, they said that not doing night shifts anymore helped.

I feel like I just got out of nursing school and it's too quickly to go back to school again, but getting out of this rut is very important too. I hate feeling tired every day. I'm tired from working so hard every day, but I'm also tired emotionally.

Natural deaths are hard to handle, unexpected and gruesome deaths are even harder to handle, and calming down people is something that I do so often that I'm tired of it. It seems like every patient is panicking because they are confused about where they are and why, they are in pain and need to be medicated regularly all shift, they are puking, and their disposable brief needs to be changed for poop - very, very smelly whole-ward stinkin' poop.

Meanwhile, the other nurses are getting stressed out and they're taking it out on each other. I've heard nurses yelling at each other in frustration or snapping at me if I ask too many questions (I've since learned to just look stuff up instead of asking people, just in case). It is a very stressful work environment.

Good Stuff

Anyways, that's all the bad stuff. The good stuff is that I have learned so many new skills. And so many skills that used to be hard, are now much easier. Little by little, I am becoming a more competent and skilled nurse. It's a good feeling. I also still appreciate the little comments my patients give me when they appreciate what I do for them, or the relieved smiles when their families get positive reports from me. I appreciate the nurses that take the time to teach me new things, help me with my work, or that thank me when I help them. Those are good things too.

All in all, year one of real nursing has been challenging. Let's see how year two goes! Fingers crossed!

Poggy in the Spring - Coping

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Thu, 12 Mar 2015 23:41:00 +0000

It has been 5 months since Poggy has been gone. I stopped by his grave today and left some flowers. Poor fellow, I wonder what he's doing in Hedgehog Heaven?

While he might be long gone, his mealworms are doing great. With no one to eat them, they are multiplying like crazy. I wish Poggy was around to eat them up :P Those lucky living bugs.

Work and wedding plans have been going well in the meanwhile. I only work part time, but it's enough to give me a good glimpse into the real life of a nurse. It's a lot different than I thought it would be. I get to help people every time I go to work, but I have also seen a lot of death since I've started. I've also seen a lot of blood. It's unsettling to see so much blood.

I feel like Lady Macbeth at times looking down at my hands and wondering if my hands will ever be clean. "Out, damned spot! out, I say!... /Here's the smell of the blood still: /All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little Hand. /Oh, oh, oh!"

I miss Poggy. I used to find it comforting after a hard day to come home to my sweet little friend. It made me feel so much better. Now he is gone and I have no one to give me the same kind of comfort. Who would have guessed such a prickly, anti-social creature could have made me feel so much better? He was better than the most bitter medicine.

Sometimes I reach out at night and put my hand on the pillow where he used to sleep beside me when I took naps after a long, hard day of work. I used to be able to cup my hand on him and he would snuff at me, but let me leave my hand there as we both rested. We had a good time together, he and I. It was a good relationship.

I hope one day I will have a little hedgehog like him again. It won't be for a while since I have so much wedding planning and travelling over the next while, but hopefully one day it will happen again.

Hello and goodbye, little one. I hope you are happy wherever you are.

DIY Love is Sweet Wedding Tags and Blank Tags

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 23:03:00 +0000

There are new Love is Sweet printable tags in the shop.

You just need to print the PDF files in colour on cardstock and cut them out with regular or fancy edging scissors.

I also made some blank tags available in case you want to create custom tags. You can put your own phrase, your party/wedding information on them, write Thank You, etc.

They come in sets of 4 pages. I left them in JPG format so that you can open them up easily in Photoshop or another art/photo editing program.

Enjoy!

xoxo

DIY Happily Ever After Wedding Favour Tags

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sun, 11 Jan 2015 09:07:00 +0000

I've been working on favour tags for my wedding in October and came up with some cute tag designs. I used cardstock that had white on one side and a lovely water colour pattern on the back with some shimmering details. I printed in colour for the blank side and printed just text onto the patterned side. I really liked how the back of my tags turned out and decided to make a set of tags for my shop with a similar effect.

I gave these tags a watercolour look, plus some lace details. The sunset coloured tags have text and writing in the background instead of the lace detail.

If you would like to use these tags for your wedding favours, just purchase the PDFs from my store, print them in colour onto cardstock, and cut out your tags with regular or scalloped edging scissors. The files download instantly.

Have a great week!

xoxo

A Happy Christmas 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Mon, 29 Dec 2014 23:27:00 +0000

I hope you and your family had a very happy Christmas this year. I feel very spoiled this year with all the goodness around me. Here are some pictures from my happy holidays.

My sweetheart planned a lovely stay-cation for us this year complete with a breakfast in our room one morning. Everything was very delicious and displayed nicely. The hashbrowns were formed into a circular cake and I was pleasantly surprised to find that green onions and herbs had been cooked in to give it a nice, fragrant flavour.

Every morning, I had a little wrapped present from my hunny. There was chocolate inside, but also a hint about the activities planned for the day. It was a fun game. Sometimes the hints were easy to guess, other times I didn't know until we got closer to the event.

One of the activities took place at Canada Place.

We did the Christmas version of Fly Over Canada. It was fun and it reminded me of the Soaring Over California ride at Disneyland. You know how much I love Disneyland :)

Speaking of Disney, here's Olaf in Summer... lol... He was probably a very nice ice sculpture since he was still recognizable after being left in warmer temperatures for too long.

The best part of the whole trip to Canada Place other than the show, were the Do-It-Yourself S'mores.

Believe it or not, I have never eaten a S'more before.

I waited anxiously for my marshmallow to be perfectly toasted and placed onto the waiting graham cracker and chocolate square. You can't see me in this photo. I am drooling somewhere within biting distance.

I must say, I LOVED it. I think I could have eaten a whole pile of them (and then probably regretted it later after a severe sugar high). Sooooo gooooood!

I was also gifted a handsome gingerbread man when watching the gingerbread competition downtown. Some people are so talented! My talent is only in eating gingerbread men :P

We also got some tummy-warming cups of hot apple cider. Mmmm!

Back at the hotel, I found some yummy chocolate dipped strawberries waiting for me. I think my hunny loves me :) We also watched Avenue Q at Granville Island during our trip (which is hilariously inappropriate), visited the Canyon Lights at Capilano Suspension Bridge at night (you MUST check out the awesome cliff walk and the romantically lit lake), rode the Stanley Park Holiday Train (a holiday tradition that goes well with their organic popcorn), visited the German Christmas Market (I relived my childhood on the Merry-Go-Round, and forced my hunny to relive a more nightmarish version of his too) and enjoyed the delicious eateries in Vancouver.

All in all, it was a really memorable Christmas. I could not have asked for a better last Christmas as an unmarried couple, and we look forward to next year when will be a married couple! Cheers to a lovely, event-filled year and I wish you all an excellent year to come!

Love,

Marie

xoxo

Gathered Coin Pouch Tutorial with Templates

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 12:20:00 +0000

A family member requested a small coin pouch that could hold ID and credit cards and would look nice for putting into her purse at parties. I felt that my usual coin pouches were too casual looking and I wanted something a little prettier since she said it was for dressing up.

I came across the gathered clutch tutorial by Noodlehead, I liked the look of the gathered fabric with a band across it, so I created my own pattern for a smaller coin purse.

I chose a large patterned floral fabric that I thought was suitable for a dressier look. My family member seems to like her red purses, so I figured I would go with something with red in it while not being overpoweringly so. Rather than have a different coloured band, I went with a band in the same fabric for a more subtle, dressier look.

The end result is rather appealing. I added a satin ribbon in a matching bronze colour to dress it up a little more.

The back I left simple. The fabric was pretty enough that I didn't feel the need to make it so complicated on both sides.

I created a tutorial with templates. If you would like to make a gathered coin pouch of your own, you can download the pattern instantly from my store. The pattern is 15 pages, has lots of photos, and has easy-to-follow instructions.

Happy Sewing!

xoxo

DIY Christmas Wreath 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Thu, 11 Dec 2014 23:58:00 +0000

With Christmas fast approaching, I gathered supplies to make my annual home-made Christmas wreath. After spotting some small "gourmet" Christmas wreaths at a local florist for upwards of $50 each, I figured this was a much more economical decision. Plus it's fun. Perhaps you would like to make one of your own too?

I began my project by collecting greenery from the neighborhood. There was a wind storm recently so lovely branches of evergreens are strewn all over the street. It's fantastic, because I found branches with small pinecones still attached! An excellent find. I collected all kind of various shrubbery, including some unusual looking flower bud sprays from my neighbor's overgrown ivy.

I formed piles of the different greenery and then laid them on my wire wreath shape in small bundles. You can refer to this detailed wreath tutorial I made for a previous year here. Unlike previous years where I cut strips of wire and tied each bundle on, I just secured the first bunch by twisting the wire to itself and then used the wire spool to wrap two times over each bundle. Pull snug, but not so tight that the wire wreath shape warps. This is a much more efficient way to create your wreath and it should be easier to take the greenery off at the end of the holidays.

I alternated between different kinds of greenery as I moved around the wreath. Look how nice those ivy buds look as sprays around the wreath. I also quite like how the pinecones stick out in natural places since they are still attached to the branches. It's quite convenient. I don't know how long they will stay attached, but I can always wire them back into place if they fall off.

It was dark when I finished the wreath, so the lighting isn't the greatest, but you can see how florist-quality this wreath is compared to something you might buy premade at Costco or Home Depot. It's loaded with unique greenery from the neighborhood.

I made a nice, big, wired red bow from some ribbon I bought last year on sale at Sears and tied it on with wire. I liked it simple like that, but my mother wanted more red stuff on it.

So I added all of the artificial berries and apples that I had left over from last year's wreath. The effect is rather stunning. It think it was a good idea to add the decorations at the end since they really stand out.

You can compare it to last year's wreath where the ornaments were added at the same time as I added branches. They got a bit too covered up, I think. Also, last year, I did not experiment with adding different kinds of greenery. I mainly used pine/Christmas-type greenery. The big, red ribbon was also a good new addition, I think.

I had a lot of greenery left over so I covered all the railings outside my house. This is where I also put some of the wild holly that I found, plus some sticks with moss on them. I like moss covered stuff, and it looks nice and natural. For the railings I used strips of wire to tie the branches on. It seemed wasteful to use the wire wrapping method since the railings are so wide and harder to maneuver around.

If you decide to make a wreath too, send me a picture! I would love to see how yours turn out.

Happy Christmas Planning!

xoxo

Water Distressed Paper Poinsettias Tutorial

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Sun, 07 Dec 2014 08:13:00 +0000

Christmas is almost here and I need decorations. If you're looking for something fun and pretty to make, you can try these water distressed paper poinsettias. They look pretty nice on tables, wreaths, etc.

To make these lovely, complicated blooms, you will need the following supplies:

Silhouette Cameo Paper Cutting Machine (or mad paper cutting skills)

Red cardstock paper

Dark green cardstock paper

Light green or yellow cardstock paper

Watercolour paints

Make-up wedge sponges

Optional: Fine paintbrush

Water

White Glue

Drying surface (ex. tin sheet)

Painting surface (ex. white paper)

To start, cut out your poinsettia flower petals and leaf shapes.

I used this template from the Silhouette online store. You can also get the template that doesn't have the wreath. As you can see, you don't have to go through the trouble of water distressing these poinsettias, they look pretty good with just rolled up petals. I just like to make my life more difficult by attempting to one-up everything :)

I filled 8.5 x 11 sheets with either petals (red), leaves (dark green), or flower centers (pale yellow green) in Silhouette's software.

I printed out about 2 red petal sheets, one green leaf sheet and one light green centers sheet.

Place your flower petals on your painting surface (I used a plain sheet of white paper). Get your sponge wet and load it with dark red watercolour paint. Make it dark enough to show your on your petals. Mix in some dark green or black to make it show up as needed. Cover both sides with a wet layer of paint.

While it is still wet, fold the petal center creases.

Scrunch up the petals. Be careful not to tear the petals off.

Close up the flower in the center by squishing the center together from the bottom.

Gently open up the petals. Keep the center crease deep so that it looks like a leaf and gently bend the petals so that they curve open. It helps to pinch the center crease while using your other hand to smooth the petals open and bend the tip backwards.

Arrange your petals in the way you want them to appear or in a more closed shape until the petals are dried. You can always open them more once they are dried. If you mess with them too much while they are wet, you might accidentally tear off a petal.

Be patient and wait for the petals to dry. I place mine on an aluminum sheet over my oil heater in my room so that they dry faster. Be careful to prevent a fire if you do this. You can also place them under a lamp to dry.

Once they are dry, you can put a generous blob of white glue in the center and any spots where the next layer of petals will overlap. Place a layer of petals on top and press together. Allow them to dry fully.

The idea is to put leaves at the bottom, then largest petals on the bottom, and smaller petals to the middle so it looks like a real poinsettia flower. Look at photos of poinsettias to see what it should look like. Add about 3 layers of petals or more until you get the look that you like.

Add the flower centers in the middle.

I made my flower centers in light green and used bright yellow paint on them. I added extra yellow paint on the round balls and a touch of green in the middle. Once they were painted, I closed the centers up gently and lightly pressed on the balls so that they would bend in different directions instead of standing straight up.

Add a generous daub of white glue to the center and push the center into place. The result is quite attractive.

These flowers take a lot of work, but they look look quite realistic in terms of the way the petals are wrinkled and creased like real poinsettia flowers. Experiment with adding more and less paint and different colours of paint in order to get the look of the flowers and leaves that you want.

Enjoy and Happy Christmas Planning!

xoxo

Printable Christmas Tags - Have Yourself a MERRY little Christmas

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Thu, 04 Dec 2014 02:59:00 +0000

I've started packaging up goodies for Christmas and needed some new tags. I tried to find some good tags online for free, but had some trouble finding the perfect ones. I figured now was as good a time as any to make some of my own so that I could make it exactly the way I wanted.

Ta da! This is what I came up with! I knew that I wanted to make cards with shaded edges and made up of mostly text and flourishes.

I experimented with brown text, but found that I liked red and green the best in the end. What do you think?

I just have to punch holes in them and I can attach them to my little treat bags now. Yay! They are exactly what I wanted.

If you would like to make some of your own too, the PDF is available from my store. It is an instant download so you can start right away!

Happy Christmas plotting :P

xoxo

DIY Water Distressed Paper Flowers Tutorial

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Wed, 19 Nov 2014 10:09:00 +0000

I've been having fun making water distressed paper flowers the last few days.

They are easy to make and they look quite nice. I am thinking about using them for my wedding decorations next year. What do you think?

By varying the petal shapes, colours, and centers, I have made a lots of different types of flowers.

I even experimented with making some anemones. It's fun :)

I have amassed quite the collection of them already...

I even made different kinds of leaves :D

If you would like to know how to make these, the tutorial can be found here on my wedding blog.

Have a great day!

xoxo

Hedgie Hat Tutorial

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Tue, 04 Nov 2014 08:06:00 +0000

I tested out a new tutorial today on how to make a Hedgie Hat. These are hiding places for shy little hedgehogs and hedgehogs that love to burrow. I know Poggles would have loved to have one of these since he was such a shy fellow.

The tutorial is available as a PDF instant download from my shop.

The tutorial is 11 pages and includes the template for the hedgie hat. The templates for the mushrooms are not included, but I do provide step-by-step instructions on how to make them with free-hand cut mushroom shapes.

The finished hedgie hat is also available for sale in my shop. Please do stop by and check it out.

Have a great week!

Crazy Awesome Pumpkin Countdown Advent Calendar

noreply@blogger.com (Mytutorlist.com) — Mon, 03 Nov 2014 21:35:00 +0000

It's a little bit late, but I just came across this amazing tutorial by Needles n' Knowledge. I am blown away.

The drawers can all open up and store little trinkets and goodies!

You make it using the Silhouette Cameo paper cutting machine. Maybe I should make this next year! You should check out the other amazing tutorials on her blog. They're incredible.

Have a happy week!