Let's Make Something! No. 1

Hiya! This week has felt relatively slow for me, which probably has a lot to do with my boyfriend working later nights as he prepares for an upcoming work trip. Nights usually spent cooking together and sharing time together has turned into a lot more time on my own. But the relaxed week hasn't made me less creative — this week I think it's helped boost it! — so I have a few things to share...

Welcome to The Blog!

To catch everyone up to speed, this is the very first of my Let's Make Something updates! The very core of this blog is fueled by my innate need to be creative, to make something in any capacity. Stickers, illustrations, stories, scarves, a custom apron, the copycat recipe of my favorite sweet treat, a one to one replica in the Sims of the Lucky Cat Cafe from Big Hero 6 (hours of my life I will never get back)… And by writing these updates, my hope is to create a corner of the internet to inspire you to do the same!

Now that my first post is up and running, I've had SO many ideas about what I want to talk about, things to include, ways to make these posts interesting and engaging, etc. I'm excited to start this journey, and to hear your feedback! That being said, I'm also trying to remember not to try and do too much too fast — I don't want to be burning out at the very beginning before I can even build up a community of people to write for.

I'd love for you to stick around, and help me build something fun where we can create ALL the things we want, with realistic expectations for what that looks like in our day to day lives — not picking niches or setting outlandish goals that no one can accomplish …. Just creating for the soul, your soul, in whatever ways you choose to squeeze it in! 💛

My Etsy Shop

As we move into the official first few days of Fall, I've been working on a few different autumn/spooky season stickers that I'm excited announce are LIVE in my shop! I also have a few new designs from my Lil' Bitties series that I hadn't put out yet, and I think they fit really well as part of a Fall Restock.

Head over to My Shop to see my new Soup Season Cauldron, any (or all) of the Golden Trio from Harry Potter, or a sweet little Paddington Bear! I still have my regular stock available as well — yes I still have my White Christmas stickers up, they're my best sellers year round — so feel free to poke around! I'm working on putting together a "Misfit Stickers" listing as well for all my that didn't come out quite right, or weren't popular enough to keep up with Etsy's fees, so keep an eye out for those as well!

Now that my stickers are live and not stressing me out anymore, it's time for the behind the scenes story…at the beginning of this month, I started a new job — which I love — that has cut my commute in half, and allows me to continue being creative in between tasks (like writing this blog post). The downside of that, however, is that I no longer work at a Print shop where I can slip my sticker sheets into the cue, ring myself up, and have my order ready to go all without taking a lunch break.

My first attempt was taking my sticker paper to the Office Depot self-service machines, and let me tell you, that's not where it's at (hence, the "Misfit Stickers" listing that will unfortunately be coming soon). In their defense, the self-service machine is definitely made for quick copy jobs, not quality prints to supply an Etsy shop, so no hard feelings there. Their regular printing services came in clutch for this fall drop — and for making custom D&D standees for my party. While the print quality is good, I do prefer a thicker sticker paper than the one they offer, so my search hasn't ended just yet.

I've been weighing the options of different printers and what would work best for my shop in the long run, but it is complicated and expensive. It was definitely a problem I was pushing off for a later day. While I'm lucky I found a solution for now, I may need to start taking this task a bit more seriously. If you have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them!

Works In Progress

A few weeks ago I finished a knitting project I've had for over a year now, and I'm so glad I did! Since finishing it, I've been reaching for my knitting needles way more often. I made a Knitted Pumpkin, using this pattern from BHooked — though I did make it much larger than their pattern dictated and had to go rogue about halfway through. I stuffed it using cut up scraps of old giveaway t-shirts (reuse & recycle!), and it's now sitting proudly by the stairway in my house, so I get to keep experiencing the joy of a finished project each time I walk by!

Now that my pumpkin is done in time for fall, I've picked up the cardigan project I cast to the side as well, having lost my momentum about a quarter of the way through. One thing about me and how I craft — I start to learn the skills, and then as soon as I start knowing what I'm doing without looking at a reference, I get delusional and think I can do anything. So of course when I went looking for cardigan patterns, rather than learning how to read them, I decided to make my own based on a cardigan that's currently in my closet.

At this point in the project, I'm far enough past the delusion that I have since learned how to read basic patterns, know that my skills have lots of room to grow, and have started to become daunted by the concept of sleeves. However, I'm also far enough into the project that I don't want to scrap the one very large panel I finished over a year ago… so we keep moving forward.

I have the back of my cardigan finished, and have made decent process on one of the side panels! This is the first piece I've made that included any kind of border, and even though I've already messed it up, I'm loving the look of it! I definitely wish I'd started with a granny square blanket or something to experiment with, but I guess that can be my next project.

The Game Chair

I've been getting back into The Sims 4 lately, which has included watching videos on how to improve game play, and sitting on the couch with the game open while my boyfriend plays Borderlands 4. 

My biggest challenge for myself has been to embrace parts of the game that I haven't explored as much as I should have. For starters, to actually enjoy the packs that I bought before being tempted by the latest sale. But also to challenge myself to be more creative with my game play, and try things that I haven't thought to try out before.

(Not a fan of the Sims? Don't give up on me yet — next update I'll talk more about my Baldur's Gate 3 and Dungeons & Dragons adventures!)

The biggest way I've been doing that was by creating a household purely with the intention of trying something new. I recently got the Businesses & Hobbies expansion pack that lets you create Small Businesses in your Sim's homes, and the Jungle Adventure game pack, taking place in the city of Selvadorada and it's ancient temples. And as I got carried away, I also wanted to tie in one of my first (and now most neglected) packs, the Discover University expansion pack where your Sims get to enjoy the ups and downs of College life. My goal was to make a family that made use of each one of these packs so that I had no lack of options for what to do next.

The Harding family includes Sosuke —Environmentalist by day and Selvadorada Temple explorer by… vacation days — and his wife Sadie, who owns and runs the coffee shop on the lower level of their home. Their daughter, Jade, is a Robotics major at Britechester University, who wants nothing more than to build her very own Servo.

So far, I'm hooked, but we'll see if it lasts past the typical cycle of loving the Sims for two weeks before leaving it to collect digital dust for a couple months.

Traversing the Selvadorian Temples with Sosuke was so much fun, I didn't even want to send him home! I only ended his trip to Selvadorada because he was so excited to be there, that I couldn't get his moodlets to change to what was required for the next temple puzzle, and I couldn't keep progressing. I guess "moodlet erasing" is next on my list of cheat codes to learn… His archaeology skill improved so rapidly that he came back from his very first trip as a Level 10 Archaeologist with tons of artifacts to authenticate.

Back at the Harding residence, I discovered why I stopped playing with the Discover University pack — it feels so similar to actual University life that I was starting to get stressed out about Jade's homework, and turning her term papers in on time! Not to mention the time I loaded into their household, and had to force her to get to class for the last five minutes; that did not reflect well on her grades. The fact that I got this pack during my own college experience would probably explain why I haven't gone back to it, putting my animation assignments over my Sims class schedule was ultimately the better move. But considering that I've never played through to have a Sim graduate with their degree, and I no longer have my own classes to worry about, I'm determined to stick with it this time!

The balance between both of those packs is actually the Businesses and Hobbies pack, as Sadie's coffee shop was thriving no matter what chaos was happening for the rest of her family. Sims came from far and wide to order coffees and sweet treats, play games at the provided game tables, and even purchase some of the "Selvadorian" trinkets on her display shelves.

As someone who would wait until popular Simmers deemed packs properly bug-free before even considering purchasing them, the relatively new Businesses & Hobbies game play has been so smooth that I can hardly imagine continuing to play the game without it. It can act as a stable place to return to from the chaos (cue your cozy library and coffee shop mashup) … or, depending on the kind of business you choose to run, the source of exactly the chaos you're looking for.

Good Eats

Because I enjoy cooking, and would argue that it comes with a creativity all of it's own, I thought it'd be fun to talk about what I'm enjoying in the kitchen! Recipes I'm making, experiences worth mentioning, kitchen hacks I think are worth sharing, etc. This first week, I'm tied in a few different directions!

I'm still reminiscing the last of the leftovers of the Bolognese Sauce my boyfriend made this past weekend. I've been chasing the high of a Bolognese pasta I had when I was in Edinburgh, Scotland (if you're in the area, I highly recommend visiting Vittoria on the Bridge, you can thank me later), and haven't found anything that came close — even, I hate to say it, our favorite Italian restaurant in our area.

My boyfriend acquired a recipe from his friend's Italian family, planned a whole day around letting it simmer on the stove for a few hours… This sauce was the main event of my Sunday, and it was well worth it. I could have had about 4 bowls worth of it, it tasted like love. If you're up for a laid-back Sunday sauce, I implore you to find a good Bolognese recipe and give it a try!

We've also been making a handful of recipes from Tom Walsh at @stealth_health_life on social media, and they're SO good! His recipes make large portions with the intention of stocking your freezer, which has been super helpful for my boyfriend's late nights, packing delicious lunches and dinners to take to work.

This week I'm loving his Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Burritos — a surprising win in our house! My boyfriend is from New York, which means Buffalo Chicken anything has a special place in his heart. So when he sent me this recipe that included adding Sweet Potatoes to the mixture, I was worried how the addition would go over. But the verdict? We love them! It's definitely a twist on a classic, but it perfectly combines sweet and spicy, healthy and tempting, and we'll definitely be making this one again.

Thanks for Reading!

For a beginner's blog post, I hope I did well (and haven't droned on long enough to lose your attention). As I continue, I'll develop these sections a little better, think of new things to talk about, and look out for what you want to hear!

If something I babbled about resonated with you, if you have a project you're working on, or if you know the secret to mastering a Sim's college experience without feeling like I'm the one cramming for midterms, I'd love to hear it! Drop a comment below, or shoot me a message!

If you're interested in keeping up with my updates, be sure to subscribe! Otherwise, you can find me @Gingerjargogle on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube — I'll be sure to update here if anything cool is coming to the socials.

Catch you next time! 👋💛