Another day another dollar (or a few more)!

At the beginning of the week, I got all my transcription files turned in. I had quite a few disruptions so I ended up staying up late Sunday night to get them all proofed and uploaded. 

This week I've been working a lot on my CandiMaker Designs Etsy shop. I got some behind the scenes organizing done...like finally remembering how to reorganize the order of the listings. ;) And last week I was able to reactivate the But did you... DYE? listing that was fraudulently taken down...and I've even sold a copy of it already to an amazing person from the Trademark Watchdawgs Facebook group...who then used my "Thank You" coupon to make another purchase (one of my favorites, Witches be CRAZY). I just love the black against the rainbow watercolor. AND...it led to two more 5-star reviews on my shop which I'm SO grateful for! I'd love to know what more people think of their purchases. As of right now, I have 35 sales so far...and almost 20 of those are just in the last 30 days. My best seller by far is the He is Risen design...and Etsy shows that more than 20 people currently have it in their cart as well. I had no idea it would be so popular! 

I'm also branching out and uploaded my first spreadsheet to my shop! It's a Basic Etsy Profit-Fee Calculator that I use myself to calculate prices. I spent a lot of time setting up and perfecting my listing. I like to have everything just right. Now I'm working on a few more spreadsheets as well. I also want to get a few printables uploaded to my shop. I've been going through all the spreadsheets and printables I've made over the years and trying to get them changed to more generic versions to share with everyone. Now that I have the first listing posted, I can just copy that listing for future listings. It takes awhile to come up with the descriptions and tags and everything from scratch...but a lot of it is general information that can be used for other similar listings. So it should go more quickly now that I've gotten started. :) 

On that note...back to work! :) 

Hello Weekend!

I mean...it won't be much of a weekend since I have to work. :P 

Next week I may take a break to clean up the office a bit and get some spring cleaning projects done around the house. I need to make some headway in the basement and really start making progress getting stuff ready for the garage sale that we're going to have in May. I'm ready to get rid of all this extra stuff we have all over the place! Hopefully the weather will be nice during the citywide garage sales. With Kansas weather...who knows what it will be like. :P But...regardless of the weather we are DEFINITELY having a garage sale this year! We keep adding to our "garage sale stuff" pile(s) and then never having a garage sale. :P  

In other news...Nova had to go to the vet this week. We're not sure how...but she got a scratch on her eye. I wouldn't be surprised if it was from her and Bozley playing. They play so rough! But it's just a superficial scratch and they gave us some eye drops and meds to take care of it. And luckily eye injuries heal pretty quickly. That first night she was really trying to paw at it (and would grind her teeth when she was doing it!) but she seems to be doing a lot better now. She still squints her eye off and on and it waters every once in awhile, but she isn't pawing at it like she was. Bozley was NOT happy while she was gone! He was either laying down making growly noises or walking back and forth to the door whining. They do not like to be apart! He was super excited when she got home. It was cute. :) 

The dogs also got a bath this week! It figures...the day after they got a bath it rained/snowed. :P Nova didn't even like when Bozley was in the bathroom without her. She was whining at the door even though Ashlyn was trying to play with her as a distraction. LOL. The dogs have definitely bonded, that's for sure. We need to get them into the groomer again but we'll have to wait a little bit for some bigger paychecks. 

Well...I better get back to work! Hope everyone has a good weekend! 

Busy, Busy, Busy

I'm glad that my law enforcement transcription work has picked up lately. I actually didn't have ANY files in January and February. It did give me a lot of time to work on designs for my CandiMaker Etsy shop, but doing LE transcription is still my "main" job. But lately there hasn't been a lot of work available. I do try to be sort of picky about the files I take, though. I take pride in my work and have always met accuracy and on-time requirements. 

I've been working plans for other Etsy shops. I know that I'm going to start selling sublimation ready-to-press transfers at some point but I'll probably sell them from my current Etsy shop...but I haven't decided yet. And I've considered selling sublimated end-products...but I think *if* I do, it would either not be on Etsy at all or it would be from a different Etsy account that I have. It may Also not be limited to just sublimated items...but all my "maker" craft projects. It'll include things I've made with my Cricut Maker...projects using vinyl, cardstock, chipboard, stickers, etc. Again, I'm not 100% sure if I'll sell my physical products on Etsy, use a Facebook storefront, or if I'll just sell from my own website...or a combination of sites. I just haven't decided yet. 

I actually still have the store on my original Etsy account as well (linked to my personal account that I'd created for shopping on Etsy) but I never used it at all. I had considered using it to sell my paintings...especially when I was really getting back into when I was in college at WSU. I needed some fine arts classes in my college schedule to fulfill my degree requirements as well as more electives in categories other than behavioral science...so I was taking all the oil painting classes available at WSU. I'd forgotten just how much I loved painting...and I really loved having the time and space to do so. It got me to thinking more about selling my art...but back then I never really got around to figuring out all the nuances of selling on Etsy to actually start doing it. Now I've actually read through all the Etsy policies, I know how all their fees work, I've researched SEO, and I've set up all my spreadsheets to run my business that could be easily adapted to selling my artwork. But...I'm not sure if I really have time for drawing and painting on top of everything else...so we'll see. :P

But right now...I should probably get back to work on my transcription files! :) 

A night out!

Johnny and I had a nice evening out of the house Tuesday night with Aubry. Last year she bought the three of us tickets to see our favorite comedian, Tom Segura. We've watched all of his specials on Netflix with her so when we saw he was coming to town again, she was super excited to go. We had amazing tickets! Center orchestra, nine rows from the stage, and the last three seats in the center aisle...so we were pretty close. His opening act was really funny as well...although I can't remember his name. But we laughed pretty much the whole evening. I'm really glad we were able to go. :) We even got pretty good parking and didn't have to wait as long as I thought we'd have to in order to get out of the area. So that was a nice bonus! You can tell I'm old now when practical things like parking efficiency are part of what makes my night even more enjoyable. LOL. ;) Ashlyn doesn't like comedians so she stayed home and babysat the dogs. 

I had a pretty bad migraine yesterday so I wasn't very productive. I laid down with an ice pack for awhile and then Johnny had a doctor appointment in the afternoon so I went with him for that. When we got home I laid down for a little while longer...so did Johnny and the dogs (and Milo). We napped for a little while and then I got up and was feeling a bit better. I did manage to get another Easter design uploaded to my Etsy shop, but that was about it. My newest one is more of a rustic, country design. I try to have a small variety of styles to appeal to different tastes. One design in particular is doing really well. It's my He is Risen design that is, so far, the best seller in my entire shop! I've sold ten copies of the design so far and it shows that six people also have it in their cart right now. 

But...I do have to get back to working on some transcription files. Hope everyone is having a great week! Getting closer to the weekend!  

RECIPE: Grill Air Fryer Combo Meatloaf

I realized that I actually don't have a meatloaf recipe on here! I actually tried meatloaf in my PowerXL Grill Air Fryer Combo last night for the first time and it was PERFECT. Honestly, I make it so much better in there than in the oven. I can cook it in the oven for two hours and it still comes out pink in the middle. Drives me CRAZY. But...I've since bought a digital thermometer with a probe that you can leave in the meat while cooking...and it's a game changer. I highly recommend one. I got mine for less than $20 on Amazon. You can even set an alarm that will beep at you when it gets to the desired temp. No more under/over cooked food! I forgot to take pictures the first night we had it...so I took pictures of my leftovers. Still yummy! :)   

PowerXL Grill Air Fryer Combo Meatloaf 

Ingredients:

2 lbs ground beef

2 large eggs

1/2 cup milk

1 tbs dried, minced onion 

2/3 cup bread crumbs

1/2 tsp garlic salt
Glaze:

1 cup ketchup 

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp worcestershire sasuce 

1/2 tsp ground mustard

Directions:

1. Mix together all of the ingredients together for the meatloaf.  

2. Form into a square "loaf" directly onto the PowerXL grill plate. Place in fridge. 

3. Turn the PowerXL on and set to bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees and press start. Let it preheat. 

4. Once preheated, remove the meatloaf from the fridge and carefully place the grill plate with the meatloaf in the PowerXL and close the air fryer lid. It will say "add food" so press start again.

5. I checked the meatloaf about every 10 minutes or so to make sure that it wasn't getting too brown on top. I did cover it with foil after it had been cooking for about 20 minutes. 

6. Mix all the ingredients together for the glaze. 

7. When there is about 10 minutes left on the timer (or when it reaches about 140 degrees if you're using a thermometer) pour the glaze over the meatloaf and finish cooking for the remainder of the time or until the temperature is 160 degrees in the middle. 

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Where have I been?!

I only made one post in all of February? Now it's already March! I've been busy lately but not necessarily with anything exciting enough to write a whole blog post about. And every time I'd come to write a blog post, I'd either run out of stuff to say or get busy and forget to come back to finish it. :P 

The weather has been crazy lately. Very up and down! It would be 70 degrees one day and below 32 degrees the next. Welcome to Kansas weather! :P Twice in February we had record-breaking snowfall between 4-7 inches (I think February 2nd and February 17th). Bozley and Nova love to play in the snow. They won't necessarily stay out there a long time...but they like to go out there multiple times a day to play in it. But then every time they come back in we have to dig the snowballs out of their paws. And then when the snow melts...we have to clean the muddy mess off their paws. Not my favorite part. :P But...they have a lot of fun. They just run back and forth chasing each other, roll around, dig in the snow...they love it! 

This past weekend was pretty good. Saturday, Ashlyn and I went with my mom to the mall to pick out her junior prom dress. We went to three different stores and she found quite a few dresses...but she ended up going with the first dress she picked out. It's a really pretty emerald green dress. She's pretty excited about it. :) Then we grabbed lunch on the way back to our house and chatted for awhile. Sunday Johnny and I took the dogs over to my grandma's house and helped her with a few things. She loves having us over to visit and she really likes watching the dogs play. She has a fenced-in backyard so Boz and Nova are free to explore. So they really enjoy it too. :) Then I came home and made my version of Chicken Milanese in the air fryer. And then the next night Johnny wanted Goulash. I love when he picks dinner so I don't have to think about it...especially when it's something easy to make and there's leftovers! ;) And that recipe makes quite a lot so I actually froze half of it and I'll make the other half in a month or so when we feel like having it again. I haven't made any new recipes lately...another reason for the lack of new blog posts. BUT...tonight I plan to make meatloaf in my PowerXL Grill Air Fryer Combo...so we'll see how that goes. :) I'll probably post the recipe tomorrow. (Edited to add: I forgot to take a picture so I'll have to take a picture tomorrow when we have leftovers and I'll post that with the recipe). 

I've been busy working on my Etsy shop and creating more digital designs. I surpassed 50 designs not too long ago! I've also made several more sales. So far, I've already made more sales this year than all of last year...which is pretty good considering I've done zero paid advertising and no real promotion other than occasionally posting on my Facebook page that I've posted new designs on my Etsy shop when I think about it. I don't plan to do much paid advertising until I have at least 100 designs and hopefully a complete set of seasons/holidays to choose from. 

In somewhat-related news, there's currently a small shop owner who is maliciously attacking other small shops based on false pretenses. She is filing false DMCA copyright infringement notices in bad faith arguing that she owns a phrase. For one, you can't copyright a phrase. For two, she doesn't own a trademark for the phrase. She hasn't even applied for one. She just knows that if she files a copyright infringement that Etsy will take the listing down. She is doing this for any listing using a certain phrase for Easter designs. It's pretty ridiculous. Talk about drama!

But in other news... I was finally able to get some transcription work done. On that note...I want to get a few more CandiMaker things done tonight before I get started working on my transcription file so I better get back to work. :)