Job Fraud Warning

This last week we had a very unfortunate thing happen to us.  As many of you know we are still looking for a job since graduating college.  We have been faithfully searching not only company pages but also job search engines.  We came across a posting for an Entry Level Petroleum Engineer for a "company" posing as Cameron Limited.  My husband applied for it and a few days later received an Interview Questionaire.  We were really excited.  He sent it in and then on 3/15 (the day I was supposed to post my Pie recipe) we received a "job offer."  At first we were so excited, this is what we had been waiting for!  We had errands to run that day but decided we needed to ask the company some questions the next day since it was an company founded overseas.  They didn't seem hokey at first, they didn't ask for personal information or bank accounts or anything.  But that night we decided to research the phone number and address the guy provided just to be safe.  The number popped up a fraud watch alert.  My husband called the real company the following day and found out that it was a scam.  We were pretty heartbroken.
The main reason I posted this was to warn people.  I was unaware of these fraud jobs before this and I am just glad we didn't give them more information.  We figured the next thing they would have asked for is our bank account to "wire in our signing bonus."  For those of you out there looking for jobs, make sure to go to the companies website itself and apply for jobs there.  The search engines are great for finding the jobs but always check with the real company.  I hope this helps at least one person avoid a scam!  Have a great Monday tomorrow! :)

Pi Day!

Happy Pi Day everyone! I have been working hard all day on my Pi Day Pie Recipe of 2012! For now I will just post a picture of the beauty!  But by tomorrow evening expect full details!  It is an apple pie with two top crusts... yes I said two crusts!  I now it sounds crazy, but just give it a chance! I used this magnificent opportunity to begin teaching my almost  year old nephew about Pi.  I am hoping by 6 he fully grasps the concept. :) Enjoy!!
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A little about me

Ahhhh, I am officially terrified!  I made my new banner as seen above and got all proud of my little blog. Then I did the unthinkable, I posted it to my Facebook.  Which in the end I am glad I did, even if it gave my shy little heart a minor patter.  So WELCOME to my blog!  It began as Craftygray, just an outlet for my crafting needs. But in my head it has grown to so much more.  I tend to be a very random person who rambles on and on about the strangest things.  Here lately I have been on a Felicia Day, Rachael Ray, and Pioneer Woman kick, (my three current sheroes).  A little bit about eccentric little me:
I read comics.
I play video games
I read scifi, fantasy, and romance novels.
I love to cook and craft.
I loves maps.
I try to follow a whole foods diet.
I am a recent graduate and a newlywed.
My husband and I have a dream of someday owning our own ranch.
Thank you for giving me a try! I hope you decide to stick with me through my beginning stages!! I promise to stop being so distracted and get on it :)

Valentine's Post (a month late!)

Hello again!! Here lately I have been super obsessed with paper crafts.  I made several valentines day cards and a birthday card.  Plus my husband valentine's day present.  The ideas I came up with for the presents were all cutesy.  And all of the presents cost under $5 dollars to do.  While they aren't perfect I thought each of them turned out very cute! So I decided to post the ideas!  Hope this drums up some ideas for you and helps you get out there and craft!

Valentine's Day Gift # 1

My little niece is very into her brothers superheroes.  So while I was at the dollar store I saw this cute little Spiderman mat puzzle and thought it would be great for her to play with!  I came up with several cute sayings over the course of a week to go with the Spiderman theme.  My favorite was "You have spun me up in your web of love!"  But when it came down to making the card, I didn't want to make a huge one with lots going on.  It was 2 days before her first birthday so I just wanted it to be simple.  So I chose "I'm stuck on Macee."

To make the card I used some pink card stock, drew out the letters in glue, sprinkled some glitter over the glue, and stuck some stickers on there! Super easy and super fast to do!  The final product is pictured below!

Valentine's Day Gift # 2

For my nephew I found some maizes for him to do that came with markers and crowns.  I knew what cute saying I wanted to do for his right away.. "You a-maze me."  For his card I used just regular card stock wrote the letters out in glue and glittered them.  Then to customize it o him I added some cute little stickers, some that had to do with valentines day and some that were super heroes (since he loves superheroes so much).  Both of these for the kids were super easy, cheap, and fast.  A picture of his card is below.

Valentine's Day Gift # 3

This next card I made for my parents, I definitely don't think it is my finest work.  However, I really liked that play on colors.  I had wanted to change the way the Happy Valentines Day looked but I ran out of time.    If I could do them over again, I would find letters in the light blue of the paper and use those for the words.

Valentine's Day Gift # 4

The last valentine's day card and present were for my husband.  I got the 52 ways I love you card idea off of pinterest.  I LOVED that idea.  My husband and I both play WoW, so from day one of this project I knew I wanted the second to last reason to be " You WoW me!"  Corny I know, but my husband loved it! :)  His card I also could see parts of in my head from the first time I started.  It was just one of those projects!  I used ribbon at the bottom of the page and put a button in the center to bring some direction to it.  Then I just stuck words and embellishments as I pleased.  That center sticker says "Luck in Love", a throw back to the beginning of our relationship.  Sorry to keep babbling, a picture is below!

(Oh and as a side note I learned if you are going to download a special font, at all costs print at home or make absolutely sure the place you print through has that font, or else you will be heartbroken!)

Birthday Card

Yes the first thing you will notice is "birtday".  I was so proud of this card, took it to my family, showed it off.  No one noticed.  I went back to giggle over my a-dora theme and that's when I saw it.  I was mortified at first.  But then my sister said, in 15 or 20 years when she looks at this card she is going to say, "That is so my Auntie Boo" and I felt instantly better.  Its true it may not be perfect, but it screams my personality.  When thinking of her valentine's day gift I got stuck on the a-dora you theme, but I didn't find anything under 5 dollars for that theme.  So my sister kindly threw a Dora themed first birthday party for her two days later that gave me the opportunity I needed to make her this adorable card.

I hope these in some way inspired you to get out there and craft, and I also hope it showed that even if it is not perfect it's worth it!
Have a great rest of your day! I hope to get a recipe posted tomorrow, so check back!

Carrot Zucchini Bread

My sister, husband, and I have been doing a Sugar Detox now for a couple of weeks.  It was very hard in the beginning but we did find various recipes that helped us along the way.  The detox we chose to do is a gradual one.  So we cut out different things each week.  We are finally to the last week of it, which is absolutely no sugar! (If I can survive this, I can survive anything! ha)  This recipe really saves us during the first few weeks, until we had to cut out quick bread.  For this reason and for a friend I decided to post it.  All of the ingredients I used were organic, but I highlighted the ones that should be organic if you cannot do all of them.  I will make this again next week after this is over and up date with pictures!  Hope you are having a great Superbowl Sunday!!!

Carrot Zucchini Bread

Ingredients

• 3 cups organic all-purpose flour (I use the whole wheat one)
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 4 tsp ground cinnamon (3 would suffice, I just really enjoy cinnamon)
• 3 organic eggs
• 1 cup safflower oil
• 2 1/4 organic raw sugar
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 2 cups grated carrot
• Olive oil spray (I use a mister)

Directions

1. Spray two bread pans with olive oil spray.  Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Sift flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
3. Beat eggs, safflower oil, vanilla, and raw sugar together.
4. Add sifted ingredients to the egg mixture and beat well.
5. Stir in zucchini and carrots until well mixed.
6. Pour batter into prepared pans.
7. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
8. Cool for 20 minutes.
9. Enjoy! :)

*For the olive oil mister I use one that you put olive oil into, pump it a few times and it works just like any cooking spray, just a little bit healthier.  The one I use is by Misto.  ( I have no affiliation with Misto, just using it as an example.)