April Blog Schedule

 Hey Y'all!

It's officially Spring, and NE Tennessee isn't missing out on bringing that in with rain showers.

Here's this month's blog schedule:

If there's any topic, hot-to, or review you'd like to see covered leave your suggestion in the comments below!

April:

3rd Mon~ Cricut Joy Easter Project TBD

5th Wed~ March Looks

7th Fri~ Update: What are WE up to?

10th Mon~ I Got A Cricut Joy... My Thoughts & Review

12th Wed~ Sesame Street (Wet 'n Wild) Review

14th Fri~  Health Update/ Appt.

17th Mon~ How To: Gift Boxes (Paper Crafting)

19th Wed~ Dresser/Clothes Clean Out & Organize

21 Fri~ Travel Plans?? Our Late Spring/Early Summer Plans

24th Mon~ How To: Cricut Water Color Markers

26th Wed~ May Everyday Shelf/ April Review

28th Fri~ BOOKS!

May:

1st Mon~ May Blog Schedule

3rd Wed~ April Looks

5th Fri~ Basement... Progress???

8th Mon~ How TO: Cricut Design Space Updates/ Refresher Part 1 of 2

10th Wed~ Get Ready With Me!

12th Fri~ What I'm Working On (Crafty)

15th Mon~ How To: Leather Keychains (w/ Dollar Tree Leather)

17th Wed~ Current Beauty Favorites

19th Fri~ One Month 'til My 41st Birthday!!

22nd Mon~ How TO: Cricut Design Space Updates/ Refresher Part 2 of 2

24th Wed~ Get Un Ready With Me

26th Fri~ Books!

29th Mon~ My Current Craft Must Haves

31st Wed~ June Everyday Shelf

June:

2nd Fri~ Blog Sched.

5th Mon~ How TO: Infusible Ink Markers

7th Wed~ May Looks

FUN FRIDAY:

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

April Everyday Makeup Shelf & March Mini Review

 Hey Y'all!

Last months shelf:

http://craftinwifescreations.blogspot.com/2023/02/march-everyday-makeup-shelf-feb-mini.html

I really enjoyed both Norvina palettes, all the shadows I tried were very pigmented, and blended pretty well. The glitter shades were a bit more difficult to work with that others, but still easier than other brands glitter/shimmer shades.

As previously mentioned in another blog, the mascara was dried out, so I didn't get to try it out. Bummer!

I like the e.l.f. spray, and it does seem to add a bit of moisturizing. I wouldn't use it over makeup, but it seemed to preform fine underneath. (I did mostly use it after I had removed my makeup, or on days I didn't wear any.)

What I pulled for April:

Mostly this-  https://www.wetnwildbeauty.com/product-category/collections/sesame-street-collection/#

I've yet to try anything but the lip scrub (which I really like) and the lip mask (which is ok at best).

The Glamlite Icee Palettes I pulled just 'cause. We'll see how often I use them this month...

I pulled all the Sesame Street lip products, and then decided I'd want a nude too, so I kept this ColourPop lipstick from last month. I can see needing to occasionally grab something else here too.

I'm going to see if the Big Bird Banana powder is enough or if I'll need a foundation too...

Overview!

What's in your makeup case? Trying anything new? Let me know in the comments below!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

What I'm Working On (Crafty)

 Hey Y'all!

Last months blog:

http://craftinwifescreations.blogspot.com/2023/02/what-im-working-on-crafts.html

You can always check out what I'm doing on TikTok as well:

https://www.tiktok.com/@craftinwife

Here's a few recent projects:

There were a few I either forgot to photograph, or I accidently deleted once I posted elsewhere...

Above:

Logo for our new YouTube travel/road trip/ adventure channel. It's brand new, and we've yet to post any videos.

Below:

Banner for the channel page.

Shirts:

Fail:

I followed the directions, so I don't know what went wrong here. My best guess is the shirt was pretreated with something that reacted with the adhesive in the transfer.

Social Media Mentions:

New goimagine/FB:

To be posted tomorrow!

Which is your favorite? Let me know in the comments below!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

Books! What I've Read This Month

 Hey Y'all!

Whatcha reading?

Here's the last two book blogs to catch you up:

https://craftinwifescreations.blogspot.com/2023/02/books-what-ive-read-this-month.html

https://craftinwifescreations.blogspot.com/2023/01/books-what-im-currently-reading.html

Not pictured-

So, I did finish the Orphan Train Trilogy, and it was heavily Christian themed and a bit preachy, but the stories were good. The second book (All My Tomorrows) was my favorite of the three, I did take awhile to pick it up after finishing the first, and I have just finished the third (Whispers in the Wind). I liked that the stories were based on the true Orphan Train that existed, but I'm sure there were less happy endings IRL. If your into historical/Christian books then these may be for you, otherwise it's a skippable trilogy.  It's very obviously written by two people. At times it doesn't flow  very easily, making it a bit hard to stay engaged with all the characters/storylines. The Christian theme is a bit preachy at times, but not enough that I quit reading it, though I did skip around a bit, especially by the time I got to book three. 

I've taken to reading the local Business Newspaper when I can pick it up, it's not exactly what I though it'd be, more everything than business focused IMO, but it's a free publication.

The Tennessee Magazine is a monthly flip through. Sometimes there's a few interesting (local interest) articles, and they have an events page I always skim.

Women's Health, looks like- if I'm reading it right, it will expire in September. However it's expired before and just keeps coming. I do always skim through it, however it's more advertisement than substance.

Unusual Suspects- A collection of short stories: From video game characters seeking civil rights and a cave dragon loan shark pondering an investment, to Santa Claus's Australian vacation and an enemy of Sam Spade's out for revenge--plus visits to the Nightside and Sookie Stackhouse's hometown-- these stories will take readers around the world on a magical mystery tour.

his follow-up to Powers of Detection (2006) breaks no new ground, but offers 12 stories with enough well-paced variety to keep readers happy. In Charlaine Harris's notable Sookie Stackhouse tale, "Lucky," one insurance agent's good luck makes him a target. A "resurrected" Humphrey Bogart is murdered in Carole Nelson Douglas's "Bogieman" while Santa Claus investigates the murder of an elf in John Straley's "Weight of the World." On the lighter side, a divorcee gets used to a menagerie of ghostly housemates in Sharon Shinn's "The House of Seven Spirits" and a young woman confronts a cave dragon turned loan shark to solve her father's disappearance in Laura Anne Gilman's "Illumination." Strong tales outnumber the weaker ones by a considerable margin and will satisfy fans of both genres. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

—Publishers Weekly

I'm half way through the book, and I read all the Sookie Stackhouse books, and really liked them, but this short feels like information we already knew- still a good read, but wasn't necessarily a new story. I couldn't get into the Bogieman story, so I only read about 4 pages of it. The House of Seven Spirits was really good, and I enjoyed figure out what exactly happened along with our main character. (The story is similar to the BBC show Ghosts, which I also really liked. I haven't watched the American version.) I also skimmed another story, as I found I didn't care enough about the character to figure out who done it...

That puts me roughly half way through the book, and I'm excited to finish! Overall I've liked the book, however I'm finding short stories from multiple authors may not be for me. 

FUN FRIDAY:

Here's a picture of my current TBR pile....

These are in no particular order, and I haven't picked out a next book yet... Suggestions? Have you read any of these? Let me know in the comments below!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

New In Beauty... My Thoughts

 Hey Y'all!

What's new in beauty?

Lots of collabs! 

There's currently: Peeps, Mentos, always Disney x Insert Brand, Sesame Street, Various Anime, M&Ms, Squishmellows, Strawberry Shortcake, etc.

It seems like the main theme is either FOOD or NOSTALGIA.

As always some of the collabs appeal to me, others I have no idea who/what they're collabing with. What's your must have collection right now?

Admittedly I did get quite a bit from this collection:

https://www.wetnwildbeauty.com/product-category/collections/sesame-street-collection/#

I purchased through Walmart, and that was far cheaper per item than online.

My photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cp0LikmOxIc/

I have only tried the Lip Scrub, and the Lip Mask so far. I love the scrub, but don't find the mask very nourishing, and really rather dry for a lip treatment. 

They got me with the nostalgia, and packaging here, it's all super cute. I'm too old to know Abby Cadabby, other than her name, but all the other characters are very familiar. I'd like to see some Prairie Dawn love, and some Snuffleupagus mascara, or lash product would have fit the theme well. Otherwise it looks awesome, and they did really well fitting the theme. If you'd like a review let me know and I'll get one up ASAP!

Outside of all the collab stuff, I'm glad to see less and less all nude palettes for Spring. Finally color is coming back.

The two most "interesting" to me:

1) Negative- What were they thinking, Jill Stuart Lipsticks. Even in the swatches TrendMood posted, these look like something my sister and I had in our play makeup in the late 80s. They didn't blend together well, and it always looked like multiple patchy colors on the lips. Fine when you're 5, not a look I'm going for at 40.  I'll give this one positive, the packaging is pretty.

2) Positive- Essence Europe Release, Ready For A Ride. The color story and packaging are super cute. I am interested in how those multi color pans would really mix and apply. Doesn't seem very practical. If this was cheap enough, and comes to the US I'd probably buy even though I have plenty of lilacs and minty greens.

Are you buying anything new? What appeals to you most? Let me know in the comments below!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

Current Craft Room (Update)

 Hey Y'all!

Here's the previous blog from January:

http://craftinwifescreations.blogspot.com/2023/01/clean-with-me-craft-roomtour-my-craft.html

IF you'd like a full tour there's a video in that blog.

What it currently looks like isn't much different, and I haven't gone through my books yet. Looking at it now though, I'd only want to get rid of a few. 

Pics:

Goal Progress:

Goals for this year are-

1) Start using what I have, shop less for new. (Seriously, I could probably stock a 16ft section with vinyl alone, and easily a 4ft section each of paper, stamps, the list goes on...)

EH, doing okay here, but definite room for improvement.

2) Create at least 2x a week.

Going well.

3) Maintain an organized craft room by putting away materials as that part of the projects is finished.

Better than before. It could use some attention on the island, but the rest is pretty good.

4) Declutter books shelves, Donate.

Haven't done yet.

5) Come up with a better plan for scraps of vinyl. (I hate to throw them away, but I currently have WAY TOO MANY scraps. They take over 2 drawers, a file folder x2, and a basket. I do search them first when crafting, but there are still too many.)

I've decided to toss anything under 3x3in. Not many projects I can really do with anything that small, and I really have so much I'm okay with the waste now. There are 2 drawers for scraps.

6) Set aside the time to call Cricut and finish linking cartridges.

This is so time consuming I've yet to do it. I think I'll take a look and see which I'd like to add the most, and start with them. I really don't care about font cartridges, so I could just get rid of those. It was so much easier before they disabled the plug and link through the machines.

I do have a lamp I'd like to make space for in here. It's a floor lamp, so ideally I'd like it to shine on the desk some. If I can't fit it in here we could use it in the basement.

Any room suggestions? Leave them in the comments below!

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife

My Social Media Analytics (Current)

 Hey Y'all!

I hope you find analytics as interesting as I do! The gathered data can tell us so much about who is engaging with us/our content and how. In this blog I  give screen shots of my analytics across all social media, and a brief paragraph of my thoughts. Enjoy!

The last time I really looked at the analytic for this blog theywere a bit different:

*Half way down.

https://craftinwifescreations.blogspot.com/2022/08/small-business-update-analytics.html

Most noticeable for me is the change in demographic, specifically on YouTube, and the growth of views on twitter- which I give the absolute least attention to.

Currently none of my social media (nor blog) are monetized.

Take a look at the analytics here:

Blog-

It's doing about the same as it always does, other than the loss of ads (which weren't paying out, just clogging it up for my few readers). I blog because I really enjoy it, and the how-to craft series is fun and educational, they tend to do the best outside of beauty declutter/organization blogs. If it helps one person, I'm happy.

Facebook-

 The page has grown, and I try to post 3 days a week at minimum. Reels are doing the heavy lifting engagement wise there.

Instagram-

I didn't include it last time, but I gain and then lose around 5 followers every few months. I should figure out what "works" over there. I also don't post much other than TikTok as reels, so I'm sure that doesn't help it grow. Is there a way to check analytics? Let me know in the comments below. I'd like to know at minimum how many people are watching the reels.

Pinterest-

Just figured I'd include it.

TikTok-

I didn't include this last time either. I'm still trying to really figure TikTok out, it's a picky one. Two very similar videos can do vastly different. I am happy with the slower, natural growth, but I know I could grow the platform by leaps & bounds.

Twitter-

I post here when a blog comes out, and occasionally my goimagine shop link. It's no surprise it hasn't grown, I devote no time to it. Admittedly I find twitter boring, and don't even open it up beyond those brief postings. What am I missing? Let me know.

YouTube-

Big changes here! More views, growth, and the gender of viewers. I'm not surprised by that, at both crafting and makeup/beauty are female dominated fields. Plus I don't know how they class those that don't have a declared gender on their profiles. The age range, also of no surprise, stayed the same. 

I'd like to start doing more full videos in addition to the shorts. The poll I did does support this idea, with videos around the 10min range being my poll results ideal. Now if my watchers would subscribe, this channel could be booming with success!

Have any thoughts, tips, hints, or ideas for content? Anything you'd like to see me cover? Let me know in the comments below or DM me on social media.

Have a great day,

Craftin' Wife