My passions lie in the beauty industry (since 1998) & the Craft industry (since childhood, but truly re-ignited in 2010).
Beauty & Craft inspiration, product reviews, and how-to's, as well as general life stuff..
If your interested in seeing an April review that can be found HERE, in a separate blog, since it was mostly all pieces from the Wet 'n Wild x Sesame Street Collection.
May's Shelf:
There are a few new to me products, so I'm excited to give them a try and let you know how I feel about them!
These Rimmel Jelly Highlights are also new, from Dollar Tree, we'll see. I tend to prefer powder, but these were really pretty.
Another of the new items are the The Crème highlights, a Ross find. The packaging (and $3 price) got me on these. I'm most excited to try out the purple shade.
The last of the new items, a Stila mascara that isn't my #1 (in gold packaging) but we'll see how I like this.
I tried not to pick too much for May, but definitely wanted some color! Overall I think I did well, although I probably pulled too many highlight products. For lips I tried to stick to just 2 in my main color categories (red, pink, nude, purple). I did pull three pink, but 2 of them are smaller/sample size. I opted for the more hydrating primer, as I've been told radiation can be rather drying, so I'll be using that a lot here at the beginning of the month. I plan to use up the concealer once and for all, as well as the eye shadow primer. It's time those get gone, lol.
Are you trying anything new currently? Let me know in the comments below!
The Watercolor Markers from Cricut function just like their other markers, and pens.
How To-
You'll choose your image(s) in design space, and set them to draw.
Follow the machine prompts for when to load & switch markers.
Fill the brush with water.
Color/Paint!
It's that easy.
In the following 2 examples I'll show you how it's done.
The first video I used copy paper, and would not recommend that. A medium weight cardstock seemed to work best.
In this first video I do go through the design space process & choosing an image:
In the second video I try a few different water ratios and brush techniques:
Thoughts?
I'm sure with choosing the right image and a bit of practice this effect could be pretty. My initial impressions are not all that high. I also did a Minnie Mouse and that did turn out nice, but even in Cricut's photos (seen below) I'm not a huge fan of the blendability. Maybe it's because I don't typically work in watercolor, but it just looks "meh" to me.
What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below!
We don't have anything solidified as of yet. Kinda waiting to find out the radiology plan. We know we want to do a lot of camping, and exploring this Spring/Summer.
We're currently tent campers, and really enjoy that, but we'd love to get a van. Mainly to travel in more comfort, take more gear and people, and be able to sleep inside if the weather was too bad. Back in our early 20s we had an Econoline 150 and loved it, but being young, broke, and the van a 1988 from Ohio it was beyond what we could do to keep.
We've camped at a few places we really like (Hungry Mother, Woodsmoke Campground) and a few we didn't love. (Because it's been years, and things may have changed I'm not going to name them here.)
I'd really like to try out a few more State parks (TN, KY, VA, or NC) as well as some smaller places. Currently not wanting to primitive camp as I like an actual bathroom too much for all that LOL.
If you are familiar with the area and have any suggestions for tent camping, let me know in the comments below!
Other than camping plans and the occasional day trip we don't have any other travel plans at this time.
Between then & now we put the Halloween basket up, and then the Christmas. Also we just kinda jammed all our coats and jackets in there on top of everything else since we didn't really need them this past Winter. (Same with the big blankets.)
To start off this time I folded all the laundry and set the winter stuff aside, then started pulling it out of the dressers. Finally I grabbed the totes (and the rest of the mess) out of the closet and started putting the Spring/Summer items away. We have quite a few items to donate or sell since they either do not fit, or just aren't our style.
The room:
The closet:
Come fall I really need to cull our clothing we really don't need this much cold weather wear anymore. I'll say that however, and we'll end up with another super cold winter!
I love this big bulky fleece blanket, but it's impossible to fold.
My dresser:
The basket is still dresses, just the more Summery ones. On top are my swim suits I need to try on, and 1 long sleeve I left out, because who knows if TN is done Tennessee-ing yet. We could still get a cool few days.
Top drawer is underwear, and while I share a lot on the internet I ain't sharing that.
Second drawer is nicer shirts. The green cardboard "dresser" is all other shirts and tank tops. We still haven't found matching dressers to these, and seriously didn't realize how small they'd be.
PJ's/Lounge Wear.
Lots of socks!
Shorts.
Pants/Lounge Pants/Leggings!
Hubby's Dresser/Side/Collection of Tee Shirts:
Seriously, the Tan Cardboard Cube is nothing but tees, as are 4 of his 6 drawers. He says he'll go through them...
The other Tan 2 drawer is his underwear and socks.
This Pink Bin is all his lounge shorts, and swim trunks.
2 drawers of tees...
Shorts (which he did try on and most fit), and more tees...
Jeans he left out that aren't work pants, and.... MORE TEES!
Y'all that ain't even all of them. Admittedly these dressers are small but the man has too many tee shirts from 1998 that for some reason he still needs. LOL
This took me a few hours, but that includes laundry time too, plus I was watching SVU at the time as well. The biggest time suck was folding all the clothes and getting the bins back in the closet. Storage was not a priority in 1970. That or they put everything in the basement.
Do you have a seasonal flip? When do you do it? Let me know in the comments below!
Consultation with the radiologist team went really well. The appointment was a little over an hour and a half, with wait time being less than 20min.
Cricut Cutie at the Radiologist, part of a contest on Facebook...
I really like everyone I've met so far. They were super informative and explained the whole process really well. They answered any questions I had and some I hadn't thought to ask. Thewhole consultation was very thorough.
The doctor is going to try and push for approval on Sievert, which would be 5 treatments/1 week. If they won't approve that it'll be 10-15/3 weeks. Either way, next Thursday is my trial run, measurements, etc. appointment and we'll find out the plan then, which would start the following Monday.
I love the glosses and the eyeshadow palette! The colors are easily blendable, and very pigmented. Very impressed! From the palette I especially liked the glittery orange shade and the blues. The glosses are very nice, and not at all sticky. The red tingle gloss is nice too, however it's just a slight hint of color. It has a slight tingle, but not a burning feeling like those types tend to be.
The face palettes are definitely not POC friendly, they are all pretty light. Even on my skin tone they are more subtle than they look in pan. Still pretty, but not stunner shades. The highlight in the Bert & Ernie trio is exactly what I go for on a "normal" day.
The lipsticks are okay. They fell good on the lips, and don't slip, but the pink is a bit light for me.
I've already discussed the lip scrub (love) and lip mask (hate). My thoughts on those haven't changed.
The Elmo brush container is too cute, and I really needed something for travel. It fits quite a few brushes, and zips up easily.
The Count spray is nice. It seems to hold all my makeup in place all day, and it has a sweet, but not overwhelming fragrance.
The Big Bird Banana Powder is translucent, and a bit too light coverage on it's own, though that's how I've been using it. It does a better job than I expected, and now that it's gotten to full on sunscreen time in TN I think it'll pair nicely on the days I'm out and about.
Overall I'm impressed with the collection. Far more hits than misses. This was more of a nostalgia purchase for me, and it didn't disappoint at this price point with the quality of the makeup, or the packaging. If you're looking to buy one item from this collection I'd suggest either the brush container, or the eye shadow palette.
Do you plan to purchase anything from this collection? If so, what are you getting? Let me know in the comments below!
It was extremely easy to set up, however it's important to note it's used exclusively through Bluetooth. The few projects I've done were fairly simple, and worked out well. (Mobile is still not my favorite way to use DS, but I don't have Bluetooth capabilities on my PC.)
Here's a short video of the Joy in action:
It's very quiet, and a huge space saver, as well as lightweight. Very easy to craft virtually anywhere.
Here's my pro/con list:
PRO~
1) Compact, easy to travel with/simple to store.
2) Lightweight, easy to move around/carry anywhere.
3) Quiet.
4) Easy to use, blades and pens/markers swap out with ease.
5) Ability to use Smart Materials. (4ft max length, single cut)
6) Perfect for card makers, so many potential projects already in Design Space.
7) Most affordable of the Cricut machines.
8) The most FREE designs in DS are for the Joy.
CONS~
There are only two that I can think of, but they're biggies...
1) Size limitations, at just around 5in max width really limits your potential projects.
2) Can only cut a few select materials (more limitations).
So do I recommend?
It depends on what you want to do.
I really like the Joy, and got it for a specific reason, and it's prefect for that. However I mostly do shirts, and other apparel- I think that'd be far more difficult and troublesome with just the Joy. If you want to do mostly smaller crafts, or cards, the Joy may be perfect for you. If you think you want to do other/larger crafts I'd go for the larger machines.
I do find it interesting that in an initial search Cricut website doesn't even list the Joy on their comparison chart:
To finish up, I really enjoy the machine, but if I could only have one I'd save up and chose the Air 2, or Maker. I think the Joy is a great little machine but by itself it wouldn't do everything I wanted/needed it to do.
What are your thoughts? Let me know in the comments below!
Health wise, the PET Scan also showed the same lymph node growth & "lit up" those areas. Radiologist appointment is scheduled next week (3 wks out from the results, was the earliest appointment). We'll go from there, but I feel perfectly fine- no new symptoms. We'll learn more Wednesday, and take it from there.
In other news, I have a few shows planned, one tomorrow depending on weather. It's a first come, first spot- free show at a local trading post. I also have another free one planned for May the host is a local salon/small business organization. I am holding off on planning more to see how I'll feel with radiation. I do have my eye on two in June that are a bit larger, both are $50 for a 10x10. That's pretty reasonable for shows around me. I have finally got March's new items posted to my Facebook. Now it's time to remove the Easter items & add something new. Is there anything specific you'd like to see added? Let me know! I just surpassed 100 subs on (Craftin' Wife's) YouTube, so look for a giveaway there soon!
The ebay store is doing well, and hubby is back to programming after a fairly long hiatus. He got a bit bummed after his first two games didn't perform as well as he'd have liked, but he's excited about it again. He's also been taking classes/ further education in graphic design as well, and has been enjoying that.
We recently spent a day in Greeneville, thrifting and exploring over there. Vlog channel is still a work in progress, we're both learning the editing software, but the exploration and vlog process has been a fun way to spend time together. I'm excited to share our little corner of the world with others! Link to that channel here:
We added a window tint to the bathroom and the lighting in there is horrible now, I don't know how to fix this- other than removing the tint. I tried a few different locations to take my pics and I don't love any of them. Suggestions? Leave a comment below!
