wallpaper emo

Products Used:
Benefit F.Y.Eye
MAC Greasepaint Stick in black
MAC eye shadow-
Typographic
Brule
Grain
Mylar
Christian Siriano for VS Kajal Eye liner in Eclipse
MAC Penultimate eye liner
Maybelline Great Lash Big mascara
MAC False lashes #7
MAC Cantaloupe blush (pro), or any peach shade
MAC lipsticks in Ravishing and Fleshpot

We had a ball doing our 4 hour marathon listing on Our Cottage Garden on Saturday night. It was crazy, but good. We put TONS of new items on, including this whisper pink mosaic birdhouse created by little moi. It has a mix of vintage and new china, stained glass, and a couple of handmade and painted clay tiles. It even has a cute little drawer that opens at the bottom. It is purely decorative, but so fun to add a little whimsy to your decor.

I have so many mosaic project ideas rolling around in my head, but my ability to start them is limited by the fact that I am currently without a proper studio to work in. BUT, that's about to change. We have been working for over a year on building a new garage that has a studio over the top. It is basically a studio apartment, but we won't be renting it out any time soon. So, I will finally have a place to work where I don't have to clean up before I cook dinner or go to work. I can't wait for it to be done so I can start using it. And I can't wait to show it to you (I'll have to take pictures before I mess it up-I'm just NOT a neat artist!). I hope by the first part of next year, I can be in there working away.

Until next time, I'll be dreaming of my studio...

Come on over to Our Cottage Garden tonight for a 4 hour marathon of new items. Denise, Ronda, and I will be listing our brains out with vintage Christmas items, great antiques, and handmade art. It's our first ever and is one event you won't want to miss!

Products Used:
MAC Bronze Cream Color Base
MAC Grain eye shadow
MAC Soft Brown eye shadow
MAC Soba eye shadow
MAC Swiss Chocolate
MAC Mylar eye shadow
MAC Blitz n' Glitz Fluidline
Covergirl Lash Blast mascara
MAC Mattene Night Violet
MAC Blackfire Glimmerglass
NARS Laguna Bronzer
NARS Madly blush
MAC Emphazise shape powder (pro)
MAC Fix+

Products Used:

Benefit F.Y.Eye primer
MAC Shadestick- Gentle Lentil
CS 88 Warm Palette
MAC Fluidline- Blitz n' Glitz
Cover Girl Lashblast Mascara
NARS bronzer- Laguna
MAC powder blush- Tippy (or any sheer hot pink blush)
MAC lipstick- Creme d' Nude

Happy Pink Saturday! Wow! I can't believe its been almost 2 months since my last post! I guess that birthday hit me harder than I thought! LOL! Just kidding, folks. I've just been attending to life. Getting kids back in school, finishing a mosaic table that I did with my kids' whole elementary school back in April which I had not finished doing the background on (until this month), beginning work on a 12 foot long mural mosaic for the same school with my friend Juanita, and...taking a weekend long polymer clay class from the awesome Laurie Mika. If you aren't familiar with her work, go check our her site. The things you can do with polymer clay are amazing. Her art is awesome, the class was awesome, and she was a darn nice lady, too! Her studio was just featured in the most recent issue of "Where Women Create". Her book, "Mixed Media Mosaics" was an awesome find, tying together my love for stamping, mosaics, and iconery. When I found out she was coming to Ft Collins, CO (yes, of "Balloon Boy" fame) to do a workshop at sweet Christine's Artists' Nook, I just jumped at the chance to take it. It was 2 days of bliss. I've never done any type of workshop like that before, although several of the more well known artists meccas like Silver Bella, Art Fest, and Art and Soul are definitely on my "Bucket List". So anyway, my finished project is my offering for PS. My photography wasn't up to par as I was doing a couple of down and dirty pictures to do show and tell with friends and family, but you get the idea. It was a cool metal box made to look like a book which we embellished with our completely handmade tiles and collage on the back and the inside. The tiles are polymer clay which has been stamped with rubber stamps (no ink), painted, embellished with mica powders, and occasionally embedded with doo-dads. We also learned how to handpaint simple white tiles and do transfers onto the tiles. My inspiration was the Paris Opera House. I had a cool postcard of the Opera House that my father had brought back from Paris in WWII when he was stationed there. I made a laser copy of it and brought it up with me to the workshop along with some bits and bobs I had stashed. Laurie had all of the stamps and mica powders and seed beads that she let us play with. I can't wait to play with polymer clay and stamps again. Who knew it could be so fun??? When you're done oohing and aaahing (come on, indulge me here), pop on over to our Pink Saturday host Bev's place, How Sweet the Sound to check out all of the offerings for Pink Saturday.

Until next time,








Me and the Goddess of Polymer Clay, Laurie Mika.

I've got to say, I've NEVER been a fan of red on nails- well, just not my nails. Don't know why, just never liked it. For some unexplainable reason I decided to try red again today. I grabbed my Zoya nail polish in Vanessa which came in my "Dare" sampler set. First of all, red can be super unforgiving around your cuticles so you have to be extra careful (as you can see in the picture). Also, there are so many different shades of red. So finding one that works for you can be a bit tricky in some cases. This one is more of a cooler, blue-toned red. The formula also really stood out to me. Not too thick, not too thin. It also applies very evenly. I can't say this about many nail polishes, but you can honestly get away with only one coat of this stuff. Loved it so much that I had to use it on my toes as well!
I think I've definitely found a new favorite...

If you guys have watched my videos for a while, you've probably seen me wearing this necklace to the left... (kind of an old pic!)

Anyway, I always get questions about it and actually mentioned it in a few videos I think-- the brand and where to get it. The brand is "House of Harlow" which is Nicole Richie's jewelry line. You'd think the stuff which is often pictured on celebrities and mostly made with good materials--think 14k gold, leather, etc-- would be outrageously expensive.

While I purchased my beloved necklace for $95 at a boutique-most items are less than half this price. Since purchasing mine, I've seen some websites carrying it for around $115. A lot of sites that are selling House of Harlow and trying to make a profit by jacking up the price of the pieces, so be careful. Larger stores like Bloomingdales have started carrying the line as well and with the actual prices which are much lower than what some websites will try to get for the pieces. There are some larger items like headpieces and larger cuffs that can go for a little more because they're larger, but that's about it.

What gets me is that all the pieces feel heavy and are made well.
These are the other items I own from the collection-

I think an essential shoe that all women need in their wardrobe is a basic nude pump. I like to go with a closed-toe style so it can be worn any time of year. A nude pump really elongates your legs and goes with virtually everything. I particularly love them in patent leather. Especially right now, I think this particular style of shoe is very of-the-moment, but totally classic at the same time. This is a shoe to invest in because you'll have it for years. This similar nude patent leather platform pump style by Christian Louboutin has been either sold out or really difficult to find. But you can find great more affordable options from several brands. I especially love these BCBG pumps to the left (I have these)-- You can find them at Nordstrom :)

SO EXCITED! I just went today to pick up my LUSH Halloween goodies and I'm so excited. I have actually used the "Ghost" last year and LOVE it. The other three were demo-ed for me at the Lush store for me and they smell and feel amazing-- Can't wait to use them :) The pumpkin soap and bath bomb were unexpected surprises. Not your typical "pumpkin" scent. Lush did pumpkin a little spicier, and I really like it. They used the scent of Spice Curls soap actually. The Pumpkin soap is so creamy feeling, it almost melts in your hand. I honestly thought it was a massage bar at first! Here are pics of the goodies I bought :)

Whenever I do a LUSH review video, I ALWAYS want to mention these products because I love them so much! But I can't always keep repeating myself :) Anyway, these are my absolute MUST-HAVE items from LUSH that I cannot live without!