Thursday, May 31, 2012

Sale at Faerie Garden Fancies

Tomorrow is the last day you can get 20% OFF at Faerie Garden Fancies if you used the Coupon Code MEMDAY2012...


Click through for more and don't forget to share with your friends!

ENDS JUNE 1ST!

P.S.  Don't forget, I am open to commissions as well!

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Sale at Faerie Garden Fancies

Now through JUNE 1ST you can get 20% OFF at Faerie Garden Fancies if you used the Coupon Code MEMDAY2012...


Click through for more and don't forget to share with your friends!  Thanks!

Memorial Day Manicure

I thought I'd try something new on my nails this time...


Click to embiggen!

Some red, white, and blue wavy ribbons and one with just a bit of star showing...

What I did:
  1. Base Coat of Nail Magic Nail Hardener
  2. Background of Artmatic Silver Dust
  3. Wavy stripes made using a thin brush with China Glaze Ruby Pumps & Blue Iguana and Sally Girl Pure (812000) topped with Wet 'n' Wild #438 (I apparently need some kind of super sparkly white, eh?)
  4. Top Coat of China Glaze Fairy Dust (very hard for me to leave this out of any manicure! XD )
  5. Top-top Coat of Out The Door


Click to embiggen!

And on the other hand, I did a red, white, and blue comet on my thumb, adding a single silver star glitter, and since we always cook-out on Memorial Day, a burger!  Complete with lettuce, tomato, cheese, and a sesame seed bun!  ^-^

For the burger:
  1. Paint the bottom bun first with a mix of my unknown brown color, Sally Girl Pure (812000), DuraGloss Sea Shell, and China Glaze Lemon Fizz.  (Still not 100% happy with the color, as I feel it's a bit too grey, but what're ya gonna do?)
  2. Lettuce next!  I used China Glaze's Cha Cha Cha with a stippling of Lemon Fizz.
  3. Then the burger, which I used my unknown brown stippled with black and a tiny bit of the bun-mix.
  4. Nina Ultra Pro Like Butta made an excellent cheese,
  5. and Revlon Dragon Red made wonderful tomatoes.  However, this one ALWAYS smears when I add the top coat.
  6. Finally I added the top bun & dotted it with Lemon Fizz sesame seeds.
  7. Topped it all with Hard Candy's Matte-ly in Love, and then went over the tomatoes, cheese, burger, and lettuce with my usual Out The Door topcoat.

I'd love to see yours!

Friday, May 25, 2012

Pinterest?

So yes, I've decided Pinterest is a good thing.  Instead of saving recipes & links & images I like to my hard drive, I can now just pin them!  I always try to make sure I find the original source and give proper credit, but sometimes it seems nearly impossible!  I wish others were as careful. 

I think it's great for businesses and artists too!  What a great way to get your art & products out there where people can see it!  Even if it's not linked back properly, if someone wants it bad enough, they can drag & drop the image to a google image search and find it!

Anyway, I tried 2 recipes I found there yesterday and I thought I'd share my results!

I came across these cute flower cookies (not my repin or my friend's, but I can't find either!) and had wanted to make them for Jacqueline for her birthday, but I wasn't sure how pretty they'd be; so I had to look high & low to find images of the finished recipe.  I finally found it here, and then realized I'd need to make some color sugar, which happened to be another pin I saw one day (again, can't find mine or my friends').

So the cookies I thought were sooper fussy.  I was glad for Lia's help, but even still we decided to do only one sheet.  They didn't come out as pretty as expected either.  I think the sugar wasn't as vibrant as it could have been, and would have been prettier if we'd have turned the flowers over after cutting, before baking.


Click to embiggen!

We made some other shapes and then just made the balls rolled in the colored sugar and squashed them.  They were pretty good cookies too!  We used the recipe that was posted at RubyLemons' blogspot and actually saved about 1/2 the dough to make another Pinterest favorite, which I'll post about after we make it!  ^-^


Click to embiggen!

I also recently shared a pin that I thought I should share with my readers as well.  I wish I could take credit for the idea, but it was all Jacqueline!

Pop the top out of your empty salad dressing bottles (we use a fork tine, bamboo skewer, or chopstick) then snap it into other bottles that don't have the smaller hole.  You'll be amazed at the bottles it fits into!  We use them in dressing bottles w/o that smaller hole (this keeps us from dumping too much on our salad), our BBQ sauce (squirt out a nice line on hot dogs and pretty squigglies on omelets), and even in our vegetable oil bottle for easy measuring of small amounts & splashing  just a bit into frying pans.


So do you have a Pinterest?  I'd love to add you!

Thursday, May 24, 2012

FlatRock and the Oswego Harbor

Last Thursday we headed up to town and stopped at FlatRock, our favorite place to hang out!  Lia & I took some time to walk out on the pier, but we only went about a quarter of the way to the lighthouse.  It was so windy, it kept blowing Lia's hair funny and her shadow looked like she had cat ears...


Click to embiggen!

Despite the wind it was a very nice walk.  We even got a nice picture of our swimming spot from a different angle!  Sadly it was still too cold for swimming...


Click to embiggen!


On the way out, we saw two very large birds arguing over a lamp post on the power plant property.  They were ospreys!  This one won.  ^o^


Click to embiggen!

I can't wait til we can go up and stay for a longer visit, that includes floating in the lake...

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Wishcasting Wednesday

What do you wish to walk away from?

I wish to walk away from the voices in my head that say I am a failure, that remind me daily of what a disappointment I am to them.  I am not a disappointment or a failure.  Those words are just me judging myself more harshly than I would ever judge anyone else!

And it's a downward spiral, a self-fulfilling prophecy:  When I doubt myself, I come across as insecure, and others doubt my abilities, which leads to more insecurities in me, and so on.  By walking away from those voices, I can lift my head and proudly show myself to the world, with all my imperfections and silliness, and the world can see how beautiful being joyous and self-confident can be.


Click to embiggen!

You can be a maker of magic and a tender of wishes. It’s easy. Answer the wish prompt on your blog and then add a direct link to your post in the box [at the link] below. Support wishes by visiting other participants, leaving a comment saying “As (insert name) wishes for her/himself, so I wish for her/him also.” It’s that simple. There is great power in wishing together.
~ Jamie Ridler

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Eight Years

Eight years ago today I embarked on an adventure that took me places I had never even IMAGINED.  I learned things about myself I didn't know, I pushed past limits, and discovered new ways of making things work.  All because of one beautiful shining woman...

Jacqueline.

She pushes me to be my best, challenging old habits and ways of thinking, and supporting me even when I'm *not* my best.  Without her, my life would be so much emptier.

I am so blessed and humbled by her love and cannot wait to see all the adventures the next eight years and beyond will bring...


Click for awesomeness!

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Shadow

I am amazed by the detail I got in this shot...


You must click and see it bigger!!

Those veins!  *flail*

Lia's Nails

This weekend is the final gathering of Lia's RE class, an overnight camping trip, and she asked me to do her nails. (Kinda funny if you actually think about it, but it's not that kind of camping trip!)  Her class is called the OWLs, standing for Our Whole Lives, so she asked for owls on her nails and I was happy to oblige!  ^-^


Click to see bigger & better!

I had planned on doing some cutesty little pop-culture owls, but... well... Everything comes out with more realism than I intend... >.<  A great-horned, a saw-whet, and a snowy, all with glow in the dark eyes.  I should have added glow in the dark paint to the 'OWLs' too, but I just put a little gold shimmer over it.  She did her own basecoat, and the pic was before clean up...

Friday, May 18, 2012

Photo Friday: Walk

Labyrinth on the Pier

Click to view on black!

Yesterday was a beautiful day to walk the pier. Lia & I found the labyrinth I walked 2 years ago and she walked it this time...

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Wishcasting Wednesday

Today Jamie Ridler asks us...

How do you wish to grow?


GROW


Usually I like to answer the prompt before reading other people answers, but I needed a little guidance with today's question, and it seemed I wasn't the only one.  When I got to this post from Gaelach with the Clan of the Moon Goddess, and read the first line of her poem: "I wish to grow like a weed," I remembered a drawing a did on the summer solstice a few years ago.  The painting that evolved from that drawing is the one you see above...

I *do* wish to grow like a weed, self-confident, unashamedly naked before the world, sharing my natural gifts and talents, creation, inspiration, magic, joy, and love, rainbows of joy & creativity sprouting from my finger tips, prosperity springing from my footsteps.

You can be a maker of magic and a tender of wishes. It’s easy. Answer the wish prompt on your blog and then add a direct link to your post in the box [at the link] below. Support wishes by visiting other participants, leaving a comment saying “As (insert name) wishes for her/himself, so I wish for her/him also.” It’s that simple. There is great power in wishing together.
~ Jamie Ridler

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

New Pendants at Faerie Gardens

These images do not do these pendants justice.  I wish you could see them in person!


1. Mermaid in a Bowl Pendant, 2. Bejeweled Early Autumn Leaf Pendant, 3. Magical Unicorn Pendant, 4. Blushing Blue Moon Pendant

Be sure to click through to see more images and details!

Monday, May 14, 2012

Scribbling

I have been following The Scribble Project for a little while now; it's always so cool to see other people's interpretations of the same prompts.  I finally decided to do my own...


Click to see bigger & better!

I plan to do some Scribble Prompt pages for The Scribble Diary too.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Faerie Garden Fancies introduces Cobblestone Critters!

The latest additions at Faerie Garden Fancies, including Cobblestone Critters!


Cobblestone Critters are fanciful stones turned into precious pet pendants. Super cute and easy to care for these whimsical pets are sure to work their way into your heart. Choose a favorite critter, a totem animal, or the one that seems most in need of a good home. Each critter is hand painted on a naturally found stone, working with the stone's essence to bring a sense of life to your pet. Each has been sealed for durability and a pendant bail has been securely attached. Just add your favorite chain or a pretty ribbon to keep your Cobblestone Critter close to your heart.

Sunday, May 06, 2012

Saturday, May 05, 2012

24 Question Tag

So for a while now, I've been holding off on doing this video meme from RainbowDysphoria, but guess what...  I don't do video!  XD  So I just decided to go ahead and blog the answers anyway.  Enjoy!

1. Do you have a middle name? Yes I do.

2. What is your Favorite subject in school? My favorite subject in school *was* art, and as a teacher, it is still my favorite subject to teach.

3. Whats your Favorite drink?  North Country Red by Thousand Island Winery

4. What is your Favorite song at the moment?  Fun. We Are Young ft. Janelle Monáe

5. What would you name your kids?  I am partial to the names Vivian for a girl and Arlington for a boy, but the children I have informally adopted as my own are named Antonio, Esme, JoAnn, and Lia.


6. Do you participate in any sports?  Not formally.  But I enjoy swimming, biking (but my bike rilly broken), and walking/hiking in nature.

7. Favorite Book?  Change by Ann Maxwell

8. Favorite Color?  GUESS!

9. Favorite Animal?  Another no brainer.

10. Favorite Perfume? Wow.  I don't really have one.  I like scents like cotton candy or vanilla body sprays, but not with a lot of musk.  Conversely I also like a perfume called Moonlight Musk that I can't seem to find much anymore.  I also like the old White Shoulders, Muguet des Bois, and Love's Fresh Lemon perfumes.  Currently the only *scents* I am using are from my soap, either SallyeAnder Happiness or Bee & Flower Sandalwood, and my deodorant, Axe Dark Temptation.

11. Favorite Holiday? Hmmm... I am pretty partial to Easter, with the plethora of rabbit-themed items available, coming as the days are lengthening and the weather is warming, and all.  However, I think Halloween is my favorite, with the costumes and the candy and whatnot... ^-^

12. Have you graduated high school?  Graduated it from what?

13. Have you ever been out of the country? if so how many times? Yes I have.

14. Do you speak any other language?  I speak a little French and a smattering of words & phrases in a few other languages.

15. How many siblings do you have?  Not a one.

16. What is your favorite store?  Probably Commercial Art Supply in Syracuse although I rarely go.

17. Favorite restaurant?  I am not sure I have one.  Probably any one I get to go to for free!  XD

18. Do you like school?  Um.  Tough question, complicated to answer.  Perhaps some day I'll take the time to explain, but not right now.

19. Favorite youtuber?  Harley Morenstein

20. Favorite movie?  I really have a hard time picking favorites of things.  I think at the moment, Better Off Dead.

21. Favorite TV show?  Again with the asking for faves.  I am into watching several things right now: My Little Ponies: Friendship is Magic, X-Files, Sherlock, Primeval, Being Human, Bob's Burgers...  But I am totally missing my Dr. Who!!!

22. PC or Mac?  PC

23. What kind of phone do you have?  LG900, not bad for what it is.

24. How tall are you?  5 feet 2-ish inches.

OH!  And I guess I am supposed to tag people, so I do hereby tag EVERYONE!  Muah ha ha ha ha ha!  ...  *cough-ahem*  If you want to... ^-^