Spectrum Cosmetics Review

Spectrum Cosmetics is one of the first indie makeup company I ever bought from. They sell a wide range of products (eyeshadows, perfumes, lip stuff..). Samples come in baggies (with the option to get them in jars for an extra fee)

The colors:

Natural light.

With flash.

Foiled: My go to gold. This color is amazing, and the name is perfect. Whether its wet or dry, its the same level of shine, and it's easy to control.
Crest: A bonus sample that I received, a really amazing blue that I can't really describe. Sadly, I lost half of it when I first got it from not closing the baggy right..
Robin's egg: a wonderful bright blue color, foiled in my Hunger Games look.
Wicked: A matte deep green.
Shamrock: One of my favourite colors, a shimmery green gold color, a dup for Bad Bitch Cosmetic's 'B Kiddo'.

Ferric: A deep dark matte blue that is almost too pigmented. Just gorgeous but I don't wear it often because of the fallout being dangerously messy.

Seriously, I barely touched the shadow with my brush.

Pros:
The sample size is amazing. I used a baggy to completely fill a standard clamshell container, and have the better part of a second container leftover.

Backlit so you can see the amount through the bags. 

Great pigmentation.
Pictures on the website all include swatches and are extremely similar to what you're getting (all mine look exactly like what they show)

Cons:
Ferric is insane. (Not really a con, but you have to be careful with it. As I'm typing this my fingertips and the other side of my arm from the swatches are blue, and my soap bar is blue from washing the swatches off my arm..)
High shipping fees for samples ($18 for (20) samples yet $15 for shipping. Unless they ship with tracking, I would prefer to have it sent regular mail though in that case.)

Would I buy from them again? Yes, but I'm holding off hoping for the day they ever have a free shipping deal or something of the sort. They have so many shades I'd like to try (their iridescent shadows look wonderful, as well has their wide range of glitters and blues/greens) but I don't want to pay double what the order is just to get it mailed to me. I hate paying shipping.

Yeah, I don't know what's going on with my face either. Ferric over Crest.

Note: If you want to see anything specific in my makeup reviews, please let me know and I'll be sure to include them from now on. Secondly, if you have your own indie makeup and are looking for someone to do reviews, let me know.

Epoxy Eggs

So using some silicon molds I bought at Value Village, I mixed epoxy with yellow coloring I made little half spheres. Then, I mixed more epoxy and white coloring, let it all dry on some parchment paper, and ended up with these.

Which I find hilarious in so many ways.
Unfortunately it's the last of my resin until I get more, and I didn't mix that batch well so they're not going to ever perfectly harden, I think. But as soon as I get some more resin on the weekend I hope to make some more of these things. Are they not hilarious or what?!

Capital Makeup (The Hunger Games)

I decided to wear some capital inspired makeup to The Hunger Games movie when I went to see it the other day. I'm a big fan of the book, I'm happy to say I was not disappointed. I would never say a movie was better than its book (such foolishness!) and I've long since given up on the hopes that it will be as good as, now I really just hope that they do a fair interpretation for moviegoers. And I feel that they did that. It was a great movie, and the Mr really enjoyed it, who didn't know anything about the books besides what I told him.

If anyone wants to see some amazing youtube videos that feature each district's makeup look, check out xsparkage. She's done a whole series. Here's district one.

Products are a combination of Milani, Bad Bitch Cosmetics, an old ardene's eyeshadow I've had for like.. 10 years (seriously, I haven't found another red that I can replace it with yet) and Spectrum Cosmetics, which I've been meaning to do a review on for a while. They were the first indie company I bought from. Maybe I'll get this done tomorrow..

The Perfect Tshirt Pattern and Revamped Pants.

If you're one of those people that is always looking for the perfect tshirt but always comes up short on it fitting right, or if you just want to make a simple tshirt made to hug all your curves, then this tutorial is for you. The instructions are clear, and although it takes a little while to get all the measurements drawn out, I feel it's totally worth it. The paper version I made for myself is now tucked away with the rest of my go-to patterns.

I also forgot to photograph these pants until now, I mentioned them about a month back. I don't know if I'll keep them or not, but I think they look good :). At first I thought they looked too much like tights for my liking, but they don't look too bad now that they're slightly looser.

Also, I'm crazy. 

I resewed the inside of the pants to get rid of the flair, seam ripped the sides and cut off quite a bit, then added a panel of stretchy striped fabric after reshaping them. I also took the waist down a bit since it was really high. 

Tutorial: Braided Button Bracelet

I made this a while back to use up some of my button stash, and I quite like how it turned out. It's an easy craft to make and can be done even while sitting on the couch watch TV if you're so inclined. 

 

Materials:
Buttons,
A safety pin
Twine/thick thread. (I'm using crochet thread)

How to:

Cut three long pieces of thread of equal lengths, and tie together. Feed a button onto a piece of thread (in through one hole in the back, and back through another hole) and start braiding. Every inch or so, braid in another bead the same way.

When you're almost at the end, knot off the braid, and then put another knot an inch down the thread to make a loop. To close, slip the first button through the loop. 

You can wear it as a necklace or loop it a few times for a bracelet, which I think looks really good since the extra layers of buttons hide much of the twine. and makes a wonderful sound when they clink together.

Done and done! Easy peasy, amirite?

What's new, Why I don't ever want to go to design school, and getting ready for summer.

The weather has been so nice here lately and it's nice to put away the scarves and winter jacket and take out the spring clothes. Everyone instantly has so much more style and originality on the streets. I love it. Along with the weather, the rest of my news from this week is as follows.. I got a new phone, yay! I'm happy I have something that will last throughout the day, and that I can access things like maps and such from. Super handy.

Secondly, the other day we ended up booking our flight tickets home. That's right, I'm going to be back in the Cape for a week in June, and I'm really excited. It's for a wedding so a lot of the time is already taken up but I can't wait to see everyone I can and do everything I can. One thing I would like to do is take a drive around the trail, fingers are crossed that I can make that possible.

Anyone ever visiting Cape Breton really should take a drive around the trail. 

And now I'm sitting on the floor surrounded by fabric. Oh what oh what to make, and where to start...

This is only about a third of the fabric I'm sitting on. Oh my.

Which starts the second part of this post, which started as a comment and kind of spiralled into a ramble. I've been feeling guilty about how little I've sewn lately (with the exception of a hat for someone) and I think that has made me even less inspired than I was previously feeling, which in turn makes me more guilty. It's  terrible. I'm constantly thinking about all the things I said I was going to make and I feel very overwhelmed with unnecessary deadlines that only I am making for myself.

This is why when I really started sewing, and people would ask me if I was going to school for it, I told them I didn't want to. I like making things my way and on my own time. I figured if I had to make something in a certain time and a certain style it would suck the creativity right out of me. I never thought I would later do the same thing to myself. So I need to take a step back and forget everything I said I was going to make for the store. Because as soon as I say that, I feel like I'm on a deadline and everyday that goes on that I don't finish something I feel like I'm letting everyone down. I can't have that feeling on me, so I won't.

So if you're hoping to see some new sewn stuff in the store, I can't tell you when that will happen. Or if you're curious to see what the new things are that I'm going to make, I don't really know. I'm just going to do my thing in my own time and in the end the quality of everything will be better. I'll make things because I love to instead of feeling like I should.

There will be some new things up soon enough though, I've got some necklaces waiting to be put together and lots of ideas, I've just got to get off my own back :P.

Aaaand finally, I'm still working out, almost a month later. I'm proud of myself for sticking with it even though I don't do it everyday. I don't see any differences but I can feel them, with what I do and how my sides and arms feel to the touch. I hope by the time I go home I can see a difference. That's a few months away so I think its a good goal to make. (I make no unrealistic by the week goals).
I did however add more to my routine.

Anyone else getting more active with the weather change? What are you doing??

From Start to Finish

I find when I sew something, I either make up everything as I go along, or draw out every single little detail down. I've got three sketchbooks of ideas. They're a combination of things I've seen in store windows, on runways, original ideas and random scribbles, words, and inspiration pieces. Most probably won't see the light of day, and many change drastically during the sewing process.

Sometimes though, things come out fairly similar to what I had planned from the beginning. I think it's really interesting to see what something looks like as an idea versus a finished product, and so I went through my sketchbooks to find a few examples to share with you. I hope you enjoy looking at these as well.

Original sketch complete with random notes.

Final product. No elastic, added studs to the straps, wider front panel/less fishnet.

Side view, when Diana (my mannequin) was able to stand on her own. The stand broke so now she just lays around :(.

I have no idea what was so funny..

Changed placement of stars. 

And on me, a few years ago. (That was before my thyroid was regulated so I weighed quite a bit more.  I really dislike this picture but anyway..)

A gift for a friend. Note that I still use the word 'groovy'.

Final product. Recipient may or may not be crying, but I don't have another picture to show.  Tamed down the sleeves, made the pockets more fun, design on only one side. 

I've dog eared quite a few pages in my books and I really should make it a goal to make more of the things I've had there. Now if I can just get out of my 'sewer's block' as I'm calling it and get moving. :) Wish me luck?? Anyone out there have tricks for getting back in the groove of things?

Ottawa Comiccon

From etsy.

Guess who just found out Ottawa is having their first comiccon this year? This chick.

Guess who's tempted to send in a table application despite their price (albeit for 2 days), and the lack of ability to accept debit/credit? Yeah, that's the only thing holding me back right now. I will probably attend regardless if its in a booth or just going (a weekend pass is only $35) and I could be a big nerd with a bunch of other big nerds. :).

Are any of you going to attend? If so, are you going to dress up?? Info, tickets and all that jazz are available on their website.

ABC Party costume from Uni. ("Anthing But Clothes")

Polymer Clay Jewelry.. That I actually like..?

Craft 7 of 50! Attempt polymer clay jewelry.

One of the things on my list of 50 crafts for 2012 was to make some jewelry out of polymer clay that I actually like. And I do.. I think.

I ended up making a ring in a bezel I had, black clay that I colored with various shades of mineral eyeshadow, and the second a bat shaped necklace (finally a use for that cookie cutter) overloaded with glitter with a skeleton cameo in the middle.

Ideally, I'd like to make something as amazing as this...

..But I doubt that happening any time soon. (I'm cocky, but even I know I have limits!)

Bad Bitch Cosmetics Review

So it seems I'm not the only person interested in indie makeup brands, and want to know what they're like before buying them. I figured I would do another review of a makeup brand I've been using for a while now, Bad Bitch Cosmetics.

This is the whole lot, besides 2 I have that I bought twice.. whoops! And Onika, the blush I used to color my hair temporarily, here.

All their colors are named after/inspired by strong, fierce females, real and fictional. They're very pigmented and super shimmery/glittery/metallic. I don't think they have any matte eyeshadows. The samples are pricier than most etsy shop samples I've seen ($14+s&h for 10, certainly not expensive but more than normal) but I think it's well worth it.

I haven't used much of this eyeshadow, so this is the fairest picture I can give on the amount you get.

I didn't swatch all the colors, but the ones that I found very exceptional/the ones that surprised me the most. 

Over black and over primer. L-R Missy, Nut Cutter, Lafayette, Ms Grier (so much more impressive IRL), B Kiddo (my absolute fave!), Trina, Yuki-onna, Barracuda.

Their foiling medium works fairly nicely, though I haven't used anything besides eyedrops to compare it to. You get a huge amount in the bottle (I doubt I'll ever use it all).

Used the foiling medium for the black eyeshadow, which without it would go on streaky and weak.

Nut Cutter, Lafayette, Ligeia, and Yuki-onna in the inner corner.

I do plan to buy from them again (they have an Andy Warhol series and a Hunger Games series that have some fabulous colors in them!) I would highly suggest you give them a chance.

B Kiddo with (another brand's) gold, foiled with their medium.

How gorgeous is B Kiddo?! Ugh. Amazing.

It's been a sci-fi kinda week.

So, I think I may need to go out and buy a watermelon asap, after seeing this picture.

Watermelon strawberry lemonade, does that not sound delish or what? Recipe here. 

It's my day off today, and it was nice to get to sleep in a little bit for once (I say a little bit because I probably slept until 8..). The last few days off I've had, for one reason or another, I've had to get up super early. I ended up going to explore the Rideau Centre mall and see what's what. I ended up giddily roaming around Sephora and MAC for far too long looking at all the fun makeup. What do you expect?? 

Speaking of makeup, I have seriously been enjoying My Beauty Addiction's eyeshadows. I finally have a brown shadow that I like for natural looks! ("Natural looks" is something I don't hear myself say often). Actually, 3 colors. Swiss Chocolate, Moonstruck, and Sand Dollar for highlighting. What a gorgeous set of colors. And what a cool company. They just had a games night on their facebook with a bunch of giveaways and such, and if I hadn't completely forgotten about it, I would have been there for it all. 

Hello uneven hair bump, how are you doing?

I also picked up Mass Effect 3 today, not for myself but for Mark, so I'm sure after we get back from supper that's what I'll be seeing and hearing in the background from now until it's done. :P. That's alright though, since we've just started watching Battlestar (he's seen it, I haven't) from the beginning, and just finished the show Firefly. So many spaceships. I was never a big sci-fi person but it really was one of the best shows I've ever seen. 

Besides that, not much new in my little corner of the universe. I still feel like I'm slacking with my posts, despite the tutorial I put up the other day. What can you do though? When you're busy you're busy, and when I haven't touched my sewing machine in what seems like ages, I've nothing to show you. Though I did get a great new slew of stuff from the fabric store, and oodles of zippers, so hopefully soon inspiration will hit :).

Now I'll leave you with a few pictures from exploring Qc the other evening.

I don't know why I like photographing trees so much. I just do.

Don't make a peep. (Make several!)

Easter was more fun as a kid. I'd give up eating candy for lent, any time candy came along I remember saving it, and then on easter day I would wake to a giant basket filled with even more candy. Cue me trying to make koolaid like juice out of pixi stix once (gross) and being a very hyper kid for the following days.

One thing I loved was peeps. I remember mom bought them one year and hid them on me so I wouldn't find them before easter.. And we never actually found them. Turns out she must have just thought she bought them because when we moved we cleaned out the whole house and never came across any (though we did find a wrapped campino candy behind the stove and both dove for it.. Whatever. I'm not ashamed.. Okay.. Maybe I am a little...)

Anyway! My point is, man I love peeps. How could you not? Covered in pretty colors, you eat the whole package of them at once then make yourself sick.. Yum. Since easter is coming up I'm seeing more and more amazing ideas sprouting up online for things to do with them and I had to share my favourites with you.

Birds egg nests from candies and pretzels. Om nom nom!!!

Peep smores! The only thing I don't understand is 'leftover peeps'. Left.. over?

Vegetarian peeps recipe for all those who can't and won't eat the originals. 

Recipe here, should be fairly straight forward.

Peep pops.

Peep wreath. This wouldn't last. I'd have to glue the peeps on with molasses or something. 

Stuffed peep pattern. How adorable are these?