Fun and Mental Changes

Yep.... I am in manicure HEAVEN!!!  I got my nails "Shellaced" yesterday with CND's Tropix Shellac and I LOVE IT!!!  Now I've had Shellac manicures before, but I didn't realize how WONDERFUL this product was until I grabbed my Konad nail art, messed it up, then removed the nail art entirely with non-acetone nail polish remover, reapplied the nail art and NEVER ONCE messed up the nail base Shellac color or lost an ounce of shine!!!  Honestly folks.... isn't that INCREDIBLE????  Now I do want to add for those of you who tune in here on my blog and for those who have not tried a Shellac manicure, this product does not wear the full two weeks (as advertised by the company) on me.  I typically get about 8 good days of wear with Shellac and then it peels and my edges chip a little.  But for me, THAT IS OK!!!  My nails look FABULOUS for 8 solid days and because Shellac has sort of a rubbery feel to it (being a hybrid of polish AND gel), it is very comfortable to w

OK..... so if you could only SMELL this loaf of gluten free banana bread you would know RIGHT away why I'm so excited about today's post.  And to TASTE it???  Oh you guys.... you have GOT to taste it!!! Last night I made gluten free banana bread from a recipe I found in Make It Paleo (one of my favorite cook books) and it turned out better than any banana bread I have ever made OR ever ate!  I made a couple of alterations to the recipe found in Make It Paleo, so I will post my recipe here and you can click on the link above to check out the recipe from the authors' blog.  Click HERE to get your hands on the Make It Paleo Cookbook.... you will love it!!! Gluten Free Banana Bread 6 Pitted Dates (will need boiling water to soften dates, see recipe below) 1/2 Tbsp Coconut Nectar 6 Omega 3 Eggs 2 Tbsp Coconut Oil (melted) 1 Over-ripe Banana (mashed) 1/2 Tbsp Vanilla Extract 1/2 Cup Sifted Coconut Flour 1/2 tsp. Sea Salt 1/4 tsp Baking Soda 1/2 Cup Crushed Wal

Ok you guys.... it has been awhile since I've reviewed/recommended a product, but with summer here, a high-five just couldn't be put off.  My high-five for today isn't just for one product, it's for THREE products and a GENIUS YouTuber's video!!! Since I was a teenager I've suffered with dry cracked heels and have used EVERYTHING on the market to combat the problem... well, so I thought.  Then I stumbled upon the video below and it honestly changed my life.  I know, we hear that all the time in the corniest of commercials, but this time it's really true.  Only if you've suffered with this painful problem can you appreciate what a life WITHOUT the problem would look like and how very "changed" it would be!!!  So check out the video below.  It's a long one, but she discusses all the well known treatments for the condition ending the video with some products that really do work:  I have been using the products listed at the end of this

For this lazy girl, there's nothing like a matte top coat to make a manicure look fresh and new WITHOUT having to re-polish or waiting for a brand new manicure to dry.  Really, in this way, a good matte top coat is sheer magic because a matte top coat dries in a matter of about a minute and makes any manicure look super stylin!!! *Shown here, Nail Aid Pink Natural Growth Therapy base coat, Opi Over The Taupe, Essie Matte About You top coat. And then there are times when you want to put in the time to add a little something special and that matte polish is, yet again, sheer magic.  I ADORE this matte/shine french mani!!!  Granted, it isn't PERFECT, but for a first attempt, I'm pretty happy with it!  If you haven't tried the matte top coat, you honestly don't know what you're missin!!! *Shown here, Nail Aid Pink Natural Growth Therapy base coat, Opi Eiffel For This Color, Seche Vite top coat and Essie Matte About You tips.

Ok you guys.... here is my latest and greatest Spectrum Noir project and this time I'm featuring the cuter than cute Jude At The Movies from Simply Betty Stamps along with Make It Crafty 's theater background digi.  I saw it done HERE and just knew it would be the perfect thing for my SMASH Book movie page.  On the opposite page will be a collage of all my favorite movies.  This page is just the attention getter...hahahahaha! You see that film strip at the top of the page?  Well I'm going to go over how I made that so that you can do it too!!!  But first.... You need to start with an image.  Here's the image that was colored using Spectrum Noir pens FS1,TN2 and TN3 for the skin TN2, EB3 and EB8 for hair DR7, DR6, CR10, BGR2, BGR5, IG1 and IG3 for the theater CG2, CG4, DG3, CT1, CT2, OR1, OR2, BT3, BT7, BT8, DR6, DR7 and CR10 for the antennae, drinks and popcorn IG1, IG3, IG7, and IG10 for shirt, shoes and cup lids BT7, BT9 and TB1 for the jeans White g

You see this AWESOME layout?!?  Well, it only exists because of ME!!!  Now I'm allowing my friend Julie of Life With The Tucker and Wolek Clan to take full credit for it, but this gorgeous creation is because of MY creative genius. You see, Julie is a cropping buddy who creates A-MA-ZING creations for BlueMoonScrapbooking.com (among others) and was hard at work on a cuter than cute kindergarten layout during one of my recent crop nights with the Paste Eaters.  She worked and worked while I quietly contrived an integral artistic expression* for the exact moment when I said in my perfectly tonal pitched and melodious voice, "Throw on some bling... bling, bling, bling!!!"  To which she added, "I can't!  It's a design team project."  "COME OOOOOONNNNNN", I said in a voice that could only be described as a harmonic, soothing soprano.  Julie smiled and said that she didn't have any bling.  Luckily, Terre , another one of my croppin

So I know that I haven't posted in quite some time.  Actually, I've been a wee bit busy with my husband who sustained an injury at work (he's a police officer and for those of you even thinking of being with a police officer.... MAKE SURE you know EXACTLY what you're getting into.  I would NEVER EVER want any other husband and if I knew then what I know now I would DEFINITELY do it again, but I also know that I'm not the typical girl.  I'm a red head with a lot of "spunk" and was being "groomed" to marry this man long before I met him.  It is because of this man that I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that there is a God and he loves me.  Ok, I'm done with the gush!  That was quite a long gush.  I think I may have achieved some kind of world record for the use of these parenthesis....hahahahaha) and has been recovering after corrective surgery.  It has been a long road for him and here we are working to get him "back".  Back to a

CANDY, CANDY, CANDY, CANDY, CANDY....I mean HUGE CANDY!!!  All of my crafty peeps out there, PAY ATTENTION!!!  One of my design teamies on the Spectrum Noir Design team is celebrating reaching 1000 followers (yep, it's a big one) and she's giving away A-FREAKIN-LOT!!!  Head on over to Marcea's blog and check out the deets!  Everyone has 16 chances to win!  That is a BIG DEAL!!!  So hurry over there and follow the instructions....maybe you can be one of the lucky winners!!!  Also, while you're there, check out her work.  She's super talented... there's no wonder she reached 1000!!!  Good luck everyone!