Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Sale Shopping

Yesterday, my mom and I did a little shopping. We tend to shop rarely, but buy in quantity when we do. Because of this, we love big sales. Our mission was simply to buy some cat food (there ended up being a sale at the pet store!) and to hit the CVS beauty clearance. We've done this before, so we discussed which local CVS would be best, and planned our route accordingly. While we were out, we decided to run to the local Coldwater Creek Outlet. Lucky for us, it happened to be the last day of their 50% off sale. Here's a quick rundown of what I nabbed.

CVS
Most of what I got wasn't actually on sale, and I totally forgot my coupon wallet, oops. But, my mom did stock up on some dirt cheap beauty essentials, and I got a few limited edition polishes (mostly Wet 'n' Wild).

*Wet 'n' Wild Nail Pail
All of the polish in the pail, came in the pail, along with some other things I gave to my mom. The polishes in front are other WnW purchases, listed below.

Monday Muppets - Tuesday Edition

Ummm, I completely forgot yesterday was Monday. Let's just pretend I took the holiday off.


Friday, May 27, 2011

Daily Felid

Jasper and the Balloon

My mom brought Jasper a balloon a week or two ago, and he has been carting it around, ribbon in his mouth, ever since. He chews through the ribbon, and sometimes eats pieces of it, so the balloon is locked up when I'm asleep or out of the house. Still, the ribbon is significantly shorter than when we started.


Yes, that is a Q-Tip tied to the bottom of the balloon ribbon. They are two of his favorite toys, so I combined them. It makes it easier for him to grab the end in his mouth, or to hold it down with his paw. When he's not holding it down, the Q-Tip floats above his head, even over the couch, where he decided to park his balloon for the day. 


Wednesday, May 25, 2011

This Week In Polish

Lately, I've been really drawn to neutral colors, especially when it comes to nail polish. Besides my recent love of neutrals, I have a tendency to become obsessed with one color. I love red for a couple of weeks, then I can think of nothing but blue for a month, until I start to dream in green. You get the idea.

Because I love color, and have a fairly large polish stash, I try to alternate the colors I wear on my nails. Since my short term memory is nearly non-existent (I missed trash day, again), I decided to add a little forced variety into my life. While not strictly Roy G. Biv, I am just wrapping up what I'm calling "Rainbow Week", where I've worn a different color, from a predetermined order, each day. I swapped violet for teal, because that is how my stash is organized.

I've been really happy with the changing colors, and that this challenge has forced me to dig through my stash. Since I also tend to fall into other ruts (the crackle onslaught last week), I might make up some more challenges for myself, and I will probably bring this one back, as well. 

On to the pics! Click to enlarge, and please try to overlook the air-bubbles that have been plaguing me, my utter lack of cleanup, and my terrible cuticles. 

Red - Sally Hansen Xtreme Wear Celeb City, China Glaze Crackle Glaze Black Mesh, Orly Winter Wonderland, and OPI Big Apple Red, in that order



I love putting a jelly over a glitter or shimmer, and am now loving it over a crackle finish. I will definitely try it again. I didn't capture it very well, and the bubbles totally ruined the effect. :(

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Daily Felid

Jasper was horribly disappointed over having not been raptured. I think he's starting to get over it, though.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

This Week In Polish

My cuticles are still a bit wrecked, but I'm loving polish again.

Finger Paints Go Van Gogh


Borghese Scintilla Magic and China Glaze Crackle Glaze Crushed Candy...



... and topped with China Glaze Crackle Glaze Cracked Concrete (click to enlarge)

Daily Felid

Friday, May 13, 2011

On Hold

Mika, my mom's cat who is currently living with me, was just diagnosed with Chronic Renal Failure. I've been trying to get him on a schedule, and to get over my fear of sticking him with a needle. I hope to get into some routine soon. For now, I'm spending a great deal of time researching cat food. It's terribly exciting.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Daily Felid

Crafting A Business By Dummies

I have a growing collection of For Dummies books. Ollie's carries a rather large selection for $6.99 each, so I tend to come home with more than I went in for, and fewer than I wanted. Eventually, I will have an entire wall of them, unless I admit that some of them have been a bit crap, and that I really should be more selective. But, that is all beside the point. What I really wanted to talk about is a new series of posts I will be putting together. In homage to my growing For Dummies library, I will be talking about various topics through the eyes of a certain incompetent, me. So, the series will be By Dummies (well, one dummy, really, but it just sounds better if it's plural). 

The first installment of this series is a focus on my lack of understanding of craft fairs, shows, and festivals. In Part II, I will talk more about my general lack of business knowledge, and maybe, if I feel like it, there will be a Part III about my general aversion to money and success. There will be other non- Crafting a Business installments, too, things like Photography By Dummies, Lawn Care By Dummies, Gardening By Dummies, and maybe even Blogging By Dummies.

I've been searching for local craft fairs and festivals for awhile, now, and have had somewhat limited success. After creating a list of those I wanted to participate in, and that had limited rules for participation, I started the contact process. It isn't going terribly well.

If I am able to participate in a festival at some point in the future, I have no idea what to expect. It seems, each fair, festival, and show has a different set up and different requirements. I've been trying to come up with packaging and display ideas that are nearly free. I don't have money to invest into this, so nearly free is about as spendy as I can get, but it's been difficult as I don't know how much space I'll have, how much stock I should take, how likely people are to touch my product with grimy fingers, and if I can leave my display up overnight for multi-day fairs. I haven't even decided what to sell.