Raw Meat

   So I've joined Roller Derby. I'm in the Raw Meat program. It's a start-from-scratch thing for me. I had my first derby lesson on Tuesday, and I'm still sore.
   I've wanted to join Derby since I learned it existed, pretty much. They only intake new skaters (Fresh Meat) once a year, and whenever that time swung around, I was either pregnant, brand new mom, or too out of shape (in my opinion). Also, I was scared. Scared to fail. I'm currently in the best shape of my adult life, and I finally sucked it up and made myself join. I feel like I need an outlet; something to do besides be a mom and work.
   I fully expect to suck. For it to be incredibly difficult, and that I'll have to push real hard to get through the training. Not only is it the physical that will be tough, but I also have to learn a whole new sport. There's many little rules and hand signals to memorize.
   I went into this telling myself that no matter how hard it is and how much I suck at it, I'm not going to quit. If it takes me longer than anyone else to build up my endurance or learn the skills, then it does. I've always lived my life on the cautious side. I never do anything if I think I could fail, or that I'm aware I won't be good at. I decided that's no way to live. You can't succeed if you don't try, right? That's what I'm telling myself anyways.
   So far, so good. I'm sore as balls, but it's worth it. I'm learning to use muscles I've never used before, and I can't wait to become a full Derby Girl!

March Ipsy Review

  Sorry I'm a little late posting a Ipsy review this month. It's been crazy over here! My son and I have a horrible cold that's going on it's third week. Poor little guy's still coughing like crazy at night time.

  On to the review! I'm super happy with my Glam Bag this month. The bag is crazy-cute. I'm glad the first two bags I've gotten have a pattern to them; they're much more interesting.

Pixi by Petra Mesmerizing Mineral Duo: I really like this eyeshadow. The colours are nice neutrals, with a bit of shimmer. They go on nice and smooth and blend great. Very happy with them. I actually ended up buying a Pixi by Petra eyeshadow palette that I discovered at Target because of getting this item in my Ipsy bag.

Coolway Glow Oil Treatment: This is a pretty small sample of a hair oil. It's meant to add shine and get rid of fuzzies. I've run it through my ends a couple different times, and it does as advertised. I usually don't use hair oil, because I don't like how they tend to make hair look greasy, but this one wasn't too bad. The fly-away hairs didn't tame too much, but it did give a nice shine.

Skyn Iceland Hydro Cooling Firming Eye Gels: Once again, I got an eye treatment in my bag. Not crazy happy about that, since, as I stated last month, I don't use stuff like that. I might try them out one night.

Crown Beauty Infinity Shadow/Crease Duet Brush: Love! Love! Love! I really like crown brushes so far. They're soft and I love the crease brush end of this brush. I've been using it every day.

NYX Cosmetics Butter Lipstick in Hunk: This lipstick goes on like butter. Hence the name. It's super smooth and creamy. I found it wore off quite quick when I wore it to work, though. I did enjoy the colour. It's a colour I would never have picked out for myself, but I kinda like it, it's fun and different.

  Here I'm wearing the NYX lipstick, the Pixi Eyeshadow duo (applied with the new crown brush), and the Glow oil treatment. As you can see, my hair has a nice, healthy shine to it.

  Also, an update on the swap I'm doing right now (spell my name), I've got two letters done and another one is 95% done. Getting there. I've got the next couple days off, so I'm going to try to get some work done. 

Craft My Name Swap...

  I joined a new swap on Craftster.org. It's called 'Craft My Name' swap. I have to take my swap partner's name and craft an item for each letter in her name (for example D could be a Drawing or a Dragon sculpture). I got my partner assigned a couple days ago; her name is Dixie. I'm kinda excited I got a name with an uncommon letter in it. It gives me a challenge, which I enjoy. I'll have to push my creativity a little further, and that's never a bad thing in my experience. I've already got the D planned out (a DreamCatcher) and I'd like to do a painting of a wolf for her, since she likes wolves. I've just got to figure out what to call it so it fits in with one of the letters. I haven't settled on anything for the other letters yet, but there's lots of ideas swimming around up in that mess of a brain.
 
  I also received my Ipsy Glam Bag yesterday (yay!), I'll be making another post soon with a review. I've gotta get some pictures taken and uploaded. Hopefully I'll get that done tonight or tomorrow.

  I'm starting to get used to being back to work now. It almost feels like I never left. Not quite sure if I like that feeling or not, though. We'll see. For now, it'll do.

Peg Castle Crew

   I've finally gotten around to loading these pictures onto the computer. I painted these little wooden peg people and critters for a swap on Craftster. They're for a four year old boy to go with his wooden castle. Of course, I had to make a King, Queen and Princess. A knight (to save the princess) from the dragon, and I made sure to include a skeleton, since they're his favourite.

   

Mexican Loteria ATC

  Finished my latest ATC and sent it off yesterday. The theme was 'Mexican Loteria', and I chose to do card 39, the cactus. I bought a new outline pen that's sepia toned, and it was perfect for this project. Done in water color.

   I've received another three ATCs in the mail, and I get excited every time I see an envelope that isn't a bill in that mailbox. I love getting little surprises in the mail. I'm going back to work from maternity leave on Tuesday, so I'm going to have to take a little break for a couple of weeks, until I get used to the new routine and I'm able to figure out time to have to myself (hopefully).
 
   I've also finished my wooden people for the ongoing wish swap I joined. I'll take pictures once they're all dry. I made six; King, Queen, Princess, Knight, Dragon, and a skeleton (because the little guy they're for loves skeletons, so I had to sneak one in). I hope he likes them. Sometimes it's harder to please a kid than it is an adult.

 

Big day...

  Today was Tucker's first birthday!!! We had a dinosaur themed party and it went off without a hitch. He ate the crap out of a cupcake, met some new people, and had some cuddles from a bunch of different people. It was a dinosaur birthday! I made most of the decorations myself; I think my favourite part was the 'Tar Pit' table. It had a plate of "Dino Poop" on it (mixed chocolates).

  I can't believe it's already been a year since that little goober surprised us with his (10 week) early arrival. He hasn't stopped growing and learning since, and I'm so proud of him.



  I also received my first ATC in the mail today. It was a birthday card for tucker. I love it, and I'm so excited to start up a collection. I'm having so much fun making them, I totally forgot about how much fun it's going to be to receive them as well.



  When I went to the mailbox, another package was waiting for me...My first Ipsy GlamBag!

  I think it's a pretty good haul. I received...

Cargo Cosmetics mini lip gloss in Anguilla: I'm not usually a huge lip gloss gal, but I really like this product. Maybe I didn't like lip gloss before because I never found the right one. The shade is a soft, pale pink and it goes on nice and smooth. Doesn't feel as tacky as lots of the lip glosses I've tried before. When I first put it on, it looked super pale; almost white, but I just daubed a bit off and smoothed it around and it looked great. You don't need to put much on, that's for sure.

Luxie Beauty large angled brush 504: I love this brush. It's really soft and I've never used an angled brush like it before. Not only is it cute, but I think I'll be using it everyday.

Model Co. Blush in Cosmopolitan: I haven't experimented too much with different blushes, but this is definitely the smoothest blush I've ever used. I like the colour, too. It's super-pigmented, so you don't need a ton of it, and it blends nicely, too. Thumbs up!

NYX Cosmetics slim eye pencil in Silver Shimmer: This eye pencil is a light silver with sparkles in it. Not shimmer, sparkle. I'm not a sparkle wearer. Not a fan of this one. I might use it to smudge on top of my highlight shadow to add some sparkle if I'm going out at night, but not for anything other than that.

GlamGlow EyeMud treatment: I got two applications of this eye treatment in my bag. It's for dark circles, bags, swelling, etc. You put it on, wait three minutes, then wipe it off. Not usually something I'd use, but I'm gonna try it out.

Pink patterned makeup bag: I like this bag. I've seen some of the bags from previous months and this one is quite nice in comparison. I like that it's not just a flat colour. I think it will be my lipstick bag. I've got a bunch of tiny sticks of lipstick from Avon and they need a home.

  All in all, I'm really happy with my first Ipsy GlamBag. Looking forward to next month's already!

Two More ATCs

  Sent off two more ATCs yesterday.

  The first one's theme is Dr.Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog. I was super excited to see this theme as an option; it gave me an excuse to watch it again. If you haven't seen it -- watch it. Now. Go now and watch it. I'll wait...
  I had a bunch of fun ideas, but I decided on a kind of mash-up of Dr.Horrible and Penny's characters. This was my first time doing a non-cartoony portrait. I think it turned out pretty good for my first go at it. It doesn't super duper look like Penny, but I'm still happy with it.
  For the background, I did different layers of colour and splatters of masking fluid, ending with some wet-on-wet splashes. I'm in love with masking fluid.

  The second's theme is The Walking Dead. As soon as I saw that theme, this idea popped into my head. It's an infected zombie bite, incase it wasn't obvious. I used some fun techniques with this one, including blowing on it with straws for the veins and some dry brush stippling. 

  For now, I'm mostly sticking with the watercolours for my ATCs. It's been fun trying new things with it. So far, I think it's my favourite medium. 

  I spent today baking cupcakes and finishing up some decorations for Tucker's birthday party Saturday. Only two days away, still much to do. Tomorrow will be busy.