Day 2: 30 days of no make up

Day 2

Here's a close up...of mah glasses...and mah freckles.

At work, at my desk, with my freshly washed face.

So on day 2, I went to work with no make up. In the past, this means that my students say I look different or tired or sick. Since today was the first day back from winter break, though, I think they must have forgotten what I looked like! I also wore my glasses which probably helped to cover up the fact that I wasn't wearing any make-up.

My skin feels great! It's not too oily or dry, and I loved that I could rub my eyes without worry! It was very relaxing knowing that there was nothing only face to smudge.
I did run across one problem that I forgot to address in my rules: Chapstick and lip balm. Now, most Chapstick and lip balms are invisible and would not classify themselves as make up. I often get dry lips at work and so I keep some lip stuff in one or more of my drawers all the time. I was actually shocked and a little stumped when I opened up my drawer and found this:

See it there in the back? Those two purple tubes of temptation!...and yes, that is a robotic bug next to them. Don't judge.

In my book, the maybe line minty shine purple gloss counts as make-up. I didn't even need to think about it. And there was that mascara just taunting me. It was not an especially great second day without make up. I did manage to stay strong, though, and did not put on the gloss or the mascara. I did manage to find a stray tube of cherry Chapstick to meet my needs.

It doesn't even have a label!!

I just had to not think about the fact that I have no idea how long ago I bought it or how long it had been stored in that drawer. O.o

On the bright side: I'm excited about the idea of getting more time to play with my hair since I no longer have to worry about doing my make up. Should I experiment with up-dos or styling products? Maybe not the products...since that's kind of like make-up for your hair. :/

Also, my friend Adrienne mentioned to me that I should definitely use honey on my face. Maybe I should ditch my apricot scrub from Target and mix up a jar of sugar, honey, and lemon instead? The lazy side of me doesn't feel like mixing. What do you think?

30 Days of No Make Up: Day 1

This picture was taken in the bathroom, in the light that I normally see myself in since my school has NO mirrors!

This picture is in the office with the desk lamp on. I imagine this is closer to what other people see when I'm inside.

What I don't like:
       I'm starting at the bottom, so don't judge me if I pick out every little thing that I don't like about my current complexion.
       First off, I hate those bags under my eyes. They look...bubbly?? I don't know. I just know that I don't like the area under my eyes.
       Secondly, I'm pale...I might even say sallow. My color isn't exactly that healthy glow we all want.
      Third, even though you can't see them in the above pictures, I want to minimize the appearance of my freckles. Clinique tells me that my freckles are forever, but that sun spots can be erased. I don't know which spots on my face are freckles and which are sun spots.

See the freckles? I have no idea what the difference between a freckle and a sunspot is....

What I'm doing about it:

Here's the face wash I'm using. I don't have blemishes or black heads, but I like how clean my face feels using this. I think it's because it's a scrub. The best my face ever felt was when I washed it using a sugar, honey, and lemon scrub from the kitchen. This is the next best thing at the store.

I got this toner at TJ Maxx (duh!). I had previously been using toner from Target (Up and Up brand) but I didn't like how it made my skin feel dry but not clean. After the first use, it feels pretty good.

This is my splurge item. I've been seeing the commercials for this product for a while (you know the one with the spotty egg?), and I finally decided that I would give it a try. For what is cost, this stuff better work!

This is part two of the splurge. Since the dark spot corrector must be used with a daily sunscreen, I bought the skin tone correcting moisturizer with an SPF 20 to see if I could boost the magical effects and feel like I made a good investment.

 

To combat whatever is going on under my eyes, I'm also using this stuff. It says it's for firming the skin under your eyes. It came as a freebie in the mail from someone's failed attempt to steal our credit card. I hope it doesn't end up being a miracle cream and then costing a fortune!

So that's the regiment I will be using in the morning and evening. If you have any tips, suggestions, or testimonials regarding these products, please let me know! I'm open to changing this regiment and trying new things for the benefit of my skin.

30 Day Challenge: No Make Up

       It's been a ridiculously long time since I posted anything to this blog; I miss it. Last year was crazy, intense, wonderful, and stressful all at once.
       I began teaching in a rather unusual position (well, unusual for the schools and district I have been working in for the past five years). I teach computer technology for three periods, robotics for one period, and introduction to engineering for one period. I love it because I love the subject matter: it's fun, challenging, and very relevant. Not all of my colleagues or friends agree with the last sentiment, though. As a result, there are a handful of people in my life that turn up their noses at what I do and call it "easy" or "fun" (implying that I am not really teaching). The attitudes of these people have brought me down considerably and my initial response was to do bigger and better things with my classes.
       This ended up backfiring on me in several ways:

1. I am exhausted!
2. That handful of people don't really care what I'm doing and have obviously not changed their minds or attitudes to me (I now realize that they never will).
3. I uncovered another group of people who now resent me and all the ridiculous hard work I'm doing.
4. I am EXHAUSTED! (Yes, this counts as a separate issue. See the caps?)

So now the question is: What do I do about this? How do I gain my sanity back? Why do I beat myself up like this? Who do I trust and lean on for support?

That last question was recently answered for my during the most miserable break I have ever had. Who do I trust and lean on for support? My family. My immediate family: My Husband (with a capital H).

I tried really hard to forget all of my problems over the winter break. What I ended up doing was ignoring them. This would result in all of my tension boiling over (usually at extremely awkward moments) and me curling up in a quivering ball of tears and snot. Husband was there for all of this (he is my hero for putting up with it) and what he told me has really helped to put things in perspective. He asked me what was most important in my life: Family. And that was it. Everything else can wait until another day. Our family is the most important thing and right now it's broken because I'm broken.

So I'm taking some time for myself and reorganizing the view I have of my world. I'm still going to work, because it is necessary. I can't abandon my students and coworkers and I can't throw away fifty percent of our income. To help me with this new view I present to you:

The 30 Day No Make-Up Challenge

       As much as it sounds like it, this is not a cop-out for me to be lazy and continue my moping. I spend a gross amount of my morning applying make-up. Since I'm already not a morning person, it is likely that cutting out make-up application will improve my morning prep time by at least 30%. Secondly, my skin is in terrible shape from this stress and from all that make-up caking up on my face and settling in to my pores. I was often so exhausted from work that I wouldn't bother to wash it off and then I would spend the next morning trying to salvage and repair what was left to avoid washing my face. Additionally, this will give me some time to reflect on myself as me and not just the teacher me.

The Rules:

• No make up! No foundation, powder, eye-liner, mascara...nothing.
• Wash your face twice a day: once in the morning and once before bed.
• Moisturize and use sunscreen, NO tinted moisturizers!
• Exceptions:
• There is a fancy event or date that must be attended.
• I don't foresee any of these coming up for myself, but should you care to join me these are what I consider fancy events or dates:
• Wedding (you are at the bride's whim for this!)
• Black tie formal event
• Surprise dinner reservations from Husband for the fanciest restaurant in town.

I don't expect anyone to go along with me on this, but if you want to I would love to hear about your experience! Feel free to comment and post a link to your own blog!

Remember, this is about reflecting on self and not work (ok, that's more of a reminder for myself). I'm hoping that this experience will not only put me back  in a happier place but also give me a healthier complexion. I'm also hoping that this experience will give a chance to get to know my skin again. We haven't really been in regular contact since high school so I don't really know what my skin type is anymore.

So, here it goes! 30 days of no make up...

Oh My Blog! - Back in the crafting saddle

Yes, I'm still blogging! I know. I've been a very bad blogger as of late. I wanted to blog more this summer (even tried to do mobile blogging while in Europe [that was a bad idea!]), but the time just got away from me. Hopefully, my latest craft session will make up for it!

Diamond Glaze by JudiKins. Bought from Amazon

So this week, Hubby and his brother asked me to sew some patches on their Angels jerseys. I happy obliged and the craft bug came a-biting! It also helped that I bought some of the most AMAZING craft glue EVER!!

Diamond Glaze is like the Holy Grail of crafting glues. It bonds most crafting materials (paper, plastic, metal, etc) and also makes a great crafting medium in itself. It dries with this beautiful glass-like finish, so it is perfect for making custom pendents. I first saw this stuff when I was really into watching the DIY Network (back in the good-old days of unemployment!) and there was a show where they made pendents out of scrapbook paper and metal washers. So, guess what I did this weekend? XD

I made three custom pendents and one keyboard necklace! And let me tell you: these were all necessary items! I needed to make another TARDIS necklace because my other one broke and the image was lost. I'm not even kidding. I was so sad! But now I have this one!

So, these are the materials that I had on hand to work with: some metal washers, jump rings, random beads, random bits of chain and ribbon, various charms, empty pans and frames, and some fasteners. I've had all of this stuff hanging around for a while and today was the perfect crafting stuff to use it (mind you, this is a pitiful collection compared to what my mom has and what she had when I was growing up, so this felt like a bit of a challenge to me.).

These were the bits I decided on tackling specifically. I grabbed some blue ribbon, the broken silver chain (previously from a shirt I owned years ago, a metal washer, a silver frame charm, and this round disc pendent thing.

The tools: Diamond glaze, scissors, Xacto knife, computer, printer, and my amazing rotary tool.

Project 1: Framed Picture

Start with a tiny silver frame. This one happened to be meant for jewelry making and so it has little hole in the sides for a chain, but any tiny frame will work.

Measure the inside area of the frame so you know what size to cut or print your image. For this post, I'll be using a map from the Underground in London, but for the TARDIS necklace, I used Photoshop to find and size the image.

 Measure out and cut the image you want to use in your pendent. Here, I traced out the logo for the Underground because it was just the right size! In another charm, I used a picture of the Eiffel Tower from a map of Paris. I've found that Diamond Glaze works best with images that are laser printed rather than ink jet printed. The ink jet images tend to smear, although it is very subtle. If you are taking images from professionally printed materials, though, there should be no smearing.

 Carefully cut out your image. Try to make the cuts as straight as possible. Try to cut all of your trace line away to ensure that your image is small enough to fit in the frame's borders.

Add one drop of Diamond Glaze to the frame and evenly spread it across the frame using a needle or a business card. This layer is just to bond the paper to the metal so it doesn't ripple or float when you add the top layer of glaze.






Gently, insert your picture and gently tamp it down to eliminate any ripples, folds, or air bubbles. Before I inserted the image, I used a ball point pen to add "London" to it. That's the other thing I love about Diamond Glaze; it seals and protects whatever is underneath it. Theoretically, you could take your own art or doodles and use them to make adorable and personal jewelry! I know, so cool!

Add several drops (15-20) to the top of the image, taking care not to let any bubbles in. Smooth the glaze evenly across the surface, popping any air bubbles. Let it sit for 24 hours and viola! It is done and ready to wear! For the Paris charm, I added two jump rings to the top so I could easily hang it on a chain, but I put the TARDIS charm on a blue ribbon. These would also make really cute magnets or pins!



Project 2: Washer Pendent

I made two versions of this pendant. In the first one, I covered the entire washer to make a round "Apple Pie" pendent. In the second one, I cut through the hole in the center of the washer to make a "doughnut" type pendent. For the "doughnut" pendent, I chose a pattern that didn't need to be whole (a map from Rome) so the focus would be on the shape and colors rather than a specific image.

Here's what you'll need: Metal washer (any size you want), Diamond Glaze, printed image, scissors, Xacto knife, something to use as a loop for your necklace.

Start by tracing the size of your washer onto the image you're going to use. If you're going to cut the hole out, then trace the hole. If you don't want the hole, then don't trace the hole. Cut out your tracing with scissors; use an Xacto knife for the hole.

Apply a thin layer of Diamond Glaze to the flat side of the washer (one side of the washer has flat edges, while the other side is rounded). Drop the washer on the image and center it as you wish. Use an Xacto knife to clean up the edges as you will probably have some excess paper.

Apply a thick stream of Diamond Glaze to the top of your pendent. Use the tip of the bottle to distribute it out to the edges, being careful not to scrape your paper image. I say thick, but use your own judgement. You want the layer to be thick enough to give the appearance of a glass bubble, but not so thick that it spill over the edges. If the layer is too thin, you won't get that professional look. Use a needle to fine tune the distribution and to pop any air bubbles. Any air bubbles that you can see will dry that way and then you're stuck with them!

London: day 2

Had another awesome day! Marty and I took a sight-seeing tour through the city and hit up mist of the big attractions.

Our first stop was St. Paul's Cathedral. Holy moly! The architecture and mosaic work were incredible! I could hardly tear my eyes away from them! We stopped in the shop on the way out ("there's always a shop") and I got an isometric sketch of the Cathedral. I can't wait to put it in my classroom! It was also strange to be there since this is the church in the "Feed the Birds" song from Mary Poppins. Very strange indeed.

We also went to the Tower of London and that was amazing! You know how you get that excited giggly feeling when you're in a replica castle and then you let yourself down because you remember it's a replica? Well, it was that feeling the whole time but with no let down because it was a real castle!

We also did a lot of driving around to see London. We went past 10 Downing Street, drove up and down Whitehall, past Westminster Abbey twice, and past Buckingham Palace. We missed the changing of the guard due to rain, but we still have one more day left. Which reminds me: this weather is freaky! It's July and raining! And the sun! It stays up forever! It's 9pm and its still light out!! And the sun comes up at 5am!! What the hell? Am I in Alaska???:::sigh::: I guess Marty and I will just have to stay out longer and wake up earlier and do more in the city. 😉

Oh, and I also had this amazing cappuccino at a little French cafe!

Red Lion Pub

First meal in the UK!! I was starving so Marty and I stopped here based on a map recommendation.

I got the sausage and onion baguette.

It was good, but I ate it too fast and couldn't finish it. It came with a light salad in an oil dressing. Come to think if it, the sandwich was oily too. :/
Don't know what I think of those circumstances.

The rest of the pub was nice. All dark wood, brass, and glass. It also had thus gorgeous woodwork ceiling!

We're Here!!

We made it to London! It is raining, but that's ok. It means I won't get sunburned! Our Hotel is right across the street from Buckingham palace and has the TINIEST elevator ever!! And the craziest walls: they're embroidered and padded and they match the bed spread.