Beyond The nail - FINALLY a SUPERIOR neon yellow nail polish

FINALLY!!!!! my search for neon yellow is OVER!!!! Thanks to Toronto based Beyond The Nail!

ok seriously this was my first ever handmade polish purchase, and my 3rd neon yellow. So I approached this purchase with great desperation.

(this picture belongs to beyond the nail)

I saw a post on facebook about their neon polish and had to try it. I found it and noticed it's also UV reactive (which I care nothing about, but you might) It looked perfect and a bonus is, like us, they too are from Toronto! shipping was fine and I purchased and waited. Shipping was fast however the downside was in the meantime I'd had my nails done with other polish......NATURALLY the day I get my nails done my beyond the nail polish comes.....so I have actually waited about 2 weeks to post this as I just got them done again today!

so I painted 2 coats of white (which always looks horrifying)

Than once i got home I painted 2 coats of neon yellow with a coat of seche vite on top. This polish has none of the streaking or chalkiness neons always have....no lumpy pigments...it's oddly.......PERFECT.

(awful hands for polish blogging hahaha)

Customer service is great and this shop also offers tons of adorable decals for nails and  mountain of other colors!

you can find them below
etsy https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/beyondthenail
facebook https://www.facebook.com/Beyondthenail

check them out...i'm so glad i did!

Etsy shop review - Loops and dots

Needed some small gifts for my son's teachers. I headed to etsy....perhaps some custom notebooks this year!!!

I came across Loopsanddots on etsy . what a great shop!!! and local to boot!

I purchased 2 of these custom notebooks! here

it was so easy I just let her know the color I wanted and what I wanted to say on the cover.... I was shocked at how fast they were done, and since she's out in my area at times she asked if it would be ok to pop them into my mail *THRILLED* no chance of a postal mix up.


I also had a little book made up to write stuff down about my son...those can be found here 

The wrapping papers were just digital download sheets readily found all over etsy! I was so impressed from everything from start to finish! The gifts were loved and if I ever needed something custom like this I would RUN back to this shop in a heartbeat!!!!




all items are purchased FULL PRICE by me therefore an actual non bought review is what you can expect here! as with all items on my blog!

Etsy Review of JDesignsHandmade Graphic Design made with love.

Needed an ad done quick and nice....searched thru etsy,,,,and luckily I came across JDesignsHandmade.
What a great shop! tons of premade etsy banners with basixc packages for 5$ uptp total etsy shop branding packs for 50-55$ A TOTAL STEAL!!!

I only needed a buttion ad and it was easy, just picked the designs I liked and literally typed out what I wanted it to say and told the designer to decide, for what I wanted on it, which one she thought would work best!

It was done fast, and emailed to me the next day. I was thrilled and only paid 6$!!!! and I think it's totally adorable

you tell me?

I would no doubt use this shop again....in fact I am thinking or rebranding a shop with her banner sets now too.

Also she has a special right now that can be found here

https://www.etsy.com/listing/92075248/etsy-banner-set-premade-etsy-banner-etsy?ref=shop_home_feat

Fuddie Duddies Sewing Pattern Review

I needed a bow tie for my lil man....so since my sewing is coming along nicely I decided to MAKE ONE. I looked on etsy and came across a shop called fuddie duddies and they had an awesome pattern deal

the pattern deal I got was 2 for 8 dollars but the tie pattern came with a free bow tie pattern so I got that and a pants pattern..... her deal now is as follows

the directions were slightly complicated but I think that's because sewing is quite new to me....and doesn't reflect the pattern. The out come was GREAT and I am THRILLED

I simply opted to add the elastic option instead of the neck strap....easy on and off!

I will say if you have any problems she will really make the effort to help....even if you explain things oddly she seemed to know exactly what I was talking about. I would FOR SURE without a doubt buy patterns here again

for a better look at more bow ties I made from her pattern I have them listed in a new shop on etsy 

Sew Says You Etsy Shop

Fussie duddies can be found at Fuddie Duddies

her lounge pants tutorial is AMAZING!!!! I plan to review this and post pics of my sons pants soon!

ENJOY!

CkmCouture - banner design - Highly Recommended

This designer works her butt off to make sure you not only have what you need but a few options to pick from. She designed me a few versions of a main banner and  let me pick the one I thought would work best. Than provided me a few smaller vacation and sale banners.
1 needed minor text edits but it was a great job by someone with a great sense of what they love and how to use it tastefully. I find her designs unique, often dark but still beautiful. I would use this designer again without a doubt if I needed something really original..... Our indie polish banner was made for us in a few days...and we love it

I put these images here for examples  we all know how copyright works so don't steal!!!!! not only is it tacky it's rude



other examples include

AMAZING STUFF!

her shop is on etsy at CkmCouture

Cassandra will take care of whatever your design needs are !

ENJOY!

How To - My first big sewing project. A blanket for the boy!

ok I am a very beginner seamstress... I've made a dozen pillows...some baby wipes and a hairband. BUT my son has been driving me nuts for a blanket of out 2 fabrics he picked back in the fall. so to shut him up (yep I said it) I made it today.

He had picked these 2 fabrics

The batman panel was great. I bought it from ebay. And the hot rod fabric is from alexander henry....I know they don't match at all but it's my son's quilt and I told him he could pick what he wanted. and it actually looks really cute together.

So At walmart I picked up some baby blanket batting. it comes folded in a flat big piece. The panel for my son's blanket was 35"x43" so I left 1/2 inch for thread as i'm still not a great perfect line sew-er. So I had to cut my hot rod fabric and batting to the same dimensions...easy enough!

I used this GREAT hobo mom blog for guidlines http://www.hobomama.com/2010/12/sew-cozy-throw-blanket.html

it seemed easy enough... just that it's big and kinda bulky. After pinning than repining the 3 fabrics together (yep I pinned it wrong the first time) I got sewing...I checked repeatedly that I was not going over the edge of the fabric...(which I was at one point..) so I guess in an amateur move I just back stitched all the way back and kept going in a BETTER straight line down the blanket. I will admit that I think I stretched the batting so I had this...ummmmm "overlap" or :wave of extra fabric" BUT batting is very forgiving. I simply flattened the batting along the blanket with my arm, pinned down the overlap and sewed a second seam and it worked out fine and didn't add much bulk at all. I do know I should have ripped the seam and redid it all, however if I did not get this blanket done I would either go deaf from the boy asking if it was done...or stop and put it all away. I thankfully remembered to leave a space open to flip it inside right. Than finished off the open part with a "ladder stitch" ooooooo fancy

I had already poked out the corners with my finger (and you thought I forgot)

I must say it was probably a rather crude way of making my first blanket, but I must say myself...it looks great...and I didn't need to go buy one.... It was also GREAT practice in the "sewing under kids pressure" department. My son adores it, and it will be going on the plane with us soon. The best part of making my first big project is I now know what not to do the next time. I also learned how to break my neeedle and am now going thru sewing withdraw until I get to the sewing shop tomorrow. So with that I leave you be.

I never thought i'd see the day where I could do all this.... With the help of an amazing and encouraging friend and seamstress pam, who has an AMAZING etsy shop st http://www.etsy.com/shop/PKStuff (and I have alot of her awesome stuff)  

a great beginner sewing tutorial I got at http://www.etsy.com/shop/CranberryWay

a naggin son and a genuine desire to learn I got thru it... I'm eager to gt onto the new projects I have planned and cut already! And about those broken needles......well I burned alot of food learning to cook too! 

I'm no longer afraid to sew and it also helped alot with self confidence knowing that in my ADHD mind if I just prepare first and have it all ready the actually put together part is easy peasy

This is his "MOM!!!! i'm trying to play my games" Face!