In Which I Play the Role of Tim Burton and Devote My Life to Johnny Depp

This is my best friend Venessa

"She's a Scrape- part Square, part Drape. I think she's pretty."

She loves Johnny Depp. Like, loooooves him. 

Particularly in Cry Baby.

So I cross stitched this:

"You got it, Venessa. You got it RAW."

And it only took me me five years!  No, really.  It took me five years.  I have a tendency to get bored with a project if it takes too long.  Plus, this was only my second cross stitch project and I got in a little over my head.  In the beginning I'd intended this to be a Christmas gift for Venessa.  That was in the summer of 2007.  Yeeeeah. Obviously that didn't happen.  Every year since then I would pick Johnny back up around August and say "I'm going to finish this and present it to her for Christmas!" Every. Single. Year.  That, also, didn't happen.  Clearly.  Over the last five years I would pick it up sporadically throughout the year but I never really made significant progress all at once. 

Last month I got laid off  and found myself with an abundance of free time.  So after finishing a few crochet projects I vowed that I wouldn't start another one until this was finished.  For once I actually did what I said I would ! Woooooo!

So, I used this picture:

"I think you're really hep!"

And went to www.picturecraftwork.com where they will convert any picture into a cross stitch chart.  You can select how many stitches and colors are used and your new custom chart is just a click away!  They even give you a list of exactly which floss colors to use.  This site really could not be easier to use.  I love it!

So, despite the fact that it shouldn't have taken half a decade, I'm really happy with the results.  Especially after spending so long staring at it deconstructed into little pixels.  Sort of like Seurat.  It's all just a mess of colored dots until you step back and take in the entire thing.  The highlights in Johnny's hair and the leather are especially cool to me.  

So now my five years dedicated to Johnny Depp are over.  And Venessa, by the way, really likes it!  She hung it on her wall across from her bed, so this is what she wakes up to:

Rawr

Beauty Review: Blinc Tube Mascara

I recently ran out of my all time favorite mascara. Tragic, right? A few weeks before that I had stumbled across Blinc Tube Mascara online and was intrigued. So I ordered a tube, though I admittedly did not pay the full $26 price on their website. I got it for about 12 bucks on Amazon. Yay discount!

It arrived and I was so excited to try it! I immediately ran to the bathroom to put it on. The first thing I discovered- let the stuff dry before you start attempting sexy face poses in the mirror (everyone else does that too, right?). I got black smears across my brow bone and eyelids. Ok! Second attempt! This time things went swimmingly. I allowed the mascara time to set up and my sexy face poses were definitely a success.

Yeah, work it.

Blinc Tube Mascara is actually an acrylic copolymer , which is basically a plastic. You coat your lashes with it, and it creates little lash-shaped tubes right around your lashes. So, unlike most traditional mascaras, once it's on your lashes, it's on there! For those of you who don't know me, I am a huge cry baby. I cry about everything. Happy? Cry. Sad? Cry. Stressed? Cry. Watched Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows for the 74826.5th time? Cry. I just can't help it. I'm a sensitive, fragile flower. I have cried (repeatedly) while wearing this mascara and there was no tell tale, Tammy Faye-esque black rivulets running down my face afterward. It was awesome. I have also worked out while wearing this mascara and aside from dripping sweat and grasping the stitch in my side, I still looked awesome. I have even slept in this mascara (I know I'm supposed to take my makeup off before bed. Do as I say, not as I do, kids.) and I didn't wake up looking like a deranged raccoon as usual.

Good morning, lover.

To take off this mascara you just need warm water and gentle pressure. No eye makeup remover needed! I have found it to be easiest to remove in the shower. Your lashes need to be good and saturated for the water to loosen the adhesive stuff (technical term) that makes the mascara stick to your lashes. Apply gentle pressure and pull, and the mascara slides right off. You're left with funny little rubbery looking lash-shaped squiggles in your hand. Which, for some reason, never fails to delight me. *shrug*

My only issues with this mascara are that I've been having a tough time making my lashes keep a curl. The Blinc website says that that shouldn't be a problem so maybe it's just me. My other issue was that while this mascara is GREAT at lengthening, it didn't do much for me in the thickening department. Again, the website says that with a few more coats my problem will be solved, so I think I'll just keep experimenting and see if I have better results.

There are some really awesome videos and other ideas on the website. They even suggest using Blinc over your favorite mascara, which might be what I'll go with in the future. It also comes in colors other than black, including blue, green, and purple. Fun! It's great for people with sensitive eyes, contact and eyeglass wearers, and doesn't flake. It's also vegan and not tested on animals.

For the record, though, my all time favorite mascara is Mary Kay's waterproof, and I will more than likely be switching back to it soon. It lengthens AND thickens like no other mascara I've ever used. But, all in all, I'm pretty impressed with this unique mascara! It was definitely worth a try.

Afghanageddon

It's finished!! The afghan I started for Alissa, one of my best friends, 3 months ago is finally finished!

Here it is in all of its (enormous) afghan-y glory!

It's eating my sofa.

Alissa chose the gorgeous colors and provided all the yarn. We started out with one skein of each color and just made a trip to Jo-Ann's every time we needed another. I have lost count of how many times we visited the store and have no clue how much it ultimately cost.

The pattern I used I got for free on Ravelry here.

The pattern calls for using a variegated yarn to make the stripes, but I just switched colors after three rows so Alissa could choose her colors and customize it.

I used a 5.0 mm (H) hook and aran weight yarn. Specifially Jo-Ann's Sensations Lusterous Lamb. It's a wool/ synthetic blend and was awesome to work with. 

So, this thing is huge. I mean huuuuuuge. 

Yo' afghan is so fat...

I worked on this nearly every day for three months. Most days for hours at a time. My hands ached. 

It started talking to me. Hypnotizing me.

Mesmerizing.

I started to think it might kill me. 

In order to save myself I forged on, despite the pain in my hands, exhaustion after hours of grueling crochet, and, you know, boredom from working on the same project for three months.

Last night I passed the behemoth on to its intended owner. I love her and will miss her when she succumbs to it.

Though, she did bring this upon herself.

Sweet, cuddly death.

Thanksgiving

Yesterday I was feeling a little blue. I expected today to be worse. But I think I'm OK.

Today is Thanksgiving and everyone I know is excited to be with their families and anticipating the holiday meal that will fill them a little later in the day. But I am not.

For the last week I found myself dreading today. I'm not good with major holidays normally anyway. Well, that's not exactly right. I LOVE holidays, but they usually serve as a reminder of how much I miss my mom, and I tend to let that simmer all day while I go on with my otherwise happy, family filled holiday. It doesn't ruin the day, but it does dull the sparkle a little, I guess. So, with that in addition to being alone today, I didn't foresee myself being thankful for much of anything.

Every year preceding this I spent the day with my brother, his wife and my beautiful nieces. But they split up last year. Today my nieces are spending the day with their mom and my brother will be eating turkey with the family of his new girlfriend (who, by the way, is awesome.). They invited me to join them, which was so kind, but I declined. I'm sure her family is amazing, but they are strangers and I would have felt that I was intruding.

Pants left last night to join her family out of town, and Honey Bunny lives an hour away and is spending the day with his little bunnies and the rest of his wonderful, ginormous family.

So, I am not alone today because I have no friends or family or no where to go. I am alone today because of...

THE MALL

(dun dun duuuunnnnnn...)

I work part time at a store in the mall selling lotion and teaching people to take care of their skin (which is very important). And today my mall, like so many other stores, malls, and shopping centers around the country is opening at FREAKIN' MIDNIGHT! So, having to be at work at 11:30 tonight sort of put the kibosh on going out of town to spend the holiday with loved ones. Stupid mall. 

If I'm honest, though, I will not be completely alone today anyway. One of my best girlfriends, whose family doesn't get together to celebrate holidays very often, is joining me for brunch at Mimi's Cafe, and then we're going to see The Muppets, and I'm super freakin' excited about that! She will probably also drag me to that damnable Twilight movie, which I am not super freakin' excited about, but I will sit through it complaint free, because that is how much I love her. 

So, today, a day on which I expected to be mopey and ever so woe-is-me, I find myself... OK. Not necessarily happy, but OK. But that's cool. And you know what? Today might just turn out to be awesome. You never know. 

I also find myself being genuinely thankful for the things I have:

I am thankful to have a best friend to miss today, and that she gets to see her family, which doesn't happen often enough.  I am thankful for my out of this world amazing boyfriend and his wonderful family who would have welcomed me into their home today had I been able to be there.  I am thankful for my friend who is spending the day with me and that she loves me enough to get up early and go to brunch with me on a day when she is kid-free and could actually sleep in. And that she knows I love her enough to go see that horrible movie with her. I am thankful for my other incredible friend who is picking me up from the mall at 3:30 in the morning tomorrow, because THAT is true friendship. I am thankful that my nieces get to spend a holiday with their mom. I'm thankful that my brother found someone who loves him so much and makes him so very happy. Hell, I'm even thankful to have a part time job at the mall to complain about. I'm also thankful for the text messages, Facebook wall messages, and anything else I may receive today wishing me a Happy Thanksgiving that remind me that I have countless friends who are thinking of me even if we don't see each other very often.

It looks like today really will be awesome after all. :)

NaBloPoMo/ Introduction

So, I'm a little late to the game for National Blog Posting Month, but hey, better late than never. Just fashionably late, really. Making an entrance. *curtsey*

I suppose I should introduce myself. My name is Courtney and I live with my bff/ roommate (henceforth known as The Wife, or simply Pants.) and her awesome 9 year old son (The Boy). I have an absolutely amazing boyfriend (Honey Bunny), a cat named Boo, a "step-cat" (he's The Wife's) named Seamus, and a Bulldog named Mad Sweeney.

I love movies, music, crochet, wine, making rude greeting cards with salty language (with my partner in crime and crafts Petunia. Check out our Etsy store or find us on facebook! We're Petunia & Clementine Cards.), Doctor Who, cross stitch, and other random awesomeness.

I'm also bound to post (read: complain) about my struggle with my weight, body image, finding a job, and any number of other annoyances.

I'll try to make this blog not as boring as this first post, really I will. Really. Promise.

Really.

...really.

....re ok I'm stopping now.