Saturday, May 4, 2013

Citrusclear Review

I had the wonderful opportunity to review two products by Citrusclear. They have a holistic approach using citrus ingredients.

Citrusclear Tangerine Tingle



$16.99 marked down to $12.75

First off I want to say that I love their packaging! Being an artist, I sadly do judge a book by it's cover. This product holds true to its packaging.

This product can be used as a face wash or mask. It removes dead skin cells and stimulates the production of new skin cells. It has exfoliating ingredients, which eliminates dirt, oil and other impurities. Glycolic acid is one of the ingredients, which removes dead skin cells and keeps pores from clogging. Lemon oil improves and brightens one's complexion.

It makes me nervous to try out new face products. I'm allergic to some make-up, face cleaners and lotions. One time I tried a face mask and my face broke out like crazy. I had red blotches all over my skin. This product did not make my face break out at all. YAY! I really loved how it felt on my face! It tingled, and made my skin feel so fresh. 

Here's the before I used it and during the use photos. I have to say that my husband had a good laugh. He's never seen me wear a mask before. Right now I don't have too many imperfections on my face. A month ago I had one boil after another right on my chin. It both hurt and stood out! YUCK! I have no make-up on in the photos, so no judging. ;) Really I hardly wear any make-up anyway. When I had boils I did though. The mask looks funny, but it feels so good! :)


 
Citrusclear Control Moisturizer Lemon Uplift



$16.99

The Control Moisturizer is perfect for those with skin imperfections. It is a moisturizer that avoids  making your skin oily. Instead it keeps it moisturized after washing your face. This is so important to me because I hate walking around with a glossy forehead! The moisturizer contains ingredients, that also clears acne and prevent future breakouts. The natural acne fighting ingredients minimize pores and oil production. The lemon uplift scent will also perk your spirits into clear skin. The scent is not too strong.

This product did just what it said it would. My face didn't feel oily after using it. I've been having problems with breaking out. Being a teacher I break out during stress times; with midterms and finals. Writing tests, grading like mad and getting weak students to pass sometimes makes me stressed out. Sometimes I don't even know I'm stressed. I've also been getting one big, deep zit before my period. My skin is super fair and imperfections show up big time on me. I'm glad I have a product that helps with acne.


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Disclaimer: The opinions on the post are my personal take on the product. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I am not compensated to provide my opinion except for receiving the products themselves to test out. I did receive a free product to help with this giveaway.

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Sing, Sing a Song Saturday

I started doing what I call Sing, Sing a Song Saturday.  I'm going to post one song on Saturdays that the boys or I like. 

The song may be part of a movie, a kid's video or just a song we like. I'll try and include why we like it and/or the history of the song/singer.

The musician I'm going to talk about this week is Robert Tiso. Have you ever heard of him? I haven't.

The boys were making noise in the backseat when I was driving yesterday. I turned on the classical station to try and get them to be more subdue. It sort of worked.

Robert Tiso was born in London. He plays music on filled, part filled and empty glasses. He calls his music Cristallofonia. He doesn't write all his own music, but his process is so creative! Robert Tiso has played for many music and art festivals, theatre shows, schools, educational programmes, cultural events, museums, private parties, TV and radio broadcasts and several events related to glass and water, the fundamental elements of his music.

I knew I could make sounds on the top of glasses filled at different level, but I didn't know one could do anything like Robert Tiso!

Even though the boys were annoying me on our drive home, I learned about a new musician for the week.

Ave Maria


Glass harp-Toccata and fugue in D minor-Bach-BWV 565


Für Elise


Follow Robert Tiso on his website 
Follow Robert Tiso on his YouTube Channel

Thursday, May 2, 2013

The Things They Say

For some reason this is floating around my Omaha friends on Facebook. It's creepy things kids have said. It must have been on the radio, or news.

My kids have said some creepy things. Mica used to stand over me saying nothing, just staring at me when he woke up before me. He wasn't saying anything, but it was pretty darn creepy!

This last weekend we went grocery store shopping. We passed through the meat section and Mica stopped in his tracks and said, "Mom is that a human body?" It was big hunk of meat. 
 
I'm so not right and said, "Maybe." His eyes turned wide. Then I said, "No it's just a part of a cow." 


We got up to the check out and the guy in front of us had tons of meat. He was either stocking up, or having a BBQ party. Mica got a little too close to the gentleman in question. I said, "Mica back up a little bit." Mica said, "Well I just want to know what kind of meat that is?" I said, "He thinks that is a human body!" Out loud. The man laughed and said, "If that was a human body, this place wouldn't be open."

Tonight in the car Isaak says out of the blue, "Mom I'm going to climb the house like Spider-Man. It's ok if I fall and die." 

I'm like, "?????" Kind of crazy coming from a kid who doesn't like the idea of people passing away. Just an FYI we rarely talk about death and we don't watch the news until they are in bed.

A School That Got Changed By Adding Art in Their Curriculum

Art often times gets a bad rap! Artists are thought of being weird, disturbed, not fitting, and starving.
I wish this wasn't the case!

What I see: Artists are unique, creative, fulfilling, and devoted. As far as starving goes...they are only starving if they let themselves starve. Sure they may not get their DREAM job right away, but in what field do you? They have to work at it just like everyone else. They have to be good, and push the envelope.
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A Snowy May Day

This is what May Day brought to us:

Can you see the pink Magnolia petal?

 Flowers and newly mowed grass are peaking out of the snow.

I find it almost comical that the flowers are mixed in with the snow. It happens. Nebraska often gets snow in the early parts of April, but with May we're usually in the clear.

This snow is pretty historic in the stretch of where the snow has fallen. We live in Omaha, so we didn't get that much. Other parts got 6-12 inches! There was car accident after car accident on the news. It was rain, sleet and then a wet snow. I imagine the streets were pretty slick. It's supposed to snow again today. If you live in one of the areas that got more snow than we did, I hope you are safe.


Did you ever celebrate May Day? 

When I ask some people around here they look at me like, "What in the hell is she talking about?" When I was a kid we would get paper cups and fill them with popcorn and candy. Then we'd leave them on someone's porch, ring the doorbell and run. If you do this for the opposite sex, they are supposed to chase you and try and kiss you. I never left one for the opposite sex. Daddy says it's a communist holiday. I've never read anything about that.

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Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Sunglasses

This is what Isaak looked like tonight on our drive home:


It was raining and sleeting out; he was wearing sunglasses. I can always tell when he's going to drift off because he doesn't want to talk about his day, nor does he want me to talk to him.

It was a crappy drive home. I had to stop for gas; there was a wait. I don't blame everyone for wanting to get gas in their cars before the snow starts to fall in MAY. It's supposed to snow tonight and tomorrow.

The street I was on was very backed up. Then an ambulance was going down the street that crossed mine. The street that I was on had cars in the other lane that were trying to out race the ambulance. I was thinking, What the heck? Their emergency is much more important than you, or I needing to get home! Then a car in my lane was honking at me to go. I wasn't about to try and out race the ambulance. 

Isaak missed the ambulance bit. He was fast asleep; with his sunglasses on. 

We came inside, ate and played Memory all evening long. Isaak says, "Ya Baby" every time he gets a match. 

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

WW: Art {Linky}

Mica announced to us in the fall that he wants to be an inventor. He wants to invent a submarine that has newer technology. He said, "It will include an iPad." At his school an art event they had, the art teacher had pieces up that showed what they want to do when they grow up. Most of the other boys did something where they could add camouflage. Mica's stood out as being different. I'm not saying this in a bad or good way; it was just different. The kids had just studied Picasso's collage movement, so they did their pieces in a collage style.

Mica age 7

We went out to dinner a few weeks ago. They gave the kids crayons and plain paper. Isaak drew a girl that looked like a character in Wallace and Gromit The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. He didn't intend that it looked that way; he insisted on writing the movie title out when Daddy pointed out that his drawing looked like her. I think it's the hair!

Source Isaak age 4, almost 5


This last weekend the boys were starting the day of picking at each other. I was thinking, Oh great, it's going to be one of those days! Then I looked over and saw that they were both working on what they were calling, "A Dot to Dot". It ended up being a great day.

 

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Trinkets

Isaak love to collect junk trinkets.

This last weekend I had mountains of laundry to do. I had a mission I was going to try and wash all the bedding. It got done!

In the washer I found metal parts!

I knew the washer wasn't broken. It was the contents in Isaak's pockets.


 What's the craziest thing you've found in the wash?

Monday, April 29, 2013

Best of Warner Bros 100 Film Mother's Day Giveaway!

Most of us can agree that Moms are awesome! They help us through the worst of times, and give us fond memories to! Now it's time to return the favor and celebrate this Mother's Day by giving mom the movie night she deserves! Watching a classic flick together is the perfect opportunity to catch up and share stories with your family... tell them something that they never knew about Mom.

I love movies! The app below features one of my favorite movies, Wizard of Oz! I just love that classic.




On the app above  you can:
Guess-the-Scene Game - How well do you know the silver screen's most famous love stories and sing-a-longs? I have to say the first time I took this quiz I didn't do well! Take your time to get them right. You want to pick quick, but not so quick that you do badly. The faster you do get them right, the better your score is.

Movie Night Conversation Starter - Watching a classic flick together is the perfect opportunity to catch up and share stories...this Mother's Day makes it a point to connect with your family and give them a chance to learn something about mom they never knew. Here are some conversation starter to get your started:
Waking up after sleeping in, I’m greeted with a breakfast of ________________ (food).

I’m spending the morning relaxing while watching my all-time favorite musical ___________ (movie title). I remember watching it for the first time when I was ________ years old.

Of course, I can’t watch this movie without my favorite movie snack ___________ !

For lunch, my friends and I are taken to dine at ________________ (restaurant). Bouquets of _________ (flower) greet us on arrival.

On our way home, our car unexpectedly hits a time warp and we’re teleported back to the set of my favorite romance film!

I find myself playing the role of my favorite character ___________________ (character).

Suddenly, I’m Hollywood’s next big star! I’m strutting down every red carpet and being invited to all the exclusive premieres... I’m even dating the cutest movie star __________ .

WIN IT!

One very lucky Theresa's Mixed Nuts reader is going to win the Best of WB 100 Film Collection that has a MSRP of $597.97!

Giveaway is open to residents of the US, 18+. No PO Boxes will be accepted. The giveaway will run through 5/10. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning email or a new winner will be selected. Please enter on the Rafflecopter form below.
 

Now it's time for the Mother's Day Giveaway! One of my blog readers can win the Best of WB 100 Film Collection worth $597.97:
US Only - Ends May 11, 2013
No P.O. Boxes - Sorry
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: The opinions on the post are my personal take on the product. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I am not compensated to provide my opinion except for receiving the products themselves to test out. I did receive a free product to help with this giveaway.

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Stencils Online, LLC Review


I had a wonderful chance to review a custom stencil from Stencils Online, LLC.

They have a selection of clip art to put on a custom stencil and 48 fonts to choose from!

It was very easy to make an account and set up a stencil of my own. The problem was deciding on what to put on there. I thought about a dog and doing something for Isaak's room. He loves dogs! Most of his stuff is Dr. Seuss related, so I ended up going with a quote I liked. 

Like I said, it was really easy making a stencil. I could size the fonts and delete things if I changed my mind.

It didn't take long at all for Stencils Online, LLC to custom make, and ship out my custom stencil.


I had some old canvases laying around and a few other techniques I wanted to try out. Isaak helped me with this review. I let him paint as well.

Isaak is a collector, so I wanted to make sure we had some junk treasures in this image. In fact the image isn't done yet. It's done enough to review the stencil though. :)

I had a few bottle caps that I wanted to include in the image. I scanned one in the computer and duplicated it several times, colorized it with a gradient in Photoshop and printed it off on an 11X17 sheet of paper.


Then we took the actual bottle caps, colored the inside of them with markers and poured Elmer's Glue in them.



Once we had most of the things we needed, we did some transfer techniques. If you've never done a transfer technique, they are so easy! You just paint Modge Podge, or any clear paint down, then place your printed image face down. Scrape your image with a scraper, or the back of a wooden spoon. Then it's waiting time...I waited a few hours. Start rubbing the paper off with a rough sponge. The paper comes up, the ink stays down.


Once we had a few transfers done, we added our Dr. Seuss quote with the help of Stencils Online, LLC, masking tape and a painted sponge.


The stencil whipped off so easily! All I had to do is run it under the sink. I did clean it right after I used it.

Here's the mostly finished result:

And a close up:


I highly recommend making a stencil on Stencils Online, LLC! It was super fun! It made adding text so easy! They stencil is not flopping, like some I've used. It's actually very durable and reusable. You can make stencils all different sizes on their site!

Like Stencils Online, LLC on FacebookEmail Stencils Online, LLC at: mail@stencilsonline.com

What graphic or text would you put on a stencil?

Disclaimer: The opinions on the post are my personal take on the product. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I am not compensated to provide my opinion except for receiving the products themselves to test out. I did receive a free product to help with this giveaway.

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I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Sitting Bull Hero T-Shirt Review

I was in love with the Sitting Bull Hero T-Shirt as soon as I saw it!

 

All the t-shirts at Ban T-Shirts really push the envelope. They seem to really have valid points to them. Most I see eye to eye with, others I don't. The point is, is that everyone should have the right for freedom of speech.

A few that stood out to me is:
  • Illegal Immigration - Started in 1492.
  • Petrolcide - Endangering the planet with the over use of natural resources. How political power is used as a personal profit  in connection to petroleum corporations at the expense of the environment and national security.
I could go on with other t-shirts they have that I feel passionate about the message behind them. Ban T-Shirts has t-shirts that have a point, create important dialog and wonderful design.

Why did I pick the Sitting Bull Hero T-Shirt?
  
I grew up with my Dad otherwise known as Grandpa creating Native American inspired artwork. He believed strongly that we had Native American blood in us. Maybe we all do some where in us. He loved their culture, used to tell me story after story about Native American's. He studied his family history and went as far as getting a genetic testing to see if he had Native American in him. My tall red headed Father found out that he had Asian in him. He was sad. I tease him about how he needs to start working on Asian inspired artwork. That didn't get him down. He still loves the Native American culture. 

I wanted to get this t-shirt for my Dad. Like I said he's super tall, and skinny. He needs special tall sizes for his shirts. 

I got it for Travis otherwise known as Daddy. He was so excited to have a package finally come for him! He's worn the shirt twice. I've washed it, and it didn't shrink, or fade at all.  

Our little family had a chance to see Brule a Contemporary Native American Dance, music and stories. It was so inspiring.

I also really love the artwork of Native American Nora Naranjo-Morse. She is featured in the movie Inspirations that I show in my Art Media Techniques class. She strongly believes that we need to protect the earth. 

This summer we are going to South Dakota for vacation. The kids will be so excited! This t-shirt will be packed to go with us.

What does the Sitting Bull Hero T-Shirt mean to Ban T-Shirts? 

From Their Site: Sitting Bull Hero T-shirt. Tatanka Iyotaka was the spiritual leader and chief of the Dakota Sioux. He is well-known for defeating Custer at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876 after being driven from the Black Hills by gold miners. -Ban T-Shirts
 

Check out other t-shirts that Ban T-Shirts has to offer. If you feel really strong about a certain topic, they may have a t-shirt that matches it. 

Like Ban T-Shirts on Facebook
Follow Ban T-Shirts on Twitter
Follow Ban T-Shirts on Pinterest
Follow Ban T-Shirts Blog

If you had to pick a hot topic to make into a t-shirt, what would it be?

Disclaimer: The opinions on the post are my personal take on the product. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I am not compensated to provide my opinion except for receiving the products themselves to test out. I did receive a free product to help with this giveaway.

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Disclaimer

The opinions on this blog are my personal take on products and topics relating to motherhood. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me.

I am not compensated to provide opinions on a variety of topics. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are my own. If I claim to show knowledge of certain topic or product I will only endorse products or services that I feel, based on my expertise, are worthy of such endorsement.

If you have any questions about this blog, or want to get in contact with me please email me at: anapeladay@gmail.com