Saturday, August 1, 2015

Artist Paint Brush Set

I got an Artist Paint Brush Set from CubeCraft. I really needed a new set of brushes, and I'm super excited to show them to you!


Calling all Professional Artists, Art Students & Creative Children alike, paint elegant pictures like never before with CubeCraft’s most versatile 15 piece artist brush set!

Hand crafted with the finest quality materials, this set is the most diverse in our range, with a variety of brush types and sizes to suit ANY masterpiece.

The set includes the following brush types:

Filbert Brush - Sizes 9, 4
Angle Brush - Sizes 12, 10, 5, 2
Round Brush - Sizes 8, 7, 3, 1, 1/0
Flat Brush - Sizes 11, 6
Fan Brush – Size 0
Rigger Brush – Size 3/0


Their mixture of fine, natural looking, synthetic filaments make these paint brushes perfect for working with all types of paint, (Oil Paint, Acrylic Paint, Watercolor Paint, Gouache Paint & Face Paint) and will consistently deliver an even coat of paint, wash after wash. Outperforming natural brushes, such as sable paint brushes, goat hair paint brushes, and hog hair paint brushes.

These long handle brushes are specifically designed to provide the perfect mix between balance and comfort, to deliver that consistent stroke that every artist desires.

Our artist brush sets are tested with all levels of artists, from children using arts and craft for fun and learning, right up to the professional artist and are loved by all.

So whether you intend to: Build upon your already existing painting hobby, add another professional artist set to your brush collection, or watch your child’s paint their first masterpiece, or indeed, take up painting, for the very first time… Then the CubeCraft 15 Piece Artist Brush Set is perfect for you!

I love the case! I can put this in my computer bag and not worry about my brushes getting messed up! 


Top 5 Brush Tips:
  1. Try to only get paint in the hairs of the brush. It's really hard on the brush when you get paint in the metal part of the brush. Eventually it could break down the glue that's holding the bristles in causing them to fall out.

  2. Wash your brush out between different colors. Change your paint water often. Your painting won't get so muddy if you do this.

  3. Buy and use a brush cleaner. Many of them have a leave in conditioner. 

  4. Leave your brush flat to dry. Standing it on end makes the water pool into the metal of the brush. It will eventually break down the glue, and the bristles will fall out. 

  5. Re-shape your bristles after you clean your brush. This will help hold it's nice shape.   

  6. Use cold to luke warm water to clean your brush. Hot water after time melts the glue in the metal part of the brush. 

  7. Use a brush size that fits with what you are working on. Don't use a big brush to paint a small area, and visa versa. This will only cause frustration on your part. 

I love that this kit will stand up right!

My scorpion with maracas done in acrylic:





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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. 

Urban & Suburban Organic Gardening Kit Review

I recently got Urban & Suburban Organic Gardening Kit to review. 


Abundant Living presents the perfect kit for beginner or master gardeners living in urban or suburban areas. This set includes 37 varieties of organic, non-hybrid, non-GMO, open-pollinated seeds strategically chosen to be planted in Summer, Fall, Winter and Spring gardens.

The kit includes 1 year of seeds for:
  • Arugula - Great in salads!
  • Lettuce - Also great in salads!
  • Beets - I like them best in smoothies. Travis likes them cooked.
  • Broccoli - I like them best steamed. Mica and Isaak like the hard part cut off their steams, and cut up like carrots. 
  • Cabbage - I like cabbage best roasted with olive oil, garlic power, salt and pepper. Isaak and Mica like it fresh with nothing done to it.
  • Cauliflower - I like it best roasted with olive oil, lemon juice, oregano, and crushed red pepper. 
  • Celery - Goes in the boy's lunch almost every time.  
  • Cucumber - Is great in salads, plain, juiced, or in smoothies. I think we'll attempt to can pickles next summer!
  • Kale - Steamed for breakfast! 
  • Kohlrabi - I've never had it, but it's related to the cabbage. I'm sure we'll love it! 
  • Mustard - Homemade mustard = Yumminess!
  • Parsley - As an additive in a lot of things.
  • Sweet Peppers - Cooked, or raw in a salad.
  • Radish - In a salad.
  • Spinach - In smoothies, salads, or lasagna.
  • Squash - Did anyone say Spaghetti Squash Pie?
  • Swiss Chard - Steamed with a squirt of lemon juice, a sprinkle of pepper, and Himalayan salt.
  • Tomatoes - So many ways to eat those!



This spring we planted green beans, peas, strawberries, and some greens. The greens never came up. We were so sad. :( Travis thinks he planted them too deep. Last year we had great success with greens. It was kind of a crappy year to plant a garden. There just wasn't a lot of time, and when we had time it was raining, raining and raining some more. It is something we try every year! 

Besides veggies, most years we plant potatoes:

 
In the fall we'll use this kit to plant all we can. Squash, cauliflower, and broccoli I know all love to be planted in the fall. The rest will have to wait for next spring. 

It also includes a Diatomaceous Earth with Calcium Bentonite, a natural pest control powder that won't harm any children or pets who may get into it. This stuff leaked in my box, and got all over things. I still have some left.



The kit also includes cover crop seed for naturally building up soil fertility AND a mix of seeds to grow plants which specifically draw good insects to pollinate your garden and eat the bad bugs!

As an added bonus, there is a hard copy of the book, Beyond Organic Gardening, which will help with everything from planning your garden to preserving your harvest.




The items in the kit have a retail value of over $99.99, but they are offering it on Amazon.com for a limited time for just $39.99.

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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. 

Out of the Box Saturday

Sing, Sing a Song Saturday is now Out of the Box Saturday. It's all about me discovering something that is different. I don't want to post things that you and I have more than likely heard before. I want to find something different. I'll cover something sing | songy one week, and artsy | fartsy the next.

This week I'm covering something artsy fartsy. One artist that I found just this year is Rudy Gutierrez.

His work has been featured on CDs, books, editorials, and awarded in many Society of Illustration Annuals.

His art has been described as Wall Medicine, ancient yet contemporary.

He's worked on "live performances", backdrops, stage props and workshops with the dance company that features hearing impaired and physically challenged kids.

What I like about his work is the color, pattern, line work, how you can look at his work over and over again, and still see something new. It looks like older African work, but has a modern twist to it. 

These images are not mine. Please go to Rudy Gutierrez's website to see more work.






Progress


Rudy's not huge into social media. He gets plenty of exposure. Visit his website.

Friday, July 31, 2015

Random Tid Bits

  1. Isaak has been hiding for photos much of the time. This one day we were at a gas station on our trip. Isaak said, "Mom take a picture of me!" :) He had a smile and everything. I said, "It's all great except for the fact that there's all kinds of wine bottles behind you." 


  2. A library stand that was fun:


  3. Mica and his cousin Evan started a Math/Science camp this week. I was sort of freaking out when I thought about the fact that we didn't talk about who was taking, and dropping the boys off. Mom Fail! I'm so used to Travis being there to take the kids to things, and pick the kids with things. It's going to be a transition for sure. Anyhow I'm taking the boys to the camp, and my sister's picking them up. I think it will work out great. I tend to worry over things that don't need to be worried about. Next week Mica, Isaak, my nephews Evan, and Elijah will all be at an outdoor camp. More transportation needed. I think we have that figured out to.

  4. I saw a student at a grocery store. She saw me, and covered her eyes right away with her fists. She kept walking down the aisle like that. I said, "Hi {insert name}." She said a quick, "Hi". and kept walking. The funny thing is, is her hair is Smurf blue. There's no way anyone could miss her. Hiding her eyes did nothing. I think she was embarrassed that she still works for a grocery store, and is not in the field she studied. She's friends with me on FB, so it's not like she hates me. 

  5. I wanted so bad to have Mica's birthday party at a park this year. Well the park I want to go to is the least busy in the morning. We can't do it because my nephew will miss Karate on Saturday morning again, which he's missed a lot already this summer. Then the church people have church on Sunday. This is every weekend in August. I'm kind of disappointed. Maybe I don't have a right to be, but I am. It's not a big deal in one regard, but it bugs me. What's something little in your life that has disappointed you?

Thursday, July 30, 2015

Why I Let My Kids Watch Something Powerful

Some parents would never let their kids watch the films below. It's about a foster child that's taken away from her home, separated from her brother, and moved a few times from home to home. Her father, or mother's boyfriend was a drunk that abused her.

Why did I let my kids watch this? I wanted to show them what some kids go through. I explained that if kids are bad in school, that they may not have parents that care like we care for our children. I went on to say that kids should always be given a second chance because they grow up, change, and as outsiders we just don't know what they've been through at home. 

Isaak has a kid in his class that was a foster child, and now she's been adopted into a loving family. That means she had a rough life before. The foster care system tries to reconnect the biological family back with the children if possible. There's a kid going into first grade who's Mom was killed over the summer. This stuff is real, it strongly impacts children, and the whole classroom. 

I told them if the video was too much for them, to let me know, and that I'd turn it off.


The only question I got was from Isaak, "Mom are you crying?" I said, "Yes this is sad!"


Would you let your kids watch this? Why? Why not?

Nano Glass iPhone 6 Screen Protector More Color

I've had a few problems with my new phone. We got back from vacation, and I couldn't hear when people would try and talk to me. It sounded like I was talking to someone in a cave. The clear film was off the phone. The sound was turned all the way up. I went to the Apple Store to see if they could help me. It was a 3 day wait, and an appointment I had to set up. Pretty crazy if you ask me! I decided to just go to Verizon. The girl there gave me a phone number to call, and walked me though the steps. Trying to do all that over a phone that was muffled wasn't fun. Now I have a new phone. I went to the Verizon store to have them transfer my contacts, and 1 app that I paid for. They couldn't do it. I'm like, Really?! My husband told me to calm down. He said, "Not everyone is going to hold your hand Alissa!" I said, "But I'm paying them ____ dollars a month!" You get the idea. I got my contacts switched over, but my app - I don't know what happened to that.

I want my new phone to be oh so protected! I got Nano Glass iPhone 6 Screen Protector More Color to review.

 
What I love is that there are different colors to choose from to go on it!

I was debating on pink, since I'm surrounded by males all the time. My case is blue and orange, so I went with black.
 
 
It was a little hard getting it on for me. Remember I was annoyed with my phone service, so I was worked up already. My husband got it on in a flash. He made it look easy. 
 
Features:
  • Nano coating toughened glass membrane, prevent dust, inhibition of bacteria - These are all things that phones like to collect
  • Border with frosted design, feel comfortable, perfect appearance atmosphere
  • Effective resistance to drop, can resist the daily tool of scratch and a certain degree of external impact
  • With personalized installation auxiliary accessories products
  • Remove the fingerprint oil pollution prevention effect is excellent
  • High definition 

Personally I feel like they should sell these with cases. Knock out all the protection in one swoop.



Cost: 
 
$69.99 and on sale for $12.49

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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.

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