Friday, February 12, 2016

Random Tid Bits

  1. I've been so tired this week, and I don't even know why. It's like a sleepy fairy has been waving their wand over my head. Does that ever happen to you?

  2. Maybe I'm lacking in vitamin D, trying to fight something off, or need to be more active. It could be any, or all three.

  3. I like getting a great gift for my nephews, and in the past my one and only niece to. My younger sister challenges me in the gift giving department.

    This year she wants me to get my youngest nephew a toddler pillow. I have gifts stashed away for this kid until he's 5 I think. A toddler pillow sounds easy enough right? Nope. It has to be farm themed. I told her that it's not hard finding a toddler pillow, but finding a specific theme is a little harder to do. She sent me all these links to farm toddler pillows sold on ebay. I don't want to buy a pillow off ebay. I bought Emerson a toddler pillow awhile back; when he was a toddler. He's going to be 6 years old this year. My thought process is, why not hand Edison over Emerson's pillow? Then I can get Emerson a regular pillow for his birthday.

    I asked a company if I could review a toddler pillow. It has a plain pillow case. Guess what? I have fabric paint. If the company agrees I can paint a few farm animals on the pillow. We'll see how that all pans out.

  4. I found out that that the school won a few design awards. They just tell you you won, but not what for. He thinks it's on the poster I worked on for a few months this summer. I hope it is.

  5. Isaak wore his shirt backwards all day one day. I told him. He said, "I know. My teacher told me." I asked, "Why didn't you fix it?" He said, "Because it was comfortable the way it was." 

  6. Isaak has very neat handwriting when he wants to. Lately Travis noticed that his handwriting starts out neat, and gets very sloppy towards the end of his school papers. Travis has mentioned this to Isaak, but sent his teacher an email about it to. Isaak's a people pleaser. Travis knew if his teacher talked to Isaak, Isaak would strive for being better. Sure enough it worked.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Ice Cream

Once upon a time my 7 year old nephew Elijah was slightly annoyed because people kept making comments about his brother Evan's hair (which is red), and never made any comments about his hair (which is blond).

I made an effort to comment about Elijah's hair whenever I saw him. I'm kind of weird... I said, "I just want to eat your hair! It reminds me of vanilla ice cream. No one can pass up vanilla! You're so lucky that you have so many flavors of ice cream hair in your family. You have Evan's strawberry, your vanilla, Emerson's chocolate, and Edison's vanilla strawberry swirl. We only have chocolate in our family."


How I referred to hair color being like ice cream flavors must have stuck. My nephews were talking about different ice cream flavors in comparison to hair color.

They call me "Aunt Lissy". One of them said, "Aunt Lissy's hair is Rocky Road Ice Cream." The other said, "The grey streaks are the marshmallows."

I don't have any problem with people coloring their hair. In fact I think it's fun with all the colors that are out there. Plain colors are natural looking, and fun in their own way to.

Source
Those that color their hair do not have Rocky Road Ice Cream hair like me. I suppose blond highlights could be marshmallows to. I picked a Rocky Road Ice Cream with even more yummy chunks added. Ha

Source
In all seriousness I'm just glad Elijah's happy with his hair color now. He's my vanilla boy.

When I was little I was envious of my older sister Angela's hair. Her hair is strawberry blond, so it's strawberry vanilla swirl ice cream. 

I always wanted red headed children. It's a recessive gene. My Dad is a true red head. I know they are more sensitive to the sun, have thinner skin, and get more freckles. They are also more on the rare side, which makes them unique. 

I am happy with my brown hair, brown eyed boys. Chocolate is wonderful!

What color of hair do you like?

What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

WW: Ron Campbell {Linky}

Ron Campbell is an animator, director, and producer, best known for his work on the 1960s The Beatles television series, as well as the animated feature film Yellow Submarine. He also worked on Scooby-Doo, Sesame Street, The Rugrats, The Jetsons, The Flintstones, The Smurfs, Garbage Pail Kids and more.

We had a chance to meet him! 


It was so neat to see his colorful work. He never worked with color throughout his career. He worked with pencils only. His retirement has been in full color.


Isaak had questions for him. He asked him, "How do you paint so good?" Isaak was sad that he himself doesn't paint like Ron Campbell. Campbell told him, "Years of practice, and not giving up."


Mica asked Campbell, "Why does one of your pieces have a character that has no face?" Campbell said, "It's a character that was a Garbage Pail Kid." Sure enough it was. 


I was a little nervous when Campbell started his talk, and noticed that our boys were right up front without me. They did great though. Isaak only said me at the end, "Mom I didn't know you'd have that many questions you could think of." I said, "I'm an instructor. I know it's important to have questions for guests."


Monday, February 8, 2016

iPhone iPad Charging Cord Review

One thing I know about devices is that the cord is one of the first things to go out. I've went through a lot of charging cords for my different laptops over time.

I'm just got a iPhone iPad Charging Cord to review. I have car chargers, but not more than one cord, so it's nice to have this!


This cord works for a lot of different things:

  • iPhone 6
  • iPhone 6 Plus
  • iPhone 5 (different versions)
  • iPad Air
  • Mini
  • iPod



It works for Travis and my phone. YAY! I'm going to keep this one at home, and the original one (since it's shorter in my purse). That way I can use it in the car, or at work. I love the length of the cord because I can plug my phone in and the 10' cord is long enough, so that my can sit a ways away.


This extra long lightning cable is constructed of braided fabric & is guaranteed to be more durable than certified Apple lightning cords. I wish I had a cable like this for my laptop!   

It's 10 foot long and is super long to enable plenty of distance to use your Apple device while it's charging. I can plug it in on the floor, and put my phone up on a shelf to ensure no little humans will step on it. 


Cost:

$21.95, and on sale for $11.99!


Have you had charger cords go out on you?

Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free in exchange for a review. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Leader Accessories Complete Skateboard Drop Down Longboard

I got Isaak a new toy. It's made by Leader Accessories. This is a complete skateboard drop down longboard. Isaak has been asking for a skateboard for quite some time.


Longboard Specs:
  • Size: 41 1/4"x9"
  • 8 ply maple laminated deck
  • 7" heavy duty aluminum truck
  • 71x52 mm PU wheels
  • Abec-7 bearings
  • High speed lubricant, so it's ready to roll
Maple Laminated Deck



Heavy Duty Aluminum Truck



PU Wheels


This is perfect because with traditional skateboard you can do tricks and ride on rails. With a longboard you can't do tricks or ride on rails. This mom (me) isn't ready for tricks. A longboard is for riding down hills and on flat ground. We'll start with flat ground. He'll have protection on to.

The only downside is the weight. It's not as light as a traditional skateboard. Caring it here and there might be a pain.

Cost:

  • $109.99
  • On sale for $59.99

Colors:

  • Black (what I got)
  • Blue
  • Red
  • Green
Overall I think we'll enjoy this. I think all the boys in our house will give it a whirl. We've played with it inside, but haven't taken it outside due to the snow. We will though. 


Have you ever rode a skateboard?

If you need help cleaning skateboard, or longboard bearing check out this site to clean them in 5 simple steps: 

https://electricskateboardreviews.net/how-to-clean-skateboard-bearings/

Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free in exchange for a review. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Fine Art Oil Colored Pencils Review

I'm so happy to review Fine Art Oil Colored Pencils. I love new art supplies. They make me happy!

This one comes in a box and has a fabric roll to store them in.







Why Oil Colored Pencils? 

There are many different ways to use these. I'll go through some of the ways I plan on using them:
  1. Just like traditional colored pencils. They go on easily. 

  2. Just like traditional colored pencils, but paint on turpentine, or mineral spirits on top. I use Gamsol because it's odorless and allergy safe. That takes your colors and pushes them down into the pores of the paper. You will not see the white of the paper through the colors. 

  3. Paint turpentine, mineral spirits, or Gamsol on top of your paper or illustration board and draw the colored pencil into it. This gives your image more of a painterly look. 

  4. Create oil paint washes, with oil paint + turpentine, mineral spirits, or Gamsol then color with the colored pencils to pick up details. 
They are move versatile than traditional colored pencils.

48 Exclusive Assorted Color:

You can vary the color of the pencil to achieve different effects. The high contrast of complementary colors creates a vibrant look, but using gradient color will make a soothing atmosphere of the drawing.

Mica helped me put them in color order: White | Creams | Yellows | Oranges | Reds | Purples | Blues | Browns | Golds | Silvers | Greys | Blacks


Practicability in Use: 

  • Ideal for Secret Garden Adult Coloring Books
  • Artist Sketch Scrapbooking & Sketching 
  • Great pencils to sketch, draw, doodle, write and get creative in a fun and skilled way
  • Wonderful for demos in the classroom
  • Can be used for crafts
  • Can be used in a mixed media fashion
Demo for My Students:

This is a transfer technique. I did this on the computer, printed it on a laser jet printer. I painted turpentine on a paper, and put the image face down on it. It transferred the ink to the paper. I hit up spots with the colored pencils for details.


Ultra Quality:

With stream-lined design of pencil holder and super fine tip ensure smooth and comfortable writing and drawing, which easily put the color on the paper. The strong tip prevents from breaking, ensuring a longer life for your pencil. Perk: They come sharpened. The carry fabric prevents the pencils from banging up against each other, which causes breaking on the insides of the pencils.

Easy and Convenient to Carry-on:

The pencil wrap gives as a present (random color and pattern), which help your color pens are always in organized order, never mess with other stuff in your bag. And each pencil can be stored in its own individual insert. How each pencil is separated is a great thing!


Did you know that if pencils are in a pencil bag, or box they bang up against each other, and can break the lead or color inside?

I found this out when I had a set of colored pencils a long time ago that kept breaking every time I sharpened them. With this fabric roll that won't happen.


Design wise the fabric roll looks cool! It's easy to carry around.

All rolled up and places to go!


The backside of the roll all rolled out.


Security Assurance: 
  • Lead-free 
  • Non-toxic oil colored pencils
  • Made using wood from sustainable forests.
No matter children or adults, both of you could use it safely. It's the perfect gift for painting lovers.

Cost on Amazon:

$39.99 Discounted Price: $26.99

Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free in exchange for a review. 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