Kool Aid Pie

Last Friday my boyfriend and I made Kool Aid Pie. Two actually. It was super cheap, super easy, and super yummy. You can make any flavor you want, we chose strawberry, and get any kind of crust you want, we got one graham cracker crust and one chocolate crust. All of the ingredients were under $7 (that's for both pies). It took us about 5 minutes (no I'm not joking) to make and then we had awesome pie to eat all weekend.

What You Need:

• One 8 ounce tub of Cool Whip Whipped Cream
• One 12 ounce can of Condensed Milk (we could only find 14 ounce cans but the extra two ounces didn't seem to affect anything)
• 1 pack of Kool Aid
• Two 9 inch pie crusts

How To Make It:

• Mix the Cool Whip, condensed milk, and pack of Kool Aid together
• Put the mixture into the pie crusts
• Cover the pies and let them chill for two hours

That's it! The original recipe can be found here.

Music Video Monday: Milla Jovovich- Gentleman Who Fell

Most people think of Milla Jovovich for her acting, The Fifth Element is one of my favorite movies, or for her modeling but she also makes music. I've been listening to her since middle school and I'm constantly surprised about how many people don't know about her stuff. She's appeared on lots of movie soundtracks and worked with other musicians like The Crystal Method and Puscifer. Her own album The Divine Comedey is worth checking out by itself. There are actually two videos for the song I'm posting. This is the second version and it's a homage to the short film Meshes of the Afternoon.



If you like this and want to check out some more of her stuff there are always free mp3s available on her site. They're free to download and remix if you wish. Click here to find them.

Beauty on a Budget: Body Butter

Good body butter can be pretty pricey (I think from Sephora it's about $10-$20). That's why I was so excited when I stumbled upon some at the dollar store. The brand is Embrace the Body. You get 3.7 ounces for just $1. The scent I picked is called Rose Bud (I think of Citizen Kane every time I look at it) but they have tons of other different kinds. I just really like rose. The smell isn't too strong, which I like because overpowering scents give me a headache, it's just enough and smells like real roses. It has great staying power as well. It's very thick and creamy. It takes a minute to really rub it into your skin but it's worth it. You don't have to use very much either. I only use about a nickle size drop for a whole leg. I've been using it after I get out of the shower and I think it's making my skin softer. I'm really happy that I found this product and I think I'll be hitting the dollar store for my body butter needs from now on.

Review: Clean & Clear Soft Line

I've been using Clean & Clear Soft line for almost a year now. I use the Soft Purifying Cleanser (it's the one with Scrub on the side) daily and the Soft In-Shower Facial (the one with Steam on the side) a couple times a week. I haven't tried the moisturizers but I'm tempted to based on the results I've had with the other products.

The Soft Purifying Cleanser claims that it cleans away impurities and exfoliates without over drying skin and actually moisturizes. I always used to get very dry skin in the winter especially around my nose. This year I still got a little bit of dryness around my nose but it would only last a few days instead of sticking around for the whole season. I think changing face washes has helped immensely. The cleanser has exfoliating beads (I know some people don't like them but I've always felt like they help clean my face better). It smells fairly decent, but the smell isn't overpowering. It's worked the best for me out of any face wash I've ever tried so I think I'm going to be sticking to it for awhile.

The Soft In-Shower Facial is put on your face while in the shower. You leave it on for one minute and the warmth from the shower is supposed to let the product work deep into your pores to clean them out. Then you gently exfoliate to scrub everything away. Unlike the cleanser I feel like I could live with out this product in my beauty routine but after I use it my skin always feels much softer. I feel like it's more of a treat than a necessity but I love using it.

If you are looking to try something new, especially if you have dry skin, I would recommend checking out these products.

Spamalot

I saw Spamalot last Sunday with my friend Nick. I wasn't sure exactly what to expect going into it. I knew I liked Monty Python but I wasn't sure how they were going to translate Monty Python and the Holy Grail into a musical. I tried not to get my hopes up too high because I didn't want to be disappointed. That wasn't a problem however because it was really amazing. It stayed fairly true to the basic plot of Monty Python and the Holy Grail while adding in it's own touches. All of my favorite parts from the movie were there like the coconuts, the taunting French, and the Knights who say Ni! The whole cast was brilliant (my favorite character was the Lady of the Lake). The sets were absolutely gorgeous I couldn't stop staring at them. They had this really cool projector that they used to make fireworks and snow and song lyrics show up on the stage. I thought it look amazing. The whole show was hilarious. I'm glad I got an opportunity to see it (thanks again Nick!)

Music Video Monday: Garbage- Only Happy When It Rains

I've been listening to Garbage since I was 11. My dad made me a tape with their first two albums on it. It was all I would listen to for about a year and a half. They're still to this day one of my favorite bands. I feel like they've been a sort of soundtrack to my life. I remember being so excited when Beautiful Garbage came out. I finished all of my homework at school that day so that I could go to Best Buy and get it the day it came out. Shirley Manson was one of the very first people I looked up to as a role model. To me she always appeared to be strong and unafraid despite her vulnerabilities. Her lyrics let me know there was someone that felt the same way I did and that it was ok. Middle school would have been even more intolerable without Garbage there to help me through it.

This is one of my favorite songs/ videos. I want to steal her boots and all her dresses.

I'm only happy when it rains
You wanna hear about my new obsession?
I'm riding high upon a deep depression
I'm only happy when it rains

New Journal Phobia

I keep a paper journal. I have sporadically since middle school but now writing has become a regular habit for me. I don't know what it is about having a brand new journal that makes me hesitant to write in it. Maybe I'm scared to "mess up" the clean pages. I just filled up an old journal last week which means that I get to write in my brand new Alice in Wonderland journal I got for Christmas. I've been dying to write in this thing and now I just can't bring myself to do it. I like to try to write a little every day or as close to every day as I can. It's been weird not writing when I've felt like I have so much to write about. I guess it's time for me to just bite the bullet and do it. No good can come from waiting any long. I'll forget what I want to write about if I don't do it now.

Nurture the gift you are given

Each year I make a new baby collection for the Surtex show in May. I have been working on a new collection called Sprout that is designed to appeal to those who have a strong desire to nurture, as well as an appreciation for nature.

As I developed the images for Sprout I wanted to incorporate a few babies into the art, as though they are the new beginnings or sprouts being nurtured. Something kept pulling me back to an image from my own childhood of my younger cousins who were born and being raised on a farm. On occasion we would receive snapshots in the mail of the little tikes, three in a row, always in order from oldest to youngest, bundled up in their little hoodies, no matter the season. Because we lived too far away to see each other often, this became the image of my farm cousins that would last even into the years when we all grew much too old for those kiddie snapshots.


Well, we are all grown now and some of us have had tikes of our own. Sadly, John, the little tike in the white hoodie was taken from us by cancer as a young man. I remember him fondly with an impish smile and a disposition that was sweet to the core. John will never be forgotten, and for me he will always be the inspiration and joy that brings meaning to Sprout.

These are some of the illustrations for Sprout. The image of the little tike in the flower pot in the upper left corner is how I remember John, with that little mischievous smile! Below is the collection of patterns developed for Sprout.


When you remember your own family, young and old, never forget to nurture those gifts you are given and you will always be blessed.

Music Video Monday: Bob Dylan- Subterranean Homesick Blues

Ok so this wasn't called a "music video" when it was made. Instead it was called a promotional film clip but it was one of the first things of this sort ever created. It was incredibly influential so many other musicians and artist reference this clip in their work, even now. It's on of my absolute favorites. Enjoy!

Review: Cococare 100% Cocoa Butter The Yellow Stick

I have some pretty bad scars that I would like to get rid of but I'm not willing to shell out $25-$30 for a tiny tube of Mederma. I had heard the cocoa butter can help them heal just as well so I figured I'd give it a try. I had been using some cream that my mom had but it isn't 100% cocoa butter and I knew that that was supposed to be the best. I also wanted something that was easy to put in my bag and take with me so that I could reapply it throughout the day. I went to Walgreens and I found this "Yellow Stick" for only $0.89. I've only just started using it but so far I love it. While it goes on a bit greasy once you rub it in it disappears very fast. If you don't like chocolate you might not enjoy the smell. It reminds me of Hershey's. I've been using it on some of my stretch marks as well. I really think it's helping. I'll give an update on how it's working for me in about month.

Music Video Monday: Melpo Mene - I Adore You

I just found this video last week. I'd never heard the band before or even heard of them but I fell in love with this immediately. It's so sweet and gorgeous.

Cupcakes

I love cupcakes. It's an obsession really. They're the perfect size for a sweet treat. I have so much fun making and decorating them because are so many different things you can do. My favorite cupcakes I've ever attempted to make were rainbow cupcakes. I made them for my friends birthday party and everyone really seemed to like them. I only got to try one because they were gobbled up so fast. They're just normal vanilla cupcakes but the colors make them something special.

Here's a picture of what they look like.


The ones I made had white frosting with rainbow sprinkles. I wasn't able to get any pictures of them because they were gone so fast. The next time I make them I might reverse the colors. The purple gets very dark when it's on the bottom. I think the red will handle being on the bottom better because it's brighter.

If you want to try to make these yourself you can find the recipe HERE.

Music Video Monday: Daft Punk- Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger

Daft Hands is a fan video but it still stands as one of my favorite music videos. It's hypnotizing. Maybe I find it so impressive because I'm horribly uncoordinated.

Gon Tiki

I have been working on another collection that started a few years back when I wanted to come up with a container to store the blades from my x-acto knife as they became dull. I had been working at a company with many other artists who has this same predicament. In a few locations throughout the building there were soda cans and water bottles marked to keep dull blades in. Now, come on, how artsy and creative is that? Not! So, I went to work creating our own handy boxes to contain the dull blades.


I designed the Tiki X-acto Protecto box. I wanted to do something in a tiki style and when researching tiki history I found that Tiki was known as the God of the Artist. How fitting. This little tiki box became the long needed protector of the artist, or at least the artist’s hands. If you look closely you will see the tiki bird’s tail feathers and beak and what they are made from.

The little tiki box style developed into a theme that I have now been able to create into a collection that will debut this spring for one of my clients. Here is a sneak peak at some of the patterns in the collection done in two different colorways.

Now it’s all Computing!

The time has finally arrived for the technical gizmos to complete the new studio. I have been able to use the studio for all of the cutting and pasting and organizing, but it is only now that we were able to move the computer and it’s many attachments into the studio. I know that this is a major task, but of course I have a technical guru who likes to get all of the tweaking done on this type of work. He’s done a great job, a number of things I can’t begin to comprehend. Lucky me, I didn’t just find a great husband, I got a bonus deal that comes with all of his technical expertise. How would you know that twenty years ago? Well, call it luck, call it fate, but what I know is that I called it right!