September- Almost Here!

September is right around the corner- unbelievable, I know!

That means I'm going to have to get a new, more "fall-ish" design for this blog and stock up my shop with fall themed items. September will be busy!

While the temperatures where you live may not feel like fall yet, it will be coming. Here are a few autumn themed items I have selected to get you in the mood for crisp night air, pumpkins, leaves and apple crisp. ~Enjoy~

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**Special Announcement**

I currently have a *big* autumn-themed giveaway in the works!

It is tentatively planned for October 1.

If you have an Etsy shop that offers beautiful fall items, or know of

a shop that does, please let me know!

I am currently contacting people about the giveaway and will be posting

details as I have them.

Don't forget to enter my current giveaway!

Handmade Friday Feature & Giveaway- taniacavenecia

Wow- it's been a little while since I've done a Handmade Friday Feature! I am currently looking for Etsy shop to feature this fall, so if you would be interested in being featured, or have a shop you would like to recommend, let me know! All sponsring information can be found in the "Sponsoring" page to your left.

Today's featured shop is taniacavenecia (lovely name!). This shop offers a nice variety of jewelry that I think has a sort of South American feel. I later found out through Tania's Etsy Profile that many of her designs are inspired by her Peruvian heritage.

Sunshine:

How long have you been interested in your craft?

                                                                             Tania:

I've been making jewelry for quite a few years. I have always felt a need to express my creativity and have enjoyed doing so in many forms. From pencil drawing, oil painting, sewing and now my passion is making jewelry.

Sunshine:

What is your favorite thing to make (earrings, necklace, etc.)?

                                                                                 Tania:

Earrings I think would be my favorite, since I'm someone who feels naked if I leave the house with out any earrings on.

                                                                        Sunshine:

What inspires your designs?

                                                                             Tania:

Sometimes it's my materials, I get excited about a beautiful stone and I can't wait to work with it. I am also inspired by my Peruvian heritage, I travel to Peru often and am drawn to colors and images that I see. At times I can't wait to get home to express these things in my work.

Sunshine:

What is your favorite things about selling online?

                                                                                 Tania:

I love being able to share my passion with people all over the world. To know that something that I've created will be enjoyed by someone on the other side of United States or a far away country is a wonderful feeling.

                                                                             Sunshine:

 What Etsy shops inspire you?

Tania:

Onstail from Lithuania for their fun and comfy felt creations,Amy Perrotti who makes colorful Matroyshka prints,  I love her  Peruvian Girl and Timber Green Woods because they make gorgeous cutting boards.

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Etsy Shop

Thank you for sharing your shop with us, Tania!

You have such a lovely selection of jewelry.

Best wishes with your shop!

**Giveaway Alert**

Tania is giving away a pair of beautiful Blue Belle Earrings

to one of my readers!

Aren't those lovely??

Here's how you can enter:

Mandatory First Entry:

Visit Tania's shop (link above) and take a look around, then come

back here and tell me what your favorite item(s) is.

{1 entry}

Extra Entries

1. Heart Tania's shop

{2 entries}

2. Add Tania's shop to your Etsy Circle

{1 entry}

3. Follow Tania's blog (link above)

{3 entries}

4. Follow this blog

{2 entries}

5. Purchase any item from Tania's shop

{15 entries}

I know this is a lot of entries, so feel free to copy and paste the comment.

I'll count them up at the end.

Giveaway is open Worldwide

~Please do each comment separately

~Please leave your contact info (Etsy shop name or e-mail) in at least

1 comment.

If you would rather not have your person info published, just leave me a

comment with your contact info in it and ask me to not publish it.

The comment will be deleted once the giveaway ends.

Giveaway will end September 3 at noon Central Time.

The winner will be picked via Random.org and announced within

a day or two.

Have fun entering!

Product Review: SimplicityCosmetics

Mineral makeup seems to be the rage right now- and why shouldn't it be? It feels amazingly light and airy on the skin, is much less clogging to your pores than regular foundation, and can usually be purchased in an all-natural state.

I recently came across a wonderful little Etsy shop called Simplicity Cosmetics. This shop offers a great variety of mineral makeup, including blush, eye shadow, foundation and more!

The best part is that the makeup contains:

No Parabens
No Bismuth
No Nano Minerals
No Dyes
No Cornstarch

Yay for natural! =)

Over the last few months, I have become more interested in natural skin care. My skin tends to be oily, and thus is prone to some breakouts/shininess. My foundation only seemed to clog my pores, not to mention make my face feel heavy and greasy. Yuck!

Then I came across mineral makeup- and the way I look at makeup changed dramatically!

Mineral makeup, when applied correctly, can give you a very natural look, while still giving your skin a more even  tone and  nice matte finish.

Okay- I've talked enough! Let's get on with the review!

Earlier this month I contacted Simplicity Cosmetics to see if they would be interested in a product review. The owner, Sarah, got a reply back to me within hours letting me know that she was willing to send several items to me.

I picked several eye shadow and a blush sample, 1 regular sized foundation and 1 regular sized mineral primer.

Below are the colors I selected:

{Peony Blush}

{Petal Eye Shadow}

 

{Stone Eye Shadow}

{Bloom Eyeshadow}

{Mineral Foundation}



Sarah was great and got my order out right away, even though she was going to be gone on vacation within days. That's great customer service!

I received my samples within a few days, and once I got a chance, I tried some of them out.

They are amazing!!!



I am totally in love with the Petal and Bloom eye shadows. I really like to keep my makeup as natural looking as possible, and these eye shadows did a wonderful job at it!

They have just enough color and sparkle to really make your eyes "pop", while still looking soft and natural.

I also really love the foundation, blush and primer. They all go on very nicely and feel so natural on my skin. I forget I'm even wearing makeup with them on! They look very natural on my face, yet still help to even out my skin tone and combat any shininess.

Overall, I was VERY pleased with my experience with Simplicity Cosmetics.

Sarah was an extremely helpful person to work with, and even include several other samples besides the ones I requested.

The shipping was very fast, as I mentioned, and Sarah was very prompt in answering my e-mails.

I'd give this shop an A++ for great customer service and products!

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Facebook

**Special**

Sarah is offering a 10% off discount to my readers!

Just enter the coupon code TFB when checking out to receive

your discount.

Thanks, Sarah!

{Disclaimer}

I was not asked to write or do this review. All samples were sent to me free of charge

for the sole purpose of a review. All thoughts are my own unless otherwise noted.

$20 off at E-shakti.com!!

From now until September 15 you can receive $20 off any order at e-shakti.com! Just use the coupon code SDSAM0811 to receive the discount! For every person that receives $20 off their purchase, I receive a $10 gift certificate- it's a win-win situation for everyone! =)

For those of you who aren't acquainted with e-shakti, it is time you met. E-shakti is a website that not only offers beautiful dresses, skirts, blouses, jackets, accessories, etc., they also offer sizes 0-26, and custom fit options! You are pretty much guaranteed a perfect fit with this website! Now what's not to love about that?!

To give you a little taste of e-shakti, here is a small selection of their day dresses (which are oh, so adorable):

 

That is just a small sample of the beautiful clothing e-shakti has to offer.

You can see their extensive line of clothing here

(I was not asked to write a review about this website- all thoughts and ravings are my own. =))

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 Yes, I know, this is my second post today- usually I don't like

doing that, but since the offer doesn't go on forever, I thought I

should get it posted.

Please continue to scroll down and see a sneak peek at some

new items coming to my Etsy shop!

 

New Items Coming to My Shop!

Believe it or not, fall is just around the corner! I don't know about you, but I don't think I'm quite ready for summer to be over! It seemed to go by very fast this year.

I just ordered some new supplies for my shop and am looking forward to adding some fall colors to my shop.

Aren't those flowers so pretty? I love them!

I ordered 3 of these flowers, which I will be making into

necklaces with vintage-y brass chains. I think they will

add a nice fall touch.

According to Etsy's blog post about trending things this fall

include more muted colors, jewel tones, mustard yellows, etc.

So, to go along with that theme, I ordered several of the above flowers.

I'll be making a pair of earrings out of them, and possible a bobby pin set.

Yep, that's right- I'll soon be including adorable bobby pin designs in my shop!

I'm so excited!

I also ordered several of these stunning blooms in various "fall-ish" colors, including

orange, peacock blue and mustard yellow.

These will be made into necklaces as well.

There you have it- a sneak peek into my Etsy shop this fall!

What kinds of items or colors would you like to see included in my shop?

I'm always looking for new, fresh ideas, so type away!

(Pictures credit of snapcrafty's Etsy supply shop. Just came across this

shop and will definitely be buying more of my supplies here!)

Oh, and another quick announcement.............

I now offer free worldwide shipping

all the time!!

That's right! Everything is going to have free shipping (some custom items may be excluded

from this offer). So if you've had your eye on something, you will no longer need

to pay shipping on that item. Yay!

LillaRose Giveaway Winner!

We have a winner for the LillaRose giveaway!

Random.org picked #85, which is........

Grace!

Congratulations, Grace!

I will be contacting you shortly about

picking out your clip.

Some Giveaways......

Looking for some giveaways to enter? Then you're at the right place! =)

First off, I am giving away two $15 gift certificates to my Etsy shop, one here and one here!

Annnnd, you still have several days to enter the Lilla Rose Flexi-clip giveaway here!

Enjoy!

*Popsicles*

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Nothing says summer more than a cold, frosty Popsicle. Popsicles are the "healthy" equivalent to ice cream bars- we all know that fruit is healthy, right?? =)

I can't believe I'm saying this, but.........I haven't had one Popsicle this year! How can I possibly write about Popsicles if I haven't even had one yet? Lets just say I've had experiences with them- good ones, mind you- when I was younger. I've been trying to eat healthier, and find that most Popsicles are laden with high-fructose corn syrup and dyes. Yuck.

The good news, though, is that Popsicles are incredibly easy to make. To prove my point, here are several simple and delicious Popsicle recipes for you to try. Enjoy!

Strawberry-Yogurt Popsicles
makes 4-6, depending on the size of your molds

1 pint strawberries, cored and quartered
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup Greek style yogurt*

Bring the strawberries, water, and sugar to a simmer in a medium sauce pan. Simmer for five minutes, or until strawberries are very soft. Pour into a food processor, add the lemon juice, and pulse a few times, until fruit is almost pureed but not liquefied. Chill in the refrigerator until cool.

Stir the yogurt into the strawberry mixture until combined. Pour into molds and freeze for at least 8 hours or overnight. To remove, run some warm water over the outside of the mold until you can gently pull the Popsicle out.

(recipe copied from here)

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(Don't those look amazing?? Wish I could find the recipe)



2 mangoes - peeled, cut and seed removed, finely cubed
15 to 20 strawberries - stems removed and cut into half
Sugar to taste
2 tablespoons of lime juice
****
Blender
Popsicle mold with sticks or Popsicle sticks and small cups
Refrigerator

1 Prepare Mango Juice: Take mango cubes in a blender. Add a tablespoon of sugar (adjust depending on the sweetness of mangoes) and a tablespoon of lime juice and blend into smooth puree.

2 Prepare Strawberry Juice: Take strawberries in a blender. Add a tablespoon of sugar (adjust depending on the sweetness of strawberries) and a tablespoon of lime juice and blend into smooth puree.

3 Making Popsicles: Pour the juice into Popsicles mold or small cups in a tray. You can prepare at least 4 different types of ice pops with these two juices. Plain strawberry, plain mango, mango (bottom half)-strawberry (top half) and strawberry (bottom half)-mango (top half) combinations. If you are using the cups, then place Popsicle sticks into cups. Freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight.

4 Popsicle time: Place the tray in hot water for few seconds and pull out the pops from the molds or cups. Enjoy!

(recipe copied from here)

 

And finally, for those of you who only think a Popsicle should be unhealthy, I've found a recipe just for you-Rocky Road Fudge Pops!!

What Is your Favorite Flavor of Popsicle?

Product Review- BeautyFix

Do you ever struggle to find skincare products that meet your specific skin needs? Have your every purchased a product only to later use it and find it does little, or nothing for your skin?
Then BeautyFix may be the place for you.

BeautyFix is an online website that matches different skincare brands with your specific needs to create a skincare regimen that fits you!

Another amazing perk of this website is that they send out your personalized kit 4 times a year, which means that you never run out of products!

(Oh, and did I mention that you receive up to $400 worth of products for only $49.99 with free shipping??? Pretty amazing if you ask me!)

Back in June I contacted BeautyFix to see if they would be interested in sponsoring a product review on this blog. Once I received an affirmative "Yes!", I wasted no time in picking out items.

To start, I filled out a short questionnaire about my skin type, eye color, hair color, etc., then the beauty panelists at BeautyFix fixed me up with a large selection of products that fit my different skincare needs.

I was able to pick out 8 different products, plus a handy case to store them in.

After much deliberation, I picked out the following products:

Chella Exfoliating Mask

Jonathan Cream Hair gel/styler

3Lab Cleanser

JuieBeauty Facial Peel

JuiceBeauty Moisturizer

Dermalogica cleansing gel

Jane Iredale lip gloss

(I also selected another moisturizer, which I couldn't find this

time)

So, what did I think?

So far I have used the Dermalogica cleanser, Jonathan hair gel, JuiceBeauty facial peel, and the Chella facial mask. I made the mistake of picking out several different cleansers, so I haven't been able to try them all out yet.

I am currently using the Dermalogica cleanser, which I really like. It cleans my skin really well without stripping it of moisture or making it dry out. I have noticed that my skin looks a little more toned after using it for several weeks.

The Jonathan hair gel works really well on my curly/wavy hair. It isn't at all sticky, and holds the curl well. This would probably work even better on straight hair that doesn't frizz as badly as my curly hair does.

The Chella facial mask is really nice, too. It does have a slight unpleasant smell, but nothing so bad that I dont' want to use it. It, like the Dermalogica, cleans my skin really nicely without a tight or drying feel to it. It also has a pleasant tingly sensation when you put it on, which really makes it feel like its working.

Unfortunately, I am not as impressed with the JuiceBeauty Facial Peel. It made my face really red after only 8 minutes of wearing it (you should be able to keep it on for up to 10 minutes). While the redness subsided after 15 or so minutes, I am not too excited to try it again.

This product did receive good reviews on the website, so the redness could just be because my skin is pretty sensitive.

Overall, I really liked the products I received through BeautyFix. Not only is the whole system pretty affordable, but it introduces you to many different brands of skincare products which you may not have used before.

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Blog

(I receive the above product free of charge for the sole purpose of reviewing them.

I was not asked to do the review, and all opinions are my own)

Yellow

I love the color yellow- as if you had any doubt after looking around this blog!

Unfortunately, my skin tone is such that I can't wear the color yellow- which makes me sad.

Thankfully, I can fill my "yellow craving" by wearing yellow jewelry and hair accessories.

Enjoy this compilation of some favorite yellow items from Etsy.

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What Color Should I Feature Next?