Lacquer Lundi

Straight to the pretties...

Quo - Flirt
- purchased at Shoppers (chain drug store) for $10 CDN

Colour: A sheerish purple with teal and pink flashes.

Number of Coats for Opacity: Three.  I was trying to get it as opaque as possible.
Formula:  Really good - not too thin, not too thick.  I realize it's meant to be a sheerish polish, but I would have loved it with more pigment.

Wear: Tip wear and one small chip after two days.

Comments:  This is a nice enough polish, but it didn't blow my socks off.  Great colour, but too sheer for my  taste.  Also, the shape of the bottle is cute on the shelf, but a PITA to use.  The square handle (which holds the brush) is difficult to manipulate when applying the polish.




Avon Nailwear Pro -Splendid Blue
- purchased at Avon.ca for $2.99 CDN

Colour: A dark navy blue with silver shimmer. 

Number of Coats for Opacity: Two - plenty of pigment in this one.  If I had been more careful I may have gotten away with one coat. 

Formula:  Really good - not too thin, not too thick.

Wear: A bit of tip wear after two days.

Comments:  I love this polish - the colour, the formula, the wear - everything.

The Taming of the Arse - Week 3

Week three is all wrapped up and all I can say is that I'm glad it's over!

I started the week by over-eating, due to the monthly surge of hormones.  Is anyone else completely unable to say no to chocolate for around two days a month?  Please tell me it's not just me.

Also, there has been a stomach flu going around school lately and usually I am immune to those nasty little buggers.  Usually.  Not this time though.  By the end of the week, I had it.  Apparently Mother Nature felt strongly that I should do a cleanse.  So, I had to go with the flow (snarf!  flu humour - hilarious!). 

And the timing on this sickness could not have been worse. This is the end of the semester, so I'm finishing up classes and putting together final exams.  Busy, busy, busy.  No time time for this crap (again, with the flu humour!).

All this meant that I was only able to exercise  two days this week.  However, I did eat healthy most of the days (except for the days I didn't really eat).

So, when it was all averaged out, I actually came out ahead...or behind - I guess it depends on how you look at it.  Regardless, I am down another pound (for a grand total of five pounds lost in 2012).  Yay, me!

So, fess up folks.  How did your week pan out?  Down a pound?  Up a pound?  Still working out?  Sitting on the couch with a bag of Fritos?  C'mon, tell me all about it.

Lacquer Lundi

Straight to the pretties...

Wet n Wild Craze - Undercover Graffitti
- purchased at The Bargain Shop! (chain deep discount store) for $2.99

Colour: A bright green creme.  It reminds me a bit of Kermit the Frog. 

Number of Coats for Opacity: Two, but if I had been more careful (or used a slightly thicker coat), I could have gotten away with one.
Formula:  Really good - perhaps a teenie, weenie, tiny bit thick, but not annoyingly so.

Wear: Only slight tip wear after two days.

Comments:  I have never had much luck with Wet n Wild in the past - either the formula was off or the wear was awful.  This polish, however, is excellent.





Wet n Wild Craze - Tagger
- purchased at The Bargain Shop! (chain deep discount store) for $2.99

Colour: A bright blue creme.  It reminds me a bit of Grover.

Number of Coats for Opacity: Three coats.
Formula:  The formula on this one was not as pigmented as I would like, but it still applied nicely.

Wear: Not stellar - I had tip wear after one day and a few large chips.  Since I can't stand chipped nail polish, I took it off immediately.

Comments: I am not as impressed with Tagger as I was with Undercover Graffitti.






Wet n Wild Craze - Art Crime
- purchased at The Bargain Shop! (chain deep discount store) for $2.99

Colour: A bright yellow creme.  It reminds me a bit of Big Bird.

Number of Coats for Opacity: Three coats and I still had streaks (which is pretty typical with yellow polishes).
Formula:  Good - not too thick, not too thin.  However, more pigment would be nice (but, this is always a problem with yellow polishes in general, so I can't fault Wet n Wild for this).

Wear: Okay - tip wear and a couple small chips after one day.

Comments:  I have other yellows in my collection that wear better than this one, but I do quite like the crazy bright colour of Art Crime.





Wet n Wild Craze - Scratchiti
- purchased at The Bargain Shop! (chain deep discount store) for $2.99

Colour: A bright orange creme.  It reminds me a bit of ... um, no one.

Number of Coats for Opacity: Three coats.
Formula:  Good - could use a bit more pigment in order to cover in just two coats instead of three.

Wear: Okay- I had tip wear after one day and a couple of tiny chips.

Comments: Good polish, but Wet n Wild still needs to work on the lasting power of their polish.  Only Undercover Graffitti gave me great wear.

The Taming of the Arse - Week 2

Week two is done and I'm feelin' fine.  Still exercising regularly and eating healthy homemade meals.

This week, besides walking on the treadmill, I tossed in some yoga and stair climbing.

I forgot how helpful yoga can be in easing my lower back pain (ah, sciatica, you lovely little creature!).  All of that controlled stretching is just wonderful, so I will be adding more yoga to my future work out schedule.

As for the stair climbing, on Friday I got into work early and decided to walk and climb the stairs for 20 minutes.  It's a really great work out - talk about burning butt and thigh muscles the next day!

Besides feeling stronger and healthier due to all of the above, it also added up to some weight loss.  I have now lost a total of four pounds since January 1st.  I truly cannot believe how well I am doing.  I never lose weight this fast, but I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth. 

I think I am doing well because I have amazing support at home, at work and here online.  It is always easier to do something difficult if you have a cheering section!  And in conjunction with this outside encouragement, I have instituted another form of motivation.  If I stay on track, I get positive reinforcement in the form of cold, hard cash:

• For every hour I spend exercising (walking on the treadmill, taking a walk with Hartley, lifting weights, stretching, doing yoga, climbing stairs, etc), I earn $10.00.  

•  For every healthy meal I prepare at home, I earn $1.00.  

•  For every pound I lose and keep off, I earn $20.00.

I have really been enjoying watching the dollars adding up every time I log some exercise or a home-cooked meal.  I'm thinking I will eventually buy myself a new Babylock serger with my windfall.  I can almost smell the automatic threading already...

Keeping Track of My Fabric

Last time we spoke, I shared how I organize my fabric shelves by folding my fabric neatly.  Today, we discuss how I organize it all electronically.

Keeping Track 
At last count, I had one and a quarter kilometers of fabric (that's about three-quarters of a mile for my metric challenged friends).  That's a lot of fabric to track and manage.  Although, I probably could list out a good portion of my fabric off the top of my head, I figured I'd go a bit more high tech with the actual cataloging.  I use an Excel spreadsheet to keep track of it all.

Here is a screen capture of a section of my actual spreadsheet:

The headings for each column (from left to right) read Fashion Fabric - Shannon, Content, W("), L(m), O(m), R(m), Use, Pattern, Fr, Cost, Cost, Cost, Date.

Let me explain the headings:

Fashion Fabric - Shannon
This is a list of all the fabrics in my stash that can be used for me (I have another spreadsheet for fabrics that I use for my hubby).  It is a visual description of the fabric (colour, pattern, etc).

I have often thought of adding photos of the fabric (which I keep in a separate folder on my hard drive) to the spreadsheet, but I have never actually needed more that just the written description to trigger my memory of a fabric.  So, to date, I haven't bothered with this extra step.

Content
I list fiber content here (silk, cotton, linen, wool, etc) if I know what it is.  If I am unsure of fiber content, I either leave it blank or take a guess (all my guesses are followed by "?" so in the future I remember that I was unsure).

W(")
Fabric width in inches.

L(m)
Fabric length in metres. This serves as an indicator of how much fabric is brought into my stash.

O(m)
Fabric out is how much of a certain piece of fabric gets used.  

R(m)
Fabric Remaining.  If I use the whole piece of fabric, the description of that fabric gets grayed out.  Also the font used to list the fabric remaining turns from black to red in colour when the value falls to zero.

Use
This tells me what type of garment was made from the fabric (pants, dress, skirt, etc).

Pattern
This tells me what pattern(s) I used for a certain fabric.  I find this invaluable for future reference.  Often, when a favourite garment gets worn out and I want to recreate it, I can't remember what pattern was used.  This column allows me to go back in time and find out.

Fr
From whom did I purchase this fabric (Fabric Mart, Fabricland, Fabric.com)?

Cost, Cost, Cost
Cost of the fabric per length.  (for example, $16.99/m)
Cost of fabric per piece.  (two metres @ $16.99/m = $33.98)
Cost of fabric piece with taxes and shipping worked in.  (include Ontario HST of 13% = $38.40)

Date
The date the fabric was purchased (listed as month-date, so 3-11 would be march 2011).  I just started including this information last year.  I wish I had done this right from the start, as sometimes it's fun to see how long it a piece of fabric has mellowed in the stash.

I love this spreadsheet.  It is so helpful when I need to find 2.0 m of a 45" fabric for a project.  I can sort the info by both these criteria and narrow down my choices.  Then, it's just a matter of pulling the fabric off the shelf and sewing.

Ahh, organization...my precious...

Fabric Folding Tutorial

After my last sewing room post, I have had few inquiries as to how I fold my fabric so it looks neat and presentable on my shelves.  Since I love organizing* and encouraging others to organize, so I am more than happy to share my method (and my madness) with you today.  In a future post, I'll talk about how I keep track of it all.

Folding Fabric
First, I sort my fabric by width - 45" (anything with a width up to 50") and 60" (anything over 50").  Then the folding begins:

This is the way we fold our fabric, fold our fabric, fold our fabric...c'mon sing with me...

Many people like to roll their fabric to place on shelves.  I am not a fan of this for many reasons.  I find that the fabric can get pulled off grain.  Larger lengths of fabric (of which I have many) are difficult for me to roll neatly.  When fabric is removed from the middle of a pile on the shelf, there is a hole that remains until the other fabrics eventually collapse into it, making a mess.  And, most importantly for me, I don't find it aesthetically pleasing to look at a shelf of rolled fabric.

Granted, stacks of folded fabrics have their own issues.  Removing a single piece from the middle of a stack can be tricky/messy if the stack contains many pieces.  Also, placing fabric back in its starting spot requires removing the whole stack from the shelf to relocate the piece to its original home.  This is one of the reasons why I store my fabric by wardrobe groupings.  Each grouping contains fabrics that are complementary in colour and season.  So, I don't need to place any removed fabric back into its original location within the stack, I can just add it to the top of the stack.  This way, I still have a grouping of related fabrics, just in a slightly different order than before, which is fine by me.

So, there you have it.  Stay tuned for how I keep track of it all.


* If I had to change careers and become something new, I would open my own business as an organizational expert.  I cannot think of a better way to spend an afternoon than cleaning up and organizing a cupboard, closet, room, etc.  My friends think I'm nuts when I ask if I can come over and help clean up their closets or rearrange the contents of their kitchen cupboards!

Lacquer Lundi

I haven't done a Lacquer Lundi post in ages.  I stopped doing my nails when we first adopted Hartley.  He was still a puppy then and he demanded attention (which I was more than willing to provide) every five minutes.  So, drying time for polish was in very short supply.  Well, now he's all grown up, so I have more time to lay on the lacquer.  I have a drawer full of untrieds, so I will be hopping back onto the mani bandwagon.

However, I will be using a new method to review the polishes.  I'll be using less words than before, so the new format is short and sweet (kinda like me!).  Besides, everybody pretty much just looks at the pictures anyhow, right?  :)

On to the pretties...


Sally Hansen Insta-Dri - Blazing Blue
- purchased at Zehrs (chain grocery store) for $5.99

Colour: A dark navy blue with subtle silvery shimmer.  Intense and moody.

Number of Coats for Opacity: After one coat, most nails were fine, only a few needed a slight touch up with a thin second coat.  So, shall we sahll 1.5 coats did the trick?
Formula: Excellent - not too thick, not too thin.

Wear: Great.  Two days with only minor tip wear.

Comments:  I have always loved these Insta-Dri polishes.  The wide brush is one of my favourites!



Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure - Sea And Be Seen
- purchased at Zehrs (chain grocery store) for $4.99

SH Sea And Be Seen in a well-lit room

SH Sea And Be Seen in direct sunlight

Colour: Light blue, frosty with silver shimmer.  In the bottle, a pink/mauve cast can be seen, but not so much on the nail.  The shimmer, however, is very apparent on the nail when in direct sunlight - it's very pretty!  I have included two pictures - one in direct sunlight and one in a well-lit room.

Number of Coats for Opacity: Even after three coats, I still had a bit of visible nail line.  However, I don't fault the polish, as I believe the intention was for a sheerish application.
Formula: Excellent - not too thick, not too thin.

Wear: Great.  Two days with only minor tip wear.

Comments:  The SH Complete Salon Manicure line is excellent.  Great colours. Great formula and application.  Great wide brush.  Love 'em!

****************************************************************

Finally, just before I go, let me do a public service announcement.  Denise (who is a real sweetie pie), over at Blue Gardenia, has asked me to tell you about a sale she is having.  And, since she says it better than I could, here's what she had to say:

Take the left turn at ABQ and save, save, save on lovely patterns!

You're wondering— I know you are — about our annual end-of-year sale. The bad news: We didn't have it. We were in Prescott packing. We were. Box after box.

But.

There is good news: The Blue Gardenia is having a Take the Left Turn at Albuquerque sale instead. So here's the scoop:

Buy 3 or more patterns, get 35% off your total sale!
Sale prices good now through
11:59 p.m. PST Sunday, January 15, 2012
Payment must be received by Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Shop Early for Best Selection!

Happy New Year!

The Taming of the Arse - Week 1

Time for an update folks.

It has been exactly one week since I decided to make a change in my health habits.  I vowed to start exercising more and making better food choices.  Tired of being fat and lazy, I announced to the world that I was going to make a change - for the betterment of both my health and my vanity.

Although I didn't post this at the time, I had hoped to exercise four days this week and eat healthy food 80% of the time.

Well, it didn't quite work out as I had planned.


I didn't quite do what I had hoped.


But, I won't feel bad about not following the plan I had in my head, because...

I DID BETTER!

I walked on the treadmill every! single! day! for an hour each time.  I ate healthy meals, full of veggies, whole grains and lean meats.  I had a chocolate treat (my true weakness) each day, but I was able to do it without eating the entire box.

One of my downfalls is going out to eat when I don't feel like cooking.  This typically leads to poor food choices.  Not this week though.  I made every meal we ate (with the exception of one lunch date with a friend - but, I made a healthy choice - broiled chicken sandwich and salad, dontcha know).  So, not only am I eating better but I'm saving money too.  Bonus!

I must say I am pretty proud of myself.  I also lost one pound.  It's not a lot, but it is a start.  Besides, in the past when I lost a substantial amount of weight, I was actually happy to lose one pound every two to three weeks.  My body loves to hang on to its fat stores - it's tenacious.  So, to lose one pound in one week makes me very happy indeed.

For those that have been playing along with me, how'd you do?  Still all fired up and ready to go?

If not, have you thought about why you faltered?  And are you ready to recommit?