Pearl Ex as a Beauty Product

Pearl Ex and Hairspray - Aztec Gold
Originally uploaded by Kalyber

I confess I haven't worn hairspray in years. I didn't even use that much in the Aquanet 80's. I like my hair to blow in the breeze. Well today, in honor of Halloween, I decided to do a bit of experimenting with hairspray.

I have owned a bottle of cheap hairspray for years. I mix it with Pearl Ex in small misters for craft projects. It's an all in one shimmery color and sealer that way. Today I turned one of those misters on my own head. It contained hairspray and Pearl Ex #658 — Aztec Gold. I was very pleased with the results. It looks like I've had my hair lightened but not so drastically that everyone was asking what the heck I did to my head. I was a nice subtle change. Now if I had use a green or blue who knows what would have been said.

it's intended purpose

A couple of months ago I got out all my Pearl Ex and hairspray misters and cleaned the tips of the squirt mechanisms using scalding water. I needed a place to test whether they were really clean and working. So I got out a sheet of glossy paper and figured I'd be able to use it as a background if nothing else. The results of so much Pearl Ex and hairspray in one place were quite wet and wonderfully shimmery. I tilted the paper and let it run, then set it on a paper towel to drain and dry.

This tag was made with a bit of that paper. The actual tag has a lot more shimmer. The image of the Wicked Witch of the West is from Paper House. I got the die cuts years ago and have been waiting for the right project to use them on. You get 2 Wicked Witches of the West and 2 Glenda's, the good witch of the North in a package. I use Glenda on a card for my sister's birthday this year, you can see it on Flickr.

I'm not sure what the text should be on this tag. "I'm melting!" seems a bit passe. The line that keeps coming back to me is "Calgon Take Me Away!" Maybe you can come up with something better. Any ideas?

Hope your Halloween was a good one. Now I'm going to go enjoy an extra hour of sleep.

Katie

edited 11/2/09 to upload better image of witch.

Halloween was reinstated

I received several calls from adults begging me to reinstate Halloween. My friend, The Queen of Halloween, begged for my son's release. My dad, who originally thought a month was an appropriate amount of time for a punishment called asking for a special dispensation. Even his teacher, the person he showed such disrespect for, asked if he could please participate in the Halloween activities.

So we changed the punishment a bit, if he could write the dictionary definitions of the words, cheat, respect and self-control before Friday, he could go trick or treating and to the party The Queen of Halloween was having after the celebration of candy greed. Initially he was agreeable but when he saw how long a dictionary definition was there were tears and a bit of loud conversation. He ultimately got down to it and even got excited about getting it done so he could participate.

Well today he donned the Robot costume from a couple of years ago, it looks so small on him now, and headed out with the other boys. About 3/4 of the way through the trick or treating he said he was done. "I have enough candy I'm done." He must feel awful, what kid says that.

"Are you feeling ok?" I asked.

"Well my tummy doesn't feel so good. I want to go lie down." He didn't have a fever so I ruled out flu or infection of some kind. He wasn't allowed to eat any of the candy on the trek so I knew it wasn't rat poison or anything like that.

We went to the The Queen of Halloween's house and he laid down for a bit. It's hard to stay down when there are three screaming boys in the playroom and you want to join them. He seemed to be doing fine, he has a few chips, and crackers and a but of lemonade and was back to himself. We chalked it up to hunger.

When the pizza arrived we all ate. He was in the dining room with one of the other moms and I got to eat with the adults in the kitchen. Soon the The Queen of Halloween was calling me because he was getting sick. I found my poor son kneeling on the floor of the bathroom hoping to release the demon within. We pack up as quickly as we could, hoping it was not something contagious, and left for home. By the time we got home, a mere 15 minutes later, he seemed fine again.

I was tired but my bed was covered in clean laundry that needed folding so I got busy. He was in his room reading books and came to tell me he was almost done with the series (easy readers) and had only 3 books to go. I asked him to take a stack of his clothes to his room and put them away. He took them to his room. He returned a few minutes later to tell me he was done with the books. I congratulated him and asked him to take another stack of folded clothes to his room and put them away. I put away all my clothes, picked up the basket to take it down to the laundry room and noticed 2 large stacks of folded clothes on his bed next to a sleeping boy. Head at the foot of the bed clothes still on. I put his clothes away but I left him where he was.

I'm Free…

to craft how I want, any old time.

It's official. I am no longer a Stampin' Up! demonstrator. I got the email yesterday but didn't get a chance (or was it take the time) to blog about it. Now I can change the disclaimer text on my blog, dump my business materials, find some extra space in my office, and start talking about other companies products.

Now I can talk as freely as I like about Stampin' Up! without fear of losing my demonstratorship. Not that I ever feared such a loss before but I thought it would be better to keep my observations to myself because they weren't going to be all that helpful to my business. But now…

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I have been looking at blogs and a lot of other companies websites for a long time and often SU seems to be playing catch-up or "follow the trend" (swirls, scallops, chandeliers, lollipop style trees, deer, owls, robots). It seems SU wants to be all things to all people so they offer a set that is similar to another company's hot item and often their version is a poor imitation. The problem is that trends come and go so quickly that a company that can't get a new image idea to market but once or twice a year will always be late to the trend party.

Once upon a time I heard the analogy that big companies are like dinosaurs - large lumbering beasts, slow to change. Small companies are like mosquitoes - quick, agile, abundant and annoying to dinosaurs. A dinosaur may be able to crush several mosquitoes but the rest will drive him mad and/or infect him with West Nile Virus which will kill him.

I know SU wants their customers to buy ALL their stamping supplies from a demo but this is unrealistic. People do not live in a vacuum, especially in the age of Facebook and Twitter, they are probably going to see and buy other company's goods. If an image is really compelling or a set is versatile I will get it no matter who makes it. I have several non-SU stamps that I purchased just because I like the image. Had no great plans for what do make with it I just really like the image. They sit up on the top of my office peg board, looking down on my creative endeavors, being beautiful for me.

Price is a factor too - big box stores offer a lot of the same tools for less, + offer a 40%-50% coupon, + you don't have to wait a week to get it. Tombow adhesive is Tombow adhesive, the only difference between the SU version and the stuff you get at the store is……drum roll please……the SU logo on the side.

So what does SU do right? Well, when SU blazes their own trails image-wise they can be brilliant. I like a lot of their patterned papers (though some are a bit too SU for my tastes, too cutesy and flowery. I want more grunge. Even their graffiti stuff looks like the kind of lettering girls did in junior high along side rainbows and unicorns on their notebooks.)

The fact that their papers, inks, ribbons and buttons all match is awesome. I know Papertrey followed SU's lead, I've seen their stuff online, but I've never purchased any of their products. I really like the quality of SU cardstock and don't want to get more paper until I put a dent in the uber-stash I have going on here.

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I just got a new computer and have not received the programs to make it run the way I'd like - they are on order. As soon as they are in and the business stuff is out I will begin posting pics of projects again. And now that the computer works in real time instead of "wait a bit" time I should be able to post more often.

Not only is the business stuff going but some of my stamps are going to be sold too. Soon I will have the Katemade Designs Scratch and Dent Sale (or should that been Scratch and Stain Sale) of used stamps. I'll let you know when and where you can see and buy sets you haven't seen for sale in a while.

Must sleep.

Kate

Halloween has been cancelled - what would you do?

…at least in my house. My son, when caught cheating on the bonus words only for the weekly spelling test growled at the teacher and pushed his desk over. These behaviors are not acceptable. There will be no cheating. There will be no growling. There will be up ending desks. I told him he would be punished. He agreed that was appropriate (not that I need his approval to punish him) but he is much harsher than I am. I was going to take away TV, computers, play dates and toys for a week. He said, "No a month".

I explained that within that month was Halloween and he would miss all the parties and trick or treating. He was fine with that. I also explained that within that month was his birthday and he would not be able to have a party or get presents if we did things his way, he seemed fine with that as well. Sure am glad I'm his mom and not his kid.

I consulted several people on what to do and how to handle the punishment. I want it to fit the crime and I gotta say I think the crimes are pretty severe for a first grader. The people I respect the most in this area said that a month is appropriate — of course they are far away and not directly affected (ie: their kids are not going to be missing a playmate at the aforementioned parties). My teacher friend suggested I write up a contract clearly spelling out what is expected of him and what the consequences will be if he does not meet his contractual obligations. Also she suggested time off for good behavior so that he can have a birthday party, it is after all the final weekend of a month of punishment.

So I've settled on a punishment. I will write a contract and the punishment will be graduated with the most severe punishment occurring soonest, when the offenses are clearest in his mind. There will be the option for time off for good behavior so that he can still have his birthday party which we have been planning for a long time.

So now it's question time.

1. What is an appropriate punishment for cheating?

2. What is an appropriate punishment for growling at a teacher and upending a desk?

3. Have you ever had to cancel a holiday because of a child's behavior?