May 2023 Empties/Inventory Update

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I am just going to dive right in and do the empties photo:

I did have a fair amount of smaller items as well, little sample sizes I used up. Mr. Ink and I just got back from a vacation in Las Vegas, and I’d brought some face masks with me, which meant I finally finished some face masks from the stash.

And for changes to inventory numbers in certain categories:

I finished a gentle cleanser, leaving me with only 1. I finished up the one from Lush which was quite nice.

I finished a regular cleanser, the clinique all about clean, that category went from 5 to 4.

Face masks is where I finally really made some progress, splitting my number in half, I am now down to 3.

I also finished a cleansing balm, a tiny travel size. I plan to use to travel size container and refill it with whatever balm I am working on at a given moment.

I tossed a lip scrub that had gone off, and have now fully removed that category from my inventory list.

I finished up two daytime moisturizers, the Kiehl’s with sunscreen and a tiny one of moisturizer without sunscreen, going from 6 to 4.

I finished a sample size of moisturizing serum, and a large one (cosrx snail 96 power essence.) This took me from 7 to 5.

Here’s a purchase-I purchased a mousse to take on vacation with me since the two I had are jumbo sized and not great for travel, went from 2 to 3.

I worked through the skip shampoo, it smells like 7 up which is a weird feeling. This took me from 6 to 5.

And then I also finished the Amika hair mask, which I consider a conditioner. That took this category from 9 to 8.

I finished up one of my mother in law’s body lotions, as well as the soap and glory call of fruity which I absolutely hated the smell of. So that category went from 9 to 7.

Lush kitchen subscription box gave me two new body washes this time, taking my inventory from 7 to 9.

And while I finished one little perfume, I also received one from lush so that inventory did not change, standing at 36.

I think I can make some headway on sunscreens this month, finishing up some close to done travel sizes. Pretty sure my vitamin c serum will be gone next month. I am hoping I can get through another moisturizing serum or two. I am willing to bet I’ll finish a texture powder and maybe I’ll also finish another shampoo. I will certainly finish another body moisturizer. And I am genuinely hoping to finish up a couple sample sizes of perfume. Other than that there’s not a lot I feel I can finish this month.

Also, I have kitchen subscription box coming in this upcoming month but then am taking a 2 month break. I am getting a little overwhelmed with the body washes, plus, it gets too hot on our porch for me to feel comfortable leaving a sub box there during the day when it gets delivered. I am really hoping there’s not something that pops up that I really feel fomo about. At the same time, that’ll further reduce my numbers and help me enjoy the body washes that I do have.

Foster Dog Updates

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We haven’t fostered any dogs since we had the mama and a litter of puppies last year. And quite frankly, my dogs really enjoyed the time off. Meanwhile, we were going through a lot of stuff in our lives that wouldn’t have lent itself well to having foster dogs around. We did take care of a few foster dogs for other foster homes for short periods of time, and that’s how we were able to engage in our rescue dog assistance.

However, I’d agreed to a very small, only 18 pound dog right before my mother in law broke her hip for the third time. In what was perhaps the absolute worst timing imaginable, that dog arrived in our city on a transport the last day of my mother in law’s life. Thankfully another foster home in the rescue was able to take her for a few days while we got ourselves sorted with family and funeral arrangements. And even more thankfully, she contacted me to let me know that this little dog was very easy and easy going and would have no trouble fitting into our household. She was correct.

This little dog arrived at our home at a time in which there were like often 12-15 people at our house at a given time. And she charmed ALL of them. She had no trouble at all fitting in our home and at the age of over 2 years, was also housetrained and perfectly well behaved.

She is spunky and happy and really good, and has found her new home which she will join this evening. Works out well for us because we have another foster dog arriving Saturday. Just enough time to give my dogs a bit of a break. And, I promise to actually post a photo of the one arriving this weekend before she’s leaving our home!

2nd quarter stash shop update 1

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A brief overview, I picked a full face of makeup to concentrate on for the second quarter with hopes of using some and finishing some, here’s what I started with:

A month and a half in I’ve had some very nice progress. The photo was taken outside and I am now thinking that wasn’t the wisest choice as it was early morning and I had a lot of shadows going on, but here we are anyhow:

The Nars concealer, I hadn’t really used it before but in this month and a half I’ve used it almost exclusively and really enjoyed it. I’ve used 1 gram of product.

The Mario Badescu facial spray has decent progress being made. I won’t finish it before the quarter is over but I’ll have made a good dent.

The CYO foundation is obviously going to be done by the time I finish the project. I am excited about finishing up a second foundation this year. I won’t roll in anything new, I’ll just explore my stash until I choose one for the third quarter once this is done.

Becca Backlight priming filter is also likely to be done this quarter. I didn’t have a primer in the first quarter as it didn’t work with the sunscreen I was trying to finish. So, this will be the first primer finish this year.

I’ve really been enjoying the Natasha Denona Bloom palette. However, it’s just so full of pigment that I can’t see any progress. There’s been no weight change either. I am really hoping that I can use a gram of this by the time the quarter is over.

I’ve made great progress on the ciate london powder! I started with 46 grams and am down to 41 grams. I don’t think I can finish this up in the quarter but I am delighted to be working on it and maybe I can finish it before the end of the year.

The bronzer is also pigmented and does not show any difference in weight. But I do believe I am seeing a slight dip in the product so that feels like a decent start.

2 grams of milani eyeshadow primer have been used up. I really appreciate this primer and will likely purchase it again in the future once I have finished this one up.

Here’s a surprise item, it’s the anastasia beverly hills brow gel, which I thought I put in the original stash shop but did not. I have been using it regularly though and am hoping to use it up this year as it’s just a tiny sample size.

Rare Beauty mascara, I’ve used this exclusively and really liked it. If I were to see it on sale again I’d purchase it. It does not transfer and looks great. It is, however, either drying out or getting used up as I now have to layer it quite a lot to get the results I did at the beginning.

Charlotte Tilbury sample size lip gloss is gone! And on that note, I failed to get a photo of the melt lipstick but it’s about halfway gone. I believe I can finish that as well over the next month and a half. And if not then, certainly by the end of this project.

Wayne Goss eye pencil, this is a very creamy formula and wearing it during the last month and a half has shown me that it slides around and doesn’t really stay put. Now that I say that, I think it may benefit from a bit of eyeshadow or powder over it. That being said, I like the look of it, kind of smudgy and unkempt. I don’t hate it but I am not wearing it all that often. I’ve sharpened it once now.

The l’oreal brow pencil, I know you cannot see it, but it’s almost finished. So, that’s another one I’ll have completely finished by next month. Out of what I started with, 6 items should be gone by the time I am done with the current quarter. I feel great about that!

I am rather delighted with this project. Despite saying I was not going to do a panning project this year, I finished 5 items last quarter and will finish 6 this quarter which would be a very successful project pan if that’s what I was calling it. The combo of choosing items in my collection that I want to enjoy plus choosing a few strategic items to work toward finishing has been extremely effective in keeping me engaged plus motivated.

I still think I’ll do a 2 month at a time stash shop next year, but for this year, the project is working very well as I envisioned it at the end of last year. I do have something a bit interesting up my sleeve for the final quarter though. I’ve got enough sample sizes or categories where I just don’t have a lot of collection to go through, and I am thinking for the last quarter I may roll back in anything I got close to finishing this year but wasn’t quite successful with in hopes to finish it up completely in the final quarter.

2 Updates for Stitching

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The slow mo weekend we really needed after the funeral and all the family left happened last weekend. I had a very long to do list but had also been suffering from a great deal of inertia and so I knew that I also needed to rest and contemplate and have a lot of quiet. Which I did get and I did go into this week feeling so much better overall. The to do list is still too long but looks a bit more manageable from where I am standing now.

I got a Lowrey stand for my stitching a couple weeks ago and have been testing it out. I found that the 11″x17″ frame I was working with for my fox and rabbit mystery sampler is so large that it throws off the balance of the stand and tips it over. So I popped on down to the stitching shop this weekend to get an 11″x11″ frame to see if that made a difference. While I moved everything over to the new frame, I took an opportunity to photograph the project. This is 3 out of the current 5 clues complete:

So far so good! I am still really enjoying this one. However, I’ve set it down and will need to pick it back up here shortly.

Meanwhile I’ve been working hard on my Bothy Threads poppies. I finished the orange poppy and moved on down to the white one, plus got to start on some of the greenery as well.

So, obviously stitching is still going well and I am enjoying it immensely as my relaxing hobby of choice.

Stitching Update

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My Bothy Threads poppies are really coming along! I kept meaning to go back to my mystery stitch along but I just haven’t.

Since the last update I finished the red flower and am now almost done with the orange one. After this, there’ll be a white flower and a whole lot of greenery. I am kind of looking forward to the greenery at this point. But, I do want to get back to my temperature tree and then my stitch along.

April 2023 Empties

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And inventory update!

Let me start at the top, over this past month my mother in law experienced health problems that ended up with her in hospice and then subsequently passing away. As such, we also moved her out of her assisted living apartment, and I absorbed some things into my collection. I also found a few things in sorting and organizing that I added to my collection. I did not purchase them but I did not previously know about them to list them. So I accounted for them this month.

The only items that came into my collection via purchase were from the lush subscription box. And here’s the empties that were worth noting:

I finished a texture spray and a hairspray. I also finished a handcream which was not a scent I appreciated. I finished a clinique eye makeup remover (but found another in my basement). I had a travel size of Cosrx aha/bha toner and an elf moisturizer I was able to finish up. And I finally finished my travel size of Mugler Alien perfume. I finished up a couple other sample size items as well, and one thing I finished was a travel size of briogeo shampoo but it didn’t get photographed.

Overall, even with accepting items into my collection the numbers are going down. I started keeping overall numbers. I began all this with 207 items I was tracking-again many of them sample, travel, or sachet sized. I am now at 167 at this point in the year. I am also at a point where I may have to purchase a thing or two, but I also intend to keep waiting it out until the situation is dire and/or there’s a sale going on I can take advantage of to replace a thing or two. I am going to add the overview below, and again, I will only talk about a category if there’s been a change.

Cleansing Oil is a category I used, and I had 1 cleansing oil. I found a half finished micellar water in my basement and for lack of a better category to put it in, I added it to this category, now I have 2.

Nighttime moisturizer went from 3 to 2.

Toner went from 5 to 4.

Hairspray went from 2 to 1.

Hair wax went from 2 to 1-but only because my husband had his first professional haircut in 20 years and I gave one to him.

Texture spray went from 3 to 2.

Shampoo went from 7 to 6.

Body Moisturizer, this one went way up. I received one in my lush subscription box and then also added 3 from my mother in law’s apartment. So I went from 6 to 9 in that category (as I’d also used one up) and I’ll be working hard on finishing these.

Body wash went from 6 to 7 because I again received a lush body wash in my subscription box.

For fragrance, I went from 40 to 36, using up one travel size and 3 sample sizes. And I am on a mission to be working my way through more sample sizes this month. I am delighted with the results here.

Overall it feels like a bit of a light month for empties but I also feel like I knew that going into it already and I did manage to go through more than I thought. Further, with all that was going on this month really any empties at all feel like an accomplishment.

As for the upcoming month I think there are a solid 7 items that I will certainly finish and then add to that whatever fragrance samples I manage to get through this month. I am imagining 2 or 3 lush items will arrive via subscription box, so I should stay well within my goal of more leaving than arriving.

A Stitching Update

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I got bored with the two projects I’d been concentrating on, the temperature tree and the fox and rabbit mystery stitch. I then realized that it was unnecessary to power through them, instead I could just devote a little time elsewhere. After all, I’d started a Bothy Threads project a few months before but put it down because I was so excited about the other projects. This is where I left off on January 12:

And now, picking it up again and devoting a lot more time to it;

I am close to being done with the first poppy and eager to work on another in a different color.

I have also realized something, and that is that I much prefer working on linen. Once I work through the kits I’ve already purchased I will not be picking up any more kits with aida as the fabric. When I first took up this hobby I was delighted that there were fully prepared kits to purchase and that seemed so much easier than trying to purchase a pattern, figure out size of fabric, purchase fabric, purchase all threads. But in reality, making my own kits will be a much better option for me now that I know my preferences. But it’ll be a year before I have to do that I suspect. I’ve got the two projects on linen, this project, another large kit to stitch, and a smaller kit of three tiny floral pieces. I think that should last me all year.

Stitching will be taking a slow down now, we’ve got a foster dog coming this weekend and we are watching someone else’s foster dog this week. These types of activities don’t lend themselves to a lot of stitching time!

2nd Quarter Stash Shop

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After such a wild success with the previous quarter I am all inspired to start on my April, May, and June choices! And by wild success, I mean I finished a foundation I hated. Hah! But honestly I had convinced myself that I was going to be working on that foundation bit by bit throughout the year in hopes to finish, so finishing it in the first quarter felt extremely successful. And I did that even with 2.5 weeks off from makeup in the latter part of the first quarter.

This gave me renewed inspiration to target more foundation. I think that if I really pushed it, I could conceivably finish two more foundations in my collection this year. And I am going to move toward doing just that. Here’s the stash shop for this quarter:

Nars Radiant Creamy concealer-currently weighs 25 grams-this one won’t be finished in 3 months time, but it is newer in my collection so I am eager to get to know it.

Becca Backlight priming filter-I’ve marked where I am on this with a line. Since this item no longer exists for sale, I would like to finish it up. I think I can finish this one in the second quarter.

Mario Badescu Facia Spray-the line is all the way at the top since I haven’t used this much at all. I do not think I can finish this in the quarter but I can sure try and see how far I get! I would like to target this enough to finish it this year.

CYO foundation-this one is in an airless pump so the line shows where it is now and the lines will go up the container. With this one more than half finished I do think I can finish it this year. I do not know if I can finish it this quarter though, we shall see. With the Stila foundation being gone, at least I will not be trying to juggle two foundations.

Natasha Denona Bloom palette-weighs 142 grams currently. I have not had an opportunity to really play with this face palette and I am truly excited to do so. It has 2 cream products and two powder products so it really encompasses a variety of ways I’d choose to wear my makeup. The cream blush is rather dark but any time I’ve played with it I’ve managed to make it work pretty well even so, with a lighter hand.

Ciate London powder-this weighs 46 grams at the moment. I’ve had this in my stash for a good long while now, and typically I use it only on my undereyes. However, I’d like to get this finished or at least to a place where it would be an easy finish later.

Milani eyeshadow primer-this weighs 12 grams and while there’s no chance I’ll finish it this quarter I don’t have a lot of eyeshadow primer options in my collection so this’ll have to do.

Sugar mini bronzer-weighs 18 grams-this has been in my stash for ages, I received it in a subscription box. I’ll use it this quarter exclusively and see how far I can get with it. The pan is not large but I remember it being fairly pigmented so I’ll need a light hand.

Rare Beauty mascara, sample size. I did not weigh this. Once the quarter is over, I will need to toss this as it’ll have been opened for 6 months.

Melt lipstick, color frisky. This is a sample size and it’s a warm neutral. I think I can finish it this quarter.

Charlotte Tilbury lipgloss, a good option when the tones I am using aren’t as warm. I think I can finish this as well this quarter. And since I already finished a lipgloss this year it would be delightful to remove another two lip items from my collection.

L’Oreal brow pencil-Sure would like to get this one used up this quarter! Probably doable. If not this quarter than I’ll make sure to finish it this year in some manner.

Wayne Goss eye pencil-this is very new in my collection and it’s fun to add items that I haven’t really played with before. I’ll be using this in addition to the clinique eyeliner from last quarter as I do want to finish the clinique one this year.

So that’s it, a nice little curated collection of makeup to concentrate on. If I am fortunate I’ll finish 6 of the items in the quarter and if I don’t finish them I’ll be moving them far closer to the point at which they’ll be far easier to finish in a future project pan. I am yet again really excited about this quarter and while I know I’ll kind of hit a wall and get irritable about these constraints I’ve put on myself, I’ll also be really pleased with progress.

This Week in Stitching

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For my Fox and Rabbit stitch along, I decided to take a break from the border (March clue) and work on February’s clue which is a selection of motifs on the left top side of the project. It took me an entire week to finish up the largest clue but I was able to finish the remainder of the motifs on Sunday.

The pink floss I used for this motif is variegated, and you can see the different shading going on in the pink. The rest was solid colors of floss.

Then I moved on down to the remaining small motifs and finished them up which was lovely. Now I am back to working on the border. There’s no hope I’ll finish that before the next clue comes out Saturday. And I also won’t get an opportunity to begin April on Saturday as I’ll be out of town with Fury at a flyball tournament. Upon my return I may put in some time on my temperature tree, completing the March branch and leaves. But then I should be back on target to work on this project again. So my goal for this week is simply to get as far along on the border as I can with the limited amount of time available to me for stitching. Then once I see what the April clue looks like, I’ll decide if I want to complete the border portion or take a break and work on the April portion.

All of this is to say, and I think it’s easy to tell, I’ve been enjoying this sampler so much. It feels like a great way to be getting good practice stitching on linen, triggers creativity when I get to choose colors, and just plain gives me practice with a hobby I am new to. Very enjoyable!

March 2023 Empties

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Plus inventory update. I am posting this a tiny bit early because I have the time and because I don’t really see anything else that will be completed between now and the end of the month. Here are my notable empties this month:

Inventory update:
Overview-I’ll just post about what has changed rather than do a full rundown. I did have 3 items come in to my collection from the Lush subscription box. But, no other purchases were made and no other items came in via gifts. This inventory does not contain any makeup items which I keep track of separately.

I finished 1 gentle cleanser bringing me from 3 to 2.
My daughter has taken one cleanser from my collection, taking me from 6 to 5.
I finished one retinol product from clinique, so inventory goes from 4 to 3.
I finished a cleansing balm, so 3 to 2.
One eye serum was used up, that leaves me with 2 eye serums
I finished a Vitamin C serum, leaving me with just 1 Vitamin C product.
I finished up my little Farmacy Honey Halo sample so I am left with 6 moisturizers in my collection
Toner-I finished 1 good molecules toner so now I have 5 toners.
I finished up a hair repair serum leaving me with 1 repair product.
I finished my Verb texture spray so I now have 3.
I had a Madison Reed conditioner sample and that is now gone, I have 9 hair conditioner items left.
In the Body Wash category I finished Lush Yog Nog but received Lush B Electra body wash and Lush Mama Mia body scrub, so I went from 5 to 6 in this category.
I received a Lush Fun soap which is kind of like a play dough in soap form. Not sure how I’ll use it so I shoved it in the “shave” category bringing me up to 2 items.
I finished 1 perfume sample so now I have a total of 40 perfumes, samples included with full size and travel sizes.

Ultimately in this part of the inventory I was able to go from a grand total of 194 to 182. I am certainly pleased with this result. However, I do believe that the upcoming month may be challenging as I don’t have too many items that are super close to being finished. But as we’ve seen before if I just keep consistently plugging away and not replacing I’ll get there eventually. It’s just that next month may be a slower month for empties.

2023 First Quarter Stash Shop Finale

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I am ending this around a week early. And why? Because I finished the item I so wanted to finish in this quarter, the Stila foundation!

Now, let me preface this post with some information-you will not actually see fantastic progress on many of these items this second half of the quarter. You see, in the first half of the quarter I did wear makeup extremely regularly. But in the second half of the quarter I lost almost 3 weeks of usage due to a skin biopsy on my face. Thankfully everything turned out to be fine, but at the same time I wanted to follow the doctor’s directions in hopes to keep scarring to a minimum. Even 4 weeks later I still have a pretty significant divot in my face and the entire place the spot was formerly is very red. But I do think I did well with getting it to heal prior to wearing makeup again.

So since my progress was basically cut in half for the second half of the quarter I was extremely surprised to realize that I’d made it through the Stila foundation! I shouldn’t be, it’s a very runny and watery foundation which I generally had to use about 4 pumps of to get appropriate coverage on my face. So I was definitely racing through it in a manner that doesn’t happen with thicker foundations.

Where I started in January:

A month and a half in:

And now:

Now on to progress:

-Stila Foundation, gone
-Mac Fix Plus Rose-a bit of progress made but not much. I will be working on finishing this bottle up this year though. I will intersperse use of it with other facial sprays in the quarterly stash shop.
-Maybelline Concealer, surprisingly it seems like the progress is similar to the previous half despite not having worn makeup nearly as much.
-Mac Mineralized Skin Finish powder started at 71 grams, it was 70 grams last time and remains at 70 grams. However, I did notice that I can start to see the clay pan (it’s a baked product) at the very top of the container so progress has been achieved.
-Mac Painterly Paint Pot-same here, I had used a gram in the first half but it weighs the same now.
-Mascara Maybelline falsies lash lift-this one is done as it’s been open for 6 months.
-Clinique eyeliner-I’ve used it consistently but there’s no way to show progress. I’ll keep after this one this year as I believe I will be able to finish it.
-Elf brow wax-no discernable progress even though I have consistently worn it.
-Maybelline liquid eyeliner-I did not use this at all this half of the quarter. I am not going to add anymore liquid liners to the stash shop because I don’t really use them.
-Hourglass ambient lighting edit palette. This one also remains the same weight as last update. I did use it very regularly and I am pleased with the progress. The difference between the first photo and this update is significant. I’ve got lots of pan in the bronzer in particular. I also made a lot of progress on the two face powders. The blushes are, of course, slower but the warmer toned one is far flatter than the cooler toned one. And the highlighter has a very large divot in it in one spot.

So, to review, in this quarter I finished:
-Eyebrow pencil
-Sunscreen
-2 mascaras
-Stila Foundation
And good progress was made on the other items, with two I believe I can finish this year even while keeping up with a quarterly stash shop. While progress was slow this month and a half, the overall progress of the 3 months was quite good. Now to relax for a week and then post and begin the second quarter stash shop, post will be up either at the very end of this month or beginning of next.

This week in stitching

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I’ve got another stitching update for this week, as I managed to turn a corner of the border on my Fox and Rabbit stitch along. I am working on the March clue, the border, now but could not resist adding in the small piece from the February clue.

The teal and the aqua are to be my main tie in colors, I used them for the large vase in the January clue and I’ll be using them for the entire border. I love the look of the border and I have a suspicion I am really going to love the look of the entire sampler. I am glad I have chosen to work this one. Can’t wait to see how it progresses over the upcoming week!

Small Changes Perfume Project

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Mid January I had posted what I was going to do with my perfume project, indicating that I’d post another update at the end of February. Here we are past mid-March and I finally am getting around to an update.

The previous schedule was:

Monday-Mugler Alien
Tuesday-Ellis Brooklyn Bee
Wednesday-A sample size of whatever I like
Thursday-One of my YSL perfumes, my choice
Friday-Replica By the Fireplace
Weekend-Apres and Wildcard

I finished my sample size of Ellis Brooklyn Bee which was in part the goal. The other goal was to finish Alien. There’s very little left.

I am making a couple tweaks to the schedule for the upcoming month and a half. You see, I’ve found out that someone on the flyball team is sensitive to fragrance so I am going to make a concerted effort to remove fragrance from my life on any day which flyball happens. For the next month that means Tuesday nights. It also means some Friday nights. And some weekends are flyball weekends as well. So I’ve developed the next 6 week (ish!) schedule bearing all this in mind.


Monday: Mugler Alien-then when that’s gone, go directly to Alien Goddess sample size
Tuesday: Nothing, unless no Flyball, then sample size of anything
Wednesday: Sample size of anything
Thursday: One of my YSL Frangrances
Friday: Kayali Vanilla Royale Sugared Patchouli (Unless it’s a flyball practice night)
Weekend: Wild card and sample

My biggest goal would be to finish both Alien and Alien Goddess, since there’s not much in either I believe I could make that happen particularly if I considered these for one of my wild card days. Additionally I love the idea of really working on finishing some sample sizes as well. Because I am doing the whole no buy thing, it’s a fantastic time to deplete my stash of samples as nothing else is coming in to replace them.

SAL Update

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It’s been a bit since I’ve had an update, and even longer since I’ve remembered to post. You see, two things were going on. First, my dog Fury competed in her first flyball tournament, did very well for a very first attempt, and then we got really busy with additional training and practice. More on that in a future post I believe. In addition to that, we took care of a 4 month old shepherd mix puppy white her foster family went out of town for a bit, and that kept us very busy. But she was a surprisingly great puppy, and it went much better than I had imagined it would. Nevertheless, we were overwhelmingly busy. Once that was over, I was able to get some stitching done, in part because I took a couple days off to unwind after all the busy weeks.

During that unwind time, I was able to finish the whole of the January chart of my Fox and Rabbit stitchalong for 2023. The whole of the chart except for the extensive border which I did not complete. And I am glad I did not complete it since we now have more pattern in the border and I think it’ll be easier to complete it while also working that pattern area.

I then put this project down for a bit instead of moving right along to the next section. You see, my temperature tree had been languishing. It was languishing for a few reasons I’ll address in a future post about it, but I ended up giving up on it, going to the local stitching shop, purchasing a very pretty piece of linen, and starting it over completely. I have been working on that exclusively for about a week now, and it’s looking really good. In fact I am farther along than I was when I quit the project previously. But, I am looking forward to some downtime tonight where I can get back to this SAL project instead. I am eager to see what the next bits will look like. I am particularly fond of the border filling in framing the piece beautifully.

Stitching project update

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I have been fortunate to have loads of time to work on my fox and rabbit sampler. I am still really enjoying this so much. I went this weekend to the local stitching store to pick up some new colored floss for the vase and the border, as I am hoping to use these colors to draw everything together.

I am using an 11’x17′ qsnap frame for this, I am at the point where I will need to move the frame to another section and I am struggling to decide if I want to continue down the vase and finish that portion or move over to the February section. And meanwhile March section comes out tomorrow! I keep seeing little mistakes here and there that I insist on going back to fix. It’s been a journey already. I know I will learn so much with this endeavor. And I am truly enjoying the process.

We’ve got a busy week and a half coming up, we will be taking care of a 4 month old foster puppy while her regular foster home goes out of town, and Fury dog is going to be racing in her very first flyball tournament so my weekend is completely shot. And I am positive a 4 month old puppy will keep us wildly busy in every other moment. But I’ll be back at it after that I am sure.

February 2023 empties and inventory updates

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I had a good number of empties this month despite it being a short month.

Here’s what I finished:
Makeup wipes: I ended up finishing these up after having a skin biopsy on my face (everything is fine!) because I needed to keep the spot covered and it was hard to wash my sunscreen off at the end of the day.
Lush Body Lotion Love-Got this in my subscription box this month and also finished it this month.
Purity face cleanser-I’ve been working on this for like at least 6 months. Really love it.
Soap and Glory Body Butter-loved this one, very gourmand smelling.
Big Sexy Hair texture powder-a staple in my hair routine
Fekkai hair primer-Got as a sample and don’t feel any specific way about it.
Ouai scalp and body scrub-Really nice!
Beauty of Joseon calming serum-love this stuff! Moisturizing without any irritation.
Clinique smart custom repair eye treatment-took forever to use up this tiny sample
Valentino V-lighter primer-really nice sample, glad I got to use it!
Mac lip glass-hated it. Glad it’s gone.
Clinique almost lipstick in black honey-such an easy item to use, might purchase someday.

So for inventory, I am only going to talk about the categories that have had change. To reiterate, I get the lush kitchen subscription box so sometimes those items apply to the inventory. And some don’t, like bath bombs that I end up giving to my daughter.

Sunscreen-Finished 1 so now I have 6
Cleanser-Finished 1, have 6
Makeup wipes-Finished 1, have none, removing the line from the inventory entirely.
Eye serum-used 1, have 3
moisturizing serum, used 2, have 7
Hair primer, finished 1, have one to use now
Hair gel/balm-finished 1 sachet, have 2 more sachets to finish
Hair powder-finished 1, have 3
Shampoo-finished 2, have 7. I have no more sachets now.
Conditioner-finished 1, have 10
Body moisturizer-received 2, one from the subscription box and the other as a gift. But also used 3, currently have 6
Body wash-received another from the sub box, now have 5
Fragrance-finished 2 samples, now have a total of 41

So for a wrap up-I purchased no items beyond the allowable subscription box. 3 items entered my collection. 15 items left my collection. This was a particularly successful month. And that’s exactly what I am looking to repeat next month. And I feel like I am already on my way as I can easily see a number of items that will get finished in March.

Hard Won Progress

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In my last stitching update I’d done the first floral motif and worked my way a bit down the stem. It’s a very large motif overall, kind of a focal point in the sampler, so even though it felt like big progress, there’s just so much more to do.

I kept working, and chose my colors for the next flower. I’d chosen a variegated orange floss with the intention of marling the variegated floss to create a dynamic shaded flower. And I did that. And I wasn’t overly happy with it. I needed to make a decision if I was going to rip it out and start again or leave it be. But, at the point which I did, I also realized that I had placed the flower and the stems/leaves in the wrong place. In the end I was forced to rip it all out, so I then moved forward with changing the color as well. It was a week’s worth of stitching lost but I am still far more happy now.

The new color worked pretty well, I liked the result, I added my own second color, and I stitched the mirrored one on the other side as well.

One of my absolute favorite things to do with this pattern is interpret it my own way and then choose colors and how to do the motif. I decided that I saw buds hanging off one of the stems, and I interpret them to “belong” to the flower I just created. So I proceeded as such.

This week will likely bring a lot of work on stems and leaves which honestly I do seem to struggle with a bit. Seems like when I do stems and leaves I end up losing my place and that’s how I end up getting flowers in the wrong spot. I’ll just have to keep in mind the idea that I have to double check the new placements against a few points of reference.

I do also still need to pick up some floss for the borders which are very large. I may do that this weekend. I am using floss that is just magically in my home so that I am not purchasing all new floss. But, I think treating myself to something I want to use for the border is appropriate. I’ve also noticed that when I throw in leftover floss from my previously completed project, it’s far nicer to work with than what I’ve just had around the house. So, clearly, it’s a higher quality supply. I have now officially discovered that both the quality of the needle and the quality of the floss does indeed make a difference in stitching enjoyment.

In any case, while I did have a bit of a set back this week, I managed not to fall apart over it and make good progress anyhow!

And Stitching

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I am still approaching my stitching with a next level obsession and loving it. Last posted I had finished the top of a floral motif, and now I have worked my way down the stem, adding in a leaf motif on either side.

I am actually a fair bit further now, even though I’ve had a pretty busy week. I am eager to have a day on the weekend to concentrate on it and see how far I can get.

6 Month Pupdate

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You may remember we fostered a mamma dog last year who turned out to be pregnant and had 8 puppies in our home. Their 6 month birthday was February 13, and they are all doing so well! In fact I was able to gather photos of 7 out of the 8. So I figured I’d post them here.

Mama Fishbone was a mix, probably Chihuahua mixed with pittie and staffie and a whole host of other things. She had a smooth, short, brindle coat. DNA test on the puppies showed them to be very high in the poodle category which mama absolutely was not. All the puppies ended up with wiry beards now that they are older and with a varying degree of poodle like hair. They range in size from 16 pounds at the smallest to 25 pounds at the largest at 6 months old.

Dirty Walt: The grey dog. Resembles a Dachshund despite not having any known Dachshund genetics .He’s long and low to the ground and adores his older brother and Dachshund mix.

Marlin: He’s long and lanky and uses his puppy eyes to get what he wants. One of the 3 larger puppies from the start, and remains one of the three larger puppies now.

Sturgeon: Sturgeon is another low rider puppy. I adore his white blaze and his ginger coloring. He was the most vocal of the litter, quick to protest and quick to tell us what he wanted. He remains a very vocal dog, though he’s learned to have an indoor voice in his forever home which is super cute.

Loach was born the smallest of the litter, and while he remains small he’s no longer the smallest. He seems to have a good amount of poodle genetics showing up with a nice fuzzy coat.

Dace is the puppy I don’t have a 6 month photo of, her forever home isn’t on facebook. But, I do hear through the grapevine from time to time that she’s doing quite well.

Dolly Varden is another very well loved puppy, she’s another of the 3 bigger pups in the litter. She’s got a family who absolutely dotes on her and melts at her cuteness despite any puppy naughtiness.

Snook was always my personal favorite, smart as a whip and very interested in engaging with humans. She’s gone through a number of training classes now, as she may eventually become a therapy dog in a school system. She ended up with a lot of the poodle genetics, her coat is downright long and curly, which is kind of funny to see over her brindle coloring.

And finally, Goby. He was significantly larger than the rest of the puppies when he left our home, but now he’s right around the same size as the other two bigger puppies. He has a most interesting coloring, grey, almost blue, with the same color eyes and nose. And a bright white chest.

It has been an absolute delight to watch these puppies grow up in their forever homes. It isn’t always that puppy homes are so committed to staying in touch. It’s wonderful to see just how well adjusted they are and how well trained they are getting in their new homes. It is good to know all our hard work exposing them to various different situations worked wonders on them, giving them the best possible opportunity of a good life in their new homes.

We haven’t had a foster dog since the puppies and their mom left our home, I needed a significant mental break. But, at the same time, the entire experience made us feel like we absolutely would do puppies in our home again if we were to be able to foster a smaller mama like Fishbone, or even smaller. We even have a plan in place to rearrange our home for that if the opportunity arose.

First Quarter Stash Shop midquarter update

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I’ve got a little update on my first quarter stash shop, and I am delighted to report that despite the fact that I am not out here intending to purposely pan any items, I did finish two things.

Here’s what I chose for my first quarter:

And here’s where I am now:

So, for progress-

The Stila foundation I don’t like and am determined to finish up this year. I’ve been hitting it pretty hard. At the beginning of the project I had 87 grams and it is now at 80.

The mac fix plus rose, the washi tape has a marking indicating how far I have gotten, I think that’s pretty decent!

The maybelline concealer has had progress, again indicated on the washi tape. It’s slow going.

The mac mineralized skin finish powder is going pretty well, I feel like I am making a good dent in it though I have not hit pan. According to the scale I’ve only used 1 gram.

I have been consistently using my mac paint pot and the scale tells me I used a gram of that as well.

Next up is my first empty-the dr. jart’s cicapair sunscreen. I am glad it’s gone.

I have two mascaras in this project, but I think I am done with the tarte maneater, not a lot left on the brush as I attempt to apply it.

I finished the brow pencil completely, so that’s gone.

I’ve been using my clinique eyeliner regularly. I have panned one of these in the past, it’s just a travel size. I think it took me all spring so I am hoping that by the end of this project I’ll have finished.

I am finally making a tiny bit of progress on the elf brow wax. While I wouldn’t repurchase, I don’t need to toss it out either.

I have used the liquid eyeliner maybe twice, not a lot of progress there.

And finally, my hourglass palette. I’ve used this every day I’ve worn makeup. I have used two grams. I do think though that the pans on the finishing powder area are far more increased, particularly the bronzer. And while it’s hard to tell, I think I am making good progress on the blushes too, they do not seem as domed as they previously were.

All in all a pretty good month and a half. I so greatly dislike the foundation that I just can’t wait for it to be done. My current plan is to keep hitting it hard through this first three months of the year, then if I still have more left, I will try to make a point of using it at least once a week until I am too summer tanned to do so. It may take me all year, like the mac foundation I panned last year, but I am really determined that this one needs to go. Other than that, I am left with good products I enjoy so it’s not terribly hard to keep working on them.

Despite this though, I am thinking that if I were to do this type of project again, I might do it as an every two month situation. While I would not make as much progress on individual items, I would get more use out of my collection as a whole and feel more inspired waiting on the upcoming change.

Stitching, and Stitching, and Stitching

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In my early 30s, when I took up knitting, I would get so inspired about projects and techniques that I could barely think about anything else. I would get so intense, so obsessed, that I would really only want to knit or do things associated with knitting. Spinning, dyeing yarn, dyeing fiber, learning new techniques, all of it was just this wealth of creativity and mind expansion that was completely engaging to me. And I’d try big things, too big for my skill set, and sometimes I’d pull them off and sometimes I wouldn’t but all along the way I was learning and engaged with my creative mind set.

And then, after a number of years, I didn’t feel that way anymore. Sometimes I’d be inspired about projects, but it was rare that I could gather that extreme inspiration, nor could I actually do or follow the types of things I had followed during those initial creative learning years. I got so frustrated, and then decided that perhaps the early 30s is a time of extreme creativity and I resigned myself to not being able to capture that anymore.

On an absolute whim, after saying for years that I would not do so, I took up counted cross stitch. It was around christmas time 2022. I could feel the obsession coming on, and I resolved to do two things. One, somewhat let it flow over me and see what it would turn into, and two, take care not to go completely over the top on the purchasing front, knowing that going overboard in the early stages often lends itself to a number of misguided purchases.

I started the temperature tree. Then, I resolved to finish 1 project, which I did. Then I started another project (let me show you it.)

And that was going well and I was still pretty obsessed and wanting to stitch most of the time, but I was also curious about some things. Like, how to stitch on linen and evenweave. And also, there were these pretty stitch along patterns on blogs. And there was my friend Kathy kind of whispering in my ear about a pattern designer that she’d been watching. And then there was more research and all of a sudden I was planning something big. The kind of big that I would plan in the early days of my knitting. The kind of big that is TOO BIG for someone of my skill set. And yet, here we are.

I got it in my head to do the Fox and Rabbit mystery stitch along sampler. And not only to do that, but to do it on linen even though I’ve never stitched anything on linen ever. So I marched myself down to my local stitching shop, and asked for some 32 count linen, large enough for a massive year long sampler.

But was I going to do this in one color like the pattern indicated? No, no I was not, not only was I going to stitch this year long project, I was going to color it in as I went along.

And that’s how this weekend found me camped out in my craft room and dining room, one place marking up and coloring patterns and the other place teaching myself to stitch on linen. And at the end of the weekend, I had a fairly decent start.

It is, to me, absolutely gorgeous. It’s also utterly engaging. I can’t put it down, I can’t stop, I don’t want to eat, I don’t want to be on my phone, I just want to stitch even though the going is extremely slow. I have not felt this way in more than 10 years. This feeling is dangerous and perfect and I am absolutely thrilled about recapturing that feeling after being certain I wouldn’t really feel it again.

I have come to the conclusion this probably isn’t going to be a passing phase, rather I’ll immersed in this one for a good long while. The bonus here is that this is a mystery stitch along which means that once I get “caught up” I’ll have no choice but to put it down until the next clue comes out each month. There’s a limit to the depths of the obsession.

First Finished Stitching Project

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Well, first in 30 years anyhow, probably.

And just for comparison purposes because it’s fun, here it is without the back stitching and french knots.

It’s so cool how the project can go from soft and water color like to defined with just back stitching and embellishments.

30 years ago there was no youtube. As such, french knots were the bane of my existence. My mom tried to teach me over and over and I am pretty sure they’d put me in tears of frustration. And I’d just beg her to do them for me. Now, with youtube, it’s so simple. There are a ton of tutorials and they are very specific. “Wrap like this, slide the thread down the needle, hold tension precisely here until the very last moment” and just by following along I got beautiful french knots right from the start.

Of course now I have to figure out what the heck to do with this thing I just created. So, I’ve taken to youtube again and learned how to tension a project on a foam board using thread. And I’ve ordered foam board. So, it seems like I very well may be able to fully finish this and even hang it on the wall of my craft room.

I have already begun another project, it’s in a far different color palette than the one I just finished. That feels refreshing. My main goal with the new project is to work hard on all the techniques I learned in the first project. I am hoping that stopping and starting my thread will go far better than before, as I have learned all sorts of new ways to do so. And, I am hoping to keep all my stitches more even. Of course I’ve only got about 25 stitches in it, so it’s going great so far!

Another Painting Shawls Finish

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I’ve been working on the Painting Diamonds shawl since August. A lot has happened since August! This shawl was one which I was keeping at work and knitting on during work breaks. So while it would not have taken quite so long if it were at home, I rather enjoy the gentle progress of a work shawl.

I chose a hot pink main color for this and then used handspun yarns for the contrast colors. Predominately those colors are purple and teal. It is exceedingly cold here right now, and snowy, so I did not take a photo outside.

This is the 8th shawl out of the 13 in the book. I have already started on shawls 9 and 10. This is the second shawl I chose a “hot” or neon color as a main color in order to keep things rather interesting. While it’s a rather bold and wild color, I do appreciate the brightness of it!

Quick Stitching Update

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I stayed up quite late last night as I was so close to finishing the cross stitching portion of my project. I just wanted to complete it! And that is what I did. I finished the cross stitches, removed the hoop, and carefully took out my gridding thread. This morning I washed the piece and set it out to dry, and that’s the point where I grabbed a photo.

I am hoping it will be sufficiently dry this evening so that I can begin the work of back stitching on it. But I’ve got rather a busy day today so it may not be possible. And tomorrow is rather busy as well. I imagine the back stitching to go a bit more quickly than cross stitching though, so hopefully I can get this completed rather quickly. I also fully expect that I’ll find stitches here and there that need to be added. With so many clusters of stitches and color changes it’s rather easy to miss them!

January 2023 Empties and Inventory Update

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Around christmas time last year I did a complete inventory in anticipation of going on a replacements only low buy this year. I knew that I had a few things that were still going to arrive but tried my best to account for them prior to them arriving. I also knew I would purchase a beautylish lucky bag, and I am subscribed to lush kitchen subscription.

So, what came in to my life? a bunch of samples from an order I’d already accounted for, 2 countable items in the lush subscription box, 3 countable items in the beautylish lucky bag, and 2 items that I purchased when Mr. Ink asked me to purchase a certain type of soap for him. The soap is not mine, it doesn’t count. But, I purchased a container of australian gold mineral sunscreen for bike rides, I need something above a 30 and all mineral so it doesn’t bug my eyes. And, in order to get free shipping I purchased a container of sheamoisture body moisturizer. I can’t technically make it work for my low buy, but I did it, I am admitting to it, and I’ll work on that.

In a more productive note, I have had many empties.

As I mentioned in the original inventory post, if it’s a sachet style sample or perfume sample I am not saving it. I am tossing it. But here are the somewhat larger items.

Kenra dry texture spray, I’ve used these many times but I think I am over it, I’ve got other texture sprays I like better.

Nexxus mousse, love it, would repurchase, but cannot until I go through a container and a half of what I already own.

This moisturizer has been in our bathroom for years and no one ever finishes it. So I finished it.

I purchased the TJs charcoal and peppermint shampoo around november 2021 and have been working at it since then. I finally finished.

Clinique take the day off is a fav, would repurchase, but I have a few to work through first and also I like to get this one half price.

Beauty of Joseon essence I really enjoyed and I would repurchase someday when it is needed.

Bedhead thickener, I’ve used this a few times and this is my last time, won’t repurchase.

What was in the Laura Mercier powder was a make up forever powder I finally finished. It was in my project pan last year and I didn’t finish in time. I’ve been working at it since.

I had a perricone MD travel size of the cold plasma treatment. I used it, I have few feelings about it.

There’s a mario badescu clarifying serum, again, few feelings to share.

Pyunkang Yul’s Black Tea Reverse eye cream was lovely. Lasted all year, there’s loads of it in the container and it’s a good price. Would repurchase.

And a gucci sample mascara which I liked far more than I wished I did but I wouldn’t spend that much on a mascara.

So, for inventory, I will only list the categories where there were changes.

Mineral Sunscreen, added 1, now have 3
Gentle Cleanser, added one from lush, now have 3
Cleanser, added 1 from the lucky bag, now have 7
Retinol, added a kit from before the new year, now have 4
Face masks, added an exuviance face polish sample, and also added and used a Dr. Jart sheet mask, I now have 6
Cleansing Balm, used 1, now I have 4
Eye Cream, used 1, now I have 3
Eye serum, added 1, now I have 4
Exfoliating serum, added 2, used 1, now have 3
Vitamin C Serum, added 1, now I have 2
Daily moisturizer, added 2, used 1, now have 7
Toner, added 2, used 1, have 6
moisturizing serum, added 2, used 1, now have 9
Hair repair items, used 1, now have 2
Hair primer, added 1, now have 2
Hair oil/mask, used 1, have 2
Hair mousse, used 1, now have 2
Hair thickening product, used 1, now have 2
Hair texture spray used 1, now have 4
Shampoo, used 3, now have 9. 2 of these were sachet samples
Conditioner, added 2, used 3, now have 11. All used were sachet samples
Added a dry shampoo, now I have 1
Body moisturizer, added 1, used 1, have 6
Body wash, added 1, now have 4
Fragrance, added 2 samples, used 3 samples, now have 43 total items.

Overall, in the past month and then some, I added 25 individual items, most of which are sample sizes. And total used was 22. Not completely even, but close. Next month should be better. As I was updating my inventory, I also took note of the items which I am pretty sure I can count on being finished next month. I can count 10 that I am quite certain will be finished. So next month inventory will look a bit less unbalanced, as I was working against stuff that was ordered already and arriving during the month.

Painting Bricks

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I am once again showing off a shawl completed from the Painting Shawls book. This is number 7 out of the 13 in the book that I plan to complete. In this one, I used all handspun from stash. The main color is a red mohair I spun ages ago and I have enough for like 5 shawls probably. Hah. In any case I am glad to have gotten use out of it for this, and I may choose to use this color again paired with something else in the future for another shawl from the book.

This is a very large shawl, and due to the snow I could not just spread it out on the ground so I have Miss Butterfly holding it. To compliment the red main color I chose three different handspun colors all within the warm orangey and brown fall tones family. I think that turned out very well in this case.

I am very close to finishing my painting diamonds shawl as well, though it sits at work for lunchtime break knitting. That’s why it has taken me so long to finish it. I began the painting rainbows shawl for at home and am really enjoying that one as well, but it’ll be ages before it’s done. There aren’t too many shawls out of the book to finish at this point!

Stitching Update

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Another weekend has passed so another stitching update is prepared. Last weekend I had worked my way all the way through the left side. So this week I started to work the middle out toward the right. During the week I had finished 2 new jars so on Saturday I worked the flowers and greenery in those two jars. Then on Sunday I began a third jar on the right side along with some of the flowers in it. That’s the point at which I took a photo:

I did manage to finish the jar last evening. Once this jar with flowers is complete there are only two more jars to work and then I’ll get to wash this thing and do all the back stitching and french knots. I am not at all worried about back stitching, in fact while there is loads of it I am excited because I believe it will really draw the piece together. I am, however, worried about the french knots since I don’t believe I’ve ever successfully created one in my life. That being said, there’s youtube in this day and age and I’ve watched loads of french knot tutorials so I feel better prepared than I have in the past.

In any case, this one is just a few weeks away from being complete and I can’t wait to see it fully finished! I am very excited. My first full large counted cross stitch project as an adult.

Stitch In Progress

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I’ve continued to work on my stitching over the past week and through the weekend. It’s been really enjoyable and focusing and relaxing. I had very much hoped to finish the first half of the project this weekend and indeed I was able to do that.

The daisies on the left were a real challenge, as I knew they would be. Working with white floss on white cloth is tedious at best. But I think they came out really well! I approached it quite methodically which helped. I am sure they’ll pop a whole lot more once the outlining is done.

Now I work my way to the right starting with a very tall bottle with a fern in it .I also have to continue the pink flowers from the very first jar I worked on as they hang over into the tall bottle space. I did get started on that this weekend but did not get far at all. Which is fine! I am not actually in a massive rush and feel no inclination to begin another project.

Update 2, Perfume Project

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Hi all! In October last year I started a little perfume challenge in an attempt to use some of my perfumes in a focused manner. It’s been going really well and I am ready to do an update and a change it up.

Here’s the original photo, I haven’t been keeping empties and I am not intending to take photos of empties.

By the first update I had finished all the Replica samples as well as the Ariana Grande moonlight perfume.

I set myself a personal goal of using the Alien perfume once a week, which is basically the equivalent of 7 uses. I finished the Tom Ford Black Orchid sample, I finished one of the Ellis Brooklyn Bee samples, and I finished the Ellis Brooklyn Apres sample. That’s pretty good progress!

I have now taken a new photo as it’s time for a project focus shift. I’ve got so many tiny samples laying around and while I do want to use them, if I focus only on them, I will not get the use I’d like out of the perfumes that I’ve purchased because I liked them enough to have a larger amount in my collection. To rectify that, I need a shift in gears. This shift will incorporate what is left in this project (Alien and Bee) in hopes to still finish them over time.

From now until the next update which will be end of February I am putting myself on a schedule. Here’s the photo of what I am going to be using predominately:

I did not add the many sample sizes in here but I will list what I finished during the update.

Monday: Alien in hopes to use it up
Tuesday: Bee, in hopes to use it up
Wednesday: A sample, any sample from my collection
Thursday: My choice of one of the YSL perfumes
Friday: Replica By the Fireplace
Weekend: Apres and a wild card. Anything I choose.

Basically this means I’ve got 6 full weeks before the next update. I do not believe I can finish Bee or Alien in those 6 weeks but I won’t burn out on them by using them once a week either. And this will give me a good opportunity to use some of my winter favorites which have been languishing because I’ve been choosing to concentrate on samples.

At the end of February I’ll evaluate where I am, likely keep working on Bee and Alien, but perhaps either concentrate on samples again for a bit or give myself a new set of perfumes on a schedule.

But, as of right now, I’ve managed to finish a full size perfume (with just a bit left in it) and 6 samples while also working on a few others, all in all a pretty good project so far. I am glad I decided to view my perfume collection with a bit more purpose, it helps me keep it from getting out of hand while also giving me the space to enjoy it.

Stitch in Progress

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Is it a SIP when stitching instead of a WIP? Probably not, work in progress still seems like the right option. In any case, knowing that I have a rather intense obsession with my stitching right now, I carved out Saturday to just be around the house so I could do quite a lot of it.

I was so excited for the weekend! I absolutely have a lot of renewed energy for crafting right now. I am still knitting! But my focus really has been on stitching.

I managed to finish a jar, then finish a pink flower, and then finish a pretty yellow flower this weekend. Then I began another jar. I stitched a ton on Saturday, but Sunday was busy taking down christmas decor and going for a bike ride, another hobby of mine I am trying to focus on again this year. I still got a fair amount of stitching done though.

Our firestick broke this weekend, leaving us without the ability to watch TV, which worked in the favor of stitching. I can’t really work on my stitching without a magnifier and light so I really only work on that in one room. That is not the room we watch TV in, it’s my craft room. When we watch TV, that’s the point at which I’ve been knitting. So, rather than knitting, that time has also been devoted to stitching.

So, much progress was made this weekend and I am absolutely delighted by the yellow flower. 2 more jars of flowers on this left side to work after the current jar in progress. Though honestly, the flowers for the last jar on the left really seem like they’ll be intense! In any case I am really having a lovely time with this project and am not feeling like I really just gotta start something new. Which is good, I’d like to keep it to one project at a time plus my temperature tree rather than having a bunch of projects going at once.

We will see how long this obsession continues, currently what, like 3 weeks strong?