Crafty Tuesday!

This week I decided to make a zombie type plushie! He's more on the cute side rather than the scary and gory side.. I think it's just my style.. I do love the blood and gore, but not so much when it comes to my plushies. He's just a simple zombie style monkey.

That's all for this week!

xoxoxo

Easy Red Beans And Rice!

Here's another quick and easy meal! I remember my dad making red beans and rice when I was a kid and I've always loved it! I can't believe it took so many years for me to actually make my own version! This is a simple and inexpensive meal option for when you aren't sure what to make for dinner or you have next to no time to cook something elaborate! I have been having to make my hubby's lunches for work the night before, because he's been SUPER busy with two jobs (He truly is amazing and I love him more than anyone could possibly know and I am BEYOND blessed to have him!) Since he gets up fairly early and is gone the entire day, I don't have much of an option... This meal is a hearty and fairly healthy option compared to him getting fast food or something. Which I REFUSE to let him do, since I am perfectly capable of making him a hot home cooked meal! He also prefers my cooking to anyone else, so it makes me happy to make him something yummy for a long day of hard work!


OK! I may have gone slightly off the subject there so let's get started! You can always add or subtract anything you wish and make this dish into something of your own, this is just what I do!

Ingredients:

• Sausage (I use 4 Hot Italian Sausages)
• Onion (I use half of an Onion)
• Garlic (I use about 4 or 5 cloves, we like garlic around here ha ha)
• 1 Bell Pepper (I use 1 Green Bell Pepper, I prefer Red, but we didn't have one)
• 1 Carton Fresh Mushrooms
• 1 Can Red Beans
• 1 Can Diced Tomatoes (I usually get the spicy kind)
• Rice (I like Basmati Rice)
• Spices (I use Chili Powder, Cayenne Pepper, White Pepper, Cumin and sometimes Oregano)

Preparation:

Chop your onion, garlic, bell pepper, and mushrooms and set them aside. Next I like to remove the sausages from their casings, add my seasonings and crumble them up. Add your onions and garlic to a hot skillet and cook until slightly brown. (about a minute) Next add your sausage and cook until brown. If your skillet is large enough to hold the rest of the ingredients wonderful! Mine, however is not, so I transfer the meat into a pot that is set to low heat. Add your beans and diced tomatoes and give it a stir. Then add your mushrooms and bell pepper, stir it up again, cover and let it simmer for about 30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. While that is simmering, around 15 minutes left to go, I'll make my rice. If you are unfamiliar with how to cook rice, I use a cup of rice to 2 cups of water, let it come to a boil then cover it and let it cook on low heat for about 10 minutes. Then I take it off the heat and let it sit for another 5 minutes. 

And Voila! An inexpensive, hearty and delicious meal! 

That was my simplified version of red beans and rice!

I hope you enjoyed, if you make this feel free to send me a photo! (I'm on Instagram and Twitter!)

xoxoxo

Bzz Agent!

I realize today is Tuesday and therefore this post is supposed to be dedicated to Crafts, but I've decided to share something else with you guys instead. I'm also thinking about changing Crafty Tuesday to Crafty Thursday, but I haven't made up my mind yet.. Any way back to the topic of this post! I signed up with a website called Bzz Agent a while ago, and I had a slight hesitation and some mixed feelings about it at first, but now I feel it's a pretty good site and definitely worth trying out! It's basically a website where you can take surveys and based on your answers to said surveys you get assigned to campaigns, and you can decide if you want to take on the campaigns assigned to you or not. There are no fees or anything to sign up, anyone can do it and if you accept a campaign, they send you the goodies to try out for free! I signed up in September of last year, but I wasn't very active and I want to say that because I wasn't actively involved in the website it did take a while before I was given my first campaign. If you do sign up be aware that you might not get anything right away, just be patient and fill out any surveys that you get and soon you'll be able to try out new products! I'm currently doing my second campaign, it's for the Herbal Essences Naked line. I just received my box today, so I can't wait to try them out! (My first campaign was for Lavazza Coffee if you were curious.) If you want to sign up and check it out for yourself, you can do that here.


Here is what I received for my last campaign 

And this is what I got today for my second campaign

There are a ton of different campaigns that are going on, I definitely recommend checking Bzz Agent out!

That's all for today lovelies!

xoxoxo

Coastal Scents!

I have been on the look out for a new face brush mostly for my foundation since my favourite one from E.L.F is done for... (plus shipping to Canada from E.L.F is kind of expensive and not worth just buying one brush) I've heard a lot of things about Sigma and Sedona Lace and MAC and all that jazz, but those brushes are more on the expensive side and I don't want to spend a lot of money on something that I may end up not liking.. A while back I got an eye shadow brush in one of my Glam bags that was by Coastal Scents and it's been one of my favourite brushes since I got it, so I figured I'd give some of their other brushes a try. They sell sets, but they also have single brushes that are pretty inexpensive! I decided to pick out 3 single face brushes and after I clean them I can't wait to try them out! They packaged my order in cute tissue paper and a back drawstring bag, I thought it was really nice that they went the extra step to make my order all the more special! They added a couple of goodies including a mini eye shadow quad sample, the colours are so gorgeous and perfect for spring! (I might have to go back on their website and make another order! ha ha!) Shipping to Canada was $9.95 and it took a little over a week to get here. (They ship world wide for everyone reading this who is not in the US and Canada) 

Top brush is called the Classic Flat Buffer.
The middle brush is called the Bionic Flat Top Buffer.
Last brush is called the Classic Buffer Large.
All of these brushes have synthetic bristles.

Brush numbers from top to bottom are:  BR-C-S30, BR-110, and BR-C-S29.

Top 2 are Peach Fuzz on the left and Sea Spray on the right
Bottom 2 are Deep Viridian on the left and Sand Dune on the right.

From top to bottom the colours are: Peach Fuzz, Sea Spray, Deep Viridian, and Sand Dune.

Links to each brush:
Classic Flat Buffer: BR-C-S30
Bionic Flat Top Buffer: BR-110
Classic Buffer Large: BR-C-S29

That's all for now lovelies!

Where are your favourite brushes from?

xoxoxo

Crafty Tuesday!

I'm back and feeling much better I must say!

This week I did another cross stitch, it's about a quarter of the size of the Prinny I made, but it still took about 4 hours to complete.. I've been playing a TON of Final Fantasy lately and I have always LOVED Mog and just Moogles in general! They are like a mix of cuddly teddy bears and kitties with a pom pom on their heads and cute little purple wings on their backs. I wish they were real, because I would have a horde of them! Yes, I know I am a huge nerd ha ha! Since I've had moogles on the brain recently I decided to do a little Mog cross stitch, (this version is from FF VI, which is my all time favourite in the series) I want to make a plush version like the one Lu Lu has in FFX so maybe that will be coming soon? Any who, here's my moogle! KUPO!

(Terra, Sabin, Celes, and Locke) The other FF VI characters I did.

All together

That's all for this week!

xoxoxo

My April Ipsy Glam Bag!

It's Ipsy time again! I was hoping to have this on Friday, since I got my confirmation email on Thursday and I usually receive my bag the next day.. I ended up waiting through the weekend and got it today instead.. My first thought opening the mail was that my bag felt lighter than usual? I didn't think too much about it and then I opened the bag... I have to say that this is the first time I have been disappointed with my glam bag. (and I've been a subscriber for a year next month.) Considering all the other options that were presented as possible items in this month's bag, I feel like they could have done a better job at selecting the products for mine. I like 2 out of the 5 items I got... Also I felt like all the items I got were small sample sizes, and usually we get at least one full sized product every month but I don't think that was the case this time around.. (for me at least... I could be wrong?) I hope that this one fail didn't sway you to step away from Ipsy, because 10 times out of 11 for me have been excellent and I've loved at least 4 out of 5 items if not all 5. Today was the only exception.. Anyway, the theme this month is Beauty Rocks. If you haven't subscribed to Ipsy yet, but want to check it out here.


Here's what I got:

•  Dr. Brandt Microdermabrasion Skin Exfoliant Cream
• St. Tropez Gradual Tan Anti Ageing Multi Action Face Lotion
• Mary Kay At Play Jelly Lip Gloss in Teddy Bare
• Urban Decay 24/7 Glide On Eye Pencil in Black Velvet
• Elizabeth Mott POP! Goes The Shadow eyeshadow in Champagne

The bag this month is pretty simple, but I like the idea.

I thought the card this month was cute

This I'm still on the fence about, it smells lemon-y and is the same consistency as another product I got in a previous bag, so I kind of feel I didn't need another product that is practically the same but in a smaller amount as another item I already own... 

I don't use tanning lotions and I would never put them on my face because I'm so fair, it would make me look either orange or muddy.. Besides that this stuff smells AWFUL! I'd never let it near my face even if I did tan!

This gloss is TERRIBLE! It's so thick and goop-y and VERY sticky... The colour is very nude which wouldn't usually be a problem for me, but when I tried to put it on my lips it didn't even look like lip gloss. It didn't spread on smoothly at all and left me looking like I had some weird chunky sticky stuff on my lips...

This is the first UD product I've ever owned so I'm really excited to try it out and  see how it holds up vs. my favourite Starlooks liner!

I LOVE this eyeshadow! It's so gorgeous and silky and I can't wait to use it!

Left to right is the lipgloss, the eyeliner, and the eyeshadow

That's all for this month's Glam Bag!

As you can see I'm only happy with the eyeliner and eyeshadow..

Can't win 'em all I guess? 10 out of 11 is still pretty good in my book though!

I'm already looking forward to next month!

xoxoxo

Beauty Haul!

I wanted to share some of the items I've acquired over the last maybe 2 and a half weeks? I don't buy make up very often and like I have said a million times before, I'm a creature of habit and when I find something that works or that I like I tend to stick to it. I realize that could make for a some what lacking favourites post ha ha. I have been trying to branch out a bit and try some new (new to me and there are also a few that are actually new) products to change things up a bit. I don't have an unlimited source of income however, so these products are very affordable and some were even more affordable because they were on sale or on clearance. I'm planning on doing a few more hauls in the future so stay tuned for those! Now let's get to the goodies! (This is mostly just showing what I got, and giving a brief description, rather than explaining and going into detail about the products because I have yet to try these items.) I'm thinking of starting up review posts of items, which is new for me, since I don't usually dedicate an entire post to a single item, but I think it might be helpful for some people.

The items I purchased were:

• Sinful Colors Nailpolish in the colour Gorgeous
• Rimmel London Scandaleyes Show Off Mascara in Extreme Black
• Olay Regenerist Intensive Repair Treatment cream
• (4) NYC Expert Last Lip Color Lipsticks in the shades: 402 Red Flame, 404 Air Kiss, 411 Snowcone, and 417 Flirty
• John Frieda Luxurious Volume Root Booster Blow Dry Lotion
• L'oreal Elnett Satin Strong Hold Hairspray
• Essence Love Letters Eyeshadow Palette in Ever Thine, Ever Mine, Ever Ours

I bought some nail polish 2 weeks back from target both were by Sinful Colors the one you see here and the other one was featured in my last favourites post. (which you can see here) I try not to buy nailpolish so much these days, since I subscribed to Ipsy I get a new nailpolish pretty frequently and also because I have quite a few already. However I really couldn't pass up this one! It definitely lives up to its namesake, it's a gorgeous metallic blue/green and I'm really interested in seeing how it translates on my nails! 

Sinful Colors Professional Nail Polish Enamel 293 Gorgeous

I'm always on the hunt for a better mascara that will make my lashes pop and give them tons of volume and length! What caught my eye about this mascara (besides the fact that it was on sale at Shoppers Drug Mart for $4.99 CAD) was the wand, it's a rubber wand with a ball at the end. I thought it was really interesting and definitely not like any of the mascaras I own so I had to get it to try it out! 

Show Off Mascara, Extreme Black

I have very dry skin and my skin type is prone to lines and wrinkles more so than other skin types, so when I saw this cream on clearance at Target for $8.00 CAD I decided to give it a try on my problem areas and see if it hurts or helps. So far I haven't found anything that beats my vitamin E oil, I guess we'll see?

Olay Regenerist Intensive Repair Treatment 1 Fl Oz

417 Flirty

411 Snowcone

404 Air Kiss

402 Red Flame

I saw that these NYC lipsticks were a new product to the brand and they were about $2.50 CAD each, so I decided to pick 4 and try them out! Just from swatching them I can tell that they are super pigmented and very silky feeling and I think the packaging is so cute! I felt that these colours would be perfect for Spring and Summer and I hope to get a lot of use out of them. I also picked some brighter colours than I would normally go for, because I'm not only trying to branch out product wise, but also with my makeup in general.. (I tend to gravitate towards neutrals and lighter lip colours that don't stand out as much...) These lipsticks claim to last for 6 hours and come in 20 shades.

Expert Last Lip Color

I have very fine hair, that basically always just sits flat on my head. (and also tangles just by looking at it.. SO FRUSTRATING!!) I love John Frieda's products, so when I saw this root lifting blow dry lotion on clearance at Shoppers FOR ONLY $3.00 CAD I figured I should give it a try! If it gives me even just a little lift then I'll consider that a win ha ha! This was made for fine hair and says that it will transform fine hair by lifting the roots for extra volume at the crown... It smells pretty nice, I'll have to test it out in a couple days when my hair is due for a wash.

John Frieda Luxurious Volume Root Booster Blow-Dry Lotion, 6 oz

I've wanted to try this hair spray for a loooooong while.. I can remember hearing everyone and their mom raving about it and yadda yadda, but I'm not very picky about my hairspray and I was perfectly content with my Tresemme hairspray, but since I'm trying new things AND since this hairspray was just $3.00 as well I thought I'd finally bite the bullet so to speak and try it out!

L'Oreal Paris Elnett Satin Hairspray Strong Hold, 11.0 Ounce

Last but certainly not least in this haul is perhaps my favourite item! I LOVE Essence, they are so affordable and are a very good quality brand! I wasn't looking for anything when I found this gem, I was just at Shoppers to drop off a letter to be mailed out and I just happened into the makeup aisle and spotted a new display for Essence that had already been picked clean. *sad face* I was lucky enough to scoop up this palette which was the last one at that location (mwahahaha) and I CAN'T WAIT to use it! I am so in love with this palette! It SCREAMS Spring and I love pastels! I honestly have never thought of wearing orange eyeshadow, but I seriously can't wait to try out all of these gorgeous colours. (I think it could be because they are all subtle pastel colours, so the orange doesn't intimidate me as much as a regular orange colour would) PS how adorable is that packaging?!

Essence Love Letters Palette

That concludes my haul!

Until next time lovelies!

xoxoxo