Where I've been, and what I've been creating.

I've been doing a little more than sewing lately. 
In Boston my cell phone kept dying while I was out and about.  I always forgot to plug in portable chargers and solar chargers kept flipping over.
So Ben and I created something new.
Enter Granola Strolla

GranolaStrolla is a portable, affordable and easy to use solar charged batterypack able to charge USB devices as fast as a wall charger. 

It's compact and easy to use.  It has a plug and play design and can easy clip on a bag for use on the go. 

For plastics we decided to go with High Density Polyethylene (HPDE). It has the material strength needed for a sturdy product and it is easily recyclable.  We also intend to have the Granola Strolla made of recycled HPDE as soon as possible.

Granola Strolla isn't just an ecotech company. We're an eco-aware family. We want to create products that use renewable energy and resources to help preserve our planet for future generations.

Our Kickstartercampaign will run from Friday September 12th to October 12th

You can find us on the web at www.granolastrolla.com

On Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/granolastrolla

Or Tweet @granolastrolla

I took the 30 challenge from Beautiful Live Skin Care System.

 I was contacted to review the Beautiful Live Skin Care System by Trusted Health Care Products.  I had great luck with their OraMD product I reviewed so I was excited to try their all natural skin care system.

I love how the bottles come customized with my name on it. Having an uncommon name it's always cool to see it on a product. 

I felt the easiest way to do this challenge was to keep a log of my 30 days.

Day 1 - Admittedly it's odd to put oil on your face. I like the smell. Not too overpowering.
I started with 3 drops on each half of my face and I probably didn't need that much. I ended up blotting some off my face after 5 minutes. A few hours later my face felt smooth and soft.

Day 4 - I think I've hit the "detox" stage where my skin is stating to break out slightly. I hope this stage doesn't last too long.  I have noticed that in general my skin is less dry than it has been.

Day 7 - I started using a little less of the oil each time. My skin is still soft and smooth and I'm having less of a detox reaction. Hoping my skin clears up soon.

Day 10 - Skin looks to be healing up.

Day 17 - I think my skin suffered a bit of a set back this week due to the stomach flu.  The only thing that is worse than the stomach flu is the stomach flu while pregnant. The skin on my facce is generally softer and I'm hoping that I have less breakouts.

Day 22: I'm having another small breakout but I think this one has more to do with entering my second trimester than it does the care system.  My forehead (which is normally one of my dry zones) hasn't been flaking at all.

Day 30: I finished my 30 day challenge and here are my overall thoughts on the Beautiful Live Skin Care System:

I gave this product quite a challenge. I started it at 9 weeks pregnant and I am now 13 weeks pregnant. My skin has been awful this pregnancy.I've noticed much less flaking and dryness in my skin as a whole. I'm still having some breakouts but they are more controlled and I'm pretty sure that has more to do with the pregnancy than anything else.
I do love how soft my skin feels after I put the product on. I also noticed a healthy glow when I apply the product. Since I put it on one side at a time I can really see the difference. My skin feels healthier and I haven't needed to apply moisturizer because the skin care system has left my skin so healthy.

I'm really happy with how this product has worked. I love the way it smells and the general health of my skin. It's a great product.


You can check out   www.trustedhealthproducts.com for more information or like them on Facebook. Everyone that likes the page gets $5 off their first order.

  “The manufacturer is willing to offer my readers one FREE bottle. They said they would love to have our readers try out Beautiful A.M. Moisturizer (for women) or You’re the Man A.M. Moisturizer (for men) and agreed to send one bottle FREE if our readers would pay a minimal shipping and handling charge. This is a one-time only offer!  They also agreed to include 2 eye-opening reports – The Poisons You Put On Your Face Everyday and Why Your Skin Care Products Have Never Worked: The Truth Revealed .”  That’s a total value of over $40.00. Click here to get your FREE Bottle and FREE reports now!”



They even have a men’s line of this skin care system – You’re the Man

A Little Reflection and A Lot of Cloth

Normally I'd be posting my bi-weekly picture update. I'm holding off to post at week 15.  Mostly because we lived in Boston for 4 years. Our son was born there and we have friend an family in the area.
This week was very rough on us and I can't even imagine how it was for our friends in Watertown who were only a block from where the suspect was captured. They think he actually ran through their yard to get there at some point.

Today was the Great Cloth Diaper Change and we're hoping a new record was set. If you don't know about cloth you should find a local store and ask them about it.

Really hoping life can return to "normal" soon.

And just so I can throw some crafting in here...

These are the cloth pads I made as a giveaway for the Great Cloth Diaper Change next weekend.

I hope whoever wins them likes them.

The Luggage Project

For many years Ben has kept his magic cards in this old fashioned train case. He sold his cards but I wouldn't let him get rid of the case. 
It's a Relco brand, Joyce Lane style case from the 40s-50s. But it's in bad shape.

It's going to need a total overhaul. I don't have time to do it all at once so it will happen bit by bit (hopefully with updates).
Here's what I need to do:
Replace the mirror.
Reline the interior
Make a new snap on zipper pouch
Make new elastic strap
Paint and stencil the outside
replace the handle

Let's give 'em something to chalk about

I've always wanted to do a chalk wall.  Just one problem...we're in an apartment right now.  While I could paint the wall and then paint it back before we move I figure that is just too much work if it isn't going to be permanent.
I leave myself a ton of notes and love the dry erase board we have in the kitchen. But I needed something in my craft room for projects.  I told Ben I wanted to go to Tuesday Morning to look around. If you haven't been to a Tuesday Morning you should check it out. (No, I am not getting any compensation from them, I think it's a great store with some amazing deals)

I came across stick up chalk boards.

Great price

I couldn't decide between the cup and saucer or the teapot. So I got both.

It fits perfectly on the wall

Now I can write my projects on the chalk boards instead of on papers I keep throwing out.  And I promised that shelf is on straight.  I was just at a strange angle getting the shot.

Lovely lunch bag

oh how I love instagram!

Today Garrett started at Transformations. I'm excited about him getting extra therapy and I think it's a great transition to him starting school this fall. He'll be going twice a week for 4 hours each time, which means he'll be eating lunch there. I loved packing him a lunch today but hated using a brown paper bag.

You know me...that didn't last long. Once I knew he would be going I ordered some Insul-Fleece because I had found a simple lunch bag tutorial. However I hate buying laminated cotton.  It's really expensive and you can just make your own with iron on vinyl.
Now before anyone says anything about food safe I did check on this. It is food safe, they just recommend not using it for anything your child will chew on. 

So I laminated a couple pieces of fabric I got on clearance at Walmart. I really love making my own laminated cotton because I can choose any pattern I want without paying $20 a yard.



I have a snap press but you can always use velcro.  For the next bag I'll make sure I change out my thread and use something matching.  It's bigger than a plastic bag and I know it will keep things cool while we go from home to his classes (it gets hot here in the Mid-South).

And yes, I know the ships are upside down, they are right side up on the other side. The fabric was too cute to pass up and I did this one quickly so I had it for Friday.

Scrappy

I love projects that get me using scraps. I found this project a while back.  My first attempt was a massive failure and the project disintegrated in my hands.

After having some nifty fabric bits left over from making a top I decided to try it again.  I made a few changes.
1: Instead of wetting the entire "stabilizer sandwich" I used a spray bottle with warm water.  I placed my circle over a bowl and sprayed and shaped it. It gave me much more control and I didn't have to worry about it falling apart.
2: I used extra stabilizer pieces and added them as I wet the bowl. I even added some extra fabric and thread to cover up any bare spots I saw.

It ended up taking more than overnight to dry but it didn't fall apart this time.

 Looks like a cute little bird's nest. Now to figure out what to use it for.

Going Green saves you Green!

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle has become my mommy mantra.
About 4 months in to my pregnancy I decided I wanted to cloth diaper. I had never really liked the smell of disposables (and those who know me know of my insanely strong sense of smell) and cloth came in so many cute colors.  Ben wasn't quite on board until I showed him how much money we'd save by using cloth.  Since we're using One Size diapers we've never had to buy more and have saved about $100 a month for 2 years (after the initial $500 investment).

Not everyone can cloth diaper, if we didn't have a washer/dryer in our home I don't think we would have done it either.  Never fear, there are so many other ways to go green and save yourself money.

Just do one thing, just this one thing and you will save a ton of money and make less waste.  Swap out disposable for reusable. 
Instead of disposable cups and utensils for the family use ones you can wash and reuse again.  You pay a little more for the permanent items (and sometimes there isn't a huge price difference) but it lasts much longer and you don't have to keep buying new items. 

Ziploc bags are useful but I hate having to toss them.  I started making my own snack bags with fabric and PUL, they're easily cleaned and I can chose the fabric.

simple PUL snack bag

If you don't want a soft snack bag you can find snack containers just about anywhere, Target usually sells them in their $1 spot (I could live in that section alone) and they are very sturdy.
If you can't get around using a Ziploc bag don't assume you need to throw it away when you are done.  You can wash and reuse them over and over again.


With the rising cost of everything these days it makes sense to go green.  Not just for the environment but for your wallet.