Music Love

I adore her music..

On Sunday night she performed this song on MTV's VMA's..

And I fell in love all over again.

I must buy her CD.

Someone Like You

Minted

   1. 2. 3.  

Giveaway: iMO Camera Strap - CLOSED

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!

These days everyone has a DSLR camera.. but do you have a great strap to go with it? I doubt it.

Luckily for one of you iMO is giving away a camera strap to one of you!

The giveaway item is the White Braided strap. Not only is this strap cute, but it's also very comfortable! I also love the little braided detail for it, it sure beats my other camera strap that I made before.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!

How to win:

1. Follow their Facebook Page.

2. Let us know what your favorite camera strap from their shop is.

3. Follow the Sweet November Blog.

4. Share this post!

Leave a comment for each thing you do before September 4th!

Visit iMO's Etsy site here: www.imoshop.etsy.com

THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!

One Month..

From today I will be a college graduate!

Fall Fashion

One of my favorite places to shop for clothes is at Old Navy. It is usually either a hit or miss situation, sometimes I don't even understand why something was made because it's so ugly, but there are times when I think 'I can't believe I'm getting this for such a steal'. 

Here's some things that I'm loving for the fall season.

Shop Old Navy.

Altering Images

I'm not a pro in Photoshop, but one of my favorite things to do is to use the Clone Stamp tool.

You can find where this tool is placed in Photoshop in the image below.. it's the darker highlighted tool.

It's a great tool to use to remove things. You can see the images that I used below, found through Google search, that I used this Clone Stamp tool to alter the image.

Before:

This image I found holds text for the company on the front of the building and in the bottom part of the window, and also text on the banners in the window.

After:

I removed all of the text on the building and windows, I also removed text that was inside of the building and on the small signs that were also inside.

As you know, I'm creating designs for Save the Date for class and as one of the projects I have to create store signage. Since it's only for a project and not anything real, I went with a image from Google. After searching through many images on Google, I found this great building that I wanted to use.

Before:

During:

Here's the image without the real company's window signage.

I also cropped the image to clear out any other distractions.

The part above the door is a little blurry, but I knew I was going to be adding a flower to that section, so it covers it up.

After:

I took the image into Illustrator and added my text and images.

I'm debating on keeping the Save the Date text on the windows due to it being on the top of the building. 

What are your thoughts?

Last Call.. GIVEAWAY!

Please don't forget that today is the last day to enter to win this:

Enter here.

Alexa Meade Paintings

I just found this online this morning and I thought I'd share it with everyone! Enjoy your weekend!

View more of this work here.

Big Announcement!

At the end of this month I will be stepping away from blogging until the beginning of October. Getting down to the final end of the quarter is always hectic on its own, but now I have to plan a Portfolio Show on top of everything.. plus Graduation is a pretty big thing too! 

My Portfolio Show is September 23rd and Graduation is the following day. You might not think that planning a Portfolio Show is such a big deal,  but here are the many things that I have to do / have done for it:

Order slim DVD cases

Order tote bags

Order / Make note pads

Make Candy bags

Make Cake Bites
Print Portfolio again

Make CDs & inserts for DVD cases

Buy flowers

Make small Welcome sign

Make banner for front of table

Buy water bottles

Print business cards

Print resumes

There's probably plenty more that I'm missing, but this is just the beginning!

Hopefully you understand! I understand if you stop following the blog, but hopefully you'll stick around! If you do stop, it's been a pleasure to have you around! Like I said, I'll be back in October after everything's completely over.. I just need to cut at least one distraction from my life in order to get things done.

Guest Posting

If you are interested in guest posting during that time that I'm away (the month of September), please have your post completed with photos by August 27th so I can get them organized!

Please have a post that relates to this blog; recipes, crafts, inspiration ideas, giveaway, etc.

email me with your post and images:

smtornow@yahoo.com

GIVEAWAY!

ENTER HERE!

Goodwill finds

On Friday I stopped into Goodwill before heading across the street to JoAnns. I just wanted to quickly run in and see if there were any new things that I could get my hands on. Well surprise, surprise.. I came out with a whole crap load of things!

Things I bought: 

$1 Basket.. I thought this would be a perfect basket to use for anything when I finally get my own place. Right now I don't have the room for it, but I'm sure once I get a place it will certainly find a great spot.

$1 Metal thingy.. I'm not sure exactly what it's used for, but I thought it would be great for a rustic hanging light. I just have to drill a small hole through the top and them purchase everything else for the lighting.

$.50 Bowls.. I found these and wanted to get them to use them for organizing things on my desk or I might even use them for jewelry.. who knows!

$1 Tie.. I picked up this tie because I found a lot of tutorials on tie necklaces and wanted to give it a try.. sadly, it's taken me forever to find the perfect tie with a design that I love, but I finally found it and for one dollar.. can't beat that!

Last night I announced a giveaway, so don't forget to enter!

Giveaway: Maddynbella Collections

Hooray for another giveaway!

This weeks giveaway is coming from Maddynbella Collections.

This adorable little shop on Etsy carries the most beautiful jewelry!

Here's a few of my favorite things that are currently in the shop now..

(p.s. my favorite things might just have a little theme happening..)

Vacation anyone?

Even though those are some of my favorite things.. here's another thing that top's my list and it's these little wrap bracelets. There are a few different colors available and they're so comfy I can't even explain it. One of my favorite things on these bracelets are the clasps. Look at how large they are, they're beautiful! Each little bracelet also comes with a couple charm like beads on them.

Here's some of the many ways that you can win this bracelet:

1. Follow the Sweet November blog.

2. Share this giveaway on your blog, Twitter, or Facebook.

3. Head on over to the Maddynbella shop and let us know what you're favorite item is.

Please leave a comment for each thing you do. 

The giveaway ends on August 21st and the winner will be announced on the 22nd.

Bath & Body Works Haul.. and freebie!

I hope everyone's having a great Saturday! I started mine off with a trip to Bath & Body Works.

If you didn't know, today they're having a FREEBIE! So make sure you run out and get it because it only runs until 4PM! You must make a purchase of one of their signature collections for this freebie.

If you shop online, the deal runs all day, just use the code PARISGIFT at checkout!

Plus, only $1 shipping on $25 orders.

Head to Bath & Body Works website to get shopping!

Here's everything I bought.

 {click image for larger view}

Instead of $73.50

(counting freebie prices)

A to Z.. a lot about me

I first read this through Laura's blog, Along for the Ride, so I thought I would take a shot at it as well and have you learn a little more about me.


A. age: 22.

B. bed size: full.

C. chore you hate: sweeping the entire house or doing the dishwasher, even though it only takes like 5 minutes.

D. dogs: my favorite pup, Buckeye.

E. essential start to your day: on school days, wearing makeup. (most days)

F. favorite color: as of right now it's purple.. yellow and grey is always a good option as well!

G. gold or silver: i've really been into gold for the past year.. but i love my silver as well!

H. height: 5'6"

I. instruments you play: bahaha, instruments.. do the drums on my steering wheel count?

J. job title: full-time student

K. kids: 30+ then adopting!

L. live: in the Midwest

M. maiden name: is still hanging on :)

N. nicknames: my mom calls me bella or sare(sp?)

O. overnight hospital stays: kidney's & jaw surgery

P. pet peeve: too many to even mention!

Q. quote: i have a ton of favorite quotes..

R. righty or lefty: righty

S. siblings: a brother, andrew, who is 5 years older than i am.

T. time you wake up: eh, depends on the day. monday&thursday:8:30, wednesday:5:45, every other day is whenever i get up, so around 8:30-9:00 

U. university attended: the illinois institute of art-chicago, western michigan university, and the art institute of michigan-novi

V. vegetables you dislike: i'm not much of a vegetable eater. 

W. what makes you run late: myself.. i wait until the last minute to get things ready for class, and i'm constantly running a couple minutes late.

X. x-rays you’ve had: recently? for my lungs from a couple months ago when i couldn't breathe.. luckily things have gotten better.

Y. yummy food: i love pizza. i could have it every night.

Z. zoo animal favorite: i haven't been to the zoo in ages, but i just did a calendar for the detroit zoo (for class), so i'm really into penguins.




If you do this, leave a link in the comments below, I'd love to learn a little about you!

The Buckeye Diaries

Feather Extension Review: Missiko

You might remember a couple of weeks ago when I did my feather extension post. Well after this post I was contacted my Misikko to do a review on their feather extension. I was extremely excited about this opportunity because it was the first time that I had the chance to review some extensions of any sort.. plus it's feathers and who doesn't love those these days!

When I first got my package from Misikko I was surprised at how big the packaging was.. I thought that I was just going to get a small package that had the extensions in it. Well I was wrong.. here's everything that I got: 

-Some rose things for the bath, that I accidentally tasted because I didn't know what it was at first. 

-E.L.F. makeup; lipgloss, a liquid eyeliner with a wand brush, and a liquid pen eyeliner.

-Misikko sleep mask.

-Fake rose and stuffed monkey.

-A small bag filled with hand sanitizer and nail files. 

+ Feather extensions of course!

Thanks so much for the additional items!

Now onto the review!

I got the natural color:

What I love about these is that they match right into my hair color. There are a few bright colors within the feathers that kind of pop, but that's what I like is that it is there and noticeable, but also not too noticeable like a bright pink. Even though I added these right under the top layer of my hair, they move their way under my hair and don't stand out as much as they did when I first put them in. That makes it perfect for my internship that I have to go to. Another thing that I loved most is that I didn't have to do much trimming with my short hair. I was able to just do a couple clippings up at the top of the extension before and after applying it to my hair. I thought they would be super long and I'd have to trim them a lot, but that wasn't the case at all. Another thing that I found that might be nice would be to take each feather apart to set each of them in your hair individually.

After watching tons of feather extension videos on YouTube, I was able to figure out a way to add the extension without the tools. I also found out that the silicone links that they send with your order are the best ones to have because they are the easiest to take out. This feather extension kit comes with four feathers all attached together and two silicone links to hold the extension into your hair. Since it only comes with two links, I looked online to see how much they were to replace the links and I found that you can get 100 links for $18.99 on the Missiko site.  I was considering once my two links were gone about attaching the feathers to a bobby pin or small clip so that the feathers would be removable every day. 

Here are a close up of the links:

Now that you know how much I love them lets move on to a little DIY on how to add them into your hair:

1. Separate hair once you know which side you want to place your extension.

2. Clip hair to the opposite side of where your extension will be placed so you have access to the area to add your extension.

3. Hold extension up to the area you want and see how it looks before moving on.

4. I used floss for this step, but take a very small section of hair and wrap your floss around your hair. This hair is what will be within your link.

5. Take the two ends of your floss and slide them through the link opening (like stringing a bead).

6. Pull on the floss to move your hair through the link.

7. Make sure the link sits on your hair like a bead .

8. Slide the link to the top of your hair line and slide through the connector for the feather extension.

9. Take your pliers and clamp down the link.

10.Your link will now be flat and will hold your extension to your hair.

*When you want to take your extension out, take your pliers and open the link by placing the pliers on each end of the link and squeezing to open the link back up.

**I've also read online that feather extensions can last up to four months if they're cared for and can be curled, flat ironed, blow dried; anything that you would do with your own hair!

Here's what they look like after adding them to my hair:

I know a lot of you had contacted me about the feather extensions after I did the post before, so that's why I wanted to do this review for everyone. The very best thing about these is that they can last up to four months.. plus they're a lot cheaper than having to get them done at a salon! 

When I first got to this site I didn't have a clue where to find the feather extensions, so let me make it easy for you!

If you head to the Misikko site, look on the left side and click on the Hair Extensions link.

Then if you scroll down some there's a very large button for you to click on. Being the blonde I am, I completely missed seeing this before. You might be like me, so here's where it's at!

You can also keep up to date with Misikko at these links below:

Facebook

Twitter

YouTube

Misikko Site

So far I love these extensions, I'll make sure to keep you up to date on how things are going with them! I would definitely purchase them again to be able to change out the colors when I wanted. I hope this helped some of you out with your search of finding some great extensions.

Free Advertising!

If this doesn't work out..

Crazy enough, I was just telling my mom the other day that if this whole thing with Graphic Design didn't work out that I would probably be a nurse.. just because I really can't see myself doing anything else.

So while I was on this little search to see what it would take to be a nurse, I found a really great site that carries tons of inexpensive scrubs and other items!

Blue Sky Scrubs

First, I found these amazing scrub sets. I mean really, who wouldn't love to wear this stuff to work every day? I know I would. They look incredibly comfy.. much better then a suit that might be in the works. Blah.

And incase you're wanting your children to dress up like you, you have to check out these adorable lydias uniforms for your children. I'm not even kidding, they're adorable! Plus, there's even some for babies.

But seriously, the next best thing are these scrub hats. Don't get me started on the design patterns for these, I LOVE them!

I know there are a couple nurses out there, maybe even some doctors, so check out this site and get to ordering.

Who says you can't be fashionable in your scrubs!

College Prep

I have never lived in a dorm. Although, I've lived in student housing (an apartment) with three other roommates who were complete.. you knows. Thankfully, since college is coming to an end in September, I know that I'll never have to actually live in a cramped place like that, although if I live in a studio it might feel like the same exact thing. Living in a cramped space you need to be smart with the way you decorate your space. I always find that Ikea is the best place to dress up your dorm room or apartment. 

Here's a few tips on decorating your new 'home'..

1.

Purchase items that you can use to utilize your space. Dorms and studio apartments usually don't have much room for you to bring too many things, but if you can use your space wisely, then bring all you can!

2.

We all know you're not really going to be studying and doing homework, so at least purchase a bedside table that can be used for storing those books that won't ever get read. 

3.

Organize the hell out of your apartment. The worst thing to be doing 5 minutes before class starts is trying to gather all of your items to stuff in your bag. Have things out and in a place where you know where they are, or have everything ready the night before to avoid this mess.

4.

Invest in a comfy chair. If you are someone who studies like mad, then this is something you're going to want to make sure is comfortable enough to be sitting there for hours. Although, let's be honest, this is probably something that's not going to be very important.

5.

Bedding! Invest in some good bedding! You may or may not be bringing guests back to your room to "show them your room", so make sure that it's something it's at least cute! Also make sure that it fits your style because you don't want something that you're going to hate the first week away. You know you don't have the money to switch your style each week, so make sure it's something that is able to move with you each time you change your space up. I think that a white or black duvet cover is perfect, unless you can find a pattern that you know you'll love for a long time.

6.

Are you living in a apartment? Pick up some cheap bowls and plates. While plastic items are getting a little better with their design (Target has some really great options), you might as well pick up a nice set incase you ever have your parents visiting or are planning to have dinner with friends. So hide your paper plates and pick up something that actually lasts. 

This set below is only $19.99. Really can't beat that!

7.

I know in most dorms, if not all, you are not allowed to have candles. But if you're living in a apartment, go for it! It's a great way to accessorize your place without spending too much money.

8.

Buy things you're going to really need. Lets face it, college is about eating pizza and drinking beer. So whether you plan to order pizza or make the freezer kind, pick up a pizza cutter. You know you'll use the hell out of it.

8.

All I have to say is, Jell-o shots anyone?

For more ideas on decorating from Ikea, make sure to check out their Back to College page.

Don't worry, this wasn't a paid post, I just really love Ikea.