Eye Shadow Madness

Written by Talitha Haynes, Guest Blogger

When it’s time for Date Night or Girl’s Night Out—you have to look your best!  Your hair has to be perfect, you have to wear your best outfit and of course you can’t forget the makeup!  For me, it’s the most important element to finishing my look.

For years, my favorite cosmetic store has always been MAC. They offer some of the best colors with great pigments. The blushes, foundations, lip glosses, lipsticks and the primers are all awesome. The only negative is the price $$$. So, I set out to find a similar product for a cheaper price.  

 

On my hunt, I found a cosmetic store named Inglot,  They have this great deal called the  “Freedom System”-- that gives you the option to create your own palette. You can mix and match your eye shadows to create the perfect palette.  They also feature concealer, blush, body glitter, nail polish and lipstick. The “Freedom System” only cost $29 or four shadows! Their lip and eyeliner cost $11 and individual shadow $12. Inglot has great colors and very pigmented. I recommend you check it out for yourself.

Do you have any cheap makeup suggestions?

Become a Better Photographer

We are excited to announce our partnership with Rachel Procell Photography Marketing Workshops.   Next month, Rachel is hosting several classes in the Louisiana area geared towards helping you improve your photography marketing skills.

 2012 Photography Marketing Workshop will include classes on:

• Developing your marketing personas
• Packaging your services
• Setting your prices to sell better
• How to get more website traffic
• How to diversify your income

 The workshops run from May 7^th until June 30^th.  Registration ends May 6^th at noon.

The price only runs $347 for the full 8 weeks.

 Click here for more details!

Schnitzel Time

This is definitely one of my FAVORITE German meals—Jager Schnitzel! The dish is translated as “Hunter” Schnitzel and is served in yummy brown gravy with mushrooms.  The variations can change if you decide to use white wine cream sauce and onions. My mother went back to Frieberg a few months ago, where she picked up a few packages of schnitzel season mix. You can find Maggi’s Jager Sahne Schnitzel Mix at most international food stores.   
It’s super easy to make and delicious to eat! Try it for youself!
 
* 1 lb boneless pork or 1 lb veal cutlet
*salt and peppter
*1 lb of mushrooms
*1 cup of sweet cream/milk
*oil

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Clean your fresh mushrooms. Put oil in a frying pan and saute your mushrooms.

After they are nice and soft, add 1 cup of sweet cream or milk.  Then, add 1 pouch of the seasoning mix. Bring the mixture to a boil. Once the sauce begins to thicken remove from heat.

Make sure your pork/veal cutlets are thin. You can hammer them out to make sure they are thin enough.  Place the meat in a roasting pan and pour the sauce over the meat.  

Bake for 30-40 minutes and wunderbar-- you have Jager Schnitzel! 
For side dishes--I recommend Spaetzle or German Potatoes.  

Lego Birthday Cake! Yum!

What a cute idea!

I found this clever little birthday cake on Facebook and I had to share!  Angela Truscott from Melbourne, Australia made this new yummy creation!  What a perfect idea for your little Lego Maniac. What other ideas do you have for a child’s birthday cake?

Homemade German Salad

From Mama Talks:

With warmer weather on the way, I decided to share a basic German recipe for Vinegar-Oil dressing:

Combine 2 TBS oil (vegetable, olive, whatever you like) with 2 TBS vinegar; add a pinch of salt, a little sugar (about 1/3 tsp). Blend well, using a whisk or a fork. I prefer using German vinegar because of its higher acidity -- and because my family likes it sour! If you prefer a more mellow flavor, use 3 TBS oil with 1 – 2 TBS vinegar.

This dressing works well in a tossed leafy salad, or - with chopped onions and a little black pepper it’s great in a tomato salad. It’s also very good over sliced cucumbers with a little fresh or dried dill weed added. 

One of my family’s favorites is an egg-tomato salad. You need about 4 medium tomatoes, 5 – 6 hard-boiled eggs. Slice eggs and tomatoes and layer in bowl, starting with a layer of tomatoes, followed by a layer of eggs, some chopped onions and fresh or dried parsley flakes. Repeat; finish with a layer of tomatoes. For the marinade you will need about ½ cup of oil, ½ cup of vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar to taste. Mix well, and pour over salad; marinade should just “touch” top layer. You want this salad to marinate in the dressing for at least an hour, longer is better. 

You might need to test which ratio of oil and vinegar works for you, but I’m sure you will love this versatile dressing. Let me know what salad combinations you are using it!

How to Make a Diaper Cake

Do you know someone who is having a baby and you want to get something special? Well, a diaper cake makes a great gift for a new mom! If you are the crafty type-you can make this fabulous gift by yourself! It’s super easy and fun!

A diaper cake is simply a bunch of diapers that are stacked together to resemble a cake!  They are decorated with baby items like teething rings, rattles and baby wipes! Once the baby is born, mom can take pieces of diapers off the cake and use them! It's a very practical and fun gift for the new mom!

Here are some step by step instructions.

What you need:

65-90 diapers ( at least size 2 or 3)

8 ounce baby bottle

4 ounce baby bottle

70-95 rubber bands

Five additional big rubber bands

roll of 1/2-1.5 inch wide ribbon

Hot glue gun

Baby Toiletries

Stuffed Animal

Step 1: Start by rolling the diapers. When you roll a diaper, wrap it with a rubber band so that it will keep its shape. Try to keep the prints on the diaper hidden.

Step 2: To make the bottom tier of the diaper cake- I decided to use an 8 ounce bottle-filled with candy for the mommy. Start wrapping the diaper logs around the base with the rubber bands. This will serve as the first layer of the diaper cake.

Step 3: Next, you need to expand your bottom base. You can do that by adding more diaper logs around the first tier. Make sure you wrap rubber bands around the tier to make sure it’s secure.

Step 4:  After you are done with the bottom tier, we need to start making the second tier of the diaper cake. The second tier will be smaller than the bottom tier—to resemble a cake. Start off the same way you did with the first tier. Make sure everything is secured with a rubber band. Also—stuff some sweet treats in the diapers—as a surprise for mom!

Step 5: If this is going to be a 3 tiered cake, be sure to use a 4 oz baby bottle. Grab about 8 diapers and use a rubber band to wrap around it.

Step 6: The is the fun part—decorating.  Use a wide ribbon to wrap each tier.  The ribbon should hide the rubber bands.

Step 7: Once you have that done, you can further decorate the cake with more ribbon and bows. I like to put little travel size baby toiletries in the cake.

Step 8: Finish it off with a stuffed animal at the top of the cake!

Special thanks to my sister--Stacie Ellis- for the diaper cake pictures!

Easy Paper Craft Animals

From Mama Talks

This is a fun and easy craft project that you can either do by yourself or involve the kiddos! The little animals can be used as table decorations for parties, to decorate gifts, or whatever else you might think of … I used simple construction paper to show the process, but any kind of sturdy paper is fine. You will also need scissors and glue. If you work with your kids, you probably also need a ruler to help outline the simple shapes.

The shapes of the animals are broken down into simple geometrical shapes as you can see in this picture. For the duck and the bunny you glue the rectangle sides together, for the mouse and the cat you form a cone. Then you add ears, tails, wings, whatever is needed!

As you can see on the picture, my original shapes are not totally straight, which is O.K. as I generally make adjustments after I glue them.

Hope you like these little critters! With a little imagination you can create all kind of different animals. Depending on what kind of paper or material you use you can actually make them quite fancy! Have fun and let me know what kind of animal creations you came up with!

Reporter Ranger Creed

Working as a reporter can be difficult! Just imagine, you arrive at a crime scene, police are in place as K-9 units search for an armed suspect. The tone is very intense as you prepare your live report—
which airs in 3-2-1!

Jumping in front of a camera to deliver a story to thousands of viewers is NOT EASY! It takes confidence and experience. When I first started, my father gave me the inspiration I needed to tackle the job!

My father's service to our country epitomizes the Army Value of selfless service. After spending over twenty years in the Army, Retired First Sergeant George Jones remained loyal to his military foundations by picking up a job as a

Junior Reserved Officers Training Corps Instructor.

His career in the military includes several years of service as an Army Ranger! For those who don’t know, Army Rangers are the BEST TRAINED soldiers in the world! They are lethal, agile, and capable of carrying out many special operations missions! My father spent years as a member of this elite team.

When I first started my position as a television journalist, I was petrified! My lack of experience was clearly reflected in my performance. But my dad told me I was the daughter of an Army Ranger, therefore I should be able to handle anything! He re-wrote the Ranger Creed—for me!

Feel free to replace the word “reporter” with your profession!

Reporter Ranger Creed

RECOGNIZING that I volunteered as an Reporter Ranger, fully knowing the demands of my chosen profession. I will always endeavor to uphold the prestige,
honor, and high esprit de corps of the Reporter Ranger.
ACKNOWLEDGING the fact that a Reporter Ranger is a more elite reporter who arrives at the cutting edge of reporting by land, sea, or air. I accept the fact that as a Reporter Ranger—peers, state, country and superiors expects me to move further, faster and learn more than any other Reporter Ranger
NEVER shall I fail my comrades. I will always keep myself mentally alert, physical strong, and morally straight. I will shoulder more than my share of the task; whatever it may be: 100% and then some.
GALLANTLY will show the community and company that I am a specially selected and well-trained Reporter Ranger. My courtesy to my peers, superior, staff members, my company, neatness of dress, and love and care for my family, Savior and job shall be an example for others to emulate.
ENERGETICALLY will I meet other reporters in my city, state and country. I shall defeat them on the field of reporting and anchoring. For I am better trained and will work and compete with all my might. Surrender and lose are not Reporter Ranger words. I will never leave a fallen comrade or a story to be told behind in the hands of a non-achiever. Under no circumstances will I ever embarrass my peers, company, community and my Savior.
READILY will I display intestinal fortitude required to “Report” on to the objective and complete the mission though I be the lone survivor. For I am an Reporter Ranger!

 

Creating a Winning Name for your Business

Creating a winning name for your business is one of the most important steps in branding a company!  It took me weeks to come up with the prefect name for my crochet baby beanie company- Huggabeans! Here’s a link to a past post—on how I did it!

1.      Make It Memorable—You need something that your customers will remember. Also make sure it is easy to spell! If someone is searching for the company online-you don’t’ want to get it confused with another brand!

2.      Make sure the Name is Positive- When you say Huggabeans—you automatically think of “hugging.” I also think of cute stuffed animals!  Pick a name, make sure it makes you feel good! You want people to have a positive impression of your company!

3.      Simplicity is the Key- A good business name doesn’t have to be short-- but it should be something catchy or unique that your customers can easily remember.  Make sure it will fit well on a websites—emails —and business cards!

4.      Test Run- Once you have a few names narrowed down—ask some customers (or friends/family)- to rate the names.  What comes to their minds, or how do they feel when they see the names: Is it negative, positive, interesting, boring off topic?

These are some of my favorite businesses with clever names! What are yours?

Sorority Life and Networking!

Over a decade ago, I joined the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. It was truly one of the most exciting times in my life. Not only was I a part of a fun social group, I was able to network with extraordinary women who are members of the organization.

Recently I attended our 10 year reunion in Houston, Texas. It was amazing to hear their success stories!  Lawyers, Entrepreneurs, School Administrators—We even have an actress in our group! It was truly a pleasant surprise to see how far we all had come. 

Along with building lifelong friendships, I was able to expand my professional social network!  It has helped me land job interviews and create contacts for business!  My sorority boosts wonderful members like First Lady Michelle Obama, Alicia Keys, and Rosa Parks! Click here for a link to a list of our most prominent members (I made the list! lol) 

I would ENCOURAGE you to join any networking group! Maybe a sorority isn’t your thing—but there are plenty of choices! Are you a member of any groups???

A Little Inspiration

Springtime is filled with inspiration. It’s a fresh, green, uplifting season that offers plenty of ideas for poets, songwriters and photographers!

One of my favorite natural light photographers is Carrie Reed.

She uses nature as her backdrop to create the perfect setting for her clients.

Here are some recent photos of a cute little newborn—modeling Huggabeans Crochet Baby Beanies.

She currently works out of Thomasville, Georgia but ALSO works in areas from Valdosta, Georgia to Tallahassee, Florida! Check out more of her work at http://www.carriereedphotography.com/!