I Spy

 Whether you want to look fashionable and trendy, cool and casual, sleek and sexy, or cute and patriotic you will definitely look smart and sensible in all these sandals under $50.

1. Open-toed closed wedges by SO Central for $35.00 at yesstyle.com

2. Cleef Flat Sandals by Blowfish for $34.30 at Macy's

3. Sayda3 Gladiator Sandals by Rachel Roy for $44.50 at Macy's

4. Rachey Platform Wedge Sandals by American Rag for $49.00 at Macy's

Creation of The Lady in Red logo

1. First was the brainstorming and rough sketching. Figured a cartoonish logo would be best because its more cute and easy going.

2. After erasing all the marks I mixed white and black to make the hair and brown, yellow, and red for the skin tone. First I painted the light gray base for the hair and went back to create the lines with a small brush.

3 To get ready for the teeth I went in with white paint to get rid of any other marks.

4. Darkening the skin tone with a little brown and watering it down after I painted the eyelids and nose. When everything dried I used a smaller paintbrush to line the bottom of the eyes with pure black and delicately painting the eyelashes.

5. To prepare for the teeth I used a mix of black, white, and a little water to line the teeth

6. Going back lightly with black I painted within the gray lines to finish the teeth. When dried I went back with red to layer on the lips and black to paint the eyebrows. 

7. For the top I went in with watered down red as the base and layered on the color. As the finishing touch I darkened the neck.

 And voilà

New Blog!

Hey everybody I have a little update! I've created a new blog called The Lady In Red at http://365fashionology.blogspot.com/. It's a fashion & beauty blog that I will feature I Spy and Nailed It! along with other specials. I will be posting with this blog and still feature some of the posts here on 365. Check it out and have fun!

I Spy

To get the look: Metallic Cap Toe Stilettos $49.99 at Mango, Lauren by Ralph Lauren handbag Newbury Slim Wallet $98.00 at Macy's, and Drawstring Dress $59.99 at Zara

Artist of the Day: Manuel Rebollo

These works of art along with others can be found on his website http://manuelrebollo.blogspot.com/

"Gold"/"Oro"

"No te desnudes todavía"/"Do Not Get Naked Yet"

"When The Sky is Over"

P.S. Looking for some outfit ideas? Feel free to look at ShopRuche's lookbook 

Enchantment - A Spring Lookbook

Nailed It!

Chic

To get these looks you can order from the Born Pretty Sale for the black matte nail polish and Amazon.com for the Gold Nail Foil.

Deals

Stock up on Summer Steals today at UrbanOutfitters.com. Shipping is free on all orders over $50. Shop Sale Affordable Shoes Under $50 from ShopRuche.com Get $10 Off Orders of $75 or More at the Fresh Preserving Store: * Use Coupon C96245

Mango-Lemon Syrup

To make this into a jam you can add 1 1/2 Tbspn of pectin or cornstarch in the mixture before heating.

For this recipe you will need:

 -3 ripe mangos

-4 lemons(for 1 1/2 Tbspn zest and juice)

-1 cup water

-1/2 cup agave nectar

-1/2 cup sugar

-3 mason jars (8 oz)

-1 Large deep saucepan

-1 Big pot for boiling the jars

-Ball Utensil Set or tongs to grab glass and a funnel

1. Cut open and dice the mangoes. Because I have difficulty cutting mangoes I ended up cutting around the seed starting from the stem. After outlining the mango hold on to the two halves and move them back and forth until the loosen up and the seed is revealed. 

2. Using the knife safely dice the mango and use a spoon to get out the fruit. For the other side you can use your hands to peel off the skin and cut the fruit off the seed. Be careful and cut away from your hand.

 3. Place the cut up mango in the blender with 1 cup of water and blend until smooth

4. First zest the 4 lemons and squeeze the juice into a little bowl so that you can spoon out the seeds

5. In the deep saucepan mix the mango juice, lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, and agave nectar. Heat the mixture for 30-45 minutes over MEDIUM heat. Constantly stir to prevent burning and take out the foam that forms on top to allow some thickening.

6. Fill the big pot with the glass jars, lids, and enough water to cover everything with 2 or more inches of water. Heat on HIGH and boil for 10 minutes to sterilize everything. Also make sure that you use new lids (old lids can have rust and icky stuff).

 7. After letting the jars cool a little bit use the tongs to place the warm jars and lids on a towel. Be careful not to touch the inside of the jars and lids(this will introduce germs into the syrup-very bad). Try to air dry the jars and use a clean napkin to dry the lids.

8. Once the mango mixture gets to a syrup consistency and becomes a little darker place the funnel in the jar and fill it with the syrup with an inch of free space.

9. After filling the jars carefully screw on the lids tightly and turn the jars upside down on a kitchen towel for 10 minutes to seal everything up.

Tip: one reason the Ball canning kit helps is because the magnet in the kit makes it easy not to touch the lids when picking them up.

10. Place the jars in the fridge and use when cool. Enjoy!

Craft: Mason Jar sewing kit

The reason I liked this craft is because today I found out that you're not supposed to re-use the mason jar lids(of course!rust!). So with a useless lid my mind then went to this craft I saw on http://www.momtastic.com and I just had to try it. Plus I really wanted a cute sewing kit for college!

 For this craft you will need:

-a glue gun with clear glue

-mason jar with two piece lid(can get at Hobby Lobby or Michael's)

-pillow stuffing(can buy from a fabric store or use an already torn pillow)

-A wide strip of fabric( something I had lying around)

1. To measure how much stuffing you want to use take the stuffing and use it to push the fabric through the lid ring. Work with different sizes of the cushion and the fabric.

 2. Take the lid disc and trace a circle on the fabric that is 2 inches bigger and cut the fabric.

 3. Using the glue gun attach parts of the circle to the lid disc leaving a little pocket for the stuffing. After filling the pocket glue down the last part of the pin cushion.

4. Next pop the pin cushion through the lid ring and voi la you are ready to fill your sewing kit!

Artist of the Day: Agnes Cecile

Silvia Pelissero is a some instructed and some self taught Italian artist that goes by the name of Agnes Cecile. These paintings along with other can be found on her website http://agnes-cecile.cleanfolio.com/

Garden in the ceiling

 

nell'acqua

 Gross Fuge-Rage

I Spy

The basic idea: lace dress unavailable from Zara, Light cotton parka for $99.90 at Zara, and Blooming Arrival Floral Sandals for $48.50 at shopruche.com

The Look: DV by Dolce Vita Amber Eyelet Shirt for $59.99 from Urban Outfitters, Printed Trousers for $59.90 at Zara, and Noreen Heels By Chelsea Crew for $59.99 at shopruche.com

Nailed It!

Too Sweet

For more nails like these go to http://www.yukiumi.com/en/#;

I Spy

Starting from the left: Striped Cutout Dress  $22.80 at Forever 21, Big Buddha Handbag Fanton Crossbody $32.99 at Macy's, Katarina Strappy Heels By Naturalizer $52.50 at Shopruche.com

Artist of the Day: Gregory Euclide

 Otherworldly

Everything Falling Through and a Window View

Diverted From The Valley And Restored For Your Holiday

I Built Bridges Over Something Selling Desire's Terrain

Gregory Euclide is an artist and teacher from the Minnesota River Valley. In some of his pieces he features some pieces of trash making for an effective message about the Earth.

All of these pieces are by Gregory Euclide and can be viewed along with others at http://gregoryeuclide.com/

Nailed It!

Pretty In Pink nails

Tinting Glass Jars (Permanent)

For this craft you will need:

-Martha Stewart’s glass paint(liquid fill paint in Bright Sky)

-Glass jars

-Medium sponge brush

-Aluminum foil

-Newspaper

1.     Prepare the jars by soaking them for a while in warm soapy water to loosen the labels and use rubbing alcohol to get rid of the black expiration labels.

2.     Once the jars are clean and on newspaper apply the paint to the sponge brush and work to evenly coat the jars

3.     In between coats allow the paint to dry for an hour.

4.     After building up the layers to the tint you want allow the last layer to dry for an hour

5.     Place the jars on a sheet of aluminum foil on a tray.

6.     Place the jars in a cool oven an turn the oven on to 350 degrees to allow the glass to heat up slow.

7.     When the oven is heated bake the glass for 30 minutes and then turn off the oven and allow the oven to cool and let the glass sit for 72 hours.