Wild Hair Wednesday - Fishtail Faux Hawk

I have a fun one for you today!! I've been wanting to do a faux hawk for quite some time now and yesterday I had a reason to try it. One of the funnest parts of being my own model, is getting to dress up. =) I have a pair of punk lumber jack (that's what I'm calling them) leg warmers. What better to pair them with than a faux hawk and heavy eye liner. My black leather combat boots from high school would have come in handy too. My mom always said she saw me dating biker dudes. haha! Little did she know, I was a hippie. lol

Needless to say, I've tried on many looks in my life and still enjoy 'playing' in that way.

 My original intention was just a faux hawk, but I didn't want to take the time to figure out how to get my dreads to stand straight up. It's not wise to put product in your dreads because depending on what it is, it won't wash out. Some dread heads use wax. I tried a tiny bit on a couple of mine once and regretted it. Really, you don't need it. (However, that would have definitely helped to get a good hawk.)

  I ended up gathering the top section into a small ponytail and then worked my way down, gathering and making more ponytails. At this point, they just flopped to one side or fanned out. So that lead me to sort of tuck and braid it into place...which is why it resembles a messy fishtail. Then I tied a piece of yarn on the bottom to finish the look.

 

Come on, we all like being one from time to time. =)

 

If you just can't get enough. Check out my other Hair posts.

This one was a big hit. Jessie B's 30 years of Hair Dos

Beautiful Winter Day in the Desert

It was so nice out today! I sat outside and did a little work while soaking up the sunshine and blue skies.

And then just a couple hours later, we had a beautiful sunset. I could really get use to this kind of winter!!

Christmas wrap up

Christmas was pretty low key this year. I stayed in Tahoe and had a big house to myself. I got together with friends and even hosted a small gathering on Christmas Day. We had a non-traditional meal of Pumpkin Chili and corn bread. Plus nachos, roasted pumpkin seeds, egg nog, and pumpkin bread. I still have so much left.

I waited until Christmas night, after everyone went home, to finally open my presents. My mom and sister wrapped them up so cute that I had them sitting out bringing a little Christmas spirit to an otherwise undecorated space.

My mom sends me my stocking every year filled with goodies. As long as I get it back to her before the next Christmas, she fills it back up and sends it back to me. It's my traveling stocking. =)

I'm also happy to report that my etsy shop did really well this holiday season. Woohoo!! Thank you to everyone who spread the word.

Jess

Story time with Spunkidoodle -Dumbo part2

Here she is!

DUMBO

part 2

Watch the 1st half here --> DUMBO Part 1

Media Monday - short anima film

I was playing catch up on my blog reading today, saw this precious little video and want to share it with you.


Streamschool (Patakiskola) from Péter Vácz on Vimeo.

the Sunday Special - salty smores

The other night it was gray and wintery outside which put me in the mood for a fire. One of the great things about a wood burning stove, you can roast marshmallows. =)

Oww, and then I thought .... "why not s'mores?" I found some chocolate and marshmallows, but no graham crackers. Hmmm, time to get creative. What do we have? Aha! Saltines. That might be interesting. And it was! If you like sweet and salty, you'll love these salty s'mores.

SALTY S'MORES

Marshmallow
Chocolate of your choice (I used peanut butter cups)
Saltines

 I like to get my chocolate nice and melted. I put it on the cracker and use the shovel tool to rest it on the coals, while I roast my marshmallow. Put 'em together and walla. A tasty treat. Be aware that chocolate might ooze out the holes in the cracker. Hey, if s'mores aren't messy, you're not doing them right. =)

omg!!! what a brilliant idea

I stumbled across this today while looking up the word "street worthy". So amazing what you can find without trying.

  I have quite a few suitcases and think this is an absolutely brilliant idea!! Repurpose them into boom boxes. Solar boom boxes that connect to your ipod!! They have even more bells and whistles. You can read an article about them here or check out their website theboomcase.com. 

And they let you customize them. I'm really drawn to this one. It has so much character.

 

Even lunch boxes.Something for everyone... big and small =)

this is a long good story

You might recall that I have been scheming to find a little girl to model some kid leg warmers. Well, yesterday, I needed to go to South Lake because Made in Lake Tahoe (the store wear I have my handmade goods on consignment) is moving to a new location. Since I was going to 'town' anyway, and it was a weekend (perfect for kids not being in school), I figured I better make my move. I called a friend who doesn't have a child of her own but has a little girl next door that likes to come over and hang out with the girls. She came over before our V-Day practice last spring and even joined us for the fun clothing swap this fall. But, besides that, she was actually one of the students I taught art to last spring! Well, my friend was out of town, but she thought it was a great idea. The only thing, the little girl's parents only speak Spanish and I don't know Spanish. Oh, and she didn't have their number so I would just have to go knock on their door. Alright, I can handle that, I think. I loaded up my tripod and such and headed to South Lake.

After I packed up and moved my things to the new location (in the Raley's Center between Savvy and Hot Cha Cha's) it was already after 3pm. As I headed out of the parking lot, I thought to myself... oh it's getting late, maybe I should just go home. See normally at home it's too dark by 4pm to take pictures. I figured by the time I got to her house, asked her, it was translated to her parents, they actually agreed, we'd pick out an outfit or two, found a good spot to take the pictures, it might be too late. I made a split decision and turned toward her house. I honestly don't even know my friends address, but I found what I believed to be her house... again she wasn't home. I parked. I got out. I started walking toward the house. I started to wonder if this was even her house. Who lived here and how was I going to communicate with the person who answers the door? I started to get cold feet and paused for a moment on the porch. You know, I vaguely remember backing away even. Then I just said, screw it, and knocked on the door. To my delight, I saw a familiar face peak out at me threw the window and smile a smile of recognition. She came to the door and I did my best to explain to her what I was wanting to do. As she went back in to ask her mother, I got my things from the car. I waited on the porch, thinking she would come back out once it was discussed. I have no idea what she said to her mother, but when I finally knocked again, I was welcomed into their home. She had already thrown on a pair of tights and was soon heading to the front yard to shoot. Yay, this thing is happening!

My camera battery is so old and it hates the cold so I was worried that it would die and waste my one chance. Well, it did show low, but we managed to photograph 4 legwarmers and a headband at lightning speed. I was there for just over 30 minutes. I could not have asked for a better outcome. I should also mention, she is a sweetheart and total cutie. Thank you, Jasmine!

Your reward for making it through all of that is to see the cutest picture! I am so in love with this picture right now. She was ok with me posting the pictures on the internet, but decided it was best not to show her face. Leg warmers were easy, but the headband was a little tricky. We came up with an adorable solution. Here ya go!

So now I have kid items in the shop and a few more to come.

handy(wo)man tip

I just have to share this tip with the world.

A couple months ago, I was searching the internet high and low for the best "clean up" for epoxy. The best answer I got was denatured alcohol. Ok, then I had to research what denatured alcohol is. My understanding is that rubbing alcohol is a denatured alcohol so I gave it a shot. And yes, it works.

So I was using it. I really get into a project and often just use my bare fingers to wipe up (etc) and get it all over myself. Not that this is a good idea, but it's the truth. I wasn't nicknamed messe jesse for nothin'. =)

Anyways, I really don't enjoy dousing myself with alcohol. It's super drying to the skin and smells awful. There's probably even more reasons, but those are my top two. Soooo, I got a brilliant idea and reached for my trusty Dr. Bronners. And what do you know, that stuff does do everything!!! It lathered up all nice and took that nasty epoxy right off my skin. Man, I love Dr Bronners soap.

In short: Dr Bronner's soap cleans up excess epoxy.

photo of the week

I'm going through photos today and I love this one, but know I won't be able to use it.

Yes, it's me. What's new? =) And yes, this post is completely to show off my cuteness. hehe. I need to share it with someone, right?!

Story time with Spunkidoodle - Dumbo

Today, well yesterday technically, was my nephew Andrew's Birthday. I hate missing birthdays. Although I'm far away, I have created something special to hopefully create the feeling of being near by. I love you so much, Andrew! Happy Birthday.

Thanksgiving pants

Yesterday, the wind slowed down long enough for me to do a Christmas photo shoot outside, and the pictures turned out really cute. So today I posted a few items and spiced up my banner. The shop has officially been christmas-fied.

I'm also working on some kid legwarmers and scheming a way to borrow some kid legs. It just doesn't seem right to photograph them not being worn.

Oh, right. Soooo, Thanksgiving pants. Yesterday, I had so many different outfits out on. I like to coordinate my outfit with the item I'm photographing and with only a small portion of my wardrobe here in Tahoe, I have to get pretty creative with the few pieces I have available. Well, in my listings, I suggest wearing them over skinny jeans, although I had never even owned a pair. So on a recent thrifting run, I happened to find a pair that fit me, I guess. You know, back in the day, "skinny jeans" just meant the jeans you wear when you are feeling skinny. Just like fat jeans are the jeans you wear when your feeling bloated or the like. I still haven't worn them for a product shot yet but I feel it's coming. I hadn't planned to really wear them in real life. But for some reason, after taking off my christmasy outfits and slipping into my real outfit for the day, I thought "Hey, why don't I wear my new skinny jeans!". I only got one leg in before sanity kicked back in. WHAT in the world was I thinking! Skinny jeans on Thanksgiving! No sir-ry. I hunted down my biggest, can't keep em up without a belt (though mr belt stayed home) pants and happily skipped off to a humungous dinner at friends.

 the end

Wildlife Wednesday

I've been collecting pictures of the wildlife that live around this area. The very first time I was in this neighborhood, I saw a handful of deer running through the yards and down the street. Over the last few months, I have seen only a couple, however they were right outside the front door. And of course, they like to come out when it's way to dark to be taking pictures. I managed to snap only one.

  Can you see him?

 How 'bout now?

last chance.

The other fun and quite frequent guests around the house are jack rabbits, quail, and lots and lots of lizards. Up until a couple weeks ago, I could step outside and always see a few lizards hanging out on the warm sidewalk. I'm not sure where they have run off too but somewhere warmer, I bet!

I'm not sure how I ended up with absolutely no pictures of the quail. They were quite abundant and still I hear and see a few now and again. The family of about 15 babies was the cutest.

I do however have quite a few good ones of jack rabbits. For awhile there, I was seeing them everyday.

Check out those ears!

 One day, I saw TWO through the front picture window.

 buddies

aww, and a baby jack.

And then this is the best shot I've gotten. I had Nick spook him in the back yard while I waited in the front drive way. It totally worked and I got an action shot. (click on these next 2 to see larger versions)

 Then he stopped at the end of the drive. What a poser!

Most recently, we were visited by a cotton tail.

 This one reminds me of Peter Rabbit.

Oh, and a not so welcome guest.

Can you see what I see?

How about now? eek! Right?!! For those of you who don't recognize it (which I never would have) It's a scorpion.

My favorite wild thing found on a hike near here, was this caterpillar.

Isn't it the most beautiful caterpillar you ever did see?!!

There are also quite a few horses and cows around here too.... although no longer "wild", I guess.

 This horsey lives at the end of our street.

And even a few other fun "pets".

Gobble Gobble, my friends!
 Gobble Gobble.