. Hi-Fi Cosmetics .

i found this company (http://www.hificosmetics.etsy.com/) from reading about them on another blog http://glitteronmyeyes.blogspot.com/ and i have already placed 2 orders. one very small order - a 5 pack sample set for bloggers - and the one i got yesterday.

the first order - the 5 colors are: (back, L-R) bad seed, millions of peaches, disco. (front, L-R) spike the punch, comeback.

the most recent order had 20 samples and 1 full size jar. veronica romero (Hi-Fi's owner) threw in 4 more sample bags, too! 25 shades total - for less then $20 (not including shipping). with the amount she packs in her bags, this is an EPIC price!

•the colors i ordered: parental advisory, live large, epidemic, the sultan, lithium, voodoo, love undying, champagne toast, terror in the depths, beautiful tragedy, wasted, paranoid, blackout, beautiful, to the moon, talk dirty, raw shock, vanity ruins, lyrical master, raindrops on roses.

•the full size i ordered: words are the remedy.

•the 4 samples she included with my order: devil's daughter, the jungle, immortal, lullaby.

i LOVE the design of the fullsize jar - how edgy! the other jars (clear lids) are just some i ordered from ebay in anticipation of the sample bags i had ordered from Hi-Fi. i've only repotted 7 samples so far. there are 16 more samples to be transferred into jars! :]

can i just say - their samples are of HUGE quantity. i've gotten (at the very LEAST) 5x as much shadow in ONE of their sample baggies then in one $2 sample jar from another company i've ordered from. this company has beyond "bang for your buck" deals.

* a sample bag of Hi-Fi Cosmetics' parental advisory on the left (pink) VS. a $2 sample jar from another company (blue) *

to repot - i shook all the shadow to the bottom of the baggie. make sure you get the shadow that stays in the side seams! then i cut the bag (at an angle) halfway down. i carefully tipped the shadow into the jar...keeping the shorter side of the cut directly up, and using the longer side of the bag to pour.

the hi fi cosmetics business card/magnet is SO neat, too. it adds a creative and nifty touch. lol - i immediatly added it to my fridge.

•thanks for stopping by!

••• SWATCHES TO COME •••

. orglamix .

i'm a fan of orglamix on facebook and i've been so drawn to the wonderful customer feedback the fans leave on the page!

i have ordered from http://www.orglamix.etsy.com/ twice now and am floored by the quality of this company. quality in product AND in customer service!
for both my orders, shipping to US and canada was $2.95 for an item and $.60 for each additional item.

i cannot begin to tell you how amazing these shadows are. i mean, they are truely breathtaking!

colors :: names
• green - a sample color from orglamix - no name.
• brown - expresso.
• pinkish purple - neroli.
• purplish pink - lilly pilly.
• goldish - ambre.

. BFTE swatches .

i have an obsession with eye makeup. i included the "eye" before "makeup" because it's just that. i don't do foundation. i don't do blush - occasionally a bronzer tho. i don't do lip stuff unless i remember to stick some in my pocket for the day.

i'm basically in ♥ with beauty from the earth cosmetics. my friend sent me some samples one day and i've been a dedicated fan ever since! they have over 350 colors of eyeshadow! i have over 30 different mineral shadows from them - almost each and every one is a favorite! i just swapped some with my best friend, too! some of my less used ones for some of hers that she didn't go with her look. it's a great thing cause it gives us both the opportunity to try new colors without buying them! so, i wear different looks every single day, and i don't think i've really ever duplicated one. just because there are SOO many combos that look GREAT together...i'm always trying to mix it up! it also helps that BFTE is SUPER affordable! fullsize jars of eyeshadows are $6.50 (and they will last you forever!); sample jars are $2 (and such a great way to figure out what colors you truly want to buy first); AND every monday they offer a color of the week - "COTW" - it's a fullsize jar for a sample size jar price tag! on their facebook fan page, they let their fans help choose which color it should be too! it's a cool way to let their fans give input on it! shipping over $50 is free, under that it's $4. it's kinda high if you're just buying one item; with a few it's not so bad if you think about it! check out http://www.bftecosmetics.com/ AND www.facebook.com/pages/Beauty-From-The-Earth/52758578869?ref=ts - you will love them, too!

here are some swatches of my colors! (all swatches but 'beautiful' & 'whisper' are done over a white base)

* lemon - if you want a BRIGHT yellow, this is it!
* $10 pineapple - great shade of pale yellow.

* fire dancer - more of a red then shown in the pic - SUPER sparkly too!
* misquoted - i described this to my friend as "very pinky coppery"
* tangerine - wow, BRIGHT orange!
* fuzzy navel - the name says it all, it's a very pretty peachy color.

* big ego - such a deep blackened purple
* grape - a bright purple. a green eyed girl must always have a bright purple. :]
* class act - this is one of BFTE's cosmetic glitters, and it really is GLITTER. it's just dabbed on loose here in the pic. i don't have any eye glue/stuff for applying loose glitter right now. :[
* sugar plum - oh, my. i ♥ this purple!
* aphrodite - shows up kinda blueish in the pic, but it's more lavendery. and it's pretty sparkley!
* karma - my 4 yr old daughter helped me seperate all these swatches up (blues, greens, etc) and karma kept going from the pinks...to purples...back to pinks...no, purples. :] i understand her confusion! this color go GREAT with other purples and pinks. one of my favs!

* raspberry - almost like a hot pink.
* aloha - it's your classic shade of pink with a twist - golden/teal sparkleys! ♥
* sweet 'n spicy - it's a pinky/peachy shade that has a velvet finish.
* carnation - pale pale pink. i'm already pale enough without having a pale pink on my lids! but even if it's not one of my favs, it's very pretty!

* mania - this looks more forest green in the pic then it actually is, i found out that i ♥ it blended with envy!
* envy - similar to 'lavish' but not so lime.
* lavish - nice lime green.
* green apple - not sure how to describe this green, but it's awesome!
* go green - this is a pastely green but strangely, it looks sort of blueish at times.
* gem - wow, this shade can be more green then blue, then more blue then green! very awesome teal.

* oak - great classic brown with some gold flecks thrown in!
* hitchcock - purple brown with purple and gold sparkles, ♥ it!
* heat - "looks like liquid metal in the jar" is what it says on the site, and it's true! it's a beautiful gold shimmer.
* honey - ok. i. love. this. shade. here (on white base) it's very very pretty, but applied over a brown base - it's to die for!!

OH MY GOODNESS. first of all - this pic was extremely hard to capture and then be happy with! these duochromes are fascinating!
* beautiful - light buttery yellow in the jar, pinky shimmer on lid!
* whisper - looks beigey in the jar, wicked sweet bluey purple shimmer on lid!

* caribbean - very nice blue/green shade.
* blue bird - this is like electric blue in person!

* smoke - black with silvery flecks in it - my go-to black!
* casablanca nights - black with bright blue sparkles!
* gun metal - NICE silver shade!
* wicked - silvery tannish *almost purpley?* shade - it really depends on what colors you pair it with!

♥betsy!

. jewelry .

i enjoy making jewelry - making jewelry in my own style and no one else's (while still appealing to a variety of styles). it's a wonderful feeling to have 75+ pieces (necklaces, earrings, bracelets) made up and be quite happy with all of them! i have sold some on http://www.noemptyyesterdays.etsy.com/ but currently have no listings available. i've been busy with moving to a new city and getting settled in. i've still been creating pieces, i just haven't found the time to go through the listing process on etsy.com. it's quite a process, too. you have to decide how you want to describe your item as to accurately portray it to the customer. you have to figure out how much of a profit you want to make off it, and factor that in to the price tag. then you have to pick the best picture to show it off, and back up pictures to show it from different angles. i ♥ etsy.com - but it's not a peice of cake. :]

i'm considering using facebook as an outlet for selling too. i "like" several pages on facebook for small businesses. they often post pictures with a caption "buy this for $10 shipped! leave me your paypal address to send an invoice to!". and as far as i know, it works. i just bought a cute halloween hairclip for my daughter from cliposaurus on facebook! check this shop out for cute handmade hairclips - www.facebook.com/cliposaurusetsy

so, how about some pics of some of my jewelry? here's some already sold items that i loved! ♥

this was such an awesome pendant! i loved the blue/purple czech glass beads with it!

this bronze cross pendant is stunning! i've got a few more in stock (in bronze and silver) because i just felt they would make just beautiful necklaces when paired with a corresponding pop of color. these shimmery copper beads are some of my fav, too!

these earrings are breathtaking! i sold them in as a set with the ^above^ necklace. ♥

this necklace is super versatile! the co-worker that bought this lets her daughter wear it sometimes, and she wears it too!

this one is has some fantastic little black beads bookended with small lil blue and pink beads. paired with this hot pink chain - it's fabulous! *the bird is a weird choice to display jewelry on, i know. but i have this interesting collection of ceremic sculptures and animals. they're strangely beautiful to me.*


this necklace was just stupid awesome, that's how BA it was. black glitter in a potion bottle. snake charm. pretty deep black glass beads. the clasp for it is down by all the charms, looking like a decoration itself.

and these earrings are some of my fav ever made. i decided to keep them for myself! :]

any feedback would be great! this isn't even touching on the different looks i've done for all my pieces, but hopefully it gives you a good representation of the work i do.

♥betsy!

. introductions .

hello!
my name is betsy!
i'm a daughter/wifey/mommy and have SUCH a wonderful & supportive family. i work full time (evenings 4-11pm and 9-5pm saturdays) so that sometimes throws a wrench in my daily struggle to be the best mommy i can be. i wish i could spend all day every day with my beautiful little 4 year old girlie. God blessed me with her (when i didn't think i was ready for it) and it turned out to be the most incredible journey i could have ever hoped for! :]

and oh yeah, i ♥ to create things! it makes me even MORE happy! my wish is to be able to work from home some day, bringing in my part of the income from crafting. that's a long way off, but what a wonderful achievement that would be! hopefully, i will be able to update this blog at least weekly with the work i've done, since i know that daily would be pretty challenging for me at the moment.

i look forward to my first "real" post here!

♥betsy!