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Sunday, July 31, 2011

Things I Love Recently

I've been slow in updating this blog because I've been working on my other ones (check out left sidebar).  So I thought I'd do a quick list of things I love lately (maybe I'll do a things I hate list later), and throw in some pug pics, because this blog is named Lil Smug Pug, and my stinky pug probably occupies about 80% of my time, thoughts, and money (freakin eyes constantly getting scratched!).  So here goes...

Things I love
1.  Pinterest - Seriously, this has sucked up so much of my time recently because I am OBSESSED with this.  I resisted it for so long when my friend ZoeZoePuffs kept trying to convince me to use it.  I didn't want yet another social media site to keep up with but this is unlike anything else.  Pinterest is basically internet bulletin boards that you can personalize with anything from the web you come across and want to pin.  You can also search the images people are posting.  It's like a giant, never-ending, random and awesome magazine you can flip through.  It's pretty new though so there are still a few glitches and server outages but it's so worth it.  I've already set up multiple boards including the following: "All Things Pug," "Creatures of the Sea!," "Hair Itch - Things that fascinate and gross me out," "Me Want Food," "Illustrations," "I want to go to there," and "Craftsy Things."  See the random and fun mix of boards you can have?!

2.  John Kenn's post-it art - I came across John Kenn's work on Pinterest and have been loving it!  You can check it out at John Kenn's blog.  He basically does these amazingly eerie and creative ink drawings on ordinary office post-its (the long rectangular ones).  It's like a little window into a strange Tim Burton-esque, creepier Miyazaki world.  The level of detail is amazing when you consider these are just on post-its.

3.  Wine in a box - Ok, not the old school ghetto and gross wine in a box.  But nowadays there are a lot of really good award-winning wines packaged in boxes with vacuum-sealed bags holding four bottles worth.  You know what that means, right?  That means you can drink from a single box over the course of weeks, without the wine going bad.  This blew my mind away.  The first time I tried it at my sister's, it had already been a week since they first opened it, and the wine tasted like it had just been opened.  This is also great if you like having a glass every now and then (Ha! Yeah right for me!) and hate having so much of the wine go bad in a bottle when you don't drink it fast enough.  Seriously, awesome.  They have some good ones at BJ's (I like the white wine best).  I tried the Costco one but it was a cabernet sauvignon and I'm not into those lately.  My friend claims they have some at Trader Joe's in California, which made me so mad because I have not seen those here.  Not fair, not fair!

4.  Moleskin Notebooks - I've been trying to get back into drawing and watercolors recently but it's hard because I haven't really done anything since high school even though I was really into it back then and took art classes, etc.  I feel too much pressure when trying to start something on the big fancy art paper.  I then came across Dannny Gregory's An Illustrated Life (ooh, I'll add that next to my list) and discovered moleskin notebooks.  Awesomeness.  They come in different sizes with different kinds of paper.  I have one medium sized one for watercolors and two small pocket ones for drawing in.  It's great because I can carry them around and doodle in them whenever I have a moment and I feel way less pressure when using the notebooks.  It feels way more casual.  Can't draw a straight line or messed up a corner?  That's ok!  Love these.  Wish they were a bit cheaper though.

5.  Danny Gregory's An Illustrated Life: Drawing Inspiration from the Private Sketchbooks of Artists, Illustrators and Designers.  This is the kind of book I've been looking for since I was a kid.  I love nice polished and finished pieces of art, but truthfully, I love the preliminary sketches or random doodles of artists the best.  I used to buy those fancy Disney books just so I could see the concept sketches and storyboard art of my favorite animated films.  This book covers a wide array of artists and gives a peek into their private sketchbooks with brief introductions by the artists themselves.  They talk about what they do, what they use their sketchbooks for, why they became artists, what supplies they use, and pretty much whatever else they want to talk about.  It's an eclectic mix and very inspiring.  It's what spurred me to get the moleskin notebooks (almost all of them use those or bind their own sketchbooks) and just draw whatever I see or think of.

6.  DiorSkin Sculpt Lifting Smoothing Concealer - I doubt a HG undereye concealer really exists, but this is the best I've found so far.  Does an amazing job of covering up my undereye circles without being too drying (I'm looking at you Lancome).  The color works well for me too - not too pink for my yellow skin (I"m looking at you Laura Mercier).  It's a lightweight cream with an applicator stick (not a brush, more like those gloss kind of sticks).  Love.

7.  Koji Dolly Wink Liquid Eyeliner (in black) - My HG liquid eyeliner.  This is the best liquid eyeliner I've ever come across.  I used to use Lancome's artliner, which is also great, but the Lancome line can be a bit too thick and the applicator sometimes flips out when I'm drawing a line which means I end up with a wonky uneven line.  Also, about halfway through the tube the liner starts to get a bit dried up and when it wears off on my eyes it flakes off.  Koji Dolly Wink is the thinnest, most precise line I've found and it really doesn't budge.  It lasts forever on my eyes and doesn't flake like the Lancome.  The one downside I guess is the pen doesn't hold that much liner so you go through it a little quicker than with some others.  I learned my lesson and now buy it in bulk.

8.  Klorane Gentle Dry Shampoo - My HG dry shampoo.  It's a fine white powder in an aerosol can.  I use it every day before I go to work on my bangs.  It helps keep them from curling weirdly and separating into greasy strands later in the day.  I love it.  I can now have bangs and style them somewhat decently.  I don't really use it in replacement of regular shampoo because while it does work for at least one extra day on unwashed hair, too much of it makes my scalp feel weird and my hair feel grimy.  I also stock up on this and buy at least 3 at a time.

9.  My lil smug pug (I hate ending on a random number - must be my borderline OCD traits).  She cracks me up and brightens up any sour mood.




3 comments:

  1. omg i have a moleskin and have had it for two years now! thats where i did the sketch i did recently! mine's too small. what sizes do u have? i feel very ernest hemingwayesque carrying it around.

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  2. You have a moleskin too? Moley, moley, mole! What prompted you to get one? Mine is small too but I like that. It's 3.5 x 5.5. I also have larger ones but I rarely use those because the smaller ones are easier to carry around and fill.

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  3. i have the 3x5 but am gonna get the 5x7 to use as a journal. btw, thanks alot for the wine in the box idea. now i'm drinking more than ever when i was supposed to cut back. curses!!

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