If you’re looking for a new magazine to tuck into your book bag, might I suggest Caboodle?

Caboodle is a super cute, high-quality mag out of the UK.  Inside you’ll find fashion, beauty, art, vintage, how-to’s, recipes, and q&a’s with various artists (like me!). They are just on their 2nd issue now, and it’s gorgeous!

Danger: this will not help you if you are trying to be on a shopping hiatus (I sort of am… but am desperately failing…). This is not stopping me, however, from looking up all the designers and shops online. Just for a peek, right? Right!

You can purchase a copy here.  I don’t believe it is available digitally at this point, but it’s nice to have some good ol’ paper between your fingers.

I started seeing these cute little blush compacts pop up on my social media, and they are too cute to pass up!

My old blush is nearly tapped out, so I decided to check out Love Flush by Too Faced. Like the lazy non-makeup-guru that I am, I didn’t even see any of these in person. I just straight up picked one randomly, googled some swatches, and ordered it from Sephora. This shade is Justify My Love, and I’m actually really happy with it. I thought it might be too light for my skin, but it’s actually kind of perfect. I generally like my blush to be slightly on the cooler side, so I might check out some other shades in person at some point, but I’m super pleased with my blind purchase!

(Sorry this is a crappy phone cam pic… Non-Makeup-Guru strikes again!)

The other cool thing is that Too Faced is cruelty-free! I’m not sure that this blush is vegan, but they maintain a list of their products that are.

When I saw a photo of the Truly Dress by Wax Poetic Clothing on Instagram, I KNEW IT HAD TO BE MINE. It has all the components of the perfect dress: pinks, flowers, swiss dots, baby ruffles … even the adorable rose buttons.

I was absolutely floored when Johanna, the creator and designer of Wax Poetic, offered to send me a package. I immediately blew up my girlfriends’ phones with photos of the dress because I was so astounded, amazed, and grateful! When the dress arrived, it was just as perfect in person as it was online. It fit like a glove (I’m wearing a size small) and is extremely comfortable. The attention to detail is out of this world. Wax Poetic is made in the U.S.A., and Johanna is also the designer of another company (not sure if she wants me to reveal that!), but I’m so super duper extremely supportive of her personal passion project!

I paired it with some Betsey Johnson heels I wore to my brother’s wedding a million years ago, a sweet cookie necklace, and a cute milkshake bag that I believe I bought on ModCloth. I’m ready for a tea party with some girlfriends or a cute dinner date! Who’s taking me out?! She sent me another dress, too, which I will show you guys really soon!

*****

Dress: c/o Wax Poetic Clothing, Necklace: Fatally Feminine Designs, Shoes: Betsey Johnson from a million years ago, Bag: ModCloth (but I don’t think it’s available there anymore. The brand is Nila Anthony. ), Hair flower: Tarina Tarantino

How was your weekend? I worked/crocheted for the most part (on some new patterns for video tutorials that I will be shooting in a studio for a website… more details soon…) and I also went to Elysse’s house to do some Fall baking with her and her buddy Ashley. They have a blog and YouTube channel called The Vegan Sweet Beat about vegan candy if you want to check that out! Obvs, they are both vegan, and I am more of a guilty omnivore with veggie/vegan curiosity, so all the things we made were veganized.

I arrived late (I hate being late but am always late! Is there always-late rehab!?) and the ladies were cutting sugar cookies. The big project of the day was this Peanut, Caramel, and Chocolate Tart from Martha Stewart, aka, SNICKERS HEAVEN. Due to various reasons, Elysse “miniaturized, veganized, and Fall-ized” the recipe (Fall-ized = pumpkin-ized = we put pumpkin in the caramel).

We had a little issue with the caramel. You’re supposed to start with sugar and water and then heat it until it becomes melty and “medium amber.” BUT, the water just boiled out of our mixture, and we were left with DRY SUGAR AGAIN.  Which smelled like burnt hair!! Then the gals decided to just throw the rest of the caramel ingredients in there (coconut cream, pumpkin), and it took 20-30 minutes on the stove of stirring, but we eventually got something caramel-ish. While I think our mini-tarts (set in cupcake tins) ended up squishier than Martha’s, they still tasted really good!

The rest of our creative efforts went into decorating sugar cookies, which, for me, became an exercise in accepting that my cookies were going to look like a 5-year-old decorated them.

I was not making friends with the Ziplock-piping-bag, so I gave up on that real quick. R.I.P. indeed! Ashley and Elysse, on the other hand, were piping pros. Here are Ashley’s cookies:

And here are some of Elysse’s. I like all of our takes on decorating the kitty cookies.

Do you know where atoms come from? Cat butts. LE DOYYYY.

I will conclude this entry with some of my jack-o-lantern cookies. I told Gregg that the first one was him, because he’s always so cheery. The second one might eat you before you eat him.

Do you guys have Halloween/costume plans? I usually don’t, because I’m generally overwhelmed with work and creatively spent. HOWEVER, I promised one of my favorite websites that I’d create a Halloween-inspired crochet pattern and also submit a photo of me in costume…so… I’m gonna try to bust that out in the next few days, too!! So much to do!! OK BYE.

I Love Yarn Day 2015 is Saturday, October 17! I Love Yarn Day is all about spreading the good feeling people get from yarn and yarn-related crafts. The #stitchitforward campaign encourages all of us to share our love for fiber and the fiber arts, teach someone a new skill, and/or share new techniques and patterns with each other.

ILYD is running two fun contests RIGHT NOW. One is a photo contest on Instagram, and the other is a video contest where you make a video about how much you love yarn. Click over to the ILYD website for all the details and prizes!

Here are some other ways you can participate:

1. Visit ILYD on Social Media: Check out the ILYD Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Pinterest pages to join in the official countdown to ILYD and find ideas for how to #stitchitforward including fun ways to celebrate yarn, tips for teaching others how to knit and crochet, free patterns, giveaways and more.

2. Create a unique pattern that is ideal for teaching a child, friend, or family member how to knit or crochet. Capture photos of you teaching your yarn craft as you “stitch it forward” and share your love of knitting/crochet with the people you love. Be sure to post this on your blog and social media using the hashtags #stitchitforward and #ILYD2015

3. Share a story on your blog about how you learned to knit/crochet. Who taught you? How old were you? What was your first project? Encourage your audiences to share their stories, too.

I might post a video for fun with my yarn stash and a story about who taught me to crochet … but I’m afraid that if my next YouTube video isn’t a tutorial, the people will revolt!