Feathers! Feathers! Feathers!

I have been working on several custom feather pieces lately and wanted to share a few with you.
The challenge is I am still learning as I go and it's A LOT Of trial and error! LOL!
I recently had a client request a set of feathers pieces and it literally took me over 6 pieces and MANY HOURS... to get it right! I can say I was working on the prototypes over 2 weeks! BUT, I LOVE the final design. Which is this set here:

One of the first things I do is find GOOD QUALITY "white" feathers. Believe it or not, high quality "white" feathers are NOT as easy to come by. Many are damaged during the bleaching and cleaning process and become tattered and shredded on the edges. Next, I then try to make sure I cut the feathers all evenly so I can get the diameter that the customer is requesting. I still have a hard time with this for some pieces...like these: Coy Kitten set
When I was originally creating this (Coy Kitten) design I made 5 pieces before I actually listed one. The cone shape was difficult for me to maintain a perfectly round shape and not allow it to get too big...of course my clients wanted something around 3-4" in diameter. ...and these wanted to open up to more like 5-6 when I was first making them!
LOL!

The greatest part about working on new things is when you stumble onto something wonderful. This is where the next two designs came from. I was still working on a specific shape for another client and through simple trial and error of creating different shapes to see how they looked I began the designs for these:
White Starlet
White Lotus


Well, I just wanted to make a short post to let you know I haven't forgotten you all!!!
I REALLY am trying to post more often!
...It's a work in progress too!

HAIR CARE!!!!

Hair Care!!!!

I know...a bit sparse on the posts....well, I just had to share my fantastic find!!!!
You all know how I have the "sensitive" everything and of course that includes my scalp! So, with that said I have ALWAYS been on the look out for hair care. Through out the years I have been allergic to MANY shampoos and conditioners. Let's just say there was a point that I literally had 5 bottles of shampoos and conditioners sitting on the counter that I couldn't use! ...made my scalp ITCH!!!
So, I started looking at the alternative "natural" and "hand made" route.
In my opinion shampoo bars are a fabulous idea and my guy friends love them! I unfortunately am left with an oily scalp and filmy hair...and I have tried several.
Ever since I moved in to my current apartment I started to have dandruff...the water is TERRIBLE! I came across Joyful Girl Naturals fantastic shop! I highly recommend taking a look to see all the wonderful products she makes! I have since purchased several bottles of

SLS Free Shampoo Dandruff Control

I have to confess within a few shampoos I literally no longer had itchy flaky scalp!!! Seriously, I tried A LOT of "dandruff" shampoos and NONE of them helped until I found this one! Plus, I have some processed hair and this didn't dry me out or make my color run. Anyone with a sensitive scalp that suffers from dandruff I TOTALLY RECOMMEND to use this product!!!! Before the end of the bottle you'll forget you ever had dandruff!

Now that I had my scalp in order I was looking for new conditioner and I found
Swan Mountain Soaps.
I decided to try Calming Creme Rinse for Hair - Pineapple Crush scent It was a gamble for me to try something with scent but I decided to try it! The scent was delicious but not too strong. My hair was SILKY smooth and NO greasy feeling by the end of the day! I didn't currently see this scent in her shop but I am sure if you convo her she can make one of these scents for you! It smells WONDERFUL!!!
Finally, after using the Joyful Girl shampoo for a while I was looking for something else to use as an alternative since I was no longer suffering from dandruff. Certainly I will still use my Joyful Girl shampoo every few weeks to keep my scalp in check since I still live with the hard water...but LOOK AT THIS!
Gudonya Too
Amazing products! I HAD to try

Gudonya Salty DAWG Creme Shampoo (tm)

and

Gudonya INTENSE Hair Conditioner (tm) - Tahitian Vanilla Scent

This shampoo is like nothing I have EVER used before! They use Natural Sea Salt! It's a bit different when you first squeeze it in to your hand but I LOVE the wonderful scent and the lather is magnificent! Best of all was MY scalp felt CLEAN and my hair was shiny and my scalp didn't get greasy at all!!!! Just a small amount will lather and clean my thick long hair! I ABSOLUTELY LOVE This product and HIGHLY RECOMMEND everyone to try it!!!!
I was also just as pleased with the conditioner. It has a wonderful clean scent! My hair felt so amazingly soft and silky and no greasy film! My scalp never got oily and my hair was tangle free.
The packaging is unique and the squeeze tube is easy to get the product out of.

All of the products I have written about today are products I use and VERY MUCH recommend you to try!
With the thousands of hair care products lining the shelves at every hair salon and beauty supply shop or section in your local shopping spots, I just wanted to offer my point of view on alternative products that I personally believe are far more superior to anything you will find at those locations!!! I have used these and if I get the results I have shared I know you will LOVE them TOO! Especially if you are sensitive like I am. I personally appreciate all the conversations I have had with ALL the vendors of the products I write about. Being a consumer that in the past has literally spent hundreds and hundreds of dollars on beauty products I couldn't use with fancy promises and loaded with so many chemicals that I couldn't even pronounce them all it is refreshing for me to find such excellence in a "hand made" market!!!
ALL the vendors above have been SO helpful and open to sharing and understand my sensitive skin. Any of them I am sure would be open to helping you as well!
Even if you are lucky enough not to have sensitivity issues, ALL THE MORE I recommend trying the products I have written about! I think everyone will be delightfully surprised!

TROJAN worm Virus...is BAD NEWS!!!!

It was either Tuesday or Wednesday of last week that my computer got the SCARIEST Trojan worm virus! It was THE BAD one! The one that literally will FRY your computer and leave you with an expensive paperweight kinda one! I couldn't figure out why my computer was acting up for the first 2 days...I had loaded the new FireFox browser and thought that was the reason. As anyone that knows me knows, I am NOT computer savvy AT ALL. I have really good security and I regularly run my scans...against adware, spyware and all that other garbage...then I decided to run an extra scan since my computer was acting up! Not knowing the severity I see a few things pop up and then call the BF to take a look and "fix" them. LOL!
He was NOT happy...and by the look of his face I knew it wasn't good.
However, I had NO IDEA just HOW BAD it REALLY was though.
I of course believing in his computer genious wasn't phased...then after 2 days I started to get nervous...by Friday night when he had been up for many hours for days trying to fix my computer and saying,"...I REALLY don't think I can fix this...you might lose everything....This is the most advanced virus I have EVER seen! This is impossible to remove..."
Yeah, I started to freak out.
Sure, I back up and save my info...but to be honest I don't do it enough and he does get after me about it.
The thought of this thing going through my files and eating them and erasing them was freaking me out!

Anyway, late Saturday afternoon he FINALLY comes to me and says," It's FIXED!!!"
I was THRILLED!!!

That was SCARY!
I mean, my computer is old and idealy I would like to buy a new one at the end of the year or so...but to be forced in this way was NOT how I intended to get a new computer!

I am SOOO LUCKY!
So, TO EVERYONE out there!
PLEASE back up your information JUST IN CASE...these aweful viruses can get in to your computer NO MATTER HOW HIGH your security is!
They are JUST THAT GOOD and it truly is the luck of the draw! I mean, I am the only one on my computer and I don't go to the "questionable" sights that I always thought were "the ones" that could infect your computer. He says these are so good that they can hide in a jpeg picture and when you click it to see it automatically gets into your computer just like THAT!
My number just randomly came up and it got on my computer!
I was lucky!
You KNOW I will be backing up my info much more regularly NOW!

Credit Card Fraud

Nothing like getting a call first thing in the morning yesterday about possible credit card fraud!
UGH!
Apparently somehow someone got my ATM/Credit card info!
They had my pin number and everything!!!!
They totally took my rent money!!!!
Cleaned out my checking and were about to clean me out completely!!!!
Not that there was much to take but STILL!!!!!!
What JERKS!!!!
Thank goodness Citibank called me and asked if I was making withdraws from Vegas!!!!
Um, I was still in bed in California so...uh, NOT ME!!!!
o.O
They made 4 transactions from ATM's~!
I HOPE they all had cameras!!!!!
I feel SO violated!
So, now I have to WAIT and don't have my rent money to pay my Landlord!
NOT COOL!!!!
Hopefully everything is suppose to get resolved within the next few weeks!
Apparently an0ther gentleman behind me in the bank just had the same thing happen to him and the person was sitting there in the parking lot receiving all his info from the actual ATM that they fitted with a special device that reads OUR card info and relays it to the thief!!! Luckily the Citibank ATM read that there was information being transferred after the machine read his card info and shut the ATM down so it wasn't able to send all HIS info to the thief!!! They get EVERYTHING! Your pin number...bank info, card number et cetera!
Know what?!
I used my Citibank ATM only days before this happened too!
I RARELY ever use an ATM!!!!

This is SUCH a drag!