Experiences with Fitbit

I've had a Charge HR for a little while now, and I've had nothing but problems with them. It starts off with a little bit of lifting from the front plate, then pieces fall off until the whole back comes off... then it won't charge, water gets in there, and that's never good. I've burned through two of them in the exact same way. A while ago, I posted about it on Instagram.

I told myself, I'd not buy another Fitbit. Unfortunately, I found a pretty good deal on a Pink/Gold Blaze... so here we are again. Me, with another Fitbit. I think that the Blaze might be a little better, honestly, because it's a much more advanced version of the Flex, which I had no problems with. It's similar to the Flex in the way that the bands are interchangeable. So, if something happened with the band, I can just take the doodad out of the band and get a new one. There's no need to be replacing the entire thing like I'd had to with my Charge HR.

So far though, I'm actually relatively unhappy with it. I can't figure out how to get my phone notifications on it, and it isn't tracking my sleep at all like it's supposed to. Of course, recently I upgraded my phone to something newer, so I don't quite know how to work it yet, I suppose. Hah. So I don't know, I changed the Sleep Sensitivity setting this morning, so we'll see if it works tonight. I sure hope so!

My RetroPie

Omigosh has it been forever since I gave this blog some attention! I have been thinking about coming back to it for a while now, but with so many life changes that had happened since my last post, it made it difficult. But, I'm ready to come back and breathe new life into this neglected blog of mine. Starting with... my most recent project I took on!

Late last year, when the NES Classic came out, I had looked everywhere for it. Every time we went into town, we were at every Gamestop, every Walmart, Target, looking to see if they had new stock of them in. The answer was always no. When they announced they weren't making anymore, I gave up. Now, the SNES Classic preorders started, and obviously, they sold out just as fast. I realized that I didn't want to go through the same stress as I did with the NES in trying to find this thing. Disappointed, I started to look at other options, and came across something that I could work with. I decided to make my own! How, you ask? With a Raspberry Pi!

It wasn't really difficult at all, either. With a starter kit from Amazon, an Xbox One controller, and the RetroPie, I had a really workable make-shift console. I later upgraded the SD card that came in the kit to one much bigger (to hold more games), and purchased a Nintendo-inspired case for it.

I'm in so much love with this little guy. My favorite game system of all time was without a doubt, the Super Nintendo, so I'm so happy to be able to play all my old, favorite games from my childhood. I remember sitting for HOURS in front of a Super Nintendo as a young child, playing Super Mario. It was some of the best memories I have. Both my mother and I would sit in front of the television for hours playing video games. It was great. I think about it now, and realize that maybe my mother at that time was a bigger gamer than I was!

The little flap of the case opens and reveals all the USB ports, and the Ethernet port. This is where I can plug in my controller, or my mini keyboard if I need it. If I don't need them, I can just unplug everything, close the flap, and it'll sit there looking adorable. Unfortunately, the buttons on the front are cosmetic only, as well as the little light to the left of the buttons. I have however, seen people be able to mod this case and their Pi to light the empty square up, and have workable buttons. This is something I wish to do in the future for mine, but right now, I think I'm happy with how it is. (Plus it seems to be a little too technical for me?)

The photos are a little misleading, cause it actually looks rather large! However, in reality, it's actually super-small! It fits in my hand! To anyone wanting a SNES Classic, or NES Classic and can't find one, I will forevermore suggest this to them. There's no need to spend upwards to $200 on ebay for the Nintendo version, do this instead, and get all the games you actually want on it!

I really do adore this thing. It's so easy to think of a game I want, grab a ROM of it and just send it to the system over my Wifi network. It was money well spent for the amount of games and entertainment I can have with this little thing!

Vostok Shawl Progress

It has been a long time since I blogged about any kind of knitting project I have done! I have not really felt like knitting recently, with my recent craft of Pocket Letters, and junk journals. It's something that I've wanted to really get back into, however. I also want to learn how to crochet, as well. I have told myself once I finish this shawl I'm working on, I will sit down and teach myself how to crochet, just like how I taught myself how to knit.

The shawl I'm working on is called Vostok. In the past, I have knit the Henslowe Shawl by this particular designer. The pattern looked extremely complicated, but it was actually simple to follow, and the shawl came out magnificent. It's one of my favorites. So, I had purchased a pattern after finishing the Henslowe, called Vostok. It is beautiful, but I have been afraid to start it because it is a weight of yarn that I've had nothing but failure with. I felt I needed the challenge, something to bring me back to the knitting hobby.

It was the perfect project. Something that renewed my love for knitting, as this is turning out to be one of the more stunning projects that I have knitted. I have been also saving this madelinetosh yarn for something special (it is one of the most expensive yarns I own), and this pattern is really beautiful with it. I am not finished with it yet, I'm working on the edging, and it is going so slow! Hopefully I will finish it in the next couple weeks!

How To: Make Spiral Paper Flower Clips

I made another video tutorial! This time, about how to make little spiral paper flowers! You can put them on paper clips like I did, magnets, pins for bulletin boards, or just leave them as is for paper embellishing.

I am so happy with how these came out! I will admit, however, to film this, it took the better half of an entire day. I messed up a few times, had several false starts, and then filmed the whole thing, to find that it stopped only 13 minutes in. Let us not even mention the battery in the camera had died as well. So, yes, the enamel dot fell off in this tutorial, and I was able to put it back on. I was so exhausted from spending all day working on this video, that I just let it go. Hah. That being said, please pretend that the video is perfect, and the enamel dot did not fall off on me.

I hope you enjoy the tutorial! As always, If you have any questions or comments about the video, let me know and I will try to answer them as best I can. Also, if you would like to see more videos from me, be sure to subscribe to my channel on YouTube!

First Rose Blooms

A quick update on the blog before today's post - I am really working on making my blog better, more professional looking, while still trying to maintain a "personal" blog here. I enjoy what I blog about, it is really a documentation of my life, as I live it. But, it seems a little... outdated. I am trying my best to update it to today's standards. I have added a new page, where I am offering up SVG files that I have created for myself, thinking others might enjoy them as well. I have changed the comment system from Blogger's commenting to a system called Disqus (I am working on importing the old comments to the new system, though). Looks to be more popular. Maybe I'll get more people commenting. Lastly, I also changed the theme of the blog. If any problems pop up because of these new changes, please let me know! 

I have blogged about my rose bush several times since I got it. Last post I made, I was excited that it was beginning to have a flower bud. A few days ago, I walked out onto my patio, and saw this little surprise!

It was so close to opening, and gave me a little taste of what kind of coloring it was going to have. I got even more anxious to see what the full bloom was going to be like! All day long, I kept popping my head outside the door to see if it had opened any bigger. Completely illogical, I know. But I could not help it.

This morning, I went to my patio, and she finally opened up to greet me! My first ever rose bloom, and it is absolutely gorgeous! It is totally worth the wait, to see it in all it's spectacular glory. I counted a total of 7 other buds on the bush, just waiting to bloom like this one. I am very excited to see this flower with the other three buds in full bloom next to it. I think it will be even more beautiful.

Thoughts on Jamberry

Recently I did a little post on my nails and how I feel about them. They have been through so much with me, as I vowed to never chew my nails again, and the constant battle to make them stronger. Well, one negative thing about my nails is that... I have the hardest time keeping nail polish to stay on for longer than 24 hours. I have a TON of polishes, and I have found I have the best of luck with essie polishes. Well, provided that I reapply top coat every day, and even then I only get three days maximum out of it. That being said, I am constantly on the look out for a polish that can last longer than just a few days. I've been told that my nails are oily, and that is why polish peels off in sheets. It makes sense, but it is still very frustrating.

I got my hands on some Jamberry. The idea that they were essentially a sticker that could last for up to three weeks was awesome. I was really excited to try them! I thought they might be the answer to my problem with nail polish - if polish would not stay on, Jamberry might. However, the cost... was way to expensive for me just for daily use. It had to be used for something special.

A few weeks ago, my husband won a "date night" from his work. Where we would have a limo ride, dinner, and a movie. What a perfect opportunity to use the Jamberry that I had been hoarding! All day, I watched videos, read articles and researched the proper way to apply these expensive little stickers, and finally got the courage to put them on. I spent two hours working with them, trying to apply them properly, and was so excited to finally have them on.

They were gorgeous! I loved them, took pictures of them, showed them off to my husband, and I genuinely thought they were the most beautiful things I have ever put on my nails. Until two hours later when I took a shower. I got out of the shower, was running my fingers through my hair, and noticed that my hair got snagged on my nails. Which is never a good thing.

Upon inspection, the whole sticker just peeled right off with hardly any effort on my part. Not just the one either. ALL of them lifted off. I was so heartbroken, I would have been so happy if they had just lasted at least the 24 hours until the date night was over, as that was the whole point of why I put them on. It was completely disappointing. I had to stay up late that night, painting my nails with one of my favorite Different Dimension polishes.

They did not touch my cuticles, or any oils on my skin. I am positive I did nothing wrong, which made the whole experience more irritating. I think I just need to resign myself to the fact that my nails just prefer to be naked.

How To: Make DIY Enamel Dots

With my paper clip tutorial videos I have been doing lately, I seem to get quite a few questions on one thing: how do I make my enamel dots. I love my enamel dots, I use them on everything I can. They hide joins, hot glue messes, and they even just look adorable sitting on paper. I can't get enough of them. Unfortunately, with how many I use (and making paper clip art in bulk), buying them name brand would cost me a small fortune. My husband already makes fun of me about how much money goes into my crafting hobby, so if I can make them for cheap at home, no doubt I will be trying it!

I came across several videos of how to make enamel dots online, and made a ton of them! I bought a small tub of them from our local Walmart, and spent the weekend melting them down a few months ago. So, because I had been questions about how I made them, I created my own how to video, in case it helps someone out there!

As usual, If you have any questions, or comments about the video, let me know, I will try to answer them as best I can. Also, if you would like to see more videos from me, be sure to subscribe to my channel on YouTube!