The Shoes Arrived!

The shoes arrived!  The shoes arrived!

I may just become Imelda Marcos after seeing all the adorable shoes Avon offers.  I'm the sort of gal that buys one or two new pairs of shoes each season and I wear the death out of them and then throw them away.  I'm not the type of gal to buy lots of shoes, but after seeing the great prices and styles in the Avon catalog, I think I may be hooked.  Only first I needed to jump in the pool and order a pair.

Today these shoes arrived:

They are on sale right now for $14.99.  You can find them here:  Cutest Shoes Ever!

I immediately tried them on:

You can't really tell in the photos, but the silver lace is metallic and shines in the light!  And on this cloudy, icky day, shine was a welcome sight!  :)  I think they'll be super perfect for my jean crop pants this summer.  Let me tell you, they feel like I'm wearing slippers!  Now if the warm weather would move in, I'll be set.

Want to know where I bought my crop pants this year?  QVC.  Honestly.  My favorite store, Fashion Bug, went out of business.  Can you imagine? Honestly, I thought I was one of the people who helped keep them in business!  I was stumped as to where I was going to find great crop pants that are comfortable and wear well. I dislike shopping for clothes greatly.  The idea of hitting up the mall and trying on clothes makes me nauseous.

I've always like the Quacker Factory line and I've seen the Dream Jeannes advertised on QVC, but never tried them out.  I decided to order a pair of crop Dream Jeannes in Indigo because for one, it's nice to be able to try clothes on at home and secondly, who doesn't love clothes landing on the doorstep?  Mail order rocks.  :)

See how great the pants and shoes match?  I loved the first pair of crops so much I went back for the dark indigo.  Here's the link to the pants:  QVC Crop Dream Jeannes  

In my last Avon blog, I mentioned face cream.  I also mentioned I have systemic mastocytosis and take a plethora of medication including a chemo drug called Gleevec.  One of the side effects is water retention and for me, the water just puts huge bags under my eyes.  I've bought other creams at the drug store and most of them made my eyes water and did nothing for the bags.

I have a new face cream regime that is working for me and has reduced the bags under the eyes.

Here's a picture I took today sans makeup and after my morning face cream application:

I did not touch up this photo at all and you can barely tell I have water retention under the eyes.  I mean you can sort of tell they are there, but this is a vast improvement from before.  Here's a closeup:

I'm so impressed with the results!  Because I'm on Gleevec, I must be careful of sun exposure so I use Anew Ultimate 7S Day Cream Broad Spectrum SPF 25.

Here's the link:  Day Cream

You'll remember I went to an auction last weekend.  I didn't wear a hat; just this cream and my Clinique foundation and my face did not get burned!  It's better than using just regular sunblock on my face.  I get the same amount of coverage using Anew Ultimate.

For nighttime, I use Anew Platinum Night Cream.  I love how soft my skin is when I wake up in the morning.

Here's the link:  Night Cream

Stop by my Avon shop to see more:  jjacky.avonrepresentative.com

Let's Dish Avon

Let's dish Avon.  Since becoming an Independent Avon Representative (jjacky.avonrepresentative.com), I've been stockpiling product to test and wear.  So far, I've loved everything I have ordered!  I'm starting to wear full-on makeup once again. For many, many years I've given up wearing makeup because it would make my skin break out. Then came this little disease called systemic mastocytosis and I began reacting to just about anything I put on my face. Thankfully medication is keeping most of it at bay, so this was the perfect time to try out different products.

It was a jump of faith placing Avon products on my face, but I couldn't be more pleased.  I took a picture of myself a few days ago and wanted to show you a few products that I have had great success with.

First, here's an overall shot.  You'll notice the pretty necklace.  It has matching earrings and you can purchase the bracelet separately.  I've worn them a few times and have been so pleased!

Here's the NECKLACE SET (Click the link and it will take you to the product)

So back to the makeup. Here's a closeup picture:

To be honest, I haven't tried Avon's liquid foundation. Since my skin tends to be a bit sensitive, I have used Clinique's Moisture Surge Tinted Foundation with great success.  The particular shade I use is 02.

For this face, I used AVON's IDEAL LUMINOUS HIGHLIGHTER REVITALIZED blush.

And can I say I LOVE anything that mark. makes.  If you are on my Avon page, you'll notice near the top bar mark. products. I'm currently using a mark. Cheekblossom Color Tint that I don't believe is offered at this time, but something similar is this mark. product:

The JUST PINCHED blush can be found by clicking the capitalized link.

For eye color, which you can't see too well with my glasses on, is also by mark.

I especially love the white sparkly shade in the upper left hand corner of the compact.  Here's the link: ON THE DOT COLOR COMPACT

I'll bet the last mascara I purchased was around 3 years ago.  I simply couldn't wear mascara without it clumping or making my eyes tear.  I decided to try this mascara from Avon and have had nothing but good luck with it.  Minimal flaking and it stays on all day without rubbing off.

I haven't yet tried any of their other mascara, but I do love this one.  You can find it here:  SUPEREXTEND INFINITIZE MASCARA

For the lips, I use Avon's TOTALLY KISSABLE LIPSTICK.  It's soft and stays on for quite a long time.

Next Dish installment will feature face cream and oh do I have happy things to say about that!  :)

Please stop by my Avon page at jjacky.avonrepresentative.com

City Girl Masquerading as a Country Girl

I'm not going to lie.  I enjoyed "playing" with this Fisher Price Farm before photographing it for Etsy.

In case you haven't noticed recently, but I have a "thing" for farms, barns and the Midwest. This is one of the few reasons why I choose to hunt down the latest and greatest farm auction because it gives me a chance to drive out to the Kansas countryside and hang out on someone's farm for a day.

This brings me to the auction in north-central Kansas I attended yesterday.  For the second weekend in a row, I woke up at 4 am and headed out the door by 5 for a 4 hour drive to this particular destination.  Last weekend's farm auction went so well not only did I make plans to attend this weekend's farm auction by the same auctioneers, but I came prepared!

Last weekend it was very windy and ever so chilly to start the auction.  I stood there with crop pants and a lightweight top on.  It eventually warmed up but I made sure I donned the correct gear for this weekend's auction which was supposed to be chillier than the previous.  That meant I wore my wool coat with the sweet little wool ruffles lining the collar.

If my cute little white Chevrolet Equinox parked alongside big-ass trucks didn't yell, "city girl" than my outwear did. I stood among nearly every single person donned in Carhartt coats and overalls.  Even the women wore Carhartt coats and there I stood with my black wool ruffled coat.  :)

Definite city girl blood courses through my veins mixing with a bit of country blood. Ha!  This weekend's auction didn't fill the backseat like the one previous, but I did net one very important buy:

18 DeKalb Seed Sacks.  I had 19, but sold one at the auction.  :)

I grew up in Sycamore, IL right down the road from the DeKalb Ag.  Lots of corn fields, barns and farms.  No wonder I'm a country girl at heart!  :)

Pinterest Friday

I blink.  It's another Friday and I haven't blogged once in between.  Yikes, just where does time go?

For this Pinterest Friday's entry, I'm dreaming of warm weather.  In Kansas we've gotten a few teases, but it's cold again.  Very, very cold, which means garden season looks more appealing than ever.

Do you have some old shoes or boots lying around?

(Source:  http://pinterest.com/pin/265853184225780701/)

They've planted succulents in this picture, but you could plant nearly every kind of annual as long as you watered frequently.  Fun and unexpected!

Happy weekend!

Pinterest Friday

How many of you have mason jars sitting around or even the Blue Ball jars?  Have you ever considered turning them into a light fixture?

Source:  (http://pinterest.com/pin/265853184225446444/)

All the parts, other than the jars, can be picked up at any big-box hardware store and would make a great weekend project!

Etsy Discounts When You Shop With Me At Avon

If you are an Etsy customer and become a customer with me at Avon, I'll give you an introductory 40% coupon on anything in my Etsy shop.  This code will be e-mailed after your first Avon order, so please send me a note after you order so you can immediately receive the coupon code.

Remember, if you are an Avon customer, I will send Etsy coupon codes out periodically that far exceed my sale discounts, so jump on the bandwagon!

Check out Avon if you haven't lately, especially their mark. line where you can find this dress:

Pair it with these bangles:

On the Avon side, I absolutely love this handbag! It's also perfect for Mother's Day;

Speaking of Mother's Day, how about pampering her with these slippers and a gift certificate for a pedicure:

My site address is:    jjacky.avonrepresentative.com

Remember, if you purchase from me at Etsy and then become an Avon customer, I'll send out an immediate 40% discount on any item in my Etsy store and then subsequent coupons every time you order from Avon!  :)

It's a win-win!

Happy shopping!

Avon, Farm Auctions, Dealing Antiques and Sewing; Oh My!

Boy howdy, am I ever busy! I decided awhile back to become an Avon Lady.  Seriously, isn't that the best?  My mother, rest her soul, LOVED Avon from as far back as I can remember. I mean I still picture the pink bathroom in our house on Perry Court in Sycamore and the Avon bottle of bubble bath shaped like a poodle, also pink, that sat on the corner of the bathtub.  Over the years, I opened many, many, many small Avon boxes to reveal a new set of earrings or a necklace.  The quilted bag I take back and forth to the cottage was an Avon gift a few years back.

Since her death, though, Avon has ceased and one day I decided to jump on the website and the next thing I knew, I became a consultant and at this point, I am my best Avon customer, but it always starts out that way, right?  Now that I've gone through 2 campaigns and earned a few customers, the newness has worn off and I must sit down to business and figure out the tax and stuff and the paper trail of running a business.  I am the creative brain, so this stuff is not fun but necessary.

Interested in Avon?  Check me out at jjacky.avonrepresentative.com.

In the meantime of gussying myself up as the Avon Lady, I'm also getting into gear for the summer farm auction season.  The first farm auction that I'm traveling to is this Saturday about a 3 hour drive.  There have been others this year, but the weather looks like it will cooperate and my husband has the day off, so hey, how about that?

I have been busy listing items left over from last year's farm auctions, so Etsy has become a popular place.  But almost the best of all, the sewing machine and I have become friends again.  The last 2 years have been busy and things got put on the back burner and my machine and I just haven't merged much. With the reorganization of my office / sewing room, I'm in the saddle once again.

Firstly, I needed to finish up some pending projects that I started and wanted to finish and then I got down to business and made a new shelf tuck or as some call a bowl ornie.

A few blog posts back I mentioned the 1925 Kansas Farmer advertisement I turned into fabric from Spoonflower.  The lady with her chicken and chicks is that advertisement that I sewed into pink and white feed sack.

What's so incredibly special about this feed sack is that it retains part of the advertising that was once on all feed sacks.  Ladies would purchase the feed and go home to soak off the writing so that the fabric could go into clothing and quilts.

It's just pretty amazing this is still intact.  Only a bit of it was on the feed sack and it reads, "Best Poultry" and has a picture of a cow and pig.

I filled with polyester fiberfill and added a vintage piece of lace to the side.  If you're interested, this piece is listed in my Etsy shop.

So between Avon, farm auctions, selling antiques and sewing, I also have to think ahead to the bountiful amount of yard work our lake cottage will be needing before Memorial Day.  I love being busy!  At the end of the day, my head hits the pillow and I'm magically swept away into dreamland and I wouldn't change a thing!