Frugal Christmas Cards

I’ve become jaded when it comes to Christmas cards.  Too many Santa’s and elves.  Writing out Christmas cards has become a chore, not a joy.  This year, to bring back the joy and creativity, I decided to design my own cards.

I sketched out a poinsettia on watercolor card stock.  Since I had just purchased an Artezia watercolor  pen set I decided to paint with them.  Much to my surprise there were no cool toned colors, all of them were warm toned and very vibrant.  I ended up with a completely different color scheme than I had planned.

And you know what?  I liked getting out of my comfort zone.  It resulted in a process that made me happy.

Laying out the design

Almost finished!

Now I need to find a reasonably priced printer to transfer the painting onto card stock.  I had fun and am looking forward to sending Christmas cards this year.

God bless, Pam

Frugal Acne Treatment

Starting in eighth grade my daughter developed cystic acne.  Not horribly severe, but once or twice a month it was embarrassing for her.  I started noticing her hiding her face under her hoodie.

Like most parents I took her to the dermatologist and she was given samples of prescription medications to try.  Each and every one caused her face to become swollen and red, not much better for her self esteem than the acne.

So, I did some research and found some products that actually cleared up the cysts and prevented them from returning.  She would wash her face twice a day with Hibiclens, tone with Hylamide Pore Flush, then spread on a thin covering of benzoyl peroxide gel.

She would still get small breakouts that looked like whiteheads, but would disappear after one or two days.  I then learned about fungal acne and it’s symptoms.  So she started washing her face in the morning with Nizoral, and evening with Hibiclens.  Now her skin is clear with rare small breakouts.

All of these products are available at the drugstore, except the Hylamide.  It can be purchased from Deceim.  My other hint is to buy a pack of twelve white cotton washcloths and have the acne prone person use a new washcloth everyday.  White because they can be bleached.

I hope this skincare routine works for the young person in your life.

God bless,

Pam

Slowing Down And Refocusing

I have been missing in action for nine months now.  It took many months for my husband to recover from his December 2017 heart attack.  He is feeling much better and, with family encouragement, cut down his hours at work to part time.

The rest of my focus was on dear daughter’s accomplishments.  She finished this, senior year, years curriculum as of mid February.  She worked intensely on her subjects, so I was needed more often for instruction.  She has also gotten her driving learners permit, so driving lessons are happening.

And (drum role please) apparently between my last EKG and my most recent one I suffered a “cardiac event”.  So this week the new medical testing begins to figure out how I’ve been affected.  I didn’t miss the irony of me being so busy concentrating on the needs of others that I missed my own heart attack.

So this blog is back on my mind and I’m planning to post about our latest adventures.  We are converting our yard over to all Florida native plants, will be traveling to Korea and Japan, and I’m going to be drafting new patterns to sew daughter a new, more adult, wardrobe.

Front yard grove 4 months old

Take care and God bless,
Pam