I Bet You've Got Time for That! A Giveaway That Is!

I love making jewelry and have a penchant for pop culture. Why not mix the two? This has been quite a shop seller and you can get an "ain't nobody got time for that!" key chain for free! Well, just one of you that is. Enter HERE and, while you're at it, tell me what you ain't got time for!  Also visiting my etsy shop never hurts:  MY SHOP!

Hey Hey Insomnia! You're Awesome (said no one ever)

 Shhhhhhhhh I'm fake sleeping here!

                     

Waking up 2 hrs before your alarm goes off is at minimum mildly frustrating. You experience the inevitable "might as well get up" followed by a few expletives. Next comes the following cognitive reframe "hey! at least I'll have extra time this morning to look hot!" or "work out!" or ?? Followed by the realization that I'm going to work and not a night out and heck no a workout isn't happening. Funny enough, my day job largely consists of treating insomnia from a non-pharmacological perspective. So while I'm up and at em, here's a few tips.

What to DO and NOT to DO to get better sleep:

• Catch up on sleep yo! Let me get that nap in! Let me go to bed extra early tonight. I then wonder "why can't I get to sleep" or "why the heck did I wake up so much last night??" Yep, catching up on sleep is counterproductive. Stay sleepy and go to bed per usual. You'll fall asleep faster and likely get a kick ass night's sleep. 
• Not sticking to a schedule. Ok, everyone raise your hand if you have problems sleeping Sunday night after Day Light Savings Time. Anyone anyone? Bueller? If you haven't, well you certainly know people that do and there's a reason for that. Sleep is one of those things that runs along a 24 hr clock (circadian rhythm anyone?). Deviating from your schedule even a little bit works against you.
• Giving yourself too much time to sleep. I see sleep diaries galore that reflect a lot of time spent in bed not sleeping. I see a lot of folks giving themselves 8, 9, 10 hours to try to sleep. If you're not filling up that time with sleep, wtf are you doing? Dudes, stay up later, wake up earlier...whatever works for you, but dayum get yo butt outta bed!
• Oh and btw not everyone needs 8 hours.

What if your sleep problems are severe? Talk with your doc. He or she may want to rule out something called sleep apnea (google it). If you're suffering from plain old insomnia, I'd recommend cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia. It's more than just sleep hygiene and people like me do a hell of a job delivering it. I should also mention it's supported by research too.

Now let's get it poppin! Because you haven't heard it enough:

Adventures in Resin - What NOT to do

My foray into the world of jewelry making occurred many months ago. I was really interested in making glass tile pendants popular all over etsy. Not a bad idea right? I started using basic 3D lacquer to adhere and seal my images onto glass tile. Unfortunately, along with body heat, the lacquer would begin to fade away. Like on this adorable mustache pendant.

Why not try something a little more heavy duty? Like resin! Great idea right? I experimented with two types of resin- one was slow drying and basically varnish and the other a faster drying opaque resin. You mix two types of chemicals together. Stir vigorously and pour. All was going great until this happened:

Now this picture is actually much less of a representation of the rash that occurred- all over my face and arms. Someone didn't use proper protection! I had to spend about a month on prednisone....resulting in a very difficult month of mood swings and bodily changes (if you've ever been on this medication, you definitely understand). Add to that, I truly felt like some sort of swamp creature. Working in a primary care office, I had to tell every patient that I was indeed NOT contagious or dying of a mysterious illness. This whole experience was enough to lead me to wear goggles, gloves, and a face mask, but after all that....let's just say I decided to find a new creative outlet, which I'll talk more about later.

If you are interested in working with resin, convo me and I'd love to share more of my experiences :) My first suggestion is using the less harsh material such as the 3D lacquor. Here's a great tutorial: TUTORIAL or a simple google search can lead you to many great youtube vids!