Money-makin' Monday: Clicksia & Incentria

This is a late Money-makin' Monday, but it's a 2-for-1 deal. I decided to put Clicksia and Incentria in the same post, because the two sites are identical. With both of them, you sign up, then just click ads for money. It's super simple and the payout is a minimum of $1.00, which means you can get paid really soon. As always, if you have questions, just leave them in the comments below. Have a great week!

Check out ALL of my great money-making opportunities right HERE!

FREE Pattern Friday: Neon Dreams Infinity Scarf

I LOVE all of Moogly's patterns, and this one is no exception. For this week's Free Pattern Friday, I am sharing with you the Neon Dreams Infinity Scarf. This is definitely going on my list of items to make soon!

CHECK OUT THESE GIVEAWAYS & POSTS!

-Find out how to get your FREE Julep Maven box here
-Check out IPSY and BLUUM
-Dog Days of Summer $200 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway
-September Charity Auction for Courageous Kidz
-Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder Giveaway

Today's Nails: Neon Gradient

Not long ago I re-pinned these nails I saw on Pinterest.

After watching a few YouTube tutorials on how to do gradient nails, I thought it couldn't be that difficult. Well...

Since I was using neon colors and they tend to be a bit sheer, I started out with a coat of white polish. This particular one is called CORRECTION TAPE from Spoiled by Wet 'N Wild.

Next you are going to need 3-4 colors of polish and a cosmetic wedge. For my shorter nails I probably should have chose only 3 colors...at least I know for next time. The colors I chose are all from Sinful Colors and are (from L to R): NEON MELON, SUMMER PEACH, FUSION NEON, and DREAM ON. The only color I can find in stores now is DREAM ON so the others must be discontinued. I have had all of them for almost 2 years so that's probably why. From what I've read, you should soak your sponge in water first so that it doesn't soak up the polish right away. Once you do that, just paint your colors onto the sponge. It's ok to overlap them a bit since you want them to appear blended.

Once you've sponged the color onto your nails give it a bit to dry, then add a second sponged coat. After sponging, this is what you will come up with.

Of course, everything will be a mess so you will need to clean up around your nails then add a topcoat. Now here's how mine came out. They didn't come out exactly like I wanted to. For some reason mine didn't blend as well as the original picture I got my inspiration from. Obviously I need to work on my gradient technique a bit more, but you get the idea.

CHECK OUT THESE GIVEAWAYS & POSTS!

-Find out how to get your FREE Julep Maven box here
-Check out IPSY and BLUUM
-Buzzworthy Books of Summer iPad Mini Giveaway
-Dog Days of Summer $200 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway
-September Charity Auction for Courageous Kidz
-Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder Giveaway

My first JULEP MAVEN box: August 2013

Yesterday I received my very first Maven box from Julep. I was so excited because the box was free...all I had to pay was $3.95 s/h. If you love beauty products, especially nail polish, then you will love Julep. Let's get to what was inside my Maven box.

Here is the box as it comes in the mail. Let me tell you, they are super quick with shipping. I received my box 3 days after the order confirmation was sent.

Here is what it looks like when you open it up:

Julep says they will add in little freebies each month in their boxes, and this is what I got. This is a sample of their Glycolic Hand Scrub. According to their site, this is a new item. I have already used this sample for review purposes and I love it! I will definitely order some more when it's time for next month's box. Since I earn my living crocheting, I sometimes work with delicate yarns that even the smallest amount of dry skin will catch on, so this will be perfect for me. It smells very nice and my hands were so soft and smooth after I used it. Their site says you can use it as a body scrub and it's even gentle enough to be used on your face (which I thought of immediately after using it). A full-size tube of this is $23.00 so the approximate value of this sample would be around $0.52.

Here are my polishes...as you can see, Julep takes extra consideration in making sure they ship very safely...no broken bottles here...

When you first sign up for Julep you are asked to fill out a small style profile. My answers placed me in the "It Girl" category, so these are the colors that were picked for me this month. The value of this "It Girl" starter box is $19.99.

Mila is a really pretty rainbow & silver glitter. Bette is a purple-y orchid creme color. Isla is a pearly white that almost has a bit of silver in it. I love these colors that were picked for me and can't wait to use them.

Totaled up, the value of my first Julep Maven box comes out to be about $20.51 and I only paid $3.95 with the FREEBOX code.

Want your own Julep Maven box? All you have to do is click this link and enter code FREEBOX to get your first box for only the cost of shipping. Once you become a Maven, monthly boxes are only $19.99 and you can opt to add on products starting at only $4.99. Other perks of being a Julep Maven are things like 20% of all products and FREE shipping when ordering from julep.com. Julep also has a great rewards program, so once you sign up for your first box, make sure you invite all of your friends!

5 Among Friends: Questions

I recently came across these questions over at The Sqishable Baby and thought they would be fun to answer, so here goes:

1. What was your favorite book to read as a child? Would you recommend it? Why?
Sometime around 4th or 5th grade I started reading this series of books that all of my friends referred to as Mandie books. Written by Lois Leppard, this book series was about a girl, name Mandie of course, who solved all of these mysteries. There are quite a few books in the series and I recommend them to young girls between the ages of 8-13.

2. What sport did you play in high school?
I was a cheerleader in high school (yes, it's a sport!). I started in 8th grade and cheered all the way until I graduated. For the one year that I was going through chemotherapy, our coach created a "manager" position for me so that I could stay involved with the squad since I loved it so much. I pretty much ate, slept, and breathed cheerleading. LOL

3. What is one prominent childhood memory?
I have a few very memorable occasions I could list here, but I think this one is pretty funny. One summer I went downtown with my dad to run some errands with him. I think I may have been about 7 or 8-years-old. We stopped at this lunch cart in front of what was then The Omni Hotel (now The Charleston Place). He bought me a bagel with tuna and alfalfa sprouts. We sat in the courtyard in front of the fountains to eat what I referred to as a "hard donut", but because I didn't like the alfalfa sprouts my dad took them off for me and threw them in the bushes behind us and that it would be our little secret. If anyone knows The Charleston Place, you know it's a pretty elite hotel, and throwing alfalfa sprouts in the bushes is one of the last things you should be doing at a place like that...haha!

4. What were your dreams as a child?
I wanted to be Miss Universe. I loved watching all of the beauty pageants on T.V. with my mom, but this one was my favorite. I guess it was all of the different cultures coming together in one place. I just thought it would be so much fun to be around that many beautiful ladies from all over the world.

5. What did you want to be when you grew up? Did you fulfill those aspirations?
I wanted to be a labor & delivery nurse. Well, I knew I wanted to go into medicine of some sort, but when I was 14-years-old, I was allowed to be in the delivery room with my aunt when she gave birth to my cousin. Ever since then I knew I wanted to help deliver babies. I thought it was the most beautiful thing ever. Since then I have taken almost all of my pre-requisites for nursing school. I have not been to school in several years, but I am planning to start back in the fall to fulfill that one dream of mine.

I hope you all enjoyed this little tidbit of information about me. I would love for you to answer the questions and post them in the comments below. :)

CHECK OUT THESE GIVEAWAYS & POSTS!

-Check out IPSY and BLUUM
-Buzzworthy Books of Summer iPad Mini Giveaway
-Dog Days of Summer $200 Amazon Gift Card Giveaway
-September Charity Auction for Courageous Kidz
-Hourglass Ambient Lighting Powder Giveaway

Free Pattern Friday: Granny's Slouch Hat

As soon as I saw this it caught my eye...I'm a Clemson girl so anything purple & orange catches my eye...haha. This week's free crochet pattern is from Stitch 11 and it's this super cute Granny's Slouch Hat. I love patterns like these because you can be so versatile with the colors. Enjoy and happy stitching everyone!

Get your FREE Julep Box today!

So I just ordered my FREE Julep Maven box. It's so simple and easy. All you pays is the $3.99 shipping. Just click the badge below and enter FREEBOX at the checkout! I told you it was easy!!!


As soon as I receive my first box in the mail, I will do a review here on my blog, so stay tuned!

Money-makin' Monday: Instant Cash Sweepstakes

For this week's money-making opportunity, I would like to share Instant Cash Sweepstakes. For this particular program, once you sign up, you just take quick surveys. I really like this one because the surveys are not at all time-consuming. When you take a survey you are rewarded with any combination of prizes: cash, tickets, or coins. Cash is pretty self-explanatory. Tickets are used to enter the daily drawing of $50 and the coins are used to enter a drawing that occurs every few hours for $2. I've actually won the $2 drawing quite a few times. The payout is low...once you reach $2 you can cash out via PayPal. I wish I had saved my PayPal screen shots from all of the times I've been paid, but I haven't. The payout is super, quick, though. I normally receive my money within 3-4 hours after cashing out. If you don't give any other program that I tell you about a try, this is the one you need to check out. Here's the link to sign up: Instant Cash Sweepstakes

Check out ALL of my great money-making opportunities right HERE!

September Charity Auction for Courageous Kidz

I am now accepting vendors for a charity auction that I plan to start on September 1. I will be running my page over at Kristin's Kreations. All of the proceeds from the auction will be going to a non-profit, non-medical organization called Courageous Kidz. The reason I chose this group is because I am a 16-year survivor of a childhood cancer and was involved in a group that was begun by the founder of Courageous Kidz. This organization focuses on meeting the non-medical needs of children and teenagers with cancer, as well as their parents and siblings, by holding various events and activities throughout the year. The families touched by childhood cancer can sort of "get away" from their illness and find comfort in knowing that there are others who know exactly what they are going through. My goal is to raise at least $300.00 during this auction, which is enough to send at least one child on the Courageous Kidz annual Carowinds trip.
If you would like to donate one or more items, a gift certificate, or even a coupon code to this auction please email me at kristinskreations11@gmail.com. Thanks in advance!!

Free Pattern Friday: Library Tote

My children LOVE to read and we are all Dr. Seuss fans, so I was super excited when I found this free pattern from In Karapoozville. It's an adorable Library Tote.

Don't forget to check out these great giveaway that I'm a part of also!

-Dog Days of Summer Giveaway for a $200 Amazon.com giftcard
-Buzzworthy Books of Summer iPad Mini Giveaway Event

Come join me for these great subscription services:
-Get your Ipsy GlamBag for only $10.00/month!!
-Get lots of great free goodies for you and your baby, personlized for their age with Bluum