Lip Moisturizer Treatment Review

The best thing that I have found for keeping my lips moisturized, is the Original Vaseline Jelly. The label says that it is pure 100% petroleum jelly.

I have used a variety of other lip moisturizing treatments and balms, which were name brand, but I have had the best long term results with the original Vaseline.

I usually apply it after brushing my teeth. So for the most part, that is once in the morning, and again at night.

The nice thing about Vaseline, is that it's not just for lips. It can be applied to rough elbows, heels, etc., and also to squeaky door hinges!

As for applying the Vaseline to my lips or anything else, I use a clean Q-tip for each application. Just one dip per end of the cotton swab; that way the Vaseline stays clean for future applications.

Ready to order? This link will take you to the Amazon site: my lip moisturizer.

Need cotton swabs? These cotton swabs are organic, which is a plus in my book. Amazon didn't permit me to use a link for the Q-tips brand, but you are welcome to search for that brand, or whatever brand you might like, once on Amazon.

The above text links go to Amazon. As an Amazon associate, I earn income for qualifying purchases made from the above links.

Thank you.

Cheryl Paton

Neskla Pedometer Review and Link to Purchase

I had purchased the Neskla Pedometer, and am impressed with what I have seen.

I used to have a non-battery powered pedometer, and it left quite a bit to be desired. The latest pedometers are battery powered and are more accurate, in my opinion.

Pros:

This Neskla Pedometer is on Amazon; it gives a cumulative reading for the steps taken, until you press and hold the reset button to zero it out. When it is reset, it will start again at zero and begin counting once it notices movement.

The unit remains on in sleep mode in between uses. It will start counting once it notices movement, and will display the steps taken once you have taken around 10-13 steps. The initial 10-13 steps are added in with the cumulative count. I reset my pedometer at the start of each new day, or when I take it off at the end of the day.

It comes with a removable clip, and also a lanyard if you want to wear it around your neck. It can also be carried in a purse, and still detect movement.

This unit comes with a long life battery that is good for up to a year.

Cons:

The one con about this unit, is it doesn't count swaying movements, i.e. side to side. So when I am dancing, it will count marching type steps, but not the hip sways that go from side to side. I would like it to count those movements too, as I am moving, so it should count. Anyway, other than that, I like it pretty well. Sometimes I just add some extra steps in for my daily count for the sways!

After I started walking on a more regular basis, I decided to keep a log. Here is a chart I came up with. This monthly walking chart is found in my CherylsArt store on Zazzle.

My Walking Record Step Pedometer Chart
by CherylsArt

There are daily columns for number of steps taken, distance, calories burned, and also one for location. I thought it would also be nice to see if there was a difference in calories burned with a change of terrain, if you are keeping track of that. The column headings can also be customized; you can keep track number of water bottles drank in a day, protein intake for the day, etc.

I'd be interested to know your feedback on the chart design.

Thank you.

Cheryl Paton

Goo Gone - a product review

The bumper sticker on my car was old and very faded. I applied one coating of the Goo Gone and waited a few minutes, per the instructions. After the initial wait, I was able to peel the vinyl like top coating.

A very sticky under layer remained. I applied a second coat of Goo Gone and let it sit for a couple of minutes. It loosened it up quite a bit and I got a good amount of it off.

I applied a third coating of Goo Gone and waited another minute or so, and easily wiped the remaining sticky stuff away. Voila, all the sticky spots and signs of the old bumper sticker were gone.

I had a second smaller bumper sticker that I decided to remove. It hadn't been on the car quite as long, only around a year or two. That one only took two coatings of the Goo Gone for it to be wiped away. I again had to peel the vinyl type layer off first, and then did the second layer. That was all that one needed.

If you have a sticky residue on a hard surface to remove, I would recommend Goo Gone. The previous text link goes to Amazon.

The company recommends not to use it on soft surfaces, faux steel, unpainted dry wall, unfinished wood, and unsealed stone. The label goes into more detail.

Cheryl Paton

Hangman Dry Erase Board from Zazzle Review

My daughter and I like playing hangman, and started playing it on a small dry erase board. We liked the convenience and sturdiness of it, so I decided to make one on Zazzle.com.

I made a hangman design and added the alphabet, and repeated it to be able to play three games before having to erase.

The game is played a little different on the alphabet version, as each letter is crossed off from the alphabet, whether it is used or not, so the players can see the remaining letters left. That part may require a little getting used to, but overall works pretty well.

The hangman figure and the alphabet remain after erasing, which is pretty cool, for playing the game.

The dry erase board itself, from Zazzle, is made of an acrylic which has some thickness to it, and is see through. The print and the hangman design are printed on the card stock that it is attached to. This means, that if you're looking at the design straight on, everything looks good and lined up.

However, if you look at the board from an angle, the lines over the letters that have been crossed off, will appear a bit off set. So the board may need to be repositioned to see clearly which letters remain. Other than that, the game works well.

You can click on the link to see more details, and/or to order if you are interested.

Play the hang man game dry erase board by Cherylsart

It's also fun to play it on Post-It-Notes paper.

Let's play hangman Post it Notes Post-it® Notes by Cherylsart

Cheryl Paton
CherylsArt on Zazzle.com.

Product Review - Pinhole Glasses for Improving Vision

Here you will find how I used pinhole glasses for improving my vision.

On one of my visits to the optometrist, many years ago, the doctor had said that next visit, he thought I should get bifocals. I thought, no way.

I started searching for natural ways to improve my vision. I read books, purchased kits, did eye exercises, and I was on my journey back to better vision naturally.

I have gradually been improving my vision over the years and have used various techniques. So far, the easiest one that I have used is the wearing of pinhole glasses. It's easy, because I just have to put them on. And they provided results. I also went without glasses as much as possible. At first, it was just in restaurants, where I could see a fuzzy person sitting across the table from me; and at home where could more easily see and know what was around me.

That is no longer an issue. I can read store names across the mall, easily and clearly see the people sitting across from me in restaurants, and also at other nearby tables.

I usually wear the pinhole glasses when watching TV. They especially come in handy in not only make the characters more distinct, they immediately improve my ability to read any text, which is especially great for watching shows like, Wheel of Fortune.

The pinhole glasses can take some getting use to. When wearing them, I usually had to adjust my head position and or eye position to see a more clearer picture, especially at first. Overall, I found the adjusting my head well worth it.

You can find pinhole glasses online on Amazon: Pinhole glasses.

Another technique that I usually do is moving my eyes in a wide circular motion, both clockwise and then counter clockwise. It's especially easy to do this while wearing the pinhole glasses, as I just follow around the rim of the frame with my eyes, a few times in each direction, thereby getting in some extra eye exercises while wearing the glasses.

I see much more clearly now than when I first started. Before starting natural vision exercises, one eye was rated as 20/600 and the other 20/650. On last exam, I could see better than 20/200 on a combined measurement without any glasses at all.

In addition to wearing pinhole glasses, I also incorporate eye exercises throughout my day. I drew some diagrams of the eye exercises that I do, like the circling of the eyes in each direction. A relaxing technique for your eyes, is to rub your palms together, and place them over your eyes. You can check these techniques and others out on posters at my CherylsArt store on Zazzle.

Eye vision exercises poster, I give thanks for... Poster
by CherylsArt

Before you go, think of the lyrics - I can see clearly now, and decide to notice the things that you do see clearly.

Cheryl Paton

Affirmation Stickers are Helpful for Kids and Adults

When my daughter was young, she loved receiving stickers for a job well done, for a lesson learned, for encouragement, and more. I thought that she had perhaps outgrown it, but maybe not.

I had read a comment on an earlier affirmation article of mine, that a lab technician and dietitian uses them in their work place, and that they work. I love that they're being used in work places too.

I guess we really don't outgrow liking signs of appreciation. Sometimes I even give myself some appreciation, by giving myself a compliment in the mirror. I still give my daughter appreciation, but perhaps I'll give her some in the form of some stickers too.

How about you?

These Bright Idea and Great Job stickers are a great way to reward the recipients. They are printed by Zazzle, a print on demand company. The stickers are peel and stick, and come in a choice of two sizes. They have a glossy finish and stick well.

That's a bright idea, Yellow Light Bulb stickers
by CherylsArt

Great job!, stickers, circles of colorful stars
by CherylsArt

Happy Rewarding.

Cheryl Paton

Use watercolor pencils for a color drawing, before painting with acrylic paint

Watercolor pencils work great for making a base drawing, for when you want to paint it in with acrylics and/or watercolors. A big plus is that you can now have your base drawing be in color, making the drawing so much easier to paint in. This comes in especially handy when making a rather large and/or intricate drawing.

The watercolor pencil markings will blend right in with the acrylic and watercolor paint. Any exposed watercolor pencils markings, can be wiped off with a damp paper towel after the paint has dried (when painting on a canvas or such surface with acrylic paint,) giving your painting a nice clean and blended look when finished. No more dark pencil marks showing through or smearing in with the paint!

I've used black drawing pencils before, and it had blended in the dark of the pencil with the acrylic paint, which I then had to go back over again and touch up. Using the watercolor pencils alleviated that extra step.

If you're looking for a watercolor pencil with a good grip, I recommend The Ergosoft watercolor pencils, by Staedtler; this link goes to Amazon. These watercolor pencils have a thin rubber type coating on the outer layer of the pencil. The body of these pencils have a rounded triangular shape, which I also find pretty comfortable to hold.

I just use a regular sized pencil sharpener to sharpen them.

Cheryl Paton

Painting People in Acrylic with Lee Hammond

When I first started painting people in acrylic, I looked at the photo and made my best guess with the skin paint colors that I had on hand. Once I got the book, Painting People in Acrylic with Lee Hammond, I opened up to more color possibilities. I added orange, blue and red; not the normal colors I had normally added when painting skin tones.

With the practice exercises of painting spheres, my blending techniques also improved.

This is the first face painting I did after practicing some skills that I learned in Hammond's book.

There are some things I would do differently now, were I to paint this boy again; however I am pleased with my first attempt with the skills I learned then.

If you're looking to take your skin painting skills in acrylic to the next level, I recommend this informative book by Lee Hammond, Paint People in Acrylic. It covers tips for painting skin as well as fur, brush maintenance, blending techniques, and more.

Paint People in Acrylic on Amazon

Cheryl Paton

Word Puzzle Game, Bananagrams Product Review

My family likes playing word puzzles; if there is paper on the table when we eat out at a restaurant, we usually grab the crayons and play hangman. Then I came up with the idea of Hangman on Post It Notes. You can read about that here: Hangman on Post it Notes.

My daughter and I also like playing word search puzzles. So I was much intrigued when I read someone's post about Bananagrams; so much so that when I saw the game at our local book store, I purchased one for myself.

Bananagrams is a letter title game in which the players put together crossword puzzles. It's different than Scrabble, in that each player builds their own individual puzzle. The thing that I like about playing Bananagrams is that there is no timer, and every once in awhile, for various reasons, you get to grab more letters; and it's all in fun.

When there are less letter tiles in the grab pile than there are players, the first player with no remaining tiles shouts Bananas! That person is the winner of that hand as long as all of their words are spelled correctly. The other thing I like about Bananagrams is that there are no letter scores to add up.

There are several alternative ways to play the game, for instance, there is a variation for playing in restaurants, not having to grab from the center pile, and playing the game singly. You could also make it more challenging by limiting the game to making only words in a certain category.

If you like word puzzle games already, and/or like making words from letters, the Bananagrams game can be a fun game for you. It can also be a great learning and teaching tool for learning spelling tips.

Bananagrams Game on Amazon

It also comes in a big tile version

Cheryl Paton