Rebecca's Soap Delicatessen Goodies

I had a happy mail day last week when I got some goodies from Rebecca's Soap Delicatessen. I was so excited to open the package because I could SMELL the product while it was still all wrapped up! Rebecca sent me some Strawberry Sorbet Lip Balm and some Coconut Mango Goat Milk Soap.

I am a walking case of dry skin so anything that provides relief of that is a good product in my book. I'm addicted to this lip balm. Its ingredients include cocoa butter, avocado oil, sweet almond oil and Vitamin E. So you can imagine how amazing it feels going on your lips.

The goat milk soap is also specially formulated for dry skin, using a combination of butters and oils. And the smell? Ooooh my. Amazing!

Rebecca's blog is filled with a lot of awesome tutorials, including how she makes her lips balms! (This one was so interesting to me because I'm completely clueless as to how to make any sort of beauty or soap product but Rebecca made it sound almost easy enough for me.)

JAA readers can get 10% off anything in her shop with the coupon code JAA. Offer valid until 4/30/13.

Blog Wonderful

When I started this blog in March 2011 (wow it's almost our 2 year anniversary you guys!) I didn't know what to expect. I spent a lot of time researching how to engage readers, how to get views, etc. I Googled my way from "blogging tips post" to "blogging tips post." It took a lot of time, and it was also before Pinterest, so bookmarking these tips was not convenient.

Too bad Blog Wonderful wasn't around yet! Have you heard about Blog Wonderful? It's an e-book written by Dana, from The Wonder Forest. I'm sure you've heard of her. :] Dana and I have been working together for a long time, and it has been amazing to watch her blog grow and succeed. 

Her e-book is filled with helpful tips for bloggers, new and novice. It covers topics like branding, gaining followers, making money, even blog design tricks!

I often get e-mails from girls who are new to the blogging world and are looking for tips. My recommendation? Buy this book. :] It is a one-stop place for all the information you need. No Googling your life away necessary. Find the information you're looking for in one location and have access to it wherever you want, whenever you want. It's available in Kindle, PDF, iBooks, etc. here!

The thing I love most about this e-book though is where it comes from. A blogger. An independent business owner. A girl who learned from her own blogging experience and wants to share it with others. Dana is an amazing business woman and she's always inspiring me. I would take as many blogging tips as I can get from her. ;]

Threads

I'm so happy to partner up with Ashley, from The Shine Project today to help spread the word on one of her newest projects, Threads. This line of cute and stylish bracelets are made by American at-risk youth. Threads employs them to help them pay their way through college.

Ashley sent me this personalized gold bracelet from their newest line. It can be customized to say whatever you'd like (within the 4 character limit) so it would be perfect for a personal Valentine's Day gift! The Threads shop has a wide variety of bracelets (spikes, arrow, hearts, beads, you name it!), definitely something for everyone. And don't forget, the more bracelets that are sold, the more at-risk youths they can employ! So amazing! Check out the shop!

My Studio Space

If you follow me on Instagram you may know that I set up a second printer in my studio last week. In all honesty, this printer has been sitting around for months. I finally got around to moving around some furniture and setting it up next to my desk. Now I get excited every time I get to have two jobs printing simultaneously! Total timesaver I should've done a long time ago.

I also added some new artwork to the walls that I got from my awesome sponsor, Olivier, from I Like Maps. When Olivier asked me if I wanted some maps of my own I immediately said yes. I don't know if it's the lines they create or the locations themselves, but I just think they are so cool!

I Like Maps offers completely custom maps so I was able to choose the location, color and size. This was really cool to me because the possibilities were endless. I thought about going with Sydney, Australia since we had an amazing time there this year. But in the end, I went with my hometown, Detroit WHAT?

Since these maps would be great personalized handmade Christmas gift, Olivier is offering 15% off with the coupon code JULIEANNART. Check out his shop to find the perfect customizable map for you!

Product Review: Soapdeli Soap

I have struggled with skin issues my entire life. At a young age I was diagnosed with eczema. As an adult, I still suffer from eczema, especially when I am stressed.

Because of this, I have to be very cautious of what I put on my skin.  I carry a thick hand cream and a medicated cream in my purse at all times in preparation for a potential eczema outbreak. My skin dries out extremely easily. Soaps, especially, can be very drying. That's why I'm happy I was introduced to soap from Rebecca's Soap Delicatessen. 

Rebecca sent me a sample of her Exfoliating Lettuce Gardener's Soap. While bar soaps can often leave a dry residue, this soap left my skin feeling great! It is made with moisturizing ingredients, containing rich, wholesome goat's milk, shea butter, cocoa butter, olive oil, rice bran oil and even colloidal oatmeal. So it didn't leave my skin feeling tight and dry like other bar soaps do. Plus, the ground calendula petals serve as a bonus exfoliator! 

The soap has a refreshing scent, created with a blend of spearmint, lettuce and rain. Perfect for the start of spring! And I love how the scent stayed on my skin even after my shower was over.

SoapDeli also offers a wide variety of goat milk lotions, sugar scrub cubes, lip balms and more! Julie Ann Art readers can get 15% off the SoapDeli shop with the coupon code JAA. This offer is valid through 5/31/12. Enjoy!

Product Review: Stencil from RoyalDesignStencils

After including an item from Royal Design Studio in one of my Etsy love posts, they asked me to do a product review. Royal Design Studio offers hundreds of elegant stencils to use for decorative painting around your home. I chose to use the Eastern Lattice Stencil on an old table that I've been wanting to paint. The stencil came well packaged and I was surprised at how thick and sturdy it was.

I started by taping up the part of the table that I didn't want the stencil design to get on. (Do you like my lame white paint job? I slacked on the inside and left it brown...)

Carefully position the stencil where you'd like it. I tried the tape down method but I would recommend using Spray Adhesive instead. I think the Spray Adhesive will hold the stencil in place better.

The instructions that came with this stencil were very thorough. They walked me through a unique painting technique that was developed specifically for these stencils. You can find a lot of tutorials and instructions here. Royal Design Studio also offer this special brush that works best on this dry painting technique.

Since my table was larger than the stencil, I let the paint dry before repositioning the stencil. The stencil has grid marks on it that made it extremely easy to line up the second time. I repeated the painting process again.

This stencil technique really took my boring brown side table to the next level. While I'd be nervous to try stenciling on an entire wall, I'd definitely recommend it to add extra style to a piece of furniture in your home. It only took a couple hours and my table is now a statement piece in our office. Check out the photos at Royal Design Studio, the possibilities are endless and they all look gorgeous!

Have a product you'd like me to review? E-mail me at julie.astra[at]yahoo.com!