spring make up essentials.

I posted a while ago about my summer make up routine, which was kind of a bare minimum face considering I'm naturally bronzed in the summer and there is so much less need for product on your face for a number of reasons. This winter has been brutal, and my skin is pale and dry, so this is the face I'll be sporting all spring until I can get myself under some sun. There are a lot of days that I don't wear makeup at all, or I'll just swipe on some mascara and eyeliner, but this is the full "I'm going out somewhere today and want to look like I'm a sophisticated, together woman" face (though whether that's achieved is up for debate).Skin/face:
1// revlon photoready skinlights in bare light - I recently purchased this on a whim because I liked the packaging (ridiculous, but 9 times out of 10 worth it), and this product is great. It brightens the skin before putting on foundation, and leaves a glow. This will be awesome when there's actually some sun and light outside.
2// bare minerals matte powder foundation in golden fair - this powder foundation is amazing if, like me, you don't exactly love caking on a thick layer of foundation first thing in the morning. Though I'm far from having perfect skin, I can't deal with the feeling of liquid make up, unless it's super light like a BB cream or tinted moisturizer. This powder has amazing coverage, SPF, and a huge range of colors, including the one I use, which is specifically for olive undertones. That's so hard to find in most make up lines, and it doesn't look like cakey make up.
3// laura mercier tinted moisturizer in nude - like I just mentioned, I hate foundation, but a light tinted moisturizer can be great for adding a little bit of coverage while also moisturizing the skin. This line is great, so hydrating, and a very light formula with a variety of coloring options for days or nights when I know I need more than average coverage.
4// benefit boi-ing concealer in light/medium - I spoke about this in my last post - I use this to cover blemishes and redness in my skin, and it does the job. I haven't branched out that much in the ways of concealer, but for now, this works for me.
5// nars bronzer in laguna - in the winter I use a matte Too Faced bronzer, and I continue to use it in the spring and summer, but the laguna bronzer has a bit of golden shimmer that looks great as a contour and with a subtle highlight. The powder itself is so fine and blendable, a really great product.
6// mac prolongwear concealer in NW20 - this is a newer addition to my routine, but I can't imagine ever using another concealer for my under-eye circles ever again. The creamy and light formula performs magic on my dark circles (that are unfortunately 70% due to genetics, thanks dad) and doesn't crease, which is the best part. Not until I take my makeup off at night do my circles reappear.Eyes/lips/cheeks:
7// urban decay 24/7 glide on eye pencil in matte blackest black - this is another new to me product but woooo baby, I love it. This pencil is so creamy and pigmented, everything you want in an eyeliner.
8// covergirl lash blast fusion in very black - I really don't branch out with mascara too much because I just know that I love this one for the everyday. If I'm feeling jazzy, I love the benefit they're real! mascara, but I usually go back in with the covergirl to separate the lashes after a coat of the benefit. It just has a great brush that separates and adds volume.
9// lush honey trap lip balm - I am a lip balm hoarder, for reals. When I bought this, it was another case of the classic, "oh I mean I know I have a lot but this just smells so nice and it's so tiny so I'll just get it and throw it in a pocket of my bag that only has like one or two other lip balms". That's justification enough for me, and this lip balm is the bomb. It's hydrating, smoothing, almost adds a sheen to your lips that looks great for natural wear, and it smells and tastes amahhhzing.
10// maybelline color tattoo in pure nude - this particular shade isn't online yet because it's new for spring, but it is the perfect champagney, neutral, shimmery shade that is the exact type of shade I grab first when doing eye make up. These color tattoos are great as a base for eyeshadow, or just to wear on its own.
11// clinique cheek pop blush in peach pop - I mentioned this in my recent sephora post, and I have been using it literally every day. It gives the best color even though I only apply a really light layer but it's definitely buildable as a darker shade (the shade in the photo is a little bit off, but it's gorgeous).
12// mac mineralize skinfinish in soft & gentle - this is the be all end all of highlighters. It's raved about on the internet and I'm gonna rave about it now. Any season, any makeup look, this is the perfect highlight. The formula is great, it looks good applied with a brush, even better and more intense when applied with your fingers. It's just great, I can't say anything more constructive because "it's just great" is all you need to know.

I have a problem with buying makeup so my products are ever changing, but most of these are my go to products for the every day.

project life 2014 // week twelve.

Dated: March 17 - March 23. Week twelve went back into winter status, but the appearance of outdoor photos is slowly increasing.What I did this week: This week was a pretty standard week in the life sprinkled with gym sessions, a new project life monthly kit, begium waffle ice cream sandwiches, and a movie and brunch date with friends.About this spread: This week was so photo heavy even though I really didn't pull out my camera much. I kept the journaling completely on the photos so that I could add in a few more than I usually would. The full right side had a pretty neutral feel to it, and randomly the left side had a lot of bright yellow in it, so it kind of worked for me.Details + interesting tidbits: I put another cork sticker from office hours on the transparency card from last week to balance it out and keep it see-through, and added some loose sequins to the pocket to spruce it up. I had so many pictures of Max on the swing at the playground, so I knew that I wouldn't be able to choose just one. I picked a few that were taken in a row by holding down the shutter button on my iphone, and I love the way that they look all in a row. I also wanted to include a photostrip from the movie theater, but instead of taking a picture of it, I figured I'd just include it. I added avery tabs directly to the strip and punched holes into the clear tabs for a makeshift little insert. I adhered the ticket to the movie on the back (Divergent, soooo good), and added a bit of journaling.Photo breakdown: phone photos: 12 // canon t3 photos: 1 // polaroid photos: 0. Taken by me, the self-timer, and shutter remotes. Photostrip is from a photo booth at the movie theater.Materials, supplies, and tools I used: midnight core kit, design A pocket pages, less is more stamps, studio calico office hours monthly kit (cork circle sticker, transparency card, + 1, 2, 3 stamps), gold sequins,  hero arts white ink, aqua arrow paper clip, fiskars corner rounder, fiskars paper trimmer, staz-on jet black ink, hp everyday photo paper, smash date stamp, zig writer for vellum marker in black (on photos), zig writer marker in black (on journal cards).

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Project Life is a simplified solution to scrapbooking created by Becky Higgins that helps you to record the memories of everyday life. Document your story either physically or digitally along with me and so many others. Find out more here, how to start here, & see all of my PL 2014 posts here.

currently.

getting back into the groove after a four day fight against spring allergies.
working on a couple of new ideas to reopen my empty etsy shop very soon.
loling (it's a verb) every time I watch this video (2:47 soooo many chins).
reading the goldfinch, which is taking a while because it's so long, but man, it is well written.
enjoying this image as my phone background because, I meeeaaaaaaaan, really.
craving soup all the time.
hating that the spring weather from last week is nowhere to be found this week (since I'm paying for it through my allergies anyway).
listening to queen bey on repeat.
working on my 25 things whenever appropriate and actively thinking about my OLW intentions daily.
thinking about my next tattoo and tossing around a few different ideas.
wanting to see divergent in theaters again because even though I have mixed feelings about the rest of the series, this adaptation was fantastic.
blowing my nose, then max's nose, then mine again #helloallergyseason.
watching parenthood on netflix, sooo goooood.
baking these, these, and these in the near future.
feeling a little bit run down, but a nice break from the norm is a good way to fix that.
starting to get really excited that R will be here in just over a week.
planning a new blog series/feature that will begin once I'm completely back on my feet.
joining the frozen family after finally renting it on demand - I jumped on the wagon - it's so great!
loving watching max really grow both physically and emotionally these past few weeks. He seriously changes in the blink of an eye and is becoming more and more of a little person.
waiting ever so patiently for spring's arrival so I can be outside and put my coats away. It's enough now, winter.

office hours.

Yesterday's project life post for week eleven featured my first ever studio calico project life monthly kit, office hours. It arrived in an adorable little box last Thursday, and I could not be more excited about it.Inside the kit (which I'm assuming will vary each month in ways both big and small) there were chipboard pieces, sequins, alphabet stickers, labels, 4x6 cards, 3x4 cards (that golden card is everything), cork circle stickers, transparency sheets, and clear stamps. I finally have use for my acrylic stamp block, which I had mostly forgotten about up until now because I have been taking advantage of the ease of wooden block rubber stamps. I love the colors of this kit because they are bright and coral-y and spring-y, and the pieces all just mesh together really well. That "golden" card is seriously what put me over the edge to start a subscription because I'm obsessed with it and couldn't take seeing it in so many photos on #scsneaks and in spreads on blogs. I got it a bit later than everyone else, but I'm still so happy to have all of these great things in my stash. And, because I was so late getting this one, I'll get the next one (which looks so good) earlier! Double great.

project life 2014 // week eleven.

Dated: March 10 - March 16. Week eleven gave us the first hint of spring, and documenting it felt like it.What I did this week: Got myself outside into the few days of chilly sunshine both with Max and to run, which felt great. Had an independent errands day, and started working on my one little word vision board. A quiet week, but a good one.About this spread: I finally caved and started a subscription to studio calico's monthly project life kits and could not be happier that I took the plunge. The kit from this past month, Office Hours, is awesome, and it was really fun mostly limiting myself to the materials in the kit to create a cohesive spread. Details + interesting tidbits: I used on of the SC transparencies to use a cork circle sticker, and used my new tiny attacher to staple sequins on. I used all coral-y peach colored journal cards to channel the spring vibe, and a few other embellishments from the SC kit to add to that, like the "hello sunshine" chipboard piece above. I love the alphabet card next to Max on the bicycle because even though he's known his alphabet for a while now, he sings it all the time when he's not even thinking about it, which is adorable.Photo breakdown: phone photos: 10 // canon t3 photos: 1 // polaroid photos: 0. Taken by me, the self-timer, and shutter remotes.

Materials, supplies, and tools I used: design A pocket pages, elise joy stamp, less is more stamps, studio calico office hours monthly kit (cork circle sticker, hello sunshine chipboard piece, navy thickers, & stamp, transparency card, navy label, + journal cards), gold sequins, hero arts white ink, tiny attacher, fiskars corner rounder, fiskars paper trimmer, staz-on jet black ink, hp everyday photo paper, smash date stamp, zig writer for vellum marker in black (on photos), zig writer marker in black (on journal cards).

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Project Life is a simplified solution to scrapbooking created by Becky Higgins that helps you to record the memories of everyday life. Document your story either physically or digitally along with me and so many others. Find out more here, how to start here, & see all of my PL 2014 posts here.

shutter remotes for the win.

I recently went into my local camera shop to see what kind of infrared remotes they have for my camera (Canon Rebel T3), which does not have infrared capabilities that allow a shutter remote to connect to it. They showed me an awesome one with an attachment to the external flash slot that plugs into the side of the camera, with a remote that then works with the reciever to activate the shutter. I was ready for them to bag it for me when I remembered to ask for the price, and was shocked to hear that it was "ninety nine mam". Um, no.So, like all expensive things that I know I can get somewhere else, I visited amazon and stumbled on this infrared receiver and remote by JR. Though the product was rated 4.5 stars overall, I read through the reviews and saw some really horrible one stars. I made an executive decision despite those reviews to trust the good reviews and the price and just go with it. It arrived two days later and I could not be happier with how well it performs and how simple it is to take on + off and use. So while it's annoying that I can't just use a remote without the hassle of a receiver, this is the best possible solution.Then, for my birthday, I asked for an iphone shutter remote, because while I love my DSLR, my iphone is always with me and probably takes about 80% of all of my daily photos (working on decreasing that number significantly, but in the meantime...). I saw this shutter remote by Muku on amazon, and when I googled it to see if anyone had any reviews up (because I feel like this is a fairly new concept with not a lot of competition yet) I saw that Elsie of ABM actually owns it and wrote a post about how much she loves it. So if I wasn't sold before, I definitely was after that.This remote, like the receiver + remote combo for my canon, makes life so much easier, and makes taking photos so much fun because there are more opportunities to get creative. The iphone one is so tiny and great for parties and hang outs where everyone wants to be in the same picture, or for when Max doesn't want to be photographed (which is sneaky, but that's almost all the time now so I have to work around him somehow!) The canon remote has been useful for a number of blog photographs and to take higher quality portraits. To see my remotes in action, check out the photos in this post (canon) and this post (iphone).

card obsession.

1. hello gorgeous by rifle paper co. // 2. awkward love card by emilymcdowelldraws. // 3. PB&J anniversary card by happydappybits. // 4. every day is the best day card by paper generation. // 5. birthday candles card by rifle paper co. // 6. perfect pair card by paper source. // 7. I'd be lost without you card by anthropologie. // 8. naughty anniversary card by rowhouse14.

I love sending cards and handwritten notes to friends and family, especially to R because he lives so far away and sometimes it's just nice to say I miss you with a note rather than over text. I feel like the art of the handwritten note has been compromised due to technology, but I'm determined to keep it a part of my life, and these retailers and etsy shop owners are on the same page. For my 25 things adventure, one of the challenges that I set myself is to write a handwritten note to a friend at least once a month. And to me, that doesn't really count as birthday cards (unless it's someone you normally don't send a card to) because you usually are reminded to send one anyway. This is more of a "just because" attitude that I'm trying to engrain in my mail sending habits. Some of the cards above are ones that I would consider buying and sending (along with literally everything else on all of the websites because they're so freakin' cute. I already bought number seven!) and intend to in order to complete my small goal for this year of my life. If I had to choose a favorite of all the above locations, I would have to say rifle paper co. gets my vote simply because they have what I think to be the most variety in terms of the styles that I already know I love. I bought this card and this card last summer and framed them in small white frames because they were just too nice not to showcase! There really is nothing like happy snail mail to make someone's day, and that's what I intend to do more this year.

the easiest cake topper ever.

Though it was my birthday last Friday at midnight, my friends and I were also celebrating my friend Kiersten, who's birthday was Thursday. I made a homemade funfetti cake for her with pink ombre icing, a 22 in pastel rainbow sprinkles, and a "happy bday" cake topper out of gold pipe cleaners. If this cake doesn't scream "you spend too much time on pinterest", I don't know what does.The cake topper was literally the easiest and quickest diy I've ever done. Once you've figured out a good size for the letters, the twisting and turning should come naturally. I didn't cut anything, just kept wrapping the excess pipe cleaner around the shape of the letter until there was none left. After the first letter I used the length from the bottom of the pipe cleaner to the top of the formed letter to line up the next one and make the first bend.The pipe cleaners slid into the cake so easily and made it look so freakin cute. I can't imagine making a cake now without these. You can spell out names, happy birthday, numbers, anything. So easy + so cute.

tunes tuesday // march playlist.

Over the past month ish, I've had a few albums on repeat every time I sit at my desk or computer, but this group of single songs has been my go to playlist all month. A few are off of the albums I'm binging on, like One Republic's album and Bastille's album, and some are from xm radio that are either on regular radio now or will be soon. To my fellow spotifyers, listen to this playlist here. And for everyone else, seriously, get spotify. Just do it. Now.

sephora is my kryptonite.

Actually, I should reword that: beauty youtubers like jaclynhill, essiebutton + zoella are my kryptonite. Anything Jaclyn tells me I need, it's like she hardwires into my head the steps from watching the video to writing the product down on a list of ten others to driving in my car to checking out at sephora. She's a magician. So this happened:Despite what I've said, I am pretty selective in the things that these youtubers recommend. You have to bear in mind when watching these videos that make up and skin care products are a big part of their jobs on youtube and elsewhere, so I do like to really take their recommendations into consideration when it comes to products that I actually need (need is a stretch, but you follow me).The benefit boi-ing concealer is a product I already use and can say is probably the first makeup product I've owned besides mascaras and eyeliners that I've completely finished. It matches my skin tone and does the job I need it to do, which is covering redness and blemishes on my face. The blush is a clinique cheek pop in peach pop, and ever since getting an awesome blush in my February ipsy bag I have been on the hunt for another new one in a different shade. After seeing a lot of youtubers recommend this little one, I caved. The Korres primer was something I had to put a little more thought into. I've seen both Shannon and Jaclyn use the vitamin e primer by them, so I was interested in looking at it because I need a good primer. The woman at sephora recommended this greek yogurt primer from the line because it is super hydrating (it really is), which is more what I need for my skin. So I'm glad I got the tip off from them about the quality of the product so that I could then pick what works for me. The glam glow mask is a product that though it seems a waste of money, it's supposed to be the most amazing face mask ever. Since I was working with some birthday money from my aunt, I decided to splurge on the small size of the youthmud tinglexfoliate version and test it out. Though this mask stings like a mother in the first few minutes it's on your face, it lightly exfoliates, pulls out impurities, and smoothes your skin out in the most amazing way, so pretty worth it so far, but I don't know if I would ever purchase the full size of any of the other versions (this one + this one). Finally, I grabbed a new red lippy from Buxom in the shade Barcelona because let's be real, I need another red lipstick like I need a hole in the head but this color is just perfection and the formula is amazing.Because it was my birthday month when I was there, I got my birthday gift, which was a make up for ever mascara and lipstick sample set that is so me & so perfect. It came with a rouge artist natural lipstick in the shade copper pink, which is literally my favorite type of sheer red lip color, and a smoky extravagant mascara with the most ginourmous wand I have ever seen in my life. Like. Huge.And that's that. I liked picking out a few little birthday treats as well as an actual birthday treat from the shop. I love stores that do this type of thing rather than just send a coupon for your birthday month, though those are great too. I'm loving everything I got so far and feel like I've scratched my sephora itch for a while ('while' is a relative term).

project life 2014 // week ten.

Dated: March 3 - March 9. Week ten was my birthday week, and documenting it was so fun.

What I did this week: I had off on Monday because Max had a party in school that his mom wanted to go to and spent the whole day with my friend Meagan at the gym and getting our nails done. I worked Friday as a result (working on Fridays is for animals, god bless all of you five-dayers out there), so was busy all week getting ready for a birthday party for my friend Kiersten and myself on Friday. Saturday I spent the beautiful sunny day at the gym and outside, then went to dinner with my parents and caught a train into the city for a night out to celebrate with my oldest girlfriends.

About this spread: I had so many photos for this week, but I knew that I wanted to add inserts that weren't photos already, so I just cut it down to some of the best ones and left it at that. I went back this week to using a lot more stamps, because they are for sure my favorite things to use, and because I liked last week's cohesiveness with the seafoam journal cards, I kept it uniform with the tan journal cards this week.

Details + interesting tidbits: (Above) A lot of detail went into this week's spread. To start, I did the same type of current documentation for me and Max, like I did for the first week of February. I used a calendar card this week because it was the first full week of March, and instead of journaling on it like I have the past two months, I stamped it and wrote "birthday month" on the side. I used a polaroid photo this week and clipped it to a 3"x 4" card like I usually do. (Below) The first insert I added was straight from my 25 things blog post, and because the 4" x 11" size I made it was a weird size for photos, I made it double sided by adding the text "25 things" to the back. I cut down a pocket page from my OLW album and sealed it with washi tape. The second insert was an envelope insert that I used to put a few of my birthday cards in. I added a grid card with stamping and text about birthdays to the front pocket of the envelope, and I love how you can see through it to the cards.

Photo breakdown: phone photos: 8 // canon t3 photos: 2 // polaroid photos: 1. Taken by me and the self-timer. Group photo on bottom right taken by a friend.Materials, supplies, and tools I used: seafoam core kit, design A pocket pages, elise joy stamps, live love paper stamp, less is more "love" stamp, elise joy calendar card, two peas wood veneer "hello" card, two peas star paper clip (different colors), sn@p cardstock alphabet stickers, we r memory keepers 8.5"x 11" page protector, project life tall envelope, 3"x 4" grid cards, fiskars corner rounder, fiskars paper trimmer, staz-on jet black ink, hp everyday photo paper, smash date stamp, zig writer for vellum marker in black (on photos), zig writer marker in black (for journaling).

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Project Life is a simplified solution to scrapbooking created by Becky Higgins that helps you to record the memories of everyday life. Document your story either physically or digitally along with me and so many others. Find out more here, how to start here, & see all of my PL 2014 posts here.

friday link love | 3.

This week in terms of videos and links I've loved have been plentiful, so the time to share is nigh, friends.

This remake of drunk in love will crack you up, especially if you are #teamiphone.
How adorable are these letterpress cards?
Taking photobombing to a famous level.
I love donuts + I love free printables. A match made in heaven.
This game was eating up my free time for a while and now it's back with a vengeance.
I think I need to read this (and also on a similar wavelength is this and this).
Project life is what you make it, and Nicole's spreads are always amazing, especially this Olympics one.
Obsessed with this nail art.
Some of my new favorite youtubers made a movie. I haven't watched it yet but the preview looks amazing, and if you were a sleepaway camper like me, I think we'll both love it!
Yeah, sums me up in a nutshell.
Business cards are something in the forefront of my mind for when I start up the etsy shop again and this article was pretty informative.
As if I didn't love Ed Sheeran enough, he goes ahead and reenacts one of the best scenes of Mean Girls as Cady.
I went from impressed to amazed to mesmerized while watching this incredible video.
These stickers are so simple but I feel like they are everything I need.
NEED NEED NEED number 55. I've talked with R about something like this quite a few times and this photo just really clicked for me. Such a simple design that could really be put anywhere.

thirty day selfie challenge.

After reading ABM Photo Idea Book in January, I decided to do the thirty day self portrait challenge in the Capture Yourself section of the book. There were few guidelines, only to take one portrait yourself every day for a whole month, which has to be "about you or show you in some way", and to share it as you go. I posted quite a few of these on instagram as I went along, and compiled them all at the end of each week until I had thirty days' worth.I had a lot of fun with this project, because even though these photos aren't so different than the types I used to take of myself, I feel like there was a shift in my process and I also came to a few realizations. When I read that page of the book I thought, "what a great idea!", because I figured it would be a way to kind of engrain the habit of taking photos of myself and including myself in photos more. However, there were times I would panic at the end of the day because I hadn't taken a photo, only to realize that I actually did take one of my shoes, or with Max, or of me holding my coffee.So I guess in the end this project opened me up to a few new ways to photograph myself, but it also made me realize that on the everyday I usually do document something about myself, no matter how small. Everyone should do this at least once, especially if they are always taking pictures and are never in them. I definitely want to set out to do this a few months out of the year because I thought it was so fun, but this has also made me want to try a bunch of other types of monthly photo challenges, like an outdoor challenge in the summer, or thirty days of Lucas or something. Stay tuned.

simple diy: key in a frame.

This project is probably one of the easiest ones I've ever done, but perhaps one of the most meaningful, along with the wooden blocks I made to display some of my favorite pictures from college. Though I lost the pictures of the process, it was easy, and can be done in far less steps than the ones I took.

I used a nice frame that used to be a really gross dusty pink, and I spray painted it gold back when I first became obsessed with spray painting. I kept my old key from my college apartment (which normally you can't do but I had made this cute leopard print one as an extra and the landlord changes the locks after every owner anyway!) and used my xyron to put adhesive on the back of it. I put it down on some cardstock and wrote the nickname of our apartment (which is just the address, but it's how everyone identified their homes in Scranton) and the years that we lived there.

Such a simple project that can be done with any key you have lying around that doesn't have a use anymore, and any frame that you have or can be store bought (the spray painting is just an obsessive additional step that I will always go out of my way to do if I see a need for it #cantstopwontstop). This key means nothing to anyone else, but when I look at it I think of my apartment and my girls and all of the amazing time we spent in that house from 2010-2012, which is more than enough for me to want to display it proudly.

sequined sweatshirt.

The other day I was on bloglovin' and saw this post from ABM and literally squealed with excitement and sighed like, "why the hell didn't I think of this?!" (which happens pretty much every time I read ABM, those girls are crazy talented and creative). I've seen a ton of sequined sweatshirts and tees on pinterest, like this one and this one, but they get really expensive, or just don't look exactly like what I want to spend that kind of money on. As soon as I saw this post I dug some sequin trim out of my craft box (you don't have sequin trim lying around just in case?), as well as scissors, a needle + gold thread, and a black sharpie. I had to run out for a sweatshirt, but found one at target for $10 at half off and I bought fabric glue at Michael's. I printed out the word "bisou" (kiss in french) in script at ten inches wide onto regular printer paper and cut the word out.Lay the cut out paper on your sweatshirt and trace the word with the sharpie. Spread a thin (THIN...I used way too much, but it's difficult to get only a little at a time) layer of fabric glue along the left side of the line and start laying the sequins along the glue. The tricky part with this (that wasn't in Laura's post) is that the glue gets all over the place if you're not careful, and while your sequin trim is getting spun around and tangled with every loop you make, it gets frustrating. Also, if you are using a word like mine that has 4/5 letters that go back on themselves, I learned the hard way the best way to go about that, so definitely take this advice: after your first layer of sequins you go back in with another layer so that they slightly overlap but you have two rows. The first time around with the sequins you want to try and make that second row of sequins on the letters that go back on themselves (for example, the bottom of the S goes first to the left, then back out to the right to connect to the O. Just make a U turn where the S ends and start your second row to the O). Then at the end of your word make a U turn and go back only to the places where there is still one row. It should work out that you took care of all of the instances where you'd have to go over an area twice.Ending is the hardest (only second to creating the dot on the I. Don't use an I unless you absolutely feel a definite calling to a word with an I. It was haaaarrrrrd). My sequin trim was just they type with sequins threaded together (not the kind with the fabric attached on one side), so when I cut the end off to finish the word, the last few sequins came flying off even though the thread doubles back to hold them in place. Then you have a frayed piece of thread to try and tuck under the rest of your sequins and make it look flawless. It's hard to explain, but when you're in the situation you'll figure out what works best for you. After you're finished, it's recommended that you stitch through every third or fourth sequin for reinforcement, but I found that this would be kind of impossible because of the glue hardening in the holes of the sequin. Instead, I reinforced the dot of the I because it was the most insecure, as well as the tops or bottoms of any letters that seemed to have a sequin on the edge that wasn't completely glued down.By no means does my sweatshirt look as good as Laura's. Hers looks store bought, and to me mine looks handmade and a bit wonky (I may add an S to make the word plural and balance out the spacing). But really, handmade is awesome. I wore this twice already and got so many compliments as if it were store bought, so when I announced proudly that I made it, I was complimented even further. Wearing/displaying/eating/giving something you made yourself is the best feeling. Wear your glue covered sweatshirt with pride! (Or tell me your secrets if you managed to do this without getting glue all over your sequins - I will most definitely be doing this project again for a hot weather piece and could use the tips).