Featured Maven :: Blogging Maven

by NaturalArtMaven on May 24, 2013

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Today’s featured maven is none other than my sister-in-law, Amanda Eakins.  Check her out! :)

Name:  Amanda Eakins

Location:  Alexandria, Louisiana

Occupation: Housewife, Stay-at-home mom, Small Business Owner

 

The Hair:

How long have you been natural?

My last relaxer was in July 2011 and I big chopped in November 2011.  My hair journey began 17 months ago.

Did you big chop or transition and how did you make that decision?

I big chopped… I did not put much though into it… It was a sudden decision.

What made you decide to go natural? 

Whenever I washed my hair, it would come out in chunks.  I thought I was ill.  I had my physician run a serious of tests on me including a CAT scan and we found out it was just stress.  My hair had been falling out for months now and one day I had enough.  I sat at my vanity and I literally chopped all of my hair off.  I was left with maybe an inch of hair

How did your family and friends react to your decision to go natural?

My sister thought, it was all a joke.  She would often ask when would I be getting my next relaxer.  17 months later, she is still asking.

How has going natural affected your life, way of thinking, etc. if at all?

Well, I do not wear weaves anymore!  Huge savings in the financial department…

From a professional standpoint, have you ever had any problems in your career or workplace because of your natural hair?

No not at all, I work from home though.  Even if I had a corporate job, I do not see any reasons for any problems.  I think its fair to assume that other races are not having issues with their tresses, so, why should I have them with mine?

What is the best/worst compliment you have received since going natural?

I think the worst I have heard was from my husband.  He made mention that I looked like Don King…my feelings were crushed.  Another time my sister left a comment on one of my Facebook photos asking me to comb my hair.  I was humiliated.  My hair was combed; I was wearing a twist out.  I had previously spent hours co-washing, detangling and twisting my hair.

What is the best and worst thing you have done since going natural?

I have since made many positive changes in my life…while my family and I are not vegetarians, I no longer cook meat at home.  Instead, we partake only when we are dinning out.  My husband and I also started our own Web Design Company.

 

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The Person:

Do you have any hobbies or passions that you would like to share with us?

My newest hobby is blogging; I am addicted to putting my thoughts on paper.

Cooking is another all time favorite.  My true loves are lifting weights, running and swimming (in that order), but I haven’t been able to truly enjoy them like I used too since I had my babies.

How did you get interested in these activities?

My sister-in-law has been encouraging me to blog now for years.  I finally muffled up the courage to do it.  Now, I cannot get enough of it!  Cooking was introduced to me at an early age; I was only eight when I started my first cooking lessons…my mom is old school so it was important for her daughters to know how to cook.  I am prior military so running was a big part of my life…my best memories were running miles with my friends and then taking a swim.

From a career standpoint, what are your interests and are you currently pursuing them?

I love anything to do with Finance Accounting and Business Management!  Although I am not employed with an accounting firm, I have the pleasure of managing Welai Designs.  In addition, I get to enjoy the tax season yearly, working for friends and family.  For now, I am content.

 

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Did you meet your other half while you were natural?  If not, how did they react to your decision?

No, I believe I was wearing a bad weave.  My husband always talks about how bad my hair looked..lol.  He really did not say much about my decision.  I knew that he liked long weaves and so I tried to maintain that style for him.

How has his reaction/attitude changed, if at all, from then until now?

I was nervous at first; I did not wear my hair out for the first 10 months. One morning we were headed to church and I unleashed the fro.  Surprisingly, he loved it.  I secretly needed his blessing and I got it.

How do you balance being a mother, life and hair?

I don’t…lol.  Between my 2 year old daughter and I, we look like a hot mess.  I do not do anything to our hair all week long.  We get twists done on Fridays for church on the weekends and then we are right back to a matted mess by Monday.

By going natural, do you find yourself trying to shape your children with a wider view on beauty standards?  If so, how do you accomplish this?

We tell my daughter that she is beautiful everyday, whether her hair is matted or not.  She understands that being beautiful is about her character and less about her features.

 

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Is there any advice that you would like to give to other naturals regarding hair, life, career or motherhood?

A bit cliché but in life, do what makes you happy.   As moms, we sometimes feel that we cannot have it all, and we must choose between our family and our career.  Not true!  If you really want something, you will figure out a way to make it work.  I do all of my work for the business between 12 am and 5 am when the kids should be sleeping.  It works for me!  Find what works for you!

Do you blog, socialize online, etc?  If so, where can we find you?

Facebook.com/welaidesigns

Twitter.com/welaidesigns

www.welaidesigns.com

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Random Musings

by NaturalArtMaven on May 8, 2013

Natural Hair High Bun

This a quick post of random musings that have been aimlessly floating around in my head…

I count bobby pins.  If five go in, I look for five to come out.

I have a horrible memory, so I only use five bobby pins.

Styling options for thick hair and five bobby pins are limited.

Five bobby pins will not create a full up-do.  Maybe a nape-do or a just above your neck-do.

My hair is alive.

When it is angry at a bobby pin, it kicks it out of the circle of trust…on to the floor.

I should look for four bobby pins to come out.

 

NaturalArtMaven

 

 

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Natural Hair Problems :: Matting

by NaturalArtMaven on May 3, 2013


As you may be aware, I have been exclusively using my fingers to detangle and style my hair.  I have not used a comb with my hair in about a year and a half or so and I think it has been really beneficial to the health of my hair.  Another reason why I like finger detangling is because I get much better clumping and definition than when I used a comb or brush.  The problem has been my laziness which is a result of being pretty busy with my business.

I detangle my hair in the shower, mainly because it takes a while for my hair to absorb water and really get wet, so I need the constant stream of the shower head to thoroughly wet my hair and keep it wet to detangle my hair.  The problem is that now that my hair is a lot longer and I have so much of it, it takes longer to detangle and the hot water runs out. When that happens, I tend to get impatient, because now I am wet and cold and only half way through the process.  I have been looking for a shower wand with an on/off switch to connect to my shower filter, to try to help solve this problem.

Because of my impatience and laziness, I have not been thoroughly detangling my hair like I should and that resulted in a ton of shed hair trapped near the roots of my hair.  In addition to that, I started noticing my looser section matting and seemingly trying to lock.  So…I decided to tackle the situation with a comb.  Mainly because I thought it would be faster to thoroughly detangle and I might not have to sit cold and wet in the tub for so long.  Check out the video to learn more!

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NaturalArtMaven, where have you been?

by NaturalArtMaven on April 19, 2013

When I created this site, it was my full intention to blog on a regular basis, document my natural hair journey, and share tips and my love of healthy living and art.  For at least a year, I was very diligent in my aspirations and I quite enjoyed sharing with the online community in this space.  However, life had other plans for me.  By trade, I am a graphic designer and I have enjoyed doing a little freelance work on the side for extra money.  My graphic design business was never something I considered doing on a full time basis, until the company I was working for allowed me to work from home.

I worked for 3M as a graphic designer in the automotive aftermarket division for four years on a contract basis.  When I was first hired, I was told that there would be no possibility of the assignment lasting more than those three months.  Fast forward four years, and not only had it lasted much longer than that, but although I was not the last one hired in, I was the last one to go after my department was moved to headquarters in St. Paul, MN.  In fact, that is what lead to me working from home.  I packed up our department, equipment, etc and helped facilitate the move.  My supervisor had been managing us remotely from headquarters and when everything was gone, I asked if I could telework for the rest of my contract (every few months I had been given a contract extension).

I absolutely fell in love with working from home.  I could control my environment and limit the amount of distractions, which allowed me to be more productive.  I had made the rounds of the local creative agencies to let them know that I would soon be available for a new assignment when the departmental move was announced.  I had been extended the opportunity to continue to work with 3M if I was willing to relocate.  Unfortunately, cold weather like what is experienced in Minnesota and I just do not get along and I had to decline the offer.  However, after I began working from home, I began to thing of ways to make something similar work for me.  It was then that I decided to put a plan into place to take my part-time freelance graphic design business to a full-time business venture.

I am no stranger to entrepreneurship having grown up in an entrepreneur environment.  My father was self-employed and had a successful private investigation firm.  It is from him, that I learned a lot of the business practices that I use today with my business.  What is funny is that growing up I used to say, “when I grow up, I want to work for someone.”  Why, you may ask?  Because I wanted health insurance.  It was something that we didn’t have growing up because of the high cost and expense for a small business owner.  Today, I am back to not having health insurance, but I am a lot healthier than I used to be because of the lifestyle changes I have made.

So, I said all of that to say.  Things have slowed down here because I have to focus a lot of my attention and energy on my design business.  After all, it is how I eat and if I don’t nurture it and help it grow, I won’t be eating at all!  I still plan to keep up this blog and my Youtube channel, but I won’t be able to post as frequently.  Thank you guys for being patient with me and sticking around!

 

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2 Years Natural Length Check

by NaturalArtMaven on April 15, 2013

Back in November, I wrote a blog post about reaching the 2 year mark in my natural hair journey and I promised to follow-up with a length check to show my progress.  Yes, I know that was a while ago, but life has been extremely busy for me over the past year and a half.  I will post a video update in another blog post as too why things have slowed down here on this blog and my YouTube channel.  I am still committed to documenting my journey, I just don’t have quite as much time as I used to.  :)

So without further ado…the length check.

 

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Meet the Artist :: Tracy Viverretta

by NaturalArtMaven on January 25, 2013

Name: Tracy Viverretta / Founder of One Brown Crafter
Location:  Tucson, AZ
Types of Media/Mediums: Pencils, Pen & Ink, Collage, Acrylics, Textiles, Needlework, Mixed Media
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How long have you been creating art and how did you get started?
Since childhood. As a child, I was always making goods by hand – dolls, pillows, embroidery, etc. I don’t remember always drawing when I was young, but I do remember ALWAYS making fun and functional things. As a junior in high school, I did do some drawing, but that was it for my art (not crafty), inclinations until 1994. I didn’t know that 1994 would mark the beginning of me finding my absolute passion. In that year, I launched a monthly publication (which I found out many years later was known as a “zine”), called Kid’s Press – to encourage inner-city children to develop a love of reading. Writing, illustrating and editing all the content, I thought I was on my way to becoming a writer of children’s books, but what I didn’t anticipate was falling crazy in love with drawing and illustrating. My sweet, little children’s publication lasted for 7 years and then, I guess you could say my art career officially started.
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Where do you draw inspiration from?
Faces, (I love faces), words, language, unique characteristics of different faces, people who love themselves as they physically are, letters, books, children’s literature, positive things people do positive things people say, nice, kind people, happy people, travel, my definition of beauty, innocence (in adults and children), animation, crayons, handmade anything, vintage photos, papers, all things vintage, animals, children, things children say, laughter, kindness, smiles, simplicity, life, color, different cultures, being in the moment and cherishing that moment, non materialism…..I could go on and on – almost everything inspires me.
Do you have any formal training and if so, where did you study?
My creative tendencies are completely innate. My studies never included art. I kind of wish I was into art when I was in college in France. That would’ve been a wonderful place to study art. On the other hand, I very much love the road I traveled leading me into the world of art. I would like to take a class in printing in the future, but I’m such a hardcore DIY-er that I’ll probably never get around to that and opt to check out books from the library and learn to print stuff on my own. (LOL) I’ve already begun experimenting a little and sharing that adventure on my personal blog – Tracyville.

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Where do you see yourself in 10 years with your artwork?
Wow! Good question! I see myself growing what I’m doing now. Working with more non profits, as well as small and big businesses. I’d like to get some books published and do more illustrations for magazines. Also, illustrating book covers and children’s books is attractive to me. There are also many things I’d like to do with One Brown Crafter and the community of artists that I’m trying to build there, but I can’t say what that is just yet.
Do you do commissioned pieces?
Uh….Yes. (insert hesitation) I do commissions on particular products and particular projects. There’s lots of room for things to go awry with commissions, so very good communication and comprehension on both sides are key. My 3 rules with commissions are 1) again, clear communication, 2) to give the client what they want, versus what I want for them and 3) I like to keep it easy and breezy. I don’t want the experience to be difficult or disgruntled. I want it to be a fun and happy experience for both the client and myself. My favorite commisions are the kind when people say “I love what you do, so do what you do.” Those are the best commissions ever!
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How can we find more of your work and or contact you for commissioned pieces?
All information about me, my work and my sites are located at the top and sidebars of both my blogs and some of that info is below.
Do you have any upcoming shows or events where you will be showcased?
Not at present. A couple of years ago, I was doing a lot of fairs, but my current projects won’t allow me the time to do shows right now. Last year, I veered off into the direction of doing creative projects with businesses. Working with businesses means having deadlines – something new for me, but it’s been awesome because it keeps me focused and challenged – challenged to do great and creative work and to meet my deadlines. Luckily, when I work, I have super-hero focus. (LOL)  Thank you NaturalArtMaven, for this opportunity to introduce myself to your readers. I truly appreciate it.
Make sure you check Tracy out online!  I really love her artistic/drawing style, which of course means that I love her artwork!
NaturalArtMaven

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Reflections :: The 2 Year Mark

by NaturalArtMaven on November 27, 2012

 

I have officially reached the 2-year mark in my natural hair journey!  I promise to upload a video montage soon of my hair throughout the year, but for now, I would like to just share a few thoughts as I reflect on this past year.

This second year was met with less fervor about my hair in general.  Mainly, because I was finally content.  That first year, I researched, watched every YouTube tutorial I could get my hands on, and tried new techniques and concoctions tirelessly in the hopes of finding the magic potion and procedure to make my hair obey me.  I have always been pretty good at doing my own hair, but I had had relaxed hair for the majority of my life (relaxed at the age of about 5).  My kinky, curly and coily hair had a huge learning curve for me to deal with and I was determined to conquer it.  Throughout that first year, I loved my hair, but I was never content with it.

Entering into year two…I finally reached that level of love and contentment.  I also stopped devoting as much time…and effort into my hair.  Don’t get me wrong, I take very good care of my hair and it has flourished because I do so, but I have reverted back to my minimalist and low maintenance ways.  When my hair was relaxed, I kept it looking nice, without really doing too much to it.  My excuse was always that I’m not very girly and honestly, I’m lazy.  I care about my appearance and want to look nice, but I don’t want to do a lot of work to do so.  At least I’m honest.

So, what made me content?  The length.  Month 13, was AWESOME!  My twist-outs looked full and like the hair of some of the women I had been ogling online.  I was also able to do more with my hair with the length I had achieved.  As the second year progressed, it seemed like my hair was sprouting like a weed and the more length I got, the more I fell in love.  Do I think that it grew more than average over this past year?  No, but I think I was not as focused on the length anymore because I was content with the length I had achieved the first year.  Yes, I still want it longer, but it is long enough to make me happy.  Each additional inch that it grows is a bonus to me.

I also threw the Natural Hair Bible out of the window…no, it does not actually exist, but there are a lot of rules, mandates, and generalized “everyone should do x, y and z” if you want length, moisture retention, etc out there.  For instance, oil is highly touted as THE way to seal hair or should be in every naturalista’s arsenal.  That is not true for me.  Oil was the enemy when I was relaxed, and it is still the enemy now that my hair is natural.  I have had more success with my hair this last year, just by bucking the “norms” for natural hair.  My hair would probably be typed as mainly 4-something, but almost nothing that is touted as great for 4’s works for me.  I actually have more success with doing things that looser, curly girls in the 2’s and 3’s do.  So, I threw out the hair typing system as well.

The greatest thing that I learned this past year would be that my hair does not want to be conquered.  Instead of trying to force it to do things or fight against it, I literally just let it do whatever it wants.  That means that it looks slightly different all of the time (only another naturalista would notice the difference), but it also means that I spend less time on it and I can truly be minimal with it.  I also like it when it looks all crazy, frizzy and all over the place.  I actually think it makes me look “cool.”  Yes!  Score one for the weird, nerdy, artsy girl.  :)

What are some reflections you would like to share about your natural hair journey?

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Inspiration to be Healthy!

by NaturalArtMaven on November 13, 2012

I just had to share this video of my great grandmother, “Mother Dear,” getting her work out on!  Mother Dear is 105 years young and is still a very active member of society.  This goes to show that you are never too old to live a healthy lifestyle!

Mother Dear, gardens, drives her little red car (not very far, though), cuts her own grass and is a vegan.  She’s also one of the funniest people I know.  I think sometimes she gets tired of us always telling everyone we come in contact with how old she is.  Once, in an airport, after I had told the security officer her age and that it was her first flight, she remarked, “Everyone ALWAYS knows exactly how old I am, thanks to you guys!”

I know that seeing her gives me even more motivation to stay healthy, hopefully it will inspire you too!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Recipe :: Mini Lasagnas

by NaturalArtMaven on October 22, 2012

I ran across this recipe here for lasagna cupcakes and my first initial reaction was, “ew!”  But, after reading the recipe, and realizing that they were not actually cupcakes flavored like lasagna, I decided to try them out.  They are really more like mini lasagnas and I decided to cut out as much processing as I could by making my own sauce and cutting out the meat.

Ingredients:

3 roma tomatoes (diced)
1 cup of chopped baby spinach
1/2 cup of chopped onions
3 garlic cloves
grapeseed oil
oregano
salt
pepper
wonton wrappers
mozzarella cheese

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, sauté the chopped onions in a little grapeseed oil on medium heat.  Smash or chop up the garlic and add it to the onions once they have softened.

Once the onions have turned translucent, add the tomatoes and the baby spinach, but set aside a small portion of the spinach to use in the lasagna.  Add oregano, salt and pepper to taste.  Stir and turn the heat down to low and simmer for about 15-20 minutes.  Occasionally stir the mixture to prevent it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

While the sauce is simmering, grease a muffin pan with the grapeseed oil.  I used a brush to lightly coat the cups, but you can use cooking spray if you prefer that method.

Take a wonton wrapper square and press it into the cups.  I allowed the pointy corners to stick up out of the cups.  I found it made a great handle to grab to pull the finished lasagna out of the cup.  Take a glass or any cup that matches the size of your cupcake pan to cut out a circle from the wonton wrappers.  You will need one circle for each cup.

Once your sauce is ready, pour enough sauce into each cup to fill it halfway.  Place a little of the reserved baby spinach on top and sprinkle a little mozzarella as well.  Place one of your wonton circles on top, top off the cup with more sauce, mozzarella and a sprinkle of oregano.

Place the muffin pan in an oven, pre-heated to 350˚F for 20-30 minutes or until the cheese has browned a little.  Remove the pan from the oven and allow to sit and cool for about 10 minutes before serving.  You should be able to pull the mini lasagnas out easily by grabbing the browned pointy corners that are sticking up.

I hope you guys will enjoy this recipe as much as I did!  I was a little surprised by how good they were and I am sure these will make a regular rotation into my menus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Take Great Pictures without a DSLR Camera or Photoshop

by NaturalArtMaven on October 5, 2012

 

This is actually a repost from my blog on my graphic design site, but I thought it might be helpful for all of those naturals taking photo-journals of their hair or that are aspiring to have a blog of their own, but picture quality is an issue.  If you guys would like more posts on the subject of photography, just let me know and I will be happy to share more information that might help you go from average to great. :)

As a photographer, people often exclaim about my photos and how did I get them to look so great.  My usual answer is great equipment, a great eye and a little Photoshop magic.  Occasionally, however, my reply is “I just shot these with my iPhone camera.”  Queue the “oooh’s and ahh’s.”  Although I feel the best photos can be captured with a DSLR or SLR camera and the right lens combo, I do believe that good images can also be achieved using some of the smartphones that are on the market today and even some point and shoot cameras.

Most people think that you have to have Adobe Photoshop to edit and manipulate digital photos in a way that will make them awesome, but that is not always the case.  The first rule to taking a good picture is just that…take a good picture.  Make sure that the lighting is good (using natural sunlight will give you some of the best photos when using a point in shoot camera or smartphone) and try to keep the camera still.  This will keep little Billy from looking like he was streaking by as fast as lightning when he was really standing still.  Also, you want to fill the frame. Photos shot from far away are hard to see and very uninteresting.  I know you really like the shoes that Aunt Martha had on, but shooting her entire body, will make for a very boring photo.  Perhaps you can shoot her from the hips up and then take a separate shot of a close up of her shoes to collage together later.

If you follow all of the above suggestions, you will end up with some really great selections to start from.  Next you will need to go through and narrow down the ones you really, really like.  Trust me, most photographers, even myself included, do not give clients every photo we shoot.  I really don’t think you want to see six shots of the same picture of your uncle Joe with slightly different angles of his head turned.  Throw away the ones you do not like or are too much like another photo.

Next you can start the editing process.  If you took your photos on a point and shoot, you can use a free program online called Gimp at www.gimp.org to edit your photos.  If you shot your photos on a smartphone, you can find a ton of apps in the Google Play store or the Apple App Store to edit your photos and output them to sites like Shutterfly, Flickr, Instagram, Facebook and others.  On my iPhone, I actually use an app called ProCamera to take and edit my photos.  The last I checked, it was $0.99 in the app store and I can not only take great photos by controlling the white balance and where the focus point is, but I can also edit the photos within the app and set a self timer to take pictures of myself.

Here are a couple examples:

 

 

 

 

With the advent of tablets, such as the iPad, you can now take your photo editing from the small screen of your point and shoot camera or smartphone to the larger screen of your tablet device.  Most Android tablets have USB ports or SD card ports to add a memory card that is loaded with images.  On the iPad, I had to buy an additional device to connect into my charging port to allow me to insert my camera’s SD card.

These tips are not only great for someone who is looking for an alternative to a pricey DSLR or Photoshop, but wants great images, but also for someone like myself that doesn’t want to carry around a lot of gadgets when shooting on location or just on vacation.  I shot my whole four day trip to Miami with just my iPhone and often times having my iPad handing when shooting an event has been a great way to show guests their photos on the fly.

Let me know if you would like more tips on taking better pictures!

 

 

 

 

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