Opening a Etsy Shop!

So after many years of teaching myself to crochet I feel like I now want to start selling some of the things I make. I would love to also spread some awareness to a few choice causes; The Arthritis Foundation for one. They have been a big part of my life since I was diagnosed at age 10 with JRA (Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis). I am now 26 years old and would love to give back. Each item purchased from my shop, a portion of the price will go to a charity. In the description of each item it will say which charity your money will go to. I will also have be setting up Instagram and Facebook so people can easily contact me with requests to create different items and ideas for other charities they would like to see me donate to.

I will have giveaways to win hand crafted items by me and possibly some of my favorite other hand based creators.   

These accounts will also act as forums to share tips, give tutorials, and overall connect with other crafter's.

Here are some of my recent creations!

I will add the links to the pages soon.

Thanks for stopping by! XOXOXO

            Crystal Rose

A piece before light.

Have you ever had a deep down guilty pleasure dream? Weather it's the most unlikely wanting to become Prom Queen or the most vast minded to write a story for the ages. I think we all have one.

Imagine waking to a running laptop, opened to a screen where you read to find out your partner of countless years has been secretly stashing away self made poems.

The view you have been staring at has suddenly changed with the scroll of a touch. Each word drops a hint of the hidden soul. That view sharpens, edges become clear.

The last shred of ebony transformers into ivory with little permission from the owner. Where is their right to feel within the shadows? You, the bringer of light like a gift given without asked.

Think of the design of your disk. Getting lost in a maze of thought. May you be ready for the rise? Forced to blind all your corners. Resistance of little use to yeld the inevitable. Read me like a book.

                                        Blurb by                   
                                Crystal Bilbray
                                    1/19/16

Back to Las Vegas!

I am now fully moved back to Las Vegas! It has been such a long process to get everything set up here but it was all worth it. This year has been full of firsts in the Kroze household. My wonderful man friend and I took some big steps. We signed on to a 13 month lease in a very pricey apartment, bought a new car, bought brand new furniture for our home, and have started new careers!

A little peek at my apartment and decor. I went with Gray, Navy, and Silver for the bedroom.
For the living room; I did Gold, Tan, and Red.


 I myself have taken a few weeks off from makeup and 90% of social media business to really focus on all the changes. I should have my makeup area all set up this weekend so I can finally get back to posting.

As for becoming a Freelance Makeup Artist, things are on hold for a moment. A few reasons why:
1. I have been dealing with a problem with getting a drivers license since July. (Ye, I realize I'm 26 and just now getting my license). So here's the overview of it all. I went to take my permit test, passed no problems. Went in a week later to take the driver's test, passed! However, the lady who conducted the test informed me that she "needed" to report me to the Driver's Safety Assocation. From there, they will tell me if I can safely drive a car. So a little background information in case you are new. I am 26 years old. I have RA (Rheumatoid Arthritis) since the age of 10. It does effect me and create limitations and deformities. Now I take driving very seriuosly and practiced a lot during the month I had my permit. I am fully able to apply all safety measures and am a safe driver. Ok so now I am just waiting to hear back to see if I am approved. I get the letter a few weeks later, it says "You have a medical condition that is NOT favorible. As of August 28th, your permit will be revoked." So naturally I freaked out. After not only my doctor saying I was completely fine and capible of driving and driving safely, as did the driver's test lady; saying I should have absolutly no problems, I get this.On the bottom of the letter it says you can request a hearing and get a lawyer. I set the hearing, of cause they want me to get all the way to Bakersfield, 5 hours away!,with no way to get there. So after a week I get news that we are moving back to Vegas right away. We packed up the car a moved back in a week. I call to tell the Driver's Safety people that I can't make the hearing, then they offer to do it over the phone. So last week we did the hearing over the phone and the judge said she will try and get the case written off since I no longer live in California. Because California is the only state who has Driver's Safety!

So now it is January 17th, 2016. My case was dropped. I have retake the permit test; passed and the Driver's test; passed BUT! Nevada won't give me my license until my doctor filled out a paper. Naturally my doctor won't do it because it's for Nevada and she is in California. So I have 30 days to find a new doctor, get my insurance squared away, get the paper filled out and then finally I can have my license. Ugh! I swear nothing in my life is ever easy. But I will get through this and finally be able to get a job.
I have also missed my infusion appointment and have been feeling like a flair is coming on. I'm losing my mind with this body.

My new car/baby. 2012 5 door Kia Forte in Silver.




However! It is 2016 and I have nothing but good intentions and goals. This is going to be MY year!

I've started eating a more healthy diet. Stretching daily and will soon begin a workout plan once cleared by my doctor.
Pinterest has been amazing for healthy recipes. I've started making weekly meal plans/menus to keep my guy and I on track. I've been keeping up on house work and packing lunches for my guy. I'm also going to try and tackle new cooking techniques I've never tried. Like grilling, I'm making Brian (my guy) steak this week. I personally don't eat steak but I figure it's a good thing to know how to cook. Lol So far I have purchased; a Veggie Spiraler, a Mandolin Slicer, and Fitpacker (meal prep) containers. I've been drinking healthy smoothies daily.

I use:

Greek yogurt, fat free milk, frozen kale and strawberries along with these things.

Salads have been my "Go-To" easy meal for lunch.

Artichoke hearts give my salad such amazing flavor. You almost don't even need dressing!

This salad has:

Spicy spinach mix (from Trader Joe's)

Cherry tomatoes

Mozarella cheese (left over from a bunch I had- normally I'd add Feta cheese)

 Grilled Artichoke hearts

And lastly, 

Low Fat Ceaser Dressing (i might start making my own dressing with Greek yogurt)

So that is where I'll leave you for now. I hope to keep up on blogging this year!

Thanks for letting me share a piece of my world with you. 

Feel free to contact me anytime. 

I hope you have an amazing 2016 and all your dreams come true!

XOXOXO Kroze17

Crystal Bilbray

Email:

Kroze17art@hotmail..com

Instagram:

Kroze17

Facebook:

Kroze17

Twitter:

Hxcstar7

Welcome 2015! Update: Becoming a Full Time Freelance Makeup Artist.

Welcome 2015!

 Update and progress of being a Full time Freelance Makeup Artist.
First, a few months ago I started a pretty big project,
my first big project in the Beauty Industry. Glamourdolleyes
came to me asking if I would like to create an eyeshadow with them that will be a part of the permanent line. Of course I jumped at the chance and said yes! So the owner and I quickly came up with the perfect color. Gray with a beautiful gold sparkle! I wrote a fun back story for the shadow and named it Royally Yours.

"The Golden Princess who fell in love with the sweet Coal Miner."
www.glamourdolleyes.com

http://instagram.com/glamourdolleyes

Next, I felt I wanted to really take this opportunity and create a fun project to share with some other artists I personally enjoy. I created Press Kits with samples of my shadow #RoyallyYours and a few of our (The Owner, Vanessa, and My) favorite shadows as a gift. Each artist that received a kit was supposed to create at least one look using #RoyallyYours and post to their social media accounts. Now I thought this would be a great way to include some of the artists I follow and not only show my totally support for them but also introduce them to Glamourdolleyes as a brand (That I truly love).
The shadow is due to be released this month (January 2015)
Only a few of the artist's that got Press Kits actually did their look. I want to thank those artist's from the bottom of my heart for sticking to the plan and creating such beautiful looks!

http://instagram.com/toribiohazard/?modal=true

Thank you Tori for such a fun look! You are the master at wings! <3

http://instagram.com/_claudiayvette/?modal=true

Thank you Claudia Yvette for thing super classy look! Working with you was such a treat. <3

http://instagram.com/lolilooo/?modal=true

Thank you Lola so much for creating not one, but two super creative and interesting looks! I love them both! <3

Other looks created by me using Royally Yours!

As this was my first project, things did go wrong. I had to hand write all the instructions (4 pages worth) for each kit. Next time I will keep it short and sweet and type it up! I feel like my instructions were not as clear as I wanted them to be because I was not being fully direct, too wordy and just overall more invested in the story then the "rules". It was a great learning experience and one of the biggest things I learned was (Thanks to Jaythecosmo! http://instagram.com/jaythecosmo) that it is/was MY project. You can't let people walk all over you. I did pay for these kits myself, Vanessa and I both took time to create these kits and I'm very happy with how they turned out. Another big thing is that I will always expect people to "snub" me and drop out. So I will have back up kits and artists in the future.

Overall, it has been a crazy ride and I appropriate  the artists that took the time to communicate and be involved in this project with me. I have a whole new respect for anyone who owns a business (Vanessa, you are amazing and deserve and award!) and anyone who works with the public. This has also helped me to learn to assert myself in business situations.

This may be a small thing but thanks to these kits I created real business cards! I have taken the next step in my career.
http://www.tinyprints.com/
Tiny Prints is having 25% off site wide right now! (January 8 through January 13, 2015)

The style I picked is:

Cosmopolitan Chalk : Bisque 

With Pearl Finish.

I have also been booked for two upcoming weddings! This really pushed my to build out my kit the way I've always pictured it. Now I don't ave every product I can dream of,due to not being able to spend another huge chunk of money but I'm very happy so far. I will list a full in depth list with pictures of all the items in my Beginner's kit in a future post. I will also have the prices and sites/shops I purchased from.
As of right now I've spent over $2,000 in building my kit, I've tried a lot of new (new to me) products and gained a unmeasurable amount of information. When I was just thinking, 'Wow, It would be nice if I become a Makeup Artist' I thought it would be ALL about just doing makeup on people. It's not! You need to have a full understanding of Skin Types, Tones, Shades, Color Theory, Products, Things to avoid, Reactions, ETC. I'm so happy that we live in a time where 90% of this information is online, we can easily connect with other artists, keep a close eye on new product releases, new "trends", building our skills through tutorials, ETC.

Some links to check out!
https://www.youtube.com/user/SinCityMUA
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCvoAe__WFYMNAEN-C-CtYA
My All Time Favorite person to get information from is the amazing Dustin Hunter.
 https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCanMFrLNvTSm9PqzbUVIGjQ
I also am a HUGE fan of The Face and Eye charts Dustin created. I use them all the time for planning out looks, to just playing around. You can get these charts on: http://www.thefacechart.com/
Follow Dustin of Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/thedustinhunter
And Instagram
http://instagram.com/thefacechart
http://instagram.com/thedustinhunter

Other things I've learned are not only what products to use but how to really customize my kit to me and my clients. I know that I want to do weddings for my main focus. Eventually I would like to get into more editorial things and then back into SFX... from there film.

I'm so excited for 2015! I will be giving this my All. In the past I've held back because I have always worried about failing, not being the best. But in an industry like Beauty, there is room for everyone! That doesn't mean I won't be trying my best to become the WORLD'S GREATEST MAKEUP ARTIST but it is great to know that if I end up not wanted the be an artist, rather working in Beauty, Retail, ETC I have the opinion to due so. I hope these blog posts help others who are just starting out as well. I'm writing these not only to help others but to keep a record of everything I'm currently going through. I can look back and have these posts, remember what I did, how I started, who helped me, and above never forget. Each step is a new exciting adventure. I may not always take the right path or have the greatest skills at first but I'm still going, trying, working to become something. Becoming an artist is not easy. You are creating a career out of thin air! There is no sure fire career plan or way to do things. It's all a series of trial and error, people taking chances o you, and you putting everything you've got into this. You go as far as you are willing to work. If you only take one thing away from this post, take this. Believe in yourself! You do not just wake up one day and you're Picasso. You create the artist you want to be out of pure drive. Practice your skills. It takes over 10,000 hours to become a master at something (Quote from Outliers) so put in your time. Believe that you are creating a piece of history with every swipe of your brush, because you are! It's your history and it is important!


If you have any questions, comments, or concerns feel free to contact me. If you are starting out and would like a pep talk or just a friend in a fellow artist, I'm here.


Thank you for taking the time to read this post. I put my heart in to each post because I want to be completely honest and open with you. Starting anything new in life is always going to be a challenge but you are not alone. Reach out! There are so many of us going through the same things and we are a community, here to push each other up.

Always believe in yourself, your dreams, and your future. You are in control; take the wheel.


                           Always Love,
                        Crystal Bilbray
                          Kroze17


XOXOXOXOXO

Connect with me!
Email-
kroze17art@hotmail.com
Facebook-
https://www.facebook.com/kroze17?ref=hl
Instagram-
http://instagram.com/kroze17
Twitter-
https://twitter.com/hxcstar7
Tumblr-
http://kroze17.tumblr.com/
Pinterest-
http://www.pinterest.com/kroze17/

GLAMOURDOLLEYES PRODUCT/SITE REVIEW

                                    GlamourDollEyes Product/Site Review

I think it's a fair assumption that we all have a favorite makeup brand that you go back to
over and over again. When I first got into makeup my favorite brand/s were whatever I could
afford or get my hands on. Samples of high end products from my mother's friends, the blue mascara from the grocery shop that I saved my lunch money for. Now at the age of 25, I've had my share of  high end and more cost efficient products and I can happily say "I know what I want!" .
Being a women, I'm sure you can agree, that isn't always the easiest task to accomplish. Right now I gladly give my, cosmetic loving, heart to an indie brand called GlamourDollEyes. If you have ever opened up your browser and  anxiously waited for the world wide web to pull up your favorite beauty one stop shop and see "What's New", you know exactly what I'm talking about. The nearly instant high of adding the latest collection of limitless beauty magic to your cart and laboriously waiting for the parcel man to bring your box of merchandise. It's a drug!
GlamourDollEyes has a lot going for them. To name a few; The owner. How many people can say that about a Beauty brand. Vanessa is an absolute Doll. Let's talk about great service for a moment. The moment you place your order, you become part of this amazing little family that cares what you need and wants you to have it! So now you've placed your order, you've joined the fun and have taken your first step into falling head over heels in love with these products.
Let me also come at this strictly from a reviewers point of view. You open the site www.glamourdolleyes.com and come to a very eye caughting, colorful page. Things are very well organized and easy to navigate through. If something like just finding the product you're looking for is a hassle, it is very off putting for a customer. Another great thing about the GDE site is the support Vanessa shows for her costumer/fan base. The pages are filled with actually people who love the products and use them!

Now there is a few things I wanted to touch on before I get into my overall product review and swatches. Sample JARS, I haven't seen too many companies offer sample size jars. Sample baggies are not really my thing, I find more often then not; They will be lost in my stash of cosmetics,hard to open (I have a pretty server case of RA (rheumatoid arthritis)and end up ripping these sample baggies apart trying to pry them open,and I just find them hard to use. Dipping my brush in the baggie while trying to hold a mirror and tap off the excess is just more then I can coordinate.

When it comes to sample sizes you have your pick from the baggies or jars. You get a very good amount of product in the sample sizes, the prices are fair, and the color selection is like no other.
I've found shades that I will try and keep in my collection for as long as possible because using them up would send me into a deep, scary panic attack. GlamourDollEyes also treats their costumers with extra samples and a FULL size (free) eye shadow of the month with every order placed!


Here are the details of sizing and price:
Sample baggie (Shadow) - .5 Gram ($1.25)
Sample jar (Shadow) - 1 Gram in 5 Gram jar No sifter ($2.50)
Full jar (Shadow) - 1/2 - 3/4 tsp in a 5 gram jar. With or Without sifter ($6.00)
Glitters!
One size (1.25 - 1.50 tsp of glitter) in tube- ($5.00)
Costume or in permanent line all $5.00!


Colors for days! I'm a huge fan of color, any color shadow I will use with no regret. GlamourDollEyes has a fine array of colors to choose from. If you're are having a hard time picking what shadows out of the permanent line then try a collection. All you have to do is pick if you want sample jars or full size and the collection that speaks to you. I own almost all of the collections as of right now. The latest collection Deadly Hollywood (release August 18TH, 2014) looks amazing.It has been ordered and I'll be very excited to post a blog all about it when it arrives.

Now for the actual product review. I will only be speaking about the shadows and glitters in this review. If you have questions regrading other products in the GlamourDollEyes line, leave them below and I would be more then happy to reply or even post a full blog post about it.
First the shadows, I've always been a fan of loose shadows and when I heard of GDE I jumped and bought the first colorful shadows that caught my eye. Also I would like to thank @myeyeshadowisodd for posting reviews on YouTube of GlamourDolEyes. Thanks to Natasha, I am a life time fan and costumer.
When you click on the shadow it takes you to a page with a full description of the color and if it is part of a collection. I've been happy with ever color/shadow I own so far (Over 100+ in my personal collection). The shades are beautiful and full of life. The color combinations and looks are endless. The shadows themselves are very easy to work with, whether you are a beginner or a master pro at applying makeup.

The glitters are on a whole new level of awesome. First off, you have the pre-made glitters. Each one is unique and beautiful. Full of personality. By personality I mean each glitter is named about lyrics from the owner's favorite songs! The fact that a glitter (Not Too Cool) is named after a Bayside song... I can't handle it!
GDE also offers you the option of creating your own costume glitter. Pick up to 5 shades of glitter for your costume mix and name it! With this option you get to become the product creator and have a little piece of makeup history in your stash. That is amazing to me.

I think I've shared a good deal of information of GlamourDollEyes and it's site/ordering process. I'll leave you with some pictures and swatches of shadows and glitters in my personal collection that are my currant favorites.

Have you placed an order lately? Want to show us? Post your pictures of your GDE stash,order/s, and/or favorite products from the line with hash tags #Glamourdolleyes #gdeglitter #kroze17

 

 

Show off your work! Create a fun look using GlamourDollEyes products and show them off by posting with the hashtags above.

Thank you for taking the time to read this lengthy review and I look foreword to chatting with every one of you. Feel free to contact me on any and all social media sites. Join the fun and let's start something epic!

                                              

                            The achievable-believable me to you,
                                                                                                                                           
                                           Crystal B. AKA Kroze17


 

GlamourDollEyes Contact Info:
Website-
www.glamourdolleyes.com

Facebook-
https://www.facebook.com/glamourdolleyes?fref=ts

Instagram-
http://i.instagram.com/glamourdolleyes/

Myeyeshadowisodd Contact Info:
Youtube-
https://www.youtube.com/user/myeyeshadowisodd

Instagram-
http://instagram.com/myeyeshadowisodd 

Facebook-
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Myeyeshadowisodd/146509669822? 

 

My contact info:
Blog-
http://simplykroze.blogspot.com/ 

Email-
kroze17art@hotmail.com 

Facebook-
https://www.facebook.com/kroze17?ref=hl 

Instagram-
http://instagram.com/kroze17 

Twitter-
https://twitter.com/hxcstar7 

Tumblr-
http://kroze17.tumblr.com/ 

Pinterest-
http://www.pinterest.com/kroze17/ 

The start of my story

Welcome to my blog!
 Let's start with the basics. I'm writing this blog to record my journey starting out in the beauty community. As of right now my main site for posting is Instagram @kroze17, I have 210 lovely followers that support and inspire me to be more creative on a daily basis.
I spend a good portion of my time researching all things beauty. It s my (top) goal to become a
makeup artist and eventually expand into the SFX world. This is my story. Stick around and join in the fun as we tour and expand our minds to the past,present, and future of this beautiful world of beauty!

My story starts like many other's. I'd wake early to watch my mother get ready for her day.
The process starting with vintage hair rollers and ending with the final touch of setting powder and a coat of "Popping Pink" lipstick added with her vintage hair combs and (rocking) 80's, shoulder padded women's work suit complete with polka dots and a faux leather belt. I couldn't wait to grow up and apply products, shave my legs, and wear perfume! Next on the path to awesome beauty awareness was the media. I was finally a pre-teen. No more chapstick and empty compacks, I wanted the real stuff! Or at least the stuff I was allowed to have. My first set of colorful eye liners were from a cheapy store (Walgreens, Dollar Store, etc.). I still remember the crayon smell and bright colorful tudes with Hello Kitty written all over them. Back to the media influence for a moment. MTV, HBO, Seventeen Magazine were where I plunged in head first to get the real down low on what was hot and what was not when it came to being a fresh new face in the "Adult" world. I didn't cencor myself in the least bit! The women of Sex And The City were my new best friends. Even when I wasn't sure exactly what their were talking about, I still sat there nodding my head with pen and paper at the ready. Carrie started me on white eye liner. The kids at school didn't understand that I was a sexy, New York City women with more men then time, at the ripe old age of 13 living in Las Vegas. Picture days were the event of the year! I'd spend my afternoons leading up to that very special day, trying on outfits and styling my hair. One year I got my hands on this stunning Bronze lipstick and matched my camel tan lace up top perfectly! There we all were, standing in line to get our shining moment in history with one snap of the camera we were immortalized. That is a lot of pressure to put on one lipstick! The girls would stand behind me giggling about how I looked crazy wearing lipstick and white eye liner but it never fazed me. They didn't know that I was born for this life!

On to the now. I spend my days/nights pouring over Instagram accounts and Youtube videos taking in all the inspiration of my fellow Beauty lovers. Creating a career of something that just drives me. I hope you will join me n this adventure and may be even pull from my stories and get inspired. We are all here to make something of our skills. I sit here, writing this out filled with hope and true determination to achieve anything and everything I put my whole heart and soul in to. This is our story. You and I, till the end.

                                                                                             The achievable-believable me to you,
                                                                                                            Crystal B. AKA Kroze17



Contacts: @kroze17
Facebook-
https://www.facebook.com/kroze17?ref=hl
Instagram-
http://instagram.com/kroze17
Twitter-
https://twitter.com/hxcstar7
Pinterest-
http://www.pinterest.com/kroze17/
Tumblr-
http://kroze17.tumblr.com/
Email-
kroze17art@hotmail.com