Book review : Fluid Art Mastery: 8 Steps To Being A Paint Pouring Artist byRick Cheadle

This book is written by a self-taught mixed-media artist.  The book includes examples of his artworks which I liked and found them very useful in the context of the technique explanation. 

The book starts with a brief history of fluid art. The history starts with Savid Siqueiros, but  unfortunately does not show any of his artwork. I was able to locate his work on internet as I wanted to see what his art looked like to  influence so many other artists.  

Then the book describes how to set up your own studio, including the safety equipment such as fire extinguisher. I liked that the author included photos of his own studio as well as the price of the equipment. 

Finally, the author moves to explaining the technique he uses.  The explanations  were clear and useful, and the artwork itself is beautiful.

One thing I found a little distracting is that the text of every line in this book is centered, rather than using the traditional type setting technique of filling each line start to end. However,  I was enjoying the content and the formatting annoyance was minor.

You can find this book on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Food review: Slim-Fast 3-2-1 Plan, Low Carb Diet Ready To Drink Shake, Vanilla Cream

The good news is that I thought the taste of the shakes was not bad (I have tried both chocolate and vanilla).

The bad news is that Slim-Fast gives me the runs. I have tried it a few times hoping it was a fluke, but no... I get uncontrollable diarrhea after the second shake.

My suggestion, when if you are trying this product for the first time do not leave home for a few hours after the first few times you try the shake in case it gives you the same side-effect as it gave me. I was not able to complete either the chocolate or the vanilla containers, as the side effect was too severe to deal with.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★☆☆☆

Product review: BUREI Men's Automatic (mechanical) Watch with Black Calfskin Band, Silver Bezel White Dial

This is a review for Burei  mechanical watch. At the time when I am writing this review the watch is just under $66. Despite the price is looks very elegant and works well. This watch works either by winding or from auto winding just from the movement of the person's hand. Turning the crown about 40 times will fully wind the mainspring. One full winding keeps the mainspring wound for about 34 hours. The manual says that if the watch is worn for 8 hours a day it typically does not need winding. However, this depends on how active the person's hands are during the day. My husband has a desk job and most of the days his hands are busy using a computer, which does not involve a lot of movement. He wound the watch on Saturday and without any additional winding it stopped at 5 am on Thursday morning. He loves mechanical watches and has a couple of others, so we have some basis for comparison and this Burei watch ran longer at his level of activity than the other watches.

The watch looks great, it is accurate (after two weeks of use still matches the computer time which was used to set it). There is however a strange restrictions on setting date and time. Since the date has to be adjusted once a month like on any mechanical watch this information is important. The documentation warns not to set the date when the watch's time is between 9:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. Quick-setting of the date during this period is prohibited, because this can break the operating movements and damage the watch. The manual says that when making day and date adjustments one should bring the hour hand out of the "danger zone" prior to setting the day and date. Sounds like a design flaw which the maker decided to document rather than fix.

The watch has a stainless steel body and genuine leather band. The band's maximum width 8.25" (last hole), if needed additional holes could be made to make it as wide as 8.5". My husband has slim wrists and the band fits him, but if you have big hands this might be an issue. The band's minimum length is 6.5". The watch weighs 2.4 oz. The watch's face is 1.6" wide and the watch is 0.4" thick. The silver face is not only attractive, but easy to read. It is water resistant to rain and splashing, but cannot be submerged under water.

Overall, this is a very attractive classy looking watch. Given the price of many mechanical watches this watch is a good deal. My husband has been wearing it for 2 weeks checking its accuracy against his smart phone - it keeps accurate time.

The watch comes in attractive box with a pillow and the package also included a gift bag, so this watch works well for gift giving.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Trackimo TRK-100 Universal Personal GPS Tracker

This GPS tracker is 2"L x 1.75"W and 7.8" thick )including the magnet plate or clip). It weighs 1 oz. The size might work for a large dog when using a clip, but mostly it is meant for sticking to a metal surface like a car or having it in backpack/pocket.

Some GPS devices only work when they are in the open and see the sky. This is not the case with Trakimo. I tested it indoors, hidden under the seat of the car, inside of my purse, under the car chassis. It was able to track in all those situations. It must be doing triangulation by determining its location from the position of the near by cell towers. When I initially turned on the unit for the first time I intentionally kept it inside the house for a couple of hours before taking it outside, at first it was about 7 miles off (the display noted it was an estimate) and in about 2 hour it got my location exactly right without even being outside.

You can track the device either from the website or from the phone. I am using an Android app, and I thought it was pretty nice. The app gives you an option to track every minute, every 5 minutes, and so forth up to every 2 hours. You can also see the history - last hour, last day, last week, or a range of dates. The tracking information is shown on Google maps so it is very clear, you can zoom in, see the satellite view and so forth.

The setup of the unit was pretty simple with one "gotcha" step. Once the device is charged all you need to do is turn it on and activate on the web site. As you register the device on the web site you need to enter the device id number. The image shown on the screen looked like the back of the unit, however my unit had no 7 digit id on the back. By the time I thought of looking at the box the device came in the box was already in the trash... but luckily the trash was not taken out. The id number was on the back of the box which was not mentioned anywhere in the documentation or the web site. I provided my feedback on this setup step to the manufacturer, hopefully it will be noted in the future. So don't through out the box until you register the device!

What can be better?
One of the likely uses for this device is "stealth" (for example, a cheating significant other). It would be better if the unit did not have a logo which says "Trackimo". If it was a plain black box without any markings it would reduce the likelihood that the cheating spouse would discover the box and know immediately what it does.

I did not find SOS function all that useful. When button is pressed it sends a message that the button was pressed. You know where the button was pressed but you don't know why.

Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: Lightjust 9x11-Inch Village Hardcover Sketch book

This is my favorite design for sketchbooks books. I like spiral sketchbooks that lay flat when I fold them, and they have a perforated strip that makes it easy to tear out pages without making a mess with the pieces torn off by the spiral.

This spiral book has 100 pages. The paper is nice quality (80 pound), when I write the reverse side does not show the writing. I can erase without damaging the paper.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Xtech XHST-100 Oral Hygiene Rechargeable Electric Ultrasonic Toothbrush

My husband gets a lot of build-up in his teeth and sees his dental hygienist 4 times a year. She recommended that he use an electric toothbrush, specificity she thought a non-disposable electric toothbrush has a more powerful motor and gives a more thorough cleaning. Since then he has used a number of brands with the latest being this XTech one.

My husband agreed to be a test subject for this review. He has been using XTech toothbrush every day between two of his cleaning appointments.  They hygienist assessment was that it worked better than a manual toothbrush but not as good as the period when he used OralB.

XTech toothbrush rechargeable toothbrush comes with 3 brush heads. The full charge takes 24 hours, and allows enables two weeks of regular brushing by 1 person. Alternatively, the toothbrush handle can be left charging every day to stay at full charge.

The toothbrush comes with 60" cord. The toothbrush holder is 5", the base is 3.75" x 4.125". It has a built-in UV sanitizer, it sanitizers heads stored in the compartment (I was able to show the UV light when turned down the light while taking the video).

When you are ready to brush your teeth and put toothpaste on the brush, put the brush into our mouth before turning the brush on to avoid splashing toothpaste. To use the brush you don't need to scrub or push, just move it from tooth to tooth and the vibration of the brush will do all the work.

The brush has five modes: Clean, Sensitive, White, Gumcare, Massage. You can cycle through them by pushing the button on the handle. The toothbrush automatically turned off after two minutes.
You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★☆☆

Product review: LIHAO 25 PCS 3/4" Black Plastic Side Release Buckle for Paracord

I purchased LIHAO buckles on Amazon. That listing offers a variety of buckles, I got the 7/8" and 3/4" buckles.

5/8" buckle is a fairly small buckle: when closed it is 1.5" side to side and 7/8" wide. It comes in a bag of 50 plastic side-release snap-fit buckles. Because of the small size I found some somewhat difficult to open.

3/4" buckle is a medium buckle: when closed it is 1.75" side to side and 1" wide. It comes in a bag of 25 plastic side-release snap-fit buckles. These buckles are easier to open than the 5/8" size.

The few buckles I tried so far worked smoothly. This is a cost effective way to get a large set of buckles for any crafter! What can be better? The buckles come in a non resealable bag, I would have found a zip lock bag more useful as it will take me a while to use all the buckles in various projects. This was my storage solution - I transferred the buckles into zip lock bag of my own.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★