by VioletLeBeaux | Jan 29, 2012 | Craft, Other-Tutorials, Tutorial
Nice and simple craft today! I’ve been playing around with paperclay a lot and I’m even going to try to make my own paperclay sometime soon I think.
The thing that I always go back to when I can’t think of anything else to make with clay/sculpy/hard icing is basic roses.
So this is the way I make them ^_^
![]( "Jump")
|
Start by rolling a heap of small clay balls in various sizes. You want small ones for the middle and large ones for the outer petals. Use a finger to smoosh the edge of one of the balls. It should form a thin side and a thicker rounded edge which will end up being the round part of the petal.
Repeat with all of the petals so they are ready to work with. If you want you can dip your finger in water and smooth down any cracks in the edges but I prefer to leave them or even exaggerate them as it creates a really interesting effect.
To for the rose, start with a small petal and roll it between your fingers like this:
Roll the bottom of the petal together a little harder so it forms a stem:
Now add a slightly bigger petal and roll it around the other side so it encases the edge of the first petal.
Add another petal so it’s edge is in the middle of the second petal. As you go, roll the petals with a little bit more force at the bottom so the clay squishes together between your fingers to form a stem. Be careful not to disturb the petals when you do it though.
Continue adding petals this way going around the flower in a circular pattern starting the edge of each petal 1/3rd of the way across the previous petal.
Just keep going until you think you’ve got a good size and let it all dry!
If you want you can clean up the stem and roll it a bit more evenly, I generally cut it of so the flower sits flat in whatever craft I’m doing.
Do you guys have something you automatically make? I seem to just make these on auto pilot whenever I get clay in my hands XD |
by VioletLeBeaux | Jan 28, 2012 | Life
Yay it’s Snapshots day! I’m starting to catch up with backlog from December and next week will probably be the Zoo so be prepared for lots of super cute animal shots 😀
A few months ago a new Swarovski store opened in the Bourke St mall and I’ve become a little obsessed with it, every time I go past the shininess attracts me in XD
![]( "Jump")
|
It’s stocked with a lot of Hello Kitty stuff in there too so there’s a lot for me to drool over! Can you imagine a Bergamot done in this style? Completely deco? I totally want to make one!
The Christmas displays were so cute, if I ever become rich and decide to change my tree I think I’ll stick a little Billy Idol head to this one:
Argh just drool everywhere so much bling!
  
Bling pens!
And the coolest anti theft system ever, the rings are attached to bling weights under the counter *_*
Best part though? GIGANTIC DIAMANTE COVERED CHAIR! I need one of these for at home!
 
I love going in there so much, the staff are always so friendly and never pushy. In fact the lady that was serving us that day was so nice that I wrote to the manager to give good feedback about her (I think good service should be rewarded!). To say thank you for saying thank you they mailed me a trinket box *_* That is just so… nice! And I had to write back to say thank you and it ended up being a big circle of thank yous that become quite confusing hahaha!
I can’t believe how nice that was! And just from that one attendant being so helpful they now have a very loyal customer in me. I think other Australian retailers could learn a lot from good in store service like that because (generally speaking) the retail service in Aus is very much below the rest of the world.
Now that I’ve gotten my current obsession out of the way, let’s revisit an old obsession: Melbourne Architecture!
Melbourne skyscapes will never cease to amaze me.
  
There have been butterflies absolutely everywhere at our apartment the last few months. I don’t know where they’re all coming from but they keep getting stuck inside our windows and it’s adorable.
 
So pretty but there have been bees too which seem to think the stars on the windows are flowers *_*
Silly bees, these are flowers!
This is one of my favorite buskers at the moment, his little skeleton is a puppet who sings old classic songs and dances too. So cute!
Ice chocolate at Koko Black, I never thought I’d say it but I think I’m sick of stores like Koko, I’m much more interested in trying smaller out of the way places. When we have some more money James and I want to start exploring the city every week and going down all of the alleys we miss when we’re in a hurry then ending each trip at a small cafe. I think that would be such a nice way to spend a weekend.
I could take my sketch book and paint while we sit.
 
And we could take more photos around town, I’m really starting to enjoy photography with my new camera. This is my favorite photo of James ever.
Realistically I think we’ll just end up doing more of this…
Hope you enjoyed the snapshots, what have you all been up to this week?
|
by VioletLeBeaux | Jan 28, 2012 | Beauty, Review
Price: $5.95
Obtained: PR sent for review.
Thoughts:
Tokyo Wink is a lash brand who have just opened their Australian branch and sent me some lashes to try out. The first ones I tried were “Date Night” as seen above. One thing I noticed is that all of the lashes are HUGE. I picked designs that were similar to ones I have used in the past and the first thing I saw when actually seeing them physically were how long and gigantic the lashes were!
Date Night were crazy long and gave a very pretty dramatic look. I don’t normally have to cut lashes because I have big eyes but all of these designs I needed to cut down to fit. These were a lot thicker than I expected from the photo on the store but very pretty none the less.
They were lighter than a lot of lashes I’ve used too.
The next set was “Armenian” these are the kind that I normally wear for special occasions. Again they are almost as long as the Date Night ones and very lightweight and feathery. I think they would be good for people who haven’t had much lash experience.
Next on the list was the Standard 11 which are the kind of thing I would wear every day. Again they are very long and luscious while being light and maintaining a very steep curve. By cutting them down to fit I had the ends extra which could be layered on the outer corner for a more dramatic look.
Lastly were the lower lashes “Vivid“. These needed cutting too and I found the design to be very pretty but a little unpredictable as many of the strands were at different lengths. I found these to go with my look better if I just added them as accents over the lower lashes rather than an entire strip.
Also included were some lash tweezers which were very nice quality. I personally can’t get the hang of them but I’ve been using fingers for forever so I’m quite biased, I think these would be good for beginners starting out.
Overall I thinkt he lashes were quite good quality, the prices ranged from around $9.95-12.95 and each set had 5 pairs. That’s a lot cheaper than buying individually here but more expensive than somewhere bulk like ebay. The packaging was very cute and the styles were versatile. None of the packets came with glue but that didn’t bother me because I never use the glue that comes with lashes anyway.
If you want to try some of the out, TokyoWink has given us a 20% discount code, just enter “Violet” at checkout.
Would I buy Tokyo Wink False Lashes again: Yes I would because they have a lot of styles I like and now have an Australian branch so shipping should be less expensive than somewhere overseas. Quality was nice.
Disclaimer: All reviews are my honest opinions whether product was provided for review or bought. I am not an expert, just a girl who likes beauty products. Click here to read about my personal preferences or for more information on “Currently Using” mini review posts. Click here for my Editorial and Ethics Policy.
