by VioletLeBeaux | Jun 4, 2010 | Advert, Craft, Decoden, Decoden-Tutorials, Other-Tutorials, Review, Tutorial
Almost 3 weeks ago Jolene at The Sticker Monster sent me a package of fun things to review for your guys and seeing as I have such a sweet spot for deco I just couldn’t say no to making a decoden tutorial 😀
This is a super long post but stay with me because I’m going to show you how to make a whole bunch of really cool things!
Now onwards to the review!
This was the package that arrived on my doorstep… I couldn’t believe how much was packed into it! The delicate items were very well protected and nothing was damaged at all. It took around 1 week to arrive from Malaysia. Shipping- 5/5I had to giggle at the adorable business card!
So what was inside?
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Several packs of Swarovski crystals in many colours and sizes. I’ve never used Swarovskibefore so I was really excited to try them out.
Lots of yummy plastic cabochon, pretzels, flowers, whipped cream and chocolates! This was my favorite part of the package, mwahaha more sweets to add to my collection!
10 fimo fruit canes in some really fun designs.
Pre-glued jewels on sheets in cute designs
Pre-glued pearls, big jewels and mini boullions in gold and silver.
Of course there was a whole host of their trademarked stickers! Glow in the dark, glittery and little hearts, totally adorable!
Prestuck felt sheet and furry leopard fabric sheet.
Jolene was also lovely enough to include 2 sheets of special deco protection paper. Basically the idea is that you glue your deco design to the sticker and then put it on your expensive items (laptop/cellphone/whatever) and then if you don’t like the design/want to sell your laptop you can remove it with no damage!
So I think the questions you’re all asking by now is “What on earth did you do with all of these supplies??”… |
Well I was a little overwhelmed with all the design ideas so it took me a while to decide what to do first XD
First thing I did was decorate my make up brushes!
So you need:
- Make up brushes
- Preglued jewel stripes
- Scissors
It’s really easy to do… just measure how many rows of jewels you need while they are still on the plastic, remove the plastic, stick them down and press down for a minute to make sure the glue sticks. 
I chose to add the jewels at the top of the metal band because it won’t interfere when I need to wash them.
I had some jewels left over so I added a stripe to each of the ends ^_^
Very easy to do and very pretty no? Over the last 3 weeks I’ve used my brushes every day and washed them as per usual with no damage at all. The only tip I have is don’t submerge the pre-stuck jewels in water, if you do by accident just pat it dry with a paper towel.
I liked it so much that I did my Magical Pick deco tool as well! My lovely friend Jinsent this to me and as soon as I can get the proper internet back I’m going to tell you all about it!
Now onto some real nail art 😀
Have you guys ever used fimo canes? They are so much fun! I’ve actually got pretty much a lifetime supply of them now because the delightful Jacie sent me a bunch of them which are going to be featured in another tutorial too ^_^
So I’ll cover the basics here… they are made of fimo or sculpy and they come in sticks with pretty much any design you can think of.
Using a *very* sharp knife you cut them into small slices. This can be really tricky because they like to roll around. I got around this by taping the cane to the cutting board so I could have more control with my hands.
You want the slices to be *really* thin because it makes them more flexible to shape around your nails when you stick them on.
Apparently you can get over 100 slices from one cane sometimes! I got sore hands after cutting for a while so I made James finish them off XD I cut them all up at once so I never have to do it again!
Keeping on the topic of nailart… these are the nails that I’ve been wearing for the last two weeks. Over two weeks I managed to move house with these babies on so they were super durable!
I used the little silver boullions to fill in spaces between the diamantes, it gives it lots of extra punch!
Heehee typically I managed to lose my first nail like 20min before James was ready to take the photos yesterday *_* You can spot one of the little fimo cane bows from Jacie in there too ^_^
I decided to experiment by using a big fabric bow this time too. It was very durable and went well and by using hand sanitiser a lot I was able to keep it nice and hygienic. Cute but I probably wouldn’t do it again because I fiddled with it too much! You can see the nails survived the move by my skin didn’t, time for a hand treatment!
Next it’s sticker time!
I’ve been looking at ways to deco my laptop for a while, I deco’d the entire front section twice but didn’t like either design. The second I saw these little heart shaped stickers I knew I wanted to stick them to my keyboard!
It’s fairly self explanatory… I just stuck them on randomly ^_^
I also used some matching yummy macaron/sweets stickers that the lovely Trashtastikagave me and went crazy with them!
LOVE the finished product and it’s a great starting point to inspire the rest of my laptop’s design. I’m going to use the deco protection sheets on the back of my laptop and start again with an even better design!
This next project was probably my biggest overall… I was very inspired by the leopard print fabric and the pre-glued deco sheets to finally decorate my little handy camera and it’s case 😀
First thing I did was add some of the little black rose stickers to all of the buttons on the back of the camera. They were the perfect size! The flash from the camera makes them look kind of shiny but in natural light you can’t see the sticker part you only see the black roses with silver outlines.
Nice and classy unlike the rest of my design which pretty much slaps you in the face with the pink 😉
I used the prestuck jewels and the sticky leopard print for the case. 
Again this was one of the easiest project I’ve ever done… I stuck the sheet of jewels on the front of the case, it fit perfectly!
And I stuck leopard print on the rest of the case. I added a stripe of lace to cover the line… and that’s it!
I keep it in my purse all the time and it’s been really great, none of the jewels have come off the sheet which surprised me as I’ve always assumed they aren’t very durable. Very happily surprised!
Now on to the actual camera! I wanted this to be sweets themed but I didn’t want it to be completely crazy. It also needed to fit back in the case which was a bit of a tight fit to begin with *_*
I played around with the design a bit and decided that this would be perfect to try out using Swarovski‘s for the first time! 
I used a lot of the cabachons, the prestuck pearls (which I removed the stick backs from and glued down) and several colours of crystals. This is what I ended up with after around an hour!
Totally cute but not too crazy!
Like?
I got a request a little while ago from a reader asking for cute ideas to store nail art supplies and nails there is another tutorial coming on this as well but here’s a quick and easy idea for you!
This is one of the boxes I keep my supplies in…
It took me about 2 minutes to cut out the sticky backed felt and cover the box! SUPER EASY.
It needed a little something extra so I added some of the other cute stickers in the pack ^_^
This is completely random but this is the rest of the sheet the stickers came on… all the cutest ones like the little bears weren’t actually cut out as stickers XD I just cut them out and stuck them on anyway!
Last but not least I used some of the other Swarovskicrystals to jazz up a little heart photo thingy that I got aaaages ago. I put in some purikura of James, Susie and I and deco’d around the edges.
Sorry Susie parts of you got covered in jewels ;_;
I really loved using the Swarovski‘s, they certainly do shine a hell of a lot more than acrylics! They are much heavier but I think they are going to be so much more durable too. Love durability!
So now you’ve seen all the fun things I got to make here’s my final review on The Sticker Monster!
Communication-
Every email I sent was replied to very very promptly, in fact I don’t think I ever waited more than about 12hrs for a response about anything. If you live in Malaysia Jolene also has her mobile number online for inquiries and even arranged meet ups if you want to buy a certain number of products. To top that off she is super polite, very friendly and really knows a whole lot about her products. She actually collects and uses them herself so if you have questions about anything she has proper first hand knowledge.
Prices-
All of the prices are in Malaysian currency (RM). When converting to Australia Dollars the prices are really cheap! Things like the sticky fabric sheets and pre-stuck jewel sheets were around half the price of what I’ve seen them for in shops here in Aus. Even when you factor in shipping it’s still much more cost effective.
Quality-
I didn’t find one single piece in the selection I got that I wasn’t happy with the quality. A lot of the things like the jewel sheets and the Swarovski‘s far exceeded my expectations. Even little things like comparing the silver/gold boullions to ones that I had previously ordered from a nailart site in bulk, the Sticker Monster boullions were slightly larger, shinier and more uniform in size than the bulk ones. Couldn’t be more pleased with everything.
Overall-
Considering the prices, exchange rate, ridiculous number of products actually available on the site and the super friendly service… I’m already putting together a mental order list 😀 DO WANT!!!
Let me know if you have suggestions for another decoden tutorial!
by VioletLeBeaux | Jun 1, 2010 | Craft, Decoden, Hime Gyaru
Today I thought I would show you a few of my latest decoden pieces ^_^
We don’t have the internet at our place yet so I’m keeping everything as updated as I can between free wifi at McDonalds and 3G on my phone. Please don’t stop commenting, I promise every single comment email etc will be answered when I have ADSL again! <3
This was my hair brush which was quite boring but I love it to death.
I started with the bigger pieces, and played with them until I had an order I liked. I wanted it to have a line down the center of feature pieces.
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Then I glued it all down!
Next I did around the sides so I had a defined area to deco in.
Add more jewels…
And there you have it!
I love the rose detail!
And strawberries of course ^_^
It’s so shiny!
Next I decided that a travel mug would be good for the trip down to Melbourne. I usually hate travel mugs but I found a really good one at Kmart in a pack of 2 for $4.50 so James and I each got one!
Add some deco…
I made all the pieces including the flowers and the cameo ^_^
I’m considering filling all of the gaps of the travel mug with purple jewels because I don’t know if it’s bling-y enough… what do you think? Keep it subtle or go for decoden craziness? |
by VioletLeBeaux | Apr 14, 2010 | Craft, Decoden, Hime Gyaru, Life
This story is a long Prada Wallet related saga.
It’s about a wallet that took over my life for two whole days. It’s a story about greed, a story about recycling, an epic drama about craft… and one Prada wallet.
This silly little thing was the cause of many many hours of my life being wasted:
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Jamesand I were at a thrift store one day looking for some bits and pieces. While we were waiting for the clerk to ring up our purchases it caught my eye from under the glass counter. It was barely noticeable… just a tiny corner of pink peaking out from under a mess of costume jewelery and decorative soaps.They lady brought it up for me to take a look at and I saw the price tag… as well as the gigantic Prada stamp on the front. I did need a new wallet, my previous Hello Kitty one was fairly thread bare… for only AU$5 even a fake was good value. But thinking of our budget I put it back.
Overnight, stories of friends finding pristine authentic Louis Vitton, Chanel and other high end brands among the thrift store junk floated through my brain. What if it was real, what if I had just missed out on the find of a lifetime? It was certainly decent quality leather whether it was a fake or not… it was just a bit beaten and up and dirty. |
So I decided to venture back… and if it was still unsold I would take that as a sign from fate that it was meant to be.
And it was. And I bought it.
And thus started an obsession that lasted several hours.
I used Twitter to find out more about Prada and how to discern a fake. In the process I had a hilarious conversation with Cheesie and Audand was given lots of advice from others!
I googled and googled, finding number after number of “Signs to tell it’s real” websites. I’m sure an aficionado of high end brands would have spotted in a moment what I was searching for but as someone who has never handled anything of a high end brand it was an adventure for me. Had I stumbled onto the holy grail of thrift store finds?
- Quality of the stitching…Check.
- Quality of the lining…Check.
- Leather stamp inside and out…Check
- Correct establishment date… Check
- Correct curve of the “R”… Check
- Prada branded zip and closure… FAIL.
Ok so it failed the final test… I have to admit I was slightly disappointed. The day dreams of selling it to pay for a trip to Japan or a puppy suddenly plummeted just like the bank balance of someone who had just bought a real Prada wallet.
But then I thought for a little while… even if it wasn’t going to be buying me a pony it was still quite a nice wallet. I liked the leather even it was a bit dirty, I liked the colour, I liked the size and I liked the idea of having a new cute wallet.
So out came the leather cleaner, glue gun, ribbon and lace… and my new wallet was born!
I scrubbed the leather clean with a combination of leather cleaner and a moisture sealant to make it nice and tough again.
I hot glued lace all around the edges on both inside and out to strengthen and disguise the cracked edges.
I found some matching pink polka dot ribbon in my stash and added accents to cover damage and add strength. I think it accents the card holder spots beautifully.
And finished off with a bow.
Even though it turned out to be a fake this pre-loved $5 wallet was worth every penny. It entertained me for two days, it gave me great conversations with my friends online and offline, it brought out my creativity and thriftiness, it sharpened my google-fu skills and it’s now holding all of my money, cards and old receipts. 1 month on, it’s in better condition than when I found it. Now it is the ultimate hime style wallet!
Very pleased!
And my idea is catching on, when I was in Melbourne, Super Kawaii Mamathought the idea was so cool, she re-vamped her old wallet too!
The verdict= $5 for several days of entertainment and a fantastic wallet is a great deal ^_^
Real Prada wallet or not, I can’t say I really care!
by VioletLeBeaux | Feb 10, 2010 | Craft, Decoden, Hime Gyaru
I’m writing this in between frantically packing things for Melbourne so do excuse me if I seem a little rushed but I couldn’t wait to show you my latest deco things!
There are a LOT of photos because I’m really proud of this one!
I bought a new leather phone case for my iphone Ruri and it’s taken me a while to settle on a design but here it is in all it’s glory 😀
Le Deco Front:
Close up of the front:
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Gigantic feature piece which was originally a brooch:
Side view:
The back side thingy:
Heehee this is my little Yorshire Terrier doggie screen cleaner:
Crown charm:
The inside!
The closure which used to be a hair clip:
On the inside is a mirror for on the go touch ups ^_^
The side and the back:
Back:
Close up of the back with a cute cupcake charm that used to be a hair clip ^_^
Heehee I love this ribbon!
I’ve got to say that I am beyond happy with how this turned out, every time I look at it I get a huge smile! Makes me love using my iphone even more! |
Last view of the back:
One of the other projects I’ve done lately is my glasses! That’s right all the hours I spent in front of the screen writing tutorials means I need glasses >_<
But how damn cute did they turn out?
Lastly if you were following me on Twitter you would have heard that I lost my absolute favorite scarf ever on the weekend 🙁 I keep it tied to my hand bag and it fell off somewhere in a shopping centre, I didn’t even realize until we got home 🙁
But the good part of that is that I got to go scarf shopping again 😀
What I bought:
Cute red scarf to match my bag- $3 from Footprints Op shop
Hand Painted silk scarf from the Salvos- $2
Yay for new things! I also got a very interesting wallet at the same shop but that’s reserved for another post ^_^ I love op shops!
Hope you enjoyed my deco spam, I promise I’ll reply to all of your lovely comments as soon as I get a second to relax and ‘ll update again once we’re in Melbourne <3
