Friday 22 March 2013

3D Glittery rocky iPhone Cases

This is my first finished product from a new line of products I am planning to set out. This is decidedly the project I will be sticking to for my shop from now on.

I've always loved the idea of gloop. Thick slime or oil spills, something about it feels so bold and intense. And I often like to stare at some of the beads in my enormous bead collection and find them so yummy, like real eye candy. I like to play with them and combine them with one another. But in all honesty I've never been much of a jewelry kind of person. Well, actually, I love simplistic jewelry like tiny pendants on tiny chains, things like that. But beaded jewelry, as much as I love to see it on others, has never really been my personal thing, despite my love for beads themselves.

Anyway. So one night I got the idea of making an art piece: I poured acrylic paint on a thick sheet of black paper, covered it in my favorite shimmer powders and stuck my favorite beads in it in a way that I thought would complement a room if hung in a frame on a wall (to give it a 3D crafty artsy look.)

When I woke up the next day I tested the page's resistance to movement by making waves and bends in the sheey (I like to test my products for any potential damage before thinking of selling them) and the dry paint puddle cracked and opened up to a sub-layer of still wet paint. Had to put it in the garbage in the end.

Then my boyfriend suggested I do it on solid iPod cases, and I got the idea of not only using beads but nature as well. Rocks, twigs, this sort of thing. Made this iPhone case and 24 hours after it being listed, I was able to gather 10 admirers and 6 views from my usual team thread games. May not seem like much to an advanced Etsy seller but it's a start... Not to mention my case seems to be featured in the first page of a number of popular searches I've made to test it out, so the keywords really help. I have a good feeling about this.

Ordered these two cases on eBay yesterday. This may sound ridiculous but I don't have enough money to buy more than that. My mother is planning on buying another bracelet from me though, so I will be using the money from that sale to get another iPhone case or two. When I have enough iPhone 4 cases in my shop I will get iPOD cases, then dip into the 5th generations of both. I have many ideas for this project and I am very excited!

Wednesday 20 March 2013

BAT FOR LASHES ( Haunted Man : Marylin ) + musical impression evolution with time


Can not / refuse to get this album out of my head.

I can't believe how much my impressions of an album change from the first listen to multiple listens later. For some odd reason I always misjudge an album when hear it the first few times, to the point that it almost gets annoying  I guess it all turns into the same noise eventually. And then suddenly, as I'm listening one day, it just switches completely. Suddenly I am getting those songs in my head and understanding them completely and wondering how I didn't get addicted earlier. Next thing I know I love it. All this to say I've learned not to trust my instincts on music, and to keep a list of potential likes in memory to try again later when re-stumbling on them instead of ruling them out completely. It helps me keep an open mind. As a result, I have widely diversified the music on my iPod in a way that really suits me.

Blue hair dye disaster

So after 10 bleaches in less than 1 week (you read correctly) and one very refreshing blonde toner, several clumps in my hair brush later (which I didn't really mind), my hair didn't exactly turn out the way I was expecting it to.

EXPECTATIONS
 REALITY




 ... So I applied the manic panic SHOCKING BLUE, and my hair went from blonde to a mix of black, navy, purple, blue, greenish brown... it doesn't seem to show on the picture, but in reality it's just allover the place, and transforming for the worse with every wash since. What I have wasted is a total of 100$, and as much as that is a mother load of allot for me in my circumstances (let alone a miracle that I was able to save up that much in the first place), looking on the bright side, it would have cost triple that at a salon. So yeah. That's the bright side, I guess.

I'll be honest. I got depressed for a few days. Really depressed. Might still be on the inside. But I'm making the effort to distract myself with yet another new idea I got for my Etsy shop that I truly believe will this time finally get my shop noticed & running. And I'm telling myself over and over that it's JUST hair. It's just that. And I don't even have a job out in public, so I can hide inside till I think of what the next step will be for my supersonic video game character troll-hair. (sigh...) Yeah, I know, I'm exaggerating. I think I deserve a bit of that. But again, on the bright side, my boyfriend and mom and sisters seem to enjoy the new look, and I guess that's a little comforting while it will still have to stay on my head.

Tuesday 12 March 2013

Pomplamoose memories + Actually getting my blue hair!

Wow. I used to listen to this band allot a few years ago. I felt as if I'd found a real gem, really loved the sound of their music. Ever get one of those moments when you remember something is really good to the point that you stop everything you're doing and go find it?


If you like Feist, you'll love this Youtube born band and their covers / singles.

Well... in other news, I did something crazy 3 days ago! I went out and got 3 bottles of peroxide, 10 packs of bleaching powder and a few other things and started burning the dark brown right out of my hair in a long journey to platinum blonde, which is the base I will need to die my hair Shocking Blue by manic panic. I was supposed to keep my money for something else but... I thought, to hell with it. I'm just gonna finally do it.


I am currently a very pale ginger, not quite at the blonde yet, but I still have 3 more packs of bleach and a blonde hair color to go through before I expect I will be ready for the blue dye. My hair is very very angry at me, not friends with my brush much anymore but I calm it down with massive amounts of conditioner between bleaches. Yes, I've bleached my hair 7 times in the past 3 days. OUCH! I'm aware of what I'm doing, and as I expected, because I am not leaving the bleaching solution anywhere near my roots till the last 4-5 minutes of the treatment, I am not losing any hair. The damage is obvious but my hair recovers very easily with the right touch of love. (conditioning love)


So yeah! Hoping to get rid of this ginger tint tomorrow & finally get it all over with! 7 showers in just 3 days... and it's giving me some kind of a cold & wet scalp headache, not to mention a few bleach rashes resulting from my ears, neck & shoulders having been too exposed to the bleach. Once this is all done, I look forward to relaxing and enjoying the new almost witchy night blue look.

Saturday 9 March 2013

Bath Bombs by ZENfulworld (featuring Caramel Latte)


Caramel Latte Bath Bomb Bath Fizzy Made with by ZENfulworld

Oh my god! Look at this thing! Caramel Latte Bath Bomb. I am an absolute adorer of bath time, and with my collection of bubble bath soap and bath salt and whatnot, I had no idea this sorta thing existed.

"Drop one in the bath tub and watch it fizz. Great aroma! Also moisturizing and great for your skin!"

ZENfulworld on Etsy sells many of these pretty little bath bombs with a diversity of interesting scents. Putting a few of these on my Christmas list. (yes, I am aware of the current month)

Friday 8 March 2013

Blue hair.

I don't know why, but ever since a few years now, I've been stuck on this insane idea of dying my hair completely blue. I don't mean Lolita blue hair or scene blue hair or any of that. Just blue hair. Just like that. If anything, I epxpect it will make me feel like I can tone down on everything else. Relax my wardrobe worries and stick to comfor and simplicity. I'm 20 years old and usually don't give into these kind of things but geez, I really gotta have that blue hair soon. Maybe not forever, but at least for a little while.



I kinda got up and got out of bed like the obsessive thinker that I am to look up pictures and pictures and pictures of blue hair. I found this image that I kind of like because the hair cut is a bit like the one I have now (And have had almost my entire life). The piercing thing is a... sudden innexplicable urge. I don't know, maybe the sudden interest will dissipate in a few days. Regardless, the plans for blue stay. I'll have it one day! That's a promise to myself.

Image source: [ link ]

Thursday 7 March 2013

Shop fiiinaly back in business.



















We finally got internet at the new home. (when am I just going to start calling it home..?) The second the setup was completed, I reopened my shop and posted a new item! Not only that, I redesigned everything... E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G. like a maniac. From my Gabrielle Caramelle logo, to this blog's entire layout, to the thumbnails in my shop, and so on. Refreshing.

(Bracelet link: https://www.etsy.com/listing/125626627/water-forest-minimalist-woodland-zen? )

I've also been doing allot of publicity on Etsy team forums, which has earned me 11 favorites in the last 24 hours. Made a list of threads to keep posting my items on daily. Let's get this all finally going...