Review ~ Sassy’n’Punk + Cute Magnet Craft!

Remember a while ago when I did a post about Sassy’n’Punk’s online shop and all the cute things they had for sale?

Well, they sent me a little thank you gift for writing the post and I got in the mail just the other week.  When I opened my package this is what I found all safely nestled in bubble wrap!

~ * ♥ * ~  Sassy’n’Punk Item Review  ~ * ♥ * ~

     Review:

It’s a pretty heart pendant as far as I can tell…  > . >   I don’t actually know what it is because it’s actually quite large ~ about 2 inches high and about the same across, so is it a large pendant or a keychain charm?   I am not really sure…. 

It is really well made and I can tell that Leyla {she’s the owner, but I am not sure if it’s just her making the items or if she has help} takes care with making sure the Sassy’n’Punk products look really good.

 

I love the colours of the little hearts too ~ they are really cute.   But there are a couple of things that I do have to mention because I do feel that they affect the my overall review.

The major thing was that it took a very long time for the item to arrive from the UK ~ I did expect that because Leyla warned me that it took a long time to ship to Australia.  I was surprised that it took over a month though; that was really unexpected.

The other point is more personal; I was under the impression that Sassy'n'Punk were offering to send me an item from their store in exchange for the post I did about their products.  However,  I searched their website and they are not selling this item.  I really wanted to be able to review an actual Sassy’n’Punk product, so that was really quite disappointing to me. 

Still I was able to see the quality of the handmade items that they do produce and I think that it is good quality.  

Conclusion:

I think Sassy’n’Punk craft really cute, well made, handmade items.  The shipping is slow though, at least for Australians, so be prepared to wait if you order. 

Would I buy it?

I would buy from Sassy’n’Punk ~ but I’d order the things I want all at once I don’t have to wait forever for the shipping.

Rating:

7/10  ~  over a month for shipping is a little bit much, but other than that the service and product is really good. 

I am not counting my personal disappointment, because I don’t feel that it’s a reflection of a customer’s over all experience of Sassy’n’Punk.  : )

Cute Magnets inspired by Melanie of Beauty meets Kawaii

Melanie wrote a tutorial on Pretty~fying Your Ugly Fridge Magnets ~ it was such a simple, easy idea that I thought I’d give it a go myself.

It was also a great way to use the cute Sanrio packaging {the Hello Kitty, My Melody, and Hamster pictures} that I carted all the way from Switzerland back to Australia…  >  <

The other two magnets are from the puffy sticker sheets I bought from Modes4u ~ I LOVE the bunny and veggies in box; it’s soooo cute!  > w <

So I don’t have a fridge yet, but I do have cute magnets to start my collection of cute kitchenware!   I can not wait to set up house ~ it’s going to be some much fun.   ^ U ^

xox,

bonita

Only six days and seven sleeps until my darling comes home and all the fun begins!   ♥ ♥ ♥

Quick Share ~ 10 tips to a Better Blog

There are a TON of “How to be a better blogger” posts out there, but this one stands out for me because it's sort of a guideline of how I like to blog too.  My favourite tip is to read outside of your genre of blogging. 

For example, if you are interested in other subjects but feel as a fashion/art/music blogger you should only read fashion/art/music blogs you might be missing out on worlds of inspiration that you can use to help you write more comprehensive posts!   This is just one of the ten tips from Victoria Suzanne, so if you are interested check her post out.

 

Lolita Charm: 10 Tips to a Better Blog

I read recently that some girls perhaps 'aren't writing blogs for the right reasons' or 'who should and shouldn't write blogs'. Bullshit. ANYONE can write a successful blog! A blog, first and foremost, is for you. It's not for anyone else to tell you that you're not good enough to write a blog, or that you're note 'experienced' enough.

There's nothing standing in the way of you and your own .blogspot.com! I promise. I know it looks like a big job - and it is - but there's nothing that says you can't do it. It takes practice, maybe, and dedication, but if you really want to, you'll get it. Here's what I've discovered so far in my years as blogger...

xox,

bonita

The Swan Maiden ~ Outfit Twenty Four

What I wore yesterday when I went out and had coffee with my sister.  Actually, it was a fruit smoothie for me ~ I abhor coffee.  Nasty stuff and it gives me migraines.  Strangely enough, however, I love the scent of freshly ground coffee beans. 

I have heard that it is not that uncommon for non~coffee drinkers to like the smell of ground coffee and apparently I fit the bill.   Random.

   

I bought the feathered hairband and rose bracelet while I was out rambling around with my sister, {Shopping malls ~ they are my weakness…  >  <    Actually, shopping full stop is my weakness!!} but couldn’t resist including them for the outfit shoot because I felt they added such a lovely touch.

The cool thing about the this outfit shoot is that I took most of the pictures myself!  DH bought me a tripod for my birthday last year, but I haven’t had the opportunity to use it until now because he’s been around to take the photos for me.

So I finally worked out my camera’s self timer and happily snapped away.   It’s fun to be in complete control of the shoots and how the background looks.  I was also really excited to find that my tripod has a little platform that unclips from the main stand.  As this platform is the part you screw your camera to, you can unclip the camera really easily if you want to take a shot and then put it back on the tripod without having to undo the screw from every time!  Yay for awesome tripods!!  ^ U ^

Accessories  ~  Headband  {Equip}    Earrings  {Sportsgirl}  Bracelet  {Equip}

Top  ~  Tempt        Cardigan  ~  Kmart       Skirt  ~  Can’t remember; it was too long ago!

Shoes  ~  Some random store in Czech Republic

This is one of the photos that my sister took for me {she took the last two and the one of my bracelet} ~ sorry it’s out of focus, but I thought it was cute.    > w <  ~ ♥    She was all “I want to take photos of the bump!” then I was all “Baby love!”  and did the peace sign although it looks like some other weird thing as I apparently stuck out my pinky…  = o =’

You know what else was funny?  I was on Skype with my husband and I told him that because I was all in white I was going to title this outfit post “The Swan Maiden”.   Then he said “But you’re not a maiden because you’re pretty obviously knocked up!” 

O _______ O   …..     Thanks dear!

 

Ah well, at least it makes for a funny blog story!   

xox,

bonita

 

Only nine days and ten sleeps until my sweetie comes home!

Cute Wallpaper Madness ~

I have noticed that I am changing my desktop wallpaper a lot these days.  I see a really cute picture and I want to have that instead of the one I’ve got!

I thought I would post up a few of my favourite wallpapers that I’ve had, and also a couple I have done myself.  > w <

Just right click to see the original images in a new tab and click save image to download it to your computer.   Then you can go to your computer’s theme settings and change your wallpaper to whatever cute picture you want.  ^ U ^

Modes4u Free Wallpapers ~

These wallpapers are free in the Modes4u Facebook album FREE cute wallpaper.  If you don’t follow Modes4u on Facebook, you might like too as they are constantly putting up new cute wallpapers you can download and they have a lot more than just these available to use.

Takochou Wallpaper ~

I don’t have the original link to this one ~ I downloaded it from the Takochou website which was in Japanese and I can not even remember how I got there or how I managed to download it…  >  <

Blueberry Chuu~Chan Wallpaper by b dot depictions

    800 x 568  ~  Small version

    1000 x 710  ~  Large version

OC Cute Characters Wallpaper by b dot depictions

    800 x 568  ~  Small version

     1610 x 1173  ~  Large version

~* ♥ * ~ * ♥ *~ * ♥ * ~ * ♥ * ~

Gah!  I can’t believe the last time I did a wallpaper was in 2oo7!  Oh well, it’s ok because I have started to colour another wallpaper line art that I drew the other day, but it’ll be a while before the colouring is all done I think…. 

I hope you found something cute to put up as your desktop wallpaper.  I have had all of these myself in the last few months alone!

Do you have a favourite picture to use for your desktop?

xox,

bonita

Eleven days and twelve sleeps until my Darling comes home!!! 

Quick Share ~ Life & Love offline

Please visit this link to read an insightful post on blogging and offline relationships. I think that it is a good reminder to put the computer down and spend some serious time with those that we know and love in real life. It's all about balance....

Taste & Style Files: This one's for you, Babe.: 


"A lovely fellow blogista of ours, Vahni of Grit & Glamour, wrote an ever-inspiring post today entitled Mr. Stylist.

When I read it I couldn't help but feel a tug of guilt at my heartstrings, and the feeling that I know I've been having the past couple of weeks came rushing in like a hurricane..."

xox,

bonita

Really Truly Vintage

Here’s the story: I love vintage, but I do not have many actual vintage items much to my dismay. 

Part of the reason for this is that I am relatively new to the vintage scene, but also that I have a major disadvantage from living in a relatively young country {Australia: we aren’t old}, and that means that most vintage is out of my range.   Literally!  Either I can not even find it {think 90s clothes in thrift shops} or it’s too expensive for me because I have to buy it through someone else {usually overseas} and pay for shop fees/profit/P&P/etc. 

As a result I am relying heavily on repo/shop items that I can find that look vintage and have a vintage feel, but more often than not repos simply aren’t even close to the real thing.  I am, however, lucky enough to be able to build my collection slowly. 

To date I have two vintage dresses {although I do not think that one of them is that old…  Maybe a 70s repo?} ~

Left: 1950s party dress from Etsy  ~ * ♥ * ~  Right:  Thrifted vintage dress {I am saving this one for a special outfit shoot!}

This delightful old camera which my DH inherited from his Grandfather’s brother and said that we could share ~

I did some searching online and found a website that described the camera ~ Iloca Rapid B. 

“The Iloca Rapid B is yet another German consumer rangefinder of the 1950s. It was produced in 1954… and it comes with a simple Steinheil München Cassar S 50mm f/2.8 lens; Prontor SVS leaf shutter; and a coupled rangefinder.”

And these gorgeous tapestry purses  ~  one is a handbag and the other is a makeup case with a mirror inside.

I found these when I was shopping at this darling antique junk shop in Wagga Wagga.   I absolutely love them ~ I think they are simply divine!   I have no precise idea of how old they are, but I think from my searching that they may be from the 1950s. 

Lastly, this is my most recent acquisition, a darling vintage collar I brought on Etsy  at  Wildfell Hall Vintage. 

It’s 49% Angora Rabbit fur and it is soooooo soft!!  I opened up my package and fell totally in love with it.  The colour, the feel, the style and the pearl embellishment are just divinely perfect!

These are my most notable really truly vintage pieces ~ I have a few other odds and ends; a teacup, a topless thimble, a pair of shoes from the 80s {I think} and a few pieces of furniture which I will show you when they are safely settled in our new house. 

So that is the extent of my collection for now, but I am sure it’s only the beginning, because honestly?  The more I study and see vintage things in real life, the more I fall head over heels for the detail and the craftsmanship.   It is just so unlike anything you find these days, and I love it. 

What is your favourite item of vintage to collect?

xox,

bonita

The Goals for 2011

Or to be more accurate ~ my New Years resolutions.   I want to share these with you, maybe you can keep me accountable on a few of them!   I also want to make sure that I set achievable goals and resolutions and not overload myself with expectations as I am prone to….  > . >’

So without further ado…  

My personal goal:  To be the best mother I can be.

~ * ♥ * ~  For me this doesn’t mean making sure baby is looked after perfectly, because frankly I have no idea whether I can do that or not.  I guess it depends on what your standard of ‘perfect’ is!   So this resolution is more about the child’s character.  I want to be the sort of person I want my children to grow up to be.   I say this because I believe that children learn by example. 

So this year I strive to be more disciplined and less procrastinating; especially when it comes to house chores and cooking!   I can be organized, I know that.  It’s when I get lazy that the organization falls apart and I am sick of that happening!   Less computer, more chores.  My 2011 mantra perhaps?

My skills goal:  To practise sewing and by the end of 2011; to have sewn myself a day dress.

~ * ♥ * ~  Pretty self-explanatory.   I wanted to learn to sew last year, and I started to, but then I lost track of things and I stopped.   I keep on forgetting how much I enjoy it and spend too much time mucking around and wasting time on other things.  This year I plan to change that by practising at least once a week.  {I am also trying to do a least one drawing a week too; with a similar goal to practise art but I made this resolution before the new year. : ) }

My business goal:  To set up my b dot depictions studio website properly, to get my business cards done and to go to at least one fair with my photographs this year. 

~ * ♥ * ~  Again, self explanatory, but this one is really important to me.  I feel like my business has been stuck in the one spot for the last four months of 2010 simply because I didn’t know what I was doing.   I want my studio website up because then I feel I can actually work on the studio products and promote my services. 

I can not seem to move forwards without that all important web launching pad, so this is a crucial part to the goals I can achieve for 2011 business wise.

~ * ♥ * ~ * ♥ * ~ * ♥ * ~

So those are my new year’s resolutions.  I hope I can actually stick with them!   I sometimes manage to get half way to my goals and sometimes I forget about them altogether.  But I do think that it’s a worthwhile thing to set goals and work to achieve them.  Of course, you can do this anytime in the year and I don’t think you should put off making a resolution as soon as you realize that you need to!

I have also heard that one of the best ways to help improve your blogging {if you are interested in that} is to make goals and resolutions for your blog.   It seems to me that there are a lot of serious bloggers out there that do want to achieve certain levels of performance with their blog as it is their income/day job.

I personally refrained from making any particular goal for Depict This! {besides to keep up my 3 a week posting schedule} simply because this is something I do for fun.   I don’t want to fall into the trap of trying to get x number of readers, or x number of sponsors.   My business is my studio, blogging is a hobby and I want to keep it that way. 

What do you think?  Should all bloggers have specific goals to try and achieve?  Do you have any blogging goals in your new years resolutions?

xox,

bonita

Ring the bells ~ Outfit Twenty Three

Happy New Year one and all!   This is the outfit I wore Christmas Day ~ it’s a stunning vintage 1950s party dress with attached crinoline.  My first real piece of vintage clothing! 

 

I saw it this dress on Revolving Styles’ blog when Anna put up the new listing for her Etsy shop and I wanted to buy it so badly ~ it was the Perfect Party dress for me.  But I couldn't decide if I could justify spending the money on it. It was listed at $180.00 USD + P&P and I just didn’t know whether I should or not. 

I haven’t ever spend that much on any piece of clothing except for my wedding dress!!   I was hemming and hawing; trying to make up my mind.  Eventually I decided I would get it and oh dear!  I'd taken too long and it had sold...    I was gutted, but moved on, because what can you do?

But then I got an early Christmas present from my amazing husband and guess what?  …..

He'd bought my Perfect Party dress for me!!  Being privy to my indecisiveness he'd made up my mind for me, although I didn't know it at the time!   There were many squee’s and so much dancing around when I unwrapped it.   I really did not expect him to do that for me!  

I just adore the silver sparkles and the floral print {it’s blue velveteen on chiffon} plus the pink lining is delightful.   And what can I say except I LOVE the poufy skirt!!  Yay for attached crinolines!  {Especially as I am very much lacking in the crinoline department ~ read as none in my wardrobe, and this skirt would not be the same without it.}

I received so many compliments on the dress; and the main one seemed to be that it suits me so well.   I happen to think so too!  I feel like such a lady in this dress and I love it.

All I can say is that my darling, amazing, superb, fantastic, wonderful husband is the best!!!   He is so considerate and even though he does not really get the whole dressing up thing that I like to do, he still supports my dreams {of vintage dresses!}  and lets me shop; or in this case, shops for me.  I love you DH!  ^ x ^ *kisses*

    Baby bump at 5 months.  ^ w ^ 

I have been having a lovely break so far ~ DH has time off for this week and the next and we have been hanging out, bludging on the couch.    I would be out and a about a bit more, but unfortunately as soon as Christmas was over I caught a cold off one of my sisters {thanks dear, love you too…  = . =’ }.  

Suffice to say,  it’s really knocking the stuffing out of me.  Cold:  25.  bonita:  0.  I am glad that I can relax and take some time to recover.  >  <  

I hope your Christmas/New Years holidays have been going well too ~ have a happy New Year everyone!

xox,

bonita

P.S.  ~  Thanks to The Random Rocker {a.k.a. sister number three} for taking these photos for me.  DH was indisposed as he was busy playing with slot cars.  > __ <

P.S. II  ~   No, I am not wearing the dress properly.   The front bodice comes down further to the waist, but I had to hike all that up over the bump and under my ribs because I don’t have a waist any more!   The dress still looked good, {yay!} but I think that will be the first and the last time wearing it until baby is out and I have slimmed down to fit back into it. 

Holiday Greetings from Depict This!

     Hi everyone!  I hope you have, and have had, a marvellous Christmas!!   I wish you much happiness and laughter in this season of celebration, and all the very best for the upcoming year… 

     

See you in 2011!!   

xox,

bonita

How to ~ Tea Paper Tutorial

Remember I showed you how I dyed some cloth for my Vintage Styled Hair Bow Holder Tutorial using tea bags to get an ‘antique’ look?   Well, I thought I’d also do a tutorial on using similar techniques to antiquitize paper as well!

This tutorial is super easy and simple, but has a lot of potential if you do any sort of paper craft {ie, scrapbooking, card making,  origami, etc.}.  And even if you do not do any of those crafts, you still might find the principles of the technique useful as it can be adopted to dying natural cloths and other organic materials as seen in my previous tutorial.

Materials you will need:

~  Something to weigh the paper down ~ I used four glass cups

~  Paper to dye (the thicker the better, but this will work with ordinary printer paper}

~  Absorbent paper to go underneath so you don’t make a mess everywhere

~  A Tea Bag {black ~ I used English Breakfast}

~  Bowel {sorry, forgot to put this in the picture..  = __=’ }

 

Step One:  Lay out your absorbent paper, place the paper you are dying on top of it and weigh it all down with your glasses.

 

Step Two:   Wet your tea bag in a bowl of water.

 

Step Three:  Rub your wet tea bag over both sides of the paper and leave to dry.    This might take a while so be prepared to wait.  The thicker the paper is, the longer it will take to dry out.

Note:  An extra step to finish the paper quickly is to set your iron on low and iron the paper until it is dry.   Just remember to place the paper between two pieces of old cloth to keep it from dirtying your ironing board and your iron.

 

Step four:   Take your dry paper and use it to make something pretty!    As you can see, the colouration of the paper is very subtle, but this is because I only used one tea bag to turn it a light creamy colour.  If you wish to make it darker, use more tea bags the first time around and repeat the dying process after letting it dry. 

You can also use the iron trick noted above.  But if you are trying to make the paper darker, set the iron to high so you ‘burn’ the paper as well as dye it with the tea.  If you iron to ‘burn’ the paper, leave the top piece of cloth off so that the iron base has direct contact with the paper.  It will be more effective this way. 

Note:  With this technique of tea dying, it is not about getting a vibrant colour ~ you would be better off buying paper from the store if that is your desired outcome.  Tea bag dying is more about achieving a natural brownish hue/tone with whatever item you dyed to make it look older than what it is.  The darker you dye it, the older it will look, but as a reverse, the more you dye it the more fake it can look!  Experiment to find the right balance for the look you want.  

 

~ * ♥   I used the paper to make some labels for a customer who purchased an amigurumi charm from my Etsy shop  ♥  * ~

 

I hope you enjoyed this easy tutorial, and if you make anything cool {or anything at all!} using these techniques, please send me photos ~ I’d love to see what you make.

xox,

bonita

 

P.S.  ~  How exciting!!  Only two more days {a day and a half??} until Christmas!  Yay!!    

P.S. II  ~  Oh golly, I better get on with wrapping all the presents….  > o < !

P.S.  III  ~  I did get my Christmas cards sent out incidentally!  I am so stoked that I managed to get that far this year.   Now I just have to keep it up for next year!  ^ w ^