Blinging Up My Dress

Every year I have a ball that I have been going to for almost 10 years now, could even be 10 years! This year I thought I would go a little more understated in terms of dressing up. I bought this dress the other day for $50! Which is a steal considering most of my other dresses I have worn have cost at least $250 and up. But I thought that it needed a little something extra and have been looking at using some Swarovski Rhinestones on the black area of the dress. In the pic below you can see the colours that I have picked out which I think match my dress best. I like the idea of using a colour to make a nice focal decoration but I don't think I am experienced enough yet. I think the jet and black diamond would be a safer option but it'll still add some sparkle to the dress. I was going to go with diamonte straps as well but if I am wearing a sparkley necklace it might be too much......

....what do you guys think?

Been absent

Well I have joined the sick list which is why I haven't updated for a while. A nasty sinus infection struck me down last Tuesday night and really put me on the back foot. Luckily I caught it early and my anitbiotics have really made me feel better a lot quicker than usual. Although I was in bed for approx 3 days straight and it has done nothing for my back but thats another story. So I am hoping to get back into making stuff over the next couple of days. I did make a necklace for my little nephew who came to visit but I didn't get a photo in time. Might have to get his nann to take one for me of him wearing it. But I am feeling better now. I still have some conjestion in my sinuses and into my ears but I am hoping thats just the end of it and will be cleared up soon.

On a lighter note I did find these cute lolcats. hehe they make me smile.


Frit

Well I have been making a bit of frit lately from all little bits and pieces of glass that have been lying around. Generally my technique is to put the glass pieces in a plastic bag and hit them with a hammer. Only problem is that the bag gets holes in it and some of the glass falls into the floor and then the bag is ruined and I have to use another one next time. Not to mention that sometimes stray pieces fly out of an imaginary hole and almost under the wheels of the car!

So now I have searched for our old mortar and pestle! I read ages ago about using one of these for frit and everytime I kept forgetting about it! Thats my memory for ya.
I have to say that using this is a LOT easier then doing it in the bag. All the glass stays where its meant to as long as I cover the top with my hand and it's just generally a lot less messy. I need to wash the M&P after everytime I use it but that doesn't bother me. Now I should be able to chuck in all those stray pieces of glass that can't be used for anything and making myself some unique frit!

Cubic Zirconia Tutorial

Well this isn't going to be the best tutorial but thought I would post up some pics and info on how I do my cubic zirconias in my glass.

CUBIC ZIRCONIA TUTORIAL
This is my little set up. It is a takeaway container filled with water, the water has to cover the top of the glass piece plus some more just incase. I have my little permanent Sharpie marker and my little red cabs which I am going to be working on.
Here I have marked out on the glass where I want the dots to be. This just helps by giving me a guide in the water as to where the middle of the cab is. The marker does come off quickly once the dremel touches it so its important to make sure you have control otherwise you will have to mark it again. This is my bit that I use in my dremel to make the 'dents'.
This is how I hold my glass in the dish. I really shouldn't be doing it this way so I wouldn't recommend it. However I would recommend putting either some styrofoam or a thing layer of wood on the bottom on the container just incase you do drill all the way through by accident. You don't want water going everywhere.
When first using the dremel on the cabs it is important to keep a steady hand as it can slip and slide a little bit. Once the dent has been started just apply medium pressure into the glass and that should give you the best control over the depth. Voila! Here are my little cabs with their 'dents'.
As you can see in this pic the Cubic zirconia isn't sitting flush with the cab and personally I like mine to sit as even as they can before fusing. This is because when the cab is being re-fused it actually lifts the cubic zirconias slightly so they will end up raised. To make it sit flush I just picked up my dremel again and while drilling I also did a slow 'circle' motion. This makes the dent a little bit wider and allows for the stones to sit flush.
Here are my little cabs with all their bling! As you can see around the edges of the holes it is a little scratchy. This will disappear and become smooth again once they are fused!
Hope that was simple enough for anyone who is trying to follow it!

New Cabs

Below are some pictures of some flowers which I took this morning. If you notice that they are very similar to my new layout then you would be right! These are actually the inspiration behind my colour scheme. Generally I like Pink and Purple anyway but these bright vibrant colours really spoke to me today!

Plus I have some new cabs in my Flickr album! I haven't had much time lately to make let alone take pictures of my cabs so what you see is what you get. I have an assignment to do some red and black cabs for a friend so that will be interesting to see how those come out! I have the day off work tomorrow to sort out some things so if I can get them done and dusted early then I will have time to play! Not looking forward to 'sorting' out those things though.

Make Over

I have been wanting to re-do my blog for awhile now. I wanted something quite simple but stilll bright and still 'me'. So I made myself a little heading and also a pretty little deco in the corner to match.

Any comments welcome about the new layout!

I have also decided to start posting in a bigger font. I was on the desktop the other day getting some bits off my blog and the front was tiny, I could barely read it!! So I thought to save you all from squinting...if you have to squint and post in a larger font.

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