Store Review: BornPrettyStore

Hi everyone! It's my first time doing a review for a store and today I'm reviewing BornPrettyStore! I've heard so many good things about them and I'm glad to have the opportunity to do this review!

The online store is http://www.bornprettystore.com/

You can use coupon code EATX31 for 10% off your entire purchase! No minimum amount, and they offer free shipping worldwide!

Their customer service was superb and they ship really fast! They have a lot of pretty items and they would be amazing for resin crafting! Their prices are very reasonable and the products are really high quality!

First, I received this adorable cartoon animal nail clipper! They have different designs and it will be sent at random.

Here's the direct link:
Cartoon Animal Nail Clipper: http://www.bornprettystore.com/lovely-stainless-steel-manicure-clipper-cartoon-animal-pattern-manicure-tool-random-color-p-14097.html

This nail clipper is cute and fun for kids; you may even entice them to get their nails cut! The plastic cover is very well finished and smooth, and the nail clipper also has an attached ball chain for easy attachment to any bag or purse! You'll never have to dig around for a nail clipper again!

Next, I received this wheel of flatback pearl decorations! It comes in round and heart shapes, in the colours ivory, pink and blue!

You can find this product at the following link:
Sweety Pearl Decorations: http://www.bornprettystore.com/nail-decoration-sweety-pearl-heart-round-design-75pcsbox-p-13957.html

I know these are intended for nail art decor, but I decided to add some flair to my resin pieces with these pearl hearts!

Don't you love the three-dimensional effect it adds to my resin pieces! You can do the same as well!

Over all, I was really pleased with the online store and their products.

Their customer service was superb and they ship really fast! They have a lot of pretty items and they would be amazing for resin crafting! Glitter, spangles, micromarbles, eyeshadow powders, you name it! Their prices are very reasonable and the products are really of high quality!

Here are some other links:

New arrivals:
http://www.bornprettystore.com/show.php?filter=new_arrivals&cid=268

Most popular items:
http://www.bornprettystore.com/show.php?filter=most_popular&cid=268

Also, please check out the video review I did on Youtube!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=94H42W--Jxw

Thank you BornPrettyStore for allowing me to do this review! 

What are you waiting for? Start shopping now! Use coupon code EATX31 for 10% off your purchase!

http://www.bornprettystore.com/

Nikki

Why am I such a wimp?

This has nothing to do with crafting but I just needed to jot this down somewhere. Bear with me if you please.

Yesterday, I was on the bus home and it was not that packed, but not that empty either.

(I was sitting behind the left-side priority seating area.)

The right-side priority seating area was occupied by a little old lady, a big man dressed in black and some other passengers. The left-side priority seating area was occupied by a young lady obsessed with her smartphone (with 2 empty seats beside her), and an elderly couple.

The priority-seating areas bus looks something like this (for those who want a better visualiazation):

O          A          O
O           I          O
O          S          O
O O      L          O
O O      E      O O

A woman with a stroller struggled to get on, and by the time she was on the bus, NOBODY got up from the priority seating areas to let her "park" her stroller. So, she stopped right in the aisle (with all the said people sitting down too busy looking at their devices).

The bus driver proceeded to tell her she can't block the aisle, so she struggled to manoeuvre the stroller into the (small) two-empty-seat area (left side of the bus) beside the lady with her phone. This phone lady did not look up until the stroller obviously distracted her during its attempt to fit in the small space.

The phone lady looked up (with a somewhat bewildered look) and said, "Would it helped if I got up?" The stroller lady (who was already losing patience) answered with a fast and harsh reply, "YES." The stroller got into place and the phone lady moved to an empty seat beside the man dressed in black (YES, STILL IN THE PRIORITY SEATING AREA). The elderly couple remained seated but the helped the lady to get her stroller in place.

A few stops later, the little old lady moved to another seat, but the big man and phone lady remained in that row of priority seats. Another lady with a stroller proceeded to get on. This one would  mean it would have to go on the right side, which was now half occupied by the man in black and the phone lady. While this new stroller lady struggled to push up the folding seats to make room for the stroller, the man in black did not even flinch or look up from his phone, and nobody budged from their seats.

Neither did the driver, in both cases, make an announcement to ask people to give up their courtesy seats or make room for the strollers. He was in a hurry and even drove off quickly without making sure the old lady was seated and the stroller brakes were on.

The woman managed to get her stroller in place, and she shot the man a dirty look as she took a seat.

As I got up from my seat to get off the bus, I turned back and was appalled to see that the back half of the bus was half EMPTY. I felt truly disappointed by all the people who contributed to this selfish bus ride, myself included.

Before you say anything about the pot calling the kettle black, I am not writing this post to shoot down these passengers who did not lift a finger to help the ladies with their strollers, nor am I saying the driver was wrong not to have told off passengers for not giving up the seats.

I am questioning my inability to be assertive in this kind of social situations. I have witnessed many of these situations where people would not hesitate to help or tell off others who were not doing the right things.

Why couldn't I have told off all the people who refused to give up their seats?
Why couldn't I have gone forward to help the lady with the folding seats?
Why didn't I get up from my seat to move to the back of the bus?

WHY CAN'T I BE ASSERTIVE WHEN THE NEED ARISES?

Why am I such a wimp?

I really wished I could have done something constructive on that bus. I really wish I have the courage to speak up and tell off strangers when these things happen. Maybe I'm just afraid of getting told off by even more assertive people.

Over all, with that aside, the more important question is:

WHY ARE PEOPLE SO OBSESSED WITH THEIR SMARTPHONES NOWADAYS?

Now, that's the most puzzling question of all.

Nikki

The Most Horrible Monday Ever

Yup, the title says it all. It's Tuesday now, thank goodness, but I had the most horrific Monday ever yesterday.

It started out with me getting picked on and bullied at work. You think there are bullies only in school? They are EVERYWHERE I tell ya.

There I was minding my own business and the next thing I know someone came over and said something really rude. It left me totally astounded and that was just the tip of the iceberg.

It was a busy day at work, and I stayed an extra 45 minutes to finish up. That's not even the bad part.

When I was finally done, I hopped on the train to go to Walmart. I thought it was really far away, but it turned out to be only about 5 train stations away, which wasn't bad at all. I could SEE the Walmart from the train station, so I began my walk towards it.

10 minutes of walking uphill later, I finally arrived. It was a sunny but cold day, I really should not be complaining, but it was farther than I initially thought.

I entered the Walmart and walked through all the aisles before realizing there was no craft supplies at this Walmart. I was devastated. I come all the way here and you've got NOTHING?!

(I now remember a review online said this particular Walmart did not have a craft section. *smacks forehead for forgetting that before I went*)

Never mind that, I walked all the way back to the train station. Luckily, the walk downhill was much easier. BUT. I suddenly saw this blob of muddy brown stuff on my left shoe. And my left pant leg. And my purse.

WHAT? Did a bird really poop on me? I always thought bird poop was WHITE. Whatever that was, it was gross. I tried to get it off on the grass but it was not helping. Until now, I'm still not sure if that was a bird or not.

Fast forward to the part where I got off the train and took the bus to Michaels. It was late, and I should have gone home to make dinner, but I wanted to check out beads at Michaels, since I was disappointed at Walmart.

I went into good ol' Michaels; the familiar aisles felt so good. Practically feels like home to me. I went to clean up my shoe in the washroom and also got a drink of water. I felt so much more refreshed! Off to look at beads!

There were SO MANY BEADS. Arranged according to colours, there was EVERY POSSIBLE DESIGN OF BEADS YOU CAN IMAGINE. My favourites were the rhinestone beads :) SO beautiful! It instantly made my bad day so much better!

I left Michaels $11 poorer but I now have four packs of beads to work with! They were all super shiny and bling-y! Can't wait to make some earrings with them!

Stopped by the post office and there was a package for me! MAIL ALWAYS MAKES ME FEEL HAPPY :)

I finally went home and made dinner and it was late, but it felt good to be home. Even better when you have a friend to listen to your woes and share your haul with!

What made my evening better was that someone I was trading with had finally sent out her package to me! This night was turning out much better than my morning had started out.

The icing to the cake to end the evening on a good note would be a piece of chocolate, but it got too late. But still, the hypothetical chocolate treat would definitely end my night on a good note!

Moral of the story?

Craft adventures to a faraway place may sometimes be disappointing, but MICHAELS WILL ALWAYS BE MY SECOND HOME. (also Dollarama and Daiso :P)

Yes, that's how much I love my craft stores.

Nikki

SUPER CUTE KOREAN STICKERS~~~

TOTALLY random post...

Somebody buy me these stickers for my wedding!!! XD Not yet, of course LOLOL~

http://www.seoulpicks.com/fun-gifts/1251177-korean-traditional-wedding-sticker-set.html

Life is full of imperfections...

I think this place has become my peaceful corner to reflect on thoughts.. Just scrolling through my (not-very-many) past posts, one post caught my eye -- "Resin hates me."

That was nearly half a year ago! In these six months, I have had lots of practice with resin crafting. I must admit, it is quite a difficult craft and it does take a lot of detail and careful work. Even if you spend all your time looking at it, trying to prevent any dust particles from landing on your piece, there are still bound to be imperfections no matter how much you try.

With every resin piece I make, I learn something new.

I learned that you should never dome the sides with resin.
I learned that you should dome with runny resin, not wait till it's all thick. 
I learned that you should wait for the resin to thicken before adding glitter spangles. 
I learned that the background coloured layer should not be too thick. 
I learned that pieces cannot be too thin. 
I learned that drilling screw eyes can ruin your entire piece. 
I learned that toothpicks work best for me when doming.
I learned that you can make resin runny again with warm water.
I learned that bails sink into resin very easily.
I learned that bubbles appear in spots you cannot see until the piece is finished.

My lessons with resin never end. Yet, I learn from these lessons. I don't call them mistakes, I call them experiences.

I used to be a perfectionist, wanting everything to go my way. I wanted all the rainbows without the rain. But now, I actually find it overrated. Life is just like my journey with resin crafting. Things get into your way no matter how hard you try to avoid them.

I no longer find myself wanting to be a perfectionist.

Sure, I can strive to be one, but if I toss away a piece that I made just because it has a speck of dust or an unsightly air bubble, I would end up zero "perfect" pieces.

If I were to toss away every moment of my life that has imperfections, what would I end up with? I wouldn't have an enriching life to look back on when I am old.

Why be a perfectionist? Just go with the flow and embrace your not-so-ideal experiences (mistakes and failures if you will). Life is too short to be seeking for perfection.

~ Nikki

A Sudden Realization

Looks like I've forgotten about this space for a little while! I'm back with an interesting topic that I've been pondering about for some time.

Don't you love the feeling when you have tons of ideas and make endless clay charms for days on end? And you think, whoa, I made so many charms! I'm so productive! Yup, I am like that sometimes.

On the other end of the spectrum, there are days where you just don't feel like doing ANYTHING. The last thing you want to do is think of original charm ideas (which won't come to you no matter how hard you crack your brains). You just want to curl up in bed, watch TV all day long, eat, go out and play, enjoy the beautiful sunshine of summer... The list goes on. I know I certainly have been doing that this summer (except the sleeping part) :D

I've come to realize that we all go through ruts or slumps when it comes to crafting, some of them longer than we would like. It may also be stressful for us Youtubers to churn out videos to our lovely subscribers on top of our everyday lives. (Yes, we have ordinary lives just like any other human being!)

But yesterday I also thought of something else. Why force yourself to make things when you don't have any ideas? I myself have been in a "clay rut" for the past month or so, never feeling the urge to make charms as I did before.

On the other hand, over the past few months, I did made some quality charms that I am pretty happy with. I really think it's worth the time and effort to produce something that you personally like than to make things just for the sake of making them. Remember, quality over quantity any day!

For all my friends in the crafting community, don't strive to please others. Do what you think will make you happy. If you are not in the mood to make clay charms, do something else! I sure have been doing loads of resin lately :D

After reaching this important point in the self-discovery journey, my mind suddenly exploded with charm ideas! I had to scramble for pen and paper to jot them all down! Most of them were inspired by other amazing videos I recently saw on Youtube, but that is still something!

I hope this blog post has inspired you in some way or another! :)

Happy crafting!
♥ Nikki

My Cold Porcelain Experience

I tried making cold porcelain several times in the past few months, and did not get good results.

First time:
I think my microwave was too strong, or I had the proportions wrong. It overcooked and became really tough and rubbery when it was supposed to be smooth and soft. I salvaged it and made them into sprinkles, conveniently testing out my clay extruder as well.

Second time:
I tried to lower the microwave power levels but it still turned out overcooked! I think I'm not getting the proportions right either. I tried to work with it anyway, but it was still a fail.

Third time:
I think I was scared and undercooked it. And then I tried to slowly cook it properly, and I think I made my first successful batch! The texture was right and left a "teardrop" shape when pulled apart, it was smooth to the touch, and very easy to work with!

I tried to make some creations but they all dried up funny. I don't think I'll be going back to cold porcelain again any time soon. That was my very frustrating cold porcelain experience in a nutshell.

I think I'm better off with my beloved polymer clay XD

♥ Nikki