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

Grateful ♥

This post is dedicated to all my lovely subscribers who have supported me in this past 5 months on YouTube! Without all of you, I don't think I'd even be making videos!

To begin with, I had no idea I was gonna start making videos. I learned about polymer clay in June, 2012, and started polymer clay soon after that. In the following months that I've made my first polymer clay and felt plushie creations, I realized I had nobody to share them with! My friends were not interested and my family is too far away! Since the crafting community on YouTube is so full of enthusiastic crafters, I thought I'd jump in and give it a go!

Since then, I had expanded into other forms of crafting, including resin, and other non-crafting stuff (such as the wonderful world of kawaii and San-X stuff)! It sure keeps me very busy and it is a great hobby to have! I have also made many new friends all around the world!

Someday, I'd like to open a PO box, so that I can receive mail from anybody who would like to send me stuff! Hopefully this will happen before the end of the year! :)

Another goal I would like to achieve is to open an online store to sell my creations! I haven't quite figured out how much I would price my items, or how shipping costs would work! Maybe I will get on with that when I can bear to part with my charms! :)

But for now, I'll focus on making more creations and sharing them with you on my videos! Thank you so much again for following me on my crafting and YouTube journey!

Arpakasso craze!

Look what this is! My newest addiction?

Arpakasso!

Fluffy kawaii alpacas! I really didn't know what the craze was about until a few days ago!

There's also the mini plushies from the UFO catcher machines.. I'm so jealous I want some RIGHT NOW!!!

Too adorable!!!

They are so cute I can't even form proper sentences, let alone a proper blog post!

*faints*