And the winner is...

I think it's about time we had a winner in the Brand Altering competition.

I really enjoyed going through all the entries (over 80!) and as I said before, there were some lovely ideas. They ranged from adding a button here and there, to making brand curtains! There were also some beautiful ideas with halterneck designs.

Unfortunately only one person can win the dress. The one I've chosen is a very sweet idea, keeping the general dress shape but adding a custom design to transform it into something unique. The whimsical theme and style work well with the dress and the artwork this person sent is also delicious! It's based on the poem 'The Owl and the Pussycat'.

Congratulations: Pandasquid

You've won a lovely (if a little drab) Baby the Stars Shine Bright JSK. I hope you'll carry out your plans and let us see! Good luck with your alterations. (please send me your email address :)

Thank you to everyone else for your hard work. It just goes to show what a bit of creativity can do for a plain dress!



The inspiration for this competition, (the blog redesign) is also nearly complete, what do you think?

 

Photography experiments

I got some of my pictures back this week from my film cameras, with some interesting results.
Recently I've been using my Fisheye camera and my cute little Diana Mini. I picked also up a really cheap flash to use with my lomo cameras, so I've been able to take some pictures indoors too.

Fisheye
First off these, these are from the Fisheye. It can take a picture covering almost 180degrees. I thought it might come out as a circle but I think this lens might have been made for 120 film, so as there's less room on 35mm part of it is cut off. I love how it bends things to fit them in.

Red filter
For this one I made a DIY filter with red acetate from the stationery shop. It's not a very subtle effect! But I think it looks cool here, like a 70's sci fi film.

Light painting
Another thing I wanted to try was light painting. For this you set the camera to 'bulb' then hold the shutter open for as long as you like. I moved the camera around randomly and this is what happened!

Redscale
This effect was a bit more hassle. It's called 'redscale' and is achieved by shooting through the back of the film. In a very dark room under a dark cloth I cut off a large chunk of film and taped it back on the wrong way round.

You could do some of this stuff in photoshop, but it's great fun not knowing what is going to turn up on your film.

You can see more of these experiments on my Flickr at: flickr.com/photos/ra_life/

Thank you for all your creative thinking!

Just a quick note to say thanks to everyone who entered the Brand Altering Competition. There were some really great ideas! I want to have a good look through and make sure I don't miss any of the email entries before I make the final decision. I'll be announcing the winner on Monday 30th, so watch this space.

Super macaron review

Om Nom Nom. I tried lots of tasty treats on my trip to the capital, luckily I also did tonnes of walking so I've managed not to put on two stone in the process.

So on to the macarons. I visited four different places and as a 'control' I always chose chocolate as the first flavour and caramel as the second. And I mostly chose the small macarons where I could. I went to Laduree, Pierre Herme, Maison du Chocolat and PAUL.

Laduree Burlington Arcade and Harrods:
£1.50 each 

I found the staff at Laudree quite rude. Maybe they treat you better if you buy more?

I found their macarons to be the most delicate and had a beautiful shape. They have a thicker filling and the texture was slightly lumpy.




Laduree paper bag from Burlington Arcade.

Very uniform and smooth looking.








Pierre Herme Selfridges:
£1.85 each

The staff were helpful at Pierre Herme and talked with me about the different flavours. The macarons where slightly thicker than Laudree and very smooth. They were less cakey and the salted caramel was delicious. They had a stronger flavour.

Packaging from Pierre Herme in Selfridges.









Chocolate macaron with cocoa dusting.










Maison du Chocolat Piccadilly and Harrods:
2 for £3.50

The staff here were very nice, the shop is elegant, well spaced out and air conditioned to keep everything cool.








They like to package things up so they are a real treat.












The macarons were delicate and had a very smooth filling. They are slightly smaller than the Laduree offering, but it's more of an experience buying them.

PAUL many locations:
Large macaron £2.80

I went to the one at Covent Garden - the people are generally nice though the cafe is quite upmarket. Everything is more expensive if you eat in.

I had the large chocolate macaron, not entirley fair since it was a bigger size, but it tasted like the most divine brownie in the world. Very fudgey, but still light.


Paper bag from PAUL.










Tasty giant macaron.







My personal favourite was the PAUL macaron. It wasn't quite as delicate some of the others but it tasted great. Laduree and Pierre Herme had some very pretty packaging if you were buying larger quantities but I prefered Maison du Chocolat as a shopping experience.

I might have another go at baking my own now I know how they are supposed to taste.

Brand altering competition/giveaway

It's giveaway time! As I hinted before this competition is all about transformation and redesign.

What you can win

First things first, the prize is a Baby the Stars Shine Bright JSK.

It's a lucky pack dress and it's never been worn but I think it needs a little makeover. I know some people don't like the idea of messing with brand pieces, but this dress isn't getting any wear as it is.

Front

Back

How the competition works

To enter you'll need to describe in words or pictures or both what you would do with this dress.
You might want to do very little -like just add an applique or you might want to completely change it and make it into a short skirt. You could dye it, cut it up, add a print or pockets.
Then I'll pick the best idea and you get the dress. After that it's up to you!*

You'll also need to follow the blog somehow - through the follow button or through your reader. You can send your entry to my email if you prefer - but please leave a comment so I can make sure everyone gets included. (gothiclolitasewing@gmail.com)

Please leave your entry by Sunday 22nd August 2010 (midnight GMT) and I'll announce the winner after that.

Details 

I've removed this bow from the front, but that will be included. It's got shirring and lacing at the back.
Measurements are: (unstretched - fully stretched) 
Bust: 34in 87cm - 42in 107cm
Waist: 28in 72cm - 36in 91cm
Length: 39in 100cm
but since this is an alteration challenge - you can change it to your own size.



I really hope someone can give this dress a new lease of life and actually get some wear out of it.
Lets see your creativity! Good luck x

Other info:
International entries are welcome and I will send the dress as a gift but you will be responsible for any customs duties applied by your country. 
I only have this one dress so if it gets lost in the post or anything unfortunately there won't be anything I can do.
If you win - it's your dress, so you can give it to a friend or sell it on ebay if you really want. Just so you know it's not worth a whole lot of money - especially since it doesn't have a print or any special embroidery.

*It really is up to you after that - you can do what you want with it. I would be cool to see if you did alter it, but there's no pressure :)

Super cuteness from Artbox

I'm back from my trip! I had a great time and consumed plenty of macarons. Whilst I'm tranferring all my (many) photographs, I thought I'd tell you about a cool shop I found. I came across this lovely little place in Camden, though they have three locations in London. It's called Artbox.

They sell total cuteness in the form of stationery, bags and toys. Amongst other things they have loads of stickers and notebooks with a little panda (the one on the left there) which as well as being cute have inspirational messages, like 'live the life you imagined' and 'I believe I can fly'.

Suffice to say I bought a bag full of goodies including some post-its to use in my scrap/sketchbooks. The prices are good and the staff were friendly and helpful. So I was pretty pleased when I saw they have a fully stocked website too. Yay!


Stand by for the giveaway I mentioned (very soon) and then my super macaron review from the Other Amusements Tour of London.

Musical note embroidered lace

I came across this lace on Etsy today and thought I'd share it with you as I've never seen any like it before. It's from Parkersupplies and is also available in black.

I've not bought from them but I am tempted as they've got some other nice things in their shop too, like lace appliques and wooden alphabet rubber stamps.

Wedding invitations

I've not written anything about wedding planning have I? I don't want to bore you with it but sometimes my 'current obsession' should really be set to wedding.

I've been looking at stationery like this huge set from Spark. First I thought, why would you ever need all those bits and pieces? But then when I think about designing my own set, I want to make everything. You get to use different shaped envelopes and bits of ribbon and there's so much opportunity to apply your design. You don't need them, but it sure sounds like my kind of fun!

A lot of wedding stuff has been like that actually. Dresses, cakes, craft, design and photography - pretty much covers what I ramble on about here. So I'm looking forward to researching all this and maybe showing you some of the cool things I come across in wedding world.  

Fairytale necklaces

Sometimes you need a little fairytale in your life. If you're feeling down it reminds you that there is magic in the world and that anything can happen. You might find a great new chocolate shop or even your prince around the next corner!

Here are a few of my favourite necklaces to help you keep your faith in the magic:

 Topshop Keys and Clock Pendant
£28

Oliver Bonas Key to my Heart
£18















Disney Couture Keys Pendant
£36

Okay, I really like keys. 









 








Juicy Couture You are the Fairest Pendant
£55 (reduced from £78!)

Disney Couture 'Drink Me' pendant
£19 (reduced from £30!)

A lot of the Alice related stuff is on sale now since the film is out on DVD.

Redecorating and things to come

In a couple of months 'Gothic Lolita Sewing and Other Amusements' will have had the dubious honour of reporting my project related triumphs and disasters for three years.

Due to there being less emphasis on the 'lolita sewing' and more on the 'other amusements' recently and the fact that it's had the same layout the whole time; I'm thinking it's time for a little redecorating.

Whilst this is going on I've got a great giveaway for you, it's mainly for the sewing lovers but is open to everyone - so watch this space for more information.

I think you'll like it most, lovely loli ladies; there's brand involved ;)