Jelly treats - how to DIY a pair of Sophia Webster Violetta colourblock jelly sandals

After the springtime showers comes a rainbow!

You will need...

NB: The clear nail polish I used was a basecoat, topcoat and nail hardener  all-in-one gloss by Barry M. The fact that it's multi-purpose and built for strength makes it a good fixative as well as a blending base.

Difficulty 

Very easy

Can you sing a rainbow? Then you can easily do this DIY ;)

Time

About two hours.

Trailing the colour

Apply nail polish thinly to the sandals and blend the topcoat while it is still wet, making it as transparent as possible but with the colour still visible.

After you've painted the sandals, cover them with at least two layers of clear lacquer, leaving drying time between coats...

...and that's about it!

Amore for A-Morir - How to DIY ceramic flower sunglasses

Summery florals looking chic in ceramic.

A-morir Ceramic Flowers Sunglasses (see more ceramic glasses)

I chose these summery floral sunglasses from the fabulous, celebrity-endorsed label, A-Morir to demonstrate how to get authentic ceramic effect; it would work equally well on jewellery.

Difficulty

Quite easy

This one's simple but slightly technique-led. For a more specific explanation, keep it here!

Time

About an hour, including clay drying time.

Coming up...roses! 

"That's all well and good" you're surely thinking, "but where or how do you achieve the rose shape in polymer clay?" With the soft clay I used (Sculpey III range), it's quite easy to do in stages, using a scalpel, as demonstrated in this brief gif tutorial.

If gifs don't agree with your computer, the process entails rolling clay into a small ball; digging the scalpel around the edge and peeling away some 'petals' and carving a wavy spiral shape in the middle.

Repeat the process until you have enough roses to cover the frames above the lenses, then add paintwork.

#TBT - Luciano DiConcetto and other artists

How better to sit down to a nice, 'arty' meal?

The second in my series of Instagram-related throwbackery takes you to the French commune of Honfleur to marvel at the wondrous oeuvres of French Artist, Luciano DiConcetto, an artist who likes to experiment with techniques to push the boundaries between peace and intensity, by contrasting bold block colour and impromptu sketching of overlayed lines.With talent like that, it's no wonder he got some attention from Marie Claire's website a while ago. On a more serious note, this juxtaposition  of themes and contrast is intended to take us on a dreamlike trip through a rich, elaborate dimension to freely express our feelings. I expressed my feelings of cheapskate admiration in the sparing, surreptitious snaps I caught of the Normandy branch of the Bartoux Gallery through my meagre phone camera. It was most definitely worth the effort.

Now that I know where I'm going to shop the day I win the lottery, I remain tempted not to wait until such good fortune were to come to pass until I go for a long weekend or three in a quaint French town, where art and beauty are everywhere. Just to give you a brief idea of what I mean, here's a snap from a restaurant nearby that makes a (brush)stroke of artistic genius more than palatable!

How to upcycle a t-shirt with a no-sew pentagram design

A 'star-making-role' for upcycling a t-shirt.

Longing to give a forgotten - perchance forsaken - t-shirt a new lease of life, but only have minutes to spare and not the faintest clue how to use a sewing machine? Then methinks this is the project for you!

You will need...

T-shirt

Fabric scissors

Needle and thread

Difficulty

Very easy

It entails hand-stitching fabric together and plaiting - that's about it!

Time

About 20-30 minutes, depending on your speed and confidence when it comes to cutting and splicing t-shirts.

#TBT - Bordeaux Lines

I thought I'd spend my Throwback Thursday with an Instagram-fest of fond photographic memories from a trip to Bordeaux that I made in September 2012. Bordeaux, a place best known for its wine, is the capital of the Aquitaine region and boasts a 362-monument-strong historic area on the UNESCO World Heritage List, as well as  botanical gardens and a host of museums, including the Musée des Beaux Arts. Still, enough about the bumf a cursory Wikipedia session could tell you - anyone could take, share and research pictures from classic landmarks! I chose to be slightly more maverick in the bits I chose to capture: the bits which, in turn, captured my imagination as an artiste of sorts. France is a beautiful country. There, I said it! I'm British, but god dammit I said it! It's beautiful country that has been rich in culture and art for centuries and that appreciation, that soul, that attention to the most minute, intricate detail is everywhere! Well, in beautiful, historical cities, at least. Actually, that might not be true across the board but my point is that quirky, creative and classical photo ops were in some of the places you least expected them and that is the sort of character worth capturing. That's what justifies carrying out actions associated with two of the groups most subject to ridicule - hipsters and tourists. So, there you have it: Throwback Thursday with a touch of 'ooh la la.' Oops, a cliché. How horribly mainstream!

Summer shreds - How to DIY a shredded t-shirt with a feather design

A quick, quirky take on the shredded t-shirt for instant festival chic!

You will need...

Time

An hour, tops. There isn't as little to it as it looks but I'm going to say 'an hour' to cover myself!

Difficulty

Very easy

It's a shredded t-shirt. How hard can it be?

Cutting it just fine

Go Girls - How to DIY a Charlotte Olympia 'Neon Sign Girls' Clutch

Charlotte Olympia 'Neon Sign Girls' Clutch (see more colorful clutches)

Among the first of the lucky people to get a hold of Charlotte Olympia's 'Girls'  clutch was Lena Dunham from the TV series of the same name - after it was sent to her in bespoke freebie form, as you do! Novelty merchandise and neon nostalgia a-la-80s mightn't appear to say 'high fashion' in the serious if slightly snobbish sense that we know and love and yet this irresistibly fabulous piece would become more than just a bespoke one-off after Lena sported it via Instagram. It can still be yours for a tidy £950, and could have been mine, I suppose, but that plastic chocolate box and set of nail files I had lying around weren't going to upcycle themselves, were they?

You will need...

NB: You will need at least two bottles of black nail polish to cover the box - possibly more, depending on its size.

You will need about 11 nail files.

I used duct tape to make a 'hinge' for the back but that's completely optional.

Difficulty

Very easy

This project requires a reasonably careful hand... and that's about it.

Time

About an hour.

Clutch a load of this!

Cover the inside of the box completely with black nail polish. You might want to use a wide paint brush to speed up the process. Leave it to dry and apply at least one coat of clear lacquer as a fixative.

 

Cut the nail files up to form the word, 'Girls' and glue the pieces together at the ends. I find that if you're using nail files with curved ends, they can be really helpful to use on the corners, for an authentic digital-style typeface.

Using your nail polishes, paint each letter in a different colour and coat them in clear lacquer.

Glue them onto the outside of the clutch and use a thin strip of duct tape to make a 'hinge at the back (optional).