Browsing Tag

handmade

Visual Splendor

A Delicious Scoop of Etsy Shops You’ll Adore

05/01/2010

Etsy is a marketplace of artists, diy-ers and more from all over the world. You can search for absolutely anything and usually find quite a few choices to pick between. Best of all? Everything is either handmade or vintage and you’ll be sure to find something your heart desires. One of a kind items are a unique kind of special and most often delivered as such in hand-prepared packaging to seal the deal.

Not only that, Etsy is a great community.

So you’ve probably already heard of Etsy and have spent countless hours skimming through the goodies or even sprucing up your shop to sell your own wares. I adore shopping there most of all but I have recently opened my little print shop back up — also to feature OOAK goodies for Miseducated readers in the future. I had some bad experiences with a buyer (whom I did refund and who did receive the print) but all in all I’ve met a lot of great people there.

These shops aren’t my absolute favorites nor is this a list of the best, but they each have an adorable product and they each made me squeal.

Your Highness To You Doll face Necklace

Featured Shops

Printable and plush toys at Fantastic Toys
Cute, modern necklaces and more at Joo Sweetie
Pizzicato Kei creates adorable Fairy-Kei and Japanese street fashion inspired accessories
So much more than perler beads at A Self Portrait
Kawaii Friends Cafe serves up permanent handmade sweets
Pony dresses and party corsets at Lexi Bee
Mon Sherry lolita shop with adorable cat scarves

Diary

Your Hostess Has Fallen Down the Rabbit Hole

04/27/2010

My pride! My joy! Miseducated, I have missed blogging inspirations and hearing from you. I’d never leave weekdays without posts unless life has taken me for ransom.

It just so happened this weekend that my never-ending morning sickness had finally gotten ahold of me. I was dehydrated and having cramps and contractions — how scared was I!

It’s 2 months early, Colette still has quite awhile to bake in my stomach.

So I was rushed to the hospital and ordered to stay while they pumped me full of fluids and monitored my little stomach dweller.

The bad news is I had to stay.. the good news is all the time spent monitoring Colette paid off because she’s *very* active and healthy for her age! It was music to our ears.

Now, as for the wonderful world of Miseducated..

We have quite the inspirational, diy, career-inspiring AND GIVEAWAY goodies coming to you very soon! I’ve been collecting some of the sweetest handmade items from artists around the world to offer you in our Spring Giveaway.

This is yet another way for Miseducated to support handmade artists. Did you know you can apply to be featured in a future giveaway? Miseducated will purchase your handmade goodies and give our wonderful readers a chance to get ahold of them.

So stay tuned for new ezines and newsletters arriving into your inbox (you can submit your email in the ezine space in the sidebar!), inspiration and of course tons of color and unconventional Miseducated fun.

I speak for all of our contributers when I say, you make everything worth it!

Crafts DIY

Customizing Blythe: How to Paint Lips Like a Pro

04/15/2010

Hello! I customize blythe dolls for both fun and for some profits. So far I have been doing it for just a little over year. I started when I was 15 and my first doll was quite terrible (as I wasn’t very careful), but I got better and better with every doll,and have now done 20+ dolls. So here is a tutorial for re-coloring or customizing the lips of a Blythe doll, hope you like it!

blythe lip tutorial

Step 1

Gather your supplies: Blythe, fine-grit sanding sponge, a small flat paint-brush and a bigger softer paint-brush, chalk pastels in a lighter and darker color, and watercolor-pencils in a darker color and white.

Step 2

Sand off the original lip color (you may have to scrape the paint in the crease away with a some-what dull x-acto knife). With the small paint-brush, brush the darker pastel color in the crease of the lips and lightly outward.

Step 3

Use the darker watercolor-pencil to define the crease and add some lip wrinkles.

Step 4

Use the white watercolor-pencil to add texture with quick strokes, and lightly color with it to blend with the darker color.

Step 5

Brush the lighter color pastel on with the bigger paintbrush and you’re done!

… and it make take a few tries to get it right, so don’t get frustrated! πŸ˜‰

blythe

Self Decoration Wear the World

Wear the World: Miseducatees & Ichigo Pink

03/19/2010

Yay! Wear the World! What a great idea for new content, actually forcing me to use new goodies by artists and items I’ve been stashing in my closet for a fun day.

OOPS. One problem. I’m pregnant. My panda pants wont fit.

I guess it gave me an excuse to FINALLY create this elusive shirt we’ve been chatting about for so long? <3 The shirts are custom, one of a kind especially made for you. They come in the sweetest package and smell like a bakery. These are limited edition shirts. They're made to order and uniquely you.

miseducatee
Headband by Locketship

Want your own customized Miseducatee?

Fun on Friday Set

Mew for Today Visual Splendor

Mew for Today: Tickle Me Green

03/17/2010

It’s St. Patrick’s Day, green shamrocks and rainbow bridges to pots of gold. Green beer. It’s time to celebrate because, as if you needed a reason anyway, there’s a holiday underway.

Green is the color of life and the earth. It signifies growth, health, environment and is often used for it’s calming effects.

Spend Your Day Tickled Green

First, start your day by preparing the cutest of the sweets, pistachio macarons at Tartelette. If you’re feeling thirsty grab an iced green tea to refresh and wake you up. Use milk and matcha powder or brewed green tea with ice.
Next get prepared for a night out on the town or for a very-green party at home. Make sure your outfit contains lots of green and is reminiscent of whimsical St. Patrick’s Day for extra fun — I relate green, rainbows and gold to St. Patrick’s Day due to the decorations!
Add a couple of drops of green food coloring to just about anything to green it up in a flash. This is great for beer and drinks as well as baked sweets.
No matter what you do I hope you can spend it with loved ones having fun and enjoying great food as every holiday should be shared.

Dress Up, Go Out

Green Love

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Enchanted Petal Blythe

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Irregular Choice

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Jennifer Ladd

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Cutecumber

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JLRY

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Green Tea Cupcake

4-leaf-clover

Crafts DIY

How to Repair a Dress with Heart

02/26/2010

So, you were lounging around in a comfy dress and ran right into your incense? You went out dancing and your best friends cigarette went missing for a second? It happens!

Luckily there are always cute ways to snazz up a boring dress or to repair a fallen dress. Mine is a lounge dress I got for my pregnant-belly, but you could use any number of dresses.

A simple method, and the one shown in the tutorial here, is to cut shapes out of a contrasting color iron-on-patch and iron it on.

repair

Other great replacements would be pompons, sequins, embroidery, cute beads or handmade patches! Make your own patch by cutting favorite designs out of tshirts or painting a blank iron-on patch. The possibilities are endless if you have the creativity. I can’t wait to see how you use this method!

Business Features Visual Splendor

Saved by 6% DokiDoki in Harajuku, Japan

12/22/2009

My first time in Harajuku I planned to find 6% DokiDoki and found it with ease, nestled away in it’s little nook of the district. I have always wanted to buy accessories from them due to the drool-worthiness insanity of their items!

I adore the shop and have been many times, it’s absolutely a trip in wonderland. When the antique music started I felt a very familiar feeling rush through me.. it happened that the song was a long, musical version of “A World of my Own – Disney’s Alice” It makes my heart jump talking about it, haha. It was truly a place for me and if it wasn’t always so damn hot and stuffy in there I would stay all day — haha. The perfection doesn’t stop with the decor, the staff wears their own token dokidoki style, sticking the sweet accessories anywhere into their hair or elsewhere. They looked like they fell into a glittery, rainbow, sprinkley, cotton candy ball! I wasn’t allowed to take photos in the store, so these will have to do! It’s rare to be allowed to shoot in a Japanese shop and this one was no exception.

6%dokidoki


{ Photos by Amber Renee }

6% DokiDoki Inspiration

Mew for Today Self Decoration

Mew for Today: Baby Changes Everything INSIDE

11/20/2009

.. and if you’ve worked hard and stayed positive chances are these changes are awesome and very welcome into your life! Success is a state of mind.. remember, you’ll never be exactly where you want to be because you’ll always be striving for bigger and better things.

I’m keeping my own little secrets (haha, I guess I actually just blabbed) but I won’t be able to hide them for long.. so alas I’m on the look for delicious maternity wear for fashionable mothers to be or mothers that HAVE been. <3

TWIN SYNDROME: High-Rise Panties

Nothing’s sexier than what you Don’t Show!
Great for under high-rise jeans for a flash of extra coverage, for nursing mommies, for smoothing the look of that clingy dress, general layering on cold winter days, and just plain ol’ fun when stripping down!

Stretchy 95% cotton, 5% spandex blend is very comfortable and forgiving, french cut bottoms are sexy and flattering!

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Plum Pretty Sugar Loungerie

If you’re feeling a need to lounge around, why not look beautiful while you do it? Always take time with your appearance and you’ll be pleased feeling like a queen rather than a slug.

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Haramaki Love

Whether you choose to wear it under or over your shirt, the tiny white heart really adds adorable to your maternity ensemble!

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YY Studio

Go Rosemary’s Baby style (this is what I wore BEFORE I was expecting) with mod little tent dresses and sweet minis.

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Sub Rosa Fashion

Soft and fantastic knitted mini dresses that are loose and soft enough to feel as sweet as they look!

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Craft Junky

These indoor shoes and house slippers are bright and cheerful — if your feet are uncomfortable they can be soft in style.

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Design Your Life

Who Do You Push Out and Close Down?

11/12/2009

You’re getting with your friends realizing how amazingly successful everyone is (let’s be honest each one of them seems to divulge in a different success each turn) but do they really feel successful? If you often really ask people they’ll tell you they’re nowhere near where they want to be because we’re always striving for more.

Do you feel successful?

Being an artist as a career is tough.. no one wants to take you seriously, especially when you’re a tiny girl that loves cuteness. One day you feel you’re getting somewhere, perhaps you’re illustrating a new layout for your favorite art magazine, and then the next day immediately it feels like everything can be taken in an instant.

We are constantly averting our attention and watching as new art shops and artists pop online one after the other.. we’re constantly deciding who we want to succeed and who we want to fail.

We are? Yes. You’re deciding right now what succeeds and what fails, take a look at the support you have for the art or DIY community.. whatever you buy or pay attention to, you’re ensuring their success.. whatever you pass by without a second glance, you’re obviously not ensuring their success. We have more power than many of us like to think and it’s time we realize that.

If success was based solely on the artistic vision, genuineness, and quality then there would be no problem, but with the resurgence of options what really is getting weeded out? Is it the amazing acrylic jewelery artist who coined the peppermint ring? Are we purchasing the rip off and ensuring their success while the genuine artist is missing our patronage? It’s worth thinking about.

Is it tough to be unique in a world that’s constantly adopting your ideas and incorporating them into their own artistic vision?

All jobs are hard in some way and everyone can master something amazing in their lifetime.. why not also realize you’re ensuring your community’s success also?

Escapeland Thankful for Monday

Thankful for Monday: Web Gratitude

11/06/2009

Gratitude journals are an easy task to add to your day that actually improves your happiness and gratefulness overtime. You begin take notice of what’s really important when you start writing down five things per day that you are thankful for.. whether you have a lot to be thankful for or not so many things.. it should help you evaluate what’s really important in your life for your happiness.

I definately keep a gratitude journal on my iPhone, it even lets you rate the day and attach a photo — great idea for bloggers! Imagine you rating each day and attaching a photo to symbolize it. What makes your days rate 5 (1-5)?

So since gratitude is always awesome I figured I’d attach some for the web world as well. I’m very thankful for the internet — without it my career would not exist. What better way to enjoy the wonderfulness of the world wide web than to appreciate 5 extra special places of interest each week?

Want to see something here? This could be related to humor, entertainment, design, diy, self-help, health, fashion, art,events, your call! If you want to let us know about your own blog or project, be sure to email us and you just might be listed here next Friday!

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PaperCakes Finds (Cutie Girl Style post)
Chelsea is sweeter than sugar-coated gumdrops. When she told me her new finds list was inspired by me I was elated.. and then to see that the actual finds were snatched from my wildest dreams! This is exactly what I love the handcraft world because there is every kind of style, even my style, and they’re all made with the utmost care and precision of an artisan. Custom and one of a kind.

Instead of allowing someone to choose what is on the shelves we are choosing exactly what we want from the world and it makes us all a little bit more appreciative of the wonderful people making these amazing things. More empathy towards others is a huge thing to be thankful for — without it I would not have met many of the amazing people I’ve met on and offline.

2

Japan L.A.
One of the absolute cutest and most adorable pop culture shops right in L.A. They promote local artists and Japanese inspiration — two things I’m very passionate about. Absolutely adorable place, when I visited I couldn’t stop finding things to drop into my basket. I even found cute and well-loved gifts for MisterEducated and my best friend while there.

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(Photo Copyright Twinkie Chan)

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Twinkie Chan
If there were a more amazing decadent, pop art food textile designer I would be shocked. She creates adorable accessories that look good enough to eat sweet! Not only is she a diy-diva but she’s also a sweetheart to boot! I guarantee you’ll be drooling after you take a look at her creations!

4

Pupe Girl
A tasty little Japanese fashion site that you probably already know about but perhaps not.. you earn accessories and clothing by uploading photos of your own accessories and clothing as well as by participating in the community. It’s a cute Japanese social network based around fashion — what could be better?

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Bento Box Guide
An ‘old skool’ website I was surprised to still find up! It’s a cute little guide on bento boxes and is absolutely aimed towards the beginner, yes even you can make them! So give it a try and be proud of your adorable, healthy lunch.