Handmade Playing Card Bow

I am having a bit of an outfit crisis at the moment. July is just around the corner and that means that the Oxfordshire Lolitas will be invading Alice Day once again. Despite Alice Day last year being my hosting debut, I had a great time (and hopefully the other attendees did too) and we even made it in to our local paper. In fact, our photo was used again this year to advertise this year's Alice Day and there are still pictures of us floating around on some of the Alice Day web pages.

The only problem is, for ages I couldn't think of anything to wear this year. Normally, I just go with the flow but with Alice Day, it is one of those events where you ideally want to be on theme. Only, I went and sold my Bodyline Alice Skirt! Whilst I don't regret selling it, it left me wondering what I should wear to Alice Day this year. I could have worn Wonder Cookie or even Starry Night Theatre, but I just wasn't "feeling it". Thankfully, I now have a basic outfit idea planned and now I am trying to build on that. It is not going to be OTT crazy, but at least I will be on theme!

I decided that I would try making some matching accessories for my outfit and this is where this bow comes in-

I have gone for an outfit based around playing cards and card suits. So I took a playing card and turned it in to a bow by folding it like a fan. I gathered the middle part and then fanned the card out to a basic bow shape. The middle looked a bit ugly, so I sewed a bell charm on to the middle. The bell looks loose in the photo, but it is in fact gently sewn on and hopefully it will stay in place. I deliberately chose the Joker card!

This is not an original idea. I actually saw something similar online last year, but there was no way I was going to buy one of those for a stupid amount when I could make one at home. The only thing is, it feels as though there is something missing on my bow. It looks very simple. I don't want the bow to look too over-done, but maybe there is something I can do to make it look a bit neater maybe? I thought about getting some thin ribbon and then tying a tiny bow around the middle. I wonder if that would work?

Hopefully I will be able to figure out a way to finish off this bow and also complete my outfit. Any suggestions about the bow would be greatly appreciated. It was just a very cheap and simple craft idea. The good thing is, if I need to make more, I only need a spare 5 minutes and I already have a supply of playing cards!

Strawberry Nails Forever...

They are finally finished! The strawberries alone took me 2 and a half hours. I felt like a zombie after completing these.

The strawberries are a little on the large side (I wanted them to stand out and get noticed!) and a few got a little dented because certain family members decided to pick them up before I cooked them (*cough* Ros and James) but I still like them! I felt the strawberries were enough of a statement so these nails don't have any mini gems on them but the pink nail polish had a slight hint of glitter.

The plan is to wear these with my Bodyline dress with the strawberries. I am not sure when I am next going to wear this dress but at least my nails are sorted.

The start of my deco nail adventure

I totally forgot to mention my nails!

A few weeks ago I purchased some Polymer clay. My original intention was to make some earrings from a tutorial I found but instead I have found myself making some deco nails!

As it stands, I have only finished one set of nails (a second set is almost complete). I have made these luna inspired nails for a lolita meet I am attending next Saturday.

As you can see they are a bit on the large side but I still love them! I am hoping that when it comes to taking them off I can try and save them so I can wear them again. I am feeling a little worried about how I am going to go about everyday tasks but since when have deco nails been practical? The outfit I am wearing has a lot of stars on it so I am making a bit of a running theme. It was originally meant to be horse themed but I found out that I don't have enough horsey items.

It is the second set of nails I am making which have caused a lot of problems. Polymer clay is so easy to use compared to acrylics but it can be incredibly tedious. I have not used moulds or anything and I have tried to make sure that the shapes are the same size. So the ones going on the thumbs have to be the same size etc. For this second pair of nails I have made some very plump strawberries. I was working with 3 different clay colours and just for that one set of nails I spent 2 and a half hours sculpting the clay. I could have made it a bit easier by leaving out the yellow seeds but I thought they looked cuter with seeds in. So I was working with these tiny bits of yellow clay so small I couldn't pick them up. I had to use a cocktail stick to push the yellow bits into the holes I had made. When I have finished these nails and post a picture it will probably make more sense why I got so stressed out.

Despite how long I have spent on 2 pairs of nails I will only wear a few times, I am very pleased with the results. Considering this is my first time decorating nails, I am really pleased with the results. The luna nails look a lot better in person and I can't wait to wear them. I am going to continue with the clay but I plan to buy a couple of ready made pieces like mini waffles and cookies to make things that little bit easier. www.etsy.com is the best place to buy deco bits. Eventually I want to move on to acrylics but this probably wont be for a while yet.

However, there is one problem. The harsh Winter weather has totally sapped the moisture out of my hands so they have gone all cracked and sore. England has suffered from a bad cold spell and even my gloves couldn't save my poor hands. I have one week to get my hands in a better state so I can show off my nails worn. Hopefully they will be less red by the meet!