Name My New Camera Competition :D

Hey everyone! I have something a bit fun for you all today :D So as you would all know I've been doing some fun videos lately and to do them I had to buy myself a new video camera. I wanted something HD but small enough that I could just pop it into my handbag. After much umm-ing and ah-ing and comparing of specs I decided to buy a JVC Picsio.

I think I made an awesome choice because not only is it cute, for a tiny little thing it's good quality too. I'm going to leave the technical review to James when he gets a chance but if you want to read more here is a good review which compares all of the current mini HD cameras on the market.

Now I have a habit of naming all of my appliances, my iphone is called Ruri, my computer is called Sophie and my old laptop is called Edward (no not after the stupid vampire!). I wanted to deco it but I've decided to wait until it has a name...

And this is where you guys come in... my new camera needs a name!

The winner will get to request a tutorial/video/post about whatever they like (within reason obviously eg. no I will not do a tutorial on pole dancing).

So what you need to do is submit your favorite idea for a name in a comment here or a message to me on twitter. I'll pick the best 3 and then everyone will vote for a winner. You have until midnight this Friday (Australian Eastern Standard Time) to submit your idea then voting will start on Monday.

If you're stuck for ideas here is some information about it!

The camera is super tiny and super light, here it is next to my iphone...

I bought one of those gorilla stand thingies so it can go anywhere and likes to adventure... even hanging off the side of a table.

It lives in a little pink case in my hand bag and once we've picked a name I'm going to cover it in deco goodness.

It has this cool finish on the front that kind of looks like quilting...

There are lots of fun buttons on the back...

So there you go! I'm looking forward to seeing what names you guys come up with and what tutorials/posts you request ^_^

Now here are some posts that are coming up over the next few weeks just so you don't request them ;)
-Craft tutorial: how to make a cute display for holding/organising headbands
-Hair tips/how arrange flowers in hime style hair for maximum effect
-Ideas on organizing your space for blogging (including a tutorial on customizing an ordinary lighting/a lamp like this one from Buyster into something adorable)
-Tip for decorating a cute Christmas tree

Violet Vision- The Perfect Vintage Christmas...

Good morning everyone, I've got another video for you all today!

The delightful Super Kawaii Mama is having a competition at the moment and the winner will walk away with some absolutely beautiful prizes including gifts from Blue Velvet Vintage, For Luna and Notorious Kitsch!

So all you needed to do to enter is show what your Perfect Vintage Christmas would look like. Btw, how cute is the little banner she made for the comp below?

So because I've been a bit obsessed with my video camera lately I decided to make a video...

So I guess what I was trying to say is that my Perfect Vintage Christmas takes a lesson from the cliche 50's and 60's values as well as style ^_^

Hope you enjoyed!

ACEO Friday!

Ok so this technically isn't an ACEO but I just finished it so too bad you can all look at it XD

This one started as a joke between the hilarious Nixxy (if you love nail polish you should totally check out her blog!) and I. At the time I had just been told I might have Lupus so I decided that if someone asked me what Lupus was I would just tell them I was a werewolf :D This led to a discussion about a Hime style werewolf terrorizing the town in search of brand and diamantes!

I probably should have spent a bit more time on this, I'm not 100% happy with how it turned out. I think it needs a lot more details and fine tuning. It really was quite a quick sketch... I've just been to lazy/busy to finish it!

So if you wake in the dead of night and the moon is full, listen closely you might hear the lone hime wolf's cry of... "Jesuuuuuuuus Diiiimaaaaaaaaaaanteeeeeeeeeee! WOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Dominos Update

So you've probably all read my post on my Dominos experience here. A couple of things have happened since that post so I thought I would update you all...

After I made my post I forwarded it to the complaints department at Dominos. They contacted me with the same copy-pasta (pun completely intended) response about how they adhere to safety standards etc that they anonymously commented with in the blog post. After a few emails back and their complaints department said they would forward my complaint to the franchise owner and send me a voucher.

Yesterday this turned up... It's a voucher for 2 pizzas, garlic bread and a coke delivered free. The fine print says "A charge may apply to Big Taste Pizzas, half 'n' half pizzas, additional toppings, indulgent crusts and promotional pizzas. Valid for cash payment internet orders only." They included a hand written note which says "Enjoy" which I thought was pretty damn funny. I don't think I'll be using the voucher but perhaps one of my friends would enjoy it.

Today I got a call from the franchise owner. We spoke for around 20 minutes and he was beyond apologetic. He explained that everyone involved was going to be retrained and they were going to have a staff meeting to discuss what they could do in future. He agreed that the guy who took out phone call should have escalated the call to a manager and I should have been offered a refund on the spot. He then sent a delivery driver out to my house to refund the entire amount we spent that night.

He also gave me his personal mobile phone number in case we had any more problems.

This is the service I expected in the first place. And while I totally appreciate that it *might* have taken this long for the owner to actually find out about the situation, it really shouldn't have.

While I am happy to have my money back, I honestly don't think that they would have taken any notice of my complaint at all had I not been complaining very loudly on the internet. I know this because of all the stories I heard from you guys with similar complaints that were never settled!

Food for thought ;)

Video Make Up Tutorial- and Eco Tools Brushes Review

Remember all that time ago when I promised you videos? Well today my friends I deliver! Everyone kept asking about my make up so I have made you all a video tutorial on how I do my basic every-day make up. I really hope you all enjoy it, I'm not a pro at editing or shooting things yet but I am learning so be gentle ^_^ Also how awesomely flattering is the screen cap that got picked for the video XD

P.S What do you guys think of the theme song James wrote for me? How sweet of him!

Ok so the other half of this post is about the brushes I used in the video. This is a list of all the products I used in the tutorial:
-Foundation- Innoxa Satin Sheen Buttermilk
-Concealer- Bourjois Brush Concealer
-Powder- Cover Girl Tru Blend Minerals 405
-Mascara- Cover Girl Lash Blast
-Blush/Pink eye shadow- Boujois blush 35 Rose D'or
-White/Black eyeshadow- Be Yourself Eyeshadow
-Eyelash curler- 1000 Hour Lashes Heated Eye Lash curler
-Eyelashes- 1000 Hour Lashes
-Eyelash glue- Lash Me Type 1
-Lip Tint- Bourjois Rouge Hi-tech 65-Cyber cassis
-Lip Gloss- Prestige Vinylwear High Shine

Just before the Nuffnang Awards I was sent a box of EcoTools make up brushes to test out so here is my review...

As someone who is a beginner in make up techniques I am always looking for the simplest, easiest ways to do things. Up until I got this set I was using those little foam applicators that came with my eye shadow pots. They always break and don't last very long and I found that quite frustrating, I also didn't like the fact that it was quite hard to get a precise line.

So when EcoTools send me this package I was quite excited to be able to try out some brushes! In this pack there are 5 different brushes and a matching bamboo container, you can also buy the brushes individually and the prices range from AU$4.95 - $22.95 (available from Priceline Kmart & Price Attack) which as I understand it is fairly run of the mill for make up brushes of this level. The brushes in my pack are the following:
-Blush applicator
-Angled Eyeliner brush
-Eyebrow brush
-Concealer Brush
-Eyeshadow brush

I tested them all out pretty well as you can see in the video! I gave them a brief play with before we went to Singapore but the big test was really my make up for the Nuffnang Awards and you can see by looking back at the photos, they passed with flying colours ^_^

The thing with EcoTools is that it's made from all cruelty-free sustainable materials (hence the bamboo holder). So you can feel like you're doing your bit for the environment while you're doing your make up XD When I read the back and discovered that the bristles were synthetic I was a bit apprehensive about whether they would be scratchy but I was pleasantly surprised, it's so soft it's kind of like rubbing suede on your face! Also because they are made of bamboo and aluminum they weight practically nothing. That's great if you're traveling so you can pack in more copies of Japanese magazines!

My favorite brush is the angled eyeliner one. I don't use eyeliner often but I've found it's really useful use for getting into to all those annoying parts like the corner of my eyes with eyeshadow! Genius!

I thought the box thingy was quite a handy addition to the pack because I would have no idea how to store something like this. Knowing my track record with my bathroom mess they would probably just end up laying on the counter somewhere ^_^ But now I have the box thingy I'll keep all my pointy make up items like mascara, lash curler etc in there too!

So final thoughts? Well I've thrown out all the old foam applicators and as I mention in the video, I really do like having a set of brushes. I think it's enough to say I'm using them every day now! I think it will enable me to be more adventurous with make up ideas in future ^_^ I would give these 8/10 over all, they were quite easy to use, the quality and price were good and the presentation was quite cute. I bet they'll look even better after I deco them ;)

So what is your verdict on my video? Like/dislike? Anything in particular you want to see me do next time? I'm open to suggestions (within reason) ^_^

P.S. Can you totally tell James took these pictures for me because they're all fancy and arty? If any of you and interested in amature photography you should go and take a look at his blog because he's started writing tutorials with tips and things now ^_^

ACEO Friday!

Holy bajeebus is it again Friday already?? I so am not ready for the weekend! Most of the move is done, so we're just settling into out new home at the moment, putting clothes away and arranging my bathroom etc.

This quick sketch of a dragon was inspired by a tattoo I saw a long time ago. Dragon tattoos are either very cool or very lame. Hopefully this one turned out very cool ;)

I've been filming today for my video post on Monday! I can't wait to show you all ^_^

I hate Dominos...

Update: Additional details can now be found here.

Seeing as I've been really busy this week with the last of moving and cleaning the old apartment I thought that I'd share an interesting experience with you all. Normally on this blog I talk about stuff that I love but today I want to talk about something that I hate: bad customer service.

People on my Twitter has already heard this story but for the rest of you... last Saturday we had spent the entire day cleaning and packing boxes. James and I were pretty tired and my school friend Milissa was staying with us so we all decided to get Pizza. The decision was to get Dominos and I decided to try out their new Puff Pastry Pasta Bowls.

Sounds delicious right? That's what I thought too until I got 3 bites in and discovered this in the box...

A squished COCKROACH!!

Up until this point I hadn't really been paying attention to my meal but on closer inspection the fork that came with the meal had already been used AND had a hair on it. EWWEWWEWWEWW!

SO DISGUSTING! I was so horrified with all of this that James had to call Dominos for me *_* The manager didn't even apologize! WTF?! He just said "You can either get sent another one sometime tonight or get a free pizza next time". What am I expected to eat this one and get a free pizza next time? How ridiculous!


So 40 minutes later the new one shows up and the delivery guy shoves it through the door and walks off. By the time he got there I was feeling like throwing up more than eating another pasta bowl *_*

Bad customer service makes me so mad and they are really only shooting themselves in the foot. Had they been apologetic about it and offered free garlic bread or refunded my money I wouldn't be nearly as angry as I am! In fact I probably wouldn't have made this post or reported them to the health department (anyone know where I can do this in Aus?). Sincere apologies count for a surprising amount.

The lesson: if you own a company bad customer service will always come back to bite you. Guess where I won't be ordering from again?