☆ Dummy's guide to Glass Painting ☆

This "stained glass" / glass painting project was done for my English project! I was largely inspired by the stained glass pieces in Kingdom Hearts. I had 0 experience with this type of media before, and so I want to share my process and some tips and tricks of making a glass painting!

1. Creating a design. I wanted to create something similar to the Kingdom Hearts stained glass designs, so I managed to find a lot of templates online! I ended up using this template. 
2. Buy some glass. I was able to go to Lowe's and have them cut the glass for me. Unfortunately, I couldn't get it in a circular shape. (If you want it in a circular shape, I suggest ordering beforehand!) A 32" x 28" piece of glass (which was cut into 24" x 24") only ended up costing $15. (Keep the scrap glass~ Practicing beforehand is CRUCIAL.)
3. Print your design to scale your glass. This step is awfully tricky and might include a little bit of math. (My teammate completed this step for me, mwahaha.) 
   -Using photoshop, open your design.
   -Select the "slicer" tool. 
   -You want the style to be on "Fixed Size" and that way you can edit the dimensions. (So if you're printing on Letter Size paper, you can have each piece to be exactly 8" x 11".) 
   -Make it work like a puzzle. Try to fit all the 8" x 11" squares into the picture. 
   -Once you have all your slices ready, "Save for Web..." and you should have your design all sliced up. 
   

4. Tape the design down and place your glass over it. Begin leading (a.k.a outlining!) 
   This step is long and tedious, and I recommend to practice, practice, PRACTICE! 
   Liquid leading is one of the types of leading you can use to outline your design. There are also sticker leading (but idk, l o l). I purchased Gallery Glass liquid leading, comes in black and gold! 
   [Tips on leading]
   -Don't have the tip of the bottle touch the surface of the glass! It will smear the leading.
   -Squeeze the leading for a bit, and drag it along as you outline. This will give you a cleaner line. 
   -Watch this video for a better visual. 
   

5. After the leading has dried, it's time to add some color!
   There's different types of glass stains, but my local Joann's only carried Deco Art: Glass Stain - Season Paint (I couldn't find the product online. qq) The packaging was small, and looked child-like, but it worked fine and was only $1.09! 
   [Tips on coloring]
   -Paint brushes are NOT your best option. Use something like a palette knife, where you can scoop the paint, dump it into the designated area. 
   -Swirl the stain around to prevent air bubbles! You don't want air bubbles! Once it dries, it look AWFUL. 
   -Don't overfill the designated area. Because the leading serves as a barricade, it will prevent the stain from spilling to other sections.
   

6. Done! Leave your art to dry.

   DO NOT LEAVE THE GLASS VERTICAL WHILE THE STAIN IS STILL WET! 
   Enjoy your piece!

Try shining lights through your finished product~ It'll look amazing! 

Jump From Paper: Cheese! ☆ REVIEW ☆

Brand: Jump From Paper

Item name: Cheese! 

More product information here! 

★★★★☆.

// I LOVE this bag! It's such a fashion statement! Perfect for me, who only carries a wallet and house keys in her purse, mwehehe. 

So I received this bag as a Christmas present, so I'm extremely surprised at how expensive these bags can go for! ಥ⌣ಥ

Items from Jump From Paper are so visually unique and interesting; I feel likes it's one of those crazy things you need in your wardrobe. It'll make you feel like you're in a 2D, 8-bit video game!

So let's see... 

I made a gif for you guys because I thought it would help... 

In order to stay true to the 2D shape, the bag doesn't provide very much space for your belongings. It kind of feels like you're playing tetris, trying to get your wallet, keys, and other stuff to fit into this bag.

The bag is very durable, so I'm not worrying about any rips and holes in this bad in the near future!

All in all, if you carry a lot of stuff, try purchasing another style! This bag has such limited space! Such a cute bag, it'll make folks stop and stare!

☆ KPOP MART REVIEW ☆

Hello, friends! This was my first time purchasing items from Kpop Mart, so I want to share some thoughts and opinions I have about it.

Short summary for those who don't want to read the whole post... 

I highly recommend Kpop Mart! Because...

• Cheap prices.
• The bubble wrap your albums! (Such good care~ ☆) 
• Freebies vary when pre-ordering!

So my package came in a rectangular box like this! It took a long time for my package to come. I ordered my merchandise on [September 07, 2013], but it was shipped a week later, and I finally received the packaged on [September 30, 2013]. Waiting felt like forever, but I had to keep in mind I pre-ordered both albums. qq. 

I'm really satisfied with the package, honestly. Wrapping the albums in bubble wrap makes me feel more relieved that my babies were safe during their long trip. I don't know if it's just only me, but I have NEVER had my albums wrapped in bubble wrap before. So I was totally psyched that Kpop Mart took the extra step to do this. 

I pre-ordered GD's Coup d'etat album (Red Version), and above the Space 8 ticket are the freebies Kpop Mart provided. Honestly, the freebies are nothing special. They're really thin, but they're better than your regular 8.5 x 11" paper. It's double sided, so there are four pictures in total. I think of the freebies as something I can make myself. 

I was expecting a really cheap plastic for the exterior of the album (impression from other people's unboxing) but I'm really happy. The plastic is pretty thick, and not like the albums like we're used to here in 'Murica.

But, the album only costed me $17.30 (with a poster, UNFOLDED!) 

I also pre-ordered BTS's album! I am really pleased with this album. It came with a /folded/ poster, and it's not very big. It's approximately 19 x 24 " (really rough measurement). 

Again, because I pre-ordered it came with free photo cards. They're just like the ones that came with GD's album. Thin, pictures front and back. 

This album came with really cute goodies such as a comic, but I can't read it, QQ. 

This album only costed me $11.40! 

Alas, I wanted to show you the GD's poster. 

I don't fancy it very much, so I just left it in the tube. I'm thinking about hosting a give away, with this poster as one of the main prizes!