069: bottoms up

First of all, thank you guys SO MUCH for entering our giveaway! We're overwhelmed by how excited everyone is to win an L&B outfit! If you haven't entered, check it out here! You can win everything shown here:



& I'm sure all you smarties noticed some items in the giveaway that are not in our shop yet! So obviously, that means we're starting to roll out new things for spring! PLEASE shop our sales section cause we're clearing things out for up to 50% off to make room for new things :)

Today we started with a load of new bottoms!



we don't usually use our blog to promote the shop so much, but take a look if you have a minute! love you guys!
LIPGLOSSANDBLACK.COM

xo

068: L&B outfit giveaway! (CLOSED)

Congrats to Abigail! She was the winner of The Candy Shoppe Giveaway & will be getting her matching necklace & ring in the mail soon!



So now it's time for a new giveaway! We're in a generous mood & we want to dress you head to toe in L&B! Despite the fact that it was freezing outside & there was still snow on the ground, we want to treat you to some new pieces for your spring wardrobe. This giveaway is going to be open for a week & ends on Sam's birthday! Check out all the details below...




THE PRIZE:
♥ the skull cut-out t-shirt by Lipgloss and Black (in green size s, m or l)
♥ silver dagger connector ring (ring size 8)
♥ wet look leggings (size s, m or l)
♥ leatherette cutout sandals (size 8)

MANDATORY ENTRY:
♥ comment ONCE in this post telling us your favourite item at Lipgloss and Black!
♥ & leave your email address (just so we can contact you if you win)

HOW TO GET EXTRA ENTRIES:
♥ on twitter, retweet THIS TWEET and post the link to your tweet in a new comment
♥ on tumblr, reblog THIS POST & post the link in a new comment
♥ blog about this contest & post the link in a new comment
♥ you get ONE EXTRA entry for each promotion (yes, we will check your links!)


DETAILS:
♥ open to contestants worldwide! we will ship anywhere :)
♥ entries will be accepted until 11:59PM EST on Tuesday March 15, 2011
♥ the winner will be selected using a random number generator and contacted on March 16th via email.
♥ prize is not redeemable for cash value and cannot be returned or exchanged for store credit.

GOOD LUCK!

xoxo

067: the fashion book

Have you seen Sam's Glitter Shoe Tutorial? If not, go take a look! It's awesome :)

There was a free shipping + $5 off coupon for chapters.ca so I took advantage & grabbed a few new books! One of them that I bought is called "The Fashion Book" & it's a mini book that is like a who's who of fashion. Each page features a designer, model or photographer significant to the fashion world & there's a large photo and paragraph that encapsulates each.


I'm really enjoying casually flipping through the pages. Apparently, since the listings are all in alphabetical order, they make an effort to juxtapose the photos to create a stark contrast between the opposing pages. So far I love these pages:


Kate Moss vs. Thierry Mugler


Martin Margiela vs. Dr. Martens
(love the photo of the cop & the skinhead with their docs!)

Anyway, tomorrow we will be announcing the winner of The Candy Shoppe Giveaway (which you can still enter until midnight tonight). & we're gonna have another treat for you!

xoxo

066: tutorial - inspired by glitter litas

So I've definitely been spying on Glitter Litas by Jeffrey Campbell on Solestruck.com and I've been seriously been thinking about getting myself a pair. I've added it to my cart and entered all my billing information but just forced myself to close the browser. Unfortunately, I couldn't justify $159.95 + $15 shipping and potential taxes + duties to Canada. Here are some photos of my glitter covered Jeffrey Campbells that I've been drooling over:

Lita, Foxy, & 99 Tie

I was in a conversation with one of my friends and I realized that it would be a really fun project to cover an old pair of shoes with glitter. I'm just going to share the process and the final result, so I guess this post will be a how I did it post.

Materials I used:

• Newspaper or just large pieces of paper - to keep the glitter from coating the desk or floor
• Scissors/Exacto knife - I used them to cut off an unwanted design detail and removing the masking tape
• Sandpaper - to rough up the surface of faux leather...my shoes of choice were very smooth
• Plastic bags - to stuff in the shoes to keep the glitter from piling up inside
• Masking tape - to tape off the soles and to help clean up glitter
• Vaseline - to help keep glue off of the metal notions on shoes (e.g. grommets)
• Q-Tips - to spread the glue & Vaseline in smaller areas 
• Latex gloves - I used one glove: for making sure that I was able to press down the glitter into the glue
• Amazing Goop craft glue: 60mL  - I ended up using it all up
• Make-up sponge - to help spread the glue over the surface of the shoes
• 2 bottles of glitter - I bought 4 because I'm not the best at estimating. I mixed 2 shades of blue
• Pair of shoes - I bought brand new ones that resembled Litas. I couldn't find old ones in my closet
• Vacuum - for the clean up (of course!)

I tested Tacky glue as well as Goop. Goop works a lot better because Tacky glue peeled right off the shoe. I ended up using 1.5 bottles of glitter.

Mixing the two shades of blue.

These are the shoes I bought from Urban Planet. They cost $15 but I used my SPC card and got 10% off. So the math is: $15 - $1.50 = $13.50 + 13% tax = $15.26  Not bad eh? I love the gum soles and I like them even without the glitter!

Removed the shoe laces in preparation.

I cut off the sherling flaps but made sure to analyze the stitching before doing so. I didn't want to cause noticeable damage to the rest of the shoe.

Using a small piece of sand paper I sanded down the whole shoe to roughen up the surface.

I stuffed about 3 small produce plastic bags into each shoe to reduce the amount of glitter that end up inside.

Using masking tape...

I made sure to line the sole around so that I wouldn't get glue on it.

Using Vaseline...

I coated all the metal notions to ensure that the glue doesn't get stuck on any of them.

Using a small piece of a make-up sponge...

I spread the glue in small sections at a time....

then sprinkled glitter on. I pressed the glitter on with a little pressure with my fingers. This was to ensure that it was all stuck on before shaking of the excess glitter onto the paper/newspaper.

I did some touch ups in spots that I missed in the process.

It's a messy project but very rewarding.

Wait 24 hours for the glue to dry before peeling off the tape.

After 24 hours, I looked for spots that I missed. I touched them up and waited another 24 hours.

Next day - remove masking tape.

Cutting off the bits of masking tape that were slightly glued down.

Removing Vaseline & excess glitter

Lacing them back up

After 7 hours of glittering labour and a full 48 hours of waiting they're completed!

Lipgloss & Black cat eye sunglasses, Stitches zippered dress

XXI faux fur shrug

Stitches tights & shoes decorated by me :)

Before!

AFTER! (pictures don't show the sparkle)

Showing off the glitter

Total cost:

• Amazing Goop craft glue: 60mL  - ~$4
• 4 bottles of glitter - $4.52
• Pair of shoes - $15.26

Approximately $23.78

Hope you enjoyed that! xoxo

065: strength

Today's outfit was just a laaaazy day get-up; I just went out to grab groceries. It unintentionally turned into what looks like a chic 'activewear' type of look, so I'm gonna talk about fitness. (yes, you can make fun of me for thinking an outfit with heels & a leather jacket looks "active" haha)


white leatherette jacket - gift from friends :), sweetheart crop top by L&B, harem sweatpants from xxi, shoes by jeffrey campbell

(The top is a new experiment with reconstructing tees into teeny crop tops! Let me know what you think, because I'm thinking of making more for the shop :) )

About a year ago, I started using an ipod app called "MyFitnessPal". I told some friends about it, as it was a fun way for me to keep track of my calories & my exercise but I stopped using it after a month or so. This past week, a friend of mine started telling me about myfitnesspal.com like it was some new thing! I was surprised to learn that she was using it regularly & had a bunch of other friends using it too! It's almost like a social network where you can keep track of what your friends ate & how much they exercise. Basically guilting you into eating better & working out more.

I've been wanting to start my mission to a better summer body, but had little motivation. But since I started using MFP again (after 10 months off!), I've already done an hour of working out each day :) The goal for me isn't to lose any weight, but just to get some tone overall. I've been doing select workouts from the P90x dvds & just cutting down on snacking on sweets. What do you guys do to stay in shape? Do you find it tough to make the time to do it? How do you stay motivated?

xoxo


ps, this is my post making up for missing posting yesterday. Later tonight Sam has a surprise post for you guys! hint: she is shoe-obsessed.

pps, check out Cindy from Tea Time with Dinosaurs modeling the Rosette bib necklace! (Go to her blog to see more photos & what she has to say about it!) She won the contest we held at The Demure Muse & chose the rosette necklace :) Congrats Cindy! It looks adorable on you!