Sunday, 19 May 2013

CrownedByFlowers Giveaway Winner!

It's finally time to announce who the lucky winner of my CrownedByFlowers giveaway is! This lucky person will receive the "Blue Be Sweet" flower crown from my Etsy shop, pictured below...





I used the Rafflecopter widget to create the giveaway and the winner was chosen by random.com. It was purely up to luck and chance.


And the winner is...
Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnnnnnn...


Mackie Tang! 
Congratulations, I will be in contact with you soon to arrange the delivery of your flower crown!

Monday, 13 May 2013

Melbourne University's Australasian Association Fashion Show!

If you read one of my posts a few back, you'll know that my CrownedByFlowers flower crowns were featured in a fashion show! And that show was an absolute success, complete with gorgeous models, beautiful styling and incredible organisational skills by the team and crew from Melbourne University's Australasian Association.

It was a wonderful night to be a part of and seeing my crowns being brought to life on the runway is something I will never forget. Congratulations to everyone who was a part of the show, you guys are awesome!

Want to see shots from backstage and the catwalk? Of course you do!


Being cutie pies in the photo booth! Love these girls!

Photo by Melissa Tidah Him
The "Strawberries and Cream" flower crown waiting to be worn by the beautiful Rona later on the catwalk.



I LOVED the makeup look the artists created for the show - model Jiin Kim looks fresh faced with flawless nude lips, paired with a rad geometric reverse cat eye.


Models Stefanie White, Jessica Muller and Rona Nguyen.


Loving the look created for model Demi Erfurth - bold brows and big lashes, with old Hollywood style side-swept curls.


One of the other designers and my lovely friend, Melissa!

Photo by Melissa Tidah Him


The male models doing what they do best, looking super cute *cough*showingoff*cough* ;)

Photo by Facets Photos


My best friend and I, both sporting CrownedByFlowers crowns! The white one will be available in my shop very soon.



My camera was having some lighting issues, so most of my photos from the runway came out very warm. This is the best shot I got, and I love it! Thank you to Cameron Cooke from Cookeimages for taking his picture at just the right moment so I could capture this amazing shot!

The photos below are by the very talented Bryan Tang of Facets Photos - thank you for these amazing photos of the lovely girls in my flower crowns!

Photo: Facets Photos
Model: Rona Nguyen
Flower Crown: "Strawberries and Cream" CrownedByFlowers
Dress: Thao Bee Nguyen
Photo: Facets Photos
Model: Jiin Kim
Flower Crown: "Age of Innocence" CrownedByFlowers
Dress: Melissa Tidah Him
Photo: Facets Photos
Model: Komal Kalra
Flower crown: "Age of Innocence" CrownedByFlowers
Photo: Facets Photos
Model: Mackie Tang
Flower Crown: "White Nights Gerbera" CrownedByFlowers
Dress: Thao Bee Nguyen
Photo: Facets Photos
Model: Demi Erfurth
Flower Crown: "Sweet Like Sugar (Skull)" CrownedByFlowers
Kimono: Melissa Tidah Him
Photo: Facets Photos
With the lovely Kim of KIM SHU designs and fellow Collegefashionista intern Melissa.

Thank you to everyone who made this night possible, the flawless show you put together was absolutely stunning and you guys are simply amazing! It was an honour to be a part of it!

On another note... there are just a few more days to enter my CrownedByFlowers giveaway!

If you would love to win one of my handmade flower crowns for your very own - the "Blue Be Sweet" flower crown as pictured below - don't forget to enter below!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Wednesday, 8 May 2013

May Shopping Haul: Bought a lot for very little!

Lezbihonest. I'm a university student and like most university students...

There are tumbleweeds blowing around in my wallet.

Well, not really. But you know what I mean.

#dayomunistudentsarepoor

So anytime I see a sale or a good deal, I tend to snap it up pretty quickly! Most of the items in this haul were very wallet-friendly/on sale -- for example, all of the items from Cotton On were bought with 30% off! FYI, you get that 30% off (for your first order) online just for signing up to their emails! #winning

Sorry. Hashtagging. I've signed up to pretty much all of my favourite stores' emails because I love sales and seeing new arrivals. I highly recommend it -- who wants to pay full price anyway?!

So, let's get into the haul!

SO MUCH STUFF. FOR SO LITTLE MONEY! #screwfullprice ;)
Moe Ribbed Beanie & Pomy Skull Beanie - both Cotton On
($6.90 each after 30% off, originally $9.95 each)
I have a little obsession with hats and headwear. It seems almost everyday I'm wearing a beanie, a flower crown or a hat -- I just love them! I figured I'd better add to my beanie collection and picked up a simple grey beanie (which looked slightly brown online) and this super bright yellow pom pom one. I loooooove the yellow one because it's a men's beanie so it's really slouchy and comfy.


Emotion Knit - CO. by Cotton On 
($27.95 after 30% off, originally $39.95)
Like beanies, I'm kind of in love with knits. On my lazy days to uni, I just throw on a collared shirt with a knit on top with a pair of jeans for a quick chic preppy look. I don't own many "slogan" printed clothes, so I thought this one was tres cool (ha). I'm thinking of wearing it with burgundy jeans, a chambray shirt underneath and that yellow beanie above!


Annie Skirt - Cotton On ($5.00)
This might not look like much in the photo, but this is just a basic tube skirt. I don't own one of these already and I feel like a black skirt is a wardrobe staple! Plus it has this nice ruched sort of detailing on it, so it's not just a plain skirt. And for five bucks!


Eden Eternity Scarf in Grey - Cotton On ($5.00 with any purchase, or $19.95)
I only have two scarves that I really wear; a bright cobalt blue infinity scarf and an orange aztec print one. Sometimes I just want a little extra warmth but those two don't suit my outfit. So I figured a plain 'ol grey knit scarf would do the trick. Plus it's super soft, so I can't wait to get cosy with it.


Russian Faux Fur Stole - Cotton On ($2.00 on sale, down from $19.95)
Okay, this one was kind of an impulse buy. I've always liked the look of these fluffy stoles, but have never owned one, so for two dollars I thought why not! In person it's lovely and soft and has a clasp at the ends so you can turn it into a loop. 


Chain Link Fence Tube Skirt - My mum's friend's shop whose name I don't know haha
($15.00)
I love all of the leggings, dresses and skirts by BlackMilk, but they're just sooooo expensive! So when I saw this, I instantly fell in love with it. The print is super vibrant and realistic (because it's a photo, duh Jess haha) and it fits me perfectly. Plus the back is black, so it adds a bit of streamlining to my outfit too!


Oxblood Lace Up Heeled Boots - Sportsgirl ($48 down from $149.95)
If you follow me on Instagram (@hijessicaanne by the way!) you'll know how happy I was to have finally bought these shoes. I had been eyeing them off for weeks and weeks and would literally go into the store after class just to look at them. Creepy, maybe. BUT THEY ARE SO BEAUTIFUL! They were way out of my budget at $150, so when I saw them on sale for $48, I pretty much died and went to shoe heaven.


Nivea Daily Essentials 2 in 1 Wash & Scrub - Coles ($9.99 at Priceline)
I normally use a gel cleanser AND a scrub afterwards, but to save money I thought I'd try this multi-tasker right here. I haven't used it yet, but I've been using Nivea products pretty much my whole face-washing life, so I'm pretty confident that it'll do the job. 


Nivea Visage Aqua Sensation Invigorating Day Cream - Coles ($14.79 at Priceline)
Day cream sounds like something old people use. Anyway. My moisturiser is nearly gone so I thought I'd better get a new one, but mine (the Nivea Visage Mattifying Moisturiser) wasn't there, so I thought I'd try this. I don't really like pot-style packaging because I feel like it's not very hygienic, but I'll give it a shot.


"My Name Is Memory" by Ann Brashares - The Book Grocer ($9 down from $10)
Did you ever read the Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants as a kid? I looooooved that series and I hadn't realised the author had written anything else until I saw this in a discounted book store. According to the blurb it's about this time-travelling boy who falls in love with the reincarnation of the same person over and over again (which sounds really sad...). I asked the shop keeper if there was another copy as the cover was folded and she offered to give it to me a dollar off because it was the last one, which was so sweet of her!


Aaaaaaaand I also bought new flowers to make more crowns with! Keep an eye out at my Etsy shop CrownedByFlowers for new arrivals ;)


Speaking of flower crowns, if you haven't seen my last post, I'm giving away the "Blue Be Sweet" Flower Crown below to one lucky reader! 

If you haven't entered yet, you can enter via the Rafflecopter widget below. Good luck!



a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thursday, 2 May 2013

Flower Crown Giveaway To Celebrate 100k views!

Thank you so much for 100K views!!

One hundred thousand is such a huge number and I'm so grateful to everyone who reads and supports my blog. All of your sweet comments, encouragement and love is so humbling, so to thank you for all of much-loved readership, I am hosting a giveaway!

In this giveaway, you can win one of my CrownedByFlower's flower crowns, which I make by hand with love and care.

This prize up for grabs is the "Blue Be Sweet" flower crown, featuring blue, white and peach roses and a pink carnation bound to an Alice headband.










This giveaway is a little different to my past giveaways, because this time I'm using Rafflecopter. I think it will be fairer this way because I can better keep track of everyone's entries, plus you can enter multiple times for a better chance to win!

Thanks again everyone, and best of luck in the giveaway!

xxx

Terms and conditions available in the above Rafflecopter widget.

Sunday, 28 April 2013

BEHIND THE SCENES: My flower crowns are in a photo shoot!

There's nothing quite like seeing your designs come to life when worn by someone else. It's jumping-up-and-down-while-clapping-ly exciting, heartwarming and even a little bit tear-jerking. That isn't a joke! So to have some of my CrownedByFlowers flower crowns in the Melbourne University Australasian Association Fashion Show is really, REEEEEEEEEEEALLY cool.

Seeing some of the models at the shoot in my crowns gave me such a lovely dose of the warm and fuzzies and I'm sure the other student designers at the shoot felt the same way about their clothes. Speaking of the other designers, I'm very excited to be collaborating with some rad-as-rad-gets student designers - Melissa Tidah Him, KIM SHU, Thao Bee Nguyen and Sue Xia - for both the photo shoot and the upcoming runway show in May. Want to come along and see some amazing designs? Stay tuned til the end of the post for the event details!

So, I bet all of you would love to see a little sneak peek of what goes on behind the scenes of a fashion shoot, so if you want a garner at off-duty models, the fabulous work of the hair and makeup team and some previews of the designs in action, then scroll on!


Styling and putting together crowns and outfits...


Makeup for the shoot was created by a talented team from the Academy of Makeup. As a beauty blogger, I love this neutral autumn-time look!









Mel doing what she does best - being a cutie pie!


Model: Jessica Muller
Flower Crown: "Sweet Like Sugar (Skull)" flower crown, CrownedByFlowers
Collar: KIM SHU
Kimono: Melissa Tidah Him





Model: Jiin Kim
Flower Crown: "Age of Innocence" flower crown, CrownedByFlowers
Dress: Melissa Tidah Him




Models: Rona Nguyen and Mackie Tang
Flower Crowns: "Strawberries and Cream" and "White Nights Gerbera" flower crown, CrownedByFlowers
Dresses: both by Thao Bee Nguyen


The fashion show is on May 9 at the Royal Melbourne Hotel and if you would like to buy a ticket to see some awesome student design and do some seriously fun networking, visit their Facebook page for more details.


If you come along, be sure to say hello!