My favourite new daily accessory is the Power Wallet from The Photojojo. It’s a super functional faux-leather wallet/clutch that has a built in battery for charging my phone.
Inside it came with instructions and an adapter for my iPhone 5S. The battery can be charged by plugging the USB end to your computer or Apple blocks. On full charge, the wallet can charge around 1 and a half iPhones to full.
The phone fits right in when you are charging it so you can use it as a mini clutch. There are also many slots and sections for coins, cash and cards. Now I’m ready for a night on the town without my phone dying on me!
I bought myself a new camera backpack from Johansen Camera Bags. All the bags on their website are super cute and fashionable, just what I was looking for in a camera bag.
What I love most about it is that it doesn’t scream camera bag like some of the ones you see at Henry’s or Vistek. There’s even a section for a laptop that fits my Mac Air perfectly. Now I can look good while carrying all my precious gear on location.
I saw these Adventure Time socks at Hot Topic and I couldn’t resist getting them!
The pack came with 5 pairs with different characters: Jake, Gunter, Lumpy Space Princess, BMO and Finn. Now I can inject a little more fun into my daily routine.
Ever since I first saw someone where this poncho sweater thing on an American friend’s Instagram, I wanted it badly! I found out that it was an exclusive piece from Japan LA.
It is part of an official collaboration between Hello Kitty and The Simpsons. I couldn’t get over how adorable the chibi versions of the Simpsons’ cast were.
The poncho is one size-fits all and despite being loose is a shape that works with all bodies. It’s also super soft and comfy!
It’s seriously one of my favourite new wardrobe pieces!
I stumbled on food jewellery site Tiny Hands a while ago but I finally ordered my first piece. A chocolate cookie necklace!
It arrived after a week and a half in a beautifully packaged box.
All the jewellery on the website is handmade. They are also scented (unscented available too). It smells like a delicious baked good. Whenever I wear it, I get a waft of it every so often and it makes me crave cookies.
It’s definitely a unique addition to my accessories. Now I need to stop myself from ordering the entire site!
If you use the following coupon code at check out you can get 15% off your order: A9EHQ997
I’m 25 so I’ve already sat through many lectures as a university student, college student and the conferences of music festival. By far the most inspirational has been Johnny Cupcakes‘ talk during Toronto’s NXNE. I could be biased because I am a huge fan of the T-shirts myself and it has become a large part of my own personal branding. However, I’ve seen a lot of my favourite bands, labels and companies speak over the years and few have come close to being so memorable, not to mention hilarious.
I had not planned to go to many panels this year during NXNE. I didn’t even look at the schedule. I thought I would need the sleep or extra time to edit photos. However, I ran into @plafleur and she had saved me this Johnny Cupcakes history booklet she found on the ground. Apparently it was in all the delegate bags (with exception to the media ones). I then looked at the program and discovered THE Johnny Cupcakes was doing a panel. Of course I HAD to go.
I didn’t really know what to expect. I’ve done festival conferences before and most panels just say what everyone else is saying (THE CLOUD IS THE FUTURE etc etc) or gloss over fancy points. Johnny Earle aka Johnny Cupcakes taught us to think outside the box, and showed us examples of how he has integrated this philosophy with his brand.
Johnny Cupcakes making his signature face and I!
Johnny began by telling us his history. He told us how at a young age he tried to make money in different ways such as selling his father’s tools at yard sales (he got in trouble of course) and selling candy, lemonade, whoopee cushions and yearbooks. The name Johnny Cupcakes was something random that co-workers at Newbury Comics had given him. He played with the idea and that’s how the shirts were born. He began selling these shirts to friends and it spread by word of mouth.
Johnny Cupcakes now has stores in Boston, LA, London and of course online, where they ship internationally. The stores all look like bakeries and smell like frosting. Everyday somebody walks in mistaking it for a place that sells food. Delivered packages look like presents and often come with trading cards. You’re meant to be treated like it’s your birthday. Johnny had set out to sell more than just cupcakes. He wanted to give people an experience and it’s a huge reason why he has been so successful. In fact, he even gave the audience members a glimpse of the experience. At the end of the lecture, he told us he had put little gifts under our chairs. When we reached down there was a little packet of stickers, buttons, candy and a trading card. He had even gone to the trouble of making sure we each had different trading cards so that we could trade with our neighbours. After the lecture, he hung around and took pictures with fans old and new. There was candy, but I got hungry that week and ate it
Anyways, I had written down a lot of the things Johnny said in a notebook but I lost said notebook on the streets of Toronto. It was later picked up by some American musician who brought it home with them. Long story. Here are a few important points I did remember about entrepreneurship and about life:
– Building a brand is hard work, Johnny Cupcakes mentioned that he doesn’t do drugs, drink or play video games. He had put all his energy on video games. He even hired his family to help.
– Connecting with people is important. When he sold things growing up he always went back to the people who had purchased something form him once. Then when he started making T-shirts it was their word of mouth that got things started.
– Small details make a big difference. If you buy a Johnny Cupcakes the tag is an oven mitt. Online boxes are patterned and in-store ones look like cupcake boxes.
– Name 10 things that make you unique. It’s good thing to brainstorm for both job hunters and brands.
– Weird is Good. It gets people talking. Johnny Cupcakes has sold breakfast themed t-shirts with breakfast, put shirts inside icing jars and much more.
– Make things exclusive and limited edition because people like what nobody else has. Johnny had declined offers to mass produce his shirts because he didn’t want to be another fast fad like Ed Hardy T-shirts.
This week I received another exciting package from Rocky the Zombie. I really loved the previous cupcake shirt I bought on Ranon’s Etsy and wanted more. While exploring her shop a second time I saw these adorable cupcake prints and asked if she could make them into shirts. She was happy to and even threw in a few extra things including more candy. Yay!
This one is a slash-neck magic cupcake t-shirt. Right now a black and white version is 40% off in her Etsy shop.
This summery cupcake T-shirt is also on sale. I love how it reflects the upcoming season.
Ran added this adorable cupcake totebag as well. Now I’m already to take on the summer music festivals with my cupcake attire!
For my first major crochet project, I made this short crop sweater sweater. The pattern came from The Happy Hooker book I mentioned earlier.
Understanding how to read the pattern was a confusing at first, so the sweater is a tiny bit disfigured, but still wearable.
It pairs well with a bright coloured tank top underneath.
It was a little thicker than I wanted. I used black wool I had but I threw out the label was unsure about the needle gauge. However, I’m proud that it actually looks like a sweater (and not a blob of yarn).
As you may or may not know, I wear cupcake t-shirts to concerts. It is something I started a few years ago with Johnny Cupcakes T-shirts but I’ve been trying to add other kinds of cupcake attire to the collection. I hope to support more independent designers. My latest edition is this adorable Rocky the Zombie T-shirt from Etsy made by Ranon. It is pretty difficult to find cupcake clothing that aren’t made to fit children. This adorable t-shirt has a slash neck so I could do an off-the-shoulder look if I wanted. The T-shirt came in only a week and was wrapped in a cute silver ribbon with a random piece of candy! Ranon who is from Southsea, UK is the original creator of the adorable Rocky the Zombie character. You can read more about her on her blog.
Have you seen cute cupcake clothing anywhere? I’d love to know!
I conquered last month’s challenge of not having a drop of coffee. Today I completely forgot that I could finally have a cup. I don’t think I plan on jumping back into habit just yet. Perhaps my mind will change next week when I have work engagements which will need me up in the morning. But anyway, it’s a new month so time for another challenge.
This is only part of it
I think it’s time for something artistic. I realized while doing my video album reviews that it’s pretty fun to play with make up. I also realized, I have way too much makeup. When I was in university I was addicted to buying set after set of eye-shadow. Often they came with blushes, lip glosses and eye liners too. I have hundreds of colours at hand so this month I decided.. I will create a different look a day.
Tiana Feng 