Business Spotlight #2: Trinia's Glass Engraving!

Tonight's Business Spotlight is... Trinia's Glass Engraving! Have a read and go take a look!

My Facebook page is:www.facebook.com/TriniasGlassEngraving 

I'm also on Twitter: @TriniasGlass

I think that the name is pretty self-explanatory? 

I'm a professional glass engraver, who's specialised in bespoke glass engravers for 30 years now!! I was originally trained with Stuart Crystal & have been doing work for myself since 2011. 

I specialise in bespoke pieces, mainly commission work. I'm not running a small business as such, it's more of a hobby 

Ideally I'd like to run a successful business, complete with premises. The next step for me will be to set up my website & an Etsy shop online. 

My favourite piece has to be a mirror that I was commissioned to do back in 2012. There are pictures of it on my Facebook page  It took me 24 hours over 8 days to engrave the mirror! A real labour of love ❤️ Its pride of place in The Crown & Thistle Public House in Gravesend. 

Business Spotlight #1: Lippins Treasure Trove

Tonight, in our first Business Spotlight, we meet Pip- the lovely lady behind Lippins Treasure Trove.

If you'd like to be considered and involved in our Business Spotlights, please email paperandpolishblog@gmail.com

1) What do you do?

I make unique homeware from  Jar Toppers, Hand Cut Glass and Decorations. mixing the function with fun.

   

2) How did you decide on your business name?

My Business name  has come from my big sister, as she has always called me 'Lippin' and the Treasure Trove is because I take old or unusual items and transform them in to hidden Treasures you never know what I'm going to make next. 

3) How do you stand out from the rest? What makes you different?

When starting, I had the idea to take inspirations from DIY and Upcycling projects and combine them with my unique whimsical  style. 

  

4) What's your favourite product and why?

My favourite product would probably had to be an Item I made for this christmas, I use a recycled jar an old Hot wheel car and a christmas cake decoration to make a really effective winter scene. 

  

  

  

  

  

5) Do you have plans to expand in the future?

This is my first year making and selling as I've always just made things for friend's, So far I've been over whelmed with the support from every one, this helps me push my ideas and do things I've been scared to do before. I am also a free lance Prop Maker in the Theatre and Film industry and this line of work can often be fair and few jobs a year, so my crafting keeps my hands doing, brain active and the creativity flowing.     

6) Where do you see yourself in one and 5 years time?

In 1 year I hope to be a little more secure in work and be doing monthly craft fairs and in 5 years time, gosh hopefully be making for a living with a young family.

Lippins Treasure Trove Facebook : www.facebook.com/LippinsTreasureTrove

Lippins Treasure Trove Etsy : www.etsy.com/uk/shop/LippinsTreasureTrove 

Pip has been kind enough to give our lovely readers 10% off in her Etsy shop by quoting 'BS1'.

Oh Star-Heart-Art...

So this morning, as well as doing a manicure which took waaaaay too long to dry, I did another layer of Star-Heart!

One more to go and the rainbow is complete!

Gluten free, dairy free yummy goodness!

Something you won't know about me, is that I'm allergic and intolerant to ALOT of food! This makes it really tricky for me to find yummy food which actually tastes and feels like the 'normal' versions of it should!

Well, Waitrose have come through on the gorgeously yummy chocolate muffin front! They have produced a dairy free, gluten and wheat free chocolate chip muffin which is literally to die for! They come in packs of 2 and work out to just under £1 each which, after trying them, you'll think is more than worth paying!

They don't crumble, but they're not stick to the roof of your mouth sticky. They're PERFECT! And I don't use that word lightly! After more than 3 years of being deprived from nice and yummy cake... These were well worth it! 

You can have the, hot or cold, I love both. But on this occasion, I heated it up in the microwave and served it with soya cream. Heaven!

Another must have, must try?! The banana loaf from the free from section in Sainsburys! It's heaven in a bit, moist and not crumbly! JUST the way banana loaf should be! Again, delicious hot or cold, but I was feeling greedy so heated it up with soya cream.

WELL worth trying!

Peach Babe from Colour Crush Collection.. And Essie!

GgI was feeling slightly adventurous this morning but still timid... So came up with this design. Peach Babe by the Body Shop on all fingers, topped with Rimmels by Rita Ora collection in black and white to make an accent nail featuring leopard prints. It was my first attempt at leopard print, and I was quite pleased... Lots of work to do though!

Aaaaaand the AMAZING Essie nail polish official Instagram page, liked the photo!

Honey Lipgloss from the Body Shop

While I was looking at polishes yesterday, this lip gloss jumped out at me! 

It's called Honey Bronze and at the store I was in, it was available in 2 shades- this apricotty one and a nude brown colour.

I was interested to try this out as it looks very bright in the tube! Once on your lips, it evens out and gives you a nice peachy apricot colour with a hint of shimmer- perfect for the summer! It IS a bit sticky but it's easily liveable with.

I included a swatch of the colour on my hand so you can see it clearer. It comes out of the tube almost neon but once smoothed in and evened out, it's gorgeous! 

Is recommend this for sure- and I'm someone that incredibly rarely wears any kind of lip product except for lip balm!

The Body Shop Colour Crush Collection- update!

So this morning, I have tried both Peach Babe and Gorgeous Grey from the Colour Crush Collection and I have to say, I'm impressed!

Peach Babe is a very bright peach coral colour, almost neon and the formula is fantastic! 2 coats and it was totally opaque.

Gorgeous Grey is also a good formula but it took 3 coats to get the result you're seeing below. It's a beautiful colour though, the perfect grey for summer! If you like to be able to see nail through your nail polish, ie not opaque, you'll only need one or 2 layers of polish but I prefer opacity!

As I was so excited about this collection coming out, because it's 100% vegan (quoted on their website), not tested on animals and have a lot of toxins and paraphins removed which you mind find in other brands of nail polish, I decided to have a look in my collection and see if I had any dupes. I had 4! So if you're looking for a replacement to any coral/peachy colours, which are vegan and not tested on animals, I'd recommend Peach Babe by Colour Crush.

I've included a photo below with the dupes I had in my collection....

This includes Rose Libertine by Rimmel which is a shimmery pinky peach colour, a shimmery apricot/peach/coral colour by Seventeen, Instyle Coral by Rimmel and a peachy pink colour by Maxfactor. These were all pretty good matches for Peach Babe.

I also looked in my collection for any dupes for Gorgeous Grey and I only had one slight, almost match! This is called Latte by Maybelline. Gorgeous Grey is a beautiful and unique colour and the lighter of Colour Crushes 2 primary greys.

In terms of cost, I think these were reasonable- they were £5 each which is a fixed price and not an introductory offer and you get opaque coverage from both in a maximum of 3 coats. I will definitely be using this brand as my go to brand when I want a polish from now on.