Behind the Scenes with Dhyan & Benjamin

Left & right. 

Yin & yang.

Steph & Trish.

We all know good things come in twos.  

Case in point, cool-cat photographers Dhyan & Benjamin, a Perth-based duo whose shoot I had the pleasure of attending on Saturday.  Enjoy the photos first - details at the end of the post!

Tucked away in Dhyan's godfather's enchanting jungle of a garden, the two worked their camera-magic on Ebony & Eli from Vivien's to create their long-envisioned editorial masterpiece.  Helping them out were Sandy Tau (hair & MUA), Candice van Haltren (styling - visit her blog here), Natalie (behind-the-scenes video), & Josh (assistant).  

A huge thanks to Dhyan & Benjamin for inviting us along to check out their shoot.  Stay tuned for the final photos - I'm pretty sure they're going to be rather phenomenal just looking at the raw images on Saturday.  

We've also got a special interview post coming up soon featuring the guys so I won't add much more here.  However, if you have any burning questions regarding photography and the shutterbug life, pop them below in the comments section below and I will forward them on!  

xx T

P.S. more photos here 

Mother's Day DIY: Ceramic Roses

You've done it again - left that Mother's day present until last minute haven't you?  Fair enough, you say Mother's day is an overrated, commercialised grab at more sales.  True, but think of your mother!  Remember how you used to bring home haphazardly hand-made cards with teabags and pompoms from school to surprise her with?  Well lack of talent begone!  Amaze her with these super-easy ceramic roses and claim your position as her favourite child.

Get yourself a good chunk of clay or fimo.

Pinch off a little ball, and roll that ball into a sausage.  Then flatten that sausage!

Roll your flattened sausage into a scroll - this will become the bud of your rose.

Grab another little blob of clay - about the size of an almond.  Roll it into an almond/carrot shape.

Using your thumb, give it a smoosh into the palm of your hand and keep squishing until it resembles a petal shape.  Make it more petal-like by pinching the end and rolling out the lip.

Start with small petals and squish these onto the bud.  Work your way around, overlapping the petals.  Make sure you squish the clay together well.

Slowly increase the size of the petals as your rose blooms!

Once you're sick of attaching petals, use some string, wire or dental floss to slice off the bottom to leave your rose with a flat base.

Slam that thing into the oven (baking instructions as directed by your clay) or leave in the sun to dry, after which you might like to spray paint or spray gloss it.

Give it to your mumma tomorrow!

xx T

DIY Washer Necklace

Inspired by this Marc by Marc Jacob bolt necklace, here is a simple DIY that can be the elusive 'outfit-completer' that we often require.  With chunky jewellery on the back-burner and delicate pieces now in vogue, this fine chained necklace is a very easy way to update your collection of statement necklaces and arm parties into the current accessory timez.

I used washers in this case, mainly due to my inability to tell the difference between a washer & a nut, but I'm happy with how it turned out anyway.  Very thin bolts would look more like the original version.

Supplies
1m thin gold-coloured chain
Gold washers from any hardware
A surgical toolkit*

*Feel free to replace the surgical tools with jewellery pliers, although I think you'd need very small pliers to work with this kind of thin chain.

Step 1
Decide how much space you'd like between each washer & cut lengths of chain double that length.
Lay it all out before starting to cut the chain and ensure it's going to be long enough to fit over your head.



Step 2
Put 2 washers on one peice of chain.
Open up one link on the edge, and attach it to the other end making a loop, then close it up with the pliers.

Step 3

Repeat that multiple times until all the washers are attached in loops.
Voilà, finished.  It's very simple.

Since this necklace, I've made another with the bolts closer together at the front and a longer chain around the back (picture here), which I much prefer.

Next project: this.

xx S

2WW: Leather Bottoms

Oh hey there, it's 2WW again!

This week we bring you two very different takes on wearing leather bottom-covering garments.  T managed to pull together a very current & fashion-week appropriate outfit out of some her wardrobe staples.  Meanwhile, S continued her stripy tee binge & went insane miming French objects. (see the end of the post)

Also, watch us both try to cope with in-between length hair.  We have creepily similar hair lengths right now.

S' Outfit
Trenery tee
Sportsgirl leather skirt
Op shopped belt
DIY necklace
Country Road ballet flats

T's outfit
Gail Sorronda tee
Axara leather pants
Asos fur vest 
MNG aviators & shoes
Wild Horses necklace

One day we will attempt to bring you post with no fooling around.  Today is not that day.


xx S&T