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NEWS
Blingster Wrap
If you reckon pinstriping is passé, adding bling may be the next big thing.What's the price for ice? Kellie Defries brings the bling as she patiently places Swarovski crystals on a Hyundai badge until every millimetre is covered totally with sparkling stones.
She'll hang a price tag of $250 on the finished piece. Cars are her main canvas, and she embellishes hundreds of badges every year.
"Land Rover is probably the most common," she suggests. It's not only badges, she recently covered the entire roof of a Mini.
Around her small work area are plastic bags full of stones, and behind her head hangs a Swarovski coated Cadillac grille, a Fiat badge in red, white and bling and an amazing helmet with visor totally coated in crystals. "For helmets we charge about $5000, less for a clear face visor. That helmet there took five days to apply 15,000 stones."
The work is guaranteed. "If you lose a stone, I'll repair it and that includes carwashes," she emphasizes. Each stone is glued in place permanently with an epoxy adhesive. If you want to try DIY, she sells complete kits. You'll find her at Crystal Ninja in San Diego, California.
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Written byTodd Hallenbeck
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