Saturday, November 30, 2013

[Outfit Post] Pastel Polka



I have a love of polka dots that I really should indulge in more often, especially polka dots of the size on these tights and cardigan. Not too big, not too small, just perfectly cute. It might just be a side effect of my love for spheres - spherical stuffed animals, spherical Pokemon (I love Marrill - and Munna - and - yeah)...




Skirt: Metamorphose Temps de Fille
Cardigan: Angelic Pretty
Shoes: Secret Shop
Hairbow: Jolie Chose
Tights: eBay
Shirt: Gap

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Drawing ~ Dark Boxes and Tacklehugs



Sometimes, you just need a friend waiting to tacklehug you when you emerge from your dark box.

I'm just very thankful I have such a friend ^_^

Copic Sketch + Prismacolor Fine Line markers on heavyweight sketch paper.

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Weekly Favorites #1

I've decided to try out a new set of regular posts for my blog, in hopes that it'll help motivate me to actually post more regularly ^_^ I'd like to use these posts to show things that have caught my eye in the past week, as well as reviews of things I currently own/use and enjoy a lot. So, here goes my first week of favorites!

#1 ~ Dearli Book Purse

I'm always vaguely attracted by book-shaped bags that pop up from Lolita brands every so often, but I'm never really fully sold on them. I think I love the idea of a bag that looks like a book, but I don't like just having a generic book cover design. These bags from Dearli, however, are just fantastic and remind me of the beautiful illustration pages that I've always loved in books. I am fully sold on these!



(via Dearli)


#2 ~ Miss Selfridge Red Bow Coat

This coat is just perfect for otome styles, or for incorporating a bit of Lolita flair in daily life. I don't think it's quite full enough at the bottom to accommodate a petticoated skirt, but it's certainly cute and cozy!



#3 ~ Dior Addict Lip Glow

This looks perfect for people who like putting on a bit of lip color, but want to avoid having it look overly heavy. I myself love a bit of sheer pink on my lips, since it always cheers me up. I've been enjoying the Mood glosses by NYX, but the idea of something like that in a more lipstick form really intrigues me.



(via Dior)


#4 ~ Modcloth After the Fete Dress

I can never resist a cute fit-and-flare dress, and this one is especially cute for the upcoming holidays. The light champagne color is perfectly festive without being too glitzy. I generally hate wearing white things, since I'm soooo accident-prone, but this is light enough to make me feel like I'm shining, without making me worry too much about slight mishaps.



(via Modcloth)


#5 ~ Reamin Tear Wing Shoes

These are just perfect for any magical girl wardrobe! I love all things cute, and shoujo manga with magical girls are no exception. If I could get away with it, I would totally dress in magical girl battle outfits all the time. But I can settle for just bits of it incorporated in slightly more normal ways ^_^ These come in black also!



~ Wishing you loads of sparkle power for the coming week! ~

Saturday, November 23, 2013

[Outfit Post] Gummy Bears in Chandeliers



I must admit I don't generally like to wear images of food all over my clothes, but I just couldn't resist this print. And it strikes my brain as more fanciful chandelier rather than wearing-cupcakes-and-candy, so I actually quite enjoy it! The print is one of those "glitter prints" or whatever, in which parts of the print pure shimmery glittery goodness. It doesn't shed glitter all over or anything though, it's not like the elementary school plague.










Skirt: Angelic Pretty
Bolero: Bodyline
Socks: Innocent World
Shoes: Secret Shop
Hairbow: Jolie Chose
Shirt: Target

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Copic Practice - Pastel Unicorn



I drew a similar picture as a card for a friend's going-away party, since she's my favorite unicorn princess

Monday, November 18, 2013

[NaSoAlMo 2013] Week 2 Progress



Unfortunately, there's been far less progress this week. Just a few more musical bits and pieces, a possible chord progression, and a wispy idea for another song.

Two weeks into NaSoAlMo, I have:
- New song idea
- Musical bits and pieces for 2 songs

- Full lyrics draft for 2.5 songs
- Theme snippet for 1 song
- Larger theme motif + piece layout for a trio
- General instrumentation/motifs for a duet

Tentative song titles:
- Mender of Dreams
- When I Grow Up
- Marimo
- The Path Less Taken
- I Hold Two Pineapples in My Octopus Arms

Saturday, November 16, 2013

[Outfit Post] Fancy Dress Tea



The Chicago Lolita community had a lovely winter tea at the Drake Hotel, with the theme being over-the-top decadence. I love fancy tea services, but unfortunately can't afford to go to them frequently. Thus I always look forward to our community teas and use them as an excuse to wear more elaborate outfits than I would on a daily basis. For this expression of decadence, I decided to make use of a lot of pearls and flowers in my accessories. I don't usually like overloading on accessories, and I was certainly among the more minimal outfits there in terms of prints and accessories, but this still felt very decadent for me personally. It was most excellent getting to see everyone in the community again, and admiring the awesome outfits everyone put together!






















OP: Baby the Stars Shine Bright
Belt: Yesstyle + Claire's
Hair florals: Papillon de Nuit, Chocomint, Innocent World
Socks: Innocent World
Shoes: Secret Shop
Purse: Taobao

Friday, November 15, 2013

[Lolita Blog Carnival] Book Inspired Coordinations



I adore and am obsessed with literature-inspired prints in Lolita fashion, so this theme is definitely right up my alley! I took this challenge to mean making outfits out of items that I have in my own wardrobe, rather than creating a collage with various Lolita items that I may not necessarily own. Of course that limits things a bit more, but I felt like it was actually a really inspiring exercise to go through and see what I could do with my existing wardrobe!

#1 ~ Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (and Through the Looking Glass) by Lewis Carroll

This book has been commonly associated with Lolita fashion for as long as I've been in it, to the point where some people seem to dislike it just because they think it's trite. That said, these two books have always been among my favorites. I adore the clever wordplays, and various other cute references to things like chess. Plus, who doesn't enjoy a crazy fantastical dream every now and then? I think for many, the mental visuals associated with Alice in Wonderland have been heavily influenced by the Disney animation, and I cannot claim to be any different. Thus, my outfit follows the color scheme of the Disney Alice, with a blue dress, white pinafore, and black shoes. However, I made it a bit more elaborate with a definitely Lolita headbow, and blue floral detailing on the socks. I realize my "pinafore" is actually just a JSK (this would probably not be the most comfortable to actually wear), and I really do wish I had an actual tablier, but since I don't, I made do with what I had.




OP: Baby the Stars Shine Bright
JSK: Taobao
Headbow: millenaire on LJ
Socks: Innocent World
Shoes: Secret Shop


#2 ~ The Red Shoes by Hans Christian Andersen

The first time I read this fairytale was actually in a Chinese compilation of tales for kids. I wouldn't say it's one of my favorite fairytales, but it definitely made a lasting impression. Really, how could it not with all the cutting off her feet and stuff... >_> I actually haven't thought about this story in quite a long time, until I was sitting in front of my closet trying to figure out book-related outfits. Then I saw my red Teaparty style shoes that I rarely wear because they're just so flashy, and remembered the story about wearing flashy red shoes in inappropriate settings. For those of you who haven't read this fairytale, you should (and it's short so it won't take long) because it's quite interesting. It's of course kind of dark, but then again it seems most fairytales of this genre/era are.




OP: Innocent World
Rose clip: Papillon de Nuit (handmade by me)
Socks: Innocent World
Shoes: Antaina


#3 ~ Harry Potter (and the ____) by J.K. Rowling

I just couldn't resist. I was a bit older than the target audience progression of these books, but I still devoured them as they came out and got really invested in the story and universe. There's just something very appealing about the idea of a world where people can do magic, but where magic itself can be both destructive and constructive and is in fact not a substitute for good old problem-solving, friendship, and determination. In many children's stories, magic almost seems to be used as some sort of cure-all or superhuman power, but I think what I liked was that all these wizards were actually all just as human as myself, just with a set of skills that didn't exist for me.

Reading the books, I always fancied myself a Ravenclaw, since I am extremely bookish, and love reading stuff, learning stuff, solving clever puzzles, etc. However, I always got sorted into Hufflepuff, no matter what quiz I took, and when I got sorted into Hufflepuff again on Pottermore, it sort of sparked a self-analysis that I won't go into here. The result was that I came to terms terms with why I might actually be more suited as a Hufflepuff, and that all these Sorting Hats were actually right. That said, I do still think I have many Ravenclaw qualities, and am satisfied to continue proudly wearing Ravenclaw colors XD




Skirt: Innocent World
Blouse: from Taiwan
Hairbow: Metamorphose Temps de Fille
Socks: Innocent World
Shoes: Secret Shop


So there we go! Three stories that intrigue and inspire me for very different reasons, and three outfits to match. And now I have three more costume ideas that already exist in my closet, that's three years' worth of not worrying about Halloween, right? ^~^

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


Make sure to check out all the other blogs in the carnival who participated in this topic!

~ Elegant Poupée | A Little Bit of This... a Little Bit of That Too | Sweet Indeed | New Vogue Children | Lolita Cor-de-Rosa | F Yeah Lolita | Under the Parasol | Daily Fuckery | Snow Rose | Alice in Lolitaland | Spider Sugar | The Bloody Tea Party | Doll Life ~

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Copic Practice with Lolis



I've played around with ink drawing pens and Copic markers for awhile now, but for the longest time only owned 3 Copics (3 shades of purple). About half a year ago, I finally decided to take the dive and accumulate a much larger set of Copic markers, and boy am I in love!! It's taken awhile to get the hang of coloring with them, and I'm still trying to figure out the best way for me to get colors to blend and to avoid brushstrokes being left behind when I color in large expanses. However, I'm having a lot of fun experimenting with them ^_^

My earliest attempts were in sketching and coloring in various simple Lolita-inspired figures. They're nothing complicated, mostly just filled-in stick-people wearing dresses and things on their heads. They're fun for me to draw though, and I was pretty pleased with the progression of coloring that I saw even just over the first three reasonably decent ones! Hopefully as I color more, I'll get better at not having weird colorblobs and bleeding issues.





Monday, November 11, 2013

[NaSoAlMo 2013] Week 1 Progress



One week into NaSoAlMo, I have:
- Full lyrics draft for 2.5 songs
- Theme snippet for 1 song
- Larger theme motif + piece layout for a trio
- General instrumentation/motifs for a duet

I have no idea if this is much or little progress, but it's something, and it's way more than I've ever gotten in previous "attempts" at NaSoAlMo, so I'll try to be satisfied and just keep pushing on ^_^

Here's to hoping the next week sees more musical progress, as fun as it is to write poetry/lyrics, haha.

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Friday, November 1, 2013

[NaSoAlMo 2013] National Solo Album Month

As many of you may already know, November is National Novel Writing Month, more fondly known as "NaNoWriMo" during which people attempt to write a novel. In one month. As intriguing as the idea was, I've never actually participated in that, nor felt particularly compelled to, because I enjoy writing short stories once in a while, but I don't like writing *THAT* much.

I was very interested, however, to find out from my roommate a few years ago about something called National Solo Album Month, which is basically a musical adaptation of NaNoWriMo. The idea is to produce a 35-minute solo album in the span of one month (November). You're not allowed to start writing music/lyrics until November 1, and everything must be done by the end of November 30. What actually goes into this album is up to the composer (so, I *could* just... record myself improvising for 35 minutes straight if I really wanted to...).

I've toyed with the idea of participating every year, but never actually signed up for it, or put much real effort into it (I think I composed maybe two thematic motifs last year and then ran out of time/motivation to really continue with it). But I've decided, THIS YEAR, will be the year that I put real effort into completing NaSoAlMo, not with the intention of outputting anything actually good, but just to force myself to really get back into music writing. Besides, I have more free time now than I've ever had at any previous point in my life, right?

So here's to my first real NaSoAlMo attempt (yes, I even actually 'registered' with them, and am listed on their website as participating)!! Hopefully I'll have some actual positive updates every week, or twice a week, or something (probably not every day... that would get boring), and maybe even a whole 35-minute album by the end of November!