Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Double Rose Pearl Brooch

Old craft is old, but unfortunately, I don't have enough free time to catch up with editing all my crafts photos T_T

For her Christmas present, I made Oli, my Lolita mentor, a set of rose brooches/hairclips. It was designed a little bit after some of the headpieces made by Victorian Maiden (roses with trailing pearls, etc) but I wanted it to be versatile, so that it could be worn in many ways, with the roses connected and without. I'm super-happy that they turned out well, and that they fit in so perfectly with Oli's wardrobe <3

Anyways, onwards to my photos/explanation of the brooch set!


Sitting innocuously on my bed... this is with the pearl chain attaching the two roses.


And this is with the unchained rose separated from the one where the chain originates.

To get a better idea of what I'm talking about with the chains and whatever, here's a shot of the back of the "main" rose (ie, the one that the chain is attached to).


One end of the pearl chain is permanently attached to the main rose. The other end has a small lobster claw on it, so you could really hook it wherever strikes your fancy. The chain itself consists of two differently-lengthed strands to create a more interesting look when it's fully draped out.

Some arrangement suggestions for dealing with the chain and roses... (and I'm sure Oli's gotten even more creative with them, she's awesome at this sort of thing)!

Single Rose, Short Loop:




Single Rose, Long Loop:




Two Roses, Clustered:


Two Roses, Spread:


I was pretty pleased myself with how they turned out! I was worried they'd stick up too much from the brooch/clip back, because I couldn't trim the stems on the flowers as close as I wanted. Fortunately, that actually worked out well, in that I could build up a couple layers of craft foam to strengthen the attachment point for the brooch/clip back.

Also... Michael's does not sell stemless/millinery flowers... I had to buy an entire flower and clip off the blossom myself. Good thing I bought that pair of diagonal cutters for cutting cable ties... >_>;;

To finish it off... an artistic view of the pearl chain (which I made by hand, by the way... man that took a really long time, but now I'm awesome at making wire loops...).


<3

Thursday, April 14, 2011

[Outfit Post] KERA Inspiration + Fashion Musings

Over the past couple of months, I've spent a not-insignificant amount of time musing about various fashion leanings that I have, or that suddenly pop up in my mind.  While I love the sweet-classic Lolita style with all my heart, it's really just not practical to go full out in everyday life.  I've compromised by wearing skirts pretty casually, but I still feel like a lot of times, my outfits just look thrown together and not polished, no matter how much I try.  Sometimes I think I might even make it worse when I try.

Together with that, I've recently discovered a certain affinity for some of the younger/cuter gyaru styles in magazines like Popteen (which I love, by the way).  I've considered trying to combine some of that with my love for Lolita, but the color schemes and the style mixing just doesn't work out... I'm not good enough to figure it out.

However, I've recently started reading KERA again, and in particular found the most recent issue quite inspirational.  I think that while I love Lolita when I'm doing full-on Lolita, for a more everyday style, something like the girlier/Lolita-ier coordinates in KERA would work much better for me.  More comfortable, less time-consuming to put on and deal with in restrooms, and just more versatile with more possible combinations of the same pieces in general.  Also, I've discovered that given the width-to-length ratio of my legs, I really do look better with skirts that are knee-length, or preferably even higher >_>;;

So... time to re-evaluate my daily style, I guess, is what I'm saying.  I'll still wear lots of Lolita, but I think it's high time I start trying to develop a better sense of how to wear it casually without looking kind of sloppy/boring.

But, enough verbal musings...  Some of the pictures in the May KERA featured bright colors with polkadots, which inspired this (very non-Lolita) coordinate.  I'm going out for karaoke for a friend's birthday, and she requested that I wear my pink Amu cosplay wig, so I wanted a poppy outfit that would match decently with it, without looking stupid while at school XD

 Cardigan: Target
Shirt: Hangry & Angry
Shoes: Secret Shop

I actually feel happy with this particular outfit, and I'm hoping I'll still be satisfied once it comes time to put the wig with it XD  In any case, I'll be dancing around and attempting (very badly) to sing Arashi songs while being unable to read the lyrics >_>;;

Monday, April 4, 2011

More Jpop!!!

Because sadly, my life isn't all that exciting during school terms...

BUT getting more CDs of my favorite bands always makes for at least a little bit of excitement, right?


So firstly, I got two more Arashi singles (regular editions this time... eh, monies...): "Dear Snow" and "Hatenai Sora", both of which I really love.  They're both excellent songs melodically and lyric-wise, but I especially enjoy "Dear Snow" because my lovely Nino-kun really gets to shine in it (along with ever-amazing Riida-san).  (*o*)/



And I also got the newest single from No Sleeves (no3b) "Answer".  I got the Miichan version, partly because she's my oshimen, but also because I wanted the nice clean instrumental for "Gyakuten Oujisama" rather than the crappy home-made one that I have currently XD


Yay Jpop!!  Too bad I wasn't fast enough to get the 1st Press for "Answer", so no member trading card or poster for me T_T

Saturday, April 2, 2011

[Outfit Post] Spring Break

As previously mentioned (I think), I went to Boston for 4 days over spring break =3  And of course, I brought my little Lolita heart with me, but also didn't want to get too fussy or complicated in my packing, so I ended up wearing some casual Lolita-inspired outfits during the trip.

Firstly, for the airplane ride (both there and back), I stuck to a t-shirt under a JSK with a bolero, since this layering system made it easier for me to stay the right temperature between outdoors, airport, and airplane.

JSK: Bodyline
Beret: Handmade (by me!) with Metamorphose bow
Else: Offbrand

I brought only two skirts and two sweatshirt/cardigans, with different shirts to mix and match with them for the four days I was actually in Boston.

Skirt: Metamorphose
Else: Offbrand

Skirt: Rose Melody
Else: Offbrand

Skirt: Metamorphose
Else: Offbrand

Skirt: Rose Melody
Else: Offbrand

And of course, the only place where there was a tall enough mirror happened to be elevated such that I had to stand on the bed to even see myself fully in the mirror T_T Oh well, so it goes :-P  Also, on the way there, the stewardess told me that I looked "like a little doll."  ^o^

Friday, April 1, 2011

Ai-chan With Pink Hair?!

I've tossed around the idea of dyeing my hair for the past couple of months now, with one possibility being the Champagne Pink color from the Freshlight Blythe series.  However, I'm still too chicken to really take the plunge, plus I might actually want my hair to still be black if I do end up doing my Mio cosplay for ACEN.

That said, my favorite female J-pop idol apparently just had pink tip gradations put into her hair ^o^  This makes me consider the pink again... ^o^

*ponder ponder*  I think something like the gradation she has would definitely be less daunting than going for ALL PINK, but I think I'd have to change the rest of my hair color anyways so it's not OMG BLACK followed by OMG PINK...