Thursday 31 December 2015

Lolita New Year's resolutions

1. No more "same-y" items. What do I mean? Well, when I was looking for a dress to buy, I realized I had three stained glass prints on my list. ... I already have a stained glass print. I actually have lots of black dresses and skirts with cool prints, so I'll be looking for more gray, brown, beige and ivory.
2. I'm only allowing myself to buy one  black blouse. I have some, but I love having more because black is the color I use the most, but since I do have them, I could be buying something more useful. So only one.
3. Only 1 pair of shoes, because I have a bunch of those as well.
4. More accessories! In different colors too.
5. Better quality wigs (from GLW and Lockshop)
6. Buy one, make one! I have a bunch of fabric left unused, so for every dress and skirt I buy, I have to make one before I buy another. Hopefully this will slow the buying process down.

Here's a video if you want to see it ~ 

Monday 28 December 2015

Alice Cooper and Mätley Crüe

I saw Alice Cooper! Live! And Mötley Crüe which was also awesome but ALICE COOPER! <3


I keep tickets. Yes, even parking tickets. You should see my collection, I have all movie + theatre + convention + you name it. Anyway, the warm up band was Canadian Saint Asonia, and they were okay. It's a new band so I had never heard of them before but they seemed good, and really nice. (Add a Canadian stereotype joke here about how nice everyone is. They really were metal sweet hearts.) 



And then Alice Cooper! I've been a fan since I was a little girl (since my parents listened to him) and it was a dream come true to see him live. 



Our seats were in the second floor and technically  in the second row, but the dudes in front of us went down to the mosh pit so we sat in their seats. Even though we were up high we were right next to the stage so we saw really well down there! Plus the big close up thingy in the ceiling was close too. The photos are bad, I know. Phone quality. 



Alice Cooper was legendary. I mean, he's no youngster but he ran up and down the stage, changed costume at least four times and kept throwing things to the audience. He put together a real show with the actresses and band mates! There was a giant, zombie nurses, his snake (<3) and a big guillotine with which he was beheaded. Wow. He was the reason I went to the concert and it was worth every penny. He played some of my favourites, big hits (like Poison) and my personal favourite, Feed my Frankenstein. <3



After him was Mötley Crüe, and they were awesome too. They had their drum-rollercoaster (which was epic), lovely dancer ladies and pyrotechnics. 



They opened awesomely with Girls, girls girls and ended with Kickstart my heart :D (And were called back and sung a ballad). Sadly they were not as cool as Alice (at least in my mind) but veru entertaining none the less. I was happy that Cooper played first, I was happy for the rest of the concert ^^

Tuesday 15 December 2015

Short hair woo

My hair grows really fast. I mean my hair is super light blond and since I like to dye it black or in-your-face-bright, it grows annoyingly fast (roots that look like bald patches, yay!). See this awful selfie that I took as proof that I wore a life jacket while on water? That was summer 2012. A bit over three years ago.


Aand here is yesterday. It's grown quite fast. Excuse the lovely quality, I realized after midnight that I had a appointment the next day and wanted a quick photo to remember how long it was. It takes so long to dry that I always wash my hair in the evening, not morning, so it has the natural curls that make nasty knots when it dries. I wanted a white shirt to show the darkish hair, but aside from lolita blouses, I had none xD So blue it was!


No more knots here! *maniacal laughter*  Not but seriously tho I love it short. Soo much easier to manage and it dries quickly. Plus I can make nice punk rock thingies with this!





Here's Oliver, no more a kitty but still adorable <3

Saturday 12 December 2015

Dollhouse meet

Hi. Long time no lolita? I've been way too busy for my liking, but still managed to arrange one more meet-up for this year. Why? We have a new lady in our comm! I was super exited since the theme was first tea and then we went to a dollhouse exhibit (how much more lolita can you get come on) and most of us were supposed to attend. However two ladies had to cancel :/ Some day we will have a meet with everyone!

Anyway, we started by heading to Cafe Monarch. I had made a table reservation for seven people, but when we went there, we were given a four person table (we were ten minutes early and I thought we just had to wait) but in the end, we just stayed at that table. The waiter (who was very nice) didn't seem to understand I had a reservation even though I told so? And since one of us is vegan I had inquired beforehand of vegan options, and I was told there were several.However the menu had none? And when she ask about it, the (still very nice) waiter suggested omelet ^^' We did manage to get food and drinks which were delicious, but then the cafe closed early? I had a reservation for 90min and just before an hour had passed, the (still, very nice) waiter told us they will close in five minutes o__O So the overall experience was kinda "whaa..?" so I don't think I'll be going there again...


After eating we headed to the dollhouse exhibit, and it was so pretty! The lobby looked pretty too ~ 


I didn't want to lug my big camera with me and my phone is useless, so I thank my lovely ladies for these photos <3 The amount of details was stunning! There were older and newer dollhouses, enjoy ~









And here's our squad! Photo taken at the exhibit lobby.


Can I just say that I love that it's time for jackets and coats? I love jackets and coats in lolita and ouji, and have thus gathered a small collection of them :D Here's the one I wore today, photo taken before I left the house (since I knew it would be pitch black by the time I got home, since winter). I did change my shoes at the last minute for a bit more classic style.


There was also some modern art at the museum :)  Let's end in a silly note? I'm still suuuper awkward when posing so I sometimes do silly things. Here's one.


I hope to see again next year and resume monthly meets, and one day have a meetup with everyone present! <3

Sunday 29 November 2015

Xmas cards

Hi. Random post here. I've been really into card crafts, so I naturally had to make Christmas card as well. Last time I made Xmas ones was when I still lived with my parents, and I haven't made them since because I didn't want to buy the base stock (since the first time you have to buy a lot of things, the following years you just need a bit of new things). However I've bought some cat themed and other cute ones + steampunk-y and black & white ones. So since I had some base things, I thought "what the hell, let's do it" and spent about 60€ on it x'D 



Most things I didn't use all of, so next year I don't have to buy anything unless I want some new things. Plus some of the things I bought can be used for other than Xmas things as well. I made around fifty cards, and used most of them. The ones I won't send or give will be saved for next year as samples.



Here are just a couple. I love 3D thingies, and my favourite ones are the white pine cone one, blue one with the snow flakes and bird and the black cards. I love how now cards can be black and not be angsty or funeral. The top left corner eco color one has cool stamps and it looks pretty IRL but looks really boring here ^^' 



That's about it. I have made all cards, they're ready to ship. I've also wrapped all gifts already as well, I only have two items to buy and two things to  make and I'm set! I have to be early because I'll be swamped at work + I love Christmas so I'm hyping myself with preparing everything. Can't wait ~

Tuesday 24 November 2015

No videos in December

Like the title says, I won't have time to do videos in December (since I work at a book store = retail, I'll want to spend my free moments with my partner and kitty). That said, there will be a meet up in December, so I'll post photos of that :) 

I made a video about this and ramble a bit about what Christmas here in Finland is like. I sound awful because I was sick and lost my voice, and it still hasn't quite returned -.-'

Videos will continue in January, and I'll make these:
- Lolita themed New Year Resolutions
- Wardrobe post
- A tutorial for the tiered A-line skirt.

Wednesday 18 November 2015

Knight’s Night Skirt

This skirt took a month to get to me. A month. I got it from Lacemarket, and the seller sent it right away but the post office here is abysmal, at least in my town (long political story). So after a week I started to wait the skirt "any day now", and when it didn't come, I was getting kinda pissed. But, alas, it is here, and I love it <3 Here's a video.


The brand name is Knight's Night, they're from TaoBao and I don't think they name their prints? At least I couldn't find them. The print has this sort of grave look with swords and shield on it, and the base blue fabric has awesome print on it as well.


The buttons have emblems and it's a really nice touch! The skirt is absolutely full of details and very high quality lace. The back shirring gives nicely, but since the skirt is a bit big, I use the lacing to take it in just a tiny bit. 



The skirt is XL so I had to lace it in the back, but once I did that, it hugs me nicely. Plus the skirt is long enough to cover my knees! So it's a perfect fit <3 It's also fully lined, which is nice.



I've been looking for blue items to add to my wardrobe. I would love to have blue + pure white, but this skirt is more ivory / light beige. So my hunt for blue/white continues, but I think I'll wear this piece a lot. I made a bit more classic coord today, but I think I can make awesome gothic outfits with this as well.

Tuesday 17 November 2015

Hnnng

Okay I just wanted to rant. I watch a lot of lets's plays on Youtube (as well as a ton of ther gaming content like podcasts and news and stuff) and Dodger recently started playing Brilliant Shadows. It seemed really interesting and I would have made some different choises than what Dodger was making (I only watched her play two episodes), and since the game was only about 7€ on Steam, I bought it. And played it. And finished it. I got ending two, and damn! More! Now!



If you enjoy visual novels with choices and a ton of magic, try this one out. Seriously. PS The (English, no Japanese here) voice acting is superb. And I'll have to get the soundtrack.

Thursday 12 November 2015

About lolita trends

This week's video is another of the Lolita 52 Challenge, and this time I picked trend themed questions. I wore boystyle since I couldn't access my petticoats... Also this is a new wig, I got it for ouji. Now I have a brown, black and grey short wigs! My collection grows :D



Disclaimer: I don't really "follow" lolita trends (and never have), so I'm working with what I know since I didn't have time to do a trend research :) I rant more in the video, but here's the short answers ~

18. Trends I thought I would never get into, but now I love
- Wigs
- JSK's

19. Trends I thought I loved, but now I'm not too keen on
- Music note prints
- Renaissance themed prints (especially ones with big faces)

(Rant about trends I don't think I'll ever get into: sceptres and sashes)

11. Three trends I wish would come back
- Minihats!
- Fat soles shoes
- (I didn't come up with a third one...)

37. Something that's not my style, but I love anyways
- OP's
- Shiro / all-white lolita

51. Predict the next lolita trend!
- Weirder hair accessories (or accessories in general)
- Shorter hems, nontraditional cuts and materials 
- Eventual return from OTT to toned down / more natural lolita styles

So if you watched the video, you saw the random background and heard the noise. The window dudes were frolicking upstairs... It was a bit odd way to film, but I didn't want to skip two weeks in a row. :/



I'll finish the skirt tutorial when I can, but as you can see, my sewing table... kinda had a couch on it ^^' The windows are now changed and big furniture moved back to their places, but with heavy work hours, I still haven't moved all small things (clothes, books etc) back because I want to organize them well...

Tuesday 10 November 2015

Father's Day

At least this time I have a lolita outfit snap xD So it was Father's Day here, and of course I went to see my Dad. I wore a toned down lolita coord since the day was not about me, so I wore my natural hair in an updo instead of a wig, had minimal poof and minimal accessories and no crazy tights or socks :D The ankle socks have pretty lace but of course you can't see it. I wanted to try to coord my kitty dress with blue, and I think it looks OK.

Btw my room looks a WHOLE lot different now, the closets you see here are in the middle of the room now so the window dudes could actually access the window. It's a mess.



I made Dad a raspberry short cake (since he loves raspberries) since I love to bake and every opportunity I get, I make cakes xD The cake looks tiny but that's because the raspberries on top were HUGE. Mmm fresh berries.



I also got him a book (obv) and made a card. I've really started to like making cards and I have hoarded  a big box full of supplies already :P The flip sides are more interesting but had names. One is for my Dad and the other to my partner's Dad - who also got a book. 



I love giving books, but of course if the recipient doesn't like books or doesn't read that much, I wouldn't give one. Mine and his relatives all read a bunch though, and since hard cover books are a bit expensive here + I get to order / hunt down rarer ones, they are appreciated ^^ Yeah book worm families.

As a side note, now that I cut my nails a while back, I've played a ton of games on my PC. Even though my usually really long nails don't cause any problems in my life, PC gaming (with keyboard & mouse, controller is fine) is a bit hard. Typing is fine, but WASD is a bit innaccurate, so I usually favour controllers. But now that they're short, I've played a ton of things on my Steam, mostly I've added hours to Terraria. I created a new world and have put over sixty hours in. They've added so much since the last time I played! I'm saving dating sims and visual novels for when my nails are super long again. And did you follow what happened at Blizzcon? Awesomeness :D Just check the Warcraft trailer. Wow. (no pun intended) 



Anyway, I'll make proper lolita posts and finish my skirt tutorial once things return to normal ~

Sunday 8 November 2015

Cat and games

Hi. There was no vieo last week and probably won't be this week either. Why? The building we live in is changing all the windows, and they're coming here too. So. They kinda need to access the windows. So... I have to empty my wardrobes, both inside and the top, move them, empty my fillable couch, move that, and try to fit my sewing table to the corner - in my room. Kitchen table has to go, the extra freezer has to go - and thus be emptied, computer table emptied and moved, TV & console stand emptied and moved, balcony emptied... And more. Where we'll move all this stuff, heavens only know. We've started and there is SO MUCH. AGH.

Anyway, I had some friends over a while back. We ate yummy food, drank lots tea, played different board games, petted the kitty and I had them draw for me x3 It was a lot of fun! I love board games, but quite rarely get to play them. Also behold our kitty Oliver, he's grown so much! <3


Trivial Pursuit Disney. I don't why my phone decided to fuck these photos up this bad...


Star Wars, Naboon valloitus


Carcassonne. I love this one.

We played other too and kitty behaved rather nicely, didn't try to reap havoc to the table or anything: just small chasing of dice. He's such a well mannered boy until he gets an energy spurt.

He met my sister's dog today, and though he was a bit apprehensive at first, he went to sniff the doggy and was really well behaved again. And after the dog left, he started playing and purring pretty much immediately, so I don't think he was too stressed. Here he is all puffed up, I felt bad for him to be scared but my god that tail..! It's ~ so ~ fluffy!


Lolita will come soon too...

Tuesday 27 October 2015

Close-up

Some time ago I found a channel called Lolita Details, but sadly they haven't made a new video in almost a year. So I thought that "Hey, I have brand too, maybe I could do that?" and so I did :D I didn't want to steal their name and views, so I'm calling these close-ups. First is my Alice and the Pirates dress Teufel von Hameln. I really love how I can dress it up or down, gothic or classic, dark or light: the print has so many colors to work with!


I did learn a lesson from this dress: I don't like such a high waisted cut, nor do I like front lacing: I don't have really bog boobs but they're still a bit bog for this dress, as the front lacing will open a bit... So I usually wear a blouse with tied bow at the collar to cover it up ;) For the video I wore the same coord I had on our garden meet a while ago, because I really like it :D I usually prefer dark colour and gothic coords, but this shows how I can coord this a bit lighter as well. 

Monday 26 October 2015

Anime merch

I realized that I never showed you what I got from Animecon. Though I got just two things. Why? Well, I've always known that the items there have a lot of added cost to them (vendors travelling expense, table cost etc) but only now that I've bought a bunch of anime related stuff from the internet, I've really realized how big the price difference is: something can be 5€ on ebay and 25€ at cons. So with that in mind, I told myself that I could get small souvenirs, but nothing expensive as I could get it a lot cheaper if it's something I really would want.



So, my first purchase was this mug. My reasoning? Mugs can easily break when they have to travel half way across the globe to get to me. This was about 10€, I can't remember anymore. And why DBZ? Because we both love it, it was a good thing to buy for both of us to use. There were lots of cool ones (and I almost bought a Hobbit one too) but I decided on this one.



Second thing was this Kuroshitsuji poster. My reasoning? 'Cos I wanted it :D Now when it comes to Kuro merch, usually they have a lady Ciel, only Sebastian or lovey-dovey blushing Ciel with or without Sebastian. And since I heavily do NOT ship it, I can't stand those posters / you name it, and this kind of cool Ciel pose is rarer and harder to find. Not impossible, but rare enough that I bought it when I saw it. And why it's hanging in front of my window? ... I kinda didn't realize how big it actually was, and I didn't have the wall space for it x( So it hangs there! 

Anyway, I ordered some new animu things and will wait for their arrival and maybe show them at some point ^^'

Tuesday 20 October 2015

Cat dress!

I have a cat dress! And it a gothic one! I mean usually even if a cat print has a black or dark colorway, it always has some pink in it (like Aristo Kitty). But not this one :D It's from Honey Honey, I got it second hand from Lacemarket for $120 or 113€. I absolutely love the print, and the dress fits really well and is the perfect length <3 Here's a video



I love the subtle foresty print on the bodice, it gives the fabric a nice looking texture without being simply black, but it's not too overpowering either. Kinda like the diamonds on my Cel dress.


The straps are quite narrow and have tiny lace on them. I really like the quality of the dress, the lacing loop lace (?) had pretty flowers on it. The lacing ribbon is really basic, but I'm thinking about chancing it to a subtle golden one, since the frames on the print look kinda golden.


And the cats! They are absolutely adorable! I love the little hats and how they pose all seriously and have such detail ^^ 


And here the dress is worn (yes those are wool socks, it's cold in here okay). It covers my knees like I  want it to, the bodice isn't too short and I actually used the back lacing to take the dress in a bit instead of stretching the shirring. I really love the dress <3

Now that I have a glass window print and a cat print, I only have to make the chocolate fabric into a dress and I will have my holy trinity of dream prints!

(And maybe someday a book print?)