The Most Productive Week Ever - Making Lolita Clothing and Accessories

I had an interesting weekend and I was not really excited to start the work week so I decided to do a 180 and make myself super excited about it. I am doing a challenge of sorts I guess. This week I am going to make as much as I can. Jewelry, accessories, clothing, and whatever else I can think of. I spent today making jewelry that I love. Pretty pearl bracelets and a new necklace. I also made my first resin charm. I have to wait 2 or 3 days for it to dry completely but I can't wait to see it when it is ready. I hope it comes out well. I believe I will works my buns off this week and post the pictures of everything on this coming Monday. I will still do blog posts because they are part of being productive. I am excited to see how much I can make.

Lolita Spotted on a Non Lolita Blog

I spotted a nice little surprise in my daily blog reading. A little bit of Lolita where I don't really expect it. I read the blog 1000 Things About Japan, which is a fun read. It is written by an American woman who has lived in Japan since 1989. Every other day she writes about a thing she will or will not miss when she leaves. I am not even sure how I found her blog but now it is a regular read. I really like it.

Yesterday, her post was titled Won't Miss #420 - talking to people in masks. Here is a blurb .....

I think it's quaint and somewhat endearing that you see Japanese people running around wearing surgical masks. It speaks to a certain meticulousness, paranoia, and, yes, even consideration for others. It's also the only way people ever seem capable of covering their mouths when they cough and sneeze. On the flip side though, there is an issue when they keep wearing them even when they are indoors and in a conversation with other people........ It's harder to read expressions and feels like I'm having a convivial conversation with a bank robber.

And here is the photo that was attatched to it. Do you notice a cute little Baby The Stars Shine Bright bag? She isn't dresses in Lolita but I have a feeling she has a cute little goody in her bag. Perhaps a necklace or a pair of new socks. New socks are so much fun. It is cool to see things like this. Lolita in the wild. I never see anything Lolita where I live so spotting it on the internet is cool. I highly recommend you hop on over to her blog and give it a read. She always has an interesting view and point to share.

 

What I Got For My Birthday

This past weekend I celebrated my birthday. I had a nice quite time with my husband, friends, and family. On Saturday we went to Moe's Southwest Grill and got yummy food. If you sign up for their newsletter they send you a coupon for a free meal on your b-day. I got a tofu bowl with extra black olives. So good. After that we went and browsed Target and Good Will. I picked up some chap stick at Target and a couple new blouses at the 2nd hand store.

My husband gave me my presents at 12:30 in the morning because I get too excited and don't want to wait. We do the same thing on Christmas. Why not? We are adults and can exchange or give presents whenever we want. It is nice. I think he read my blog post on what I wanted for my big day because he gave me quite a few things that I asked for. He is such a sweet man. He got me a $50 credit for Amazon because he knew I wanted books but didn't know which ones.  In addition to reading he got me 2 Monster High dolls. He got me the Skull Shores Ghoulia Yelps and the new Operetta doll. They are great. Ghoulia is my favorite out of all the Monster High characters. The last and best gift he got me has yet to arrive. He is buying me the one year subscription to My Glam. Yea! All of the subscriptions are sold out and have been for a bit. But, once they are available again one of them is mine. It will be exciting when those packages start showing up in the mail.

Dinner was spent with my in laws for a nice quiet time. My father in law did some grilling and made way too much. Chicken, pork chops, hot dogs, and hamburgers were yummy. They also got me a sunny birthday cake with pretty frosting flowers on it. I had a small piece. Sunday was dinner with my parents and my mother made a Thanksgiving style dinner. She made lemon squares for dessert because they are one of my favorites.

All in all it was a nice low key birthday. I like low key. I made my wish when I blew out my candles and I hope it comes true. It will come true, I will make it happen. I can't tell you what it is though. you know that.

Monster High Treasury on Etsy

 click to view page

Making Treasurys on Etsy are a bit addicting because the more I make, the more I want to make them. Instead of making another one that is Lolita inspired I decided to make a Monster High one. I really like Monster High. Since I don't have the money for ball jointed bolls like Super Dollfie I will buy something a few steps down. They are pretty cool dolls. Perhaps I will in the future do a post on my dolls but for this post it is about the treasury. Enjoy!

How To Save Money: Save a Little Automatically

 photo from Tokyo Rebel

Saving money is not always easy. It is pretty darn hard sometimes. A nice easy way to save money on a regular basis is to automatically tuck a small amount away every time you get money. Whether it be a paycheck, allowance, birthday money, or anything tuck some away. A good example is direct deposit for your paycheck. For quite some time I had my paycheck automatically deposited in my bank account so this means that I don't have cash in my hands at any time. People tend to spend when they see cash in their wallet. In addition to never having cash in my hand I also had $15 per week automatically deposited into my savings account. It is so easy because it is no effort. 

If you are younger you can do this with your parents and your allowance. Just ask them to tuck a certain amount away every week. I am sure that they would be more than happy to do this for you and probably proud of your saving ways. You will be surprised how quickly your saving will add up when it is automatic and you don't have to think about it.

It is also awesome to think about the future and how much money you will have saved in a certain amount of time. For example, if I save $15 per week for 6 months I will have $360! That is a brand spankin' new brand dress. Nice. You will not even know that the $15 a week is missing but you will notice a nice new dress in your closet in 6 months.

Blue and Purple Lolita Wallpaper

click for larger size

It has been a little while since I have made a Lolita wallpaper so I spent a little time this morning and came up with dark and lovely one. I was able to use scans of the latest Gothic and Lolita Bible. The latest issue had so many lovely dark and gothic dresses. I know spring is coming quickly but why not use a dark wallpaper for the time being. I am using it now and I rather like it.

PAX East 2012 Outfits

It is almost that time of year again, the Penny Arcade East 2012 convention. This year it is on Easter weekend April 6th-8th. I really look forward to PAX East because it is the only con that I go to and it is nice to have a weekend of fun in a new city. Seeing all the video games, buying geeky stuff, playing new board games, and being around cool and nice people is too much fun.

Since I so look forward to a fun weekend I like to make outfits to make it even more fun. A cosplay and a Lolita outfit. Last year I made a female Ezio Assassins Creed outfit and a Mario themed Lolita dress. The Ezio cosplay was well received and I really loved it. I worked very hard on it with many long hours and took pride in showing it off. This year I am going to be doing the same combination. A cosplay and a Lolita dress. After long deliberation and hemming and hawing I have made my decisions.

 Gordon Freeman from Half Life 2 and Minecraft. I will be making a Half Life 2 cosplay and a Minecraft Lolita dress. Both are well known amongst the video game community and popular. I think people will really like them. I have 2 months to make both of them so I have to make sure I start now and keep on track. Last year I waited till the last minute and I ended up working till 3 in the morning for 2 weeks straight. I don't want to do that again. 

I have been sketching up a storm and designing both outfits. I have come up with my designs and I am happy with them. I will being doing posts in the future about these outfits and how they are coming along. I can't wait for them to start coming around and see them coming together.

Lolita on the Poster for Are All Men Pedophiles? Movie

I don't write serious posts very often because I want my blog to be a happy place and I prefer to write about light hearted subjects but sometimes you have to address certain issues. Last night I was checking my blog roll and I spotted a movie poster with a Lolita on it and I got excited. I thought we were getting anther Lolita documentary and I think, "The more, the merrier". Once I started reading the post I started getting a little concerned. The movie, Are All Men Pedophiles?, features a Lolita dresses in Angelic Pretty on the movie poster. 

My first thought when I saw and now see this is just, "Oh dear." Lolita fashion is already misunderstood by most people. I can't even tell you how many times I have been asked if I am in a play, wearing a costume, or just asked what am I wearing and why am I wearing it while they have confused and strange look on their face. If this movie and its poster gets picked up and gains popularity like the Super-size Me movie I will be really concerned for Lolita fashion. We don't need people automatically linking Lolita fashion with pedophilia. 

 Since  yesterday people have been talking up a storm about it and about their opinions of it. There have been a few posts on egl and several posts on Lolita blogs. I highly recommend taking a look at what other people have been saying about the issue.  An e-mail was sent to people involved with making the movie letting them know about Lolita fashion and how it has nothing to do with men, pedophilia, sex, or anything remotely to do with them and this was their response.

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"The documentary does not offend Lolita nor does it compare it to pedophilia. Wild assumptions about what pedophilia is or isn't is why the documentary was made in the first place.

The reason why we choose Lolita is because in the film we do a section about Japanese culture.

If you are in New York in march we can gladly invite you to the World Premiere on the 3rd of March."

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I see a few flaws with this statement. One, the Lolita community is not upset about the movie (it isn't even out for viewing yet) we are upset with the above poster. If this movie does indeed talk about Japanese fashion that is fine, and that is actually great if they know their stuff and speak of it correctly. We just want to protect our fashion from being misunderstood and mislabeled.

The other problem I have with their response is the invitation to the premiere. I feel they are saying it to be positive and have good PR but who wants to go to a movie dressed like the girl on the poster of a pedophilia movie. Not many. 

You might notice that on many of their pages they have an alternate poster featuring a young woman's face. I like this poster and think it might accurately represent the movie better. Since it sounds like Lolita and Japanese fashion is just a part of the movie it might not be the best choice for the movie poster. I don't want them to do anything crazy like not showing the movie (I am sure they worked very hard on and they deserve to show it) I just would like to see the Lolita poster done away with. Use the other one. Everyone is happy. I think. I am not claiming to know what is best or how to fix this "problem", I just feel a certain way I wanted to let it be known. 

So I say read, watch, and inform yourself on the issue and form your own opinion. If you feel the need to let the makers of the movie know that you are displeased with the poster with the Lolita on the cover you can go HERE and sign a petition. It has gained thousands of signatures over a short amount of time and it might get the message heard.

What I Would Like For My Birthday!

Much like Christmas, your birthday is a day when you are going to gt some gifts and presents. And much like Christmas, you get to dream about the goodies that you would like to receive. I don't make a big deal about my birthday because I don't want people to really go out of their way and I don't want to inconvenience them. But that doesn't mean that I can't dream about getting awesome stuff. So here is what I would like to receive on Feb. 18th. 

A gift certificate to Tokyo Rebel in NYC would be amazing. I have only been their once and I didn't get to spend as much time or money as I would have liked. I scooped up a pair of wrist cuffs and a pair of socks which I love and wear on special occasions. I only got to wander and look around for 20 minutes and I would love to have an hour to really look around and try a couple things on. They have really nice parasols which I would use on a regular basis. 

Just like I wanted a subscription to My Glam for Christmas I would like one for my birthday as well. They send you make up and a bag every  month. What is not to like about that? It is the gift that keeps on giving. It is like cheese of the month club but with make up.

Books. Nice and simple. I love to read. I don't think a day goes by where I don't crack open a book and read. Nora Roberts, Dean Koontz, and Patrick Rothfuss are amongst my favorite authors. A gift card to Barnes and Nobel or Amazon would be great. I know my book shelf is over flowing but I always want more. You can never have too many books.

I don't think I have ever purchased anything from QutieLand but that is not because I have not want to. They have lots of really cute things and I love spending time on their site just browsing and imagining having everything. The things in particular that I am wanting at the bags and boots. I have a weakness for boots and a nice bag. I am a girl, how could I not?

I don't expect to get any of these things. This is just my dream list. If I had the money I would buy these things for myself for my birthday. I don't want people spending this much money on me. One thing I do want to happen on my birthday is to go to Moe's for lunch. You get a free meal on your birthday so I am going to get a Tofu Bowl with extra black olives. Yum!

Amazing Make Up Haul From Rite Aid

As I wrote yesterday in my post, I stopped off at my local Rite Aid that is moving. Since they are merging with another store close by they are selling their stock at 75% off. Amazing, I know! I was able to grab some make up and a few misc. items when everything was 50% off a couple weeks ago. But yesterday I did really well.

The store was baron. The whole make up section which was 3 aisles was condensed down to a small wall but it was packed with great stuff. Make up, nail polish, perfume, and other girly things. I spent 15 minutes digging through bins, scouring shelves, and sifting through the cluttered chaos and here is what I walked away with. 

I have super fair skin so I always have to buy cover up and concealer that is as pale as I can find it. I was lucky enough to find several items in the appropriate hues. I got the above products and I think I am most excited about the Physician's Formula Healthy Wear 50 SPF cover up. Since I have fair skin I burn very easily. If I go out side and the sun is out I am going to turn a little pink if not red. It is hard to find any facial product that is not sun screen that has a high SPF. Plus, the cool orange and pink bottle is really nice looking. It was only $3.75! Yes! I am super happy that I didn't have to spend $15.00 on it. The other items are great staple cover ups. I am starting to use age defying products now since in your twenties you are supposed to use prevention products that slow down the appearance of lines and wrinkles.

There was so much lip stick but I was not really in the market for any so I scouted out ti find a lip gloss or two. I was lucky enough to get one of the last Baby Lips Maybelline lip balm. It is a grape flavor and is a dark purple color and I was a bit worried it would turn my lips purple but it has almost no color at all. Just a juicy smell. I really like it. It set me back 95 cents. I know, I spent too much. I was also able to grab one of the last L'Oreal Color Juice gloss. It has a really nice cherry smell and the shine it gives is really nice. Like my lips are wet. That one was $2.12. 

Wearing false lashes is something I don't too often but sometimes I like to feel extra pretty and I will slap some on. I practically bought everything they had left in this department. It was almost all gone. 2 pair of lashes and glue. The long blue lashes are really cool and will be a really fun pair to wear. I will have to save them for a special day or event. I got all this for $4.00.

Here are all the miscellaneous items that I scooped up. The light pink eye shadow at the top left  is so pretty. It doesn't really look it in the picture or even in the container but I tried it out and it is lovely. It is so soft and has a little shimmer to it. 90 cents. How could I not buy it? I bought Sally Hansen Salon Manicure Cuticle Balm. I did not even know that this was a thing until I saw it yesterday. I love it so much now. I have long nails which I don't paint often at all but I like my nails and hands to look nice so I take care of them in other ways. So this is just another way for me to make my hands look better. It has a really nice fresh scent and it feels great. 

The little lavender mirror compact is so small and thin it is perfect for my purse/bag. I think I am going to do a little deco to it. Some pink little bows and sparkles and it will be the cutest mirror ever. 

The Cover Girl Tru Mineral Blends, above and in the middle, is a very feminine and pretty pink shimmery powder. It has a little puff in the container. It has a nice light pink color to it and will come in handy when I don't feel like wearing a blush with a lot of color. It adds a nice glow and shimmer to my face. I will use it on days when I am feeling less than glowing.

The red curlers at the top right are for an experiment. My hair does not take to curling with a curling iron so I am going to try these. My hair is thin and perhaps using these with my wet hair and allowing it to do with these will be the trick to making curls stay longer than 30 minutes.

The last things I bought were green mascara, black eye liner, and super fun blue eye liner. I can never have too many eye liners and never enough mascara. 

I am sad that the Rite Aid is closing but I thankful that I was able to grab these things at great prices. It is nice to hit great sales and save lots of money. My make up collection grew quite a bit yesterday and I can't wait to use it all.

Sweet Lolita Etsy Treasury

I love Etsy! It is so much fun to browse around and see all the fun things that people have made. There is just so much and people are always adding more. One the front page there is always a selected bunch of items that have been rounded up by a user. It is called a Treasury. They are fun and easy to make. Just come up with a theme, find the items you want, and build your Treasury. Easy.

Last night I got the itch to make my own and I wanted to make a Lolita one. Why not? So, I scoured all the sweet and pink items I could find and put together this cute collection. All of these items come from shops with oodles of cute things that any Lolita would love. Click here to see the Treasury and check all the shops out. All of the prices are more than reasonable and within most everyone's budget.

On a completely separate note, the Rite Aid down the road from me is moving and they are selling everything at 75% off. This includes make up and certain hair accessories. I am going to check it out today and see what I can scoop up. The store is really selling its good fast so I have a feeling it might be slim pickings. I will show you what I was able to grab tomorrow. See ya!

Angelic Pretty Wallpaper

I was in the mood to design a Lolita wallpaper so I was browsing through my pics and scans. I found quite a few nice dresses and different things that would make a nice collage. But then, I saw a half page of Angelic Pretty stickers and it was like they already designed one for me. So, here it is. It is busy, fun, and bright. 

Just click on the above image.