Saturday 31 December 2011

Goodbye 2011, Hello 2012

So as 2011 comes to a close i decided to write this little meme/questionaire thingy to reflect on my year. Please feel free to steal it but reference back to here s'il vous plait.

Favourite Movie Release~Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 2 - oh Harry Potter. How i bawled like a child!!

Favourite Song Release~PONPONPON by Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - really makes me think of summer and being happy. :)

Favourite Game Release~ Alice Madness Returns - Althrough Skyrim comes a close second, i really loved Alice. totally twisted and gross and the story was really good too.

Best Discovery~Fairy Kei - Although i knew about it before i only really started to appreciate it in all it's pastelly goodness. Also Spank!

Something You Gave Up~Hello! Project - I dont really listen to the music anymore and I'm selling all my merchendise. It's part growing up and partly because a lot of it brings back some difficult memories.

Best Purchase
~My Rats - man i love those little guys.

Biggest Waste of Money
~The studio photos - Me and my friend went to this photoshoot thing and it was a free day with the oppotunity to have 2 free photos. The woman stupidly talked us into buying some and i seriously wish i hadn't. I cant afford to pay for them still..... not happy.

Something You Said You Would Do and Did
~ Thanks to Day Zero I've done a lot of thing i said i would. :) I have a lot more to do still though!

Something You Said You Would Do and Didn't
~Lose Weight - In fact i gained it. ;^;

Hope everyone has a great new year whatever you are doing. :) See you all in 2012!!

The Quest for Perfect Butterbeer

It is probably a good idea for me to keep track of this.

Being a Harry Potter fan to the point of it being unhealthy, I am on the quest for the perfect Butterbeer recipe.

The last one I made was a greasy buttery disastor that was too sweet and i could feel it clogging up my arteries as i drank it. The one before that was close in taste but not enough think drinkable froth. Also it was cold and i want something to drink warm.

The one i just tried which is based on a much more historic recipe was was bitter when you first drank then got the sweet aftertaste and made me shudder and is went down. needless to say it was.... unpleasent.

I'm going to document my efforts here i think. I want a recipe that i can drink warm and possibly has a slight alcoholic tint to it although that isn't neccessary.
It also looks like how it looks in the film. Rawr.

Yes i know many people have recipes up online but so far i have yet to find one that i can make nicely OR find one that i can actually get all the ingredients for. (brown cream soda doesn't exist in england) Or i could always make my own recipe when i have the time/money.

P.S I dont wanna know about The Wizarding orld of Harry Potter and how people have drunk the butterbeer there at the Three Broomsticks. I'm so bitter that i could explode. XD Plus a girl i was friends with (and who, i recently found out, has decided that she hates me for no apparant reason) went there over christmas so it's a bit of a sore spot. I thank you in advance for not rubbing salt in that particular wound. :)

Friday 30 December 2011

Plastic Chain Jewellry

Today i was playing around with the beads and plastic star links i bought the other day and created some cool 80s looking chunky kiddy jewellry.

This is the necklace



I originally wanted all of it to be the links but they were too chunky and there werent enough. this way i used less and it's more comfortable to wear.

The bracelet looks like this




The one with the white beads is out of the Little Twin Star box I got the other day. :)

(Cable knit sweater is my mum's. i stole/borrowed it from her. i love the trend at the moment to wear cable knit sweaters with fairy kei. super warm too!)

Wednesday 28 December 2011

30 Day Fairy Kei Challenge Day 17 and up

Opps, like i said before, not keeping up with blog series i started.
Seeing as it's been about 20 odd days since my last post and there are only 14 questions left, I'll try to answer them all in this post. If you'll pardon the massiveness of the post!

☆ Day sixteen: How did you dress before Fairy-Kei?

Like this:


hahaha no just kidding, i was wearing my friends costume there.

I dressed how i dress now, Fairy Kei is only a secondary fashion, especially as i really cant be bothered when i'm just going to uni for an hour or whatever. Tights or leggings under a skirt or shorts, top and some kind of cardigan or jumper. I'm trying to do fairy kei more though. or at the very least fairy kei inspired! My own style has almost always been influenced by fashion in Japan though.




☆ Day seventeen: Do you dress in also another style, e.g. Lolita.

Not Lolita, i dont think i'd suit it but i'm interested in it. Other than my own style, no. :( sorry for the boring answer.



☆ Day eighteen: How do you dress when you go to school?

Uni. ahem.
Depends, if i'm in for a long day i usually put in more effort. But it usually consists of tights or over-the-knee socks, skirt, tshirt and cardigan. it sounds very boring but i have a wide range of everything. XD currently, my fairy kei consists of wearing basically the same but switching them for pastels.


☆ Day nineteen: 5 of your favourite toys.

The My Little Pony plush my brother won me in a UFO catcher, my Hello Kitty and Cupcake cushions, my Gloomy Bear teddy and my Ramond and Scott "Scott Pilgrim" plushies. :)



☆ Day twenty: What do you see in Fairy-Kei in general in the next 5 years?

Hmm..... I see it either peetering out to something as obscure as Takuya Angel now (my japanese friend didnt even know what that was) OR getting bigger and bigger as SPANK! expands and possibly influencing western fashion (the Usamimi trend reached here and 80s cartoon printed stuff is coming into fashion again!)



☆ Day twenty-one: 5 of your favourite cartoons.

Before i even knew about Fairy Kei back when i was 16 I was watching My Little Pony etc. My Little Pony, Pokemon, most Disney Films, Care Bears, uhm.... cant think of anything else. XD



☆ Day twenty-two: The most expensive thing you’ve ever bought.

My Tiffany's ring. although that wasn't even my money. haha. uhm.... probably my Pikachu Kigurumi. Other than that it's things like my Laptop and Ipod that are most expensive.



☆ Day twenty-three: 10 of your favourite foods.
Easey peasy:
Custard
Chips/Fries
Cupcakes
Croissants
Pineapple
Strawberries
Cherries
Yorkshire Puddings
Jaffa Cakes
Pop Rocks



☆ Day twenty-four: Your favourite motif.

Motif? That's a picture isn't it. like a panda or something? Cupcakes. Anything cupcakes. I have a tattoo of a cupcake don't i??




☆ Day twenty-five: How do people in school/work react to how you’re dressed?

My Coursemates are probably more accepting of my stuff than my housemates. When i wear my teddy trainers i get "oh god" but at uni i get "omg! those are amazing!"



☆ Day twenty-six: If you could put any phrase on a conversation-heart sweet, what would it be?
"Life is One Time"

It's from the Morning Musume song "Mikan". I really like the line and it's totally true. you only live once!





☆ Day twenty-seven: Your dream job?
Costume Interpretor: working alongside Colleen Atwood

Or i really REALLy like the idea of opening a cupcakery!



☆ Day twenty-eight: 5 of your favourite places.

Grand Canyon - a bit "out-there" but i loved being there and would love to go again

London - I love China town and covent garden!

Bournemouth - It's such a great place to live and i think i'm going to stay there!

Japan - Duh! Not been there yet but i know i will love it! XD

My Room - my little place of (messy) heaven. i like to decorate it myself and make it mine and i chill out there more than anywhere else. even if it is a tip. XD




☆ Day twenty-nine: Your favourite colour-combo.

Pale Pink and Blue or Lilac and Pale Yellow




☆ Day thirty!: Do you see yourself wearing Fairy Kei in 5 years time?

Not sure. My fashion has been influenced by Japanese fashion for a long time (the past few days i've been sporting a cale knit sweater like are popular in japan right now) so maybe, maybe not. I hope so because it's so fun!

Christmas, Sales, Hauls and Resolutions

Hey everyone!

did you all have a good christmas if you celebrate it?

I got everything i wanted so i'm very happy. Among my favourite presents are my pink and while polka dot Zatchels satchel, the Muppet OPI nail polishes "I Lily Love You" and "The Fresh Frog of Bel Air" and my Secret Shop Starry Engineer replica boots (which have yet to arrive but are still already a fave!)

Yesterday i went to London to look for fabric for my final uni project and ended up spending a LOT of money in Bravissimo. We also went to go and see Howl's Moving Castle at the Southwark Playhouse. It was meant to be a surprise but i actually guessed before i came to stay at my parents and then had it confirmed when my dad left the reciept for the tickets lying around. XD
The show was pretty good although despite Stephen Fry narrating and Fyfe Dangefield composing it wasn't amazing. They kind of rushed the story so only those who had read the book really knew what was going on, the actor who was Howl was really good, but the other 2 cast members (who did old sohpie, young sophie and the witch of the waste) weren't very good at all. they were wooden and generic. However, the set was astonishing! It was all completely white but had the castle cut out in relief as if it was cut from card and was pushed forward. The locations were then projected onto the white background. It was really clever and really effective. I would reccommend this show just for the set.

Today i went out with my brother shopping as i had £40 worth of riverisland vouchers to spend and needed to return a sweater that didnt fit right. I then proceeded to spend a good amount of money on other things.... :/

My Riverisland haul was good. only spend £20 of my vouchers. I got this pineapple top



This cute high waisted skirt



and these adorable shorts!



It was weird because i was just about to give up my search when i found all 3 things tucked away at the very end of the row. the shorts were just hanging there without a reduced label. I took them to the lady and asked if they were on sale and she scanned it. Turned out they were marked down from £20 to £5! bargain!

These are the other things i got



Star beads and star chain links from Tiger (totally been looking for some links like that and finally found some. should have bought more though. fail.

Paperchase pens and bunny iron-on transfer. LOVE this line of Decora-ish stationary from paperchase. totally buyable and it was all on sale. almost bought it all. XD

Twin Star hair set (contains clips a bracelet and some hair bobbles) in a cute star shaped pot and reflective keychains (not bought for the reflectivness) from H&M. H&M have started doing lots of twin star stuff in the kids section. they have some really cute socks there too but they wouldn't fit my feet. :(

OH! and this phone case


You can see me in my "Applecrumble and Fish" hoodie. it's a mock-take of Abercrombie and Fitch. XD love it.

Pretty good haul if i do say so myself.

New Years resolutions.... ahhhhh, always made and never kept..... i dont have a full list yet but my first one is to Keep up with blog post series. I seriously apologise for starting 2 or 3 and not actually going through with them. I've just been much busier than i originally thought! ugh. apologies. hopefully in the new year i will do better. or be sensible and not start any until i have a good chunk of free time in my forseeable future!!
oh i need to do a bodyline post too! My pannier skirt is adorable and i wore in christmas day, boxing day and when i went to london yesterday. XD totally love iiiittt!!!

Here's a picture of my rat in his nest he made in my pile of clothes. Awh!



He left a prawn in there earlier. Thankfully i fished (lol get it?) it out before it was in there long.

:3

Wednesday 14 December 2011

Nails In Nippon's 12 Days of Christmas Challenge

First off i want to apologise for the advent calendar posts falling short!
I havent had any time as i had to get my work done for hand-in then i've been helping with other people's work this week and this weekend i am going home for christmas.
I will hopefully be able to carry on making the skirt over christmas and i will upload a full tutorial in the new year. I'm very sorry for anyone who was waiting for those posts.

In anycase, i know i've fallen behind with the Fairy Kei challenge but on Nails In Nippon today she posted about a 12 days of christmas nail challenge that i am going to HAVE to do.

Day 1. Red Nails
Day 2. Silver Nails
Day 3. Green Nails
Day 4. Candy Cane Nails
Day 5. Wrapping Paper Nails
Day 6. Favorite Christmas Book
Day 7. Favorite Christmas Movie
Day 8. Glitter Nails
Day 9. My Choice
Day 10. My Choice
Day 11. My Choice
Day 12. Christmas Tree Nails

So this is what the list looks like. I am currently trying to organise myself for going home this weekend but i will post up an picture of my nails later today! :D

Saturday 10 December 2011

First Pair of Circle Lenses

I bought my first pair of Circle Lenses!

Been wanting to try them for ages as i have always thought my eye colour looked like, as ginny explains it in the 2nd harry potter book, "fresh pickled toads"

I bought GEO Nudy Green and got them from Honeycolor.com. The website is very good and the prices are very reasonable. The shipping was estimated much longer than it actually was and i got them a week and a half before they said they would arrive which is good. :)

The packaging was nice and secure as they came in they're own little box:



The webiste also sent me a free lenses case (although i think this is basic parctise for most circle lens websites) I got a cute little blue bears one.



I really like them actually. They make me have proper massive doe eyes and for the first time i looked at myself and though "cute"! XD



Here i have one in one out. the colour difference in this light isnt very big but i think in natural light it would be more noticable. no make up



both in with make up. i loooove them. my vision is a bit blurry but i think that will get better when i get used to it.

I will definitely be buying from HoneyColor again. :)

Sunday 4 December 2011

30 Day Fairy Kei Challenge Day 13

Already on Day 13?!

☆ Day thirteen: What do you carry in your bag?

I'm not a very girly girl when it comes to what i carry in my bag. I don't really wear make up or anything so This post might be a little boring. XD



I don't really keep a rat in my bag, he just took a huge interest in this brand new thing in the living room that he could climb on. :)

My bag is from Accessorize. It's my winter bag.

Left to right: I almost always carry my uni work folder with me. Mainly because i stayed at my boyfriend's last night and am meant to be doing uni work instead of typing this. oops.

Then there's my diary which basically has my life in it. I'd be late and forget everything if i didn't have that.

Body spray, always important.

Purse - also from accessorize. "I heart Tokyo" incidentally my rat is called Tokyo so this is kinda two statemnts. XD

House keys - the cupcake keyring is from my boyfriend. :)

hair clip - i always end up needing one totally randomly

nail varnish - incase of chips

lip balm - aloe vera. I get very dry lips alot so i always have a tin of this handy. this one is my favourite but i also have a pink tinted one for nights out.

Last but definitely not least, my inhaler. I cant go anywhere without this thing thanks to my worse-than-terrible asthma. bleh.

Saturday 3 December 2011

Clothing! :3

All the stuff i bought on the internet arrived! yay!

I immediately put on my jumper and socks from asos.com and i loooove them!



The jumper is quite short but i think it's meant to be worn with high-waisted items. I wear a top underneath when wearing it with other things.

The socks are a really nice colour and are comfy. However one is weirdly shorter than the other.... hmm.....


Also my AP socks arrived! yay! my first official Angelic Pretty item! :D








However.... i seem to have discovered that my legs are too fat for them! I had never thought of having fat legs especially my calves, they are fairly thing but apparently AP socks are teeny. When i wear them they stretch the decoration at the top out of shape. :(






but they are still super-cute and official so i therefore love them! XD

Advent Calendar 2011 Dec 2nd and 3rd

Ok so the next step is to cut out the squares of fabric you will be using.

Mark them on the wrong side of the fabric, ie: the side no one is going to see. If it's printed fabric it will be the side that is faded or backwards.

Mark your squares 2.5" x 2.5". Always make sure you mark from the straightest edge or you will end up with wonky squares.




I recommend about 20 squares of every fabric for each side. Make sure they over hang the edges of the pattern a little bit as we need the seam allowance.

Cut them all out. If you have some fluffy or thick fabrics like i am using i'd stick to less squares of them in randomw places to break it up or it could look a bit weird.

Next step is laying out the squares on the pattern in a way you like. I haven't done this yet as i haven't had a chance to with my uni work being intense. (i have hand-in next week. eek!) But you can lay them out anyway you like as long as they line up in rows vertically. like pixels.


The next few posts on this will have to wait until after the 7th i'm afraid because i have to work on my hand-in. sorryyyy!!!!! but these 2 steps could take a while anyways! haha!

love love!

30 Day Fairy Kei Challenge Days 10 and 11

Sorry for not posting yesterdaaaaay. was busy and today i was working. advent calendar post coming up next. oh and a clothing post. woot.

☆ Day eleven: How do you react to the negative ones?

Like i said i live in a student town but if i do get anything negative i ignore it. I've been comfortabel in my own skin for a while now and have been dressing "differently" for yeeeeaaarrrrs so i just ignore it.


☆ Day twelve: The craziest coord you’ve ever worn.

Hmmm..... tricky question as i am still currently building my wardrobe and find it hard to dress in full Fairy Kei. especially as my housemates would probs disown me.
But saying that i have worn my pink stripey dress with my My Little Pony tshirt, white tights, white loose socks and my pink teddy trainers. :)

I also wore a pretty mad co-ord to a photoshoot. I have a dress with cupcakes on, wore that over a tiered lace/frilly skirt, one pair of pink socks, one pair of purple socks, pink and white stripey bunny hoody and my headphones. the photos actually came out pretty awesome. :D

Thursday 1 December 2011

Advent Calendar 2011 - Dec 1st

I decided to do this blog series as a little Advent Calendar to myself and you guys!

I don't think there are 25 steps but never mind.

The end result should look something like these skirts from Spank! but with a thinner waistband (if you prefer) and no petticoat underneat. You'll have to supply that yourself. :3






What You Will Need:
- 5+ fabrics in different colours and patterns. Use a mixture of patterned fabric and plain fabric.

- Scissors, Fabric and paper

- Sewing machine, preferably, i mean you probably can do this by hand but i wouldn't reccommend it.

- Newspaper or Pattern paper

- Tape measure, tailors chalk or pencil, marker pen, tape


I will post a step a day for this.


December 1st:

Day one is starting with drafting the pattern for the skirt. The boring but most crucial bit.

~ Start by taking your true waist measurement and the length you want the skirt. In my case it was 32" and 16"

~ Tape a good few pieces of newspaper together and get your measuring tape and marker ready.

~ You can either use a compass for this or I used the lid to my bin.

Either draw a circle the circumference of your waist measurement or draw it around something round like in the picture.

~ Then halve what you just marked off. These points will be the side seams.

~ Measure the length + half an inch from the circle line all the way around. then cut it out and you will have something like this:




~ The waistband is very simple, it is basically a rectangle the length of your waist + half an inch each end and double the width you want + half inch each edge.

For example mine will be 33" x 7"

Cut that out as well.


Tune in for the next step tomorrow! :3

Advent Calendar series

So I have gone on this new diet, not to lose weight but to become more healthy and help my digestion and asthma better. So far it has been working but I'm not really allowed to eat chocolate! :( So no advent calendar for me this year. (she says, but she'll probably head out and buy one anyway) Instead i've decided to do an Advent Calendar Blog Series. some kind of tutorial on how to make something step by step. :)

I haven't decided what to do yet though. I probably will post it up later. In the meantime, if you have any ideas for things you'd like me to do please comment. :)

I was thinking about doing a tutorial on how to make a patchwork skirt like the ones Tavuchi wear?

Let me know!

:3

30 Day Fairy Kei Challenge Day 10

Day 10! And happy December 1st!! Now i can blast christmas carols really loud without my boyfriend telling me off! YAY! I love christmas. :D

Onwards!

☆ Day ten: How do you react to positive comments or people curious about your style on the streets?

I live in a student town so a lot of people dress differently or creatively so i actually don't get much attention from dressing in F-K. if people do ask i just answer their question and move on. :) I'm polite and smiley i guess. :)