Hey, yall! Long time, no post!

It's not like I've been really busy or anything, I just didn't have much to blog about. Anyway, I just celebrated my 23rd birthday (Nov. 27th!) and I've got a new hair-do/color to start off anew.


I haven't had bangs in years, but I'm trying to get used to it. Actually, I haven't had a salon cut for two years! The last time, I had a pixie cut which looked terrible so, traumatized, I refused to cut my hair. Anyway, as usual, the stylist made my hair look pretty decent in the end. Yet once out of the shower and any attempt to to style it myself has proven to be difficult. Darn. Oh well, this change was a bit needed :)

L.A. for dim sum--my first time ever. Quite a new experience...



 


(the guy placed the eyepatch, a hat and two swords + 3 parrots because i was drawing in a crowd. i think the coat gave him the pirate idea -__-)

santa monica pier :)

Happy (belated) Halloween :)

My costume, sans the mask:





Welp, that is all the photos I want to publish on here. I didn't really follow the original Batgirl costume, obviously, but I'm still rather proud of it. Shooot, I thought it'd look too much like the, um, risqué, Halloween knock offs, but I tried my best to avoid that. I was initially going for the classic Barbara Gordon getup, but no yellow boots nor gloves in sight. Anyway, thanks to Katrina (the one dressed as Padme--her DIY costume is amaaaazing! No sewing, no nothing! Just the right pieces) I didn't have to go on a hunt for black boots to finish the deal! #win

Hope yall liked it!

So all that talk about being Cleopatra is all nil because at the last minute I decided to be Batgirl. I bought the material yesterday and just finished it an hour ago. Not bad, I'd say! It isn't traditional Batgirl and actually leans towards the usual skimpy Halloween get up.

I wanted to kick myself because I didn't buy material that was stretchy/elastic, which made everything 100x harder. I didn't even know how to make a body suit or pants so I went with a "simple dress." Unfortunately, it wasn't "simple" and I had to adjust the one piece (dress) dozens of times! In the end, this is all I can muster up!

from this:


to this:


I haven't really got tutorial photos for you (because it was just a jumbled mess in the making), but here are random pictures that should give you some sense of how I went about it:











The experience? Let's just say I don't ever want to work with this material again for a very, very long time.

I mean, I think it turned out decent, but it was very troublesome. My seamripper is both my best friend and worst enemy.

Materials:

• Costume pleather (I used 2 yards)
• Yellow foam and felt
• Simple, black masquerade mask (luckily, this one had a kind of pointed shape, somewhat resembling "bat wings") 
• Sewing machine or needle and thread + pins + scissors
• Tacky glue :) 

I bought the kit from Target... but the saw, the most important tool, broke immediately, which made everything so much more difficult. In the end, they were recognizable designs & still managed to look awesome [in the dark].

I went to Bates Nut Farm for my first time. To be honest, I had never even heard of it before last week. They made the area into a mini fair with face painting, a hay ride, a petting "zoo" section, funnel cakes and more booths. We didn't stay too long, but it was pretty enjoyable. It's about an hour away from my house, up in the San Diego county boonies, so by the time I got home it was near dark. I almost forgot we still had to carve our pumpkins! The pumpkin carving was first for me. We went for a Star Wars theme, because well, I love it!

I just finished making this video collage today after putting it off for a few weeks. I almost forgot about it. I only used Windows Movie Maker -_- and I'm no expert, so bear with me. I hope you like it anyway! :)

I've been seriously considering dressing up as Cleopatra this year. I mean, I've always wanted to, but in recent years I've always backed out of wearing a legitimate costume at the last minute.

I started sketching some "designs" after Googling Cleopatra images. In the end, the designs were pretty basic, but it's the coloring I care about mainly!



I wanted to stray away from the boring linen white Cleopatra costumes, and try to make them look more "traditional." Well, I added a 'linen white & turquoise' one in the mix anyway.



Don't mind the skimpy coloring. What do you think about the colors? (I personally like the first one)

Stating the obvious: I like how thrifting is not only inexpensive, but the quality is nearly always better than those from cheaper stores [yes, such as F21 and H&M]. So before I decided to stop shopping for a while, I got in this month's dose of thrift store browsing! I bought this cardigan and a pair of pumps earlier this week:


Sorry about these "mirror shots"--I do not own a decent tripod. Anyway, this was just a quick shot in the morning before work.

Dressbarn (?) Cardigan | thrifted, $9
"Granny" Soft Sole work pumps | thrifted, $4
Tommy Hilfiger tote | Las Vegas sale $10!

I bought these a few weeks ago from one of the local Japanese stores (Marukai) to try out my first soak in my new tub! I've got a bath pillow and everything :) I had a step-in shower for years now and I haven't soaked in a bath since "Spa World" in Osaka--over a year ago! Anyway, I'll be using the pack in the middle and it's supposed to make you sweat. I just hope it isn't too potent. I honestly didn't even read the other two (the left is upside down, sorry), but I'll try them sooon!

I painted this for my friend last week :) I'm no artist and I am disappointed with these awful clouds... but I am doing my best to improve in my newfound hobby!

P.S.
I didn't really choose the setting/idea this time, instead I hugely based it off of a Totoro wallpaper I found on the internet!

if you had to know anything about me you ought to know i have some pretty nerdy interests...

anyway that wasn't what i was initially going to post about. it's this: