Favourite Words in November ’11

1. Threshold. There are many stories about thresholds, and Tolkien was wrong when he said that cellar door was the most beautiful word of the English language.
2. Cinnamon. I once had an elven RPG character I’d have loved to call Cinnamon, but in a German system felt was somehow out of place.
3. Cluster. Clusters of lobsters especially, but you can see a cluster of colourful leaves on the picture above.
4. Irksome. Wonderful word that sounds just like the little twitch you feel when you find something very, very annoying.
5. Flennen, German for to snivel.

Sartorial Saturday: Green & Black Edition

Green and black were my favourite colours to work with when I still played Magic: The Gathering. Not to mention that they are two of my all-time favourite colours. Actually I wanted to show you the awesome swap gifts I got recently, too (they match in colour), but I save them for a post after I mailed my swap gift, too.

Oh, and as you can see I finally found a spot in our flat to take outfit pictures at! I’ve got to work on the lighting, though…

I had to take an extra picture of my shoes, if I’m taking the pictures on this spot at the door via self timer they are rather… let’s face it, they are cut off.

Outfit Rundown:
- kerchief: not trackable anymore
- T-shirt: Takko
- longsleeve: Pimkie
- skirt: H&M
- tights: Waschbär
- rain boots: H&M

Accessoires Rundown:
- studs: Claire’s
- necklace: ???

This is one of my “typical” every day outfits, rather comfy but not without personal style. The key pieces in this case are the rain boots – I don’t wear them often, but I love the gaphical yet sweet look about them.

Folk Record Cover Art – Photo Shoot

As I showed you the pictures I took of Jules before, here’s the vice versa now. When we went through the photographs afterwards we both were struck with the idea that they would make perfect art for a folk-singer-songwriter-something record. Vinyl, at best, and probably something between Loreena McKennitt and Black 47 and a little bit of folk-inspired punk, overall rather 90s I guess. It would be a challenging project, after all.

for Jolly: chair without context again :)

I think I like the last three best, and the very last one would be the cover picture for the record if I made one. But – I dare say – all of the pictures turned out really good, and some of them even made it into Jules’ portfolio for his application for fashion design studies.

I really love and appreciate working with my best friend and am so looking forward to our next session!

Daring Deeds – Résumé

notes for the new list

Well, today is the 22nd day of November and so the deadline for my daring deeds expires tonight. This here is a little conclusion about these goals. I did 50 of 101, that’s nearly 50%! I’m sure I could do even better, my new list is already there.
P.S.: I also linked back to posts that covered a Daring Deed so you can see some parts of the progress again!

1. Build a doll with sculpey (or similar material) or wooden head and limbs. Not done, but made it into the new list.
   
2. Sew a bustle dress. Not done either. I just didn’t dare to try and maybe ruin the fabric I had for it!
   
3. Sew a corset. Weeell, I got the material… but didn’t sew it. Yet. Another point for another list.
   
4. Get a new MP3 player and decent new head phones. Finally something I did!
   
5. Take French lessons or do my Latin certificate. As if. But I’m still trying!
   
6. Go to university.
7. Build an everyday Steampunk wardrobe (at least 15 pieces). 10 of 15 pieces isn’t too bad. Of course I’ll continiue this, but rather not in the list.
   
8. Finish drawing a chapter of Splinterworld. Sadly, I failed in this.
   
9. Do the 100 theme challenge on DeviantArt for Splinterworld. I just draw too little!
   
10. Don’t leave the house without a hat or headpiece for two weeks. I certainly tried! But then there were these little occasions like going outside to buy groceries on which I forgot the hat, and therefore… no.
    
11. Learn crochet. Teli taught me.
    
12. Loose 5 kilos of weight.
    
13. Sew a ten-piece doll wardrobe (best case for the doll mentioned above). No doll, no clothes.
    
14. Build a bed. It already collapsed again after two years of good use. It was time for a change, anyway, as this bed belonged to another era of my life, so I wasn’t too devastated.
    
15. Draw 10 portraits of real persons and colour them (the portraits, not the people).
16. Learn to play another instrument or at least try it. Tin whistle and harp.
    
17. Go to bed before midnight for a month (weekends excepted). Such a great experience! I should definitely do this again!
    
18. Go on a holiday. Done just last summer!
    
19. Start my own web comic. No. But besides Splinterworld I’ve already a new project together with Imp. Maybe we can pull it off during the new year!
    
20. Manage at least one pull-up. No, but I feel rather well with my body, though.
    
21. Draw and colour a picture (full body with or without additional portrait) of each Pen & Paper RPG character of mine. I just started out with my Pathfinder cleric, so I guess that’s another “next list” project.
    
22. Take part in a tournament. I’ve actually been to the Savate German Championship. Didn’t win, but it was an awesome experience, though.
    
23. Sew at least 2 pyjamas or nightgowns. Still planning. I had one nearly finished, but then noticed that it didn’t fit me anymore… ^^
    
24. Arrange a Steampunk LARP.
25. Finish a written story.
26. Sew at least 3 everyday dresses or skirts for myself. One of three isn’t the result I wanted, but I’m trying.
    
27. Go to a ball. The Bohème Sauvage counts.
28. Buy 10 nice teas for tea parties.
29. Go outside for one hour a day for at least a month. I’m a little ashamed to confess I didn’t do that. I guess that’s another point…
    
30. Sell something handmade.
31. Paint a picture in oil. Though I accidentally used oil colour for my Latin folder instead of acrylics…
    
32. Go to a museum at least 12 times. 8/12 aren’t so bad, but more would have been better.
    
33. Create a herbarium or at least start by glueing dried plants into a special notebook.
34. Go swimming at least 7 times.
35. Design my own mouse pad. I covered my desk with velvet foil again (I ripped of the old one during a rather rebellious phase), now it’s a giant mousepad. ^^
    
36. Build a lampion chain with egg cardboard or another lamp. Check.
    
37. Practise with my harp every day for two weeks for half an hour at least.
38. Grow a little herb garden on the window sill or a decent one in the garden. And I was so close to it!
    
39. Make a Greenlesque motif and t-shirt.
40. Get a nice pair of goggles.
41. Go climbing.
42. Buy a DVD. More than one, actually!
    
43. Get 1 kilo of wool and spin it. Recently I got some wool from Teli and now I’ve got about half a kilo, but it’s not even half spun yet. But actually, what would I want with so much wool? O.o
    
44. Write a children’s story/ book and illustrate it. No. But Scoundrel and I are considering some educational ones about culture and social studies and archeology.
    
45. Sew a dragon coat or a justaucorps. I failed this one, but I still want a justaucorps.
    
46. Build three LARP weapons or mod three nerf guns. Well, at least I started sanding two guns…
    
47. Wear a planned outfit at least once a week for two month and draw it. I established my Sartorial Saturday, so, well, yes!
    
48. Buy three pairs of nice tights.
49. Have a princess day once a month.
50. Cook or bake something unknown once a month for a year. I had so much fun doing that, I’d definitely make this a point in the new list!
    
51. Visit an antiques & oddities market. I even sold some of my old stuff.
    
52. Take part in NaNoWriMo successfully or at least write a 50.000 word story. I tried it. But if you take two NaNoWriMos and No. 25 of this list in account, maybe writing just isn’t for me… (and I take this better than I tought I would)
    
53. Have a Lolita photo session and post a picture on Dunkelsüß.
54. Make candles.
55. Knit or weave a scarv. Check. It isn’t the prettiest, but I like it anyway. And I’m already fancying a new one…
    
56. Refresh my knitting skills. Via the scarf above.
    
57. Build a terminal for my laptop and scanner.
58. Have a course guidance.
59. Try onion dye. Not yet, but my onion peel collection grows every minute… kind of.
    
60. Draw at least one chapter of a Steampunk comic. Again, this connects with Imp’s and my project. Maybe next time!
    
61. Get my hair tips cut. Twice, even.
    
62. Make a to-read classics list and read at least 50% of it.
63. Build an acceptable make-up kit. If someone had told fifteen-year-old me I’d own such amounts of make-up one day, I would have declared them downright bonkers, but alas…
    
64. Build a sports wardrobe.
65. Get a tea service for a tea for at least four. Got: Teapot, milk jug. I’m still yearning for some pretty cups, but I didn’t happen to find some that matched my teapot yet.
    
66. Make soap. Still not done. But I got some pretty molds, in case I’ll ever do it!
    
67. Get an old book on behavior.
68. Learn 15 cool quotes by heart. Not really. I think quotes are not really something I remember well, and actually, I don’t use them, anyway.
    
69. Buy a hat. More than one!
    
70. Refresh my dancing skills. I even learned some Charleston.
    
71. Sew a new set of renaissance fair/ fantasy LARP clothes. Another “still planning”.
    
72. Buy a Lolita dress or skirt.
73. Sew a classic Lolita dress.
74. Buy 10 not-second-hand-or-school-related books.
75. Get a proper morning robe or equal piece. I’ve got a wonderful home-dress from Lilibeth and my beloved old kimono that I just had to remember.
    
76. Go ice skating. Jules, we’ve got to do this this winter!
    
77. Eat no pasta for a month.
78. Learn 10 amusing facts about Prussian and Victorian history. But: 7/10 (1. Cartier sold bejeweled gold heroin syringes; 2. The Victorian basically invented all sex toys we know today; 3. Lesbian relationships were widely tolerated; 4. Queen Victoria liked her tea better with whiskey than sugar; 5. “Freaks” were quite celebrated members of society; 6. … and later called themselves “prodigies” instead. People were fine with it; 7. The term for men who had “affairs” with other men was Uranians)
79. Sew my graduation dress. See here.
    
80. Sew two aprons – one for every day, one for cooking.
81. Make bathing bombs.
82. Buy a Steiff Teddy bear. My darling Hollis.
    
83. Take part in two more swaps on NuS. Definitely more than two (hats, lucky packs, T-shirts and skirts and books, just to name a few). Actually, I’m in another one right now!
    
84. Start my own lolita/ princess/ non cynical blog. Here we are! Actually, this is the blog I kept for the longest time, and I’ve got no intention to change this.
    
85. Write two songs.
86. Have a photoshoot in my LARP or renaissance fair clothes.
87. Go to the theatre. Movie theatres count, too. One has to make to make allowances.
    
88. Get new colours for my aquarelle paint-box. Here.
    
89. Get my glasses fixed or new glasses. And here.
    
90. Get some nice batminton equipment.
91. Learn 10 flower fairies by heart.Rose Hip, Elder Flower, Rose, make that 3/10 (I thought there were more… I’ll keep learning).
92. Build a doll-house or at least refurbish the old one. Next list I’ll do this, next list I’ll do this…
    
93. Gather enough book bionding material and tools to be able to do smaller things at home.
    
94. Alter and paint 10 t-shirts for myself. I only did 5, but at least I made some T-shirts for others, too.
    
95. Make “nature’s child” jewelery with pendants that look like arcorns or mushrooms.
96. Do embroidery on at least 4 pieces of everyday clothing for myself.
    
97. Sew at least two headdresses. I’m devastated. And not so sure if old-school headdresses look so good on me…
    
98. Grow horns. I meant ones from sculpy, of course. But sadly, no.
    
99. Watch “Aristocats”. This was an easy one. ^^
    
100. Learn to play the “Velvet Paws Suite” on piano. Alternatively, “Nyan Cat”. I still got the sheet music…
     
101. Try marmalade. Not the most awesome experience ever, but not so horrible, either.
     

A Pagan Prince – Photo Shoot

In my last Satorial Saturday (I know, I haven’t posted one for two weeks, but my outfits were simply plain boring) I showed you a coordinate I wore to a photo shoot with Jules. As it wasn’t really planned out we both happened to be model and photographer, and here are some of the pictures I took of him.

Not so Little Boxes

Aren’t these boxes great?

They aren’t only vintage, but also saved from a cruel fate in the dumpster. Our Religious Studies faculty gave them away due to minor flaws (or maybe not enough space in their library – well, it is a rather small faculty). Fact is that these boxes are examples of rather good book binding and I was able to repair the little tears in no time.

Finally no more ugly shoe-boxes for my clutter! And just in time as I wanted to get some additional ones to use the storage room of my desk better.

10 Adorables in November

A whole week of not posting! That’s rather rare with me, isn’t it? University wanted most of my time, but now there’s only one more presentation and I’m done for 2011. The picture above was taken on my way to lunch break from uni, by the way, and I had to put it in in this size, to show you all the splendor.

1. Urban Threads. They have some awesome designs and I’m quite tempted to buy some of them for Jules (who actually has an embroidery machine) to bribe him into making me equally awesome patches.
2. Dry Leaves that rustle when I walk through my fairy tale town. They make rising early and going to uni so much more rewarding!
3. SketchUp! We are supposed to use this for university to display a 3D view of very early temples, but when Imp taught me how to work with it I used it to plan some changes for my room, too.
4. Clementines and Mandarines. I try to substitute most of my sweets with them at the moment.
5. Blythe. I always had a weak spot for dolls, an even weaker spot for posables and even thouh they are kind of creepy, I do develop one for Blythe, too.
6. Silhouettes and alike paper cuts. Miss Lumpy shared some fake lashes made of scherenschnitt paper lately, and I admire the artists that were or are able to producesuch wonderfully detailed pictures. Actually, I plan on making some silhouettes myself, but as many of my projekts, it’s just another part of the pile. *sigh*
7. The Cold. I love it when I can see my breath in the morning and snuggle up with woolen socks and Scoundrel’s hoodie and a book and hot cocoa in the evening.
8. The *Plopp* of the breaking vacuum seal when I open a new jar of my favourite pesto.
9. Fog. It’s hanging all over town, in hedges and trees and on the tips of the roof tops. Some mornings it’s so much that even the other side of the street seems a little blurry.
10. OMG that dress!, a wonderful tumblr showing the most beautiful, remarkable dresses from the last five centuries.

Knitted and Sewn

I’ve been rather productive yesterday.

First, I finally finished a pretty mori-able loop scarf I had on my to-do list for ages (or at least one year).

The wool was something my bother bought at least ten years ago, it’s some kind of wool/ acrylic blend, but rather scratchy for the latter. I don’t mind, it’s definitely a piece that will go over my collars, not under.

I also finished a project that I startet two weeks ago, but couldn’t really do earlier due to space problems (in terms of “working space”). It’s a bag for Scoundrel’s boxing gloves as his old one was torn after a year of use.

I used one of his discarded cargo pants as fabric and some leather I had in stock.

And I finally got to try the fabric crayons I bought a while ago.

I also used them for the “label”, my usual ones and the rose hip stencils seemed a little to soft and feminine for a Scoundrel’s bag.

The button holes are hand-stitched and I also made the cords myself.

I decided to fully embrace the used look of the fabric and made the hems the drawstring cover. The lining is linen, by the way.

I’ve got so many more projects, I hope I’ll just stay as productive now!

Moss and Brass – Mori Accessoires Shopping

Jules and I haven’t done much together lately. Which actually means the last six months. We’re both very busy with school and as he’s in a long-distance relationship he visits his prince charming rather than me when in Marburg. Which is quite understandable, but also a little bit irksome.

Anyway, we decided to do something about this, and so we didn’t only spend the Saturday together, but also went shopping in Frankfurt the day before. The title of this post refers to the colours that are found most often in my recent Friday purchases.

Spherical earrings with a little *bling*. I really like the shape and the small ornaments, and I’ll definitely wear them for Christmas (well, according to my habits, I’ll wear only one of them). ^^

One can never call enough lockets their own. I think I’ll put old pictures of my grandparents in there… they’ll always be with me that way.
It has something a little bit Art Nouveau to it, and I think the little birds are adorable. Plus, I love enamel, even though it’s a little more blue than in reality, actually it’s some kind of mint green.

Socks with 13% Angora wool. They are sooo soft! Black is a colour I always need new things in, and the red is perfectly rose-hip-ish.

I don’t buy make-up that often, but I thought I could use some variety, after all… There are two colours of nail polish, one dark taupe as a basic and one very, very glittery for fancier days. The little box is H&M’s Sweet Chai eau de toilette, and I fear I bought it more for the great design’s sake (Art Nouveau again!) than for the scent, which is also very nice. The last piece in this picture is a four-colours eye shadow palette with very earthy tones that are great for a restrained Mori Girl or Classic Lolita make-up.

Another necklace, again with the problem that the photo doesn’t reflect the green tint of the stone right. Again, there’s a little Art Nouveau influence, and I love the amount of chains.

Again, not really the right colour. It’s a deep, dusty moss green, and maybe I’ll catch the right tint one day. What this is? It’s a short feather scarf, a real piece for the soul when I’m not well (touching something soft actually helps). I think it’ll look great with Mori or Dolly Kei…

The last piece is a piece I’ll most likely wear to a Bohéme Sauvage some day. It just looks like something right from the twenties, rather Mary Pickford’s than Clara Bow’s taste (again, the picture is a little too blue-ish. *sigh*).

Sartorial Saturday: Purple Dolly Kei

After we had a splendid day of shopping in Frankfurt yesterday (more of that tomorrow), Jules dropped by this afternoon for a rather spontaneous photo shoot. First we wanted it to be mori-themed, but I ended up looking and feeling more like Dolly Kei, which happened to be just right (and we decided to do the Mori Girl shoot another time).

Outfit Rundown:
- blouse: 50s vintage ballet costume from my grandmother
- bodice: Paradise (ex-local goth/ ethno shop)
-  skirt: self-made
- tights: H&M
- socks: H&M
- boots: handed down from my mother

Accessoires Rundown:
- sphere earring/ mini ethno creole: Accessorize/ Bijou Brigitte
- belt: thrifted
- necklace: I am
- hair band: impro from strips of fabric

—–

P.S.: Happy Guy Fawkes Day everyone!

P.P.S.: A little late, but you can see Jules’ outfit here.