Are You Ready for This?

08/24/2012

I was just taking a stroll through my drafts folder and would you believe there is still a LA Sanrio Nerd party article I haven’t published as well as at least 35 others? Hello! Time? Motivation? You out there? Can you come hang out for awhile? I miss you.

Anyway things have been absolutely insane around here but that doesn’t meen I haven’t been thinking of you, I’ve actually been thinking of you a lot. Thinking about what I’m going to tell you about going through hell on earth and making it through while staying strong and focused. It’s not impossible and pain is always a struggle but you’re not alone. If you think you are alone, turn around and look through all of the cracks. Do you see yourself? Your friends? Your family? Do you see me? Your cat? A new pet? There’s someone out there waiting to make the pain easier to handle but you might have to open your mind and do a little searching to find them. Are you ready? Let’s go!

Also I wanted to let you guys know that the little love letters you have been sending me have been absolutely the sweetest. I’m glad I made it easier for you to contact me. If you ever need someone to listen, I’m here for you.

Now let’s go on a hypersensitive adventure through insanity because I’m so curious about what pieces of me I have lost while on this trip… Have you left pieces of yourself behind, too? Don’t ever allow anyone to control you until they break you. This is your life and you should experience it the way you prefer. Be yourself because you’re the only person in this whole world who is anything like you and, I’m just saying, you’re pretty amazing.

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Design Your Life Diary

Your Journal is Your Friend

07/27/2012

If I told you what has been going on the past few months (April – present) you probably wouldn’t even believe me. Life-shattering events, depression over both my health (and my shoddy management of it) and many things I may never be able to admit. Let’s just say I have a lot of new and interesting material for that novel I’ve been writing off and on for years. Emotional pain is a horrible inspirational tool but it does tend to give artists new ideas and possibly even better work.

It seems whenever a terrible situation happens I revert back to journaling. I like to journal devastating events and situations because I know one day I’ll look back at those entries and see I made it through them. One day I’ll be in a much better place and it will make me feel so accomplished what I actually made it through — something that at one time seemed impossible for me to do or to handle. I also feel it’s important for one to keep a journal just simply so they can get a glimpse at a past self. We’re always changing and learning — sometimes seeing that change by looking back can help you decide where you’re headed next. Or just show you where you’re never headed ever again. Not only that but when you journal you release your emotions in a healthy way. Remember that no one (therapists excluded), no matter how much they love you, will be willing to deal with your constant venting and/or crying. Everyone faces problems in their life and everyone tends to assume their problems are more serious. Your journal, however, is always ready to hear more.

If there is something going on in your life causing unbearable pain and uncertainty do not give up on yourself or on obtaining your goals in life. Instead use it as a time to grow inside and to eventually become stronger and more prepared. Sometimes we need a shove to become the person we knew we could always be. Grieve, cry, get it all out, but do not give up. The more positive thinking you do (it’s ok to fake it — you’ll retrain your brain to think positive things and to leave the negative ones behind) and the more healthy changes you make will get you that much closer to manifesting your desires.

Soon we’re going to have more journal activities in which you will actually learn interesting facts about yourself and find more manageable ways to change and become the person you want to be inside. I look forward to journaling with you again. Keep your head up!

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Design Your Life

Change and Toxicity in all Colors

07/12/2012

Ever look at a photo of yourself from a week ago (or even days ago) and feel so happy and proud that you are no longer the same person? That you hardly recognize yourself? Sometimes events force you to become the person you were meant to be, sometimes you need tough love or a hard push in the right direction just so you can prove to yourself you CAN do anything. Most times though all you need to make the right change is YOU.

“They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself.”
~ Andy Warhol

Turning to Smoking for Stress Relief?

Most continual smokers assume that smoking a cigarette eases their stress and anxiety when actually they are relieving their desire for nicotine. Smoking is obviously an unhealthy way to relieve stress and anxiety but it actually increases stress on the body and tends to create more anxiety as smokers rely on or desire nicotine to relieve their stress. Want the cycle to end? Stop smoking.

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Visual Splendor

Cat Ladies Are So Vogue Right Now

06/13/2012

The mize-en-scenes in this May 2008 photoshoot for Vogue Italia by Miles Alderidge (who I also found out shares my love for the photographic beauty of a toxic cigarette) make me foam at the mouth. It makes me excited that so many artists continue to be as inspired by cats and their beauty as I am. I used to be made into such an outcast because my art was focused on cats and would often hear both unintelligent and negative comments about them and the assumed shortcomings of their personalities. Today cats are in Vogue, on jewelry, on clothes and in your home stealing your internets.

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Visual Splendor

Rune Boutique

06/13/2012

“Rune Boutique is based on the vast amounts of illustrations left by Rune Naito, the roots of kawaii culture. Rune Boutique is a project intending to spread and re-appropriate the tradition of kawaii culture!

Rune Boutique is a ficticious store packed with a girls ideals. The intent of Rune Boutique is to create these ideal items and spread them. We will start to create this world with artists and creators who share the same wide and free thinking and imagination that Rune Naito had.” ~ Rune Boutique

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Escapeland

Vintage Pose, Boudoir, and Bradley Dolls

12/06/2011

I’ve recently become a little obsessed with another type of doll. The vintage pose doll. I’ve been planning an article on them for awhile now but digging up information on them proves more difficult than digging up a beautiful doll at a swell bargain! One blogger writes, “Certainly, Bradley Dolls don’t have the stunning quality of Madame Alexander dolls or those dear Betsy McCalls, but they’ve got nostalgia in spades.” I have to agree with that, just one glance at that kitschy face and many are hooked!

These dolls, manufactured in Korea and Japan by Bradley in 1954 to 1984, were most popular in the 1970s. They were known as boudoir dolls most often although they were also known as stockinette dolls, pose dolls, cloth dolls, southern bell dolls and more. A small selection of these kind of dolls have the big eyes and craved-for kitschy appearance. Many more of the dolls made by Bradley had more delicate and realistic features according to a catalog I saw in another blog.

Lucky for us, in addition to the dolls with victorian fashion, Bradley also put out a line of mod cloth dolls in the 1960s. These dolls had cute, cropped haircuts, huge hair and the sweetest mini mod dresses and costumes.

Buy this print here!

I found my first pose doll years ago in a large thrift store. She is a bunny doll which I’ve found, upon searching online auctions, was another semi-common style of pose doll. She won me over with one look and I’ve been hooked ever since. You see I had been hoping to find a pose doll for ages after falling in love with both Ayumi Uyama’s and Boopsiedaisy’s work. More recently I’ve been ogling these dolls again and I’ve decided to buy a few more and even start a side project devoted to these girls!

Do you own or want to own any of these beautiful dolls? 😉

All of the photos seen here are by Boopsiedaisy, Ayumi Uyama, and myself.

AND it gets better. I happened to be surfing around Flickr, another obsession of mine, when I found out that Super*Junk actually makes and sells pose doll kits. Gasp. The day I have one in my grubby hands is the day I am a very, VERY happy girl.

26 Comments

Escapeland

I Love Gumball Machines

12/04/2011

Remember the trill of gumball machines? The magic of finding the machine that has what you want and putting in a quarter only to have it pop out a tiny prize?

I LOVED them as a child and I have to admit that I still do. I still eye the quarter machines in the mall in case there’s a Blythe-sized treasure waiting to be found, I still pour yen into gashapon machines when I’m in Japan hoping for the cutest of the cute, and I still love every minute of it. They’re almost like little gambling machines that you win at every time. What could be better?

According to Wikipedia, vending machines were widely used in Europe before they became popular in the United States. In the early 1880s, the first commercial coin operated vender was introduced in London and stocked with postcards.

So this post is in honor of the gumball machine, quarter machine, gashapon (or gacha) and the chicken machine. Each of them have made my days a little brighter and a little more whimsical with their plastic, surprise balls. And you know how much I love surprise balls.

In fact, in honor of my love for the gumball machine I decided to craft my own cameo gumball rings and supply them to you in a plastic gumball capsule to remind you of those wonder-filled childhood days. I’ve also moved the shop here to stay (an economical decision!) so you don’t have to go far to browse. I hope you enjoy them!

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Diary

Penpals, Stickers and Crafting Crazy

11/18/2011

Hello everyone! Hope you are all doing well this wonderful weekend. I’m about to go check my mailbox — I’m always smiling large after that! Especially after I started swapping and penpalling again. 😉 Wee! Just checked it and have about 4 packages and 5 envelopes — I hope I find some cute ATCs to put in my collection! I love to wait to open my mail until after I’m done with work. I like to take it all in my bedroom, on my bed, and open them one by one often with Ben by my side. He likes to see what I get. I’ve recently gotten him liking hot tea so he’s interested to see if I get any teas in the mail from other countries. If you’d like to swap tea please let me know because I’m always up to trying new ones! We stock tons of tea in our house from all over so you’ll be sure to get a tasty mix in return.

I’ve also joined this Blythe Swap Flickr Group recently and I’m joining up in my first swap this holiday. My partner is new as well so we’ve both been excitedly chatting about it a lot. I’ve already been spoiling her and purchasing REALLY CUTE winter gifts for her dolls. I want to blab all about it but I’m being polite and keeping it a surprise. 😉 I’ll be sure to update with photos after we swap.

Remember in the surprise ball post how I offered to swap them with anyone interested? Well I’ve already crafted 7 surprise balls since (including Christmas balls for Ben and Jamie!)! Whahaha! I think I’m finally becoming a pro at tucking those presents in and keeping it ball-shaped. LOL, what a valuable skill!

So since I got asked from a few of you about swapping and what kind of things I send and receive I thought I’d do a post on it. I use my Flickr as a blog sort-of, if you’re interested, I update it almost daily and often add photos of the swaps I send and receive.

Recently I was in a Matryoshka Dotee Doll Swap and I sent these but I haven’t received mine yet. I’m really excited because my partner messaged me and said they were really detailed. I love matryoshka dolls. I only have one but she’s sweet, holding a cat that looks like Hobbes. If you don’t know what a dotee doll is welcome to the club. I was completely confused as to what they were so I read up on it before joining and creating a Kawaii Dotee Doll Swap.

I’ve also been in a ton of ATC swaps so I’m posting some that I’ve sent as well as the small collection I’ve built of ATCs and swap cards found/received and kept. ATCs are fun — I draw shaky these days and I love using textured paper so they’re not perfect but they’re fun. They’re getting me to draw and paint a lot again which is great. I’ll do a complete post on making ATCs soon.

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DIY Scans

Kitschy Scans: Black Lamb and Bluebird

11/16/2011

Here’s a sweet black lamb and bluebird to cuten up your crafts and collages. To download right click the image and load the link in a new window then save the image to your hard drive.

3 Comments

Crafts DIY

Quilt an Easy Blythe Doll Duvet

11/15/2011

This is an easy charm quilt pattern for a beginner. I am COMPLETELY new to quilting. In fact this is my very first quilt so I’ll be learning along with you! Because I am so new I looked at a few patterns, one for a rag quilt, one for a charm quilt and one for a baby quilt, and altered them a bit for my Blythe-sized doll quilt. Remember this is a rag doll quilt so it’s not going to look pristine unless you are a seasoned quilter which I definitely am not. Also be sure to read to the end of this post for things learned upon making this. 😉

First cut out 25 1.5 inch wide squares of your chosen fabric(s) and lay them out as you would prefer them to look by your sewing area. If you want a rectangular quilt you’ll need to cut 5 rows of 8 squares = 40 squares.

Next sew 5 rows of 5 squares each with a 1-2 cm seam allowance. After you’ve sewn all of your rows press them and sew them in numerical order to each other (see how messy I sew??).

Next cut out a thin piece of fabric in your desired pattern the size of your quilt and piece them off sides together if you’re quilt stitching. Quilt stitching is the part I don’t understand so after doing extensive research online I found out that there really is no easy way to do it. You can do it yourself or ask a quilter to help you out. You can find a pattern online and follow the pattern by hand or machine. I chose to skip it.

To give your quilt a more finished look you’ll want to bind the borders with fabric — or make it easy and use thick-ribbon. I’m also new at binding so I decided to skip it this time and sew my quilt to the other panel as though I was making a pillow. I put them right sides together and sewed around the edges leaving a small (2-3 inch) space. Then I turned the blanket right-side out and, because I am not a quilter, sewed a line from one corner to the other making a big X to keep the pieces together.

Things I learned: Next time I’m going to make it 5 squares by 8 squares for a Blythe-bed sized quilt. I didn’t think about how small it would be getting upon sewing it, duh!

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