Lolita Blog Carnival: Tips for Surviving the Summer in Lolita

1.) Wear a chiffon blouse. There are some Jsks that can look nice without a blouse. But wearing a blouse, even when its hot, holds the benefit of protecting your dress from sweat (eww). Keeping dresses in good condition is important  to many lolitas. Especially for those with "revolving closets" that tend to buy and sell their items alot. A chiffon blouse is light weight, and having extra coverage on your shoulders can help prevent a painful sunburn. Loliable chiffon blouses are also easy to find at many popular mainstream clothing shops. 

2.) Carry a parasol. Parasols are fantastic. I bet every person writing on this week's topic will mention parasols. They are a feminine, frilly, and pretty accessory with a victorian flavor. They also come with the benefit of personalized shade.

3.) Short socks/ crew socks. For whatever reason, I always grew up calling these "bobby socks". Though I personally can't pull them off        they can be use to create very cute coordinates.

4.) Go with natural hair. The wig may tempt you with its promise of beautifully, perfect, already styled hair. But it's appeal will quickly wear off when it becomes a nuisance that you can't take off while out and about.

5.) Be mindful and considerate if you are hosting a meetup. Pick indoor locations, like the movies, or a tea house. Some botantical gardens, zoos, parks ext will have events at dusk during the summer if you want to do    something out doors.

6.) Go with lighter colors. This one from Angelic Pretty is a great example of a very cute summer time coordinate that incorporates many of the tips I've mentioned here.

7.) Keep hydrated! Here's a recipe for Disney Land's famous (non-alcoholic) mint julep. It is cool and refreshing, I always look forward to it when I go there :D 

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
3 tsp lime juice concentrate
3 cups club soda
6 Tbsp creme de menthe syrup (not liqueur)
6 oz thawed lemonade concentrate
mint leaves

METHOD
Dissolve sugar into club soda. Add lime juice and lemonade and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add creme de menthe. Chill.

To serve, combine 3 parts syrup to 5 parts water. Add mint, or fruit as garnish. Serve chilled 

See other Carnival Member posts for even more tips on staying cool this summer

Lace-a-lamode

The Bloody Tea Party

FyeahLolita

Ima-Princess

Lolita In the Sky With Diamonds

Ramble Rori

Starry Eyed Lolita

Jess Cosmic Delight

A Sweet Lolita's Disney Life

Tutorial: How to Insert Eyelets / Grommets

Eyelets , or Grommets, can be a practical and unique touch to many sewing and crafting projects. But sometimes they can be tricky to insert. After playing around with them a lot I found using the Sew-ology eyelet kit, is the best way to place them in fabric

My Most Recent Wardrobe Addition

      So today I was very exited to wear my newest addition to my wardrobe: BTSSB Snow White JSK in black. It has been a dress I've been looking for a long time. At first I found it in pink, and then literally the next day it showed up in black. Talk about buyer remorse. I need to sell the pink as its strange to have two of the same dress, I'd rather have variety! It's an older print, with a gorgeous rendering of the story of Snow White. I think I like older prints more than new prints. They have such a nostalgic feel, and remind me of when I was first getting into this fashion years ago.~*

     The dress is very versatile and can be dressed up or down. Today I chose to make an otome styled coordinate, for the meetup I was supposed to go to today. Unfortunately, it was canceled because of the rain. But I still put on my frills and had a meetup of one. 

I went with simple hair and makeup today. Currently, I'm on the search for apple themed items to go along with this dress, instead I had to settle for my Cinderella's carriage necklace. The blouse is chiffon and perfect for summer, grab one at F21 while its still available as its a great, cheap wardrobe builder for your Lolita ensembles.

PS: This is also my first Lolita Blog Carnival post! 

Check out other's most Recent Wardrobe Additions

Under The Parasol

Hello Batty

Hello Kitty Loves Disney

Annie Old Fashioned

Masquerade Doll

The Bloody Tea Party

Ima Princess

Ramble Rori

*~Bye~*

Loliable Bathing Suits

One can not really don their lolita frills at the beach or the pool. But what's a girl to do when she wants to keep her frilly aesthetic on her sea faring adventures?

1.) Go Retro! There are a lot of great vintage inspired options out there. The one thing that I dont like about the retro bathing suit trend is the high waisted bottoms. They look like granny pannies, and are rather unflattering.

Instead go with something with a bustier top like this from  sea folly , and pair it with a modern bottom. And for those that want a one-piece, this one from shabby apple is adorable with it's lovely pink accent bow.

2.) Make Your Own! Go on Etsy or wherever you source your patterns, and try to snag one of these beauties McCalls 5906 , or Simplicity 1604. The silhouette is very ballerina like, you'll be the only girl on the beach with it!

3.) Stick with Brand. Both Baby the Stars Shine Bright and Metamorphose have released bathing suits, but they may be difficult to find! Hopefully they will release new versions this season.

*~So what sort of bathing suit have you gotten for this summer? ^_^

I Will Dance on Your Grave!

So I was looking through some old pictures on my phone and found these photos from last year from an outing . We went to the Cheek Wood botanical gardens which is a really cool place if you ever go to Tennessee. I never posted them to daily lolita over all the rules they broke, but I think they are perfect for this weeks theme on EGL.

Here is my friend, she's a proper and good lolita, she was not even mad at the two gentlemen photo bombing her.
See how good she is? She just air pets the statues so her hands dont get dirty, thats how good she is.

I am very bad! No petticoat D: no Blouse D: no hair done D:

Cheek Wood also has really cool, modern art statues. I thought this one looked like a giant claw coming out of the ground, Im pretending to be scared. Some random people came up and asked me if I was pretending to be trapped like a mime lol. They said I was to smiley to look scared XD

Anyway it was a very beautiful place to visit. 

Here is their website link if you'd like to know more about them! http://www.cheekwood.org/

"The fifty-five acre site includes the original Cheek gardens, designed by Bryant Fleming, with pools, fountains, statuary, extensive boxwood plantings and breathtaking views of the rolling Tennessee hills. Cheekwood was opened to the public in 1960 and the many specialized gardens have developed since that time.

Visitors will discover a Japanese garden, an herb garden, two perennial gardens, a color garden, water garden, seasons garden and an award-winning wildflower garden. Each garden has a special purpose presenting a particular group of plants or garden style. "

Also please note, these are not real head stones,( unless Sappho was really buried here, but I highly doubt that) no dead people were disturbed by my frolicking. XD

Until Next Time!

Hobbit Vest Simplicity 2346

People who know me well know that I am a huge Lord of the Rings dork. XD I was super exited about the Hobbit coming out that I wanted to make costumes for my brother and I. Unfortunately all I was able to make was a Hobbit style vest for my brother.

Too Faced BB Cream Review : Snow Glow

One of my favorite make up brands is Too Faced, I'm just a total sucker for their princessy packaging. I have been wanting to try out their BB cream collection but the Vanilla Glow has always been to dark for me. Luckily, last time at Sephora I picked it up in Snow Glow :D 

Indoor Lighting

In all honesty, it's still a tad bit too dark, but I figure since summer is coming I will probably get a little tanner. ( or maybe not since this BB cream contains a 20 SPF) My favorite thing about this BB cream is the little tiny gold sparkles! This gives your skin a soft luminous look.

The consistency is great and it blends very well. A little bit of product is enough for your whole face. Though, it does not have fantastic coverage like its Asian counterparts. I find that a lot of my scaring and freckles are still present, but diminished. A benefit to this though is that it has a very lightweight feeling.

 Also this bb cream does need to be set with powder, if you want a matte look, and my skin does tend to look a little greasy after a few hours. But, it has not broken me out or irritated my sensitive skin.

Overall, I love it and its my current go to BB cream!

Natural light

Simplicity 3809 Renaissance Review

This year I decided I wanted to dress up for the Tennessee Renaissance Festival ( more info click here )
I have dressed up before with a borrowed outfit and decided I wanted my own. But Renaissance festival outfits are crazy expensive. I just can't justify spending 300$ on something Im only going to wear it once a year, if that.
Luckily I hoard costume patterns! :D I decided to use Simplicity 3809 from my stash. I have never made a renaissance bodice before so I wanted one that was pretty, but simple.
I made the hand maidens version of the bodice and blouse.

How to Use and Clean Koh I Noor Rapidograph pens

When it comes to getting a fine line, certain pens are better than others. Sakura micron pens are great but they don't last very long. Technical drafting pens are refillible and can get the thinnest line possible. Though CAD has mostly replaced these pens for drafting, they still have a place in the art world. But there are importants things about these pens I wish I had known before using them. I use the brand Koh I Noor, but there are other brands such as the Staedtler Marsmatic. In the picture, to the left is the ink reservoir, mine has ink in it so it is not clear. The yellow band has the threads that twist it into the the pen. Do not disassemble the pen except for the reservoir, as it can lead the pen to leak. Shaking the pen also leads to leaks.

• If you drop it, then pens will break and be useless. These pens write with a thin filimant wire, if it breaks off/ gets bent the pen will know longer write.
• The smaller the tip of the pen, the easier it will break. DO NOT use the small ones on textured paper, for instance, watercolor paper. Lint from the paper will get into the tip and break it.
• make sure you have pen cleaner such as rapidoease. Dip the pen tip in between drawing sessions to prevent it from clogging. And completely clean with it when you are done using the pens for awhile.
• If the pens have dried ink, submerge  them in the solution. Then rinse with water. For really clogged pens fill the ink reservoir with the cleaning solution and let it sit so it can clean out the pen from the inside. 
• Koh i noor make a special bulb for cleaning but I have not purchased one, as they are expensive. 

Here's a piece of mine done using these pens. Feel free to ask any questions about these pens ^_^

 Alvin 3165SP4 Rapidograph 4-pen Tech Pen Set (Google Affiliate Ad)

One can purchase these pens from the above link, ebay, or online art stores. Some physical art stores sell these pens, but look online first to make sure they are selling them for a fair price.