Care packages

 

Hey everyone~ here are just some photos of some super duper cute charms from a care package that my friend Lily had made and sent me!!! Aren't they super cute? I love them to death !!! 

 

Unfortunately though the last package that had arrived at my house had gotten super smashed! What used to be a really cute little cake with a sweet little strawberry on top turned out to be what used to be....but that's okay!!! The next package that usps arrived in perfect condition and I love it to death. Thank you so much Lily, you're amazing and incredible...your work becomes so much cooler each time I see it! 

Designing practice

 

Hey everyone! So these are just some photos of the things that I've been up to in my costuming class more recently. We are currently working on a design project and for preping, we are currently learning how to draw and color using various mediums. The above is of a coloring page of my favorite flower that I had first done using regular colored pencils (left flower), and the other using watercolor pencils (right). Both, although the same color scheme look very different due to the medium, and really that's the whole point of us learning and trying to figure out the unit. 

 

The second photo that you see here is a quick photo that I had drawn of me in my April harajuku fashion walk outfit! I drew it on watercolor paper as I soon plan on getting a variety of watercolor and prismacolor marker testing in my nearby future (it'll be a mess, but isn't that the point?). 

 

And lastly, a photo of a book that I very so much need.....please if anyone needs to get me a birthday gift or something for Christmas, let it be this dang gorgeous book!

Comic book heels!

 

Hey everyone. These shoes are one of my leaders projects! I am really excited to show it to everyone because it's really really cool. The shoes that I will be talking about are a pair of heels that's I had use mod podge on to create a comic book heel. I have always wanted to make one of these, so I am very excited that I finally was able to. I will also be talking about how much this project costed me, because I am a total cheapskate and also a sad sad college student that knows how expensive the world is. Now moving on~~ 

 

So it started off this project using a regular comic book, white glue, mod podge, paintbrushes, and a pair of size 6 wedged heels. Accompanying this, I had also used a woodburning tool to probably heat seal the edges of my comic strips to the actual heel. This is because it's easier and also more sturdy as it seals the coated comic strips to the heel plastic. This also creates a much smoother and nicer finish, looking very professional and less likely to crack. Altogether, the project probably had taken roughly 5 hours long including the drying time, and was also about five dollars in cost. I am still celebrating over the fact that I got the heels for two dollars. God bless thrift stores!

 

Here are some close up photos of all of the angles for the heels! These have probablyjust become my new favorite pair of heels, along with my favorite do-it-yourself kind of project.

The comic is called Archie comics and this is of Betty and Veronica. The comic edition is 276. 

 

I really love this comic Edition in particular, because this is the one where Betty and Veronica are exchange students in South Korea. The two of them switch places and change their hair colors and styles to impersonate to the other, in hopes to fool those around them. This actually ends up turning into a scene in which Veronica and that he learned to love what they used to hate about themselves and about each other. And they become much stronger friends from there on out. I am very excited and very satisfied knowing that I did use this comic in particular for these heels. They feel so much more meaningful and so much nicer as I truly admire and love Betty and Veronica and their friendship.

 

I had also put in two very particular pictures. On the outside of the left heel is a picture of Veronica crying. In reality it is actually Betty in disguise as Veronica. On the outside of the right heel is a picture of Betty crying. In reality it is actually Veronica as Betty in disguise. These photos are actually of one another directly after their fight and argument because one and the other have come to find themselves challenged by who they really are.

I honestly think that it looks really cool, and the overall look and the color scheme that I had actually stayed true to really really looked awesome.

 

 

I have done my best to actually document the entire story of Betty and Veronica when they were going through their argument in South Korea. You can actually see on the heels where they both enjoy themselves, and also where they come to find trouble with one another. Later you can also see that they are very happy and satisfied and they come to love one another at different points on the heels.

 

Lastly here's some photos of how they look worn! I think they look really nice. I'm also very satisfied with how the edges look and with how clean and well crafted they are. I'm very happy that I went over it again with a woodburning tool to seal the edges and to outline a part of the heel to highlight the original shape of it. It looks much nicer and much in my opinion.

 

Thanks for reading!

Japanese Tea Ceremony Demonstation

Hey everyone! I'm sorry for how clumsy I've been time wise. I haven't been managing my time as well as I should have been. I completely forgot to make a blog post for yesterday, so I'm a post or so behind from my attempted daily routine! I hope you all are doing well. This post will be about a tea ceremony demonstration that I had the fortune of being a part of when I had some work to do in Little Tokyo. All of the photos seen in this post were taken by John Woo. You can find his work on his facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/johnwoooooo/?fref=ts

The person beside me that I will be having the tea ceremony with is Sarah. You can find them at their facebook page PJ Hime : https://www.facebook.com/pjhime/?fref=ts .

I don't have a lot to say about the tea ceremony, aside from it being a very simplified version of the tea ceremony. It was absolutely amazing to be a part of it though. I had originally watched my friends Shelby and Keith perform the tea ceremony, and when I was asked if I'd like to be a part of it for free I nearly jumped for joy! It definitely is a great opportunity that I would recommend to anyone who is truly interested in traditional parts of Japanese culture. It's a dying art, but it's a very wonderful art at that. I hope that we are able to have enough people who are willing to continue these forms of art in every culture because it would definitely be a shame for it to become extinct. 

The Sensei that was providing the demonstration to us is Takahashi Sokei, and assisting her was her mentee Rayko Dig. You can find more information about their tea ceremony demonstrations on their website: http://sokeitea.com/ . 

Also..funny story but I guess I'm a little too rough with my hands...I had snapped the wooden eating utensil that was used for cutting the delicious wagashi (a sweet dessert that is served during the Japanese tea ceremony). I believe the wagashi that we were provided was a type of Yokan (a thick, jellied dessert made out of red bean paste, agar, and sugar) as it was in a familiar shape to the traditional Yokan, had the taste of red bean, and we were asked to cut our wagashi into slices (which is how Yokan is typically eaten). 

Overall, it was a very, very wonderful experience. I know that I've said it a couple of times already but it's an experience that I will remember until the day that I die. The matcha tea that we were served was very delicious and was practically the best serving that I had ever had the luxury of tasting. The experience had also surprisingly brought me much, much closer to my now close friend Sarah, which is truly a moment in time that I will hold close to my heart. 

The Prince Life -- Styling Projects

Hey guys! I had finished typing this out yesterday, but I guess I had passed out right after? Sorry for the tardiness on yesterday's post. I'll be making two posts today in this case. But moving on, my costuming class had a styling project that I was really interested in! Although I'm not the best at styling others when limited to a specific number of items, I'm incredibly satisfied with what photos had come out of it of me (narcissistic, I know).

All of the costumes were from FCLO costume rentals in Fullerton, California. You can find their contact information at this website: http://www.fclo.com/contact-us-2/contact-costume-rentals/

This picture above has got to be one of my top favorites. Will's face is priceless as always, and Caitlyn is literally the sweetest looking guard who will fight for your survival when given the means to. As for me, the lighting was JUST right to get my face to slim down...and surprisingly my hair had managed to look like it was cut even though it was just in a ponytail. 

This next photo has definitely been one of my favorites. My friend Jaime gets referred to as my "invisible gay" mom, and Will's coat was kept under the "anime" section of the costumes. I also REALLY loved the look of the ballgown...and I hope that one day I'll be able to wear something as stunning as this one day. 

Caption: "tfw your gay mom embarrasses you in front of your anime prom date"

Final photos from the styling project! My partner was Cassandra, and she's fairly good at knowing what she'd like to do. Given how my body is too, I have an easier time fitting into a lot of different costumes for men. It was fairly difficult trying to make the costumes look like they all fitted on me accordingly, but I think we did an okay job. 

This specific look was based on the prince from Once Upon A Time. I really enjoyed how it turned out though! 

After this project, I kind of want more opportunities to dress up like a prince or a knight in shining armor. In fact, I already have a prince cosplay coming up and if you're not excited then I'm questioning your need to read this blog post.

But honestly, some makeup would have probably heightened the look of my styling oh so much better. I truly wish I thought it through...but given the time I didn't think it was worth it. Stoked with how it all turned out though!

Wondercon (Day 2)!

Hey everyone! I'm back again with the second post from Wondercon this year. It was pretty great, in all honesty. My friends had joined me and they were ghosting and we all were kind of goofing around too. It was pretty great! There'll be a lot more photos in this post compared to some of the others as I took a lot of pictures of work I was fond of in the exhibit hall and artist alley. I actually managed to go to Wondercon this time around with my amazingly fun gang filled....but Moving on...

Belated Wondercon Posts (Day 1) !

Hey everyone! I'm sorry for my absence. I've been out and about as always with school and extra things here and there. I have a TON to tell you all about, but for right now I'll show you guys my Wondercon photos! I don't have a lot as I've been cutting down on my photos...but I hope you can find enjoyment in what I have...? 

***

MOVING ON! Well, here we have a gorgeous photo of me being a lame-o Maya (Ace Attorney) and my friend Will from my costuming class in his amazing Loki cosplay. Surprisingly, when I was trying to find my friend Allen...I found him instead. But that's okay! That's REALLY not what matters here. It was just comforting to stumble across this great person and to be able to see faces that made me feel very so much at home. 

Costuming 103 -- Personifying 18 Years of History

Hey everyone! I know that it's been a while, and that I've been slacking a lot due to my life stresses and my overall troubles with my on and off schedule. I have yet to find a reasonable blogging application for my phone that's meant for blogger. There's a lot of bugs and a lot of problems that I'm trying to stumble through the hoops of...but hopefully things get easier and I can maneuver my way around without a problem at some point. I'm probably going to try and figure out how to get my hands on another laptop that I can use outside of the house, a smaller one like a netbook or something of that sort. I'm in need of something like that for my classes anyway, and it's been difficult trying to get through. I'm going to keep fighting through, and I'm going to do the best that I can. 

(A gift from my friend Dylan; a stress relief ball that is heavily needed for me to manage my emotions on a daily basis.)

Sooo... 

Moving on, I've been conflicted to post about this mask due to its meaning and the emotions that accompanied it when I was making and reliving my past from very different perspectives. In the end, I decided that I wasn't going to post about this anywhere on social media and that I would just keep it to myself. I would keep it to myself, and allow those in my costuming class to know and feel everything that I did while making this because in my heart, my safe zone is with these people...and that brings me immense joy...but it's becoming a need for me to describe and post about this now as I'm taking the needed steps to accept and embrace myself as a whole. I'm no longer going to hide aspects of me in fear that people won't want to hear it, or that I'm being depicted as weak and troubled and the like due to the pride that I was raised with. 

Concept board w/ paint swatches for color scheme

Inspired by the Japanese sub-fashion Menhera/yumekawaii , inspired by the Japanese slang "menhera" (which means "mental health"), I had decided to embrace the side of me that has been struggling to get by everyday. I have always had this overbearing sense of sadness and I've always felt troubled growing up, and I was never sure of why. I have so many feelings of anxiety and my fear has started to engrave its presence in my soul. I have so many memories and distraught feelings from trauma that has started to haunt me in my daily life and in my dreams. Everyday of my life, more recently, has started to become a fight.