Thursday, June 6, 2013

Indie Lolita Brands on Webs.com

I made a sister site in a ways for my passion for indie lolita brands!


It's pretty basic so far but it's easier to navigate to than linking to the google spreadsheet of indie brands (but it's embedded as one of the pages). The website features a indie brand list, Featured Brand of the Month, and Sew-loli inspiration. This month features Lady Sloth for Featured Brand and baroquepetrock for Sew-loli.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Back from the dead?

I had a hard semester this spring and had to cut down on blogging. I also decided to switch my major from nursing to something else because I didn't have the same drive as everyone else and couldn't handle the stress of clinicals. T_T I'd prefer to do something else that I would have more passion for. In addition, I have become more active in the local lolita community (Japanese street fashion) and have been buying more clothing online &

Here are my backlogged reviews that I'll be posting in the next couple of days:

  • Mystery Garden Blouse review
  • Lady Sloth Cherubim Skirt review
  • Pink Eden Arpakasso (Penult's shop) review
  • Outfit post for my lolita coords
  • Giveaway winnings from Karimew.com
  • Perfecter hair iron/curler review
Hope you're having a great summer!


Monday, February 11, 2013

New decoden listings on Etsy!

Here's an update with all of the things that I've made last month related to decoden. I've also added some pics from Instagram that are related too~ It was my first time trying "chocolate" silicone and I think it turned out fabulously on the case with lots of chocolate. I just need to make more brown deco pieces to make another case someday and I can always use mini chocolate chip cookies in any deco theme!


Success with 3 cases!!!
SOLD! The buyer got it as a Valentine's Day present... how sweet! 
Chocolate OVERLOAD!!! http://www.etsy.com/listing/122401932/melty-chocolate-decoden-iphone-44s-case
http://www.etsy.com/listing/122401598/purple-chocolate-decoden-iphone-44s-case
Deco mirrors from Forever 21 (pink hearts) and Taobao (cookies)
Pink deco box, not listed yet

Purple Deco Box, not listed yet
Homemade resin cabochons from molds http://instagram.com/p/VhffP7lVl5/
I never sent it to Instagram, but here's a decoden book that I bought at Mitsuwa in Chicago.
I want to try making that...

This lunch box looks super cute! 
And this book is full of super inspiring examples and tutorials

EXTRA PIC:

My small haul from Mitsuwa Chicago http://instagram.com/p/UsZsVulVi-/
(yes, I love REAL and wanted a hard copy of SBR since it was my first Jojo series)

Monday, February 4, 2013

Arpakasso: Ryama-chan has arrived!

Ah, the best alpaca has arrived in the mail today! I got it from Penult aka kittyblacksheep on Alpacasso & Fandom Sales (Storenvy). Let me share the Instagram photo first though:

http://instagram.com/p/VST5ANlVkk/ PLEASE CREDIT!!!
It turns out that she gave me an extra cellphone strap alpaca! The joys of being a return customer? ^_^;


Now for the opening and more pics:

All of the EMS boxes from this shop have always gotten messed up in delivery T_T
Squished inside (the alpaca always turns out OK despite the box appearance)
Pop goes the alpaca!
Mini cellphone strap was an extra gift!
HQ pic from my camera instead of my phone~
I'm weirded out by the embroidered nose and mouth though. Hopefully this is a thing in the rerelease of this series as I've been looking at stock photos and the newer Paradise series for preorder seem to have the embroidered nose and mouth too. I know it's legit but it may be because that this is LLAMA (リャマ) instead of an alpaca... Or Amuse may be switching over to that style for lower production costs~


MINI REVIEW
Penult's shop is a one-person business and she offers pre-orders on new series. She sent me an email on  January 25, 2012 with a shipping confirmation and it arrived in 8 days via EMS. I'm always glad to buy from her as she always has some discounts going on! There's also the deal for free shipping included (airmail) but you can always upgrade to tracking and faster shipping.

Here's a 10% coupon code to use on a purchase: garagesalejapan

Storenvy: http://alpacasso.storenvy.com/
Tumblr: http://kittyblacksheep.tumblr.com/

Friday, January 18, 2013

♥ Lolita Indie Brand Clothing List ♥

Clockwise from left: Haenuli ♥ Baroque ♥ Lady Sloth


UPDATE: check out my sister site Indie Lolita Brands

This spreadsheet ONLY includes shops that sell clothing (skirt/JSK/OP/blouse) and have various examples of their work up online.

Taobao has an extensive spreadsheet (which already includes indie brands) but there was no spreadsheet for other indie brands? I am new to lolita and I am saddened that the current egl list of indie brands is not really complete.

Initially, I looked at:
Another problem that I encountered was being plus sized and whether shops had plus sized clothing available before custom sizing. To my surprise most shops sell most items custom size for free or with an extra fee. Several USA indie brands offer up to 3X in clothing size?! Although these brands might be more expensive, a lot of them are high quality clothing.

If you feel like you have more expertise in this area, contact me and I can give you editing permission to update the list. (I'll be adding the other Japanese indie brands and more details later).

Monday, January 7, 2013

TaobaoNow Review: Petticoats!

I really like lolita fashion and I'm trying to build up my wardrobe before going to a meetup. Unfortunately, I don't have a ton of money & fit into secondhand brand and bought some items from Bodyline to start out. I've been stalking lolita-tips for a while and it pointed me towards Classical Puppets for petticoats! I used Taobaonow as a shopping service since I heard Clobbaonline/Qutieland is pricier.

  • For other Taobao shopping services, see this spreadsheet
  • For the Lolita Taobao Guide by YetanotherJfashionblog, click here
  • For Hello Lace Taobao Guide, click here
  • Also, here's a Taobao shop list for lolita clothing.



My Taobao Order

I got an A-line petticoat, bell petticoat (both Classical Puppets in custom size since I'm plus size), Chic Doll brown oxford shoes size 40, and cookie mirrors. Sad right? I know lolita depends on brand items but I heard petticoats is the first thing to invest in. Plus I finally figured out my real measurements!


A-line petti: Buy it!
Bell petti: Buy it!
Oxford Booties: Buy it!


Total Price and Review

TaobaoNow charges 10% service fees and the general Paypal fees too. They can take pics of your items if you ask them!!! (I didn't know about this and have no preview pic, but it's more important for a large order). The best part is the webcart option, where you just copy&paste the URL of the items that you want to get and the details (size, color, etc). I used Paypal to pay, but you have to ask for that option. My package weighed 2.222kg total, cost $114.02 (items) +$55.77 (EMS shipping) = $169.79 TOTAL! They have a 40% discount on EMS shipping so in this case, it was $5 cheaper than Hong Kong airmail and faster too.

Comparison to Clobbaonline or Qutieland: 
  • Clobba: $75.90 +$(custom size fee) +$(shipping) +$39(shoes, mirrors) =$114 w/o all shipping or custom size fee
  • Qutieland: $102.57 +$46.71(shipping) +$39(shoes, mirrors) =$188 w/o added shipping cost
  • The shoes add a lot to the shipping cost by weight :'(

Length of order to delivery: Put in order on Nov. 23, initial paypal invoice on Nov. 24, next paypal invoice on Dec. 10, shipped from their office on Dec.10, arrived at my apartment on Jan. 4. Please note I ordered a custom size petticoat AND during holiday/Christmas/New Year time so it was much slower than on average. TOTAL: 42 days.

Communication: average, since they have decent English but not fluent. The messaging system works well as I was informed that the shoes run a size smaller than usual and I got a size 40 instead.


Pics!!!

It was actually a tiny box! Like 2 shoeboxes stacked on top of each other...
Wrapped in super sticky plastic wrap
It was really a small order!
They actually fit pretty well! I have wide feet so I will only wear tights with these.
Detail
Not sure if these are inserts?
Bought this for deco... more pics of them decorated soon!
Classical Puppets Bell Petticoat (white) - extra poofy!
Classical Puppets A-Line Petticoat (black)
No petti
A-Line Petti
Bell Petti
BOTH PETTI?!?!
When you add a petti, you add POOF and volume to your skirt!
*** Bodyline L353 skirt that I'm wearing is more fit for bell petti! Thanks lolita-tips!!!


Plans for future order?

I will probably use TaobaoRing (8% fees) or Bhiner (5% fees). I didn't know Classical Puppets had custom size blouses so I might order again from them. I've even started using Pinterest to make a lolita wishlist because planning an coord takes time and effort!

TL;DR petticoats are awesome, shoes weigh a lot & add a lot to shipping cost, and I'll be back with actual decoden next time! I totally just did a super glittery fairy kei style box! And the mirrors that I decoed are super cute!

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Alpaca Apps for Android and iPhone

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! I hope your NYE was a fun celebration with friends and/or family. My New Year's Resolution for this blog is to do a quality original post every 2 months and make sure to blog every month!

I recently switched to Virgin Mobile to save money with a data plan and got an HTC One V (android phone). PS I used a deco sticker and glued on acrylic pink rhinestones. Pictures will be in the next January post, focusing on deco/purikura apps for Android. Now there are a few apps out there that are...

ALPACA THEMED!!!

From the official Amuse app page
Note: some pages are in Japanese so please use Chrome or Google Translate if you would like to read the description in English, although the preview pictures show the main features without much trouble.

アルパカッソライブ壁紙(トライアル版)

Free trial (3 day) interactive wallpaper from Amuse! It offers 4 icons but if you'd like to pay $1.80 to own it, you get 10 icons plus the wallpaper!

アルパカッソカメラ (alpaca camera)

$2.07 - A camera app that adds cute alpacas to your picture! I'm not sure if I would spend money on this VS taking a pic with a real arpakasso plushie but a cute alternative if you don't have an arpakasso.

Tiny Farm

Free - Although it's an interactive game, you can raise alpaca on it! PS it takes a long time to get up to that level and you need a wifi or 3G connection to play. A definite step up from Farmville on Facebook. My ID is kpossibles so add me as a friend! Also available on iPhone.

*アルパカさんカレンダーウィジェット* free

Free - A kawaii calendar widget with an alpaca on it! You must get it if you need more cuteness on your phone~ (99 yen to own it?)

*アルパカ* デジタル時計ウィジェット

$1.24 - Know the time with this cute alpaca widget! I'm pretty satisfied with my Peperico Go Launcher FX themes though so I won't be adding it yet.

*アルパカさんフォルダ*

$1.23 - It gives you 20 folder types for your phone! You get some wallpapers too.

animal battery widget *alpaca*

$1.24 - It gives you 15 types of display as a battery widget and comes with free download of alpaca and other cute animal wallpaper!

Cute Alpaca1-2-3! (Lite)

Free - lol this is Jan Ken Pon aka Rock, Paper, Scissors with an alpaca? Not rated very well but you'll get some laughs from it!

smile Alpacas cute animal(FREE

Free - it's a 1 week trial live wallpaper of a cute alpaca! Costs $1.37 to own it forever and may be worth buying!

Sob Alpacas cute animal(FREE)

Free - 1 week trial of a crying alpaca?!?! I dunno if I would pay $1.37 to keep something so sad on my phone...

ChewingAlpacas CuteAnimal(FREE

Free - this developer has made like 4 live wallpapers of alpacas?! Costs $1.37 to own... and IN MAGENTA!!!

SleepingAlpacasCuteAnimal FREE

Free - another 1 week trial for a sleeping alpaca this time. IT FALLS ASLEEP ON YOU OMFG. Costs $1.37 to own forever.

antique room LW[FL ver.]

Free - A lovely find on my search for alpaca themed apps. It's a live wallpaper and looks super pretty and interactive (but probably drains your battery a ton).

MiniWidget-Manner

Free - Okay, it might be a llama... but it's a useful widget to instantly set your phone from normal to vibrate or silent!

Alpaca apps for iPhone

アルパカッソカメラ

¥170 - only available on the Japan iTunes store (so you'll have to make a fake account if you're not in Japan to download, plus use a Japanese iTunes gift card to buy) but this is the camera app that adds cute alpaca "frames" to your pics!


Alpaca World HD

Free -  They're supposed to be expanding onto Android soon. I would definitely want to get this once they have in the Play Store.

ALPACA跳跳草泥馬

Free - Addicting alpaca games. So sad that this isn't available on Android.

Alpaca pasture

$0.99 - IDK I would just get it for the cute icon? The info says, "Please touch the mouth of an alpaca." UMMMMM OKAY?!?!

Please tell me if there are any purikura apps with alpacas on them that you want to add to the list or if I'm missing any that you'd definitely recommend!
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