I'm currently planning to go back to university in february and finish my studies, and in order to be finally fluent in french (such a beautiful language), I decided to attend a college in the french-speaking part of Switzerland.
And as a preparation, I'm re-learning French now. See, I had 8 years of French classes during my school career, so it's almost embarrassing to say that I'm nowhere near speaking it fluently. Reading is fine, but I just don't use it enough to be able to express myself. But I thought, hey, learning languages can actually be fun too!
So now I'm reading Harry Potter and watching The Addams Family, both in French.
I made also a new decoration for the kitchen table. Winter is approaching fast, and so is Advent. We had these three blue candles lying around at home, so I thought I'd build something nice around it. I love candles in the winter time!
But man, was it hard to find something to match! I like silver better with blue, but the whole Christmas decorations that are sold now seemed to be golden (>.<)
But I'm quite happy with the result:
Isn't the deer adorable?
Lately, I've been quite addicted to deer, stag, reindeer, moose, fawn... you know, these animals living in the woods, sometimes with antlers, sometimes with cute white dots. I couldn't tell all the differences between the various species, but I still love them!
In the past few days, I've been sewing a lot, mostly for my etsy shop, Medusa Couture.
As I design what I like best (obviously), I wouldn't mind to wear the clothes by myself... so I'd like to show you what I've been making so far:
I can finally make the big announcement I've been looking forward to for quite some time (^.^).
I opened my own etsy shop! It's called Medusa Couture and you can find it here.
As I've always wanted to be a fashion designer, I decided to become a wanna-be fashion designer.
No, seriously, I've dreamed about this for a long time and thought, I'd finally make a step and try it. I'll be selling some accessoires, but mostly I'll focus on Lolita clothing, such as dresses and skirts.
I hope my designs will be appreciated, as all the items are handmade with love. Each item is unique or produced in a very small edition.
I would be honoured if you would follow me on the facebook page or on the Medusa Couture blog.
By the way, the artwork is made by the amazing Meri from Tentaclething!
how are you? Are you enjoying the beautiful autumn weather, with its strong colours, fresh, cold air and snowy mountains? I certainly am, I hope so are you (^.^)
I'm currently working on a project, which is secret for now, but I think I'll tell you about it soon. It takes up a lot of my time, however, I've been sewing a little for myself these past few days.
First thing is a comfy dress/longtop, made of super soft jersey.
I wanted to keep the cut simple, so I can combine it easily with other garments. I like the layering look, especially now that the weather gets cooler.
The second thing I made is a long, dark green cardigan. It's much greener than in the pictures, it looks a little greyish here, unfortunately.
The cut is, again, quite simple. Because I didn't have enough fabric, there's a seam in the sleeves, right below the elbows, but I can live with that.
I found these beautiful rose shaped buttons, just a shade lighter than the fabric, so I couldn't resist and simply had to buy them (^.-)
before I went on my small holiday trip, we had a Lolita meet-up in Solothurn I'd like to write about. Aya was back in Switzerland for a short time, so we thought it would be nice to celebrate this in proper style (^.^)
First, we went to the Museum Blumenstein, a house entirely decorated in Baroque style, quite impressing!
photo by chris
Afterwards, we went to the castle of Waldegg, where we had planned to take some pictures and have a drink at the café. Unfortunately, the café was closed, and the staff from the castle was also very rude, although all we wanted was to take some photos in the garden... oh well.
Anyways, the weather was beautiful, so was the garden, so here come the pictures!
the castle
photos following by Magali
Outfit rundown:
Alice band: handmade by me
Blouse: Dear Celine Jsk: handmade by me Corset: handmade by me
OTKs: Baby, the Stars shine bright
Shoes: Demonia
Jewellery: restlye.pl
Me & Aya
not the whole group, sadly some had to leave early
I'm back from my holidays (^.^) I had such a great time, and since I assume you're most curious about the tea party, I'll start right with the report of it, ok? It's going to be a long post, so prepare youselves (best get a cup of tea (^.-) ).
I arrived in Vienna on friday. I had booked a room in a small pension which I shared with Agatha, a fellow Lolita from Zurich. This was very convenient, we had a great time and I was glad I knew at least one person at the tea party (too many people in one place tend to scare me a little).
However, Agatha would not arrive until late at night, so I went for a little sightseeing in Vienna. In the evening, there was also a Lolita KompleX concert, which I wanted to see. There weren't many people at the concert, but it was very funny; maybe ten Lolitas, dancing in the front, and 20-30 people in the back standing around (^.^). It was very nice seeing Duplica again and meet Michalea from the UK and the other Lolitas from Austria.
My outfit and hairdo for the concert, quite casual
The tea party on saturday would start at 2p.m., so I had plenty of time to get ready. I already postet a preview of my outfit, but just for the record, that's what I looked like before I left:
no shoes yet
The tea party took place in a very beautiful hotel. I think it suited the occasion extremely well, especially the Innocent World spirit.
And all these beautiful Lolitas everywhere! I've never been to such a big Lolita event before, and it was so inspiring to admire all these perfectly dressed girls (I suddenly felt kind of poorly dressed (>.<) ). We were greeted very friendly by Duplica and Nana, got a goodie bag and a drink.
That's what was inside the goodie bag:
Everyone got a pair of IW socks (so amazing!), a programme (on the upper right corner), a cute ichigo ring by kawaii companions and all these flyers!
There were also some shop booths, including the one from Innocent World. Sadly, the IW booth was almost empty when I arrived, since the VIP guests could enter one hour earlier.
Ms Fujiwara and her assistant
While only the first drink was for free, there was a buffet during the whole afternoon. The food was so delicious! They had typical Austrian sweets, like Apfelstrudel, Kaiserschmarren and Sacherwürfel, but also salty snacks like mini-sandwiches, which I found very thoughtful.
Then, there was already the first highlight: The Innocent World fashion show. Before I start rambling about the breathtaking dresses, better watch the video (^.^) it's really worth it!
Dagmar moderated the fashion show, which she did very well. Aren't the dresses amazing? It's such a big honour they showed also new dresses no one ever saw before (and sold them afterwards!). I couldn't telly which one was my favourite. I also loved how the show was choreographed, everything so graceful and dedicated.
After a short break (everyone rushed to the IW booth to wait for the fashion show dresses xD), Lolita KompleX gave a little unplugged concert. Such a cute idea, I enjoyed the music.
After another short break, the Q&A with Innocent World designer Yumi Fujiwara was held. It was very interesting to listen, and I like how the audience reacted to some answers, for example when she was asked if there's an age limit to wearing Lolita, she answered that in her opinion not, but that in order to wear lolita you should try to stay pure and beautiful at heart, everyone was like "awww". She also said that she likes to wear the dresses she designs herself, that she never forgets anything she created (even the tiniest bow), that she's been to Europe before, but likes Vienna the most and would like to come back (everyone applauded) and so on.
You can read the whole interview here (in German, although)
Then, there was the raffle and contest winner announcement. I didn't get a ticket for the raffle, as they had only as many as there were prices, but I think everyone was really looking forward to the best dressed award, for which Ms Fujiwara herself picked the winners.
Second, first and third place from left to right
The choice was quite surprising, you can see she prefers simple, fresh designs. The winners were so happy, apparently the girl who won was the very first time ever on a Lolita event, she was so touched she almost cried (*.*)
Then there was also a group picture taken, which took a while until everyone had her place, but in the end everyone is on the picture, quite impressing.
And then the tea party was already over! Time went by so fast, it was so well-organized. I'd like to thank the whole team who organized the party, they invested many months of hard work which really payed off. It was an amazing experience, to meet all these beautiful girls. Thank you!
For the pictures, the ones that are not mine are from the following sources (by the way, I recomed to see them through) M.E. Photography http://imgur.com/a/XfGeL http://imgur.com/a/wAQV9
tomorrow, I'll go on a little interrail journey, starting in Frankfurt am Main and ending in Vienna (the tea party! Omg! xD), so this will be the last post for the next ten days.
We had a Lolita meet-up last Saturday, but because I didn't get all the photos yet (you probably know the dilemma...), I'll write about this when I'm back home.
However, there's something else I wanted to share. Last week, me and the beautiful Aya, who is visiting her old home, went to St.Gallen, to the texile museum and the fabric store of Bischoff Texil, to buy lace. Yes, this is almost exactly the same we did at the meet-up in April (my Birthday, maybe you remember?).
But it was really worth it. At the textile museum, they had an exhibition called "world in boxes". It featured several collections, of costumes from the theater fund, of vintage designer clothes, of turn-of-the-century sewing utensils... so beautiful!
A question I certainly ask a lot, but especially when it comes to the Innocent World Tea Pary in Vienna, which will be on 12. October. As I will travel a little the next two weeks, I had to finish my outfit before.
I had a vague idea, including an offwhite IW blouse and a made by me jsk with matching accessoires. So all I needed was a cardigan, since otherwise it would be too cold (the blouse is short-sleeved). So luckily I had some chocolate-coloured rib jersey left over, plus some of the brown lace trim I had used for the jsk.
For the special occasion ( I'm sooo looking forward to the Tea Party!), I coordinated the cardigan with the rest of the outfit (excluding accessories):
I used mother-of-pearl buttons with a golden ornamental frame. I had bought them once in Austria, so I thought, what would be more convenient?
I also really like the shape of the cardigan. I don't know if it's visible (maybe a little), but I included princess seams in the pattern.
besides shopping, I also sewed a little the past few days. If you're german-speaking, you might want to pay a visit to Natron&Soda, my favourite sewing forum. I currently feature a Work-In-Progress to reduce my to-sew-list there (^.^)
One thing I made was a thingy to hang in the bathroom, which should organize my stuff. Honestly, girls do have too many beauty products! So originally, I just wanted to buy one at Ikea. However, I ended up not buying the thingy, but two meters of this beautiful, pink-grey-offwhite striped cotton fabric. I can't help it, no matter what I intend to get at Ikea, I always leave with fabric instead *sigh*
Lots of ruffles, I know. I couldn't fight it! It was stronger than me, I swear!
On the upside, now everything has its place, I hope, I can keep the order haha (*.*)
Another item I desperately needed was a decent bag for concerts. I'm always afraid I might lose my stuff or something could get stolen. Plus, I finally wanted a bag that has enough space, unlike those itty-bitty bags you have to cram all your things inside and everytime you want to take out something, everything else falls out too (>.<)
I recently saw a bag of similar size on a concert and tought, that would be a convenient one. Of course, I had to add some ruffles too, and a little bow (^.^).
It isn't exactly the most accurate thing I ever sewed, on the contrary. But it had to go fast, I wanted to take it to the next concert, which is tomorrow! Anyways, it was more important to me that it's resistant to all the inconvenients involved with a concert. And it had to be black. xD
The bag has a zipper for the main pocket and a seperate pocket, without closure, in the front.
On the inside, I made another pocket with zipper. Do you recognize the lining? It's a leftover from my quilt.
The best thing about this bag is that it's made entirely of fabrics and materials I already had at home. So, it's not only unique and costumized to my needs and tastes, but also way cheaper than if had just bought one! Those are the moments I really appreciate my hobby (^.^)
As I'll be quite busy for the next days, I already wish you a nice weekend. Take care!
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