Book Challenge August & September

Hello my dear readers,

at the moment, I'm reading a lot more for university again and less for pleasure, but I still have to catch up on the challenge for the last two months!

Since I've been travelling a lot during the school break, I used my kindle more frequently, but there are also two small books that had waved at me at the book store and wouldn't let me walk away without buying them (something that happens more often than I'd like to admit (-.-) ).

Thomas Hürlimann - Nietsches Regenschirm (German, 40 p.)

Philosophy usually isn't really my thing as it's mostly just too complicated, but I still enjoy discussing philosophical issues, and this particular book is easy to read and understand, even for me. I'm even considering reading more literature that's going in that direction...

Haruki Murakami - Die unheimliche Bibliothek (German, 64 p.)

There are several books from Murakami that I still want to read, this one caught my eye because of the pretty cover (and because I can hardly go by a book with the word 'library' in the title without at least having a look at it). As I mentioned before, I enjoy his writing style, so I felt safe buying the book, and I wasn't disappointed.

David Mitchell - Cloud Atlas (English, 545 p.)

- A book at the bottom of your to-read-list

I wanted to read this book ever since the movie came out (which I haven't seen yet, since I wanted to read the book first...), but I also had my doubts whether my English was good enough to understand it. It took me indeed some time to get into it, I had to read some passages twice and I regretted reading it on my kindle instead of getting the actual book, since I had to browse forth and back. Other than that, it's a remarkable book, consisting of 6 different stories (2 of which take place in the future) that are all somehow connected. I found it most impressive how the author adapted the writing style to each epoch (which made me glad I had read it in its original language, I doubt it would have been as good translated).

Isabel Allende - Das Geisterhaus (German, 501 p.)

- A popular author's first book

I always admire Allende for writing these enormous tales that are still convenient to read, given you can keep track of all the characters, and educating the reader about history and politics at the same time... I definitively want to read Eva Luna at some point, which is still on my to-read-list.

Suzanne Collins - The Hunger Games Triology (English, 1187 p.)

-  A triology
- A book set in the future
- A book that made you cry

I've read the triology quite some time ago, but after seeing the second-to-last movie adaption, I wanted to re-read them, and because it also fits nicely into the challenge, now was as good a time to do it as any.

Elke Heidenreich & Bernd Schroeder - Alte Liebe (German, 192 p.)

- A book your mom loves

This is one of my mum's favourite books, and I can really see why: it's the touching story of an elderly couple, who is contemplating about their lives as they retire from work. Since I read a lot of Young Adult novels, this was a welcome diversion, too.

Bret Easton Ellis - American Psycho (English, 399 p.)

Once you get over the rather disturbing content of this book, it's actually quite brilliantly written - I loved all the not-so-subtle social criticism.

Although I seem to get along not too bad with the challenge, I'm unsure whether I'll finish it before the end of the year... but we'll see (^.^)
I wish you a nice sunday evening!

Hair and There

source

Hi dolls,

the comic above illustrates pretty well how I felt about my hair lately, so it was time to get a real haircut. I haven't been at a hairdresser's in like three years, I cut my hair myself in that time, but that obviously doesn't work anymore for short hair.

So I got a shoulder-length bob. I really really like it, I had forgotten about how much I like having short hair. Long hair is fine and all, but I'm too lazy to make fancy hair-dos every day anyways (^.-).

And while I'm at it, here are some (more or less) recent outfits of mine I'd like to share:

Starbucks finally serves pumpkin spice latte again!
Hat & sweater: H&M
Shoes: ebay

Dress: Innocent World
Necklace: caffecupcake
Shoes: Deichmann

Headpiece: handmade
Dress: Long ears and sharp ears' studio

Sweater: Sheinside
Dress: H&M

Book Bags

Hi my dear readers,

about a year ago, I found some pretty old books, which I wanted to use to make bags. It's not exactly a new idea, on etsy for example, one can purchase book bags from various sellers. Hovewer, what I always disliked about most designs I've seen so far, was that they either don't provide much space or can't be closed securely, which makes me worry that I'd lose half my stuff.
But this summer, I finally had an idea how to use the book covers for bags I'd use myself, and I'm quite happy with the result (^.^)

I made each one a bit different on the inside, a great way to reduce the mountains of fabric leftovers I cumulated over time, plus it's also less boring to make.

I found the books on ebay and on fleamarkets. I must admit, since I really love books, especially pretty old ones, I felt a bit bad cutting them apart. However, on the other hand, if they're just lying around waiting to be bought, they're not being read either, so at least they get a second life as purses.

I sold them in my etsy shop and on various lolita conventions I attended (I'll write about these later), and was surprised how much positive feedback I got. As I said, the idea is not exactly ground-breaking, but I still appreciate it when people like it (*.*)

Bye-Bye Summer Heat

Hi dolls,

you wouldn't believe how glad I am that autumn has finally started and the weather isn't so incredibly hot anymore!
Although on our latest lolita meet-up 1½ weeks ago, we had the bad luck to catch what must have been the hottest day of August (at least that's how it felt to me). But enough whining about climatic parameters, here's what I was wearing:

Outfit rundown:
hat: H&M
shirt & skirt: Medusa Couture
socks: Bodyline
shoes: Tamaris

We went to Murten, a small city where I haven't been in ages, although it's so cute! I'd love to go back some time when it's a bit more agreeable, maybe in winter (^.-)

We visited the town museum which is installed in a gorgeous, super old mill, took some pictures and afterwards we had drinks and cake at an adorable café with the most beautiful rest room I've ever seen (*.*)

Waidmannsheil

Hi dolls,

so it seems like this is becoming a sickness, but lately I can't walk by something deer/antler/bambi-themed without buying it (>.<)

So since I love the band Rammstein, I couldn't resist with this bandshirt. I love love love the print, but it was only available as men's shirt, so I got it in the largest size available and turned it into a dress.

Of course, I couldn't *just* turn it into a dress without further embelishments. I think Rammstein have their very own aesthetic, especially when it comes to stage outfits and CD covers, which I tried to incorporate into the design.

The shoulder straps and the logo are made of fake leather. Especially the logo was a lot of work, I had to start over three times until I was halfway satisfied with the workmanship. It's still not 100% perfect, but I just hope no one will look too closely.

I used large metal rings and rivets to assemble all the pieces. The jersey from the shirt is quite thick and of good quality, but for good measure I reinforced the parts where the straps are attached with double-sided interface and an additional layer of jersey.

I sewed the lower part of the logo on the dress, so part of the cross is not see-through. This has several intentions, for one increased stability, but also to hide the bra band, and lastly just as a design element. The Rammstein logo is so geometrically perfect, which is very satisfying on one hand, but on the other hand I needed this little interruption.

I have no idea how to pose in a dress like this, so I just tried *something*
Shoes are by Demonia

Speaking of bras, I found out that the one strapless bra I bought ages ago still fits me (miraculously), so I didn't even had to buy a new one. I cut the sides of the dress a bit lower so the band can peek through (so hipster ^^), but the shoulder strap design obviously calls for a strapless bra.

I'm really happy with how it turned out, and probably the best part about it is how incredibly comfortable it is - after all, it's still an oversized t-shirt (*_*)

Awaiting Autumn

Hi dolls,

autumn is my second-favourite season, right behind winter, and I'm already looking forward to colder days, when the air is crisp and the leaves are changing. In order to be able to dress accordingly, I wanted to make a dress with a fall print for my label Medusa Couture.

Since foxes go so well with autumn colours and are simply adorable, I also wanted some foxes on the print, and the super talented artist Amanda Mullins (check out her page!) did an amazing job when she drew the print for me.

jumperskirt

I made a jumperskirt and a skirt and named the print Artemis, after the greek goddess of wilderness and hunt (and some more things, like protector of girls and women, so she's pretty awesome (^.-) ).

skirt

I was happy when I found this great yellow chiffon which goes so well with the print, and I used it to make ruffles and embellishments.
It seems like I'm slowly adding more yellow to my wardrobe ever since I bought the Deers in the Mist jsk, and also the Erato print has some yellow in it.

Eloquence

Hi dolls,

I'm travelling a lot at the moment and in the near future, for vacations and lolita conventions, and in between I'm glued to the sewing machine, all of which makes me very very happy (^.^)

However, there are some purchases I made this summer that I haven't shown you, which I'd like to catch up on before I forget it (if you follow my instagram you've already seen them though).

fox bag from modcloth

shoes from modcloth

shoes from ebay

I also have an outfit to share with you! I had the chance to dress up a bit on sunday (^.^) I feel like this outfit represents my current style and preferences quite well, and it makes me happy how effortless I can put it together - after purchasing and selling many many garments, my wardrobe has finally reached a somewhat coherent state, yay! (*.*)

hat: decorated by me
lace bolero: ebay
jsk: Innocent World
shoes: Deichmann

Book Challenge July

Hi my dear readers,

the best thing about summer (in my opinion) is that I can read whatever books I like, so naturally I wouldn't let that opportunity pass! (^.^)

So those are the books I read in July!

M.R.Carey - The Girl with all the Gifts (English, 461p.)

A friend of mine recomended this book to me, and I wasn't disappointed; it features zombies and strong female lead characters, what more could you wish for? I found it hard to believe it's actually written by a male writer, especially since it reminded me in some points of Twilight (concerning the content of the story, it's not a negative critique or anything).

G. Lakoff & M. Johnson - Leben in Metaphern (German, 272p.)

Originally, this book was written for the English language, so in the German traduction, some of the phrases used as examples confused me a bit (although I was surprised how well the theories could be adapted to the German language). However, other than that it's a very insightful book, if you're interested in language or psychology (or both), you might find it worth reading too!

Markus Zusak - Der Joker (German, 448p.)

- A book written by an author with your same initials

I've read The Book Thief before and I absolutely adore the author's writing style. This is the story of a young man who stops a bank robber and thereupon recieves indvidual playing cards, of which each one leads him to different people to whom he has to deliver messages. Although the ending is quite predictable and the forth wall is being broken (an element I'm not particularly fond of), I love how the story is composed!

I didn't get much further on my book challenge, but after all, I enjoy reading because of the sake of reading, rather than checking off points from a list as fast as possible (^.^)