DECODO'S & DECODONT'S

AGH I HAD SO MUCH FUN TODAY! 

Myself and Emily decided to dabble in the world of decoden and it was a beautiful, beautiful thing. There are plenty of YouTube tutorials for how-to decoden cases, so check 'em out if you'd like to have a go yourself. ^_^ I bought all my supplies from Candy Crystal on eBay- they have pretty much everything you need to DIY decoden EVERYTHING YOU OWN.

Today I  made a case for my DS, and Emily made a photo frame. After searching decoden piping techniques on YouTube we decided to dive straight in and OH MY LORD piping was hard! I had the technique down but it was such a struggle to get anything out the bottle! The people on the tutorials didn't seem to have any issue with the silicone being too thick so I think it might've been the one we used which was the problem. Next time we're going to pick silicone up from a DIY shop instead of buying it online- I've been recommended 100% silicone sealant. I have amazing videos of us struggling with the decoden icing, but unfortunately they didn't load up correctly here :( I did post them on my instagram as well (@iloveannabell) if you fancy laughing at two ridiculously feeble girls.

Here are the pictures of our decoden creations being birthed. ENJOY!

Tiny kawaii icing poo

I could have just left it like this... NOPE GONNA PACK

TINY SWEETS INTO EVERY POSSIBLE GAP.

Emily's weak icing techniques make Molang cry.

We only stopped after these two because we ran out of silicone. Next week we're restocking and doing loads more. MOST FUN EVER! 

All you need to make your own decoden items is silicone, a piping nozzle, a selection of cabochons (or even small toys) and a surface. Decoden items are fairly expensive to buy and it's so enjoyable making your own that I recommend y'all go out immediately and try it. This is defs my new favourite kawaii past time. ^_^

Check you later, future decoden kings and queens!

Annabell 

xxx

THESE ARE A FEW OF MY FAVOURITE THINGS 3- WIGS (AGAIN)

WASSSSSSUUPPPPPP? 
(I realised today that no ones said that for about 10 years and I'm bringing it back y'all)

OK so today I'm going to blog about wigs. AGAIN. My previous blog on wigs was one of my most popular so far, so I thought you might like to see the rest of my collection & hear about my recent fave discovery (clue- it's Geisha Wigs. They're very good.)

I'm going to start with the two beautiful wigs from Lockshop Wigs I didn't show last time as they were being loaned out for fancy dress purposes. As I previously stated, all the wigs I have bought from here have been wonderful and I absolutely adore them. The postage takes a while to the UK (I believe they are based in Holland) but it's totally worth the wait, trust.

This little silver number is one of lockshops mermaid range. The silver is no longer available but you can order the same style in lots of other lovely colours here. The first two pictures were taken before I had the wig styled, and the bottom 3 were after a trip to the hairdresser. As you can see the wig does not require much styling AT ALL- just a bit of bulk taken out the fringe. We've also decided that I can be Glacial Glow's official tribute act in this wig. I'm going to attend book signings and shop openings for her when she can't make it.

THIS WIG DOES TANGLE. I have to brush it out with a soft brush before and after I wear it & store it really carefully. It's really worth the upkeep though as when I wear it I look like a mystical fairy princess. Or J Mascis from Dinosaur Jr.

This wig is one of the angelic range from lockshop. Again, the auburn is no longer available but there are other really pretty colours to pick from. I wore this wig once when I got it and I thought it looked really dumb on me, but I tried it on again recently and was all like 'WHAT THE HELL WAS I THINKING I LOOK AMAZING' and I twerked off into the sunset.

This wig didn't require any professional styling. I cut a little of the fringe off myself with a massive pair of kitchen scissors and it still looks fine. If I can cut it & have it still look ok, anyone can style it themselves. It's super easy to care for and doesn't tangle or knot easily. I'm really getting into lolita style (currently saving for my first brand op eeeeek) and this wig makes me feel super lolita and really pretty.

OK SO moving on to my first two ever purchases from Geisha Wigs. They are a UK based wig company I heard mentioned a few times on instagram and OH MY LORD I'M IN LOVE. Firstly, they're based in the UK so the postage is not completely brutal and secondly I WANT PRETTY MUCH EVERYTHING IN THEIR SHOP. They have certain designs in stock which are posted within a few days, but anything else can be pre-ordered for delivery within a few weeks. I was so happy with my first two orders that I've already ordered another two from them.

This was the wig that jumped out at me and made me want to place my order. It's called Baby and is just the best colour ever. I got so many compliments when I first wore this! Everyone thought it was my real hair (even the people at work who know I wear wigs??) and I even got asked for a photo by a fashion student on the street. It's such a manageable length and easy to look after. I think it looks super cool when it's a little bit messy and I have ruffled it loads without causing any tangling.

This wig has been styled. It was perfectly wearable when I first bought it, but I loved it so much I just wanted to get it perfect. I had it trimmed slightly at the sides of the fringe as I found it a wee bit poofy, and had a little tiny bit of length taken out of the fringe. KAWAII DESU.

The second wig I purchased was Peachy Keen. It is perfect for wearing with dolly kei because it makes me look about 10 years old. It's such a cute colour and a very wearable, comfortable style. I think I may straighten it a little bit as the curls are a bit much for me on a day to day basis, but I totally love it. Again it was completely wearable when it arrived, but I chose to have the fringe trimed a little by my stylist.

WIG CARE TIPS

I store all my wigs in their original bags. I tuck the ends of the wig in safely and wrap the wig in a cap or netting to keep it in a tidy sphere before popping it back in its bag.

I wash my wigs after roughly every 7-10 wears (depending on how long and where it's been worn) in a sink filled with cold water and special synthetic hair shampoo. I swish it around a little bit, leave it to soak for a few minutes, then rinse out the shampoo by running the wig under the cold tap in the bath. I then hang it to dry. After it has stopped dripping a lay it down flat on a towel. NEVER brush wigs while they are wet- they will break and become damaged.

Most sites will tell you if it's possible to style your wigs with straightners or curlers. You can only do this if your styling implements have different heat settings as you need to style on a very low heat. Again, most sites will tell you the heat settings.

RIGHT that's all from me for tonight. I have some super cute plans for my next days off so hopefully I'll have something really fun to show you next time!

Speak soon guys!

Annabell xxx

OUTFIT

Shirt- sheinside

Pearl cat ears- Claires Accessories

Side bow jeans- eBay

BUILD A BLYTHE

HOWDY HEY AND HIYA!

I hope you've all been well during my uneventful absence. Have you been doing anything exciting? I've mainly been having a VERY prolonged head cold, doing housework, posting eBay sales and eating Oreos after finding out that OREOS ARE VEGAN! Best news ever. I also finally got my ear sorted out on Tuesday and can hear again after 3 WEEKS of being partially deaf. It was not fun let me tell you. BUT NOW I'M BACK!

After getting my ear sorted I went to visit with my wonderful seamstress friend Naomi as we had a sewing date. We'd decided to go through some of Naomi's scrap pieces of fabric & make a dress for one of my Blythe dolls whilst we had a cup of tea and a natter. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! I chose to take one of my favourite Blythes, Pika Pika- a Nicky Lad that Andy bought me from Junie Moon in Tokyo. We decided to make her something ridiculously pink as I usually dress her in a more classic lolita style and we thought it was about time she branched out.

You can see where this is going.

OK so just for the record I CANNOT SEW. I have no idea how to make clothes at all. I can cross stitch and follow simple patterns but when it comes to using a sewing machine or making clothes from scratch I have absolutely no idea. So I left it to Naomi to draw up a design using the fabric we picked and she came up with THIS.

Yup- she can draw, sew AND she's pretty. Not fair.

Naomi got on with making the underskirt and undershirt and I got to busy myself with simple tasks like cutting fabric & ironing on rhinestones (both of which I managed to

mess up ^_^)  so I could feel like I was helping out a little bit.

Cutie underskirts. The lace had little bows on.

Check out how wonky and uneven my rhinestones are!

Luckily Naomi was skilled enough to make

something out of it.

I did redeem myself on her headpiece, though!

I hand stitched the edge and sewed on the flowers

and random Care Bear charm. WITHOUT INCIDENT.

And while I was doing that Naomi SOMEHOW made

this dress appear. ISN'T IT AMAZING!?

I absolutely adore Blythe. I used to have 14 in my collection but sadly I fell on some hard times and had to sell half of my girls. I know they all went to lovely homes though & I made a few good Blythey chums from buying and selling which is lovely. I am now down to 7 but reassure myself that once I have the funds again I'll be able to buy the other girls back. 

 

My family (L-R)

Pika Pika, Suzie T. Tyranosaur, Gaston, Marjorie Mink,

Princess Piranha, Puddleglum & Bo Buttons.

I'm also lucky to own some Junie Moon exclusive books.

The larger one is full of photographs of Blythes customised to look like anime characters, plus customs by famousdesigners. The smaller book is full of pictures & really cute interviews with Blythe collecters about their love of Blythe. AND it's in English.

Lower left- Blythe custom by Baby The Stars Shine Bright

Lower right- Blythe custom by Alice and the Pirates

Cute Blythe owners and their dolls.

I'm always happy to meet new Blythe friends so feel free to drop me a message if you're a collector or just someone who thinks Blythe's are cute!

I had so much fun making clothes with Naomi & really think I'll do it again sometime soon. I am so jealous of her dress making skills. I'm seriously thinking about taking a sewing class so I can make beautiful things- for my dolls and myself. Like, how cool would it be to just whip up the EXACT dress you wanted? Plus I have a load of patterns kicking around in old issues of the Gothic Lolita Bible and some of them are just divine.

Right I'm out for the evening as I have a fourteen hour working day tomorrow. SERIOUSLY. It's savage, isn't it? It's not even overtime or anything- I'm just clawing back the hours I took off sick with my ear problems a few weeks ago.  UGH.

SEE YOU SOON, GUYS!
Annabell xxx



OUTFIT
Cat dress- H&M
Bow- Miss Selfridge
Tights- eBay
Wig- www.lockshopwigs.com

Blythe Dolls can be purchased in the UK from eBay. Make sure you read the feedback and only buy from reliable sellers as there are a lot of fake dolls out there. Do your research on prices too as a lot of people overcharge, but also be aware that new dolls very rarely sell for under £90. If there is a particular doll that seems a bit TOO cheap, chances are she's probably a fake or factory doll.

NAIL TUTORIAL- NAILED IT.

OHMIGOSH TWO posts in one day??! I must have a day off or something.

I have the house to myself this eve as Andy is working nights, so while I was watching TV I thought I'd paint my nails... THREE TIMES. Just for you guys. ^_^ I did 3 really simple nail tutorials for (coincidently) the nail designs that always get the most comments when I'm out & got a lotta love on my nails-only instagram.

OK, so today I'm going to teach you guys how to do galaxy nails, leopard print nails & strawberry nails. They are all SUPER EASY & once the base colour is dry the details only take about 15 minutes. SO lets start with the easiest-

LEOPARD NAILS

You will need:

A white polish 

(I used OPI Alpine Snow)

A black polish 

(I used Barry M Black)

A base colour of your choice

 (I used OPI Kiss me on my Tulips)

A mixing palette

A dotting tool or toothpick

&

Some friends 

(I picked my Kapibarasan Montery Cheekswell & Kitty Chan)

Paint your nails in your base coat & let them dry.

Put a blob of white polish & a blob of black polish 

onto your palette and dip your dotting tool into the white.

Draw random ovals onto your nail. Not too many-

4 or 5 should do it. Then line the top and the bottom

of the ovals in black.

Fill in any spaces with little black dots or lines and

YOU'RE DONE!

How easy was that? Leave it as a feature nail

or cover them all. OR do every nail a different

colour to be maximum obnoxious.

STRAWBERRY NAILS

You will need:

A red or pink polish

(I used China Glaze Dance Baby)

A green polish

(I used Barry M 304 Mint Green)

A yellow polish

(I used Barry M 329 Ltd Edition Yellow)

A mixing palette

A dotting tool or toothpick

&

Some friends

(I picked Totoro & Tofu)

Paint your nails in your base colour and wait for them to

dry. Then take your green polish and paint three diagonal

strokes across the top. This was difficult to show in

photographs so I made a short clip. Excuse the lousy quality.

Don't apply the green too thickly. If it's thick it'll be more difficult

to get it precise. Instead, apply it thinly over each nail & then

go back and go over it again as many times as is necessary.

Next, put some yellow paint onto your palette & dip your dotting tool in.

Draw three dots down the centre of the nail. Although the dots may

look like a random pattern they're actually not- try and line your dots up

diagonally. This will look much more professional than just

placing random dots. The same applies if you're doing polkadot 

nails, too.

Repeat on all your nails until your hand is so kawaii you

can't even handle it.

GALAXY NAILS

You will need:
A black polish
(I used Barry M Black)
An electric blue shimmer polish
(I used OPI Swimsuit Nailed It)
A pink polish
(I used China Glaze Dance Baby)
A pale grey-green polish
(I used China Glaze Sea Spray)
A holographic glitter polish
(I used China Glaze Techno)
A small square cut from a make up sponge
&
Some friends
(I picked Love Hunter the arpacasso & Maman Primes)

Paint your nails black and wait for them to dry.

Next, paint some of your blue polish onto the make up

sponge and dab it all over your nails.

Your nails should now look like this. If they don't just give up

now, yeah?

Next, put some pink onto your sponge and dab it onto

your nails. Don't worry about waiting for the blue to dry as it's all

supposed to kinda swirl together. Don't dab the pink all over- just dab

a little patch here and there. Then do the same with your grey. Your 

nails should now look a little murky & bleugh.

DON'T PANIC THOUGH! A quick coat of your glitter polish

will sort that out. Now your nails look like tiny galaxies.

BEHOLD THE WONDERS OF THE UNIVERSE AT YOUR

FINGERTIPS.

Now go forth and paint your nails! If you have any questions or

if anythings unclear just leave me a message.

Speak soon!

Annabell xx

Supplies

All colours purchased from eBay.