Vomiting Rainbows

OPI Save Me

2012-02-12T16:57:00.001-05:00

OPI Save Me, from the Nicki Minaj collection.

I originally bought this as a "secret santa" gift, only to check my giftee's spreadsheet to see she already had it! Drat.

It's super cloudy today so I couldn't capture how super-holo the bar glitter is, so you'll have to just take my word that it is SO HOLO-Y. Very fun to watch change colors.

That being said I've had this on for two days and it just hasn't grown on me...as hard as I try to love bar glitter I think she and I just weren't meant to be. Every time I look down on my nails it looks like there's hair on them. Rainbow prismatic unicorn hair, but hair nonetheless. And something about this doesn't satisfy me somehow--it needs a base color other than clear, perhaps, or some other color glitter to give it some depth. It's too dense to layer well, and the bar glitter just looks messy to me over another color. This one's probably going on the swap list...

Refresher

2011-09-26T00:28:00.003-04:00

After the storm of glitters I've been wearing recently, I felt in the mood for a nice palate cleanser...but not without a bit of a kick! Barielle Buddah-ful fits the bill perfectly. I love the iridescent flakies in this nude jelly. I'm glad I bought two bottles! This is definitely I color I will be wearing often. I picked this up for a scant $3 during Barielle's recent HUGE sale, but it is typically $8 a bottle.

This is three coats of Buddah-ful topped with two coats of New York Color Grand Central Station. It applied well, a little tricky at first because the flakies kept sticking up and peeking over the free tip of my nail, but after the second coat all was good.

For the Empire State

2011-09-20T01:06:00.001-04:00

China Glaze Skyscraper. This polish shares two traits with one of the most infamous of polishes in the nail world, Essie Starry Starry Night--a deep blue jelly base and silver glitter. Except Skyscraper looks like the infinitely wise China Glaze team just said "yeah, that's *okay*...but you know what it needs? MOAR GLITTAR." And it was done. This, people, is Starry Starry Night on mega steroids.

This is three coats of Skyscraper over Milani Smoothe Base, topped with one coat of New York Color Grand Central Station. Some people reported issues with Skyscraper's formula being too thick and gloppy; while my bottle was a little thick, it wasn't the kind of thickness that makes it difficult to apply for me, and I kind of prefer it when it comes to jellies like this because it doesn't take five coats for the color to reach its true potential.

Skyscraper is part of China Glaze's Fall '11 Metro collection, and I snagged my bottle from 8ty8Beauty.com for $3.

Glamorous Vampire for fall

2011-09-08T23:34:00.011-04:00

Three coats of Revlon Facets of Fuchsia over one coat of Milani Black Magic, topped off with two coats of New York Color Grand Central Station. I love talking up Grand Central Station--it's a great clear topcoat, thicker than your average drugstore topcoats and perfect for smoothing out those lumpy glitters. And the best part, it only costs $2!

Revlon Facets of Fuchsia is Revlon's attempt at Deborah Lippmann's Bad Romance, purple large and small hex glitter in a black jelly base. It cost me $6.99 at my local Duane Reade, but I believe it is $5.99 or even $4.99 at retailers outside of NYC...curse you markup!

At first, using AllLaqueredUp's swatch as comparison, I thought Revlon had gotten the color of the glitter wrong...Bad Romance seemed to be more purple and less...well, fuchsia. But after looking at multiple photos of both Bad Romance and Facets of Fuchsia, I've decided they are perfect dupes after all--there are photos of Bad Romance which look more fuchsia, and there are photos of Facets of Fuchsia looking more purple, so I guess it's just a lighting difference! Either way, is it not gorgeous? I love this "new" style of different-sized glitters, it adds great interest to single-color glitters.

Hurricane manicure

2011-08-28T00:18:00.001-04:00

I needed something shiny to distract me from the dreary rain outside courtesy of Hurricane Irene, so I put on some sparkles.

This lovely is POPbeauty Lavender Glitz. 3 coater glitter, and VERY hungry--have your thick topcoats on hand to smooth out this sucker. Still, I love how it looks periwinkle-colored from far away, but bringing it closer you can see the lavender and blue particles. POPbeauty polish is available at Duane Reade for $9.99.

Mint + Apple = Delicious?

2011-07-02T22:38:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure how people who name polishes come to their decisions, but the names of two polishes I've come across recently, Essie Mint Candy Apple and Sinful Colors Mint Apple polish. Since when have mint and apples ever gone together, culinarily or otherwise?

Regardless, Sinful's Mint Apple is a pretty unique color. Despite mint green polish being all the rage the past few years, this color manages to stand out. It's more of a tropical-feeling, green-blue aqua than pastel like the ones we've seen (Essie Mint Candy Apple, American Apparel Office, Milani Dressmaker, Chanel Jade). It also has a pale gold (most nail polish blogs cite it as silver, but to my eye at least when scrutinized closely it's definitely gold) shimmer, more noticeable than the barely-there shimmer of the infamous Chanel Jade. It adds a nice twinkly effect.

The formula in application is okay, requiring 3 thin coats to be opaque which is about average. Its durability though is great, surviving a week with only a tiny chip on my thumb which was casualty of opening a soda can.

pardon the purple tinge at the edges of my cuticles, I attempted to apply a grape jelly polish which stained my nails purple.

Sinful Colors nail polish is carried at Walgreens and Duane Reade drugstores. I got mine at Duane Reade, being a New Yorker, but if you live anywhere else Walgreens is a good bet. At $1.99...sheesh if you like mint green polishes at all just get it. It'll make you happy. Trust me.

I am not a pirate.

2011-06-23T20:44:00.011-04:00

I picked up a bottle of Essie Smooth Sailing from the Braziliant Summer 2011 collection at Kmart on whim. Can I just say how glad I am that I did? It is so pretty, both in the bottle and on the nail, that I couldn't stop staring at it.

Smooth Sailing is a color somewhere between cornflower blue and ceil, with microglitter that flashes pink and turquoise. The formula flows onto the nail well, and is very well pigmented and opaque at two coats, and it performed fantastically, lasting me well over a week without a single chip and virtually no tipwear.

This is two coats of Smooth Sailing topped with N.Y.C. in a Minute Grand Central Station quick dry topcoat.

I like this polish so much I'd actually like to have a second backup bottle, but when I went back to the Kmart where I found it they'd completely sold out of this collection. Since then I've been checking drugstores to no avail...sigh. Essie polishes retail for $7.99, if you decide to get it may you have better luck finding a bottle than I did!

Glitter makes me happy.

2011-06-18T02:20:00.016-04:00

I wouldn't exactly call myself a reserved dresser, but I don't usually like to wear tons of bold or bright colors in one outfit. Interestingly enough though I really love bright nail polish and makeup colors. Compensating? Maybe...but am I the only person kind of tired of all the greys and taupes and grungy greens I keep seeing on every single girl in NYC? Not that I have anything against these colors, in fact I kind of like them...but it's a little sad to me when there's a whole world of nail polish colors out there and the majority of people seem to be still stuck on the trend of dark, "mushroomy" colors.

I guess what I'm saying is, stop wearing only taupes and greys in summer for pete's sake. How about a little color? THIS IS YOUR EXCUSE TO DO BRIGHT COLORS WHICH YOU WOULD OTHERWISE SHUN DURING FALL AND WINTER FOR BEING TOO EYE-BURNING. Have fun. You're welcome.

Milani Jewel FX Gems.

ahhh. rainbow glitter. it's like a unicorn vomited into a bottle.

I'm too much of a social leper to attend actual parties...the highlight of my week was painting this glitter party on my nails.

This was three coats of Gems over one coat of Sinful Colors Nail Junkie, over two coats of Wet N Wild FastDry Teal of Fortune, which was over one coat of Sinful Colors Rise and Shine, all topped with two coats of N.Y.C. in a Minute Grand Central Station quick dry topcoat. (swatches of Teal of Fortune and Rise and Shine and Nail Junkie here and here and here)

Yes, it's a lot of polish. It pretty much resulted from me being too lazy to take off my previous manicure/trying to hide worn tips and grown out cuticles with shiny things. Thankfully, all of the polishes dry relatively quickly, and all the colored layers were done on separate days as I have no patience for waiting around on this sort of thing.

So I'm late as usual, because by now I'm sure we've all heard how Gems is a copycat of Deborah Lippman Happy Birthday with the differences that:

- Happy Birthday has pink glitter where Gems does not and
- Deborah Lippman's polish has both hex and square glitter, whereas the Milani only has hexagon glitter.
-Happy Birthday costs $18 (asdfkasdfa), and Gems $3.99

I have to say, though, if you meet anyone who actually notices those first two differences on your nails, back away slowly.

The first bit is also now no longer true, because if you stare at my bottle hard enough (which I did because I'm a freak) you can tell that the Milani does, in fact, have pink glitter. I guess all the comparisons on the nail blogs tipped Milani off and they added the pink glitter for the later batches. I'm not sure if this is in the permanent collection now, but the Jewel FX collection still seems to have a spot in all the Milani displays I see around town (although they are more often than not sold out).

I wanted a full on glitter-bomb, so I did three thick coats of Gems over my pre-existing glittery teal foil manicure. I suspect that it's pretty impossible to get actual full coverage with this polish alone without making your nails extremely chunky from the sequins, so the key to getting the look of fully covered nails is to layer a jewel-toned foil polish underneath your three coats of glitter so that even if there are bald spots, the foil polish will camouflage them.

I've read a lot of reviews that noted Gems was more "Holiday-ish" than "Happy Birthday" due to the more pronounced presence of the red, gold, and green glitters. This is less true with the newer bottles which included pink glitter, but if they still feel Christmas-y to you, you could try doing what I did, which is layer the glitter polish over a coat of another foil polish, so that the color underneath would peep through the inevitable bald spots between the sequins and change the overall tone of the colors. From photos I've seen of heavily layered Happy Birthday manicures, the Deborah Lippman version has a lot more silver hex sequins than the Milani, which is more red-based (not that you can tell from my manicure, since I chose to layer teal underneath it) so I'm guessing a silver foil underneath would yield the closest dupe to "Happy Birthday"...just a hunch. Either way, Gems is a pretty good bet for those of you unwilling to shell out $18 for a bottle of nail polish.

LAB PROJECTS!

2010-05-12T17:19:00.003-04:00

In Parsons, you have to take a mandatory 6-hour class called "Lab", which is basically social science. In our second semester, Lab class is split into specific sections such as "Environmental" and "Volunteering"...or something. I am in "Subculture", in which we studied and now have to invent our own cult or religion. One thing led to another....

Drumroll, please...

2010-03-16T00:08:00.002-04:00

Guess who was one of the 10 winners of James Lillis' Stay-Ups Competition...?
ME.

*does a little dance*

So excited. I cannot wait for my beautiful leggings to arrive.

Wonderlands and Awesome Leggings

2010-03-05T18:54:00.006-05:00

Firstly, here is my finished headpiece:

During 3D class (which this is for) I heard one of my classmates say to another about my piece "I like it. It's like a little world". And that just made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Because I like it when people compliment my stuff, because I have mega-insecure-artist-syndrome.

Because I like it. Do you like it?

SECONDLY...drumroll, please? So I think I've made my absolute adoration of James Lillis' line Black Milk clear enough by now. And that I'm really really really really excited for his new line, which, heads up, will feature three jackets. And they're being shown in a week! I have a feeling I am going to go broke very soon....

Along with that exciting news, he's also opened a competition that is sure to start some bloodshed among the girls (and guys!) who love Black Milk. A competition for a FREE PAIR of his Stay-Ups leggings, which have been on the hearts and minds of leggings aficionados since he first showed the prototypes in...December? Correct me if I'm wrong. Anyway, here's the link to the competition post so you can read all about it. And then help me win.

I present to you pure awesomeness:

There are 10 free pairs of Stay-Ups available. And me being the shamelessly shallow =) and cheap person that I am, would love the opportunity to get a pair of the most fabulous leggings on Earth for free. Because $10 shipping from Australia just cuts down on my happy a little (read: I LOATH PAYING SHIPPING).

Anyone want to take my photo? =3

Iron, Satin, and Organza

2010-02-19T14:38:00.007-05:00

I know. It's like I haven't been doing anything at all, right? WRONG. I have been busy. And producing RESULTS. And clawing my way out of my creative slump. And breaking all my nails.

I love you so much, Art. Why don't you love me back?

Unfortunately, after I finished working on my old laptop this morning, I noticed that Windows had installed an update that required a restart. So I did. And what did I get? The BLUE SCREEN OF DEATH. And nothing I do can revive my computer currently--my last plan of action requires the OS installation CD, which I don't have, so I'm stuck without Photoshop (*insert shrieks of horror*) because my new computer, lovely though she is, doesn't yet have it. So for the meantime my photos will suck, because I rely soley on Photoshop Curves to make up for the truly horrendous lighting in my dorm room.

First on the list, my week 1 Subculture Lab project. Task: design an entrance to a world of imagination. Here's my take.

Yyyyyup. Doesn't look like much, but it took me a good 7 hours.

So, let's talk hats. Or rather, headpieces. Because that is my first task for my 3D class--design and construct a hat/headpiece. There's more to it involving philosophy and dichotomy, but we'll bypass that for now and focus on the hat part.

As I've never designed a hat before, some inspiration was in order. One treasure trove I found was Pretty Good Things, by the very talented Maria Pattinova. Specializing in hats, headbands, hair combs, and "fascinators", Maria's designs are truly awesome. As such, I want her Raincloud and Bloop fascinators very, very badly. Anyone?

Anyway, this is supposed to be about my own work, so here it is. Sort of. Parts of it, anyway. You can't see the whole thing yet. It's not ready.

Guess what this is going to be...

Layers of stacked polyester batting? A compass? A SATIN CIRCLE??

*dramatic music!*

*anticlimactic music*

It's...a cushion. I promise it will be a hat in the end, Professor. Or at least involve the head in some way.

The back is secured like so...

Sort of like a Chinese dumpling. Except not really.

This is the rest of it.

It's a secret how everything goes together. That means I don't know yet.

But don't worry...it'll all work out in the end. Or at least that's what I keep telling myself.

Random foolishness: In an attempt to look cool in James Lillis' badass leggings, I failed. I am lame. And a sucky photographer.

Why am I so awkwaaaaaaard.

Hey, you can sort of see my half-completed headpiece in those. Oops.

P.S. Those stilettos I'm wearing? 5" high, and the best $15 I ever spent. Would you believe me if I told you they were my most comfortable heels?

Ta ta for now.

The Final Stretch...

2009-12-13T07:01:00.000-05:00

Final projects, that is. I've been working on them since 5 pm Saturday night. Yes, you counted right, for fourteen hours straight (the last three hours listening to Adam Lambert on repeat--don't judge, a friend sent me the music video and it's maddeningly catchy. And between you and me, really hot. Leather leather leatherleatherleather).

It's now 7 am. As you might imagine, I feel like vomiting. Insert quip about bulimia here.

Here's what's on my table currently:

2D: 5-page picture book based off a poem. I chose "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star". What, you thought it was only a song? 'Fraid not!

The Star
Jane Taylor

Twinkle, twinkle, little star,
How I wonder what you are!
Up above the world so high,
Like a diamond in the sky.

When the blazing sun is gone,
When he nothing shines upon,
Then you show your little light,
Twinkle, twinkle, all the night.

Then the traveller in the dark,
Thanks you for your tiny spark:
He could not see which way to go,
If you did not twinkle so.

In the dark blue sky you keep,
And often through my curtains peep,
For you never shut your eye
Till the sun is in the sky.

As your bright and tiny spark
Lights the traveller in the dark,
Though I know not what you are,
Twinkle, twinkle, little star.

Medium: watercolor.
Progress: 80% 5 watercolors done, still awaiting scanning & editing in Photoshop, printing, and mounting. This will all be done today, because it's due Monday and it has to be completed perfectly and photographed before my 9 am class.

3D: life-size plexiglass corset. That's right. Because my last experience with plexiglass wasn't an utter, hair-pulling, banshee-wailing disaster. Hopefully this time will be better. This project is supposed to represent tension and compression, which will be demonstrated (hopefully) by the lacing of the corset. Wish me luck it doesn't splinter into a million shards.
Materials: plexiglass, sheet metal, screws, grommets, lacing. Must go to Ace Hardware today.
Progress: 0% It's not due until Wednesday. Yes, I know I'm mad. I have to be to attempt this, though, so it's all good.

Drawing: 3-piece series from imagination. I'm doing Alice in Wonderland--I know, totally original choice, right? Our teacher even showed an Alice piece in her collection of example works. Oh well. I started out with Repo! the Genetic Opera, but after doing the first piece twice (once in graphite, once in watercolor) and the second once and having all three be thoroughly unsatisfactory (ensuing meltdown), I let go of my Repo dream and stuck with good ol' fashioned Alice. At least she's easy to draw.
Medium: watercolor.
Progress: 15% Inking is done, and the background and Alice's dress are painted. Working on it now, so hopefully be tonight I will have not fucked up the first piece and it will be finished because all three are due Friday and I don't have enough to to have another meltdown and start over.

Not to mention I have my final test in Perspectives in World Art and Design (aka Art History) on Tuesday morning. My Monday schedule will probably be as follows:

9:00 am-12:00 pm: 2D class
12:00 pm-Godknowswhen pm: work on corset, make satisfactory progress. Hopefully get pieces cut out and shaped, holes drilled, etc. If I'm not a blubbering mess by that point I'll try to assemble it.
??:?? pm-1:00 am: study for Perspectives class.

Yes, I know, bedtime at 1 am, wimpy wimpy. But seeing as I certainly haven't gotten any sleep tonight (morning!) and very likely might not be getting much the following night, I choose not to hallucinate during my Art History final.

Update tonight. Back to Alice. Maybe food/coffee break later. I could really go for a corndog.

An Early Christmas for Me

2009-12-03T15:26:00.006-05:00

This is turning into my Fashion/Art blog, on which I spill about the part of my life that is un food-related. My Fashion and my Art go under one label, partially due to the fact that I am far too lazy to keep up three different blogs (two will be a challenge), and also because hopefully in Fall 2010 fashion will be my art. Hopefully. I'm keeping my fingers cross that I'll survive. In the meantime, this is a Fashion post, so let's get to the clothes.

A few weeks ago I was on the hunt for a pair of leggings. I've never owned a pair of leggings before, as I was skeptical of how practical and comfortable they could be if you had to wear a thong (I have an intrinsic aversion to thongs) in order to avoid the dreaded panty line while wearing. But lately I've been thinking of leggings, and how I've seen a few girls at my fashion-centric school pull off wet-look leggings amazingly, and suddenly like a bolt of lightning (if you'll pardon the cliche) it struck me that I had to have a pair of wet-look leggings. I became obsessed with them--I do love shiny things--so without further ado I set out in search of the wet-look leggings that caused such a controversial stir when they appeared in the spotlight a few years ago.

A lot of people don't like wet-look leggings because they're hard to wear and not the most flattering thing on a lot of body types--the reflective fabric means that it draws serious attention to whichever body part it covers, so a lot of people who are self-conscious about their legs don't like them. They look great on skinny, long-legged people (doesn't everything? Ha. I am so going to get flamed for that). I'm not exactly sure why I haven't gotten a pair of these leggings yet, because they're definitely my kind of thing style-wise. So a couple Sundays ago on a trip to the Marc by Marc Jacobs store on Bleecker Street for rainboots, I dragged my shopping buddy JSK into American Apparel, home of all tights and leggings.

Many people love American Apparel's shiny lamé leggings and consider them a staple, but trying them on in the store's dressing rooms I found them to be a bit lacking. The fit wasn't terribly flattering on my Freshman 5 (yes, I got lucky. My metabolism seems to be holding up despite all the multiple daily grilled cheeses I've been dosing myself with), the seams pinched in at all the wrong places, and the Small size wrinkled horribly around my knees while the XSmall refused to be pulled up beyond my butt due to the lack of elasticity in the fabric. Plus they just weren't comfortable. I also noticed that the shininess of the lamé disappeared when the leggings were stretched and the flecks of reflective paint coating the surface of the nylon were pulled too far apart, creating a "bald" sort of effect. And if the tear in the waistband was anything to judge by, the quality wasn't so great. That coupled with the $46 price tag made me altogether reluctant to buy them, no matter how many people gush about American Apparel leggings on their fashion blogs. I decided to search for leggings on the internet instead.

After a bit of sifting through Google, I came up with a promising site: Black Milk Clothing byAustralian designerJames Lillis. I arrived at his online store through his blog, Too Many Tights, on which he subtly, indirectly, classily bragged about the non-saggy knees of his leggings (when the elasticity of the nylon in leggings becomes looser after repeat wearings, they tend to sag around the knees).

Lillis designs fabulous, risqué leggings the likes of which you have never seen and bodysuits that beat the pants off of American Apparel. In fact, I dare you to find sexier, more innovative legwear. Unfortunately, they are a bit on the pricey side (although his most popular Black Wetlook leggings are *only* $40! "Only" being relative, because American Apparel's are $46), so even though the cost is justified for all of the amazing work that goes into them, for an art student they are a luxury I just can't afford. On the side note, if anyone wants to send me a pair of XS Lace Ups with silver eyelets... >w>

Here's me in my new leggings, wearing my grey v-neck sweater that I got for $5 (I'm a bargain hunter! I rarely splurge on expensive clothing) from the Buy 1 Get 1 Free rack at Wet Seal two winters ago. I have another in black that I like to wear with my grey skinny jeans (Pacsun, $45 each or 2 for $50), and these two sweaters are my favorite tops for the winter. It only makes it better that they were so cheap--together they were $10--but not too bad quality, as I have worn them tirelessly autumn to spring for now two years and they barely show the signs of pilling.

They really do fit like liquid--here's a closeup:

The great thing about Black Milk's leggings is that you can tell right away that the quality is a lot better than American Apparel's (sorry AA fans!), even though the actual cost is less (although if you factor in the $10 international shipping cost, they're actually not--but I say it's worth it for the quality). Whereas the lamé of American Apparel leggings was thin and flimsy and lost their sheen when stretched because the shininess was only painted on the surface of the fabric (this also means that the shininess can be scratched off, which the American Apparel website warns you about--not lovely), the actual threads of Black Milk leggings are reflective, which means no matter how far you stretch them they'll still have great shine. I still have yet to see if that "anti-bag" claim is still true after a few wearings, but it goes without saying that I love them. If you're interested in acquiring a pair of Black Wetlooks for yourself, there are a few things to keep in mind:

1. These tights are shiny. Not latex-shiny (although Lillis does those too--check em out), but they have a definite sheen that's brighter and bolder than the look of American Apparel's matte black lamé, which is more leather-look than Black Milk. Definitely not for the faint of heart. Alternatively, if it's leather-look you're going for, try Viktor Viktoria's Thick Leather Look Leggings ($35) and tell me how they are, because those are on my list.

2. Be sure to check the sizing chart to see how you measure up. The smallest size Black Milk leggings come in is an XS, which according to them is equal to a 2-4 US pantsize (UK and Australia sizes are also listed). I'm a 00, so my XS Black Wetlooks are a little large on me (they start sliding down toward my ankles after a while if I do a lot of walking or running in them, unfortunately, although it's by no fault of the product--my ass is simply too flat. I wonder if James will do XXS?). It should be noted that on the bottom of the sizing chart it says: "If you have any special requests, please let us know, we can provide customized size service for the perfect fit!" Custom tailoring! Wow. I was far too impatient the first time, but when I save up the money to fund myself for another pair of Black Wetlooks I'll definitely look into that. If anyone orders a pair of custom Black Milk tights, please let me know how it goes!

3. And finally, here's a tip: Keep yourself updated on Too Many Tights! James Lillis sometimes does giveaways! I'm not certain on how frequently, but just a few days ago a pair of free Black Wetlooks were awarded to a lucky girl who was first to correctly answer the question he posed in one of his blog posts. So check his blog often--in addition to the possibility of scoring freebies and alerting yourself to bouts of free shipping, James also posts new designs and inspirations up on his blog. Plus, his blog is just interesting and often very humorous--his Discourse on Recession Economics, for example (I'm not being sarcastic).

Moving on from my newfound legging love...not only are the leggings beautiful by themselves, they go great with my new flats.

(I photographed these myself! Didn't it come out nice? Maybe there's hope for me yet.)

See?? Pretty! These are Chinese Laundry Glee flats in Black Vipera. They have rhinestones in a metal setting with a 3/8" heel. Mine are a bit big, because the smallest pair left were in size 6 and I'm a size 5, but they were only $45 (the retail price is $70) at the Strawberry store at Union Square...how could I resist that deal? I love the fluid, organic shape of the metal frame around the rhinestones, as if the metal were still molten. Unfortunately, they are too big, and my heels come out of them if I try to run or walk quickly--two gears that are most vital for the Parsons Student, thanks to the school's extremely strict attendance policy. I plan on going to a cobbler eventually to either get insoles to make the shoe smaller or see how much it would cost to get permanent inserts sewn into the shoes (although I probably can't afford that). Until then, I'm stuffing the toes with toilet paper and making do.

If you want your own pair of Glees, you can buy them online here or here. They also come in Bronze and Tin (silver), but in my opinion the Black Viperas are the most gorgeous, as the other two colors don't have the snakeskin pattern that gives the intriguing visual texture.

Okay, so I've been spending more money than usual on stuff for myself lately. I feel guilty about it because I'm saving up for something very important (that's a secret!)...but I love my purchases and haven't an ounce of buyer's regret, so I'll just think of them as early Christmas presents to myself.

Speaking of Christmas presents...it's that time of year again, so I've allotted $200 to my Christmas Gifts fund and have been sifting through the internet looking for gifts for the important people in my life.

Some people have pointed out that it's a bit redundant buying presents, as the act isn't exactly so selfless seeing as my parents are providing me my allowance (in my defense, it's not my fault--I'm perfectly happy to get a part-time job, in fact I want one, as I'm an independent person by nature--but my parents wouldn't let me get one in high school and they won't let me now. They insist that I focus on my schoolwork...), so I'm essentially buying their presents with their own money. But it's not like I'm running around with Daddy's black AmEx (I get $600 a month, $200 of which I save), and since I could just as easily spend the money on stuff for myself instead of on other people...well, I'll let you make your own judgments. I'm thinking of it as not so much the objects being the gift, but rather the dozen hours I spent gathering discounts, comparing prices, and searching for something that I think they'd actually like. So the Christmas List is as follows:

Mom--Terrasoles Avalanche slippers
Dad--black Calvin Klein sweater
Brother (16)--grey American Eagle sweater
Little Sister (3)--baby pink Gymboree sweaterdress
My Best Friend, N--magenta and purple striped leggings with shiny buttons. Possibly set to change if I find some form of rainbow paraphernalia.
The Boyfriend--???

The Boyfriend is excruciatingly hard to shop for, because unlike me he's utterly unmaterialistic (on my views on materialism--I believe there's nothing wrong with wanting nice things, as long as material possessions aren't the most important thing in your life). The few objects he does covet tends to be things that have sentimental or personal value, like the rope bracelets his friends made him or his guitars. Currently I've scrolled through millions of possibilities in my mind, but nothing's quite clicked (that I can afford, anyway. Yet). Any suggestions? He like rock climbing, guitars, wolves, and the color green.

Anyway, that's it for now. Perhaps I'll make a post about my artwork later--we'll see. For now I'm off to make myself a grilled cheese and work on my food blog. Bye~

Inspiration!

2009-11-19T21:27:00.001-05:00

Hi hi. I figured I couldn't put photos of my inspirational artists (which I need for a class presentation) on my food blog Purple Dinosaur Sprinkles. So I made a new blog. I've been meaning to make one for a while, but...well, no excuses. On to the presentation.

So the assignment is to pick an artist or piece of artwork that inspires you. This is sort of difficult for me, because I have too many, and yet I'm not very strongly influenced by one particular artist--I tend to pull bits and pieces of everything I like and smash it together with glitter and rainbows. After much digging around in my head I've come up with two artists who are known for using elements that inspire me:

Tim Burton

Miyazaki

Both filmmakers, even though my intended major is fashion. And their styles are crazy different. Let me explain.

I'm a person of opposites. When it comes to spectrums (aesthetically, at least) I seem to usually prefer the extremes. So, it's either white-blond hair or raven-black hair. Greyscale or hot pink and lime green. You could probably make an argument for it being because I don't like half-assed things. But really, it's just because I'm unbalanced.

With Tim Burton, I love the muted colors he uses for all of his films, like someone went on Photoshop and turned down the saturation on everything. It's really distinctive--I remember watching "Sleepy Hollow" at a friends house one morning and saying "You know, the style of this movie is really Tim Burton-y". And then the credits came on and lo and behold, it was indeed directed by Tim Burton.

I was so proud of myself.

[This is both Tim Burton-y and not Tim Burton-y. Note the Nightmare Before Christmas-esque candycanes behind Willy Wonka.]

In addition to just the colors, I love the slightly grotesque and macabre touch that is present (if not front and center) in his movies. Even his movies for children, like The Nightmare Before Christmas (brilliant because it gets shown twice a year during holidays) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (this one kind of deviates from his usual muted color palette, actually) are a little dark and a bit not-so-kid-friendly in bits. At the same time, I find the morbid humor and the blood and gore to be in a kind way very beautiful.

[I'm so excited for Alice in Wonderland. Why hasn't he done this sooner?]

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On the other hand, I also love Hayao Miyazaki's animations. Where I love Tim Burton for his dark, twisted style, I love Miyazaki for the bright, cheerful colors and lovable characters in his animations. Miyazaki's films are often very fun and whimsical (like "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Spirited Away"), but he also likes to use recurring themes, such as the relationships between man and nature (in "Castle in the Sky" and "Princess Mononoke"). Miyazaki's films are the kind of heartwarming and touching stories that are completely family-appropriate.

[We watched Miyazaki films in Japanese class. It was awesome.]

Plus, I really love the backgrounds of Miyazaki's films. It's something I've always loved about Japanese animation--where in American cartoons the background and characters are usually very simple to allow for easier animation (think SpongeBob), the backgrounds of Japanese animations are complex paintings, not just cel shaded backdrops.

[You can't tell from this still, but those hydrangeas were highly realistic. It was amazing.]

I like to pause the movie on my computer and note all the little details because I'm a dork.

Anyway, that's all for now. Yes.

[I want to have a Tim Burton and Miyazaki movie marathon now...]

All images licensed to their respective copyright holders. Don't sue me. You won't get much, I'm a starving art student.