Make-up

Do you like my make-up?

Since my "celtic" looking outfit isn't very special (it's just casual grey and brown clothes thrown together) I went for a 'classic gothic' look (black would be a good choice as well because the weatherbroadcast said it would be a cold day :P).

I think I just might go and use this picture (an edited one of course) as my standard picture on this blog (and website) :)

What do you think?

Queen's Day - The Aftermath

Queen's Day was a succes. I could have sold more, perhaps, but I already earned much more money than I expected. Then again, it was a flea market and people don't expect to buy jewellery for a bit more (I did lower my prices very much for this special 'first selling' occasion). However, I do expect a different buying pattern on my webshop (and people with (more) different tastes) so I'm not going to let this lead my thoughts on, about what kind of jewellery to make. I just want to make things I like myself, you know. ;) (No worries about that though!)

Anyway, here's a picture!

This is somewhere at the end of the day so the stand is a bit messy.

I know, I know, I was trying to sell way too much things at the same time, people barely looked through the baskets with jewellery. Oh well, better next time ;)

I learnt a lot this day!
- make the stand less crowded
- more difference in height
- more things on display
- hang up jewellery (like I did on the photograph, I only did this after a few hours)
- take with me a nice rug or something to put underneath the stand so I can crawl to the other side (since I could barely walk around the stands next to me)
- make better price cards
- get little paper bags to put in what people buy (even if it is just because it looks nice!)
- get more stand-space
- take with me a little table so I don't have to put junk on the stand, it looks very messy (and makes the stand even more crowded)
- the stand/display needs to be more clear, things need to be seen better
- make a few big signs, for example with my website and that all things are handmade
- always bring the boyfriend with me, he knows how to talk.
etc

Queen's Day Has Arrived!

Don't forget I will be selling jewellery at the Queen's Day Orange Market in Veldhoven today! Do come round and pay a visit! I'm so very excited ^___^

<3

The Elf Fantasy Fair!

I had a great day in Haarzuilens, at the Elf Fantasy Fair!
I'm posting just to show you my final outfit, this is how I looked at the EFF (pictures are taken over there, too!) I was aiming for an Emilie Autumn Plague Rat look :)

Picture time!

In the end it still looks different from what I had in mind (duh!). I think I'll edit the bustle skirt later on, since it looks a bit weird from behind imo....

I couldn't stop singing 'Rats, rats, everywhere! In your tea and in your hair! Nothing else can quite compare, to a good old-fashioned Plague-Rat!'  <3

Preparating for the EFF

Working on a bustleskirt for the EFF

Pinned lots of layers of fabric on the base for the bustle skirt... Wonder where this is going! I really hope it will turn out like this... Or better...

A little break on crafting

No crafting at all for me tonight! And hopefully I will be able to pull that off at least tomorrow as well. Not yet an hour ago being surrounded by such a big crafting mess and supplies, unfinished things and finished things waiting to be properly put in bags and price tagged and whatever drove me insane. So I decided I would put it all away, out of my room for a little while. Maybe now I'll be able to update more regularly ;) (And do some more things just for myself like reading and drawing, which are things I have neglected very badly the last.. year!)

Anyway, today the boyfriend and I went to a fair in my town, I bought a few lovely mouse hairclips (blue and pink) and after that, when we got home (my place) again we cleared the dinner table and experimented with filling a stand. A friend and I hired a stand on the 'Oranje markt' (orange market) at Queen's Day (30th of April) to sell stuff we made ourselves (as I told before). Although for her this is more for fun and maybe a little bit of money, for me this kinda is serious business. It will be the first time I actually get to find out if people would buy my stuff (except for my mum, grandmother, aunt and mother in law :P) and if they are willing to pay what I ask for it (though I must admit I lowered the prices VERY much for the market). After the market I'll hopefully be able to finally open a webshop :) I'm very excited! It gives me something to work for, something to do. Though it means a lot of stress as well.
But! Where was I? Ah, Kevin and I spent the whole afternoon experimenting with how I would put things on my stand. In the end 2 meters suddenly is very little space :S I thought I would have so much space left and the opposite is true! Having only two meters of space for my merchandise means I don't have any space for my left-overs (old jewellery I wanted to sell to make room for new things), cards, felt plushies and whatever I still wanted to make but had not yet started on. So, I guess this IS somehow good, namely that I've got less things to make so less to worry about. On the other hand I was pretty excited to make those things because this would be the perfect opportunity to see if people would buy them. Oh well, maybe I'll still make some little things.

Ah! This blog entry has become much longer than I anticipated! :P

So, what AM I going to do if not crafting?
I would like to..
- update my blog more often
- catch up on things I still need to blog about
- change the information on my blog, I need a new introduction fast!
- start on a nice lay-out for my website (I'll need loads of help from Kevin though since I've never made a website lay-out before)
- update and add information on my website
- Start accumulating pictures for my online portfolio!

Bye~

Crafting, Thoughts and Pictures.

Another day spent by mostly crafting jewellery and watching some episodes of Waking The Dead and Star Trek - The Next Generation. It's silly how fast a day goes by, and how easily I feel like I don't do very much even though I didn't sit still all day. Again I made a bunch of necklaces and bracelets, and I just can't get a satisfying feeling, I need to make more, more, more and more! Maybe I need a little break from crafting and do some other things like updating my blog or toying around with a lay-out for my website, or with the information, texts and even pictures I want to put on my website. If I'm going to try to sell my jewellery at Queen's Day and thereby try to promote my own work and hope to win some visitors (and customers!) on my website, I need to show something on there! Or else it won't do much good urging people to visit my website, will it? ;)

As I said, I've been crafting today... I love these pearly beads I got last week! I've got a few varieties in colour, and I might decide on buying more. I've still got quite a few of them left though, so I'll see if I can find another nice technique of working with wire :)

Here's a picture of my working space, and one of my bed. I put all the jewellery I've already finished on it. I still have a lot of things to finish though, and there's even more I still want to start making!
I don't think it'll ever be enough :P

Concert: The Magnetic Fields @ De Duif, Amsterdam

Wednesday was the The Magnetic Fields gig, and it was pure, freaking awesome.


The gig was taking place at the Duif in Amsterdam, via the venue Paradiso. I did not know what to expect exactly, since the website of De Duif doesn't say much about it as a venue, but more about the community that surrounds it. Anyway, De Duif was a church (not your regular one, you would not notice much about the outside of the building that it is a church) and the inside is beautiful. Seats were lined up (I couldn't say how many seats there were though, but my boyfriend estimated about 400 seats?). The gig was sold out, hooray! TMF's so deserve that.

So, the day and hour of the gig had arrived. Me and my boyfriend seated ourselves in the middle of the second row even though the seats on the first row were completely free (but reserved... :(). And after waiting an hour or so (we were the first to get in) the hall was crowded with people. It was a bit messy for everyone to get a seat because, well, to be normal is not to pass on of course! And there was absolutely no room for walking or standing in between the rows (which meant I was lucky to be on the second row so I could step right over the first row to get out, unlucky part was that I was wearing my platform boots).

I'm straying! The gig! The gig! (I never said I was good at reviews.....)
The band entered the stage and people clapped (duh!)

Here's the setlist! And it's a long one, it is!

1 - Kiss me like you mean it

2 - You must be out of your mind

3 - Interlude

4 - The luckiest guy on the lower east side

5 - Better things

6 - I don't want to get over you

7 - Acoustic guitar

8 - The nun's litany

9 - I don't really love you anymore

10 - I don't know what to say

11 - Shipwrecked

12 - Suddenly there is a tidal wave

13 - Walk a lonely road

14 - I'm sorry that I love you

[Break]

15 - Xylophone

16 - Long Vermont Roads

17 - The doll's teaparty

18 - Wi' nae wee bairn ye'll me beget

19 - Always already gone

20 - All the umbrella's in London

21 - The one you really love

22 - a song by the 6ths (unfortunately, I can't find the lyrics anywhere so I've got nothing to compare it with for a title)

23 - Fear of trains

24 - Tongue tied

25 - We are having a hootenanny 

26 - From a sinking boat

27 - 100,000 fireflies

28 - Papa was a rodeo

The gig was acoustic (practically probably because of Stephin Merritt's ear problems), and it was certainly an excellent choice. A church, an acoustic show, seats... Not something I am accustomed to, but certainly a nice change for once!
What was also particularly nice about the show was that not only were the songs played acoustically (well, almost) but the manner in which the songs were song (by whom and some of the melody or singing ways in general) were changed as well. It was very awesome to hear some of the songs sung by Stephin himself instead by Claudia or Shirly, and vice versa. Also the duets were very nice. Sometimes I didn't recognise a song at once because of this, or didn't even realise something had been changed from the "original" recorded/released one.

Stephin and Claudia were the ones who did the talking and I certainly was entertained the whole of the show. Dry humour at it's best!

I don't know if the band noticed me singing along almost every word of the songs (I did catch my boyfriend singing along softly too! Which was a very nice surprise, I didn't realize he knew so many of the words!), and I really don't know if the band or anyone else thought I was being annoying, but I just couldn't help myself. The gig was awesome and I love this music so very, very much. I was actually surprised that I could sing along SO very well to everything, except for two or three songs I didn't know very well (because I don't own every song Stephin ever wrote :P).

It was a nice surprise as well to hear some Gothic Archiness during the gig, since I absolutely adore that project of Stephin very much as well. I need that album.
Which reminds me, I would have loved to see more merchandise! I would have murdered for a poster (or perhaps a shirt, or the The Gothic Archies album...) but the only things they were selling were some albums (I did by Realism!) and the Realism LP.


Did I mention I got autographs as well? I didn't! But I did get them! Are you confused yet? Anyhow, Kevin and I just wandered around a bit in front of the stage and we were lucky enough that a roady was willing to ask the band to autograph my album and the tickets. The album has autographs of the complete band, but we could only get 3 on the tickets... Too bad, I really wanted to hang those on my wall. Oh well.

I guess this is the end of my very bad, but lovingly written review on the The Magnetic Fields gig. May they live happy lives and make many more records :3


I can only dream of the next gig....


Hey! Psst!
Some very bad, taken in the dark without flash, shaky and unfocused PHOTOGRAPHS! (at least you can recognise everyone... :P)

Phantasium & New Boots!

I had a great time at Phantasium with my boyfriend! Some friends joined us at Saturday and it was really nice to have my mum with me for once at Sunday. I now know exactly which underbust I want to buy! It's a black one with a white pinstripe. Thanks to a very nice lady from Realm of Darkness who helped me fit some underbusts, I now know my size for certain.

Anyway, as usual I barely have pictures, I just forget about taking pictures when I'm at an event, it doesn't seem important at all at the very moment. I only now realize I don't even have a picture of my complete outfit, since in the ones I do have, I'm already wearing my new boots (which are pure LOVE, see down below for a better picture!) so no pictures of my legwarmers. Oh well.

BTW! No editting, it seems no use with pictures of this awful quality.

And, last but most certainly not least! My new Boots!!!!!!

I've already been showing them off, I have only worn these boots since I bought them at Saturday. They make me smile. :)

Cheshire Cat Outfit & Phantasium

It's been a long few days. Wednesday I had this idea for an outfit for this weekend (a fantasy market named Phantasium in Eindhoven, my boyfriend and I are going both days). At Thursday I bought some fabric and started working on it. I'm going as the Cheshire Cat. To be honest, this idea was not at all inspired by the new Tim Burton movie (I haven't even seen that one yet, but I'm planning to!) I've always loved Alice in Wonderland (the original book is still the best!). The outfit isn't VERY special or complicated, I actually only made some assecories to go with some cloths I already own.

I made a pair of leg warmers, a pair of arm warmers, a tail, something to pull up my skirt a bit at one spot, a pair of cat ears on hair clips and a choker with a bell. Almost everything is striped, in blue and pink (I wanted blue and purple but the fabric shop I went to didn't have the fabric I wanted in purple :(). Ah, also, I finally painted a shirt! I already had the shirt (I need more.) and ideas, but for this outfit I came up with a better (well, bigger anyway) design so I just did that.

This is what the living room looked like:

And the freshly painted shirt:

I used my old little digital camera so the photographs aren't very good and very grainy.

I'll try to get a picture of the complete outfit this weekend, stay tuned for updates ;)