Spring Cleaning

Even though winter pretty much jumped right into summer here (I don't mind! The weather has been lovely! <3) I thought it might be a good idea to do a proper spring cleaning. You know how dust always collect in some corners that is hard to reach, and when you keep scraps of fabric in a bag although you really should toss it away...?
I've zooming back and forth through the entire apartment, much to my poor partner's dismay since I keep giving her little jobs... (wash the floor here, hold this for me...) *blushes* But it's really starting to look lovely here! <3

I'm also thinking of making a pretty gathering for my cloth chest.... It has a lovely old cross stich, but unfortunately it has rubbed off at the corners and the colors go in autumn hues that don't really sit well with the rest of our home. The only thing that is really bothering me, is that we don't have enough storage for it to look entirely neat. We have such an array of items of all kinds, that don't really have any good place to be. The bookshelf is filled with not only books but little chests and other ornament that I don't know what to do with.

When we get a house, we definitely need good storage. *nods*

Headdresses

Headdresses feels like a natural item for any Lolita, but how to find the perfect one for you? While I have my own collection of headdresses, I usually end up using diadems or baretts or scrunchies instead. Why? I don't know... I think it's because I find the tie band beneath the chin a bit uncomfortable.
So among headdresses I prefer the ones that are like headbands. But finding good headbands to turn into headdresses is really not an easy task!

Here we go. Made this one today! While organza and satin is difficult materials to work with if you want a Lolita-look, it is possible to make quite beautiful pieces if you know what you're doing. :)

A little box

We ran out of small plastic bags today, and I looked at the box they had been in and thought 'ah, this is a nice size for a box...'
And I ended up decorating it with scrapbooking paper and plastic film, and some lace of course! <3 This is what it turned out like. :D

Isn't spontanous crafting refreshing? <3 Now I have somewhere to put the threads I use the most, since they never really get returned to the chest I keep all other threads in...

Apples, leaven and cinnamonrolls

Have you ever baked using leaven? I've done it at a couple of times, but only bread and it's always turned out good. But! I've always used yeast and today I learned there's another way to do it - with grated apples. It takes longer, 5 days, but I am so curious!
It was a recipe for cinnamon rolls that used apples for the leaven, and I just have to try it! I thought I'd share the recipe with you. <3

Basic leaven

1 apple (grated)
100 g water (35 degrees celsius)
200 g flour

Leave in a glass container with the lid ajar in a warm place for three days. Shake it each morning and evening.

Day four you add 200 g water and 200 g flour, stir and rest a one or two more days. You know have a leaven that you can keep in the fridge until you decide to use it. :) Take good care of it, and keep adding water and flour (equal amounts of each) now and then and the day before you plan on using some of it. If you take good care of your leaven it's said you can have the same one for years! I suppose that's how they did it in old days.

Cinnamon rolls

500 g milk
1100 g flour
200 g sugar
200 g butter (room temperature)
30 g yeast
20 g ground cardamom
10 g salt
50 g of your leaven

Filling

250 g butter
250 g sugar
Cinnamon

For decoration

1 lightly whipped egg (for brushing the rolls)
Sugar for decorating rolls (in Swedish: pärlsocker)

To make good rolls, you have to work the dough thoroughly. If you have a machine, that's great! But if you don't, it will take a bit of effort. Work the dough for at least 10 minutes, until you can stretch the dough so thin it gets transparant without it breaking.
Using a rolling pin, make a large rectangular shape (about 60x40 centimeters), mix butter and sugar and gently apply it over the entire dough. Sift cinnamon over ackording to taste. Now take both of the edges, and fold them to the middle, then fold it again like a book.
Cut into pieces that are as wide as your little finger, and twist them into knots. Let rise for 2 hours, brush with the egg and decorate with the sugar. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes (200 degrees celsius) until they are golden brown. <3 Done!

Summerday and bird song

This morning I woke up to the sound of birds singing, and I just knew this will be a lovely day! <3 A soft mist covered the air, and as it slowly lifted we saw a clear blue summer sky.
Today winter will officially be over, the pavements are swept and flowers are filling the air with their lovely scents, painting the scenery in beautiful colors.

Winter's depression is finally gone, and I can start wearing my dresses outside without being weighed down by coats! I am so happy! <3

Holiday Wishes and E-cards

Good Friday is here, and I want to wish all my readers a very Joyous Easter! <3 I hope you receive lots of sunlight and happy memories, and by all means do not eat too much candy! *giggles* Now I will go out for a stroll in the sun and dream of times that are less troubled. :)

For the holiday I wish to share with you something I found; a database of Victorian holiday cards you can send to family or friends as e-cards. <3 Holiday Cards There are cards for ever holiday, not only Easter, and many of them are very pretty. <3 enjoy!

Summer and cherry blossoms

I have never really liked extreme temperatures, whether it be cold or heat, so I absolute love spring and autumn. <3 Right now Spring is at its' finest, just warm enough to just wear a cardigan instead of a coat and they are finally sweeping up all the gravel that covers the pavements everywhere after the winter.
Perfect weather for Lolita. <3
The only thing I am slightly worried about is getting a tan, since a tan with knee-highs look decidedly funny. *giggles*

The cherry blossoms along the stream in town are starting to flower, and it is so beautiful! <3 It inspires me to sew a new dress. Yes... *sigh* I shouldn't. My walk-in wardrobe is full. ^.^; I really ought to take down a few of the dresses I don't wear very often to give space for new ones...

Finished bloomers and pancakes!

I finished the bloomers I wrote about in the post yesterday, and here they are! <3 I'm very pleased with how they turned out, they look so cute. <3

I really like the color combination of turquoise and pink, it's very classy and sweet. And the little white dots give an excellent texture. <3

Also, I had pancakes with strawberry jam and whipped cream for lunch. <3 Yum! And now I'm going to make stewed plums for tomorrows breakfast. <3

Inspiration where you least expect it...

As a lolita, I'm not very fond of baring more skin than necessary - especially not chest or tummy - so I tend not to be overly happy with designs that expose a lot of skin. That said, I'm absolutely infatuated with cute underwear, and look for designs for clothes and such everywhere there is anime/manga pictures since they often have very interesting details I can fuse into my designs.

It is a careful threading though, since there is a lot of risque pictures out there, especially on such sites. Nevertheless, I do browse, and now and again I come across pictures like this one which is quite...you know, but the design of the clothes! <3 While the girl has a lot of mistakes drawingwise, those bloomers are adorable! <3

Incidentally, I have such a fabric at home right now, so I'm going to make a pair. <3 And once I can get more of that fabric I might just make that top too, because it was also very cute. <3 With a bit more cover up, of course.

A that could have started out better

I'm having one of those days when my body isn't working properly. These days come and go, and it's always bothering me... :( Today I'm so lightheaded and drained of energy I just don't know what to do with myself. I've been drinking lots of water (I get dehydrated easily) but it doesn't help. The headache is just getting worse too.
I just want to lie down and sleep until tomorrow but I can't do that!

I feel like my body is somehow shutting down, and it is a really scary feeling. The days when it just doesn't want to keeps getting more frequent, and nobody knows what's wrong. I keep saying I'm not afraid of a lot of things but this frightens me. What if it really is shutting down? Maybe one day this won't go away.

Gosick again!

I have now watched 8 episodes of Gosick, and I'm falling for it. It is a quite romantic tale, with Kujo as the Black Knight and Victorique as the Fair Maiden. The annoyances I had proved to be quite minor, as the teacher does very little appearances, and Grevil's behavior only an act.
The only thing I'm slightly worried about at the moment is Avril, as she seems to be a vey pushy annoying little brat. Who knows. Maybe she is really a sweet girl.

Either way, I'm liking it. :) It is a very sweet story and the balance in drama is very good. I'll keep watching and keep you updated.

Gosick and trouble brewing

After glancing at it for a while I decided to actually give Gosick a chance. The Gothic Lolita theme is promising enough, but I'm not so sure, really... First episode was a bit...weird. In a bad way. Some things about it was amazing - I truly loved the library, Victorique has very beautiful clothes, I absolutely adore that Kujo wears a hat, and it has promise to be some occult horror.
That in all is fine, but then there are the things I don't really like. Like the weird comedy moments, how Victorique rolls on the floor and goes from cool Gothic Lolita to spoiled 4-year-old, and the design of Grevil is ghastly. And that teacher. She is absolutely horrible.

So. Gosick? I don't know. I might watch a few more episodes but it doesn't look too promising.

On a sidenote, my health is not what I would wish for. My knee is acting up again and my arm still hasn't recovered after that troublesome incident when it got dislocated. It still tingles and it's so much weaker than my right that you can see the difference in muscle. Not good at all.
And the cramps are returning with annoying accurate intervals. I'm worried. I don't like having chest pains like that, though I feel pretty confident that it is just simple cramps and not the heart, it's still very disconcerting. I feel like I'm the only one who can just suddenly have half her body cramp up at once. It's annoying and it hurts, and I want it to go away.
But nobody knows what's wrong.

Croissants and mini hats

I love waking up in the morning and just know that this will be a good day. <3 The rain was pouring and I was tired, but! Mood was up in the clouds! <3 Don't you just love those mornings?
So, right now I'm baking croissants with two different types of filling - one with strawberry, one with apple and butter jam. In hindsight I should have added some cinnamon to the latter...but I can try that next time! <3

Also, I've made a new hat and is in the process of deciding what to do with the tulle. It's really difficult! I've asked my friends and everyone has had different opinions. ^.^;; I don't know what to do!

Gothic Lolita

Did you know, when I started with Lolita I was a Gothic Lolita? It's true. :) My first dress was entirely black with a black velvet choker. It was my first real project of sewing a dress so it wasn't very well made but... Ah, nostalgy!
Since then I've mostly gone Classic or Sweet, with heavy Victorian influences. But I still like Gothic... So well, after gaining some great inspiration I started sewing a Gothic skirt. :) It's difficult to use black&white and avoid getting a maid look. I was thinking a lot back and forth until I decided.

This is the backside of the skirt:

The front is decorated with small satin bows. I'm not very fond of satin, to be quite honest, but for small details it is good. :) I love the pattern I created for this skirt, it got just the right volume and looks gorgeous on. <3

A scary awakening

In the middle of the night my beloved woke me up yelling that something was on fire - and sure enough our entire apartment was filled with smoke. I admit - I got scared. But mostly scared for her sake and the sake of the people who live in the house.
Thankfully it wasn't burning in our apartment but on the first floor entrance hall, and by the time we noticed the smoke the fire brigade had already put it out. No one was harmed, but the fire was incendiary. Everyone around here feels sure they know who did it - there are kids and teenagers that pester the area even though they don't live here. Everyone blames them for this and I admit I do too.

The smoke on our floor wasn't thick enough to do any damage, and even though I can still smell it in the air no clothes or hair smells of smoke. I was afraid my Lolita clothes would need dry cleaning to get rid of the smell but turns out there was no need. Phew!