craziness, i have TWO katamari hats ready for ebay. but i'm only putting one up at a time... the second one will go one when this one finishes. :)

i'd totally wear the black/turquoise one. ^_~

( pictures here )

bonus, if you're not on my regular lj:

the results of my first attempt at a gravity defying wig. it's for Aika of Skies of Arcadia if i manage to finish it for CNA. and yeah the scrunchies and tie are gonna go and the ends will be cleaned up a bit :P it's a little bit messy, the braid was a quick job, but it'll do for now. ^^;; (but adding the extensions along the back was a major pain.)

sorry i haven't updated in so long...! i'm so disorganized and useless. - the brain-melting weather really isn't helping! ^^;;
2 things today :)

one is a repeat from my own LJ - sorry f-list! :P the other is an ebay notice for another Katamari hat.

1. Khade got new eyes and is looking pretty, so i took some photos of him in the fancy outfit i'm slowly working on, that'll hopefully eventually be sold. don't mind the pins and non-matching pants and lack of buttons and such... ^^;; i think it'll get 3/4 pants that match the jacket, long-socks, lace wrist cuffs, and the vest will have gold buttons, the white shirt will be a different one that fits better, the jacket will have cuff trim, etc.

the photo doesn't really show the jacket trim very well - the lace and bead trim shows up a lot nicer in real life :/ you can kinda see the contrast of the lace trim a bit better in the second photo. btw the boy in the second photo is Kristy's volks boy, Skye, who we visited tonight.

(and... don't they look like Sirius Black with Remus Lupin, or is it just me? *^_^*)
( pics under here )

2. NEVERMIND :O! (...someone bought it >D)

hrm. guess i'll have to make another one soon.

this is a small update since i'm overdue but i want to go to bed.

this is up for sale now:


price: $39 US for the set. (a deal since the cloak and sweater are worth 28$ and 20$ respectively for time/materials).

more pics/info here:
http://www.denofangels.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=23384

email madteaparty.net(at)gmail.com if interested ^^;;

a) last week pissed myself off by being too lazy, the weekend was held up with technical problems, and today i have cramps. wish me luck to get a lot more stock done in time for AN >_<

b) 2 more styles of bag done, example pics behind the cut

c) COSPLAY UPDATE: i have officially given up on finishing Aika (Skies of Arcadia) for AN. this makes me feel crappy, but at this point, boosting my chances of making enough profit to have some bills/debt money after AN is more important than my cosplay. never thought you'd hear me say THAT, huh? =_= yep, Xiola's trying to prioritize, and sucking at it. :P Aika is still in the works, she is just being held over until CNA. thankfully my Vyse is good with that plan. :)

d) i made an effort at a tribal dance headband, coz i got distracted while making a katamari hat in the same colours... ^^;; the pics are shitty but i'm kinda liking it for a first effort and crappy yarn :P i am toying with the idea of being a cheesy dork and wearing some pseudo tribal-bellydance type outfit (not quite) for at least one of the days at AN, because you know, i need to wear SOMETHING that's more fun than usual if i'm just gonna be a table-lady all weekend :P plus i like how it feels to wear long heavy skirts, and the jewellery is fun.. XD my only misgiving is that i feel tacky because i am a n00b and sucky at bellydance. but i like it and am actually making an effort by taking classes, so that's good enough for anyone who doesn't know better i suppose ;P

e) anyone who just went "ooh bellydance *gaha fanboy drool*", i'm NOT POSING FOR YOUR SKANKY PHOTOS, ok? >P

f) crappy photos!

bigger photos of the following under the cut:


( go to larger photos )

i'm just posting this to show off the sexy pic at the bottom.

skip the whining if you want, just don't ask me about it without reading first. ;)

it's gone, and shipped, and the customer got one hell of a deal, coz i got one hell of a ripoff for taking too long and being wussy about the price and this is the only one i'm EVER MAKING, so she's lucky she got the first ;) i'm not gonna say how much i ripped myself off, it's embarassing/annoying.

it's not the pattern that was pain, i'd totally sew a similar pattern again, but pleather for things this small? those people who like making them can keep their business, BECAUSE THIN STRETCHY PLEATHER IS THE DEVIL.

at least it looks awesome. but holy crap. never again.

you guys get a crappy fake thumbnail to keep your friends list from stretching because i don't wanna open photoshop right now to make a smaller image >P


time to go sew more bags.

since i've stopped taking custom orders for hats until the next couple of cons are over, i'm only selling hats on a "whatever i have available" basis now. this one i made for AN, but my credit card is digging a bigger and bigger hole and i just had a really stupid shipping mix-up that was my fault so it cost me almost an entire refunded item, and i need to do something before AN so i'm hoping someone will buy it before then -_-

it's nice colours...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=8191000182&rd=1&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&rd=1

i also redid the front of my website to look a LITTLE less ghett, and accomodate some of the hosted stuff better. i'll probably reword it all later: http://mad-teaparty.net

*goes to eat*

so far i have 2 of the blue bags and 1 of each of the red ones... i really love the blue fabric :P i'm gonna make a few more of the blue and black/red ones, and then use some of my other fabrics with the same size bag... once i get those done i'll start doing a new pattern/size or do some lacier more lolita style ones... they'll take longer though :/ these take about 2 hours each which isn't bad.

the first MSD yukata i made appears to be cute as well (cuter and less messed up than the pink one ;P) but i have no model for it, so there's no photo and i won't know if it fits properly until i try it on kisa's dolls at AN ;P

(below: front of first bag, front and back of blue bag, front and back of black/red bag.)

( full pics under the cut )

i was making this little outfit today... please note there's not much intention at accuracy here beyond the basic cut of the main kimono, i was mainly just going for cute, plus kimono... i might make a longer one later i suppose, but i doubt i should make many girl's clothes for AN anyway, most people seem to get boy dolls. ^^;;

the hairdo decal is IMMENSELY CHEESY, it's really even more horrid in real life than it is in the photo, lol. i'm going to make an effort at doing some better ones, since it seems promising, but this one kind of makes me laugh. plus i mean, the fabric totally doesn't match, ew. ^^;; but... look look, there's even a REALLY SHITTY fake kansashi flower thingie! go me! lol. ;)

i mean the outfit as a whole makes no sense, but whatever ;P amusingly, all in all it's reminding me of pyjamas-with-an-obi :P partially coz of Kaylee being a sleeping head, but also the short cut with the pants showing and the colours and bare feet and everything.



now... i make tea to keep me from coughing when i lay down, and then go bed. ^^;;

a bag i made yesterday. it will be with the things i am selling at Anime North, but it does not quite have the right "look" yet, so i'll be tweaking them a bit more. in general though, it seems to have worked nicely.


another pic: http://mad-teaparty.net/store/forsale/FS-bag1b-sm.jpg

-----------------------------

i finally finished this commissioned blade/neo pleather jacket thingie for a Shiwoo doll. i've seriously been dragging my ass on this because it needed some tweaking and the fabric is just SO not forgiving that it was stressing me out and i'd avoid it whenever i could. so it's finally done and i'm happy. coz it looks cool, and i am relieved.
JACKET PICS:
http://mad-teaparty.net/store/works/05-leatherjacket1c.jpg
http://mad-teaparty.net/store/works/05-leatherjacket1b.jpg

-------------------------------

new random geeky hat with different crochet experiments. it's actually a birthday present, not that i really expect the person will wear it much. personally i think it's cute though, because i'm a dork. :P

note there's not really a "front" or "back" side, and the wig stand has a tiny head T_T


-------------------------------
random:

i bought a cute bench for my "models" to sit on at ANorth, since my Khade and possibly Kisa's boy will be at my artist's alley table to show off a couple outfits and will need a safe place to sit. :P plus it's cute and fits in my room. pic: http://mad-teaparty.net/khade/dollbench1.jpg

i have been bad and not posting much lately. so here's my faaascinating news: tags and costume pics. ;P

TAGS:
i've pretty much decided am going to register under the name Teaparty of the Vanities :P (yes, it sounds similar to a book title, that's why the name sounds catchy :P but since there's only two big words in that title and one is completely different, i doubt anyone would get upset over it). any opinions on the name? ^^;; good, bad? i do not want to use mad teaparty as my actual business name because that's way too overused and cliche, BUT the url is much easier for people to remember, which is a plus, and with a teaparty-related name, the url still matches closely enough to use it. plus, personally i think the name gives a pretty good idea of the mood and style i like.

anyway, since i finally have iron-on transfers, tonight i made TAGS! as in, the kind you attatch to fabric goods so that people know where it came from. good to have. what do you think, cute? :P (they're printed on non-fusible non-woven heavyweight interfacing, because it doesn't fray or rip easily).



A FINISHED COSTUME:
ad astra was this weekend. i haven't even posted pics of this to my regular journal, buuut, since this journal is for "artsy crap xio has finished lately", i may as well post it :P

me: http://mad-teaparty.net/cosplay/violet/AA05-violet2.jpg
me: http://mad-teaparty.net/cosplay/violet/AA05-violet1.jpg
closer me: http://www.pictures.adaelis.com/aa2005_ikegami/pictures/aa2005_ikegami_180.jpg
our awesome book: http://www.pictures.adaelis.com/aa2005_ikegami/pictures/aa2005_ikegami_176.jpg
there's also a bunch of pictures of the trio of us on eric's site: http://www.pictures.adaelis.com/aa2005_ikegami/aa2005_ikegami_p09.html

anyway... this month i have to kick my ass into gear and get all my stuff done to sell at anime north. ^_^

here's a recent katamari hat, sitting on top of my wings and jewellery for my Violet costume.

http://mad-teaparty.net/store/hats/custom-khat-greenblue.jpg

yeah, it's boring. sorry. :P i'll have pics of violet after this weekend i guess. ^^;;

i have some much better pics of the hat in which it looks *slightly* more like it's supposed to, plus a sakura tree/petals motif thing i did for potentially going on a handbag.

( cuter pics of queen seasponge thingie-hat! )

( cute sakuratree thingie for a bag? )

sucks the life out of photos, that is. this is only where"life" = "shadows", of course ;P

i took a couple quick pics of the weird sea-sponge-thing hat that i've been playing with, but it doesn't really look special in these pics so i don't expect anyone to go "ooh marvelous!" because it really looks way more 3D and cute and interesting in real life. oh well. i will shoot sun photos when it's complete.

( the Sea Sponge Queen is under here )

damn lameass photos. just saddens me since am really quite amused/pleased with it irl and it has no impact at all in those pics. ah well. next time. :P

and now i go to bed.

the quilt is finished for now! some parts got a bit overworked so i'm giving up and just putting it together with the bag... there are parts i love and parts that i'm rather annoyed with. but as a whole it makes me happy because it is my first try at this, and considering that it was all just a big experiment, i think it was very successful ^_^! but it's gonna be a somewhat large bag. XD



( +complete finished pic and a few closeups :DD )

aand, i haven't posted any katamari hat pics on this journal yet! so, here is the one i kept for myself! ^_^



( +1 more )

any ideas for new quilts? i plan to make more, and some simpler handbags and stuff, but i'll take suggestions... ^^;;

sorry for the so-soon-after post but i did more work on it and had to show, coz... bunnies! XD i think my shitty painting has improved some parts and worsened others, lol. but omg i <3 the bunnies so much. *_* and the fairy turned out rather cute after some fiddling, and i'm happy with how the paint showed up on her. the crappy painty mess bits will just be fixed up later with more layering and stitching ^^;;

kodama have been added since i took this pic. still not sure if i'm gonna bother adding the fish. if i do, it will be a jumping and sparkly fish. :P



( larger images )

ooh i've been wanting to do this sort of thing for AGES and i'm feeling so happy that i've actually started and have a little piece of positive result to show for it! *_* it's so fun! o_o!!

i decided to do this first practicey piece to make myself a bag to carry around my sewing/knitting projects when i go places, because i've been meaning to make myself a cute bag for awhile. the picture is kind of dorky but it worked better than i thought it would :D!

the sad thing is... i didn't buy ONE piece of fabric to make this. and i don't even have many greens, which is why the treetops are partially turquoise ^^;; i think my least favourite part is the lace in the trees, but i needed the texture, and i will try and tone it down with paint.

now i get to play with embellishing the scene more and adding paint and details *^_^* i am a bit apprehensive about the painting part, but it should be fun ^_^

so, here.. my first art quilt:



and here is a cheesy-ass photoshop sketch-over of a few little things i want to add into it:



(it's approx 16 x16")

:P! i'm so cheesy. but i am loving this thing ^_^

just finished kittyhat 2.0. i used thicker needles and the trim is crochet. and used yet another kind of trim fluff... *loves trim fluff!*. :P



unfortunately it's worth at least 50$, as usual. damn expensive hats T_T but the ears are cuute *pleased*

how dorky is this? i really can't decide :P i waffle between "dude that trim is so dorky, who'd wear that? -_-" and "aww, it's cute XD"



well, i would wear it, becuase i'm a dork, but who knows if anyone else would ;P i mostly just made it to see if i could knit the pattern becuase people i know have wanted kitty hats.

it's the first time i've knit an actual hat - i've only knit in straight lines before, and used crochet for hats :p and well, if i do bother to decide to sell it, i had to add *something* to it, becuase i feel bad selling something using a pattern from a book ^^;; so now that i know how to knit a hat, i might try and figure it out with a larger gauge of needles and change a few things and see if i can make a different kitty hat. hm.

i just put this up for sale finally. ^^;;

photos: http://mad-teaparty.net/store/autumnfaerie1.html

ebay listing: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5564394247&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT



it looks better in person. my photography skills are mediocre and my camera is nothing grand. :P but i loved the yarn, it was basically what inspired this.

the skirt and halo are just add-ons to complete the outfit, it's really more about the crocheted bits. the yarn has this nice mossy very forest-floor-in-autumn look. and it's the first time i crocheted a dress. i think it turned out pretty cute, considering. but then, i wouldn't have made it if i didn't like it myself, so who knows. :P oh, and i figured out a new crochet stitch to use while making this, to make the leg-warmers. i also used it in the shawl. it's not a "new" crochet stitch by any means, but i hadn't used it much before and it has much potential :P!

whee, first post in a new journal. it's sort of intimidating like a new sketchbook. you know, when you feel like it needs a proper introduction and then you babble on like an idiot for awhile. <_<;;; well, my userinfo explains this journal. o.o my wrists are hurting today, so i think i'll have to work on sewing rather than crochet. i will post the recent stuff i've been working on later today ^_^