Man, all I want to do is stay in tonight and work on an illustration for LDR and perhaps sew a witch hat for my rabbit.

 Some issues with classes this semester have my advisor pitted against course evaluators. Non seem the victor right now. I have no idea who to trust anymore. I want to be finished with university, Im not a big fan of the machine and Ive lost my precious fall evening/nights.

Just a thought. Also, its too warm on October 1st eve. It should be cold and dreery, much like myself.

  My thoughts today - Cultivating 

One of the great things about starting something new, is that you'll never know how far you can go with it or whats going to happen. This is just a thought that came into my brain. I had no idea how to style clothes for the longest time - I frankly found it to be intimidating. But if I don't know how to do something, I just start.

Everything comes down to cultivation. Time is our most precious commodity as a finite being(at least in this world). Time is what you can spend on someone, the investment in a relationship, a friend, family. Time is where you begin and end. Cultivation of a new undertaking is exactly like a tiny seed in the ground, something you start to water and watch and see what happens. Far to many people sit on the sideline of the soil, perhaps hoping the sun and rain will be enough without ever having planted anything. Sun and rain sustains but it doesn't grow without the catalyst. 

Its how I've viewed everything done in my life so far. I took a chance on the cultivation of something and it either worked out fantastically or blew up entirely in my face. I didnt wait for the rain to fall or the sun to shine. All the seeds planted will grow, but you have to start planting the seeds.

Just some two cents on this moody monday!

 

BIGGG thrift photo dump - The last 4 weeks of the fall semester had me holding off on the blog. I dont want to spam my FB with a bunch of pictures of me. Especially since I take them in one place with one light source. If I can find a way to change that, I will. But for now:

Thrifting and finding little gems here and there is therapy for me. It gets me out of the house, it unlocks creative potential and its one of life's mini treasure hunts. Ive spent less then 100.00 and found a variety of new looks/combos that paired with my jewelry and shoes(2 pairs of converse also thrifted!) the possibilities do seem endless. 

Ive invested in a pair of doc martens, specifically the burgundy zip up/tie sinclairs. A worthy investment too. A chunky/boxy shoe can make a fit look more expensive then it is(And, a lot more punk/alt). Right now, I dont have the jewelry/belts that id like to REALLY kick it all together. Most of the alt pieces I found have been pricey, and unless I DIY, I have to hold off. 

I finally found a blazer I liked that was a great price and in great shape. Ive never liked wearing blazers before, but since Im exploring, I thought id pick one up. LOVE the way it looks, and I was mostly inspired to do so by the outfits that Mallory Heart(pictured below) puts together. I discovered Mallory while trying to find others to follow - her entire wardrobe is vintage 80s and she wears it daily. 

My most recent finds have been an urban outfits leatherette dress/overall with the TAGS ON! 90.00 new and I got for about 10.00. Its a great staple piece to wear under trench coats, blazers, or oversize sweaters.

Im still on the lookout for a vintage 90s oversize leather jacket. But since thats entirely too specific, I doubt ill find one in the wild. 

Also! A new tattoo. Its a pierrotpokes flash that Josh Avery at stay weird slightly modified. I have to say, Im not the best candidate for tattoos. For all the physical pain ive endured, its hard to submit to that haha. Will I get more? The last one im planning is a rabbit - its a homage to the story of yin yin, the rabbit who hunts tigers. 

We are in the 4th week of classes, I am locked in and got back into routine. Lets finish up strong!

 School is back in session. The 1st Day already had me running around.

I haven't shored myself up as much as I'd like, but my head is in the game. From my calculations, each one of my sessions is 25. Only 25 classes. 

I have a mid morning class everyday and that's going to only allow me about 5 hours of sleep everyday, with 2 hours of free time. I can do this. I have to do this. 2 more semesters , just 2. I've unfortunately developed migraines and I'm hoping to get some help with that next year.

My next 3 months are already planned day by day so I simply look at my schedule and see where I have to be next. I've gotten in the habit of laying my outfits out to also cut some time. I had a very good break, lots of self reflecting and peaceful nights. 

Some recent sketches and Halloween decor I pulled out from the closet 

✨️ 

A few sketches that I doodled about a month or so ago on my ipad while on a work break and OF course, here are a few looks/outfits recently. I went back to red, but I kept my 2 extension wefts black and platinum blonde so I have a peakaboo calico look on my right side. Its mostly because I was protecting my tragus piercing and kept color application minimal on that side, but a happy accident.

Lesson planning for fall today with coffee and baking! Rainy gorgeous chilly day are the most productive for me. Im a recluse <3

A rare cloud appearance. Shes been so happy lately, playing in her pumpkin house and eating plenty of bananas

 

 3 new books are coming out in the Imagine and Daydream series, we're just about wrapping up. Here are some process shots of the some assets I sent over to my author! The last image is of Emi, whom one of the books is about. This was her design back in 2020 but we needed an update as all the other kids had updates for them.

The book is essentially about overcoming obstacles and bravery set to and from a playground. Emi has a few new friends to introduce, theyre designed below. Ive named them, although my Author may decide to change their names too.

 I visited Amvets this morning and I was NOT disappointed! The selection was huge and fantastic quality/brands. What im looking for is staple pieces, and curating these outfits has not only become massive joy in my life but a form of self expression and art. If I have a block, I turn to making new drip.

This really started when I wanted to curate my alt/dark academia wardrobe and the alt centric stores were charging 60-80 or more for one top or pair of pants. I had a cart of really only accessories, 2 dresses and a harness and it was about 400.00. I simply cant justify that and most alt forums advice was to just go thrifting. It wasnt until I started looking for staple pieces and investing in quality shoes with stronger silhouettes and accessories that it made sense.

I have a lot more outfits to showcase, but this is one of my favorites I put together. The skirt/top are both express, the black crop cami is thrifted but unsure brand and Its all layered over a mesh/lace sheer long sleeve top. I found a tutorial for making a hardware choker necklace by going to home depot, so Ill be doing that soon. This fit leans more dark academic and I think will look great for fall!

 

More thrifted finds today, more outfit combos. I also picked up an express black midi skirt and it goes GREAT with these boots and my docs but I havent taken photos. This dress was a lulus black multi tiered dress and I really vibed with the texture and neckline. I paired it with a lace mesh long sleeve shirt and then a black cropped sweater in the second photo. 

I think this is gonna look gorgeous come fall with a long black trench coat or a vintage black denim jacket. 

 Very thankful for so much. I have a lot, exactly what I need to keep on keepin on. Thanking god everyday for the things given to me but more importantly,  the things taken away. It's been nice coming into a quiet and peaceful home, sharing my morning with Kaori. 

I'm so close to wrapping up the imagine and daydream series. Would have never imagined I finished a series, became featured in imaginefx and art directed a pilot to show.

I have a few more outfits from this new aesthetic exploration, and a new piercing; my tragus. I've wanted this thing forever,  and Trevor was amazing. The appointment was very quick and he talked me into getting the daith at the next visit !

The skirt needs to be ironed or steamed, it's been in storage for 2 years. I would prefer a darker color but the purpose is to use what I have on my closet. Adding a lace long sleeve shirt underneath is absolutely goated.  I did it with 2 boxy oversize sweatshirts too with docs and my shorter skirt , but I don't have pictures of those outfits yet. 

 Im probably going to revise this post later on tonight. Ive ordered a few things to get my black chucks wearable and  my pins to get the graphic cut outs onto the oversized Tshirt. Im going to style that with a black harness and metal necklace with either the chucks or my docs when they get here.

Anywho, this is how I styled my pink chucks today for my piercing appointment. I scheduled a tragus piercing, Ive ALWAYS wanted one and it looks amazing. On a scale of 1-10, Id probably put it at a 2-3. A bit more pinchy then expected but really not bad at all. Would def get the other one done

I wanted to find a pink graphic shirt to go with the chucks, but I picked out one of the band tees I was given at my friends funeral from her husband. They're big Ghost fans and he unloaded a ton of Ghost shirts on me and I love wearing them. I then chose a pair of my thrifted jeans, white tube socks and a chain belt. I have a sword earring in on my left ear, and studs on my right.

The cutouts from the bloody disgusting thrifted shirt. Ill be sewing or safety pinning these to my other shirt and styling it that way. I love exploring this as a new media!

Ive been into alt fashion for a bit but never felt I truly got the concept. Ive been watching a lot of thrifting vids and I enjoy thrifted finds. I bit the bullet on a pair of Burgundy Sinclair Docs, absolutely LOVE the silhouette of these shoes. I was going to wait until graduation but Ive got 2 more semesters to get the drip.

I figured Id have a few staple pieces and kind of make them my own. I love graphic tees but I sometimes dont always like the tee the print is on. In my finds above, the horror T, the print is all on the back. So what Id like to do is cut out most of the designs on both Ts(the BB T maybe just the icons) and bobby pin to some of my other staples.

I have a few black denim jackets and long/oversized black tshirts that would be perfect for this. I also picked up two pairs of chucks for about 25.00. The black needs a set of laces but I LOVE the red/black combo. 

I figure the black/red chucks with an oversize black T, black leggings , my IT socks and the horror designs appliqued to the basic pieces would make for a fantastic alt outfit. And I can reuse the graphics on other pieces too!