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Feb 29, 2012

Review - Twilight series.

I am not a fan of Twilight. The plot of the books just repeats itself, and although they are well written, I feel that her degree in English may have had a negative effect on Stephenie Meyer's skills as a writer. Almost all of the dialogue in the books seem rigid and too perfect for a person speaking.


Source: Google

While reading the books, I got a sense of Deja Vu: something happens to draw attention to Bella, Edward attempts to hide her, they end up killing people in order for Bella to survive. The same thing, in every book. Sure, the story is different, but the idea is the same.

See, I have an actual opinion, instead of just being prejudiced against the series. Even so, if I were simply prejudiced against them from the get-go, (and in all honestly, I was), I would have found that it was because (1) it's a romance, (2) it supposedly shows the "perfect" relationship to young girls, and (3) it is a mainstream title. The reason I ever read the books? A relative sent them to me. Brand new books. I couldn't just leave them sitting unread! Plus, at that point, I got curious. What the hell was so great about these books?

Nothing. They were a popular series about yet another girl and vampire. Perhaps it's the kindest story about a girl and a vampire, at least that I have read, but people were entranced: So this is what it's like to love a vampire! They're nice and caring and they are simply the perfect men to go after! They can just read recipes and cook good food? They are strong and protect you from bullies? Even if they leave for the better part of a year, when they come back I'd understand! They just wanted to protect me!

It was just another description of a boyfriend that every girl is now going to seek out. I have actually heard of girls breaking up with their boys that they had been dating for 2 years in order to find their "Edward" or maybe even their "Jacob". There is an actual website, My Life is Twilight, for people to post on how obsessed they are with Twilight.

"Today, there was a big thunderstorm in my town. I told my children that the thunder was vampires playing baseball. MLIT."

Here ends my potentially horrible review for Twilight. Maybe it was more of a rant, but I tried.

Feb 28, 2012

Lip Balm Tutorials

I don't know about you, but I have dry lips a lot. I sleep with my mouth open and I don't know how to stop. In fact, it's hard for me to remember to breath with my nose. So, I use my lip balm. They all don't work, though. Some just smell yummy, some just taste yummy, and that's a problem. I want something that I can put on and feel it working right away. I want something natural, and not full of chemicals. I want something yummy that actually does something for me. So, why not make my own?

I haven't tried ANY of these tutorials (yet), but I am definitely working on it! I have plenty of containers to put mine into!

Bitchy Bee Lip Balm: Uses beeswax, which is a good start. Beeswax is a GOOD ingredient to have in lip balm. However, she doesn't really use measurements, so this tutorial could be hard to follow.

Honey Vanilla Lip Balm: I usually stay away from any kind of lip balm that uses petroleum jelly, but this one also uses beeswax as well. She also uses Vitamin E oil which is good for your skin! I plan on trying this tutorial out for sure!

Vanity Lip Balm: This is more of a lip gloss, but she uses beeswax lip balm as well. This could be a lip gloss that works just as well as a lip balm, and looks pretty! She sounds like she has had plenty of experience making lip balm/gloss.

Banana Lip Balm: This tutorial looks much more professional than others and has clear instructions. She also uses more ingredients, like Shea butter and and almond oil. I think this lip balm would probably be one of the better quality, but more expensive to make.

Beeswax Chapstick: This is the simplest tutorial I've found.

Buzzy Bee Balm: Another lip balm that requires more ingredients, but again, it looks as though it would be better for your lips! The instructions are simple to follow regardless of the amount on ingredients.

Lip Balm Making Tips: Just a list of tips on making lip balm. She basically tells you how to create your own custom lip balm with what to and what to NOT use and how to do it right.

These tutorials are all from just one craft site, so there are plenty more out there! Remember to stay away from petroleum jelly, a.k.a. Vaseline! This is not good to leave on your lips. It will help dry your lips out, NOT rehydrate them like you want!

Personally, I want to try some of these tutorials out, and create a custom lip balm using several ideas and techniques. Maybe I could even start selling them! Or just gift them.

Feb 27, 2012

Becoming a Dealer/Vender

So, I've been looking more into becoming a dealer. Vender. Whatever. A person that gets a booth and sells stuff. I have no idea where to start though.

I've been making ear cuffs, and I have quite a few ideas about other things.... but I want the name of my shop to be Babybat Days. Or something along those lines. I haven't thought of what to make involving bats, though, which I feel is necessary to draw into the name. I've been thinking about making bat wing clips, but I would feel like I was ripping off idolatre, the shop at Radcon I talked about in the previous post.

Another thing I have to consider is the displaying options and lighting. Lighting for the shops will probably come later, but it's a good idea. A very good idea. Displaying is the more important problem right now. How do I display ear cuffs? In a bowl, for people to pick through? I want to make some really good ones and some more common ones. I don't want them both in the same place. Maybe I should actually package them? But how to display the packages?

For my bracelets and necklaces, I do have labels for them that I can hang up. I'm thinking a revolving rack that I can put like bracelets on individual tines. So, no problem there.

For my dice danglys? Those will probably be put into a bowl. When I find my camera, (i.e. remember to grab it from BF's car) I will post pictures of those.

I want to go thrifting for giant band T-shirts and just plain pretty T's, so I can make Yoga Pants out of them. But hey, instead of wearing jeans and a band T, it's the band T that you're wearing for pants! Awesome! I also hope to find pretty belts that I can make into chokers. I feel like those big chunky chokers would be good for my target audience. I don't know how many goths attend craft fairs, though. Bigger events, like Radcon and the Renaissance Faire, I know that these things will sell better, because there are plenty of more people there than at craft fairs.

The jewelery I will have to make more "specialized" in order to sell at different places. Steampunk con? Steampunk jewelery. Radcon? Well, everything. Ren Faire? More regular colored metal, like silver, gold, copper, etc.

I have a friend who wants to join me. She has ideas of her own and pretty display options and her own merchandise. She's already been to craft fairs before, and has failed, but she's realized that the people there just aren't the age interested in her stuff. She has sold tons of things at the community college here to people our age.

I just don't want to split the money. I've had to do that before. With a little kid. Whose parents were like TAKE HIM OFF OUR HANDS AND JUST LET HIM HAVE THE MONEY WHEN YOU'RE DONE! and that just is not okay. That was a lemonade/krispy treats stand, but still. She has already made more money than I ever did with my poptab bracelets. I don't think she would want to split the money, but trading wares we will certainly do. Or she can have some of my stuff. I've already had quite a few of her wares.

I'm thinking about setting up an etsy account, but they CHAAARGE for putting your stuff up... and I don't know if it will sell or not. and I have to ship! I don't know. I'll think about it.

Feb 26, 2012

Dealer Links

So, at Radcon, there are MANY dealers. They all sell different things and some of them sell handmade stuff.

On Saturday, I walked into a room that held a new vendor, "idolatre". Yes, uncapitalized. I only stayed for a few minutes because I had already spent all of my money and she had things I was jealous of. What I really wanted: Batwings. They are adorable! I didn't check any prices while in her shop, understandably, so I don't know if things were cheaper there or not. The other two things I looked at were tank tops and panties. I want to be able to make both, but I am not THAT great at making things that are wearable besides my Yoga Pants. She makes a lot of other stuff, too, but I grabbed her business card and booked it out of there before I just grabbed the rack of clothes and ran.

Another new shop I encountered was Door: Toilet Genie. It was a strange name. The first thing I noticed were her paintings of creatures that were Pokemon based. Well, they really were just Pokemon I guess. I bought two postcards from her; one of Pikachu, and one of Vulpix. I can't find pictures of the artwork on her deviantART, but here is an example of her unique art style:

She really only had her art available, and her comic book, which you can read online at the first website I linked to her.

Yet another new shop I found at Radcon this year didn't really have a name, but it was an artbased shop. The artist, Melanie Camp, had some amazing artworks for sale. I was complimenting a piece in front of her, but talking to my boyfriend when she said "thank you!!!" I think it scared him as much as me! She uses clay, fiber, and paints for her stuff. It's really super amazing to see it in person, because the pictures on her etsy (linked above) doesn't do them justice!

I have a business card for a Muffy Morrigan, but I do not remember who this was. I got the card from my boyfriends stash and since Radcon IS a large gathering of seasoned and new authors/writers alike, I am not surprised to find he is a writer. It is late and I can't be bothered to look through his website to try to discern what he was doing at Radcon, but it is possible he was simply running writers workshops.

I am glad to say that Firefox Leather and Furs does have a website, but it is not a pretty one. If you check their catalog, you may find their amazing furs. They are taken from foxes that are bred for the reason of taking their furs. I have leather rabbit fur lined handcuffs that are not yet available on their website, and I also have a fox tail! They have leather belts, pouches, and other expensive things, and is definitely a shop to look at. At least, at an event.

Kitty Mean Wear is a bellydancing shop, I don't go in there much because their sense of displaying things includes a rack of clothing right next to the door that is always blocking my way in. They do have quality things, though, as I have bought a coin hip scarf from them at the Renaissance Faire.

Dancing Muse... well, supplies you with tights. At events, they also have fishnet shirts. Not much more to say about them.

That is about all the shops that I can find links too that I have not already posted in previous posts. If you like what you see, happy shopping! If you don't like what you see, I don't blame you... Some of these people have horrible websites. It's a sad thing, really. I believe that having a good website would definitely help them out more... They would make more sales for sure!

Feb 23, 2012

Radcon Stuff

So, I still don't have my camera, so I am going to just post the pictures that I found online. I am not particularly fond of either of the pictures, I look really fat in one and the second one my boobs look weird. First picture:


As you can see, I'm wearing 7 different skirts, and shirt that is SUPPOSED to be ruffly, and a halter thing with boning in it that I should have worn a bra with. I have a homemade choker on, but I don't like the ribbon.

The cuffs were bought at Radcon last year, they were $35 and are made of leather and lined with rabbit fur. They are HANDCUFFS! I have a metal clip to clip them together from the D-rings attached to them.

The HAT! Oh my goodness, my brand new leather pirate tri-corner. The vender I got this from is named Victor Moray, and he is one of the most nicest guys you would ever meet. I am surprised that he has a website, for some reason he seems to be a person who wouldn't have a website. He certainly doesn't tell anyone about it. He makes quality stuff. Seriously. My hat was $110, and it is worth every penny. He custom fits it to your head, and it's HEAVY. It definitely didn't fall off in the wind outside. If I wear it often enough, it will soon look worn down like his personal tri-corner. So then it won't look brand new, but like it's been out to sea and across the world! Victor also makes custom fangs right ONTO your teeth. They are detachable but they are literally made on your teeth for a perfect fit. Go check out his website. ^^

Now, next picture:


As you can see, my boyfriend (you know, Brumeister) is also wearing his outfit now. He once saw a picture of someone with a license plate wrapped around his leg as armor, and fell in love with the idea. He has a Washington plate on his other leg. His brother has tons of license plates on the wall of their garage for some reason, so he didn't get to steal them off high schoolers cars like he wanted to. His pants also has a shirt from his college patching up a very large hole.

His duster... is a REAL duster. It's made of animal skin. Not leather. Not PVC. Not fabric. It's real. He got it at a gun show. It's awesome. It's also smelly.

That corset I got for $30. Because that was all we had left between us. Damsel in this Dress sells it originally for $55. It is one of the cheapest corsets they have, and it's amazing. She liked that I made most of my outfit and said I should be one of the dealers! I really am thinking about that now. They have a store on Etsy, and Artfire (linked above). I would suggest buying from artfire, as Etsy likes to charge people like 10% of their sales and charges 20 cents for every item in the store. Which is why I don't want to start OUT there.

I also got a white net shirt, but I don't have a link to that dealer. Next post, I will link to more people at Radcon, what they make, and tell you if it's worth it. It usually is!

Edit: I guess Etsy charges more like 2%, not 10%. It was something that started with a "T"...

Feb 22, 2012

Blue Mountain Wildlife Internship

I have started to apply at a place called Blue Mountain Wildlife. I learned about it at Radcon, which I honestly think is strange: In the midst of zombies, Magic the Gathering, hardcore drug and alcohol abusers, and shopping sprees, there was an elderly woman with a kestrel on her hand and larger birds of prey behind her on a stage.

When Brumeister and I came into the room, tons of people were standing in front of the stage to take pictures of the two falcons, two owls and a red-tailed hawk. Soon after, the woman gave a presentation: the organization was trying to raise $1 million in order to build a wildlife hospital in Pendelton, Oregon. They help mostly birds of prey when they meet with unfortunate events, such as: falling out of their nest, being hit by a car, being shot at, being poisoned by eating animals who were shot with lead bullets. They go through rehabilitation with minimal human contact in order to be released into the wild without an abnormal connection with a human, or dependency on humans for food.

I really want this internship. I want to work with animals, in some way, and I want the experience in order to choose what I want to do. The only requirement is to be 18+, but I have gone to a veterinarian technician class my junior year of highschool. I did a job shadow at a vet. I'm hoping that will be enough to be favorable to me. I've handled bigger pet birds before and we did a whole section of taking care of pet birds in the class. So I know more than the average person, but it's all about pet birds. It will be interesting to see the difference between domestic birds and wild birds, and how to take care of them.

I was going to post pictures from their website, but there is no way to copy the picture link or save it to my laptop. Oh well.

Wish me luck!

Feb 21, 2012

Review - The Last Unicorn

I have to tell you, I'm not a big fan of Unicorns. I might have a book about the last one, and I might have an adorable unicorn figure, but the way unicorns are described these days isn't something I like. They are supposed to be beautiful, graceful, magical, better than anything on earth, disgusted by humans and entranced by time as it passes them by. They are supposed to be perfect. Perfection is BORING. Nothing happens when everything is perfect. (Which is why as a child, I decided satanism and thoughts of simply killing myself was the way to go. Why go to heaven, where everything is perfect? Let's go to hell! ROCK AND ROLL!!! Aw, children. )


In The Last Unicorn, the book begins this way: everything is good, the unicorn is content in her forest, she knows she is beautiful, and la di da. Yet then an incident occurs and she is left wondering where all the other unicorns are. She becomes restless. Thus, her quest begins! Where are all the other unicorns? I must find them!

I haven't seen the movie, and I would like to, but I don't see how they can get across the amazing detail the book describes with sentences like, "Outside, the night lay coiled in the street, cobra-cold and scaled with stars." Unless there is some narrator just so there is not the loss of the greatest part of the book. The metaphors, the similes... It is hard not to go through the book and pick them out and type them here for you.

When the unicorn is caged for 16 hours of her life, the bars whisper evilly, and the lock laughs at her demise. During her hardships, she can feel time raking at her body for the first time in her life, she can feel herself dying though she is immortal. She thinks things no other unicorns have had the need to think of, and she loves when no other unicorn has ever loved. She forgets that she is a unicorn. She feels pain. It is not perfect, therefore is it perfect.

The story itself is very original, it takes elements from fairy tales, and characters talk about how to reach the happy ending. They talk about heroes, and what each of them are looking for. I would recommend this book to anyone and everyone, hoping that each who reads this book can see it for what it is: simply amazing.

Feb 20, 2012

The disillusionment after the excitement

So, Radcon is over, I only have a few pictures, I am home and I don't have any of my things from Radcon with me. I won't be able to post about it tomorrow either, because Tuesday is the day I don't see my boyfriend at all. Or the next day, since I see him later in the day.

I was really very happy up until today, I will tell you about the happiness when I have my stuff, but right now I REALLY need to rant (and I have to tell you, I cuss a lot when I'm angry. Sorry.):

I donate blood plasma for money. You have to do a yearly physical in order to continue donating. I did mine today. One person called in sick, so the person who does the physicals was stuck doing HIS work. Even though there was another person there who was supposed to do his work, but she didn't WANT TO. So I had to spend 6 hours doing absolutely nothing, sitting on my ass when I had shit to do, because someone didn't want to do their goddamn job.

This is where the freedom in America becomes a curse: when the people who DO have jobs decide not to do them, but get to keep those jobs. It's bullshit.

One of the things I was going to do today was apply for an internship working with Blue Mountain Wildlife, who help birds of prey who get shot at or hit by a car or fall out of their nest heal so they can be released back into the wild. It's funny that I hear about this serious opportunity at Radcon, where most of the stuff that's going on is about zombies, Magic the Gathering, and making your own chainmaille for the apocalypse, all while most people are taking any kind of drugs they can find. and I am trying to TAKE this damn opportunity where I can fucking take it, only to be foiled by people who didn't have to do internships to get their job that they don't fucking DO!

As a funny sidenote, at the rave, (ahem - dance) where again MOST people are as high as a kite, they played Bohemian Rhapsody, and EVERYBODY sang it. Strangers slow danced and sang with strangers. It was the strangest experience I've ever had. Then again, I am not old enough to go to clubs or bars where there is a large group of drunk people, where I believe this would be commonplace. Maybe. Whatever.

Feb 16, 2012

Body Mods: Nipples

Yes, of course; my first body mod post will be about nipple piercings. This one will probably be a little short, as my interviewing isn't too great yet...



Picture from HERE

I interviewed a girl about this, however her piercings rejected, so there's no pictures. So you get this guy with the interesting ring on his right nipple. Plus, I'm not sure if I can post a picture of boobs on here. Anyways, on to the questions!


Pain scale: 6.5/10

Why did you? Any regrets?

Kanna says that she got the piercing for "kicks and giggles", in other words, this was an impulse piercing. She didn't have any regrets about getting it done; she only regrets that they rejected.

Any specific meaning to them?

Kanna's answer: "
It's like being a porn star"! She always says that nipple piercings are more rare than, say, tongue piercings. So, it's also a tad bit more special in that respect.

Any trouble at work? How?

Well, this would probably be a "no", except for the fact that she works (worked?) at a paintball field. Anybody who knew about them, would aim at them. Fun stuff, working with people who are close friends, close enough to know about your nipple piercings!

Any Harassment?

A lot of people would demand to see her tits when they found out. Other than that, maybe some friends who didn't approve.

Was it a good experience getting them pierced?

She said yes, she had some friends with her, and the people at the shop were nice enough.

Was there any physical trouble with them?

Just the rejection, and the pain they would endure while they were healing. Otherwise, they didn't catch on anything ever, which is good to know; a lot of people say that they do.

Would you recommend getting nipples pierced?

Yes, they are fun, everybody looks at you funny when they find out, and again, they are more rare.

What are peoples reactions?

Just surprise, some are freaked out. Piercings don't seem to get as much negative attention as they used to.

Would you recommend the shop you went to?

Yes, they were very calm and friendly, and professional! (Something that not all shops have for some reason -.-)

Kanna went to Freebird's Body Art.


How old are the piercings?

They were in for exactly 6 months before they rejected. So sad! =(


Okay, so if you're wondering, my entire post is in bold because halfway through the post, I had to have bold turned ON in order to type in regular font. Then after that, bold just wouldn't turn off at all. So I made the whole post bold so it wouldn't change halfway through. Also, even though I started making the answers really small compared to the questions, some of them DIDN'T do that. Jeez, blogger... Trying to make it pretty, here...

Radcon is TOMORROW!!! I will not be able to post probably (unless someone brings their laptop and I can use it) but I will be posting pictures afterward!!! See you all Monday!

Feb 15, 2012

Batfit 2012


I've been meaning to post this earlier, but I kept forgetting. It's not like I started it more than two days ago anyways. For more information about what Batfit 2012 is, go to Le Professeur Gothique's blog post introducing the idea. Generally, it means everyone participating is trying to get healthier.

This is a catch-up post, meaning that I will be posting the first four challenges in this post because I haven't posted them before.

Challenge 1: Write out your health goal and what you think good health means.

(I am more of a list writing person, btw.)

HEALTH GOAL

  • Get fit
  • Eat less junk food
  • Lose weight
  • Feel better in general
OTHER GOALS
  • Go to 3 classes a week at the gym
  • Continue donating blood plasma
  • Be social instead of a shut in
  • Craft something every week


To me good health doesn't necessarily mean getting skinnier, but feeling more energetic and sleeping better. These are both things that I have been experiencing since starting the gym. Losing fat would be awesome, but I don't expect to much in that department. My sister and mom have the same... belly as me, and they have tried a lot to get rid of it. We have never been close to flat, but my sister does get close to it at least. So maybe I will, too. =D


Challenge 2: Dance every day for 2 weeks.

I...
  • Go to dance themed classes at the gym
  • Dance to music whenever it's playing pretty much
So, I'm covered with challenge 2.

Challenge 3: Drop a bad habit and replace it with a good habit.

  • Bad Habit: Eating crappy junk for meals
  • Good Habit: Thinking ahead for dinner
My bf and I have 2 New Year Resolutions: To stop eating out (to save money) and to stop eating candy/soda/sugary stuff for the year. Except on special occasions, like Radcon. (I am totally going to eat nothing but chocolate muffins, rice krispy treats, and drink rockstarz/bawls/cocaine for 3 days.) So, I have already dropped my bad habit!

Challenge 4: Be good to yourself.
  • Go to gym willingly and every week.
  • Loooong hot showers when I have the time.
  • Read/Play video games 20 minutes each day.
  • Eat more meat + iron in order to donate blood plasma.

Here is a picture of my journal:

It's nice to have a physical (pretty) reminder to write my 5 things every day. (Another piece of "homework"... write 5 things you are grateful for, or productivity or liked about the day.)

So far, I have been doing pretty good, even though I only just started! I am happy that I have mostly been doing this stuff by myself this year before I participated. I cannot do the latest homework assignment, as I have not lost enough mass to fit into anything old, and I make stuff out of anything that doesn't fit me, so I don't have anything old to fit into. The only things I have that are too small involve my too-big boobs, and I definitely don't want to lost weight there!

I guess I do have a prom dress.... but I never fitted into it.

Radcon is only 2 days away and I am so excited!!! I hope all the junk I eat will be countered by all the walking!

Feb 13, 2012

Hedgehog Valentines Picture!


Photo by David Kasper


The second one is her baby picture, she was about two weeks old. Isn't she adorable? Amiira means "Princess" in Arabic. Have you ever read The Kite Runner? The main characters name is Amir, which means prince!

As a side note, my BF loves his new swimming goggles!

Valentines Day

So, my boyfriend has school on Tuesdays all day long, so I don't get to see him tomorrow. Sad. It's okay with me, however, because Radcon is this weekend! Our first valentines together was actually DURING Radcon, so Radcon to me is our valentines.


For future reference, I am going to start calling my boyfriend "Brumeister" in the blog. He is the type of person who would not want his real name up on here.

Today, we are going to swim at our gym, so I am going to give him one of his four presents. We both have problems putting our faces into the water. I simply can't keep my eyes closed, and he immediately pulls his head up to see where he is going. I have had a pair of swimming goggles (the ones that only cover your eyes, and not your nose) since my last trip to Hawaii. (Which I am sure is "Hawai'i" when spelled properly.) Brumeister, however, does not have a pair of these quality goggles. So I got him a pair. I hope he likes them, they are apparently a womens pair, but I saw no difference between the male and female goggles. Except that most of them were either pink or bright blue.

His other presents I bought on Thinkgeek, and I know at least one of them he will be happy about. For Christmas, I got him a "japanese" puzzle. He had to separate the two pieces from each other. I got him another one of those, because he likes them. Even if he solves them within two hours.

Then I got him some minty caffeinated hot chocolate! We are hot chocolate junkies. We even got insulated travel mugs to put our hot chocolate in. When we go grocery shopping, we get a box of 30 packets and then some individual packets of caramel, mint, or vanilla. He, like a lot of people, prefers his hot chocolate made with milk. I see this as a waste of milk, plus there is something in hot chocolate that is good for you that is absorbed by milk. I don't remember what it was, but I am getting it!

His last present I got for free with my "geekpoints", Baconpop. It's bacon popcorn. I hope that it is good, otherwise I could have saved my points up for something better.

THAT said, what are you doing for your valentine? Anything more special than just gifts? If you need some ideas, here is a link to lots of valentines crafts, and here is another link for my own, rather useless and time consuming Paper Hearts.

Feb 12, 2012

Useful(ish) Tutorials

As you might imagine, this post contains links to some tutorials that I enjoy and might have used so far, though I am planning on making all of them!



This T-Shirt Shrug is a quick and easy tutorial that I have used before. I didn't like the one I made I think, because I haven't seen it for years.


This Bustle Skirt tutorial is very detailed, and while I haven't used the exact tutorial, I have made something like it that I gave to my sister. If you click on the link, below the tutorial there are versions that people have made of this skirt that you can see. There are so many!



I have used this tutu tutorial before and I really do like the way it came out. It sticks out instead of lays down, which is what I think a real tutu should do. However, other people who have used this tutorial end up with tutus that lay down. I think everyone is happy with their own. I used 2 yards of each black, light blue, and dark blue tulle to make mine, so that was 6 yards, and my waist is about 34 inchs around.

These next two don't have pictures, but if you look at the site there are line drawings for part of the instructions. This tutorial is for making a pencil skirt into a fuller skirt - something that I am doing right now. This could be a very useful tutorial for those of you who go thrifting and find skirts you absolutely love the pattern on, but the the pencil...ness.

This tutorial I really want to do: make a circle cloak! This is a detailed tutorial on how to make a cloak. I haven't the money to go and buy fabric just yet, but I have my own idea on a cloak/coat.

Antimony and Lace has some other tutorials.... Take yerself a look-see and you might find something else you'd like to do!

Lack of Posting

While at my boyfriends house, (where I am three nights of the week) I will not be posting often. His internet currently sucks. Just a heads up! Tomorrow I will be posting about Valentines, and I will be putting up that list of tutorials I wanted to earlier this week, and possibly a Body Mod post! Keep looking out for those.


Also, I have found that I have been calling Radcon 6 "Radcon 6A", but this year it is simply Radcon 6. NEXT year will be Radcon 6A.

Feb 9, 2012

Radcon 6A details

Today I was going to post links to tutorials that I liked and would add to outfits, but the site I was going to seems to be having technical problems. Oh well, I guess I can talk about Radcon, what it is, and what happens there.

A general description of Radcon would say it is a sci-fi/fantasy convention, and that there are real authors there to talk to and run writing workshops. There is SO much more to Radcon than that, however.

In highschool, I would write a short story and send it in beforehand so that I could get in for free. If I won, which was not something I ever tried to do, I would win money, a notebook made from recycled goods, and/or time set aside with an author for a personal review of my story and get ideas to make it better. People who sent in stories could also bring a "guardian" in for free; in my case, that was my boyfriend. Who could deny a free badge?

The usual price for Radcon, at the door, is $35. If you pre-register, it is only $30 and your badge is pre-printed. You have to have your badge on you at all times, because it is proof that you paid to get in. You get to choose a "badge name", which is whatever you want. This year, I am RainyKat. I think. This year I actually paid. But on to the good stuff.

Radcon is hosted in a Red Lion Inn, for 3 days. In one wing of the hotel, there are several dealers. They rent hotel rooms and that is their temporary "shop". You can buy custom made fangs (literally made on your teeth right there), swords, leather tricorner pirate hats, whips, energy drinks, belly dancing accessories, books, cards, dice bags, elf ears, horns, cloaks, clothing, corsets, hats, fox tails/pelts, fur-lined leather "handcuffs" (I will post a picture of mine), masks, plenty of dragons, gemstones, glow sticks and accessories, skull candles, Celtic STUFF, games, jewelry of every sort, collectibles, incense, and tons more.

The dealers are set up by 12 on Friday. Most people go to pick up their badge long before, there are long lines by 10 A.M. Some people bring their dogs, some people bring their dogs dressed up as dragons. During the day outfits must be more family friendly, as there ARE children about for some reason, however at night many girls seem to take their pants off. Plus their shirts transform into fishnets. There is a rave both nights, but all the officials call it a "dance"...

When you get your badge, you get a pamphlet telling you when and where there are workshops; last year I went to one that taught you how to make chainmaille. The guy teaching liked to make armor, while I prefer to make jewelry with chainmaille. This year I plan to go to more; I have found that the workshops was where you get free stuff. The past two years I have had absolutely no money, but this year I have more. Ish. More than I had before, at least. I was planning on buying a Tricorner, but now I think I will wait until the Ren Fair. The same dealer will set up shop there, but there are more dealers at Radcon than the Ren Fair that I would like to buy stuff from. So, bring less money, buy more stuff.

There are tons and tons of more stuff going on, like "Room Parties" and people ODing on Cocaine, (an energy drink, NOT the drug!) which I hope will be there this year, but I am sure I have just about talked your ears off with all this junk about Radcon.

Radcon is next weekend! I will post pictures which will certainly be more eye catching than a solid wall of text. Until next time!

Feb 8, 2012

Make-up Scare

In the past 6 months, my contacts have been bothering me. One of my eyes will constantly feel as though something (like an eyelash.... or a twig) is in it. My eye waters, becomes red, and I literally cannot open it for the pain. After a while I will venture to get my contact out, and then the pain worsens. It's completely unbearable for about the next 10 minutes. For the next few days, I cannot open that eye, and it waters constantly.


When it's better, I am too wary to put makeup on. I feel sure that I am going to end up rubbing that eye, or it will water again. For about two weeks I go without makeup. In that time, I become accustomed to rubbing my eyelids if they itch. Then when I go to put makeup on again, I will rub it all off without thinking about it. Until I see strange powdery colors on my hand.

Is it normal to have eyelids that itch occasionally? It's not that often. When I remember the makeup, I gently pull on my eyelashes.

What I know is NOT normal, is the "thing in my eye". However, I have a friend who gets it when I go over to her house with it. Is it contagious? I don't touch my eye and then touch her face, but we do hold hands... and we both wear contacts. Different brands of contacts.

For this reason, I have been going minimalistic on the eyes. Not like I do much anywhere else. Overall, it has made me rather lazy in the "bothering to do anything with my hair/clothes/makeup" part of my mornings.



For those of you who like to sew, here is a tutorial on making a shirt into a simple shrug. An easy way to spice up an outfit with your own touch!

Feb 7, 2012

What is going on in THIS blog?

This is simply a general post to tell you all what this blog is going to contain. At least, what I have planned out for it so far.


My name is Rain, and I would like to call myself goth. However, I feel as though I am still most definitely in my "Babybat Days", thus the name of the blog. I very possibly don't listen to enough of the music. (You can tell I am uncertain by my language, can't you?)

This blog is to tell you about my experience and what I am going through as a new goth. I am going to post tutorials, about events, harassment, and everyday life. There will be reviews of various things, inspiration posts, literal short stories, and posts about ANIMALS. The animal posts will be more informative. Why animal posts? Because this is MY blog.

I plan to frequently post about body modifications, and peoples personal experiences with them. I will probably post outfit posts occasionally as well.

I do NOT plan on giving a lot of personal information on myself, or any others, since this IS the internet. I also want to avoid online harassment as much as I can, so I hope this will minimize the chances of that a little. Otherwise, I hope we all have fun, at least more fun than this first post provided.

Within this month I plan on at least posting about Valentines, Radcon 6a, a tutorial, and about my hedgehog, since she is more entertaining than my average cat.