Oh nien, I did.

Okay, I think I should blog since three pretty significant things have happened in just a month and therefore it's a pretty darn good excuse to start blogging again.

First off, I am now hooked on drawing eyes, thanks to the wondrous Bloohippo for that pretty unexpected jump start and it has slowly involved into this face + lace/flower art much inspired by an amazing artist on Deviant Art, Pixie Cold. I may or may not have mentioned her before in one of my previous posts which may still be drifting around in a dark an mysterious abyss called my draft bin so, heh.

I honestly hadn't picked up a pencil to sketch in a while and I am pretty glad I was doodling again since I thought I was never going to draw again because I was so bored with drawing fantasy flowers and I couldn't seem to be able to think of anything else to draw at that time.

One of the reasons why I enjoy this new-ish genre of art (Anything I haven't done is considered new, okay but I have always oggled this particular genre of art from a distance, I am just extremely happy I am able to actually create it since it is so beautiful, well to me it is.) is because I get to draw lace and I love drawing lace cause I am just never able to get stuck, it just keeps flowing and flowing.. And eyes, more like irises, they always seems interesting to draw since you can toggle around with it so much, I guess that's why I don't enjoy drawing realistic whatsits because everything is more or less set in stone. At least that is what it seems from an amateur artist's point of view.

Then again, what I enjoy doodling would most probably evolve through time.

So yeah, I am glad my artsy self is back and kicking! And my Sharpies and color pens wouldn't dry up and die an unreasonable death! Not to forget my sketchbook too.

Oh and I had also "Refound" my only surviving Copic marker in whatsitcalled pink which I bought four years ago during my Manga craze point in my life and it's flierking magical, I can't believe how badly I misused and -Coughcough- mistreated (I thought it was a flesh tone, only afterwards I discovered it was more like diseased skin toned and I just had no idea how to use it, therefore making a mess out of everything and getting very upset.) it before. Now it's probably my most prized art possession next to my silver Sharpie and just in case you are a nice person and you somehow love me, I suggest you get my some Copic markers to express your undying love to me for Christmas.   

Or a kneadable eraser. Just make sure it's German because I am a brainwashed person and all.

Um, in return I'll draw an eye for you or somefink. Mmm yeh.

Okay, next off! -Drumroll-

I have blue-turquoise-purple-pink hair now!

Side note: I like weird yellow shirts, add that to the Christmas list if you please.

I had wanted ombre, wait wait DIP DYE (Hair women nearly killed me for mixing both up but ombre with dip dyeing but ombre sounds so much awesomer to say, bah them French words.) hair for a while now and once again the rebirth of the idea was jump started by the Fabulous BlooHippo, goodness knows what I would do without her. 

I wanted only blue but apparently they only had very little of the blue dye left so I decided to go a little insane and say yes to all the "weird" colors they had in stock, expect green because I don't enjoy mossy hair.

Before arriving at Hair Now Beauty Salon @ Taman Segar, BlooHippo and I actually went shopping at Ikano, The Curve and Ikea (Because the road was too clogged with vehicals to go anywhere else, apparently.), we just ran about those three places for a few hours like people who have never been into a shopping mall and who live in trees, in villages on the outskirts of a third world country. Shopping, like normal "Bestfriends" would on a typical weekend and it was pretty amazing since we hadn't really done it before.. I think, then again I never remember anything. I shall blame it on the fact that we literally live a thousand kilometers away from each other.

And I found a party shop selling special effects stuff that I have been looking for and at half the price of what I found at Sungai Wang once and things are usually cheaper there, what a strange world I live in.

So I officially own a bottle, more like tiny tub but never you mind, of latex and blood capsules! -Awkward penguin jig dance-

S'too bad they sell overpriced Nerds there at like, rm7 so it shan't be in my most-of-favoritest shop list and I am severely disappointed by the fact that Cold Storage doesn't have pink and purple Nerds in stock anymore, I mean.. That was the only reason why I went into that overpriced supermarket in the first place, people.

This is a fairly awkward smile but it would have to do, to much of my disgust.

Anyways, this was after bleaching my hair twice and the bleach smelt AWFUL, it was suffocating and intoxicating like and it was probably the worst part of the whole first-time-dyeing-hair experience, the second place would go to.. (Lucky blondes, not needing to go through this stage in order to have awesome unicorn hair.)

Not being able to move your head, who knew it was so tough.

But I guess the outcome was pretty amazing!

And I am pretty glad I had done a bit of research, found a salon that does weird dyeing through the salon's owner's daughter's blog (Yes, I am fabulous.) and everything ended fabulously, thanks for putting up with 3 hours in a dreary salon with moi, BlooHippo and.. I have officially got my dream hair! -Flips hair and fails-
One to-do striked off the bucket list!

The haul, ohoho.

Yep, its that time of the year again! The day I have been awaiting since the Big Bad Wolf sale ended last year!

Waking up at like, 5am was pretty tough since we slept pretty late the previous night, watching half an episode of Code goose, um Code geese, eh Code Gease and pampering our faces with ill fitting (Who on earth has such a weirdly structured face?!), weirdly scented rm10 for 4 masks from SaSa, which by the way makes no difference in your skin's texture what sort ever and changing our profile pictures into pictures of us posing with random Christmassy stuff (Everyone should have a profile picture with mall Christmas decorations at this time of the year, its the law humans.) we found around some ancient place called Leisure Mall. 

I have failed at this sleeping early thing.

I guess leaving Port Dickson at 6am-ish was worth it since there wasn't a queue to enter the book sale, which I not so fondly recall doing a few years back.

My eyes were literally only a quarter way open and I had to use a lot of strength to keep it that way, it was a painful process but the blinding artificial light and rows of books slowly awoke moi.

The hall was slightly larger than I recall it during the rather lame and disappointing Book Excess sale, my sleepiness made it tough to find my way to the fiction side of the hall.

The moment I reached, I think everything went rather berserk, stuffing almost everything into my box.. Placing it at the book-waiting-before-buying place, forgetting about everything and everyone else and only concentrating on  finding the titles you wanted but as I was on my way to get yet another empty box, I was stopped by a women, with a mic that clearly stated NTV7 in her right hand and a rather tiny Malay man with an over sized camera.

Um, yeah. I got interviewed at like 7am or something. 

I do not recall what questions she asked or what I replied with, but I remember one thing that confused me, do you look at the interviewer or the camera? 

I recall looking at both, I hope I was cut out and not broadcasted on national tv as I would have looked zombie like and speaking gibberish, maybe randomly squealing.  

Overall, the sale was alright this year but I wished they had brought in more titles that were published this year. Sob, I guess I would have to buy them at full price. -Cries in the corner-
And I have already read half of my haul since the internet was cut off for around three days, so I was forced into reading them at top speed instead of savoring them to kind of make myself forget that I am internet deprived, like some sort of temporary drug. What have I done.

I didn't even get to complete my Alex Rider or Vampire Kisses (They didn't even have a single one of those there, tsk tsk.) collection but I guess completing the Hush Hush series makes up for it, it was in hard cover too! Woep!

-Krakenese

-Insert random title here-

Okay, donut dough (I had this strange craving for fried dough and sugar granules this morning, at least it beats the muachee craving I had and which took half a day or so to make a batch of that sticky peanutie goodness, omnoms.) is currently being bashed around in the bread machine and I don't exactly have that urge to "study" in me at the moment therefore, I shall bring myself to blog.

October has been a fairly crazy month as compared to most unproductive months this year doing close to zilch or at least that's what I remember. I still can't believe we've reached the end of it already, seriously hasn't it just began?!

This month I decided I wanted to get the IGCSE/Olevel paper done with because I needed it to enter  an art college Which I have had my eye on for quite some time and I am pretty glad I decided to do so since well, I forgot how much I have missed so called "studying".

Yes, I am actually kinda-ish going to study for OLevels in a year and I honestly haven't actually studied since I started unschooling.
Mmm, yeh. I may have lied to a few not so random people about "Doing school books at home and learning on the internet" but I had the strangest feeling you would have preferred that as an answer as compared to "I do whatever I want to everyday and I spend half of it online".
Tis' indeed funny how I can still read and write, yohoho.

One of my first steps was to head to a tiny shoplot in a rather squishy part of PJ which getting a parking bay was like winning the lotto, called "University bookstore Malaysia" to get hold of a couple of workbooks, it was difficult picking the ones I wanted since there were literally  a few hundred different publishers and I had yet to set the subjects I wanted to take in concrete! I was basically walking about wide eyed in book wonderland!

Anyways, I ended up with three books from "CGP" that fitted the budget and well, the format was just a whole lot more interesting as compared to the random drab one at the other corner.
We even went back for the second time (I have this terrible tendency of completing books rather quickly) round to get some text books and this rather interesting modern history book by Cambridge.

Speaking about history, I have been spending an awful load of time at the "forbidden red spot section" (It's just called that cause you can't bring any of it's loveliness home, no matter how much you beg the librarians. Sob, what a cruel red spotted world this is.) in the library cause the books there are just SO much more interesting, especially the history ones ( ...And the mad science ones, psychology, art, food, ecology, language, geograp- Okay, I need to stop.) since I can now decode most of the WW2 posters and writings on artifacts from Germany and those around it that have German as one of their main languages. I am kinda glad I decided to pick German up as it plays a huge part in my history obsession, tralala.

It's amazing how that entire section is free of any humans beings, especially those loud, pesky people. Heh, I am mean.
So I just get lost in amazing books there and you just seem to forget about everything else, it's just the book(s) and your wondering mind. Mmm.
I honestly had forgotten how much I loved non-fiction.

Anyways, last month I started my blog post with random gibberish German/English sentences which I have no idea why I had even posted and I had gotten a crazy amount of blog views from Deutscheland, I wanted to die. No, really.

Not long after that embarrassing week I found this pretty amazing online community where you can blog anonymously (Or un-anonymously if you want to, but I like being invisible. Worp.) and random kind humans who happen to be fluent in the language you are blogging in would help correct your writing o' rubbishness!
I more or less blog there every odd day now and I am pretty pleased that my writing isn't 80% gibberish anymore. Dear krakens, it has improved not so dramatically!

Here's a fantastic way to "cheat": Type your sentence out in Google and if it is a valid sentence, it should appear on some random German blog or website and if it doesn't, back to the drawing board to re-form that sentence of yours!
Bah, Still can't figure out how to construct long sentences properly yet or understand without subtitles but I can read a whole lot. I do not understand myself, chee.

I've been listening to loads of German/Austrian/Swiss music recently and it appeases me that I understand 90% (And German tv but I understand less of that. Side note: German comedy has absolutely no humor in it and therefore, is very funny.)  of most songs and I actually sniffed over a song I had never thought was any good but it was so beautiful all along, sob. Then again, I probably have an overdose of feels in me so I sniff and sob just over every petty thing.

Anyways, there was a Halloween fashion show at Tropicana City Mall yesterday, it turned out to be pretty darn amazing since the stage "choreography" was freestyle and you had to do this slow creepy walk and randomly stare at people, I think I am fantastic at all that. Oho, the self flattery.

Funny how I used to get the jitterbugs before walking, now I enjoy the attention and camera flashes a whole lot more than I used to!

I didn't exactly enjoy the hair styling part since the stylists were literally going insane! The one on the left was spraying moose on and crimping my hair with well, crimping irons and the other was holding a can of hair spray and started tugging and back combing like crazy! .. I-i-it was quite painful to be honest, both physically and mentally since I was wondering how I was going to get my hair back to its -coughcough- "former glory" with all that crimping and hairspray. Hairspray and backcombing alone is bad enough already, humans!

Side note: I managed to get my hair back to normal after running my fingers through it for about an hour. And no, it was no fun.

Aside from the hair it was an overwhelmingly fun day, going in and out of the toilets and scaring random citizens walking pass but I am hungry so I shall leave you now, and hopefully blog sooner than a month.

So here, have are some pictures I got tagged in:

My ghastly model buddies.

Maleficent/Cruella de vil AKA Me with Jaslyn, my makeup artist for the day.

Since it was "freestyled" I decided to go ahead a give the backdrop a bit of a scratch, s'tu bad there weren't any of me on the runway giving the audience my glare, boo. 

And here's a random "First runway dress" picture, which looks fairly awkward. 

Bear hugs,

-Karen

Just another thursday

You may need to skip the next 6 paragraphs or so as they reek so badly of over Karen randomness/silliness.

Eyeliner and lash glue out of my eyes, check.
Handful of bobby pins and half a ton of hairspray out of my hair, check.

Since my haare is damp and I mag nicht baking my head with a hair dryer, I shall blog (I would probably be asleep till abend tomorrow and that's another reason why I should blog at this ungodly hour. Om.) till it dries, even though my eyes feel heavy from carrying those false eyelashes for most of the day.
Obwohl, it could be because es ist ein uhr einundfunfzig.
Do excuse random Deutsche (Also changed my FB language to Deutsche, it's quite awesome deciphering the words. You may want to try it one day. Actually deciphering isn't needed as I am such a fantastisch human being. Oh gott what I am typing.) moments, it's to prevent me from falling asleep on the laptop.

Okay, let's proceed.

Ugh, Ich hasse mornings wenn I have a "special event" (E.g Kuchen competition schnuff. I highly doubt that German but it's a cute wort and du hast my permission to use it.)  on as I always get this squishy butterfly feeling in my stomach, no matter how many times I tell myself that there is nothing to be anxious about and all those "butterflies" that builds up inside of you prevents you from essen breakfast properly, somehow.

So I basically did one page of German and a spoon of that fruhstuck schnuff, it worked.
Mm. You are probably wondering whats up with all this german schnuff (Hah. That word is fantabulous.), so ich soll clarify I am not exactly going insane aber I just randomly wanted to pick up a nue language und more or less take the Olevel paper for it next jahr.

And you should know that reading (I could read some random e-book about two random sisters after a day.) in German is so veil easier than writing. Oder, trying to understand sie spricht German cause literally all you hear is "djedjaknmnoromadjdfh? uwiermxdffhjhghrgaec." because they speak so blutig schnell. Ack, Meinen kopf.

That was rather random, I think I'll continue in English. Heh.
Side note: Schweinfleisch is a wondrously, barbaric word to say. FLEESSHHH. Lamfleischee, schinnnken, fisssche. Ah, I am hilarious. .. And maybe just a tad hungry. Woooosh. ICH HABE HUNGER, PERSONEN.

I should be banned from blogging when I'm tired as I have a well known tendency to type as though as I have gone insane, somewhat.
Mffp, it 2pm and I've just woken up. Boy, does it feels good to be lazy.

..................

After a somewhat longer than usual drive down to KL, I had finally arrived in Zebra Square and just so you know, its specially catered to events where you more or less book the entire "Square" and there are absolutely no shops or eateries within, only a fashion academy and vast empty spaces.

The moment I set foot in the SCCA fashion academy I was shown my *cough* lovely green and yellow mermaid chiffon dress with beads sewn in everywhere, it basically looked like your typical "Baju kurong".
Then I was led into the "Fitting room" by my designer and around ten other models with theirs to basically try the dresses out to see if it was in need of any last minute altering.

Till the day itself I had no idea it was a competition/graduation and just after six months of fashion designing "School"! Which I may be enrolling in soon since they are offering scholarships for fashion designing, artistic makeup and body painting! ..Hair dressing too but I am not exactly fond of cutting hair, heh.

It was basically a dress designing competition with two categories, traditional and modern "Lady Gaga" kind of dresses which were made from snake skin with a corset back to shiny blue vinyl dress, complete with metal belts and cut-outs!

My dress was obviously from the "traditional" category! Fsstph.
At least my dress was pajama comfy and I had a really smiley, bubbly designer!

 You could say it was rather awkward meeting the "Senior" models, more or less because most of them were a frigin head taller than me and I felt like some sort of a scrawny midget (I am actually a really petite person who got pulled a little lengthwise a bit but the rest are actually "Big boned" and well, are GINORMOUS FEMALES. Seriously, what do those people eat.) that didn't speak Chinese.
Yeah, I guess that could somewhat describe how I was feeling yesterday and maybe I now know how others feel when I tower over them.

Thankfully not long after the meet and greet, I met another human that didn't speak Chinese, had awesome pink ombre hair, was around my age and it was also her first runway.
THANK YOU, VAMPIRE LORDS FOR SAVING MY SOUL.

 Just so you know, yesterday was an INSANELY long day as I probably sat around doing practically nothing for about six or seven hours. Who knew just sitting around was so draining.
I think you get paid to wait, not walk.

Before lunch we taught the choreography and did a little "trial round" on the stage.
I was the last model out and well, being the last one out makes me rather jittery somehow but being in the middle would have made me feel a whole lot more secure. I have a strange brain.

The moment I stepped out felt really good, even though my heart was pounding so much I thought it may have exploded but the music and vibrations were so loud that it dimmed the sound of my heart beating!
Overall it was an alright practice around even though I was a little more than nervous about remembering the choreography!

After a few jillion hours of awkward trying to speak to people (EVERYONE had a iPhone, there were also those with around three phones and two tablets. So, me being someone with a phone that only calls and sends texts- Eh, basically I just wanted the ground to swallow me up whole. Side note: I should have brought around 10 books to read.), came the hair and makeup which well.. Isn't as interesting as it used to be when I first started since it was only your basic smokey eye and hair bun! .. And I happen to dislike hair buns quite a lot as it probably makes me look thirty, or forty.. If I'm extremely "Lucky" on that day.

So with my makeup on and in my dress, I looked like some Malay "Makcik" on her way to a wedding, or something of that sort.

It's either that or a bush, a nice skinny green, shiny bush.

About a decade more of waiting.. Oh yes, extremely glamorous waiting.
At least dinner (FREE REFILL OF SCRUMPTIOUS, CRUNCHY POPPADOMS WHILE STOCKS LAST. Not to mention the beef rendang wasn't all that bad too.)  was provided this time, I forgot to bring my wallet but I managed to rake a few bucks out from random pockets in my bag to get chicken rice for lunch and that's why everyone needs a messy bag, just in case of heart stopping (I thought I was going to starve and die. Sobs. Not to mention the fact that I was running out of water and I couldn't possibly beg a model for lunch, being the shy person I am.) incidents like so!

At least now I VERY well know exactly what to bring to future fashion shows and what to expect!
Learning everything the hard way is amazing. Not. But at least all the information gets drilled very deeply into your skull.
And I should probably learn how to speak Malay and Chinese fluently like a normal Malaysian lass.

Then came the impromptu photo shoot after the makeup artists applied a new coat of nude lipstick, you could say I had quite a bit of fun during the rather short period of twenty minutes doing some wonky couture poses in my baju kurong!
Mmm, photo shoots are rather enjoyable.

Another century of waiting, roughly translated to around three hours.
Oho, the very glamorous life of a model.

Speaking about the glamorous model life, most of everyone around me seem to be chain smokers and have had some plastic done "Somewhere" or are planning to.
When all along I thought models were supposed to be "Healthy people" and I had no idea plastic surgery scene was so big here.

It kind of scares me how if I continue modeling, would I be coaxed into doing so and so in the near future?

Anyways, the three hour wait was torturous, the added false lashes and heavy eye makeup made my eyes want to close even more! To be honest, I had just wanted the day to get over and done with.

Fighting the urge of dozing off was tough, luckily the clock struck nine and we were told to make our way backstage, passing a group of paparazzi snapping photos of the famous guests and designers.

Right after the group of "Orang asli" dancers that were wearing an "I heart PM" and a grass skirt, accompanied with a pair of grass maracas (?), it was finally our turn to walk and my palms were sweaty mess, as I turned around an shared another huge nervous smile with my designer before making my way to the stairs.

The moment I walked out, cameras were flashing like crazy, spotlights were shining and the mist machines were doing what they do best, MISTING.
It all happened relatively quick and not long after we were called out to the stage again, hand in hand with our designers to know the results.

My dress didn't take place sadly.

The ministers were called on stage to present the three winners their humongous fake cheque and a bouquet of pink roses, more smiles and camera flashes.
We slowly made our way back stage, one model and her designer at a time.

I slipped off my dress, put my cozy coral colored skinnies and tank top back on, gave my young designer one last squeeze, a huge grin and a "You did very well and thank you for the dress" (I have no idea how I said that in Malay last night.), with that I was off to have some Hokkien/loh mee supper with the crazy bunch of humans I live with :)

Well, all I can say is Thursday just wasn't just like any other ordinary Thursday.

-Karen

Side note: Pictures when the camera man decides to post them. Meanwhile, just picture the "makcik" thing.

Specks of glitter

Okay, this better not end up as one of my poor abandoned drafts (If it does, I shall cry since there are probably 7 drafts. Or so.) as I have been rather fickle on what to post (Actually it's because I have been doing a once over of my posts before actually posting them and I tend to jot rather.. Weird things about myself down and I just can't bring myself to post it so heh. Just so you know, the previous draft was filled with me making retarded whale noises and rambling on how I enjoy looking at blood and how much I want to prob a cadaver and human brains.) and well, reasons of suches.

What a waste of a tres magnique title as this is such a random post, but at least it's better than the rest.. Or at least I think so.

Here's a random picture of horseshoe crab roe kerabu from yesterday's lunch.

The fact that my blog looks so terribly old fashioned (I wonder if I should keep the "Do you know the cupcake girl?" title as I don't exactly have "feels" for cupcakes anymore.) is indeed saddening, I should probably beautify it in the near future. Just not now cause my fingers feel like whales.

Anyhoos, I have been spending an awful load of time on this wondrous place by the name of DeviantArt or De vain egg tart (One should visit that inspiring place in the near future as it is basically art wonderland filled with drop dead talented people!) and I came across something new, at least to me!
It's basically eye art using bits of anything the artist finds around, puts it together with some makeup and more shiny stuff, most are digitally modified to look AMAZING.

On the side note I have been rather obsessed with ogling artistic makeup, photography stuff (Some really amazing self portraits and editing skills which I would probably never obtain and all of it's awesomeness by a Spanish 16 year old who also happens to be a very successful makeup artist/photographer/model! She is my current role model like human. I sometimes wonder if I would ever reach that amount of awesomeness when I'm 16..) and hot teenage *cough* European *cough* artists. And this is why you shouldn't let your teenage daughter have excess to the internet.

Ah, De vain egg tart (Omnomnom, egg tarts.) is indeed a magical place overflowing with surprises.

My deviant is: krakenese (I have always loved how elegant kraken like creatures look with their tentacles just waving around in the ocean..) so do drop by even though you may probably have seen most of my work that is up!
And the joys of your work getting placed in an album, favorited or commented on simply gets you giddy!

*Triangle ting* BAAIIILLAAAMOOOSS! Let the frikin-dikin rhythm take you over, baaailamooooss! ... You wait little girl, on an empty stage for fate to turn the light oonn. Your life little girl, is an empty page, that men would want to write on.. Tooooo wriiitee oonnn! You are sixteen going on seventeen, baby its time to thiinkk! Better beware be canny and careful, baby you're on the briiinnkkk! Totally un-
Eh, I apologize for the short break, now back to business. (Dear krakens.. What have I been listening to and I believe I have been getting a little too distracted. om.)

I have been pretty much exploring the realms of makeup for the past few months, all along I had thought makeup was just well, the usual eyeliner, blush and lipstick and I had just only discovered how you could express yourself so much through makeup and how interesting it really was.

I guess you could say I have been fluttering around, trying out horror and macabre one day and edgy abstract or special effects or just plain gorgeous and artistic the next!

I decided to try out my first "artsy eye" yesterday and you could say I have mixed feeling about it since I kinda hated the fact that my camera couldn't capture certain micro details (Such as the length of the lashes and specks of gold on it.

Trust me, each little bit plays a bit part since the area you are working with is so small!) cause I don't have the zoom lenses and it just wouldn't focus well in different angles, ugh.
I should probably rummage through the photography section in the library again!
Nevertheless, at least I have a camera to work with!

I was meant to do a Poison Ivy "face" (I love how I can be anyone or anything with makeup, it's somewhat fun creating different faces for yourself.) yesterday as it was requested by a random fabulous human being but my fingers didn't obey my otak-otak brain, I meant brain (I apologize but sometimes all I think about is food, really. And just so you know I am in love with Muar otak-otak, that heavenly substance is well.. Heavenly!) and it decided to do a cross between mardi gras (The beauty and colors of the masks and Venetian clothing! I think I should add "Ballroom dancing in a complete mardi gras costume in this gigantic palace like place that's filled with sparkly chandeliers and a huge banquet table with oodles of food and even complete with a whole roasted pig with an apple in it's mouth." to my bucket list. Even through I would probably trip and fall in the custard pudding while dancing due to clumsiness, meh. Then again, one can dream.) and some form of ancient goddess. 

Bow before me, peasants. *Evil hag cackle*

Another thing! I didn't have any green (Unless you count that disgusting decade old, leaf green eyeshadow from my Grandmother's palette. *Shivers*) pigments so I did a bit of thinking , made my way to the cake studio and pulled out.. My moss and olive green dusting colors!

The colors were very pigmented and creamy and my eyes feel perfectly fine so I believe I have found a substitute for the time being, whoop.
Side note: Red and a tinge of brown gel food coloring makes the best fake blood ever, though the stains last for about five days so I wouldn't recommend you using that stuff on your face.

So, this has been a rather awkward post (I remember being more professional when I was 12, I guess you do not get much wiser as you grow older.) and I doubt you would enjoy it but my stomach screams for food and I must leave, at once.

Hasta la vista humans, and I would probably be back soon. Woop.

-The kraken ma'am.

A day of being fussed about

Okay, so here I am blogging on an iPhone (And it is strange quite fun minus the fact that I type slower than a fingerless person on this particular electronic device.) since I am on a one hour journey home and I think today was an exceptionally fun day! Well at least to me! .. I just realize you can't put them spacing line in with this stupid device, either that I am too blind to see the button like thing I am apparently supposed to touch. I guess you would just have to endure a very squashed blog post. I apologize deeply, my minions. Oh right! Today I had to wake up at an ungodly hour, you may know it as '7am'. Since I had to reach Jaya one (That's where the academy I attend I'd located and no, you may not have the permission to hunt me down.) at 10am for the 'makeup exam'. Eh, I will tell you in a bit why I have those flying commas around the words: makeup exam! I reached the academy at fourty-five pass nine and met some other students in the lift and apparently they were makeup students and I was like 'I didn't know we were going to take the same exam!' but the doors strangely weren't open yet so we decided to hang around down stairs. Not long after I spotted one of my modeling mates and I couldn't spot her box of makeup so I asked her where it was and she was like 'We have to bring our own makeup?! B-but I thought we were just the models?!'.


Oh my god! I have discovered how to create spaces! So all you have to do is press the magical 'return' button, isn't this amazing?! 
 Anyways, I forehead slapped myself for being such a blur person and thinking I was the one taking a makeup exam when I was actually there just to be made up by the makeup students and guess what?! It was a BRIDAL makeup (Today's was wearable day makeup.) exam!


For two hours, or so all I did was open and close my eyes, look up and down and tilt my head at different angles! I felt like a err, robotic doll! It was extremely fun being fussed all over (Except the part when my feet started getting pins and needles from sitting down a little too long..) and hearing your makeup artist go 'Wow! Your eyes are do big!', 'Oh wow! Your eyelashes are so long! I don't think I need to put falsies on!', 'Mmmm, we don't have to contour your nose because you have such a thin, high nose.. Like Korean celebrity like that!', etc! 

I'd have to say I loved the makeup she did for me! No, it has nothing to do with the sea of compliments!

After all the comments were given (Apparently my blush was too heavy or something and I was also told my right cheek was slimmer than my left cheek! I never realized that! Got fussed around by Ben and Jil, my favorite catwalk teacher and the other is the head of makeup. Jil was all 'You got it easy! Look your model already has big eyes and a nice nose!" and Ben just turned my head around in all directions and said some random fluff I can't exactly remember, meh.) we had to change into a white tube (Because we had to put on a WEDDING DRESS later on for the final photo!) then start on the hair!

Mmm, I don't have much to say about the hair as I was blinded by hairspray (The smell of hairspray always reminds me of my Grandma's favorite very old fashioned hair salon and I had to call her hairdresser :'Auntie Poh-poh'!) and bobby pins being tossed all over!

Once that was done it was time to put on this hideous (*Coughcough* It had a really awkwardly size bow on your waist line and old fashioned lace everywhere!) white wedding gown to take a picture of the complete bridal hair and makeup!

Not long after, the veil (I find it quite hard to blog when there is a picture of me with with a veil on.. And she's staring at me.. *Shivers*), pearl hair band and pinned on flowers were off and I roughly had about.. Five hours till my Advance catwalk course briefing!

Those five hours were spent eating, catwalking in the studio, lazing around, peeking at the next batch of makeup students do their stuff and eating again! Oh, and admiring the makeup student's huge pretty box of makeup stuff!
I placed all of my makeup (I strangely have quite alot..) into my old cake decorating tool box! I washed and dried it out at midnight thinking I had a makeup exam on!

 The briefing was fun, I got to swish around in a can-can dress and we basically learnt how to handle mermaid, A-line and can-can dresses!

Oh right, I really enjoyed one of the questions being asked by Ben during the briefing "Lets say you have some real fancy head gear and a toga like dress with a huge flower and patterns on one sleeve. Which way do you pose your head? Where the flower is or the bare shoulder?" (Before this we were told that you should always pose to the side with the pattern to show it off.)


I replied with "The bare shoulder, otherwise it would have been too overwhelming.", expecting a negative reaction but instead I received something like "Correct! And that's why you have a potential to become a top model and with your beautiful frame! Tsk!".

Funny how cake decorating knowledge helps with being a smart arse and picking up makeup super quickly and actually being considered "beautiful" (All my life I have always thought of myself as this very eh, awkward and un-beautiful person.. What a strange world this is.) by people who work with so many models day in, day out.

 Oh chee, look at the time. I have to be awake at some ungodly hour again tomorrow and I haven't even gotten my bridal makeup off yet, boo.

-Karen 

Modeling- Why I started and some random talk.

Oh cheese and whiskers, I haven't blogged in ages but I have this strange sudden urge to since I well.. Have quite a lot to rant and share-ish, if i don't do so my head would explode and that isn't the most attractive thing one could do.

Hmm.. Let's start sometime in March. *Starts time travel machine*
I was suppose to start the City & Guilds pastry course but I was only told it was cancelled on the day I arrived for the course and before all that we (As in the 2 parents and 4 other siblings I live with!) practically moved most of our house into a tiny apartment in Damansara (We live an hour and a half away from where the course was supposed to be held and I had to be there pretty early so it was easier to move down.), ready to stay there for 3 months.

So after that I was given the option of taking the Wilton Instructor's course to kind of make up for it and obviously I said yes.

So after the five day course and one sit-in class (You have to observe before being able to teach.).. I was told I COULDN'T teach because I was TOO YOUNG and could only teach these project classes, which I really didn't want to and I could have done so even before taking the Wilton course.

Oh yes, may I add.. I absolutely hate being told I CAN'T do things because of my age, so being told I couldn't do things because I was too young (It's quite stupid really, what has age got to do with anything? You don't see child actors being told they are too young to act, child models being told they are too young to model.), once too many times really got onto my nerves and one day I just exploded all of the broken promises (I just think I shouldn't add too much into this blog.) and frustration (The frustration of not committing to any classes and things of that sort just to make space for the pastry course and it turns out it's cancelled and you are left with this very blank imaginary calender and not having anything planned really isn't my thing and the fact that all those people that were supposed to be there to "guide" me were just "saying" so and they really didn't want me to get anywhere in life.) out.

Maybe all of that was just a sign that I wasn't doing what I was supposed to do anymore..

After all, I think my passion for cake decorating has died down quite rapidly since the end of last year and I was slowing moving into doing art instead and watching fashion and makeup videos during my free time, and I happened to have a lot of it since the beginning of this year.

Being in that "dormant" state made me feel very bad and for the first time in a rather long time (I was in this exact same spend-the-entire-day-online dormant state before I discovered my passion for cake decorating.. I find it quite funny, really. How you have to be chin deep in boredom before finding what you are passionate in and you were actually finding your passion when all along you thought all you did was sit in front of your laptop for 12 hours!).

I had those nights where I would cry myself to sleep because I was such a pathetic idle person.
It's strange really, it just suddenly occurred to me that I just couldn't do NOTHING.
I like to think of that as one of the good parts of me!

So not long after the verbal explosion I had with my parents I started connecting the dots and just thinking about what people have always said after they have met me (If you were wondering, it is usually : "Wow! You are so tall, you should be a model!" Well, if you are tall but with a lousy catwalk you probably won't be too successful but I guess it helps.. Oh, what am I rambling about?), put it all together (Including the fact that my all time favorite shows to watch on TV were America's next top model, The Janice Dickinson Modeling agency and project runway! I still absolutely love them but too bad we don't have cable TV, sob. Oh well, but there's always good ol' youtube!) and decided..

I wanted to start modeling.

So after doing some research and blahs, Mommy stumbled across the Amber Chia Academy website and apparently they had modeling courses so we decided to drop by one of the academies.
I signed up for the course without thinking too much about it, really.
Sometimes you just shouldn't think too much before trying something new out, at least that is what I think and it is always fun to expose yourself to different things in life, obviously the younger the better!

Ah, the first day seemed like ages ago already!
It was just basically receiving a pair of white 5" heels and being briefed about the course!
Oh, and also being told "What is thisss?!" *Points at my blank, un-made up face!*

The course came with a few makeup classes which you could attend anytime but I signed up right away so I wouldn't have to go blank faced into class again!

I absolutely LOVE the makeup studio! The walls are lined with mirrors that are framed with light bulbs and you look instantly better in them! It's almost magical!

Makeup was something fairly new to me since I have never exactly put makeup on before.. Unless you count the endless times my grandma would put a bit of blush and lipstick on me (I remember that one time when i was waiting for my Grandma to get out of the shower to tie my hair and I guess I was pretty bored and there was a tiny empty plastic bucket next to me, so I turned it upside down and pretended it was a guard from the Buckingham Palace's hat thing and guess what?! I couldn't get it off! Thank goodness my Dad could! .. I don't think I have ever put a bucket on my head since!) while I sucked on a chew able vitamin before going shopping or maybe to a wedding when I was six before Mommy said something like "No makeup on till you are sixteen!".

She broke her own rule, and I still find it amusing!

Getting on with it.. The first makeup class was roughly basic day makeup, Pinky (She's a makeup artist and also my instructor!) did half of my face and I had to do the exact same thing on the other half!
Which was pretty tough because my eyes watered when I had to tight line them (My eyeliner smudged so many times because of my tears and I had to redo it all over again!), I didn't even know how to use an eyelash curler!

I ended up with an overly white face because I didn't mix the dark and light foundation properly and put too much light one is, VERY old auntie drawn on looking eyebrows (I LOOKED LIKE MY GRANDMOTHER.) and VERY messy eyeliner (I think I looked like some goth that was crying the entire day..)!

I pretty much failed the next make up class too! It was night makeup so we did a smokey eye (I looked like someone punched me in the eye.. Or a panda if you have good imagination. ) and I had to put false eyelashes on!
I really disliked the false lashes because I couldn't exactly glue them on properly, I think I put on too much glue because it smeared all over my eyelid and my instructor was like "What am I going to do with this girl?!". And I couldn't really blink properly because of my glasses! ..So I basically had to stare for the rest of the day!

Hm, more makeup stories later.. Now for the catwalk classes!
The first two or so classes were learning the basics of walking, which in my opinion didn't help much because afterwards I couldn't really join it all into a walk and it looked REALLY awkward!

First you had to lift your leg up to a 90 degree angle, straighten it (I felt as though this was the only important part of the basics because the first part REALLY screwed up my walk!) then step and the back leg has to be on tippy-toes!

So for the third class or so we learnt to incorporated hip movement into my already very weird walk and I have this eh, you may call it a problem I suppose.. I don't have very flexible hips! (One of the reasons why i wasn't all that good at horseback riding, I am a strangely stiff person. Sob, it's sad.)

I don't exactly remember it all that well but I kinda moved my waist instead of my hips and it made my walk even more awkward (I had this strange way of lifting up my leg, all thanks to the basics! + I couldn't step straight, so I was walking with my knees bent! Apparently I naturally walk like that and that's why it was so hard to correct! + The waist moving thing, just ugh!) and one my catwalk instructors just screamed "What's wrong with youu?!!".

Being the touchy person I am, I broke down in the car crying and started mentally bashing myself (I think I am mentally unstable or something.. Meh.) on how I wasted so much money on the course and well, stuff.

But strangely the next day I was complimented on how much my makeup skills (She didn't forget to drill the ESPECIALLY THE EYELINER part in! I can line my eyes super quick and without tears now!) have improved and my catwalk instructor went "Wow! Your walk had improved!".

.. Who says crying doesn't help with things?
And well, visualizing straight legs and watching makeup tutorials till an ungodly hour kinda helped too!

From then on I absolutely LOVED the course!

I got taught fashion show buns and hair, different turns to do on the runway and even got complimented my catwalk had "style" (I can officially control my hips now! So I exaggerated the hip swinging because I thought it added more "oomph" into my walk and apparently my catwalk instructors like it! I REALLY didn't expect that!)  to it!

My feet are like cut up things because of my 5" strappy heels that you have to wear for training, 3 plasters on each foot (And the fact that every time you shower it feels like you are pouring acid on your feet.. Not my idea of fun!)! When you love doing what you do sometimes little things like these don't really bother you! Or your ankles, thighs, calves, shoulders and lower back hurting like crazy..

Wooo! Makeup exam tomorrow and the day after, and apparently some photo taking! And finally learning how to catwalk in gowns! 12 whole hours of training! Can't wait!

(I just realized I go for "class" daily from crazy time to crazy time!)

Lots of love to everyone who reads this!
-Karen

Le ramblings of such and suches

Yeah, I know.. It's been sometime since I've last blogged! Life has been somewhat busy I suppose, well I have this crazy family (Correction, crazy MOMMY.) who enjoys planning for way too many field trips and outside-the-house-days and it kinda drains your energy and at the same time makes you value your at-home-time a whole lot more and since the boys and crazy Mommy are at the pool, I shall use this "Apartment alone" (Yes, we have been staying in an apartment for about.. 4ish or so days now, I can't remember cause time seems to be rather draggy here in this very small space! Ah well, at least I can get online!) time to blog.


Oh right, before I forget I might as well tell you what we are doing living in this tiny apartment that's located somewhere in Damansara..
I signed up for the 3 month City and Guilds patisserie diploma and the start of that three month course/diploma/thang starts on March 1st (Just a day before my fourteenth birthday!) and have I told you how much I love attending courses/diplomas/thangs?!
I mean.. It's always nice being surrounded by people who share your passion and being the youngest in class!
And by being the youngest you are usually-ish in the spot light and who doesn't enjoy getting attention, eh?
Oh yarh, that's basically why we moved down to this tiny apartment and I can hardly wait for March 1st to come! Even though I'm a teeny bit nervous on starting this super long course..
I think I read something about a uniform being included.. I hope a toque (I learnt what that white fluffy hat was called from Ratatouille! That show is AMAZING! My favorite line is probably Anton Ego's "Not everyone can become a great artist, but a great artist can come from ANYWHERE.")  is included cause I've ALWAYS wanted to wear on and one of those white chef-y uniforms with them big, black and bold buttons and whipping up patisseries everyday for 3 whole months!


ANYWHOO.. Let's start this post of with some cakes!

I am pretty proud of this cake, well not exactly the cake since it's just a regular butter cake (The birthday boy's favorite!) that's wrapped in a layer of butter cream and grey fondant.. So let me rephrase that, I am pretty proud of the CAKE TOPPER/figurine/sugar thang since this is my very first mythical creature and it turned out WAAAAAAAAAY better than I expected it to look!

Oh righty and it's my first time using a 'Wire armature" (A metal skeleton in other words.) for my sugar figurines and definitely sticking to them! How on earth could I not have thought about using them before?! I mean they are SO easy to make and they support the figurine SO well! Mr Infernal (Apparently my brother is quite alright at naming stuff to and I wonder how on earth he knew what an "Infernal" is.. Eh, strange person.) is still sitting in my cakery with all limbs and stuff intact, well the ants are slowly eating it's toes up but it is overall still in good condition! Usually gum paste stuff in my cakery that's left without a dehumidifier (A dehumidifier is a caker-who-lives-in-a-very-humid-part-of-the-world's bestfriend!) would turn into a pile of sludge overnight, it's a wonder how he is still standing on his own four feet.. Maybe I have to thank luster dust a bit too, hmm..       

Oh, speaking of luster dust.. I CAN'T BELIEVE I FINALLY USE THEM AFTER LIKE.. 3 YEARS! 

Long story short-

One day after reading some Alan Dunn book, 11 year old KCC decided to go get some PETAL dust to dust her rather ugly so-called "Gumpaste flowers" and she went to the only cake decorating supply shop she knew and it was called "Cake Connection" ANNND too bad cause they only had LUSTER dust left AAANNNDD she bought the luster dust dust cause she thought it would work only too bad cause the LUSTER dust was quite glittery and she ended up with glittery leafs and flowers.. THE END.

So yeah, I had absolutely NO use for them.. Until NOW! *Insert evil maniac laughter here* 

But before I splashed the "Holly green" luster dust on something told me to use a "Base color" and that base color (Speaking of color.. I asked the birthday boy what color he wanted his dragon to be and he said "Blue and red".. Or something like that, I only recall it as a horrid color combination! So since he has a horrible taste of colors I decided to make it MY favorite color, turquoise! I think I am a horrible sister.) was SK's "Hydrangea", one of my favorite dusting colors next to this deep, dark purple color which sounds a bit like "Aborigine"only it isn't and I can't believe I actually forgot what it is called! And a light pink called Tangerine, only I think CK labeled that dust wrong cause aren't tangerines orange? 

The most tiresome part of this particular figurine (My inspiration for Mr Infernal was from EVERYWHERE! I literally pieced together all my favorite parts of dragons I found on the web into one and he turn out looking quite handsome! Not Frankenstein-ish in anyway!) was probably the skin.. Each scale on that monster's body is HAND-POKED! ..With a Wilton 1L piping tip cause I was WAAY too lazy to actually cut out scales! Thank goodness I didn't do that or the cake would NEVER be done on time! 

The reason why Mr Infernal (I think I have got to stop calling it that..) has "Battle wounds" are because the birthday boy wanted him to be like you know those, errh.. Victorious hero from battle thingmajig, umm.. I think I'm ain't a very good explainer but basically Mr-Ahh I mean INFERNAL just won the battle!

One of the things I was MOST worried (Actually I was kinda worried about EVERYTHING since I have never made a dragon head to well, any part of a dragon before!) about was probably the claws and the muscles (I know them muscles are pretty minimal! I'll try to make my next dragon buffer! Hahaha!), only somehow they turned out the easiest to be made and I REALLY enjoyed making the feet! I make TERRIBLE human hands and feet but good dragon ones.. I think it's because the human hand and feet making was TAUGHT to me, I usually do better when I invent the whole thing and not to mention it's funner and free!

Zed Dabaliewee (She's one of my best pals!) came over to our Port Dickson place for the very first time on Fai's birthday and we made this poster together on the day after the party and now it's up on my cakery's wall! 

Okay, MOVING ON!

Equally as proud of my garbage truck! It's my very first pair of gumpaste "Wheels"!

It was rather exciting, getting an order for a gumpaste garbage truck topper (Unfortunately it wasn't a cake!)! Well, aren't all "Firsts" exciting?!

Never made SO many templates for a project before and never appreciated my craft knife this much too!

Again, it was interesting.. Exploring new techniques!

Since it was a garbage truck I decided to go ahead and paint garbage juice all over it and it made Mommy and Papa scream but I think a garbage truck with sludge all over lets the truck have a little more "Character" and after all, it's a garbage (Speaking about garbage.. I think I need to make better garbage bags next time round! These look a little like wontons.. Omnomnom!) truck and I doubt you have seen a squeaky clean one!

Making the maggots (Yes, that's what those mysterious white spots that are on the garbage are!) were fun since I had actual maggots to look at!

The day before making the maggots, Papa and I were plucking some weird fruit thing from our garden because he wanted to try to make wine out of them and MOST of them were crawling with maggots! I think these turn into fruit flies..

And I kept them in a container like I usually do when I find snails/slugs/maggots/other creepy crawlies in the fruits and vegetables! Oh lookie here! I actually found an old post of my no-need-to-look-after-muchie-pets: My arys

So.. Sometime a month back or so, I suddenly fell in love with YouTube again! And this time.. With fashion and beauty videos! Yeah, that's my current secret, I mean not-so-secret-anymore obsession (Speaking about obsessions.. I am officially a scarf freak! No thanks to those "Forgot-how-many ways to wear a scarf video"!) !

I don' know why but I think playing with fashion is fun and I DO feel like I want to go into the fashion industry, it sounds fun!

And along the way I also found some jewelry making and re-vamping/re-using old stuff videos, I guess you could say I was pretty inspired by them and decided to try some stuff out by turning that old t-shirt to an off shoulder half top AND making bows..

Only I don't recall watching a bow making video but one day I just sat down making cloth bows and soon moved to ribbon pinwheel bows! 

As the days passed all my plain hair clips and hairbands has bows stuck on them and soon ran out of stuff to stick them on!

So one evening while we were out we went to a "Pasar Malam" and I stumbled across half a dozen hair starf-y shops and went on a buying frenzy! Who knew it was so fun buying plain hair accessories?! 

Making your own accessories is a pretty fun way to pass time I suppose! And not to mention you can wear what you made out!

Above: My re-vamped ballet flats!

Below: More bows accessories! The white cloth is from a long pant lining!

Above: Made this today after watching a "How to make a bohemian wrap bracelet" (I LOVE bohemian stuff! I mean, I have ALWAYS loved them since they are so "Island/vacation-ish"!) about a week back, only I made it without that troublesome threading!

-Karen Cuppy Cake

Hairpee shoes

Mwahahaha! Before I say anything else I MUST say that, I am SO super happy right now!

That's kinda why they are called my "Happy shoes" (You get instantly happy when you put them on, may only work if you are the owner of thy "Happy shoes", unfortunately.).

I started prancing around the house like a fluffy rainbow unicorn once I was FINALLY (I took 3 lazy days, maybe around 4-5 hours per day to complete them! Huff-puff!) done and Mommy called them "Happy shoes" so that name got a bit stuck and after all they ARE my "Happy shoes"! *Insert humongous smiley face here and by here I mean right HERE*  

So, long story not-as-short-as-I-thought-it-would-be-short..

One fine afternoon in Klebang, Ipoh we decided to have some Indian banana leaf rice.

While waiting for the "Other" (Sorry, I don't enjoy using too many names in my blog posts.) people to arrive we found this oldish antique shop, the oldish toys caught Parpar's eyes so we decided to take a look inside and guess what?!

We ended up going on a crazy shopping spree! And most of the things (Correction, EVERYTHING.) we covered in dust! We bought anything from pink flower umbrellas to err.. Ultra-man figurines. I told you it was crazy..

I bought a HUGE red-ish (Not to be mistaken for radish.) wood "Congkak" (I have ALWAYS wanted a congkak set, I just love feeling the marbles in my hand and the sound when you drop the marbles into the wooden holes! Me and Fai spent the entire night playing Congkak once we got back home!) set complete with dusty marbles, a pair of cloth cutting scissors (I have a thang for cutting up old clothes and it ain't easy with kitchen scissors I might add.), this round wooden thing that is used to stretch your cloth so it's easier to sew (Sewing WITHOUT that thing isn't all that fun.) and..   

A pair of white school (I am wearing school shooooooooeees! ..For the first time in 6 years! Yes, indeed! This is something to brag about!) high-tops.

I never planned on buying shoes, let alone WHITE (I have a tendency of getting white stuff grey/black in no time at all because I have clumsy feet that enjoy kicking stuff or just plain stumbling over themselves..) school shoes..

So it kind of went like this-

Parpar: "Heey! I used to wear these kinda shoes to school last time and they lasted me a good 3 years! What happened to your army (They were my absolute favorite pair of shoes!) ones?"

Me: "I outgrew them."

Parpar: "Alright, Little miss big feet.. Want another pair?"

Me: *Evil-ideas-on-what-to-do-to-them-once-I-get-home-brewing-in-head* "Sure!" *Insert evil grin here, make sure it looks evil.*

And THAT'S how I ended up with a pair of school shoes.

So the moment I got home (Since the trip home was pretty long it gave me PLENTY of time to daydream about IDEAS, only too bad once I got home somehow they were all erased from my head! Drat, shouldn't have dozed off!) I pulled out my crafting tool box (May I add that it can't seem to close since half of the space is already taken up by felt in any color you can think of?) and started digging for materials I could use for my little "Project".

I ended up with black fabric paint (I used this for my Masquerade mask only I have no idea why..) and Sharpies!

I bought them Sharpies to enter a competition only the "Entry" never got "Entered", poo.  

So, since my mind was totally blank (I TRIED doing some research and found some good ones but I didn't use any ideas I found for this project, I am a terrible copycat.. There's something in me that says that every artwork of mine must be ORIGINAL, nothing less. That's kinda why I hate stencils and everything of mine is drawn/painted/molded freehand.) I started off by thinking what I enjoyed drawing and they were basically swirls, curvy lines (I can NEVER, EVER draw a straight line and I absolutely hate using a ruler for my art.. I feel somewhat guilty after using it.) and circles! 

I started of with that little strip at the back first since it was err.. Small and easy to fill up. 

The first thought that popped into my head once I drew my first purdle, I mean purple line was "Oh em geez! Shoooowtt! It SPREADS! *Eyes bulging out of their sockets and starts stomping feet*" so once I finished with all the so called "Rainbows" (Since they are missing a few colors.. I NEED more Sharpies, Humans!) I used the black fabric paint (I diluted it in a little water since I found it rather thick and hard to paint.) to outline (I used just one #1 brush from all the painting and outlining in this project. My trusty #1 Squire's Kitchen brush that could never be qualified to enter a kitchen EVER again!) random parts of the rainbow and VOILA! It's neat and tidy! 

Not  long after I thought it was kinda boring to just have ONE pattern/design (What's the difference, eh?) throughout that little strip and since I liked circles, I painted.. Bubbles! Mommy calls them rocks though..

Then I discovered this two long little strips running down the shoe and decided to highlight one of them lime green and the other purple to make stuff less dull since I hate dull and purple and green just POPS AND it reminds me of a purple monster that has green slime and sliver so.. Yeah!

And after that I asked myself (Since this was MY new pair of shoes, I ask myself kinda a lot of questions on what makes ME happy!) what my favorite Sharpie color was and it was the blue and turquoise-ish color.. So blue/turquoise + swirls and curvy lines = WAVES and the OCEAN. Yeah, I know.. I am a mathematics whiz! So that kinda settled it for THAT side of the shoe and at first I didn't exactly think of drawing/painting (Whatever you feel like calling it.. I think "Dranting" should work, yeah?) the "inner" side but it looked incomplete and since the colorful-ish waves kinda followed the "Rainbows" on the little strip I decided to do some simple Dranting on the inner part so it kinda completes the whole look and makes it come together!  

So for the OTHER shoe I had a tough time deciding if I should copy the EXACT design or do a whole new look!

Copying the exact design would make me die of boredom so that got tossed into the bin and a whole new look will make be rather weird, at least to me so I decided to go for something in between!

The same-ish concept but a different scenery and since I had the "Above water", the next shoe was "Under water" and the only underwater animal I knew that was naturally "Swirly" was a Kraken, no not octopus.. It sounds WAY cooler this way!

Once all the Drantings were complete the white shoe laces (Seriously?! White shoes and laces?! Poor school people.) looked a bit.. Boring.

Sooo, the next day I went for a crazy shoe lace hunt in Seremban and just before I gave up, I found a Converse outlet and my, my there were SOOOOO many colors to choose from!

I couldn't decide between green and purple so I bought both! (Converse shoe laces on a non Converse shoe, hmm..)

And across it was this shop that sold laces too! For HALF the price and there were even more to choose from, so I ended up getting another two from there!

The minute I got home I started lacing my shoes the "Normal" way only to find out that the laces were too short! Urghk!

So I ended up lacing them shoes.. MY way.

-Karen Kraken Kake

Woven anklet

I kinda forgot what made me want to look up "Friendship bracelet tutorials" this morning but I just did, for an unknown reason.

That's extremely strange because.. I REAALLY don't know why I looked it up and ended up on YouTube since the picture tutorials were pretty hard to follow and I soon realized how easy making these were and how much they resembled my favorite "Orang-asli craft" (I absolutely love any "Native" craft, especially jewelry they are somehow a lot more interesting than the usual ones!) ones!

All you need is some "Cross stitch string" and the super ability to tie knots!

I spent about half an hour to forty-five minutes to complete my anklet (It was supposed to be a FRIENDSHIP bracelet but I ended up making an anklet for MYSELF, huh.. Funny how things end up!), my first few rows were VERY jumbled up (This is the somewhat second attempt I guess, I couldn't even tie that loop knot thing-ma-jig on the first one! Thank goodness I could untie it!), not sure how they got sorted but.. They did, strangely!

I thought I had lost a good meter (Of EACH color! I didn't believe the tutorial at first but I am pretty glad I did because the length was just nice after all that "weaving"!) of cross stitch thread!

Alright, enough of the chitchat..

Time to make MOOOOORRREEEE!

Hmm, filling up my limbs (Neck included, I think!) with cross stitch thread is going to be SUPERB!

-Karen Cuppy Cake