Mademoiselle Chaos

new addition to the customer gallery

2011-12-05T20:39:00.001+01:00

Please say hello to Eva, who was kind enough to send me a picture of her, wearing the ANOUSCHKA capelet made of black and gold Jacquard and allowed me to play a bit with her photograph. If you want an ANOUSCHKA of your own you can have a closer look in my etsy or dawanda store :) It comes in various colours and fabrics (velvet, faux fur, jacquard, silk, taffeta, satin etc. etc.) and can be adjusted to any of your requirements!

last chance

2011-12-03T21:20:00.000+01:00

I'm working my way through the pile of stuff I need to purge, to my more prized posessions that get harder to part with. This will be the last batch for this year and will include my beloved vintage silk kimono from japan, a jacket I bought in the UK (I love it so much, but never get to wear it *sigh*) and the abundance of backpacks I accumulated over the years. Have fun.

And prepare for the ditch of 30kg of buttons next year! I somehow need to get my collection downsized to fit into my steampunk drawers! How?! It's already filled to the rim with buttons, plus a 90x60x20cm box under my bed, stuffed with bags of buttons. WTF?

My 100 thing challenge

2011-12-01T21:59:00.000+01:00

Currently, it looks more like finding ENOUGH items to go on my list is the hard part, not the other way around. Obviously, I don't need much, after all.

But I have to say, I exclude certain things from being counted (although I keep a kind of inventory of what would go with me into my tiny house on wheels), namely: books (I don't have many, anyway, and when the time comes, I'll get rid of some of them), things that are purely work-related (ParaNoire fabrics, envelopes & wrapping paper, folders & paperwork etc. I do count my sewing machines & tools as personal items on my 100 thing list, though, because I also use them for myself), tools (hammer, screwdriver etc), kitchen things (pots, pans, silverware, dishes), university-related stuff.

Also, I do count some collections of things as one list item, like my laptop, power supply & sleeve. Or mp3-player & headphones. Oh and my button collection (after I downsized it from 35 kg to fit in my scavenger steampunk drawers, which will happen in early 2012) will count as one. But it will be housed in a piece of furniture that I'll keep come hell or high water, so that should be fine.

Oh, furniture I'll keep also gets numbered. So, why am I still at only 55 items?! I'm merely adding 1 or 2 things a day to my list. At most. But in a way, I'm very happy about that.

Living without a fridge.

2011-12-01T15:59:00.001+01:00

Call it a fad, but minimalizing my life goes on. Next up: my fridge.

As I'm pretty much allergic to anything that HAS to be stored in a fridge (like milk, butter, yogurt, cheese and anything else related to the joys of grain, bread, pizza, pasta etc etc) and my big fridge always looked so empty, I had started storing unnecessary things in there: preserves that had not yet been opened, fruits & veggies (they do perfectly well in a cool, dark spot outside the fridge), makeup, leftovers from friend's fridges (like 4 different jars of mustard! I never even eat mustard!) and so on.

I have now cleared my fridge of anything that will survive outside without problems, and well... it's fucking empty! Okay, there's a bit of bacon still in there but bacon never sees the light of the next day at my place... usually. Mhmmm, bacon. Erm... back to topic.

Anything I want to keep for longer (like meat, leftover veggies & berries from my garden, leftover dye vats (say nothing... I can't throw it out if there's still colour in there... even more so when I spent half a year carefully peeling red onion skins from every single onion I used) and meal leftovers) I keep in my lovely big ass freezer in the hall. And I won't get rid of this piece of icy goodness anytime soon.

But why should I have a freezer AND a fridge as big as myself if I don't even use both? Haven't checked yet, but it even might save me quite a bit on my electricity bill, as the fridge is well over 15 years old and surely noms away on energy. Edit: I just typed the specs of my fridge into some online calculator and it tells me I'll save more than 900 kWh / year — that's 18 Euros / month (214 Euro per year! OMG!) — on my electricity bill, just by switching off my useless fridge. OMFG.

My plan: for two months, see how it goes with your fridge unplugged and if it works, just get rid of it. Preserving stuff? Freezer. Cold drinks in summer? Granite ice cubes (they're so cool!). Veggies & Fruit? cool & dark place somewhere. Eggs? They keep them unrefrigerated at the store, do they not? Let the experiment begin!

thing-free holidays

2011-11-29T23:38:00.003+01:00

I've found this lovely "one less gift" certificate over at miss minimalist and I have to say, that is exactly what I could use right now. I've always had troubles with people giving me stuff for all kinds of occasions and while some things were really useful and needed (or perishable, like food), a lot of things only have burdened me. Not because I didn't like them, no, but more that — most times — really DID like them and thus became totally attached to them and got used to piling up more an more stuff out of nostalgic feelings. What burdens me is having so much stuff that I don't even get to use or appreciate every single one of them in a lifetime.

So this goes out to anyone with a known propensity for giving material gifts to me:

I'm really touched that you want to show your affection with something that stays visible and takes up space, thus reminding me of your sympathy for me, but please... I currently have everything I want and more, and if there may be something that is still missing, I will let you know if there's a way you can do something about that.

Really, I won't take "no gifts" as an insult, but as a sign of you caring enough to take this message into account. If you want to give SOMETHING, let's just have a great time together, go out, cook, see the world... anything. I'd love that!

Also, don't feel bad if I give you a gift (we probably will have discussed what would really make you happy beforehand) and you give "nothing" in return. The gift of "nothing" actually means very much to me. If you care about me, I'll probably know without any material proof, anyway, no?

This great certificate comes from miss minimalist and you can download the pdf here, if you like the message :) Also, great ideas on what to give instead of things can be found here.

Have a great christmas you all, with exactly the right amount of gifts for you :)

Ehem. Still downsizing.

2011-11-28T23:44:00.001+01:00

Still flooding ebay.

Currently: this. And those lovely handbags <3

Up next: beads, embroidery floss, more clothes, more crafty stuff. Around 20:00 GMT+1 this thursday (1st December 2011).

Funny.

2011-11-28T19:53:00.000+01:00

How it took me until now to make the connection from my current obsession with minimalistic living to my last name. Which basically means "not much" in German.

Somehow, this made my day :D

awesome: washnuts.

2011-11-20T19:28:00.001+01:00

I've been using washnuts for my laundry for around 2 years now and I'm pretty satisfied with it! Over two years, I bought around 2 or 2,5 kg of them (I think...) and still got way more than 1 kg left. At a price of 5 EUR / kg they're the cheapest and most environmentally friendly detergent I've ever come across. That makes a mere 5 EUR a year for laundry detergent! Granted, I only have to wash my own clothes and not a whole family load, but still... most of the common detergents cost more than this for a single bottle or box!

They're awesome because:

they can be used for various purposes: dishwashing, laundry, wool scouring and even washing your hair
they are hypo-allergenic (so if you're sensitive to certain chemicals, this is for you!)
they don't leave any scent on your laundry (I hate intense artificial scents! If I feel in the mood for some olfactorial input, I just add a few drops of scented oil to the water, like rose, lavender or sandal wood)
a little goes a long way, about 3-5 half shells are enough for one cycle (200 cycles per kg is a very,very conservative estimate), and you can even re-use them several times before they have released the last bits of saponin (the substance that makes soap so effective for cleaning).
they are compostable (so they'll turn into soil wherein you can grow new things... even your own washnut tree, they cope very well in moderate climate like ours!)
oh yeah, best thing? They produce near to no foam at all! (I spend most of my time getting the foam OFF the stuff I'm cleaning, when I'm using conventional detergents...)

itty bits of foam.

I have heard some negative things about their toxicity, washnut lovers say they are non-toxic, critics say that the saponins in there are not better than what's in your common detergent, in terms of degradability. I'm not an expert on this and would love some input from someone who knows more about chemicals than me.

Also, because they have no additional bleaching agents like conventional stuff has, some people complain about their white laundry becoming dull over time. But that's not really a concern for me. I simply couldn't be bothered to care about the shade of white in my clothes.

From another standpoint, it might not be wise to ship something around the globe and to make it's price unaffordably high for the local people (who in turn might switch to the cheaper, more toxic detergents) because of the increasing international demand for this product. If I can manage, I'll grow my own washnuts at some point to get this off my mind ;)

So while there are still some disadvantages to consider for some people, I wouldn't go back to the plastic-bottled, petro-chemical mess I was using before. Oh and while we're at it, if you understand german, here's a eye-opening movie about plastics and their toxic ingredients for you :) A while back, I still was somewhat amused about certain people's vigorous hatred for plastic (while I never was a plastic fangirl either), but recently (may it be due to my plans for sustainable small scale off the grid living or just because the movie had some info that was news to me... I don't know.)

(PS: the only uploader I could find with decent movie quality was ChemTrailPetition and I find that nick kind of suspicious. I'm not really into conspiracy theories, just for the record :D)

100 things challenge

2011-11-20T00:07:00.004+01:00

Heyho!

Oh, I've been neglecting you! BUT I've been doing various awesome things, roast apples, kitchen make-overs, tiny house fandom... lots and lots! Now I finally find the time to share :)

First, a little recipe for you (I simply can't get enough of homegrown apples filled with <3).

Roast Apples, my sweet secret for cold days:

You need (for 1 Person):

1 apple
2 walnut halves
1 tsp raisins
1 tsp honey
1 dash cinnamon (actually, there can't be enough cinnamon for me!)
1 tsp homemade plum butter (if you can get your hands on some :3)
1 tsp marzipan

First, Punch a hole in your apple with [whatever this round metal thing is called] to remove the seeds. Throw that part away. Use your [thing] to make a bigger hole (one that's narrow at the bottom and wide at the top).

Remove the skin of the apple pieces you carved out and dice them, crush the walnuts and mix everyting together. Stuff your apple. Devour any filling leftovers.

Put into the oven (preferably in a small bow or on a sheet of baking paper) at 180-200° C for about 15-20 minutes, depending on the degree of crispiness you'd like. Oh, and... I don't use vanilla sauce (because I'm too lazy to make a milk free version) but you could, of course :D

Nom!

-=-

What's even more awesome than making rost apples for yourself every other day, is making roast apples for others, even more so in a beautiful kitchen. Mine was rather drab and icky, so I got out my cash & power tools to give my kitchen a makeover :) Because I always strive to achieve maximum effects with the smallest budget possible, i spent a mere 40 EUR (50, if you take into account the 10 EUR gift card) on some new drawer handles and some chalkboard sheet & a marker. Look at this!

Before: MEH. Grey. Ignore chaos & ickiness, plz.

After: me gusta.

PS: I'd like my kitchen to look like this every day. A shame I have to clean everything myself :P

Right after making dinner. Again... ignoring chaos is highly recommended.

But LOOK at all those nifty notes! It takes a lot off your mind when you can just jot down a grocery list right at the moment you notice you're running out of milk or even MARZIPAN! (the horror!)

Which brings me right to my next point. I am a hoarder. Because of that, I have a lot on my mind (namely all those posessions (and the fear of losing them) that occupy my subconscious). I have felt the huge relief that downsizing your possessions can bring, numerous times. And I'm in the mood again. (I think I might be a split personality, squirrelish hoarder vs. nihilistic minimalist, each resurfacing in irregular intervals).

The main reason I got into it again was probably my recent fascination with tiny houses (at some point in the next 10 5, no... 3 years I will have built my own tiny house on wheels and find a beautiful spot somewhere in the world... maybe even move around with the seasons... I don't like extreme weather... *ponder*), the challenges that space limitations bring and thus, I read about the 100 things challenge somewhere on the web, which is basically about getting rid of all but 100 personal items. The definition of "personal item" is very ambiguous and not the same for everybody but I'm trying to develop a set of rules so that I can get this to work for me.

By the way, my future home will definitely look something like a lovechild of these two: tiny victorian cottage and neverwas haul.

I've also thought about living in a hobbit-like dwelling dug into the hillside, like the one by Simon Dale. But then I know the feeling of unrest that overcomes me every few months and the urge to go some place else and see the world... I think I will be better off with a tiny, mobile, self-contained house with everything I need right where I need it. I also thought about house boats, but then I saw a horrible video of one sinking within 30 seconds. Not really my type of accidental death :D

But well. I'm getting rid of things. And you can be the ones to profit from that. Check out my ebay for a good part of my wardrobe going out, shipping worldwide of course! I'm happy to translate descriptions if the need arises!

Also, I'm accepting offers for my navy blue chiffon dress I made a while back, it's on sale in my etsy shop, too, if you want to know the details, but I'm really open to fair suggestions if you want to own it and can't pay full price. I spent an estimated 8 hours (could be a bit more or less... I didn't keep track because I made it for myself, but most times, my gut feeling is about right). Plus some <3 vintage materials. I don't wear it, although I love it, so it has to go somewhere and I'd love for one of my readers to have it, if they so desire :)

-=-

So, any last words? Yep.

I hope that I'll be able to be more active on my blog in my lecture free time at the end of this year (although I have to prepare for an exam in stochastics (yay... ?)) and put up some tutorials or even a free pattern. Are there any suggestions? Something you'd like to see? I think smaller projects like accessoires, bags or something like that would definitely work :)

Working my way up

2011-10-18T18:29:00.000+02:00

Hey there, dear readers!

I've been posting in rather irregular intervals (ehem.), but I will try to maintain my blog more regularly again from now on :) I hope to be able to enlighten you with more tutorials, recipes, news and shop updates soon!

One thing I've been doing lately: purses. Small, straightforward projects that can be done in just under one hour so I don't get too entangled with work, as I have loads of university-related assignments to do as well. Also, my "Oh, I just CAN'T throw this and that away, I might need it for another project for sure!" - stash is slowly but steadily diminished by continouus purse-making, hehe :D

So here are the new ones:

Have fun!

If you like them, feel free to visit my ParaNoire shop :)

sign of life!

2011-10-04T16:03:00.002+02:00

I found a great way to use up all those gorgeous fabric leftovers that I keep piling up in my shelves: a new handbag design :) It comes with pleats and a "yoke" and different closure options, such as zippers, buttons or bows.

Each of these purses is one of a kind, so if you like a particular one, be sure to get it in time ;)

Paranoire Etsy Store

PS: Don't forget you can use my bloglove etsy coupon if you decide to order one of my new handbags! Simply type in BLOGLOVE when you checkout and save 10% on your order!

Okay, I changed my post background...

2011-09-07T17:57:00.002+02:00

... sorry for any bleeding eyes I may have caused.

I hope it's better now :)

Yep, still here.

2011-08-19T12:57:00.000+02:00

Meanwhile, besides putting some nasty exams behind me (successfully, I hope!), I went on a (rather spontaneous) mission to outer space. My mission: bring the plush (and magnetic fingertip) to the beeping, blinking, hacking world of CCCamp 2011 :)

What I was up to:

teaching people how to crochet (best to try with familiar materials :D)

making piggy-tailed pink r0ket-cozies

crocheted r0ket-cozies were all the rage somehow (this one wasn't made by me, though :D)

had a datasquid crochet workshop with @anked at the openleaks tent

invented tandem crocheting :D

other projects by @anked included the famous knithacked plane ...

... which looked awesome!

:D

I even had the honor to deconstruct the whole thing at the end of camp...

another one of @anked's (plus crafty friends whose names I cannot remember, argh!) cool projects...

crocheted rocket fuel! Truly "fueled by creativity", hehe :)

the whole camp was one giant, illuminated half-a-megawatt LSD trip at night — THE most awesome thing I've seen in my whole life. I think. Pretty colourful stuff.

I met so many great people and saw so many truly creative projects — I will definitely come back! In retrospect, I couldn't forgive myself if I had missed it (although then I wouldn't know how insanely cool it actually had been).

There have been loads of more techy stuff, but I thought the crafty side of camp would be more interesting for you, my dear blog readers ;)

six months with a magnet in my fingertip

2011-07-21T11:00:00.075+02:00

It's been half a year with my magnet and I'm still alive (obviously) and truly happy that I did it. The best 150,- Euros spent in a long while (@ Trust Mannheim, great guys :)). Very little pain during the procedure (aneasthetics ftw!) and the 2-3 weeks healing period for a shitload of fun afterwards (I took a good-night-ibuprofen the first 2 nights or so, not because I was overly in pain or anything, but the initial throbbing got a bit annoying. Nothing big, went away very quickly.)

fun things I've done

located 7 magnets in my MacBook Pro
learned how to put various laptop types to sleep if they have a magnetic switch for that (annoys the hell out of people with password protected screens, hrhr)
turned my magnet by 360 degrees both with strong magnets and by hand (might be one of the oddest things I've ever felt, even more if it's unexpected... I still squeak when I discover overly strong magnetic fields, partly because it's just fun to squeak around and partly because it really feels weird.)
picked up a lot of coins, pins, needles, paper clips, bobby pins, bottle caps, screws
changed my MacBook's hard drive (the screw-attracting properties came in handy)
messed with a compass
startled a lot of people :D
discovered that my bath tub is actually magnetic, so are my headphones and my cell phone speakers (I always get a slight "I'm still here" feedback from my cell phone when my hand passes the pant pocket with my cell in it. My landline phone also has a mean magnet in the back. Caused another sudden squeaking while I was talking to someone on the phone...)
learned how nastily strong the magnets in magnetic toys are (like Geomag, Supermag). It's almost impssible for me to build stuff without squeaking or oddly extending my finger to get enough space between me and the magnetic bars.
Edit: felt the magnetic field created by a transformer (and made others feel it by touching my finger). Pretty awesome. And weird. Literally makes my finger buzz!

me, changing my hard drive (oh how I love thee, nifty magnetic fingertip!)

things that didn't happen

I've never been able to detect the magntic fields of those anti-theft-gates (I know people who can, though... )
I don't feel anything when I touch power cords
I couldn't delete a magnetic card when I had the chance to try it (and I really rubbed it within an inch of its life)
didn't delete any magnetic storage devices so far (hard drives, floppies, etc)

plans / still have to try

metal detectors on airports (handheld & walk-through)
get an xray of my hand
maybe get a slightly stronger magnetic implant, titanium-coated if possible?
find nifty other stuff to implant/mod that's not gross (rules out transdermals, eww).

things that seem impractical

more than one magnet in a single finger (silicone coating rubbing off / breaking and causing nasty situations)
magnetic genital implants (it just came up in a conversation, so bear with me! First thing that crossed my mind: metal pant zippers... might feel uncomfortable or weird (or great, who knows...). Also, most genital piercings are made from non-magnetic materials, so one would have to improvise matching "counterparts"... not that much of an obstacle, but ... most horribly... I can live with the idea that a strong magnetic field might rip out my finger magnet at some point but the same happening in the nether regions? No way in hell I'd risk that :P)
too strong magnets under the skin (might attract too heavy stuff / put too much pressure on the skin, restricting blood flow)

I wouldn't reverse it for the world. Let's hope I don't need an MRI any time soon, because then my nifty "metal implants — do not MRI" tattoo that I plan on getting would become somewhat obsolete. If I ever have to remove my magnet for such a procedure, I'd get a new one immediately afterwards, though.

byebye!

Small update

2011-07-05T14:05:00.002+02:00

Hey you!

I hope you're still with me :) Exams are coming up, so i'm a bit busy with statistics stuff, but there is some progress I want to share:

First: I finished spinning my sweater yarn (hope it's enough...) and now I only need to find my lovely measurement sheet, because I don't want to retake all the measurements, argh! Then swatch knitting, pattern calculating, seeing if it works. It's 841g of navajo-plied zwartbles fiber, about 10-11 wpi. It took moe then 2kg raw wool (that I washed, sorted, combed, etc.) and about 44 hrs to finish this sweaterload of yarn.

Second: I dyed some swatches with black hollyhock blossoms and I'm very pleased with the outcome (plant dyes are lovely!). I used 15% alum mordant and 15% dried black hollyhock blossoms (percentage of dry wool weight). I will try more plants as soon as I finish spinning the swatch skeins.

Third: I've been working on programming a calculator (I'm actually supposed to do my programming homework, but who could resist...) that gives you the right amount of stitches for "perfect" knit/crochet (hemi)spheres. I'm working hard on making it accessible online and easy to use for everyone, if you're interested in the very very very basic version just for the fun of it (still has a fair amount of glitches that I need to even out, and let's not talk about looks...), drop me a line. I'm eager to see if it works for you. I'm currently knitting/crocheting test objects, like a baby blue boobie cushion (:D) and a big, soon-to-be-felted bowl to keep my projects in. I'll keep you updated on the progress ;)

I have a dream.

2011-06-14T17:59:00.000+02:00

Making a sweater. From greasy wool to wearable garment. And then tell all of you how long it actually TAKES to make something wearable all by yourself. (I'm doing quite the statistical analysis on my yarn making process right now...)

In the beginning, there was this:

I knit a shawl (the second shawl ever... actually the second thing ever that's bigger than half a sock...) using the Annis pattern on ravelry (it's free!) but I didn't like neither, short rows and casting on 363 stitches, so I somehow improvised (didn't turn out as planned, I don't have to tell you that, but still, despite the unexpectedness and somewhat wonky shape, I really like the piece, especially because of the gradient (I combed leftovers of brown and white wool together in various constellations, sorted the slivers by color and spun a thin lace single).)

The thing I like most about it is the knit border with nupps which sparked two separate ideas: for one, I definitely have to knit boobs. And code a knit boob calculator for all of you to enjoy (already figured out the math to get perfect, round and squishy boob shapes, haha :D). But the more important one right now... as the huge shawl already wears kinda like a cardigan, I was delighted by the idea of having a sweater with this trim around the hem and sleeves. All made with handspun yarn of course (those english wool combs will have to pay for themselves... kinda...) and with one of my favourite fibers: Zwartbles.

Zwartbles is a darkish brown or black with reddish or golden sunbleached tips, so perfect for someone like me who likes dark, but whose skin and hair color simply won't go well with pitch black (who would want black if they could get dark chocolate and gold, anyway?). It's a bit of a rustic fiber (about 30 microns), but not scratchy (for me at least... but I like things to feel a bit more exciting to the touch, anyway. Synaesthesia ❤). Oh and the fact that I still have about 3-4 unwashed zwartbles fleeces in my basement might also matter.

The fleeces are not very dirty per se, but they have LOADS of veggie matter in them, so there was no way I could've fed them through my drum carder (one of the reasons I got the wool combs...).

OMG, all the hay in there!!

... behold! The combs doing their thing (actually me doing their thing and trying not to rip my magnet out on one of the tines or turning my back into concrete from combing).

All the icky stuff separated from the fiber... about 98% at least. The occasional stray blade of grass gets picked out by hand as I spin.

These are the finished combed slivers. The amount in the picture is about as much as would go into a 4 oz skein. Wonder how long it takes to get this result? About 3 hours. And around 10 oz of raw fiber. Wouldn't have thunk, huh?

Here's a picture of my first skein. It's almost 7 oz and took about 4 hrs to spin and navajoply.

This is what I get when I take my standard spinning results and navajo-ply it: 11 WPI DK yarn. It'll be sooooo many stitches in my sweater!!! *horror*

All in all a good 8 hours of work (plus washing the fiber) for one skein. Impressive. Would never have thought that it took that long (and I am a pretty quick worker!).

I'll keep you posted ;D And probably will share the pattern later on.

make woven lavender wardrobe scent sticks (tutorial)

2011-06-12T13:24:00.001+02:00

Hey you!
Love lavender like I do? Make wardrobe scent sticks to keep your garments and linens fresh! Just stick them in your drawers or closet and enjoy the lovely scent :)

You need:

lavender (for the weaving to work out any uneven number*2 works best (9*2=18, 13*2=26 and so forth)
lace or ribbon (about half a yard should suffice, depending on how much lavender you use)
needle and thread

First: Tie the lavender stems together below the blossom part

Second: carefully fold over the stems (don't break them)

Third: Fasten one end of your lace on the end where you tied them together and then weave (2 over, 2 under) until you have "encased" all the blossoms. Then just wrap a few inches around the remaining length of stenms.

Fourth: invisibly secure the lace with a few stitches and neaten off the stems. Voilá!

Have fun :)

Help me!

2011-06-09T09:20:00.001+02:00

Ever since I adopted this hoop skirt, it was for no apparent reason very unsettling to have it around. I feel awkward around it, drives me nuts.

It has to go, to keep me sane Ö_Ö

Please take it.

swap-addiction

2011-06-04T12:45:00.000+02:00

I love spinning lace yarn. Yet I knit only one shawl a year, so skeins keep piling up. I just want to spin, I don't get excited about doing stuff with the yarn I spun most of the time.

So here's the deal:
I will spin up to 150g (okay, ± 50g) lace-weight single yarn (about 25 wpi is my default, but I can do way thinner) from fiber that comes from either your or my stash.

I will do this in exchange for a sexy amount of vintage buttons, notions, fabric and maybe something else that comes to my (or your) mind. Anyone interested? :D

I love recycling!

2011-06-04T10:30:00.000+02:00

First: Make [whatever the word for little signs that you put into the soil next to your plants so you don't forget what's actually growing there is] from empty plastic containers.

Second: Turn cardboard cereal boxes inside out for cheap (you pay for the cereals, but you'd do that anyway ;)) identical storage boxes. I'm all about inobtrusive, identical storage boxes. They're great to store combed wool slivers in, because then, they don't get smooshed and tangled.

unrelated sidenote: does anybody know a way to get the goat smell out of mohair? The fiber is so omfg smooth and lovely, but it still smells (I have already washed it with detergent, vinegar and some other thing I forgot, yet it still reeks goaty).

Make your own scented bath bombs!

2011-06-03T18:08:00.001+02:00

I have been changing the flowers in my enfleurage setup every other day for two weeks now and finally can show you how to make lovely beauty stuff from your scented sheabutter (go here for the tutorial!). Today, I tried bath bombs and body butter.

First, you have to get rid of all the little bits of veggie matter that you don't want in your body butter or bath bombs. For this, you put a small pot into a larger one. Fill the larger pot with water and scrape the scented sheabutter into the small one. On a low setting, gently heat the sheabutter until it becomes liquid. Then, strain through a sieve lined with cloth.

For body butter, simply add a few drops of gum benzoin (to keep the scent stable), pour into a small container with a lid and let cool/harden. When it has cooled, you can use it on dry and sensitive spots and enjoy the lovely, delicate scent of roses.

For bath bombs, you need a few more supplies:

200g natron (baking soda or NaHCO3)
100g citric acid (powder/granulate)
50g starch (potato, wheat, corn)
5 table spoons oil (nut oil, jasmin oil or in this case your liquid sheabutter with the gum benzoin)
20 drops of perfume oil (you can omit this if your sheabutter smells really really good ;D)
1 tea spoon honey (or powdered sugar)

You can also add dried petals or food coloring if you like :) Just think about what you always wanted in a bath bomb and just.. MAKE IT :D

Mix the dry ingredients, then add the rest, mix well to get a rather dry "dough".
Fill into small molds or shape using your hands. Let them harden (in the fridge if you like) and after that they should be left alone for a week to dry throroughly.

I hope you have fun :D

New toys!

2011-05-31T18:02:00.000+02:00

Combs by Wingham Wool Work

high quality, impeccable craftmanship — well worth it.

My english wool combs are here! And I am addicted.
You never have touched something "smooth" before you haven't had some hand combed wool! I am...I mean... just LOOK at these delightful, little nests!

I've been doing this the past 48 hours... when I wasn't sleeping or sitting in a lecture. I even wake up after 4 or 5 hours of sleep just because I'm so excite to get combing again, haha :D

Combing only starts to get sexy with staple lengths above 8 inches... the pomeranian fleeces in my basement have 10-12 inches which is... awr...!

(I actually shouldn't have bought them just now, but I've been drooling over them for so long. And my hands are sore from combing with normal dog combs ><)

Can't sleep...

2011-05-30T01:39:00.000+02:00

So I'm showing you my weekend picnic hairdo. Which I love. Can't get enough of retro hairstyles!

Feel free to head over to Casey's Elegant Musings for a very inspiring video tutorial.

If I had the willpower to get up one hour earlier, I'd wear this look everyday.

Currently listening to: J.S. Bach's Goldberg Variations via Mathematical Poetics

Work in Progress

2011-05-22T10:53:00.000+02:00

I have so many unfinished project and one by one, I try to finish them all, so I can start new projects (and feel good about it, because the amount of UFO's doesn't go up).

This is a embroidered and beaded cape with lots of handstitching and vintage crochet doilies. I think this would be great for a wedding outfit! Let's hope I get it done soon :D

Robbing Roses — Make your own perfume

2011-05-20T19:27:00.002+02:00

Hey there!

I just thought I'd post someting useful again, instead of personal rants... I am currently busy (actually, it just sits there with me doing nothing) with something called an "enfleurage" which means capturing the scent of flowers in some kind of fat for later use as a perfume.

I'm actually not so fond of roses (the fancy schmancy babypink old lady garden variety, that is...) yet the previous owner of my garden left me with about 25 bushes. After giving half of them to my mother I'm now stuck with an insane amount of pink roses. And yellow ones. Not really a fan of yellow, either. But after I got some rose scented bath bombs from my mom, I thought: Hm. Bath bombs. You have been making those yourself a while back. Why not make a batch again. Roses don't smell so bad. But Lavender is way cooler. Hm, I need perfume oil for these... wait, I HAVE roses (and lavender!) in my garden. Why don't make perfume oil yourself? Ha! Wait, there was this book where the guy kills 13 redheaded virgins for perfume, what was this thing called again...? But I digress :D

It's called an ENFLEURAGE and it's pretty easy actually, so I'll share :)

materials needed:

desodorized/refined fat — it's important that it smells as neutral as possible (I used refined sheabutter, but coco(a)butter would be an alternative. Animal fat can be used as well, but why kill animals for that?)
a flat tray/plate and a plate of glass of the same size (or plastic wrap if you don't have a glass plate)
flowers (this "cold" enfleurage is perfect for fragile scents like roses, tuberoses, hyacinthes or citrus peels but you can basically just experiment. Just don't start killing virgins :D)
gum benzoin solution (it's a fragrant resin that helps to stabilize the perfume)

First, melt enough fat to cover the tray/plate. Let it cool and harden.

You might want to make sure that there's no excess moisture (from rain or dew) or huge bugs on your flowers (water and icky stuff can make your fat go bad faster), it's best to get them after a dry sunny day if possible.

Place the flowers on the plate, facing down, then cover with the glass, a matching second plate or plastic wrap. After 2 days or so you exchange the old flowers for new ones and keep going until the fat has taken on enough of the scent to make you happy (about 2 weeks or more).

I'm currently 3 days into my experiment so I don't have pictures of the further treatment, but basically there are 2 ways to go from here ("here" meaning your finished scented sheabutter). First, use the sheabutter as an ingredient itself, like adding it to creams or bath bombs or even using it "as is" for helping with dry skin on elbows and hands.

Or second, extract the fragrant oils from the fat using 60% alcohol. For this, fill half of a dark glass bottle with the fat (chopped in small pieces), then add alcohol and let it sit in a dark place for 8-12 weeks (gently swing once a day). After that, pour it through a cloth into a suitable bottle (dark is best) and add a few drops of gum benzoin solution to stabilize the scent and then have fun with it.

Hope you like it and enoy making oyur own perfume!

As soon as lavender bloom is upon us, I'll tell you all about the "hot" enfleurage, of course!

Almost forgot to tell you about my new dress

2011-05-16T22:22:00.000+02:00

I LOVED the #6001 Susan blouse pattern from BurdaStyle from the moment I saw it. First, I made a blouse (after tweaking the fit quite a bit, for a more feminine silhouette) and immediately after that I knew there had to be a dress. You can make your own dress if you like, I've written up the pattern changes for you (simply click on "instructions" on this page).

After some highly stressful uni-weeks, I finally got around to finish it. First I wanted to line it, but then I decided to make just the chiffon layer and wear a slip underneath (which I still have to make/obtain, arrrgh). I think it looks kinda 20ies.

On an unrelated sidenote: I've taken up knitting again. Once a year, I get the courage to actually start a knitting project with the genuine intent of finishing it. If this happens, it more often than not will be a shawl. And I might just frog it again. For the second time. But I can't finish things that have a minor imperfection, even more so if it's a mathematical problem. My shawl's growth rate is not right. First too small, now too big, ARGH! Will fix this.

First jelly of the year.

2011-05-16T22:10:00.000+02:00

Even stole the idea of adding some elder blossoms from one of my last year's swap partners :P

Elder blossoming early this year, so I already have cooked the first batch of elder jelly. YUM!

If you want to make your own, check out my basic elder jelly recipe and then maybe have a look at the version with lemons, ginger and cinnamon (which I made yesterday, I love it!)

Oh and also, I ate the first strawberres from my garden this weekend <3

I'm such a Hippie.

2011-05-11T22:34:00.000+02:00

Not only have I completed my journey from raising sheep, to washing, combing, spinning fiber (I skipped the shearing, though... but maybe I'll have the chance to learn it somewhen) and then weaving, crocheting, knitting, sewing wearable stuff, now I'll also start making my own perfume oils.

I thought about making bath bombs myself (because I LOVE baths, especially when awesome bubbly things are involved) and while researching recipes & ingredients it came to me that I could also DIY the scented oils for these! I have loads of roses and lavender in my garden (actually not that much of a rose person, but hey, after giving half of them to my mom there still so many left and why not make something useful with them that will last?) and from what I've read, enfleurage (=getting the smell stuffs out of flowers) should not be that difficult. I'll use sheabutter to absorb the scent and if it works out, I'll scent my bathbombs with homegrown, homemade lavender and rose butter. And give some scented body butter to important people in my life. Or something like that.

I don't know if you know how much I get off on doing stuff myself, haha :D

BTW, this year will be jam cooking heaven (I've seen the first pinkish hues on my strawberries and the currant bushes are loaded with berries waiting to turn red and black and white) and some garden-grown veggies, if the snails leave anything for me. I should get you an up to date garden report somewhen...

Oh and after one year of abstinence, I've taken up baking again. This time gluten free. Whee! As soon as I've worked out the perfect mixture, I'll share, of course!

OMG. Boheme Sauvage.

2011-05-09T23:55:00.001+02:00

Me and Alex

I won't say much (too much input, too many gorgeous people, too much awesomeness to put into words), and instead just ...

Fun fact: due to a fortunate chain of events, I ended up on te official guest list and practically was one of the first people to enter the location. Being able to skip the line feels so... decadent. Awr.

I hoped to meet some of my online friends there but in the end most of them couldn't make it, aww. But I met loads of other fascinating and beautiful people and dear lord, I have to be there again in September.

Taking pictures was discouraged as they hired a professional photographer to capture the evening. Nobody wants thousands of crappy cams flashing and destroying the mood. When the official pictures are up on their site, I'll let you know ;)

I hope there'll be some where I can show you my feather-headband concoction that I somehow put together the night before. It turned out pretty awesome and I got a lot of compliments for it :3

You know what's fascinating? How my great-grandfathers 100 year old cutaway suit doesn't smell bad at all after such a night (I was in total horror all the time not to ruin it...). Wool fabric really is awesomely smell and dirt resistant. It just smells like... all the good stuff of the evening (Absinthe, Champagne and beautiful people) and none of the icky things (sweat, smoke, train stations). Amazing.

Oh and despite the comfy guy shoes, I'm missing a coin-sized piece of flesh on my feet from dancing Charleston all night. I still can't wear normal shoes, haha :D

Better view of my makeup.
I've learned to love my old-fashoned face.

Somehow I managed to cram my waist-long hair into a befitting, yet freestyle-ish 20ies hairstyle

I have a soft spot for paper cuts

2011-04-30T23:21:00.002+02:00

The Ice Book (HD) from Davy and Kristin McGuire on Vimeo.

Remember the other paper art video?

OMG, guy shoes are so comfortable!

2011-04-30T22:29:00.000+02:00

I needed proper shoes for my Boheme Sauvage Dandy outfit (I have enough non-hideable curves, so I won't need feminine footwear to keep things balanced ;D) and by now this is the only thing that I've spent money on for this event. I saw some nice, all-leather shoes for 40% off so I just grabbed them. And my, my, are they comfy. I wonder why girl shoes can't be comfy too.

I have problems finding shoes in my size, as size 42/43 rarely is available for women (nice shoes, that is...) and with men's shoes it's the opposite... I wear men's size 41 which is harder to find because now, I'm on the lower end of the scale. Jeez. I might get the same shoes in brown leather, and never wear anything else. I really fell in love... so comfy. And old-fashioned <3

Also, grandpa's pants are insanely awesome and fit like a glove. Defnitely need to copy them.

Boheme Sauvage is almost upon us!

2011-04-30T00:12:00.000+02:00

via Boheme Sauvage.de

I am totally excited and busy composing an outfit with a zero time and zero money budget, ack! My great-grandpas wardrobe helps a lot, though. It seems we have almost exactly the same size :D

To all readers within driving distance of Cologne: Who will be there? Who wants to meet up? I'd be delighted to see some of you there!

For more info click on the image or go here.

AFK.

2011-04-16T01:19:00.000+02:00

Hey Sweet Pies!

Math lectures have started again and I rarely find the time to write anything extensive for my blog between all the homework, some commissions and essential things like breathing, eating and such. I hope there'll be more time in May :)

I rediscovered twitter though, for more condensed announcements (lots of personal rants, though...). Check it out to see what I'm up to (80% German).

The Crimson Petal and the White

2011-04-09T21:31:00.002+02:00

I am intrigued. I just watched the first episode and it was all worth it for the costumes alone — yet the story is promising as well. I can just recommend you watch it :)

The Crimson Petal and the White is a book by Michael Faber about a self-educated prostitute in victorian london, and I might even read it (I RARELY read books. Like one a year or so.)

via Clockworker

###

Ah, btw (since we're talking movies already) — I watched "Sucker Punch" last tuesday and I'll try to give my opinion without spoiling the experience:

From Minute one, the soundtrack was an instant, unsurpassed, fuck-yeah-favourite (I MEAN IT!)! The first 4 songs were 4 favourite songs of mine, so... and the whole rest is great, too!
The movie itself felt like... "Eh, ... what? Hmm, kay, hope this gets better :/" at the beginning and turned into "Hmmm.... kay... barely 0.o" towards the end. I was expecting far more from it. Oh and the whole movie kinda looked like a fantasy computer game, rather than a normal movie. It's not essentially a bad thing, just very... game-like. All about girls and guns and stuff that blows up and less effort to really develop some kind of ... depth. Oh and, the whole pseudophilosophical drivel really got on my nerves. If your movie focuses on explosions and half-nekkid girls — don't try and go all Socrates on me. Good Lord.
After watching, I finally got why they named it "Sucker Punch": it's not anything IN the movie, it's the movie itself that's the mean, unexpected move. You'll know what I mean.

ParaNoire interview and giveaway

2011-04-08T15:37:00.000+02:00

Please have a look at my latest interview over at "To sew with love"! (and get your chance to win a 15€/20$ gift coupon for my etsy store :D)

Hope you enjoy it :)

2011-04-08T01:39:00.001+02:00

Johanna Blakely: Lessons from fashion's free culture

Worth watching :)

will swap yarn for stuff

2011-04-07T21:33:00.000+02:00

Hey there!
I've spun the remaining bits of my new blouse's chiffon fabric into fabric yarn and will gladly swap it for some useful stuff. Currently I could use some shiny new steel pins (those with the glass blobs at the top) or... vintage buttons/notions/stuffs.

It's very soft and will look great as a neck-thing, choker, wristwarmer or something else that's not too big. Plied with thread for extra stability, 33m / 44g skein.

If you're interested in a swap, just send me an email to info //at// paranoire-design //dot// com.

If you want to make your own fabric scrap yarn, check out my tutorial :)

I'm in love with myself today :3

2011-03-29T12:06:00.003+02:00

wardrobe porn

2011-03-28T15:19:00.000+02:00

Okay I knew I'd love this blouse, but... awr. So sexey. Sewing-wise, of course! Full of french seams inside and handstitched yoke lining and all. RAWR.

If I could, I'd go and marry myself right now.

Took me anywhere between 8 and 10 hours, with all the ridiculous handstitching. But so worth it. I will definitely make a dress with this pattern as soon as I've decided whether to line the sheer parts (an with what fabric) or to sew separate slip dresses for wearing underneath.

And new victims already!

2011-03-27T12:08:00.003+02:00

Guess what, I'm sewing something for myself again (this year seems to be the one that I catch up with all my personal projects. I haven't been sewing much for myself in years!).

I liked the BurdaStyle Susan blouse form the beginning (mainly because of the awesome yoke and the satin/batiste combination... I LOVE shiny & sheer!), but to be completely to my liking I had to change some details. I made the pattern longer and fluffier and added a sash to the waist instead of attaching it to the hip (curvy self feels the need to show off waist — I'm not exactly the type for boxy, unfitted midsections :D)

Might actually become a sew-along project, again, hehe.

I'll be using the patterned green chiffon I bought recently for the body, some heavy linen for the yoke and the cute floral patterned cotton from the fabric haul to line the yoke pieces. We want to look neat inside and outside, don't we?

If this turns out nice, I'll make a dress with this pattern using the navy blue satin and chiffon I also bought, hehe :D

EDIT: That's how far I've come today. This blouse is a trickyone, but it'll all be great in the end, I'm feeling it :D I might have to re-attach the belt a bit higher and maybe make it longer (my dress form is a size 34/36 and I barely was able to make a bow. Awr! But I had a nifty idea for the belt, anyway, after I had already attached it. So maybe it'll all be okay and fate just wants me follow this particular idea. Also I had to change my previous flutter sleeve plan (I'll be making full length sleeves, simply because the pattern fit so well onto the fabric (thought I had less) and I couldn't get myself to waste any fabric (what should I do with 2 sleeves worth of chiffon, anyway!)). I've spent the better part of the day invisibly handstitching the lining fabric for the yoke (that you can see on the bow) to the seam allowances on the inside. With my new belt variation, I'd be able to wear the blouse inside out, too! OMG!

Plus, it will have 3 different kinds of ivory nut buttons on it and what's not to love about that!?

UNFINISHED!

What I've been up to

2011-03-25T19:36:00.002+01:00

Sewing black velvet ANOUSCHKA capelets!

I adooooore them :)

My new bedroom trees make for awesome photo props, didn't I tell you? :P

new ebay auctions :3

2011-03-23T21:56:00.000+01:00

Enjoy ;D

New Ebay auctions starting today 20:30 GMT+1!

Ha!

2011-03-21T00:06:00.004+01:00

First project in progress
It's amazing how much more awesome a small birch tree in your bedroom can make you feel. I am still waiting for my antique christmas tree stands, so I can move them around freely for the use as photo props, hehe :)

Gotta love the perigee!

2011-03-20T03:27:00.002+01:00

Moooooooooon.

Thank you Richard for giving me (like in "gift" or "present"!) your 400 mm lens ❤.

Sew-Along!

2011-03-19T22:03:00.005+01:00

Hey Maelis, come on! Let's show our skirts ;D

I'll just start and link to her version as soon as it's up :P

Maelis is a lovely blog reader and fellow seamstress contacted me a while ago about business stuffs and since then we've had a lot of fun :D So one day we stumbled upon the BurdaStyle Marie skirt and since it was still free we decided to just give it a go and make two versions of this skirt (I'm heavily de-stashing at the moment and sewing with a partner in crime is so much more fun!).

The creation that specifcally inspired me was this version by oranereuland with a big bow!

So I got out some old plain cotton that's been lingering around in my shelves for too long and started printing, cutting, altering etc. pp. In the end, I didn't make the bow (but maybe I'll make a removable bow later, but there are many sweet details :)

unplanned pleats and therefor improvised walking slits... and my secret inside pocket for smuggling stuffs like... buttons :D I love the button with the 3 holes!

exposed zipper!

And some more pictures with me (thanks to Charly for taking those!). Also, I finally got some pictures of me wearing my favourite (like in: wearing it everyday, any day) military jacket and the steampunk vest that I made aeons ago.

Actually, I wanted the back plain and the front pleated (I turned the pleats inside out), but it looks nice this way around, too :D Oh and the fabric is sooo prone to wrinkling, eww!

Yay, me being silly me. Did I mention I love my red hair?

Still have to stitch more lacing eyelets, arf.

Ahoj, doggy!

PS: By popular demand (ehemhem), the outtakes!
X3

Oh boy.
Left: Charly telling me something that I can't repeat in front of the class :P
Right: I have no idea what I did there but I had serious laughing fit when I saw the picture. And then again. And again. Haha. Too hilarious XD

My favourite tree is coming home with me

2011-03-19T21:19:00.001+01:00

Helping... paws. Not.

We had to cut down one of the birch trees in my parent's garden because it was dangerously close to the telephone wires which is 1 part sad and 2 parts awesome :D

Because now I have sufficient materials to pursue several long-awaited projects of mine.

First: My "Birch Forest" - hall makeover
I have a narrow, dark, uninspiring hall. I love nature. And birch trees. I will now decorate one wall of my hall floor to ceiling with birch "trees" (actually just really big branches) so it looks like a forest. As I announced earlier, I might grow oyster mushrooms there (in small plastic bags filled with straw, dangling from the cut branches... I would not dare to grow them directly in the wood that's touching my walls ;D)

the two on the right!

Second: Birch Decoration, part 2
When we cut down the tree I fell in love with two of the branches and now ordered two antique cast iron christmas tree stands and will later erect two full-size, ceiling touching mini birch trees in my bedroom. I hope the stands will work well, or else I might have to tweak them a bit by widening the base or someting like that, to keep them from tipping over.

Third: Mushroom stump for my garden
Although I still want to try the mushroom growing in my apartment maybe one or two batches, I think the great outdoors is better for mushrooms and as chance would have it, I got a lovely stump that I already drilled holes in to put in the oyster mushroom mycelium that I bought :D

Reminds me that I still need to paint my bedroom morning fog blue. And I need panelling. White, semi-shiny, with hooks.

Apple-Potato Pancakes (omnomnom)

2011-03-19T21:02:00.000+01:00

Finally!

I still have left some of last fall's apples and I have to use them up before they go bad. They are pretty wrinkly now after almost half a year in my cellar, but they still make for awesome for apple-potato pancakes!

What you need:

1 medium-large potato & 1 apple per person (if you want them as a side dish... for a whole meal, you can double/triple this) grated into a bowl. Actually, that's about it. Anything else is optional, depending on your preferences and what you have in your pantry. (If you — like me — have made lots of dried apple rings in autumn you could also use those for the pancakes, I think...)

optional:

I like to add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves (only the bubbly top part, not the stem!), honey (about 1 tbsp for a 4 potato / 4 apple mix, more if you like them sweeter) and a dash of salt (salt makes sweet things taste sweeter!)
You can add other veggies, carrots work fine for example (so sweet, nom!) or some raisins if you like them, or sunflower seeds or sesame seeds, or... .
You can add an egg (or starchy stuff of your choice if you're vegan) to the mix if the pancakes falling apart in the pan.

Heat oil in a pan and make little flat pancakes (about 1-2 tablespoons of the mixture for each), fry on medium setting until they have a golden brown crust on both sides. Nom.

Serve with (homemade) applesauce, jelly, jam or anyting else you might find appropriate (if you keep the mix plain without much sugar you can also eat them with spicy, savoury dips).

Enjoy :)

Note to self.

2011-03-17T23:12:00.001+01:00

Do NOT drink coffee. Especially not with milk in it.

It will spare you and all the other people a lot of pain in oh-so-many-places. And 8 hours of uselessness and recovery.

I'm having...

2011-03-17T06:38:00.000+01:00

... a bit of an orga(nisation)sm.

I've heard about it a while ago, but now that I finally gave it a try, I can say that —for me — EverNote is the perfect software for organizing everything from lecture notes to fashion inspiration, gardening tips or BurdaStyle sewing pattern downloads :D It even recognizes text in pictures and hand written notes!

And it's free! There is a premium version that lets you share notebooks with other people and upload more notes for multiple device online syncing for 45,- USD/year, and I might even go for that if it keeps on amazing me. But the free version is fully functional, too (with 60 MB upload limit and a small "Wanna go premium?" ad in the bottom left corner).

If you like, check it out!

And she keeps on sewing...

2011-03-14T16:05:00.000+01:00

Aside from my little sew-along project that I can't show you yet (still waiting for my sew-along partner ;D) I've been highly productive and it doesn't seem to be ending soon!

First of all, my new kitschy buggy. As I do not own a car (neither do I plan to ever own one in the near future for myriads of reasons), I do all my grocery shopping per pedes. But because schlepping home your groceries in bags is really not fun, I always wanted one of those granny wheeled shopping carts :D I even thought about buying one from IKEA for 15,- € but then again... I'm cheap and even if I bought one, I'd still have to do something about the hideous bag that comes with it. But as chance would have it, a friend of mine had a leftover frame — without the bag — that she gave me for free ❤.

So I've been stalking nice fabrics for the bag ever since and finally, last saturday I found THE perfect heavy canvas that would be perfect for my bag :D Long story short, I made a new, awesome, beautiful shopping bag and will be so happy when I finally can take it for a ride, hehe.

The materials:

1m linen canvas (7,- €) (I managed to use the whole piece of fabric, without a single leftover piece — awesome!) btw, I still have a piece of 85x140cm left that I don't need anymore, I think it will go up for auciton with my next ebay batch :D
4m heavy twill tape (4,- €)
a few eyelets, ribbon and wood/mother of pearl buttons (stash)
and... for the bottom reinforcement... one wooden IKEA cutting board XD

So for about the same amount of getting a new ugly plastic one, I got a refurbished, eco-friendly, utterly beautiful little buggy. Yay :D

Meant to be together, hahaha :D

Smaller updates:

I got some lace to decorate my favourite skirt's lining hem... LOVE it!

there's proof.

2011-03-12T17:30:00.000+01:00

It MOVES.

So incredibly funny (and only mildly disgusting :3)!

Yay for magnetic display closures, hehe. Maybe I'll take a clip of it spinning all the way around — 360° of the most decidedly awkward feeling ever :D

fabric shopping in the warm spring sun ❤

2011-03-12T16:31:00.003+01:00

120€ allowance, 115€ spent to achieve sufficient fabric and endorphine levels.

I feel very... ZEN.

Today I went fabric shopping with two friends of mine and I brought home quite the collection (my backpack filled up pretty much the same way my wallet got emptier. All money gone — no space for fabric left = perfect!)

Oddly enough, I got fabrics exclusively for myself this time (I usually get carried away by "Oh, hey this would be a perfect ParaNoire piece!"), because my wardrobe could need a a little facelift and new colors :) And I needed to do something for myself again for a long time now.

I have concise plans for some of the fabrics, others are only vaguely connected to a specific garment idea and a few (like the jacquard or the beige/black floral print were just "must-haves". The floral printed linen (left) will become my new shopping cart bag (I do have one of those old lady buggies :3), the blue dots in the upper right corner hopefully become a sweet summer dress, satin & chiffon = flowy tops, cream lace = delicate blouse, navy lace = top or panties :3.

Later today, I hopefully get around to upload a new recipe for you (it's got apples in it, who would've thunk!). Please be patient :)

Another announcement I will probably regret (if I don't manage to finish in time :P) is: I'm working on a skirt right now — for myself, very exciting :D When I make stuff for myself it's got a 50:50 chance to be either... "nah, rather not so much" or "will wear it every day from now on". I really hope for the latter because I totally love the design of this skirt. But I never know if I'll like it until it's finished. I'm so hard to please! *sigh*

PS: Most of you won't believe this, but what you see below is my active fabric stash (plus a few bed sheets and scrap fabric for muslins). I bet you thought I was hoarding bolts of fabric and miles of trims :P I always try to keep the shelves as empty as possible (by making lots of things), so I always have a clear idea what and how much I have. Plus, space is precious!

Secret project, revealed!

2011-03-08T12:39:00.004+01:00

Okay, the lucky friend has received his quasi-birthday present and I can now show you what I made for him :D

Everybody asks me to make guy clothes, for goodness sake, so I simply did. Yay :D

I think this style might be available for order, too!

It's a semi-fitted shirt made of black linen with standup collar, awesome silver metal buttons and a nifty loop on the placket (the possible uses of which have been subject of a heated debate :P). It looks neat in natural colored linen, too! (unfortunately I cannot show you pictures of this at the moment)

(Please welcome Gunther, my new old male dressform that I snatched from the Bunker — back from the times when adjustable dressforms were made of wood and weighed a ton and didn't fall apart after a few minutes like those plastic thingies do)

Spring Sale

2011-03-06T18:40:00.000+01:00

Because Febraury was more than awkward and I need something to take my mind off things: a spring sale!

20% off the entire shop

from Monday, 7th March through Sunday 13th March 2011

whohoo.

2011-03-05T23:32:00.002+01:00

Nifty! I always lose those tiny screws :P

Obviously, my tiny magnet really isn't capaple of killing magnetic drives (not that I'd ever suspect it to do such evil things) — I've just replaced my old tiny MacBook Pro hard drive with a big shiny new one and everything's working just fine. Just for all those people fretting about me getting close to their storage stuffs. Relax.

Cheers!

super secret sewing project, again.

2011-03-03T23:25:00.001+01:00

Another one this time. Can't wait to tell you all about it, but for now you'll have to wait. Just a few more days! In the meantime, check out my laserprint transfer tutorial — you can get any image onto any surface with this method. Almost.

Planned obsolescence

2011-03-03T02:56:00.000+01:00

Unfortunately, German only! A documentary about built-in obsolescence in products (the reason why all of your things and gadgets seem to die within days after warranty has expired). Truly enraging for me! I just can't stand today's throw-away lifestyle. Which is why I will live happily ever after in my garden, growing my own veggies, making most I need myself and spending as little money as possible on stuffs.

Go here for part 2, 3, 4 and 5.

Selling one of my Kimonos

2011-02-26T19:31:00.001+01:00

I love this kimono, I really do!
But it's just the "one too many" in my collection, so I will auction it on ebay and hope it will find a happy new owner :)

If you feel like adding a real vintage silk kimono to your wardrobe (I ship worldwide ;)), go here for the auction! (It will be up around 8 pm today!)

ParaNoire, printed.

2011-02-25T17:55:00.000+01:00

If I'm not mistaken this should be the Hochzeitsmagazin Hera article

Some of you might remember last year's wedding dress project :) Finally, I could get a hold of the magazine articles who featured the wedding dress I made, thanks to the lovely bride! Simply click on the picture to read the whole article (it's written in german, and contains some fancy details on my chaotic dressmaking methods — like Unperfekthaus meetings and finishing touches with the bride on my kitchen table *laughs*)

I already got the article that is to be published in Braut & Bräutigam, but I don't know if I can share it yet, as the magazine itself won't be available until after the 5th April 2011. I'll keep you posted ;)

good things come to those who wait.

2011-02-25T17:22:00.002+01:00

I never thought I'd actually finish this blouse, but now, after three years I finally got around to it (I started it back in Hamburg (2008) when I found a discarded dove blue silk sheet in the hall of my apartment building... call me a scavenger but I love recycling things! Especially when it's pure silk crêpe bedding — add a little ivory silk organza scraps and vintage buttons et voilá! I lived in an obscenely rich Alster-neighbourhood where people — if they deigned to let their discarded stuffs lay around at all — got rid of things on the nice and nicer end of the scale.).

There were lots of difficulties and accidents that kept my motivation constantly low, for example I made the button holes in the back too big (stitched them halfway shut again in the end...) for the gorgeous vintage teardrop mother of pearl buttons (I have learned that it's actually enough if you make the button hole large enough for the narrow side of the buttons... should work for ovals, too!), then I sewed one sleeve inside out which killed my mood in a way that I tucked the whole project away for more than a year again *sigh* and maybe some other things that I have already made myself forget.

Nevertheless! It's finished — and it actually took way less time to finish it than I thought from all the pains that I got from thinking about finishing it.

ack, it's getting dark already, so please excuse the crappy pic.

The pattern is a variation of the #6018 Jennifer blouse from burdastyle (one of the free, open source patterns from back in the old days). The altered cuffs and untrimmed bib are results of my in-process laziness that I always manage to disguise as fancy, avantgarde-ish design elements ;D

I might be in the mood for a new pet :D

2011-02-24T23:17:00.003+01:00

First I was thinking: Angora bunnies! They could munch on the weeds in my garden and keep the lawn short (and on top of that give fiber for spinning!). But then I considered the amount of time and effort and money needed for care (and I want to care properly for my pets!) and decided bunnies might not be the right choice at the moment.

But then I saw this!

Achatina Achatina - the giant african snail

(actually, it might be a different genus in the picture but who'll quibble about details!)

My friend Charly with her new friend... who inspired me, pet-wise :D

photographer: Don K

What a fricken awesomeness of a pet is this?! Normally, I'm positively freaked out by snails (especially the gross, fat, shell-less buggers that creep around in my garden and eat away my veggies), but these giants (up to 1 ft long and weighing 1 lb, omg) make for so refreshingly eccentric pets that I'd even overcome my snail-o-phobia and get myself to touch them. I heard they like showers, so maybe I'll take them with me, haha :P

Plus, they can also munch leftover garden stuffs, like the bunnies :P

Things I buy to make myself happy ❤

2011-02-23T20:24:00.002+01:00

I bought this little gem on etsy a whle ago, because I couldn't resist. Who can resist antique victorian silk and lace capelets? Black ones? (It's actually the first "really old" garment I ever bought :D)

It's a bit too delicate (fraying silk!) to seriously consider wearing it, but I think I will reverse engineer this gorgeous thing and probably share my findings with you if I ever get around to it. So you could make your own (it's fairly easy, actually, from my first look at it, it's two 1/3 circles with a collar and lace fringe and a lovely multiple-pleat silk ribbon trim). I myself might have to start making those :D

I love old things!

gah.

2011-02-21T17:30:00.001+01:00

Remember how I was so excited about old friends visting me throughout February? Well, guess what... every single one of them (about 6 - 8 individuals) canceled a few days before their planned stay or couldn't make it. So I spent the whole February doing nothing but preparing stuff for people who didn't show up after all. It's not that I'm saying that it's their fault, yet the situation feels hilariously crappy from where I'm standing. A series of unfortunate events, indeed.

On top of that, my !)/!%$!§!§ neighbours upstairs just HAVE to hear their shitty music on the loudest setting imaginable right now and I'm in no mood to go up there and wreak havoc again.

who's up for boheme sauvage in may?

2011-02-18T21:33:00.000+01:00

Hey you!

I'll be attending the Boheme Sauvage in Cologne (7th May 2011) and will bring with me an exquisite selection of my dearest friends, all dressed up in (mostly :P) ParaNoire clothes.

So if you fancy a burlesque-vaudevillian night out, let's meet there and have fun!

customer photo shoot

2011-02-18T21:25:00.002+01:00

Kira wearing her urban pirate re-fashioned vest made of an old pair of pants

Please say hello to the wonderful Kira who visited me to photograph her ever-growing collection of ParaNoire garments :) There are more pictures where that came from and I'll upload them as soon as they've been edited.

By the way, this has been my first attempt at a 20s/30s hairstyle and without real preparation it went rather well :P
I love improvising!

Kira and her VERONIQUE skirt in brown

success!

2011-02-18T21:21:00.000+01:00

Last tuesday in the bunker catacombs, we cleared out a room with loads of sewing stuffs and I snatched this vintage male dress form (adjustable!). HAR!

Just one more reason to make more garments for gentlemen!

omg, i laughed so hard!

2011-02-16T22:25:00.000+01:00

via Clockworker

I REALLY like my outfit today.

2011-02-12T16:22:00.001+01:00

Nevermind the (disguised) clutter in the background, I've got tons of stuff to get rid of!
Also, I think my wardrobe 2011 will consist of this skirt (I've had it for five years now, but it wasn't until a few weeks ago that I started wearing it regularly - that means: every day, except for laundry night), my favourite dress, and loads of old-fashioned, pintucked, frilly-or-not blouses. Casual Steampunk, in a way.

Oh and I'm wearing my favourite jewelry at the moment: these etsy finds. It was a hard decision between the watch necklace and the... watch nacklace XD.

Aha-Momente.

2011-02-12T14:13:00.002+01:00

Das Apfelmus mit Zimt hält sich viel besser als das ohne. Könnte dran liegen, dass Zimt (neben Gewürznelken, Salbei oder Knoblauch zum Beispiel) antimikrobiell wirkt. Was mich jetzt natürlich ärgert, ist, dass ich etwa 80% meiner Vorräte ohne Zimt gekocht habe und eine dementsprechend hohe Ausfallquote irgendwie. Naja. Für nächstes Mal. Ich mag ja Zimt sowieso total unheimlich gerne.

ehem.

2011-02-10T17:24:00.000+01:00

It's a cute jacket. Size 34.

It's black, it's military style, it's good as new. If I weren't a 44, I'd wear it on the spot!

Auctions are here.
(ca. 20:00 GMT+1 today)

(Currently I'm selling some stuff for a friend of mine so she can pay her cat's vet bills. She just moved and doesn't have time (nor internet connection, argh) to do it :3)

ParaNoire Valentine's Day Sale! 28% off all items!

2011-02-07T09:40:00.003+01:00

The title says it all... go here, have fun ;D

Oh and be sure to use your 10% BLOGLOVE coupon on checkout as well ;D

OMG. Exams.

2011-02-04T21:26:00.001+01:00

Okay... First of all. I finally found out how to get through to my results in my first math exam. My gut said: Either it's 2.7 or fail. (I actually had a good feeling, albeit the lack of preparation — I'm sure you remember the procrastination reports :P — until of course they told us that half the people failed.) It's actually just one grade below my projection, and 3.0 ( = C) in analysis is way more than I ever felt I could hope for. I'm so relieved.

Also funny: the examiner for my anatomy exam awarded me with a 2.0 ( = B) because I "obviously" had been "well prepared" for my exam. I think you can imagine how well prepared I was :P I was eyeing for a 2.7 but mostly because I knew that I didn't study at all and also only went to half of the lectures (I knew lot's of the anatomy stuff back from when I had a serious drawing period. And I'm good with latin, I think that might have made an impression :P) and he caught me off guard with some heart and gut questions that were hard to answer.

OMG.
No more exams. Lovely.

magnetic rants

2011-02-04T00:52:00.001+01:00

Okay I'm swamping the other post with magnet trivia, so I'm going to dissect it and put the mod stuff in a separate post. So you can choose to enjoy magnet. Or enjoy non-magnet as you desire. Yay.

Also, considering that some of might not really be up to seeing half-healed body parts, I will just link to the pictures. Click if you're interested, otherwise don't. They're not that gruesome, though, don't worry :P

Old post...
... speaking of magnetic. We're healing well, but I'm a bit suspicious about my magnet's movements lately, as it wanders towards the cut more and more... So I put a small neodymium magnet on the opposite site of my finger to hold it in place and hopefully keep it from rejecting until it's fully healed.

Another amusing fact: my helper magnet (not the teensy one) is occasionally putting my notebook to sleep :D MacBooks seem to have a magnetic detector that would otherwise react to my aforementioned strong display closing magnets, but now also picks up my correctional finger magnet. Imagine how I almost crapped my pants when my notebook stalled and then the screen went black when I put my finger on that spot accidentally. For one brief moment, I really did think I killed it. Dear Lord. I've never had these issues with only the small magnet in my finger, it's the big one that's activating sleep mode. But I'm more careful and less scared now.

And a random thought: I think there might be another strong magnet somewhere underneath (the left side of) my keyboard (hard disk?!), at least my finger reacted funky all from the beginning when I started typing after the procedure. Somehow I think my constant, daily typing might have contributed to my magnet's ever so slight shifting. At first, I just thought it was the healing process that felt awkward but now, also the big magnet seems to react to something. Okay I know it's all metal and magnets down there, but it's really weird to actually FEEL it.

General usefulness: Today I had my first little magnet assignment, when I sat down to work on the secret sewing project that I had put on hold for a while. Although the bigger magnet snatched a lot of those pesky little pins, the small one in my fingertip also gave his best to be useful. It's so great to have a place to stash all those pins when sewing. And they just magically end up there, no need for picking them up! :D

And no, they don't prick my finger – they just cling to my fingertip lengthwise, no matter how I try to pick them up (would be dangerous if they were pricking, because they might damage the silicone coating of my magnet if they got really deep and thus causing the shield to break and the magnet to be dissolved by my body's self defense system. Nasty business, indeed, with the infection and probably heavy metal poisoning. Would have to have it removed in that case (awwww, no!). Did I mention that anaesthetics tend to work poorly on inflammated tissue? I once had such an experience. The numbing effect in that case converges to zero, let me tell you. And fingertips would be all the more painful. Let's just not think about it... not now).

Also, I suddenly feel the need for adding way more bodymods. The thing is to find out cool ones that are inobtrusive (or what I find inobtrusive, for that matter) and either incredibly decorative or useful. Preferably both. I might just have started out on a spree of body modifications :D I knew this would happen if I dared to start this whole thing. Especially when starting with putting something under my sliced up skin. Can't ... resist ... the urge... ARRR.

Things to come...

2011-02-03T19:46:00.004+01:00

I will have my last exam tomorrow (anatomy) — I seriously hope that I'll get through without preparation :P Math exam went okay... at least I thought so until I heard today that almost every other student didn't pass. Still don't have the results, and I'm really anxious to know if I made it.

Other things you should be prepared for in February...

... I'm going to build a daylight lamp thingy for my dark mushroom corridor out of an old window (120 yrs or more, with sweet brass hardware ❤), plexi glass and some kind of fancy light bulb or another... It's supposed to look like a real window (maybe I'll even crochet some kitschy filet lace curtains, hehe), except it's the wall adjacent to my bathroom :P I'm definitely digging my tech savvy buddies. Maybe I can somehow build in an magnetic switch for you know what...

... speaking of magnetic. We're healing well, but I'm a bit suspicious about my magnet's movements lately, as it wanders towards the cut more and more... So I put a small neodymium magnet on the opposite site of my finger to hold it in place and hopefully keep it from rejecting until it's fully healed.

... I need to complete my home cinema setup (still needs sound and beamer and dramatic curtains), and somehow source a substantial amount of cash for this purpose :P While I'm at it: I need a grammophone, too!

... I'll be working on new designs and FANCY garment ideas daily, as I'll be enjoying 2 months of lecture free time. I also hope to be able to blog more useful tutorials on pattern making, craft stuff and whatever you feel is missing (tell me in the comment section!). Especially noteworthy: I'll take on making corsets again! I haven't for quite some time, but now... I really have to catch up :P

... shop wise, there will be a 1-week Valentine's day sale from 7th through 14th February, with a whopping 28 (14x2... get it?) percent discount! All promotional codes (like the 10% BLOGLOVE coupon for my blog readers) also apply. Go figure!

... Other than that I'm looking forward to entertaining a lot of old friends from way back home and hopefully having a great time :)

OMG, featured in Etsy Finds!

2011-01-28T18:52:00.000+01:00

I don't know how many of you guys subscribed to the Etsy Finds Newsletter, but today, I was pretty excited to discover my ANOUSCHKA Velvet Cape in it. How wonderful :)

right bottom corner ❤

interesting...

2011-01-26T23:03:00.001+01:00

"The inverse power of praise."

... I've always been told I was oh so smart. And always hated it. Now I know why :D
Might be a reason for my incredible dislike for studying when I have to.

please tell me I'm not alone...

2011-01-26T13:13:00.004+01:00

... or am I the only person who — 3 days before the final exams — spends 5 hours sorting, ironing, storing away trims and lace and fabric instead of doing homework, studying etc. ?! If there's such a thing as procrastination, I'm the personification of this principle. Always do the right things at the wrong time.. and never get done with anything. Jeez.

I think, if exams didn't exist, my bookshelves would never get cleared out, cleaned and rearranged by topic, size and colour, my drawers never re-organized and clothing never be ironed. Maybe it's a secret organizational feature built-in by mother nature herself, haha :D

Procrastination report

sorted, ironed, stored away lace, ribbons, trims (still working on the fabric pile)
re-arranged bookshelves (by topic, size, color, you name it)
untangled a mess of half a mile (! — I kid you not.) endless black zipper and re-wound it on cardboard (about 3 kg zipper!)
wrote procrastination report.
ordered identical, sturdy, black plastic folders to organize lecture notes (I always want my organizational stuffs to be uniform and durable — and black plastic folders (haven't had so much luck with the paper ones although I know they're more eco-friendly — but they succumb to my brutal and reckless handling within mere weeks! And if there's one thing I can't stand it's ratty, torn folder edges. I'm anal about my way of organizing things.)
transferred the shelve-chaos downwards to create floor-chaos.
spent my homework hours reading my most favourite book-things (Gail Carriger's Soulless, Changeless, Blameless, while listening to a mixture of Edith Piaf, Jill Tracy (try "Diabolical Streak") and Hannah Fury (try "Girl's that glitter love the dark") for the first book and Cell's "Phonic Peace" album for the second. Let's see what musical inspiration the third book woll evoke (can't wait to get my hands on the new (4th and 5th?) books!)). I should point out that I don't read recreational literature. At all. Simply too exhausting with all the fancy letter-colours (google: synaesthesia) and most novels simply don't manage to focus my squirrelish mind's attention long enough to finish reading them. But this is so very amusing, as close to my own personal humor as it gets. I truly have to thank the friend of mine who allegedly recommended it to me months (a year?!) ago, yet my ignorance towards books (with stories instead of diagrams in them) prevented me from checking it out. What horrid mistake! :D He got me the first book for my birthday, the good man (because he thinks I'm a bit like the main character... curvy, eccentric and stubborn... might be true, after all.), and now I'm hooked and eagerly waiting for the 4th boook to come out in june. *sigh*
updated procrastination report.

at least I'm getting some things done, instead of sitting in front of my computer (only :P)

A new treasury for you!

2011-01-25T18:50:00.000+01:00

Aren't you steampunk lovers not tired of cogs and wheels and shiny brass, too? I am. I like my jewelry kinda scruffy :D

Enjoy!

I seem to keep buying things...

2011-01-25T14:24:00.000+01:00

Lately, I've developed a rather straightforward "if you adore (that means: omg i love it so much that it makes my heart ache!) it and can't make it yourself unless spending significantly more money and time than those sellers did... BUY IT!" attitude.I don't know if that's good for my wallet, but it is for my soul. At least I try and keep a balance by selling stuff that I no longer need.

Shortly after receiving my most recent etsy order, I couldn't resist these gems. I have a knack for huge, chunky, ornamental, black earrings. For earrings in general, actually, but those in particular. They are made of horn (I love horn!) and mother of pearl (I love mother of pearl!!). I hope the will fit my ears :D

If you fell in love as well, here's the etsy shop where I got them:

sanfranblissco

My kimonos have arrived!

2011-01-25T10:53:00.002+01:00

This morning I went to get my imported kimonos from japan (from www.ichiroya.com) out of customs. I bought one (actually only part of it) for a friend as a birthday and christmas and easter and every other holiday of this year gift. Isn't it adorable?! And it cost about as much as the three other ones together >< But it was such a great fit for her, I couldn't resist :D

Pure silk, insanely soft and with cute trees :D

And the lining!

And here are mine... I instantly fell in love with the first two when I unpacked them, yet the third one I ordered didn't really warm my heart. It's not that it isn't a great garment, I really like the color and pattern, but... you know... I don't feel it! Not the way I feel the other two :D So I might be selling it again.

LOVE the pattern and the silky fabric (if I remember it right, it's a silk/synthetic blend, but it feels awesome). It has bright red silk sleeve lining!

Also lovely — subdued, slightly shiny ramie fabric. I think that one will be great for summer.

And the third one...

It is made from a tightly woven, slightly thicker silk that is printed (or woven?) with rural scenes. I really like the green color and the print, but I'm somehow more drawn to the lightweight, drapey kimonos, thus I'm going to sell it to someone who is more into it :)

It is a second hand Tsumugi kimono, probably from Osaka, tagged by the seller as "quite old", whatever this means, condition is very good (it only has a slight discoloration on the inside of the shoulder lining). The sleeve to sleeve length is 129cm, the length from shoulder to hem is 149cm, the back width is 62cm, the around hip measurement is 114cm. Kimonos can always be worn folded to accomodate for a smaller/thinner figure. This kimono comes without an obi.

I will sell it for 50 EUR plus shipping to whereever you live (I will ship worldwide!). Please mail me or comment if you're interested!

I just had the most interesting idea...

2011-01-24T21:26:00.000+01:00

what if my magnetic implant and the sensory output I get from it also triggers a synaesthetic reaction?! I already see letters & numbers in color and also tend to hear colors and textures... there's also a slight haptic synaesthesia... I wonder if this will get stronger, stay the same or trigger an entirely new sensory experience.

Oh my, the possibilities!

Sucker Punch.

2011-01-24T19:50:00.000+01:00

So gonna watch this. I hope the movie is as good as the trailer is promising. And I hope the german dubbing won't hurt my brain that much (I always inadvertently read lips when I watch dubbed movies and it creeps up and down my spine when lips and audio don't match). I've been excited about this movie for months now, and I'll probably watch it right when in comes to the theatres, March 31st, 2011 :)

not for the faint of heart.

2011-01-22T16:53:00.010+01:00

Up until now, my favourite (and most expensive) pincushion...

A few posts ago, I announced my new plaything that I got yesterday. At only a tenth of the price of a new MacBook Pro, it's still the far cooler and more practical way to pick up pins and needles in the studio. If you are fond of eccentricities like I am.

If you are a bit squeamish, this is probably not for you :D

you can still go back...

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not anymore, haha.

I got myself a magnetic implant! That's a tiny 2x1 mm, silicon-coated neodymium magnet in my fingertip that is supposed to do useful stuff when it's completely healed. Main tasks will be plucking pins and needles from the studio floor (as I always seem to prick myself in nasty spots, like under the fingernail of all places). And freaking people out of course. But mainly, it's a semi-practical, semi-permanent, amousing little sensory extension :3

This is my first bodymod ever, I haven't even got a tattoo or let alone piercings (firstly, I got a pretty serious syringe-o-phobia (imagine that, a seamstress who is afraid of needles!) and secondly, I can't stand the idea of something other than maybe earrings sticking out of my body. I'm too clumsy for things like that). But my little magnet is neatly tucked away and rather invisible, and the only thing I should stay away from are MRT scanners and those anti-theft magnetic devices — any overly strong magnetic fields for that matter. Credit cards, hard drives etc should be fine... (I might kill floppy disks, audio/video cassettes or cheap hotel/parking lot cards, though :P So don't mess with me, or I'll swipe my finger across some of your favourite magnetic memory medium, harharrr!)

It's just a small cut. The green stuff is not rotting flesh but the bits of marker that I wasn't able to remove so far. That is where the magnet is supposed to sit, but it has shifted slightly towards the cut, because I dinged my hand on my metal bedframe of all things, right when I came back home.so much for clumsiness.

As far as I know, there's only one guy in germany who officially does those, Marcus from Trust Body Modifications in Mannheim. The experience there was great — neat, organized studio, sterile everything and nice staff. I am very pleased and might go back there if I ever get over the needle panic :D If you're in the area and in the mood for a piercing, pay them a visit ;)

First the hair, now the magnet... I'm more and more becoming the eccentric self that I want to be. Splendid! Actually, it feels a bit like being a steampunk-cyborg-hybrid... I might have to get some fancy protective glovelet for my magic finger X3. Magnetism is such a fascinating phenomenon!

Apart from the insanely weird experience of my magnetic notebook closing mechanism (the one you see in the first picture, holding significantly more needles than my tiny finger magnet) suddenly tugging at the little bugger, the only sensory input I got up until now is my finger, throbbing about in utter disapproval of this particular treatment (of slicing it open and then sewing it shut again with a magnet inside), that was both unexpected and completely unwarranted :D I hope that this will subside in a few days, when my finger has adjusted to his new fellow lodger. I think they'll become friends eventually.

Damn, I think my mom reads this blog. I haven't told her, haha :D Let's see her reaction X3
I also hope the amount of disgusted blog readers who never want to see me again will keep at a minimum :P

I'm a stats nerd.

2011-01-21T00:06:00.001+01:00

I am a math student, more exactly, I study statistics. I love my math. I'm a sucker for stats, and I'm addicted to numbers and diagrams.

Even if you think stats are just not your thing, try my favourite statistician Hans Rosling. I think he's hilarious :D And adorable. And swedish. There's no way to not like him!

If you really want to delve into it, you can watch the 1 hour movie "The Joy of Stats" by Hans Rosling here.

For the cautious beginner, I would recommend a few of his TED talks, they're really funny. At least I find them exhilarating :3 But that might be a nerd-only thing.

uh, I like it!

2011-01-20T14:55:00.000+01:00

I'm so happy I gathered the guts to go for "glowing copper" instead of squirrel-ish auburn. I so dig my new, really red hair. I feel a bit like a cross between Arielle and Vivienne Westwood :D Very eccentric. And befitting.

I am SO rocking this year's Amphi festival :D

2011-01-19T22:38:00.002+01:00

If she had known that all it would take to persuade me was mentioning Rome (I recommend "Reversion" or "Querkraft" — pure awesomeness!) and Feindflug (okay I cannot really recommend anything in particular … Feindflug is rather … special. It's a kind of music you either love or despise. I myself find it incredibly relaxing and brain-wave neutralizing — especially the old tracks. Don't ask why.), she could have spared her the whole convincing and courtship. Haha.

AMPHI Festival 2011

Maybe you want to meet in Cologne?

The perfect leather bags for steampunk travelers

2011-01-19T15:16:00.000+01:00

Mr. and Mrs. Parachuter bag!

I have a knack for high quality leather things. Especially when they're so incredibly practical, stylish and most of all... exude a subtle steampunk from every stitch. Without being too flashy (nobody likes flashy. At least I don't.) For me, steampunk is a kind of back to the roots movement, about impeccable craftsmanship and making useful things that will last a lifetime or two. Who cares if it has brass and cogs if it's made of plastic and won't last a few kicks and scratches along the way?

These adorably well-made pieces are by the Irish (former?) furniture designer Garvan deBruir who has an etsy shop right here.

I might someday get the Lady Parachuter for myself (as soon as I feel comfortable spending those 495,- USD, which occasionally happens quite spontaneously :D).

At last! Something useful again — spherical fabric scrap buttons!

2011-01-16T17:22:00.000+01:00

Don't we all adore those cute little vintage spherical blouse buttons (the ones that look soooo beautiful on the back of wedding gowns!)?

If you a) love them as much as I do and b) can't bring yourself to throw even the tiniest silk scraps away, these are SO for you! They take about 5 minutes to make per button and look like a million dollars when sewn on a garment! Plus, you get coordinating buttons without spending extra money on those and even making use of the leftovers! Did I mention they look awesome?

recommended fabric: something luxurious, expensive, shiny (like silk satin, velvet, embroidered silk — but any medium weight fabric will do!) that you don't want to waste!

what else do you need: cardboard for the circle templates (and a pair of compasses, obviously), scissors, needle, thread. Good lighting :)

size: the templates that I used (55mm and 30mm, because I had templates of this size laying around) will get you a finished button around 10mm in diameter, which is the perfect blouse size in my opinion. You can experiment with sizes , but the smaller circle should be about half as wide as the larger one.

//math alert!// As π is a bit more than 3,141... the diameter of your finished button should be around a third of the diameter of the smaller circle, so if you aim for 15mm finished size, your small circle would be around 45mm in diameter and the larger one about twice as much (85-90 mm). That's just the theoretical calculations behind it. I have not yet tested larger versions of those buttons and I don't know if they really scale up that easily ;) If anybody tries (and succeeds), please let me know :)

Let's go!

Cut your template according toyour preferences (30mm and 55mm for a 10mm button), and then search for a fabric scrap that will accoomodate the larger template. Cut.

Place the smaller circle in the center and mark (on the left side) with a pencil/chalk/whatever you fancy

Stitch around the innner circle markings with small running stitches. Bring the needle to the front (nice side of the fabric).

Pull the thread but don't completely close the small pocket.

Stuff the excess fabric into the small fabric pouch, use a pen or knitting needle if necessary.

Pull tight but be careful not to break the thread!

Stitch back and forth on the back side until the back is covered and the fabric is pulled tight all over. You can use different tensions to adjust the sphere-shape.

Fasten off the thread. You don't need to make an extra loop for sewing the buttons on, you can simply work a short button stem when you attach them to your garment.

Finished :)

Aren't they cute? (I used black silk/hemp satin btw.)

Would you please marvel at the awesomeness?!

2011-01-16T13:52:00.000+01:00

The green thing rotates, btw.

OMG. Fascinating.

The friend who introduced me to the bunker a while back brought me this yesterday as a kind of birthday gift. I might have squealed a little. ❤

I had been playing around with the pretty much dead clock cadaver (wires sticking out, no power supply etc.) the whole night last time I was there and made remarks about how cool and steampunkish the skeleton looked. It's amazing to know people who can just say "Yeah, I can fix that, why?". Just like that. And it works again. Amazing.

I love it so much!

Kinky Things...

2011-01-16T05:27:00.000+01:00

I had a very interesting conversation about fetish stuffs tonight and it reminded me how I always wanted to try working with latex one time (for about 5 years it's been haunting me!). While Latex is not something I would wear (at all), I find the material itself and the opportunities for its creative use most fascinating.

A delightful occasion to show you my all time favourites for creative and beautiful latex fashion.

Fräulein Ehrhardt from Hamburg

The most fashionable of all times...

Atsuko Kudo

And the most recent addition:

oohlalatex on etsy

They definitely like those all-white backgrounds :D

new treasury!

2011-01-15T03:36:00.000+01:00

A new treasury for you to enjoy!

I'll soon be stopping to get on your nerves with this...

2011-01-14T19:00:00.002+01:00

... but today, more ebay :D I don't know how, but I simply ATTRACT things. And once they're there, I just hoard them. Online auctions are a blessing :P Please excuse me shamelessly using my blog for advertising!

Again, about 8 pm, the new auctions will show up here. We got lots of garments and some other things ;)

I can't sleep...

2011-01-14T03:31:00.001+01:00

... it's 4 am, almost. And I'm too tired to do anything useful, yet too restless to simply close my eyes and stay in bed. At least it's raining outside, so I got something to do. Counting raindrops.

Makes me think back shivering with horror to the times when I didn't sleep for a week straight. Out of nowhere, simply couldn't get to sleep. Was pretty semi-delirious afterwards, as one might suspect. In the end, I couldn't tell wake from sleep (like a creepy kind of standby-mode) and actually saw myself doing the things I did as if my soul had actually left my body.

Now that had been one wicked week of freakiness. I think that's how it might be to be on a bad, bad drug trip :D

More ebay

2011-01-13T15:11:00.000+01:00

Here's even more...

All available for auction around 8 pm today, click here if you're interested.

home cinema, here I come!

2011-01-12T18:45:00.000+01:00

Hehe, we just mounted the screen (84" / 215 cm) in the opening between my living room and the kitchen (which is kind of a small alcove set back form the living room), now I just need a proper beamer (the pictures were projected with my dad's pocket beamer, which is not exactly supposed to work with such a big screen) and sound and I'll be good to go!

Hrhr. Never gonna see my dirty kitchen again. Just watch a movie instead, haha :D

wardrobe pruning ebay sale ahead!

2011-01-12T13:01:00.003+01:00

Hey there :)

I'm going to sell some of my stuffs on ebay again.

Amongst other things, I'll put this jacket up for auction that I got for working for the ZDF (a german TV channel) costume department in 2008. It has been worn for actual scenes in a TV series ("Notruf Hafenkante", in case anybody wants to know :P), by the german actress Marleen Lohse. Who is a very nice person, btw. (Or was it her stunt double who wore it? We had two identical jackets, one for the normal scenes, one for the stunts, but either way, the stunts weren't that bad, "just" a car crash, haha :D The jacket hasn't been hurt ;)). I really enjoyed shooting this episode!

I ADORE the jacket, but my wardrobe color scheme has pretty much shifted from bright and bold to powdery and subdued (or black), so I haven't worn it in ages :/ Maybe there's someone here who'd like to have it? The auctions will start later today (and should show up here), around 20:00 GMT+1 and I do ship internationally, of course :)

Here's a slideshow so you can see what you're bidding on! It's a ZARA size XL / 42 by the way. I was more of a 44/46 back then, and had some issues with completely closing it (you could leave the front open and just tie it with the sash, like I did, ehemhem... ;)). I think a 42 or slim 44 would be a perfect match. Or a 40 of course! You could always bring the waist in a bit with the sash, in case it's a tad too big!

I've been working on my never-ending jacket project

2011-01-11T13:13:00.001+01:00

Every time I find a neat trinket, metal thingy, button, patch or things like that, I embellish my favourite military jacket.

Right now, I'm adding eyelets for a corset laced back — awesome!

Below is a slideshow of how it currently looks, with a mock lacing in the back (I still have to stitch 4 of those gorgeous eyelets ❤)

Let's hear it for...

2011-01-11T10:53:00.000+01:00

... the wonderful Frieda who kindly submitted a picture of her wearing my VERONIQUE & ANOUSCHKA jacquard ensemble!

Thank you very much, you look beautiful!

my birthday gift to myself...

2011-01-10T23:06:00.001+01:00

... a day for me and just me!

I'll ignore the two homework deadlines (as I already managed achieve the necessary points to be allowed to take my math exams this semester), the optional math tutorial and will just do what I want tomorrow. I so need it. I'm a bit off track right now (despite being utterly excited and happy) - need to get back on! My inner clock is somewhat off...

Mainly it will be a breakfast in bed, beauty treatments all day and receive awesome phone calls day.

Chii!

Oh, and btw, my birthday was January 10th, sorry to confuse you ;)

What's more awesome than a macbook to pick up your pins and needles?

2011-01-10T20:23:00.002+01:00

I'll show you next week :D
Hopefully >.<°

Don't know if I can keep my mouth shut until then :D