So, It's Been Awhile: A Quick Update

 As the title says, it's been awhile since I've last posted. But in my last post (many years ago) I said I would pop up to give updates. So here I am with a long overdue visit. 

Some things I have been working on is a couple of stores on Zazzle, a fun little print on demand company. 

I created a new shop to go with my maze blog (Simply Mazes), so everyone can purchase cute tshirts and notebooks and such with my mazes on them.  This one is my favorite, a maze laptop case. 

Just for fun, I made a second zazzle shop called Sort Of Vintage with, as the name says vintage inspired designs. This is my favorite piece, the All You Need is T-shirt.

Something else I made is particularly awesome, a book. A long time ago, I posted this cute short "princess" story here.  It was fun to write and at the time I thought it would be fun to have it turned into a full book, someday. 

Well, it took over a decade, but I finally adapted and published it.  It's a Kindle ebook called To Be A Princess: A Story About Pretty Dresses and Being Yourself.  Plus, a paperback version will soon be available.

The ebook is currently priced at $2.99, but this weekend (June 16th -18th 2023) it will be free for a limited time. Grab it while you can.  Or hold out for the paperback, it will have a bonus.

In addition to all this creative stuff, I have picked up a few new hobbies.  

One I have been a little too into is houseplants. I currently have over 30 plants taking up almost all available space by my bedroom window. They are so pretty though, so it’s worth it.

I also have been trying to learn Japanese.  The keyword there is "trying", some people pick up new languages easily.  I am not one of them.

I have found two things that have made it easier to learn, the Duolingo app and sub-titled anime.  

I normally watch anime with the original Japanese language anyway just because I think it sounds better than most dubs, but I didn't realize how much vocabulary I picked doing this.

And Duolingo is such a fun app, and it covers so much.  And if I drift away from it for awhile and come back, it helps me review and catch up.

Well, that's enough for now.  I will post later with some craft projects.

Look forward to it.

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What I Did On My Blogging Break

My little break from this blog has officially ended. Yay!

To get things going, I want to share with you all what kinds of things I did while “away”.

What I Did on My Blogging Break

• Still kept the blog hop going.  Thanks to all of you who attend regularly. :)
• Sorted through my closet, got rid of a bunch of stuff in the pile of junk I referred to as “mending”.
• Started an actual mending box, with notes pinned to the pieces describing what needs to be fixed.
• Took an inventory of my stash of toothpaste, lotion, laundry soap, etc..
• Did some thrift shopping, didn’t get many photos. :(
• Did some online shopping, got tons of photos. :)
• Got a new phone.  It’s got super long battery life, I’ll share more later.
• Downloaded all the apps under the sun.  Including Homescapes.
• Got addicted to Homescapes.
• Finally bought a copy of Howl’s Moving Castle on DVD.  One of the best animated movies ever.
• Finally hung up the cute bathroom rack I bought ages ago.
• Got foaming pump bottles from Amazon.  Just fill about 1/4 with your product of choice, fill the rest of the way with water, screw on the top, and shake.  Then you have your own diy foaming soap, shampoo, body wash, etc.
• Went to the Arizona Matsuri, a festival for Japan.  I will post a video soon.
• Re-read most of my old, old posts for this blog as well as the other two (ah, memories).  Sorted out ones that need updating (pretty much all of them!).
• Did some other work for the blogs.  Updating pages, fiddling with ads, etc.
• Reorganized my photos and video clips to make it easier to make my videos and blog posts. :)
• Fully drafted and planned my newest craft project list.  It will be up tomorrow!
• Sleep!

And that’s mostly it.  As mentioned I will be sharing more about some of these things in the future.

Look forward to it. :)

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Purple and Lace Bag Upgrade, Adding a New Lining

First project on my list is actually an update to a previous craft project.

Remember that purple tote bag I made (see Catching Up: Bags and More Bags)?  It was a super pretty bag that could be expanded as needed.  Perfect for everyday use.  And since making it I got quite a bit of use out of it.

And it certainly shows, and I’m not talking about all those stains which are bad enough.

I used that pretty tablecloth fabric for the lining, and it took a major beating. 

The easy thing would have been to just make a whole new bag, but I really like this one.  So instead I just made a new lining.

So here’s the before…

…And after.

I first carefully cut out the old lining and tossed the bag in the washer.  Cleaning alone did a world of good.  While I waited for it to dry, I got to work on the new lining.

Here are two of the sides, this is before sewing them in the bag. 

I used the same purple poplin as the rest of the bag (thank goodness for leftovers) and something else for the pockets, white fleece.  It’s super soft, strong, and a little stretchy.  Perfect for pockets to hold all of life’s essentials.

Here’s the finished bag lining.  Looks so much better than before.

And here it is in action.  Now everything is nicely organized, for now.

Here’s the updated list:

• lining
• patterns
• lace
• pins
• scraps
• fabric
• supplies
• uniform

One down, seven more to go.  And with not even a full week to do it, better get cracking.

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2016 Resolutions Update: Round 2

It’s now over four months into the new year and I'm long overdue for an update on my resolutions (see 2016 New Year's Resolutions).

Make more tutorials - I think I’ve done a decent job with this one, making video tutorials is super fun.  Total so far:

1. Lace Twin Hearts Hair Clip, A tutorial
2. Easy Bodice or How to Sew a Dress for Any Doll

Two out of twelve, and the third will be coming up soon and possibly a fourth.

Reduce craft stash – I caved on this one a little.  I had a gift card for Joann Fabrics and Crafts and they had a $1 sale on Simplicity patterns.  I only bought 2 as well as some Velcro and some clearance winter gloves.  You will see them when I start sorting out my stash.  The basket trick will work greatly for that too (see 2016 Resolutions Update: Round 1).  I also ended up buying some fabric for Easter, and some impulse craft items (see Just Several Pretty Lace Accessories...and And Now...The Dress).  Oh the shame.

Exercise – Because of how busy I've been at work and how miserably I been doing on my goal, I've decided to put this on hold to focus more attention on my other resolutions.

Stretch –  Same as with the exercise, it's on hold for the time being.

Save money – After much thought, I decided to change up my goal for this one. 

I've realized it matters very little how much I've been able to save if the interest on my credit card is eating a good chunk each month.  So the new goal is to reduce the balance on my credit card to under $1000 by the end of the year, and I have a stretch goal of reducing it to 0 if I can manage it. 

So far my strategy is to pay at least $220/month on it.  The $200 is because that's double the minimum payment amount and the last $20 is because that's how much I usually set aside to save for stuff for crafts/hobbies.  If I'm trying to reduce my craft stash I probably don't need that $20.

I have also been splitting the $220 and making two payments each month instead of just the one.  I’ve read that this affects the way the interest is calculated (Here's a good article on it). 

Clean out my closet – This one I'm quite proud of.  I continued using the basket trick and finished sorting out my closet.

Here's one ambitious basket full of clothes to sort.

Now all sorted.  The basket is full of the keepers, the pile on the right is stuff that needs fixing/mending, and the pile on the left is the stuff to get rid of.

Now all bagged up.  Two more bags of giveaways, and the mending has been added to the ever growing mending bags.

Now this is the final basket and the one I saved for last for a reason.  It's full of all the pretty dresses and skirts I have sewn myself over the years.  Extremely difficult to part with any of them as you can imagine.

Difficult, but not impossible.  Again the basket is full of the keepers, the bottom pile is the fix/mend pile, and surprisingly the top pile is all the ones I am giving away.

Now here’s the three completely full bags of mending with another bag of giveaways on the left and a basket full of keepers on the right.

Now to deal with the mending.  I had decided to re-sort them before attempting any sort of fixing.  No sense in keeping all this if I’ve lost interest in fixing them.

First bag, fixing the stuff on the left, goodbye to the stuff on the right.  The top right will be cut up for rags.

Second bag, top keeping, bottom left giving, bottom right will be used for other purposes.

The third and final bag.  This is the one full of pretty handmade dresses and skirts, but I’m still only fixing the top ones.  The bottom pile will go to good homes.

Now here’s the full bags of mending sorted from left to right in order of difficulty.  Guess which one I will probably get to first?

And of course two more bags full of stuff to give away/donate. 

The closet is fully sorted.

Goal completed.

New goal: Deal with each bag of mending, preferably before the end of summer.  Wish me luck!

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2016 Resolutions Update: Round 1

It’s now more than two weeks into the new year.  I thought it was about time to report how I’m doing on my resolutions (see 2016 New Year's Resolutions).

Make more tutorials - Haven’t made any so far but I am in the process of making three, they are still in the planning stage though.  Look forward to them.

Reduce craft stash – Sadly, the only thing I have done so far for this one is to stay out of all craft stores.

Exercise – I have managed to squeeze in a quick 15 minute run after work 3 times my first week and two times my second week.

Stretch –  I’m doing terribly for this one.  I managed to do some stretching after running, but not the 10 minutes worth for my goal.

Save money – I had a set back on this one, a couple of them actually.  It’s called Christmas clearances and one very particular holiday sale.  That holiday sale was the real killer.  I won’t say what I bought since it will be quite a while before I receive it.  In the meantime I’ve been using it as motivation to help with my spending.  Whenever I see something cute in a store I choose not to buy it becasue I already bought something big and I shouldn’t really need anything else.  Nothing like guilt to keep you on track.

Clean out my closet – I have made progress on this goal quite easily.  I develop a method of organising.  I call it the basket trick.

To do it, just grab a laundry basket and head to your messy closet or cabinet.  Grab a bunch of stuff from it and dump it in the basket.  You will now sort through only the stuff in the basket and completely ignore everything else in the closet or cabinet. 

The point is to break up the big task of cleaning out the closet into smaller easier tasks.

Here’s my first basket.  Full of clothes from my closet ready to be dealt with.

Here you see I’ve sorted it in three piles.  The top left pile is stuff that I simply don’t want.  The top left pile is stuff that need to be altered or fixed that I still like enough to attempt, for now.  The bottom is the pile of stuff that I am actually keeping.

Here are the same piles properly contained.  The few items to keep are back in the basket.  The to-fix items are in an orange tote bag specifically for that purpose.  And the unwanted items are in a plastic grocery bag ready to be given away or donated.

Here’s the second basket, attempted a few days later.  This one wasn’t as full as the first because I didn’t have as much time to conquer it, but that’s okay.

Now sorted.  The pile on the left is the unwanted stuff, the middle is the to-fix stuff and the last pile is the stuff that I can put back in my closet.

Now contained.  The fix-it bag is starting to look awfully full.  I don’t actually intend to start working on the fixing or anything until after I’ve finished sorting the entire closet.  I want to re-sort it all to see if I still actually want to bother fixing and altering everything in there.

The third basket I attempted last week. 

Sadly the results weren’t as good for this one.  I’m keeping half the basket.  The two piles outside the basket are the fix-it pile and a very tiny pile consisting of two unwanted items.

All baged up.  I now have two full bags of mending.  And that’s the third bag of unwanted clothes and it’s barely half full.

Overall, it’s a good start to cleaning out my closet.  I need to go through approximately six more baskets to have it completely sorted.  Then I want to use the basket trick for my craft stash.  Wish me luck.

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2016 New Year’s Resolutions

I have never been one to make New Year’s resolutions, but I do regularly make goals for myself anyway and I am in the habit of making lists.  So I thought this year why not try it for once, it’s just like what I usually do but more festive.  Plus posting stuff here makes me more likely to do it.

So here I have my list of resolutions with specific goals for each.  I have read that it is easier to accomplish these things when you have an exact measurable goal for each one.  So instead of saying you will exercise more often or eat better, you say you will exercise 3 times a week or eat 3 servings of veggies each day.  That way it’s clear what you are trying to accomplish and when specifically you have reached your goal.

New Year’s Resolutions for 2016

• Make more tutorials – I realize that despite having blogging for more than six years, I have only made a relatively small amount of tutorials.  This must change because tutorials are fun and useful things.  My goal is to make at least 12 by the end of the year.  That averages to only one a month so it’s more than manageable.
• Reduce craft stash – I have attempted before to reduce the amount of craft supplies cluttering my space before only to have it increase greatly.  No more, I intend to fully organize my junk supplies.  The goal is to reduce my stash by half.  It’s strictly use it or lose it.  That will probably result in one heck of a to-do list.
• Exercise – it is important to be physically active, but not always easy.  I intend to squeeze at least some exercise in to my week.  The goal is to run or do a workout video at least 15 minutes twice a week.  This may increase further into the year as I slowly move out of winter hibernation mode.
• Stretch – There was once upon a time when I stretched daily and enjoyed the full benefits of it.  Never waking up with neck pain, rarely feeling stiff no matter what I did the day before, being considerably more flexible than everyone I know.  I somehow lost that habit a couple of years ago and wish to regrow it or whatever.  My goal is to stretch for 10 minutes at least twice a week.  Just like with the exercise, this one may increase as I get into it.  
• Save money – I do believe it is important to save for your future, whether the distant or not so distant future.  There are several small and large things I wish to save up for, too numerous to list here.   The important part though is saving.  Through careful budgeting (and not adding to my craft stash) my goal is reach a balance of $3500 in my savings account.  It’s already at $1215.42, so I’m off to a good start.
• Clean out my closet – This one will be a tough one.  There are so many things in my closet that I either made or got a great deal on that are so, so cute.  I have cleaned out a few things last year, but I’m afraid I still have trouble closing the closet door.  For this one though it is difficult to put a specific set goal, other than being about to close the door properly. 

To keep things on track I will post monthly and occasionally bi-monthly updates on the status of each of my goals.  Look forward to it.

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And We’re Back…With Some Fun Stuff

The blogging hiatus (with some exceptions) has officially ended.  I have returned and brought a few gifts with me.

First up, I mentioned before that I wanted to take time to work on a few personal projects among other things (see Special Announcement or What to Expect).  One of those projects was these…

…Paper Dolls!

I got the idea while looking through some of my old dress designs.  Two things I noticed.  First is that I actually enjoy drawing clothes just as much as making them.  Second is that over time I’ve slowly improved at drawing clothing.  I’d show examples of that except my earlier designs are just too embarrassing to be seen.

Anyway, I got the idea to try drawing dolls since then I could draw clothes for them to wear.  I made three sets to start.  Feel free to print them out and enjoy.  I opted not to color them or finish their faces, I figured it would make them more fun to play with that way.

The first set is baby girl, I guess she’s more of a toddler though.  For clothes she has a sundress with hat and sandals, a nicer dress with shoes and hair bow, and a play outfit with hat and shoes.  The play outfit is inspired by the anime Cardcaptor Sakura.  One of Sakura’s more casual/normal outfits to be exact. 

The second is a cat just for the heck of it.  For clothes she has a sweet dress with a flower hair corsage, an unusual set with puffy shorts and a hat, and a knit sweater with matching hat and skirt.  For some reason I felt the need to make at least one sweater-y looking outfit for each doll, even the one with fur.

And then there’s this short haired girl.  For clothes she has a pleated skirt and turtle neck outfit, a sort of wrap dress, and a v-neck top with jeans and sandals.  The turtle neck outfit was actually inspired by Thelma from Scooby Doo. 

If you would like larger images of these dolls, you can download them here.

Now for something else fun.  If you follow my maze blog, you would know that it has been a looooong time since I posted a new maze (like a year).  This is mainly due to the lack of a working scanner.  Well seeing as I was able to upload these hand drawn paper dolls it comes as no surprise that I now have a fully operational scanner at my disposal.  

So when you finish having your fun with these dolls, you can hop on over to my maze blog and a enjoy solving some fresh mazes.

There’s still more fun to come.  There are so many things that happened while I was gone that I want to share so the next few posts will catching up posts.  Look forward to them.

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Special Announcement or What to Expect

First off, this week’s Five a Week craft didn’t get posted or even completed because I got a little too caught up with another project I’m taking up.  As soon as that’s all finish I’ll post it, trust me it will be worth the wait.

Work is getting busier than ever, plus I want to spend a little more time focusing on that special project as well as all the projects on my craft list.  This will mean that it will be a bit quiet around here for a while.  I will still be doing the Saturday Shuffle blog party each week though.  It’s just too much fun not to do.  And I will probably do a few things about Halloween, it will be here before you know it, can’t wait!

Just know I’m still around and I will be back shortly to share with you all.  Look forward to it.

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Thrift Stores and Easy Reconstruction

The second project on my craft list isn’t exactly something that I’ve been putting off making, but something I’ve put off wearing.

Sorry about the pictures, I still haven’t figured out how to successfully photograph black colored clothes and such.  I got this vest thing at the Black Friday Bag Sale at Epic Thrift (see Bagging It on Black Friday).  Over nine months later and I still hadn’t worn it because it didn’t quite work for me as is.  Just needed a little work.

So here’s the before…

…and after.  Much better right?

First I chopped off the ruffles and the waist tie thing and then cut off a few inches.  I then carefully re-attached the tie along the new hem.  It hits me slightly below the bust which is much more flattering on me.   Then I cut two pieces from the ruffle and attached them to the arm holes to give them a slight flutter sleeve look. 

So much cuter this way and easier to wear.  I actually wore it yesterday over a black tank top with one of my plaid skirts (see Plaid and Crochet for Dummies). 

Here’s the updated list:

• Purse
• Bag
• Mini-bag
• Dress
• Vest
• Fleece

Two down, just four to go.  If things go well, I’ll have the next project up by Saturday.  I may need to make a few trips to some craft stores first, and I may show off some of the goodies either tomorrow or Friday.  Look forward to it.

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Catching Up – A New Friend

I made one special purchase last month.  It was something that I think will have an incredibly positive and wide sweeping effect on my life.

A doll.

Okay I know that sounds crazy, and that I have several dolls already, most of which you can see here.  But this is no ordinary doll.  It’s the kind I have been seeking out for years.  The one perfect doll for me, that has all the qualities I have been looking for in a doll.  At least it will when I finish working on it. 

It’s a ball jointed doll or bjd.  Here’s a site that gives a ton of information about bjds in case you’ve never heard of them.  They are lovely well made dolls that come in a variety of sizes, pose really well, and can be customized to be almost anything you want them to be.  They are also really expensive though, some cost well over $1000.  Luckily I found one I like for considerable less than that.  I bought it at the Junky Spot, a great site by the way.  They sell all kinds of these dolls and accessories for them. 

My doll showed up only a few days after I ordered it in this huge box.  I actually waited a day before opening because I wanted to do it at just the right moment.

I thought the fragile labels on the box were cute and hilarious.  I wonder what the UPS delivery person thought when they saw this.

Ready to open it up.  I finally found a good use for this Hello Kitty box cutter.  Isn’t it cute?  I found it at an Asian supermarket nearby me.  It was on sale too.

Inside the box, and inside another box, and wrapped in bubble wrap is my doll wrapped in a cushion.  But before unwrapping her I had to check out these…

…Freebies!  I heard in reviews that when you order something from Junky spot, there are always a few random little goodies stashed in the box.  I got a Hello Kitty phone charm, a doll size pair of dice, a small strange pink figure, a pack of fang shaped candies and a My Little Pony mini-comic pack.  The tiny bag in the middle of the photo is supposed to come with the doll.  It’s her eyes, along with some putty to stick them in with.  I actually lucked out with them because they are supposed to be a random color and I got blue ones in the exact shade of blue I wanted anyway.

And here is my doll, fresh from her packaging.  She is a Mystic Kids Evelyn with no face up.  For those who don’t know, a face up is basically all the painting and such on a doll’s face.  Many bjds don’t come with them unless you are willing to pay extra.  The same with clothes and wigs.  Most of time you get them naked, except Mystic Kids apparently sends them out with some underwear which is nice.

Here she is mostly dressed.  I whipped up this dress for her before she arrived because I wanted to have something to put on her immediately.  It’s one of the pillowcase dresses I’ve made before.  It’s simple and easy to fit which was important since I didn’t know what would fit her.

A close up of her “face”.  The shape of her face is quite nice and versatile.  She will look great when she is finally done.  I just need to find a wig that works and work up the nerve to paint her face.  From what I’ve read, face ups can be tricky the first time you try and some of the supplies used can be hazardous to humans.  I’m considering commissioning someone more experience to do it for that reason alone. 

Here’s a cute card the doll also came with.  It shows the default face up done by the company, looks cute right?  The backside has a place to put her name and birthday, kind of like a doll birth certificate. 

Speaking of names, I haven’t mentioned hers yet.  I decided to name my doll Hikaru.  I really like the name, but I won’t say why here.  That’s because I mentioned in my last post that I have a special surprise.  It’s a new blog!  I created a special new blog for my doll.  The catch is that it’s her blog.  Hikaru the doll will be writing the posts for it, with help from me of course. 

Please check it out here:

From a Doll's Eyes

And with that I am finished catching up.  So now I will be posting stuff that’s a little bit fresher.  Look forward to it!

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Catching Up – A Wee Bit of Online Shopping

This post may contain affiliate links, check my disclosures page for more info.  Thanks!

As a former tax preparer, I have a tendency to get my taxes done fairly early compared to most people.  Mainly because when working as a preparer, if you don’t get them done early you may have trouble finding the time to do them yourself and on time.  Plus what self-respecting tax preparer would even think of letting someone else do their taxes for them.  All this means is I filed my taxes and received my modest but decent sized tax refund in a timely matter. 

Now what did I do with my refund?  I invested some of it by buying bonds, and put some of it toward paying off debt, and some of it went to savings.  The rest went towards some items on my wish list.  Just a few things I have been eyeing for a while and thought would be useful to have for Spring as well as the rest of the year.

First off, you may have notice in the picture at Phoenix Comicon (see Catching Up - Conventions Anyone?) I’m carrying a white parasol.  I sort of made it myself, specifically for the con and for Spring.

It start out as a white umbrella from World Import Co. on eBay.  It costs $16.99 with free shipping.  It came in just a few days in this cool triangle box.  I wanted to keep it but I somehow couldn’t think of a good use for it.  Such a shame.

Anyway, here’s the umbrella along side some bubble wrap, yay bubble wrap!  This umbrella is the “parasol” style, so it has a ruffle on the bottom.

I mainly bought it for the white color and this handy hook shaped handle.  They come in other colors that were tempting, but I just stuck with the white.  Still, it would be interesting to have a pink umbrella.  The thing is that the handle is a tad thicker than I was expecting.  Thicker does mean less likely to break which is good, but it also means slightly harder to hold.  At least it does with my small hands.  It’s just something I have to get use to.

I do like the pointed end though, it’s one of the things I look for when buying umbrellas.  It just looks really nice and gives the umbrella a certain vintage touch.

The ruffle is pretty okay, it adds a sweet touch and saves me time since I was planning on adding a ruffle anyway.

The thing that really concerned me was the sheerness of the material.  I wanted to use this umbrella for both rain and shine.  If it’s too sheer will it offer enough sun protection?

That problem was easy to fix.  I had originally planned to add just a little lace trim, but instead I completely covered it with row upon row of pretty and water resistant lace.  It took quite a bit of time, but it was so worth it.

Here’s the results.  I forgot to take a picture immediately after finishing, this one was taken after using it for several weeks.  The problem with white is that it is so easy to get it dirty.  Oh well, at least it’s pretty.

I also bought a new petticoat, my other was dying on me.  It actually fell flat on me almost immediately after this one arrived, maybe out of jealousy?  I found the new one on Amazon, sold by Rose Boutique for $25 including the shipping cost.  They shipped it out quickly.  It was estimated to arrive in about 10 days, but it came early so when I got it I didn’t know what it was.  It came in this really tiny package. 

I still didn’t know what it was when I opened the package until I read the included washing instructions.  I thought that was helpful at least.

Behold the unwrapped poufy petticoat.  It expanded like crazy after I unwrapped it.  It’s a 50’s style petticoat, so it has a bit of an a-line shape to it.  A little too a-line sadly for my use, but I was able to easily alter it to give it a softer and rounder shape.  Now it’s perfect and it cost a fraction of what similar shaped ones would have cost me to buy/make.

I also bought a couple of blouses I’ve been eyeing from Bodyline. The total came to 5,998 Japanese Yen with free shipping, which comes to about $25 each.  Considerably more than what I usually pay for clothing, but they were worth it.

They came wrapped in these cute red bags.  I saved them because they were so cute, I think they would be useful for organizing accessories or even paperwork.

The first one is this short sleeved blouse.  It has beading lace on the collar and down the front, rose shaped lace down the front too, and faux pearl buttons.  It also has lacing on the back to give it a fitted look which is nice.  I found the wide crochet lace on the collar and sleeves a bit awkward the first time I wore it, but now I love them.  I bought it in a size medium and it fits okay except its slightly too big at the shoulders.  I’ll take it in eventually, but for now it’s okay.

I also got this long sleeved blouse. It has some of the same types of lace as the short sleeved blouse which is so great, but there are a few problems.  It has the same fitting issue as the short sleeved blouse, the lacing on the back isn’t quite as nice looking, and then there’s the buttons.

First one of them actually snapped off when I simply tried on the blouse, possibly the result of damage during shipping.  It did come with one spare button, just one though.  The first time I wore the blouse a second button snapped off.  Luckily the buttons were definitely not my favorite part, now it will be easier to just switch them out for nicer buttons.  Otherwise I still really like both blouses.

There actually is one other thing I purchased over the last few months, but I’m saving that for another post because it involves a special surprise.  Look forward to it. :)

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