From the Menagerie by Kareena Zerefos

Kareene Zerefos is a London-based Australian artist. She describes her work as "whimsical illustrative work with a sense of isolation and bittersweet nostalgia" that is caused by "a yearning to escape to a world of make believe". What I love most about her style is the unfinished look that her works have. The characters she paints look more alive to me that way.

Her series of children's portraits entitled From the Menagerie is my favorite from her. According to the artist, the series is about "exploring the connection between child and animal, and some- what the escapist desire to 'run away and join the circus'".

Source: kareenazerefos.com

ManikaManila's Sun-Kissed Summer Meet!

Blair, Miette and I attended ManikaManila's Summer meet last Saturday. It was held in Constantine Place in BF Resort Village, Las Piñas. We had the place reserved, so we had the entire location by ourselves. It was nice to be in a meet in a more private setting. Even if there weren't as many attendees compared to previous meets, it was just as fun. :)

I took lots of photos again, so I hope you enjoy the spam!

Latest Loves: Pretty Pastels

I've seen a lot of bloggers make posts where they feature the stuff that tickle their fancy. Seemed like a fun idea to do. So now I present to you a new semi-regular post, Latest Loves! It will be a mix of things, primarily fashion, art, BJD things, and even music. I hope you'll like what I have to share! :)

1. Loose Leaf Headband from Urban Outfitters
2. Vintage Key Double Ring from ShopLately
3. Pastel Boots from Asian Vogue
4. Halter-neck Linen One-piece from Nine9Style*
5. LR-117_L wig model from Leeke World*
6. EXO-K 1st mini album "MAMA"

*for BJDs

Dolly Diptych Week 15 - Discovery

This is probably my second or third-to-the-last batch of photos from my trip to Subic last March. This time, I chose photos with angles that I wouldn't normally choose for diptychs. I kinda like it.

As always, outtakes!

Cakes & Death - A Photostory by 1magichour

Death Note and BJDs are two of my favorite things. When I saw this ridiculously cute photo set at 1magichour's livejournal featuring a chibi-fied version of my favorite character, L, I fell in love! It's a pretty popular set in the hobby already, but I just had to share it in my blog anyway. :D

Source: 1magichour. Doll belongs to lightlybattered.

Dolly Diptych Week 14: Bonding Time

I wonder what they're doing on the computer?

Window shopping! I should have known!!!  I'm so screwed. (; ¬_¬)

A Compilation of BJD Shops

It's been a while since I last made a Get the Look post. To make up for it, I thought I'd share a list of all the shops I browse to create my GTL posts. I hope you guys find this useful! ^_^

4D Ajumapama Alice Collections AnotherSpace2 Atelier Momoni Bambicrony Blue Fairy Boulevard BJD Cheerydoll Cool Cat Collection Crobidoll Denver Doll Emporium Dollheart Doll Why Dollmore Dreaming Doll Dream of Tale Endless Fairyland For My Doll Foxybrowny Her Delicate Strength Iplehouse

Jadeness Couture Kondoll Kuloft's World LUTS Latidoll Leeke World Little Moda Little Monica Musedoll My Doll Wardrobe Nine9Style Rapunzel Rapunzel rRabbit Shop Ruby Red BJD Sadol Soom Souldoll Sunny's Wonderful World Swan20 TTYA TataBJD Volks USA

(I excluded Etsy shops because there are too many of them. I don't think I can list all of them!)
 
For a comprehensive list of Taobao shops that sell BJD accessories, check out Helene's post on Livejournal. :)

If you know of other websites that sell BJD accessories, let me know in the comments so I can add them to this post. I prefer if they had an English shop. Thanks!

BJD Meme

It's another busy workweek in the office, so unfortunately, I don't think I can come up with original content. It's meme time again! Feel free to answer it yourself. Tell your friends! Post about it in the comments if you do the meme. :)

What's in my bag?

There's been a bag meme going around for a long time, but I haven't been bothered to do one until I saw my friends Nix, Trisha and Lala do it. So being the occasional sheep that I am, I thought why the heck not? XD

This is what I usually bring when I go out or go to work. ^^

 
1. Black leather bag with studs
This bag is my favorite. I love that it's expandable and the strap is adjustable. It's so versatile! I got it for a cheap price from a bazaar in Alabang Village. I've seen it being sold in malls for double the price so I totally scored, haha!

2. Bran by Catherine Janelle
My one and only (humongous!) fox tail. Er, actually it's a direwolf tail, inspired by the direwolves from HBO's Game of Thrones. It's so big on me that it reaches my knees when I wear it on my waist, so I just attach it to my bag instead. I don't use it as often as I want to for fear of it getting damaged, but when I do, I use it for storing #14 and #15.

3. Sylvanian Family cream bunnies
I take them almost everywhere. It's nice to have cute companions. :3

4. Grey knit beanie
For bad hair days! I lost my hairbrush recently, so this beanie has been my go-to recently when my hair gets in a mess (which is almost always Dx).

5. Alcohol
To get rid of the day's dirt and grime from my hands in the absence of soap and water.

6. iPod Shuffle
Mostly filled with K-pop! Most played song is ROMANTIC by SHINee. 8D

7-11. My make-up items
Nyx round lipstick (Tea Rose), Lip Ice lip balm (Mint Orange), Maybelline Clear Smooth Minerals BB Cream (Natural), Garnier Face Powder (Natural), and my beloved Choco cookie mirror.

12. Fan
To keep cool during these ridiculously hot summer days. = n =;;

13. House keys
But they don't work. xDDD

14. Cellphone
Samsung Corby. I have a love-hate relationship with it.

15. ID/Card holder
I got it from Powerbooks. It's a little pricey, but I couldn't resist! The artwork on it is by MagicSoup.

16. Black leather wallet
It used to be my mom's. It's full of receipts. :'D

17. Miette???
What is she doing there? XD Nope, sorry, as much as I want to bring her along, she has no face mask yet. Maybe that will change when she gets one?

Haha, that was kind of long. If you read all of that, you're awesome. Here's a cute Miette pic as a thank you!

Thanks for reading! ^o^/

Dolly Diptych Week 13: From a Distance

These are some of my most favorite shots of Blair from my Subic trip last month. The lighting was perfect that day. I didn't even have to edit these photos at all! I hope you like them as much as I do. ♥

As usual, some outtakes. To be honest, I had a hard time choosing which photos to use for the diptych. I love them all. I hope this wasn't just some fluke! > 3<

Double Exposure Portraits by Jon Duenas

I love how mysterious and hauntingly beautiful these portraits by Jon Duenas are. It makes you wonder who these women are and what they're thinking of. There's not a lot of expression in their silhouettes, but the placement of the landscape elements on their bodies and faces is more than enough to the viewer a sense of what they're feeling.

Here's a tutorial on how to create double exposure photos. I might buy some film soon to try this out!

Sources: ThisisColossal and TheFoxisBlack

Blossom Belles

A very pink Shoujo manga-style shoot brought to you by the loads of fake flowers my grandma gave to me. Thanks a lot, Mamang! 8'D