BLACK FRIDAY. NO SHAME.

I have no shame!!!! Ok. I lied.  Maybe I do. Atleast some form of humility I do. Lol.
As many of you know, Black Friday is the day after Thanksgiving that Americans spend money they don't have :D (ahem) lots of crazy lines and accidents too ):

Tried to go to best buy but like usual, seeing the line, I got disheartened and its a good thing I didn't go because apparently someone got ran over last night at my local best buy ):

But here is my recent haul from the weekend (and then some). I honestly think its a customary girl thing that we just flaunt shit that we drop our hard earned cash on. (I like to think we work for a living lol. I'm clearly just babbling here) If you follow me on tumblr, twitter or instagram you've probably already seen these.
But if you don't have me on any of them; go ahead and follow~ since I clearly don't update this enough.

instagram; dearxx
twitter; dearx (1 'x' only! LOL)
tumblr; lobstercockroach & black-heaven
facebook fanpage; facebook.com/blackheavenfanpage (remember to LIKE and SUBSCRIBE)


I still have back logged photos from PMX that I need to work on as well. Been pretty unmotivated to touch those and still forever backlogged on trying to get Geass going. With the holidays coming up. Shoots have slowed down again. Working 6 days a week keeps me plenty busy too and all I wanna go when I get home is to just chill or shoot things lol  (COD)

If any of you guys are on xbox live go ahead add me; lobstercokroach - no 'c' I do have a ps3 but I rarely go on it tbh less I'm playing GoW or something. I don't have enough games on it. But my PSN is Dearx as well.
hurpdurp. Onto the hauls.

 The skull bracelet was from Icing. Rilakkuma headphones. Super cute and super useless LOL I mean, honestly, don't expect beats quality from them, but as a Rilakkuma fan. I could not let them pass as they we're under $12

I got in line for these bad boys at midnight at GameStop coz they were going for $35 versus their usual $60something oAo! And Best. Investment. EVER.

You can use it on your PC as well as regular headphones or yeah, for shit talking communicating with your teammates. You can hear /everything/ in the game. I don't need to go into much details about it lol  All you need to know is, its legit gaming headset. 

  Viviene Westwood orb neckalce. I've wanted one for so long (even before the days of NANA. Now I can wear it proudly with my VW Rocking Horse shoes and plaid wear LOL)

New Chrome Hearts frames. I'm going to get it redone with my prescription. 

  And of course, my biggest biggest haul of the weekend. I got a new upgrade on my phone line. For the longest time I was debating between the iPhone4 or an Android (Galaxy S2) since all the cute cases are on the iPhone since all the apps I've bought (not a lot. but I did buy a FEW photo apps and etc) are on iTunes already and blargh. I didn't want to download a new software and do all that stuff to transition to the new one. But in the end. After spending the entire Thanksgiving day at my aunts browsing youtube and comparing. I pretty much was sold on the android.

I like the very simple user interface for the iPhone/iTouch. Was super easy to use but I guess I was ready for something bigger and better LOL (not neccesarily bigger. I keep complaining this phone is too big. Coz. it is.) I originally wanted the S2 but was SOLD OUT everywhere D8 I went to 3 different stores but ended up with the S3 for the price of the S2. So. Why not! :D

I'm still getting used to this but I love it already. Awesome awesome awesome display. Its superior to my iPhone3gs. Heeee OwO (the box looks blue but I actually got it in White. YAY I'VE ALWAYS WANTED A WHITE PHONE LOL- I've had blue phones, black, red and even pink)

but yes, I don't plan on taking advantage of cyber monday deals when I already ordered stuff from Cotton On during black friday (just more leggings and a new drape jacket/cardigan thingie. Don't judge me. I'm aware that all my stuff all looks the same LOL. but IDC.)

Studding!

So, if you follow me on instagram and twitter you probably noticed I've been going crazy on studding everything and anything I own. hee.lol. No, not really. But still. This is why I own a lot of basic pieces - solids mostly. So I can attack it with studs and whatnot~

 

 Among the stuff I attacked are my knit beanie, my knit cardigan. I mostly just did the pockets.

And I found this shirt on clearance that has a pleather detailing on the top. I decided to spruce it up by adding studs!

Some tips and tricks I learned when working with studs and where to BUY studs.

-Ebay, I buy all my studs off ebay, thats where you can also buy bulk of some screw back spikes. I have an order of CROSS studs coming in, in the mail as well as some spikes too. Some sellers, if you look real hard even carry Butterfly and skull studs. Some in different colors too.

-I also tried using those 3D nail art stuff, they dont have a clamp on the back and you'd need tacky glue to glue them onto clothes.

-Studding works best on KNITS and pleather fabric. If you're working with studding leggings. Don't do what I did: 

 

And that was, studding the shit out of it, Directly on. .___. Thats a major no-no. Clearly. As when the leggings are stretched out, the backing tends to rip the knit. OOOh noooo. But theres an easy fix: 

 

 Since my leggings are clearly ripping and I don't want them to rip any further. When I get home I'll just iron-on one of these patches on the inside.It would help provide a backing to the studs to keep them from falling off as well in the wash. And also helps prevent more tearing and etc!

You can get these iron on patches practically anywhere, Target, Walmart, Walgreens, etc. At the sewing/repair section.

Next suggestion is, if you DO want to stud the crap out of your leggings, is to do a patch. Like so:

Available from Carrie's Store via Store Envy

Using a patch of fabric as a base and studding it.Then sewing it on top would help prevent tearing in the fabric and you can always remove it later if you choose to.

Checking in after PMX

Woah, its been a week since PMX and still no photo dump from me? Well, I didn't really get a chance to do much of a photoshoot at PMX tbh. Once again I got stuck in the hotel till late afternoon (heee OwO;; doing makeup and just getting ready and etc.) We actually got up early Saturday morning to get food at Denny's and just stayed a little longer than expected hahaha. Then we went back to change and ready for the con.

To be honest, the con didn't really give me much to see ): that or I'm just forever late and my usual pose of friends wasn't there ):  and all the good cosplayers we're pretty much scattered about lol or just hard to find a good place to shoot in such a confined area as the LAX hilton hotel ):

but another reason for my absence is:

OuO heehee, I went to pick up this badboy during the midnight release and they even hosted free food and chips at the midnight launch "party" at my local Gamestop. I can't say I've clocked in enough hours into this game at all. Since Tuesday I've been only clocking in a game or two here or there )': work work work. Even tomorrow I have work lol but I'm off Sunday. But then work again~ shwee. 

but yeah back to the con, I should learn to be more adventurous at such small cons xD;; I had intended on attending the concerts in an attempt to get a few shots there but Moon Stream wasn't allowing photos on Saturday nights concert. Only friday night but I didn't get to the con till past midnight on Friday. Hurp.

As for the fashion show, I had every intention of shooting it but at the last minute I got roped into doing hair and makeup backstage instead. OuO;; I wasn't really prepared since I didnt bring my usual makeup train case to do a lot of makeup. Heeeee but it worked out~ I'm waiting for photos for it to pop up *w*

So not much of a photo dump from me, but to keep things from being completely boring, heres some instagram dump LOL. I took out the instagram plug-in on this blog, but if you want to find me there, my username is "Dearxx"

I mostly spent the whole con just "chilling" and just hanging with friends. I probably spent a good chunk of the time in the room playing Dance Central and drinking games ):

                                      

that pretty much right there summed up my PMX weekend. And some gets~ and DYI Projects:

231. lets get packing

Waaaah its that time of month again when its time to pack my bags and head off to Los Angeles for another con. Once again its Pacific Media Expo! Not cosplaying for this one but no matter what I always end up packing a good chunk of stuff lol....why can't I be like dudes and just go with a backpack and be done lol. Nope. It takes effort to be fabulous.

Lets see what I pack with me:

 

 

 LOL sorry its such an glorified photo hahaha but here we have my pre-packed toiletries bag

which I always have prepped and ready to go anything when I have to leave/crash anywhere and in it is a complete toiletry set along with some medicines. 

And on the ziplock bag, clearly several bottles of foundation (since I usually do makeup at the con)

a case of lashes, Fix+ Spray and a spray bottle of Alcohol to disinfect my brushes in between applications 

The rest of my makeup is in another bag.

A mini hair straightener too. The pros and cons of using a mini straightener; I wont be able to curl my hair with it lol or as ideally as I want to but it still does the trick. And it takes little to no space. The only thing I don't like about this vs my babybliss one is there is no temp. control. Oh well.

You can always refer to my other post regarding what to pack for cons/shoot and my makeup kit for cons/shoots can be found here. Normally I pack most of my stuff in a handy makeup case or a kaboodle but I'm trying to stuff everything into a small/medium sized suitcase since I will only be there part of Friday and Saturday to Sunday.But nothing really happens on Sunday oAo....its annoying that the hotel makes us check out at 11am when the panels I want to attend are at 11. Goodness. Well hopefully I get a chance to cover the fashion show!

Did a quick trip to Marukai earlier to browse and restock on stuff; can never have too many lashes or different styles of it. Hahaha. I should just order those big batches on eBay.

 

All these for $8 and some change. I prefer to have separate chargers for my phone so I can always have one ready packed with me when I'm traveling. I originally had 3. But gave one of them to my mom and I purposely leave one at work so I charge while I'm at my desk. Marukai actually carries iPod/iPhone chargers there, they even have the ones for the car too! :O So yep. Picked up a colored one so I don't mix mine up when I'm bunking with other folks at cons. Also picked up a handy orgnizer case which really helps keep my stuff organized~ (see photo below)

The case turned out to be super handy. I plan on going back to get more actually so I can use it to organize my cables at my desk and just stuff. I'm able to organize all my accessories that I'm bringing with me to the con as well as keep my cotton stuff dry and separated from the toiletry bag which gets pretty wet when you're throwing stuff in there. I also shoved extra memory cards, safety pins and hair pins in the same case. I'm most definitely going back to get more so next time I'm at a shoot or something I can organize a sewing kit on the go. Its probably no more than an inch thick and fits in most purses easily so you can definitely take it with you on the go!

guards and insoles, lashes, wig cap (net), hair ties (I french braid my hair and shove it under a wig cap) and some hair accessories. And of course, can't forget the Tide To Go. Even if I always usually pack BLACK clothes with me, you never know who's cosplay is gonna need this.

Contact lenses and wax strips for your eye brows, these are super easy to use. Just use the heat from a blow dryer to melt the wax and start trimming your brows. Handy for those who aren't into plucking brows lol faster too. You can get it at hair removing section of your local drug stores. Walmart and Target carries it by the Nair isle.
 

This is just a filler post I guess. Hope to see some folks at PMX this coming weekend and hopefully I get to cover the fashion show and concerts (hoping they allow photography) coz I couldn't get a press pass as I wasn't 100% sure PMX was going to happen for me.

230. Lost packages

"mobile" blogging is forever my excuse as to why I don't actively update this as often as I use to. Not to mention tumblr is also really really easy to update and whatnot but it can be pretty unorganized I guess...

Yesterday was Halloween and today is All Saints Day or Dia de Los Muertos. Halloween was pretty boring for me, I was at work. So I shall bore and spam you with my photos from my phone. Coz. Coz I can. And you've probably already seen these from my Instagram/Facebook or even tumblr. Lawl. But here they are again. hurpdurp.

 Wore my Tiger Kigurumi again, I've probably worn this several times in the last few years since getting it. Its the easier Halloween costume I have. LOL and probably SAFE FOR WORK outfit hahaha. But since my hair is red I decided to put on a wig so it'll look alittle better with such a bright yellow outfit. A lot of my co workers thought I was pikachu. Um. Ok. good enough LOL. Maybe I'll get a Pikachu one someday?!
LOL I really want to get a rilakkuma one for this winter *w* hurhurhur. Come to me baby.

 I think I should be better off with red hair...LOL. Wigs are fun. My friend thought I looked like from AGEHA. PFFT. LIES. Bull. But ok. LOL. Why not. Sure.

But yeah, I didn't do anything for Halloween. I went to work. Got off work. Went home. Showered and went to go get boba. And damn, the place is packed with kids D8 (go home kiddies! WTH! lol)

Once in a while its fun to dress up as someone else. I have another wig I ordered that I haven't tried out yet. And another one as well for my Melty cosplay. But thats been 'shipping status' for a few weeks now, I'm starting to think its been lost in transit =A= but my biggest worry as of right now is I had ordered some stuff from a seller in Los Angeles and USPS tracking said the package has been DELIVERED yesterday. But um. yeah, PACKAGE ISNT IN MY MAILBOX. WHERE IT AT?! LOL. So hopefully its not lost and I'll probably swing by the post office and be like 'what the heck man?!' the post man should know my address by heart as of right now since I always order everything online. I rarely go to stores nowadays LOL.

Apparently, I'm going to PMX next weekend too! LOL I was kinda not planning on going considering I got stuff I need to take care off but it looks like Geass is being pushed out a little further again. I want to do Silent Hill already lol, but alas. I need to get everything else done first. But doesn't mean I cant help but plan on the sideline while I'm at it :D;;;

I also sent in my portfolio to PMX so hopefully I'll be doing hair & makeup for the fashion shows~ I need to redo my portfolio. So I guess I need to start playing with makeup again. Sucks when you have no room to really do this. lol. so I don't know how this is going to work but. Want to.
I also want to get some blood and liquid latex. I've been wanting to do some gore FX makeup. So Silent Hill. Please lets make this happen :D;;; I got a plathora of wigs on my que on ebay that I've been wanting to get but with my stuff being "lost in transit" I dont know yet. I want to make sure some of my babies come home to me first before I overload the post with more of my shit lol...

Since I'm going to PMX next week, I totally forgot to order more instax film. =w=ll lets hope Walmart still has some so I can pick up some.

Say hi at  PMX please! and as always, I'm always open to doing private photoshoots so long as I'm not covering a fashion show or concert.