crafty saturday

A casual, colourful Saturday outfit.  We had a craft event at church for all the ladies and girls; I was able to strike up a conversation with the mother of a family who had just recently started attending.  We bonded over shared food allergies (darn that gluten!) and the fact that one of her daughters has the same yellow shirt as I happened to be wearing (said daughter is in her teens, so this led to another "You're how old?  But you look...!" conversation.  she said it more nicely than that, of course!).  It was a happy day, despite the grey skies and drizzle.

golf...er?

Do I look like a golfer or something in this outfit?  Striped polo shirt, argyle, short pants... (wait, do golfers wear short pants?  maybe once upon a time??)

I dunno.  These patterns and colours just seemed like they wanted me to wear them together...

bike rider

Busy-busy, running around day.  A planning meeting at church, then catching a bus to my friend's senior art show at my old college.  I always like going back for the shows (or just to hang out) and seeing all the people I used to be around on a daily basis.  I don't think I know any of the students there anymore, though.  Time keeps going...

I got to pull out my pink bike since the weather had finally spring'd up a bit!  Bikes are so convenient.  And if you can have one that's cute too... well, what more could you want?

run away!

Another Wednesday night at church—this time I spent it outside playing with the older (~elementary) kids rather than in the nursery with the toddlers.  We played various forms of tag (thus the running pose) and then there was a soccer game, but I sat that out with another helper and a few girls. Talking and giggling together was more fun than standing around watching all the faster kids swarm around a soccer ball...

dusting day!

jeans - Old Navy

I owed my grandma a favour, so we arranged that I'd come over and do some dusting and cleaning for her that involved high-up tucked-away spaces she couldn't get to anymore. Ladders and stepladders were involved, along with some inching along kitchen counter tops.  There was some dust and a lot of grime (especially in the kitchen, what with all the cooking—when I was at my parents' later that day, I noticed that their cupboards extend all the way to the ceiling and I was glad of it.  my own cupboards, like my grandma's, end about a foot or so before the ceiling and now I am slightly worried about what might be up there if I were to look...) and a number of cobwebs.  And then there were rags and towels and Magic Erasers (♥), and various soapy substances and eventually, no more dusty cobwebs and not quite as much grime.  It was an accomplishment.

And now you get to see my Other Blue Jeans. (that's right, I've only got two pairs!)  They seemed well enough suited for a work-day.

sprawled

Yes, I'll keep repeating myself.  I am so ready for warm weather.  So sick of winter and cold and long sleeves and layers.  Look here, look!  Bare feet!!  Toes!

raspberry chocolate

Spring came!  Actually, summer came!!  Just for a short visit, but it was fantastic.  It may be that that short burst of 80-degree weather spoiled the next few weeks when things dropped down to the 40s... but that's looking into the future; let's not do that here.  It was a beautiful, sun-shining, warm warm day with spring flowers popping open, and kitties and lys running around happily in the outdoors.

come, spring!

print top - Wet Seal
skirt - Weathervane

She's pulling out the cutesy patterned shirts again—can it be spring?  Oh, can it be??  (although the colours definitely put me in the mindset of fall...)

I recall this was a day I was able to walk to some friends' house without the aid of a coat or jacket or scarf.  It felt glorious to be able to do that again.  We're making progress, Spring!!

happy birthday mum!

brown blouse - Wet Seal

Aaaand this day was the birthday of my dear mother!!  Here it is almost a month later that I'm posting it (May 2), but Happy Birthday once again, Mum!!

We went out for dinner at a Persian/Iranian place and the food was amazing.  I snuck in some homemade gluten-free flatbread for some of us to eat with the various hummus and eggplant dips...

stuck on colours

I forgot to mention—the day before, I'd gone out with my cousin to The Naked Plate, a place where you can buy plain ceramic dishes and bowls and things, and paint/decorate them as you please (and have them fired and pick them up a week later).  I painted my bowl in these colours (brown, teal, light blue).  I liked the idea so much I wore the colours myself the next day. And the next-next day, actually......

argyle schoolgirly

Hiiiiii!!  I'm back with an update.  I have absolutely no good reasons for not having updated in the last two weeks or whatever, but thank you for sticking with me anyway.

I wore this outfit after reading a super-cute volume of a manga series (The Secret Notes of Lady Kanoko) and wanting to dress a little school-girly.  Hurray for argyle and pleated skirts!!

Also, some old-new posts.  They'd been finished for a while, but I didn't get around to posting them because I didn't have any new-new posts to mention them with.  Three from July; two Septembers.

the renouned illustrator

stripey shirt - Old Navy
purple skirt - Fire
tan skirt - from YesStyle

This Tuesday was spent doing a somewhat unusual kind of work for me—I got to visit elementary schoolers!!  It was a half-day program held over the kids' spring break, so it was just a small group of 11 kids, a couple of their parents, a visiting author and me. We had a great time!  I talked about doing my work as an illustrator, and put them to work drawing characters and a setting for the story they'd come up with during the author's activity.  I just love seeing kids' creativity on display at events like this.  Their imaginations are fascinating!!

I've posted two more outfits from 2009, and by some wonderful coincidence they both feature something from this outfit!  See more of the stripey-shirt here and the purple skirt here!

sleepy fin

weird pants - Candies | cami - Express | socks - SockDreams

I'm getting caught up!  So caught up, I'm running out of finished things to post!  I'm going to be on my way out the door soon (I think...) and had just enough time to finish this, so enjoy!  I've been really into the blue-teal-brown colour scheme lately; you'll see it again in a few more days...

We had thunderstorms for a couple nights and my usually fearless, wild, nocturnal cat Finny turned a bit more meek and cuddly.  Of course, he sleeps the entire day anyway, so when I drew this I was probably just admiring his usual daytime laziness...  He's awfully cute.

Finally, have some updates from September 2009! (those are four separate links)

jellyfish fluttering

I felt like a jellyfish in this.  A cute, pink, ruffly jellyfish.  Every time I went down the stairs the edges of the skirt kinda fluttered and poofed.  It was fun :D

long sleeves

I'm getting tired of long sleeves with everything. I'd like to be able to wear light, fluttery things freely and not worry about freezing.  When will that day finally come~?  (actually, it comes sooner than I'd have thought...)

fruit shower

print top - Pockie K
capris - So

It's April!  Happy Apriiiiil!!!!  Woooo!!  And it's also a Friday, which ends up being the day we often go grocery shopping.  I came home with a pile of fruit!  You can see some of my fruits to the side, but I got some kiwi, bananas (which I waited 3 or 4 days to start eating, because I won't touch a banana until it has spots), kumquats, cheap (and not all that great, sadly) nectarines, and dried figs.  I got raisins too, but they're so tiny I didn't bother to draw them...  and oh, what's that thing down below that kiwi?  Why!!  It's a gluten-free oreo-style cookie!  I suppose this is why people say not to grocery shop hungry.  But once in a while it's happy-making to have little treats like that.  I'm not letting myself eat more than two cookies per day, so I can draw out my enjoyment of them!!

I didn't do any April Fooling this year.  I don't think I have in the past, either, although I remember a friend one year calling to tell me her family was moving away as an April Fool (did I catch on?  I think I did, though maybe not immediately).  Oh, when I took French classes and learned they celebrate it by sticking drawings of fish on people's back ("poisson d'avril") I might have participated in that.

wild ponytail

And we're done with March!  Onward to April!  It's weird, though—every time I went to write the date on these drawings, I had a strong urge to write "september" instead of "march."  Why would that even be?  I don't know.  Now that I'm working on April drawings I have no problem writing the correct month.

The other reason I like doing messy french braids with wet hair is that the next day, once my hair is dry, the back is all crazy-curly-wavy-fun and I can put it up in a fluffy, wild ponytail like this.  Fun hair makes a happy lys!

leanin' lys

Another day of sweaterdress! And I think this is the first time in like forever that I wore these green socks with the argyle actually showing—usually you only see the plain green feet.  [edit: no, it's not the first time, forgetful-lys.]

I attempted a french braid again, only I did it when my hair was wet.  That way works better than with dry hair.

pinky purples

sweater dress - Wet Seal

I put my hair in a braid, and it looked very nice for about 30 seconds.  But then strands started coming out everywhere and it was a mess.  Arg.  My hair is at that in-between point where it's not quite long and not exactly short.  At least it can usually decide whether it's going to be curly or straight from one day to the next... (tee hee).

mondayblah

skirt - Jouraine (YesStyle)

My Mondays have been kinda... blah, outfitwise, lately.  Is that just how Mondays are in the world?  Every so often I wear just one layer of shirt and think to myself, "Hey, that doesn't look too bad!"  But later in the day I realize how cold I am and remember the main reason I'm always wearing layers.

Randomly, I was looking at the tag for this skirt (which is slightly unusual—I ordered it online from YesStyle, and they carry a bunch of different brands, but a number of those brands don't actually tag their items)—anyway, I was looking at the tag, and it looked a lot like the old tag for Forever 21 clothes, with the scripty font and the roses on each side (like this).  But the tag itself read "Jouraine"... and I can't find anything online about such a brand.  It's weeeeird.  Is that some secret offshoot of Forever 21?

butterflies!

skirt - Wet Seal, when Wet Seal had tons of awesome
print designs and cute skirts...

My city has this awesome place that I love to go, with a great, huge greenhouse and all kinds of tropical plants (and carnivorous plants, and cacti, and seasonal plants, and...).  In early spring, they bring in all sorts of butterflies and let them loose in the tropical greenhouse.  It's wonderful to roam around in the warm, humid greenhouse-world and spot all kinds of flitting butterflies.  Everyone is especially always after the blue morpho butterfly.  I've gotten a couple shots of them in years past; this year's best was the bluish blur you see in this sketch (the other butterflies are also from photos I took).  I happened to be taking pictures of another resting butterfly when the blue one flitted by, and my camera snapped the picture just as it was in the middle of the screen.  What timing!

Also, please enjoy two more new-old posts featuring this skirt.  One of them features a small commercial.  Have fun!

giddy blues

I am a nerd and a big fan of manga (Japanese comics).  I'd made an order at my bookstore-within-walking-distance (!!!!) and it took a few weeks, but fiiiinally came in, and I was so thrilled I dashed right out the door.  And then I realized I was wearing this long, narrow skirt, and it was really hard to take my usual long strides while walking (even though I'm short, I walk pretty fast normally!  especially when I'm going somewhere I want to be quickly.  Like high school or the bus stop, or a bookstore with desirable books, or a warm building when it's cold outside...).  I had to take many tiny-short steps.  Such a bother!  So I got impatient and rolled up the waistband to shorten it a few inches, and then continued on my way.  It was sooo much easier!

And then I got my beloved books.  And I read them.  And one of them (pictured, barely) had a cameo by a certain favourite-character from another series (that I haven't actually read much of, only seen pictures from) so I was thrilled to pieces.  Glee!

sherbet-y

cami - Aéropostale?
raspberry - Mossimo (Target)
pants - Wet Seal

I actually did this drawing in the morning, not at night-last-thing-before-bed.  I was sooo sleepy that morning.  Maybe it was a grey day.  Today is a grey day too... *zonk*

confident strides

I just want to mention that I've had these legwarmers since I was 6 or so and started ballet lessons.  My lessons only lasted a year because I was disappointed they didn't teach me to twirl on one toe right off the bat, so the ballet bag was stashed away and forgotten for the next several years.  Then some ten-odd years later (probably more like 12-13, when I was in college) I rediscovered it all, and promptly put these pink lovelies to use.  (regretably, the ballet slippers and tap shoes were too small.)  And that's what (re)started my love for legwarmers!!

But to think, they used to fit from my ankles to well over my knees... awww~!

silly boy

shirtdress - H&M
jeans - American Eagle

When thinking of a pose to draw, I remembered laughing really hard earlier in the day.  Then I had to think a bit harder to remember why I'd laughed.  It was because a certain hilarious four-year-old was telling me about when his older brother had put a box of styrofoam packing peanuts above a door that his sister or mom later walked through.  And how this brother had also once put a cup of water above a door his sister later walked through (apparently it missed her, but got water everywhere else).  And then the kid had the great idea that he would put the box of packing peanuts he was currently playing with... behind a door.  Because he couldn't put it on top of the door, of course, it's up so high! He dashed off and I started cracking up because it was so absurd; a couple minutes later he was back and trying to persuade me that I should go through that door.  Kids are so weird.  (the rest of the story goes: I opened the door.  I saw that there was a box of packing peanuts behind it.  The end.)

one-legged pony

And we're back to layers for warmth! (what, is it spring now?  really??)  I worked forever on that far hand.  It was being stubborn.

uninspired

skirt - Old Navy

A boring drawing of an uninspired Monday outfit...

spring! spring?

dress and blouse - Bodyline
shoes - RuffHewn

Someone told me it was the first day of spring, so I wore a springy-flowery dress and earrings that remind me things will be growing again soon! But then someone else said they thought the first day of spring was the next day, so...  Eh.  I never did look it up so I don't know who was right, but I'm all for spring as early as possible!

Somehow I always find myself wearing these assorted leaf earrings together.  Maybe because they're all (except the silver flower) missing their pairs, so I think of them as a set.

The brown socks remind me of tree bark, and the shoes have a sort of mossy-green colour and texture, so when I wear them together I feel like a great tree rising from the earth! Well, a great, small tree...

muh.

Hummmm.  I think I spent this Saturday at my parents', doing laundry.  I also went shopping at an Indian grocery store in town with my mum (so many things! and I want to try them all!!! also they had the cheapest cilantro ever, like 50¢ a bunch!!) and to an art/craft store so I could finally get a new sketchbook.  Oh yeah, I never continued that story!  Okay, so I had that one page spread left in my old sketchbook, and it got me through Sunday the 13th (only because I crammed three drawings onto one page, rather than my usual two per) and then I was out of pages and out of ideas.  So... I took little pictoral-notes of what I wore for the next week+, and I'm just now filling in the pages in my new sketchbook (I've got two more drawings to finish).  But after that I've been keeping up with drawing every day again!  So maybe I'll actually be able to post outfits soon within a day or two of wearing them!  Wow!!!!!

My new sketchbook (I actually got two of them) is pretty neat—it has a white canvas cover so it can be drawn or painted on.  But!  Canvas texture seems to be exceptionally good at picking up fuzzies and cat fur (of which my house has an abundance), so it's a little annoying.  I might reupholster it with some cute fabric like I did my last sketchbook (which would be fine, since I didn't buy the sketchbook just for the canvas cover.  it was also by far the cheapest sketchbook in that size).  If I do, I'll have to show it off to y'all!!

double dressed

blouse - J Jill

It's a two-for-one day!  I agreed to help out with a dinner at church the youth group was hosting, and part-way through the day (after I'd already put on the pink outfit) I got a message saying, "Dress nice!  You might be serving."  Darn it (I'd kind of expected it, but still...).  So I had to figure out what qualified as "nice" and also "waitress-appropriate."  As it turned out, I spent most of the night in the kitchen anyway, but oh well.  I had a really really fun time though, chopping up vegetables and chatting with the others who came to help!

for st patrick!

Okay, I really was disappointed no one else saw this outfit.  I had to eat my St Patrick's Day garlicky-yummy mashed potatoes all alone :(  (they were delicious. and I had leftovers that were delicious for days to come!)  St Patrick's Day is another one of those holidays that I have always always loved because I get to dress up for it.  And green is such a lovely colour, in all its tints and shades!  I snuck in a bit of orange with the layered tights... that won't get me beat up, will it?

who cares?

skirt - Old Navy
socks - SockDreams

Oh, look at you, lys, with your fancy fashion model(?) pose and your haphazard "I don't even care what I wear because not a single other person will see me all day" outfit.  (I mean, I do care a little because I know I'll have to draw the outfit and post it here for all YOU to see... but I tell you, sometimes it's a little discouraging that I work from home and don't get to show off some of my more fantastic outfits.  Most of the time I can't even see my outfit, because I'm wrapped up in a blanket to stay warm...)

Anyway.  For a randomly thrown-together outfit, it does manage to have a couple matching colours...

satisfied

shirt - Blue Asphalt/Wet Seal

A friend of mine came over on this day, and we made lunch together.  Black bean croquettes (sorta), kale chips and corn flatbread—all vegetably and so delicious!! It was nice to chat over a meal with a friend.

Okay, and for the rest of today's update, have some new-old drawings!  Two more with the butterfly shirt (because I finally got around to taking a good look at it and colouring it in Photoshop) and two super-lazy (actually, I was just reallyreally busy with multiple project deadlines) outfits from the hot days of August. Enjoy!

white day

dress - Forever21

This is the outfit I came up with for White Day (the Japanese follow up to Valentine's Day).  Now I'm thinking it's not particularly white, but you know how I am—I need to have colour and pattern and all that good stuff.  I like this sundress, but at some point I need to get around to shortening up the shoulder straps.

red heart

sweater - Sweater Project (Younkers)
pants - Old Navy
shoes - Vigoss

Wearing red for Japan.  One of my friends was shocked to see me wearing pants, eh heh.  It's true I don't wear them often (particularly on Sundays when I see her)...  These dress pants are really, super comfortable though.  They're really soft, and flowy...

good company

On the other hand (following up from the last post), obsessing isn't healthy either, so it is good that I had a busy Saturday full of plans with friends to drag me away from my computer.  I went to a housewarming fondue party (chocolate-dipped carrots are not too bad)  and then to a dinner with a random group of people from my church (random because the groups were formed by picking names from a hat), and both were good and encouraging and pleasant.  I made a strawberry pie for the dinner's dessert and it was very tasty (if I may say so).  But it might have contributed to the cold I was just then coming down with...  (tsk, tsk)

earthquake day

On this Friday, I woke up and got to work like any other morning... until I heard the news about the earthquake and tsunami in Japan.  The rest of the day, I was not very productive (from a work-perspective), spending my time instead checking up on all the news I could find and praying for everyone affected.  Even now, a little over two weeks later, part of me is constantly thinking about the people in Japan doing their best to get through this disaster.  It's hard, being so far away and reading the news and wishing there were more I could do to help... (like, take a plane over right now and help with rebuilding/cleaning.  not exactly the most practical, but...)

the rainbow

On this day I set out to deliberately wear a rainbow.  The rainbow is great—it's so perfect, so satisfying to see all the colours lined up in their proper order.  I used to take my crayon boxes with 64, 120, or however many different colours, and line them all up from reds to yellows and greens and all the way to purple (plus browns, greys and black/white at the end).  I chose heart-shaped earrings for this outfit, thinking of the promise that the first rainbow signified :D

not the end

shirt, skirt, earrings - Forever21
sweater - Aéropostale
socks - SockDreams

So!  You're all in suspense over whether I decided to continue drawing once I reached the end of my sketchbook, right?!  Well... probably not now, since you see the drawing to the left of this text.  I remembered that there were a couple pages I'd accidentally skipped earlier on (I draw on the front and back of every page), so I made them useful!  Crisis averted! (for now...)

the end!! (of a sketchbook)

lace shirt - Wet Seal/Blue Asphalt
corduroys - UnionBay

I drew this on the back of the last half-page in my sketchbook (it was a half-page because I tore out half of it on another occasion).  Facing the back cover of my sketchbook, covered in fruit and vegetable stickers and a weird drawing of a platypus, what was I to do if I couldn't acquire a new sketchbook soon?!  Oh, the horror!  (spellcheck, don't you tell me I spelled "couldn't" wrong.)

Well... you'll have to wait till tomorrow to find out what happened next.

what time is it?

dress - l.e.i/Taylor Swift (...isn't she a singer?)

Hmm, what's this pose about?  I think it's about being "time to get a new sketchbook!" because I drew it on the last (half-)page in my current sketchbook.  It could also be "time for spring to start! aaaaany minute now!" because I am eager and impatient for spring.  You might have noticed this by now.

nearly-spring sunshine

striped shirt - Old Navy
pink shirt - H&M
skirt - Wet Seal

This drawing goes with the one right below it—another pose swiped from Gals!  But I could swear I've drawn poses like this before... it's like manga has invaded my subconscious!  I draw silly manga-poses without even realizing it!!  Hmmm.

This Sunday was the one before Lent started, and I woke up just as the morning sun was shining right through my window!  It was so wonderful and bright, my sleepy mind thought it must be the middle of summer.  Even when I realized it was still winter and I had to get ready for church instead of sleeping in as I was tempted to, that bright sunshine made me so happy.  I think maybe God arranged for the sun to hit my window just as it did to help motivate me to get up early and use my time more wisely.  So for Lent I chose to give up my laziness and follow a schedule each day.  So far it feels really great!!

[edit: so the reason this pose feels so familiar might be because I did a very similar pose with another outfit that features the same pink shirt and yellow tights.  hah-hah-haaa...]

primary dress

dress - Forever21

Hey, I just drew this yesterday!  (today is 23 March)  I made a note of what I'd worn, but I didn't actually draw it for a couple weeks, so by the time I got around to it I had no idea what kind of pose would suit that day, so I grabbed a volume of manga with lots of poses (Gals! volume 1) and found an interesting pose and drew it.  It was a fun exercise; I may do it more often when I get stumped...

tuckered out

jacket - Forever 21

I think I was tired when I drew this.  Does it show?  I had a nice night, though.  There was an event at my church for all the ladies—good food, good conversation, karaoke, chocolatey desserts...

moon fan

sweater, skirt, tights - Old Navy
socks - SouSou

I was reading this article at AnimeNewsNetwork and the topic was Sailormoon.  Aww!!  It's a great article (and the House of 1000 Manga column in general is really fascinating), and it made me all nostalgic for my very first anime and manga series, so I pulled out my old copies and started browsing.  I used a pose from one of the first volumes for this drawing—with my pleated skirt, it worked out rather well!!

Relatedly, just the other day it was announced that Sailormoon will finally be rereleased here in English with a new translation.  I'm looking forward to it!!

springy?

lacy shirt - IZ

I don't know what this pose is.  I think someone told me this outfit looked springy... all the blues and greens?  The light, lacy shirt maybe?  Hmmm...

Argyle socks make any day more fun!

still cold

green sweater - Energie
pink sweater - Aeropostale
skirt - Weathervane

It's March!  Happy March!  March means it might could maybe possibly be spring soon!  But as you see, I'm still wearing double layers of sweaters...  Soon!  Soon we will have sunny skies and flowers once more!!

Also, I lied, my hair will still be partially in braids for a few more days.

a little wild

I think this might be the last of the braids—at this point they were almost all out and my hair was all crimpy-textured.  I liked it a lot, actually.  Maybe I need to go back in time to the 80s and nab one of their hair crimpers!

Sorry, I don't remember where these awesome socks came from!  Maybe Younkers?  My lovely aunt picked them up for me :D

Ohhhhh guess what!  I was looking at my archives and noticed January only had 30 posts, despite being 31 days!  And I realized I totally forgot to post one, so it's up now, and here you can go see it!

classics

sweater - Old Navy
tie - VanHeusen

I left one of the knit flowers in my hair (since it was already braided in) and made sure my outfit matched it.  My Peter Rabbit earrings were well-received :D

a strawberry

This outfit's theme was strawberry!  Or at least I think of strawberries when I see it?  I was wearing a strawberry hat part of the day too, but I didn't draw it.  I guess this could be watermelon-colours too, but the little flowers on the top make me think of strawberry blossoms.  So there.

I had these knit flowers lying around for a project I haven't got around to finishing (...) and when I was trying to figure out what to do with my hair, I realized they would look really cute pulling my braids back! (yes, hair is still in braids, mostly.)  So I pinned 'em in, and one of them had long enough yarn-tails that I could actually braid the ends with my hair to get a colourful braid mixed in with the plain ones.

(another post I can't fit all the tags in.  arg.)