#szmoon

[szmoon]

Nelder Grove, CA

[leecario]

i reeeally like szmoon poliwhirl cosplay 

[cosplay source]

[overgrowngardenofweeds]

I've been tagged! Is this how you do the thing?

bigfootaus tagged me and now I have questions to answer!

Rules:

1) Always post the rules 2) Answer the questions the person who tagged you asked and write 11 new ones 3) tag 11 people and link them to the post 4) actually tell them you tagged them

Jellyjay’s questions:

1) What is your quest? Be a part of major breakthroughs in medicinal science.

2) What is your favourite colour? Pink :)

3) Is there a story behind your username? If so, do tell. tonrawr - my first name is Tonya and my nickname is Ton, so that's the first half. RAWR was just something I liked as an annoying preteen, and I guess it just stuck.

4) Do you have any pets? If yes, what? I've got a Maltese-Poodle named Phoebe (whom I love with all my heart), and a kitten named Mushie Mushie.

5) What are your two most recent fandoms? Sherlock, the BBC version, and Skins UK.

6) Did you go to or do you want to go to and are you in college? If yes, what did/do/want to study? I go to QUT and I currently study Bachelor of Science, majoring in Biological Sciences. I'm debating minoring in genetics or computer science...

7) In a zombie apocalypse au of your current favourite show, who would have the best chance of survival? I think my current favourite show is The Walking Dead... Haha. I'll probably say Darryl. Independent, good survival skills, street smarts, can track & hunt... etc. 

8) Your favourite character just read the last fanfiction you wrote about them. How do they react? I have never written fanfic, because I'm not confident in myself :/

9) The main villain/s of your current fandom is/are transported to our world, how screwed are we? ... Moriarty died last season and I haven't watched the next episode, so I'm not certain who the new villain is. Soooooo idk.

10) The song you think describes your OTP best? I had to google OTP. And I can't think of one, sorry <3

11) What is the air speed velocity of an unladen swallow? I'm sorry, I spit ;)

Bigfootaus's Questions:

1. What is your favourite Pokemon and why? Pachirisu, I thought it was the most adorable thing in the anime, and I got to "pet" one in Pokemon X, and I nearly died from the cute.

2. What’s the most enjoyable/exciting thing you’ve done or had happened to you in the last 24 hours? I just watched Monsters University, and it was so awesome! That's my life, haha.

3. What is your favourite TV show and why? 4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you live? Canada. 

5. What was the last meal you had from a fast-food restaurant? Oh I went to Salsa's Fresh Mex today, and I got a Chicken Chipole Taco (soft taco), with mexicrinkles (they're crinkle cut chips with taco seasoning on them).

6. What’s your biggest complaint about where you live now? (House, suburb, city, whatever) Tooooooo far away from the city, and when I stay out late, it's a bitch to get home :(

7. If you could bring three fictional characters into the real world, who would they be and why? Hello Captain Jack Harkness, Gandalf the White and Sherlock Holmes.

8. What’s your ultimate goal in life? To make a difference, somewhere.

9. What is your favourite song? Right now, it's probably "Endless Summer", but the Josh Pyke, Like A Version, cover.

10. What is your favourite activity to do? Lurk on tumblr.

11. Will you end this questionnaire with a selfie? No <3

My 11 Questions:

1) Who inspires you? 

2) What's at the top of your wishlist?

3) If you're currently at uni/college, are you taking your course for the love, or for the money?

4) What was one of your New Years resolutions?

5) Tell me something you love about your body.

6) Where do you want to travel to?

7) Is there anything that you're scared of, that seems ridiculous to anyone else?

8) Can you play any instruments?

9) Will you share a secret with me? 

10) Have you ever cosplayed before? What/who were you?

11) If you could live in any fictional universe (Eg: Middle Earth, Discworld, etc), what would you pick??

I'll message you lovely people tagged, with the link :)

[szmoon]

Tutorial: Dyeing Fabric Pastel Ombre Rainbow

I've been craving a pastel rainbow dress for awhile now, but hadn't been able to find one in a cut that fits me and that is within my budget. Eventually I found a dress that I thought was perfect for what I had in mind: this nude shift dress from Romwe (it was around $26 when I purchased it, but it looks like it's even cheaper now!). After that, all I had to do was gather up some fabric dyes and get to work. :]

Dyeing Different Types of Fabric

The main thing you'll have to pay attention to is what material the clothing you want to dye is. If it's mostly synthetic (polyester, nylon, spandex) you'll need to mix darker, more concentrated dyes. If the material is mostly natural (wool, cotton, etc) the dyes you mix should be lighter.

Note: Normally I would suggest a dye meant specifically for synthetic fabrics (such as iDye Poly) for synthetic materials, but as we're trying to achieve pastel instead of vibrant colors, it's unnecessary really. :] For comparison, my dress was 100% polyester.

Also, a lighter-colored material is probably best for this tutorial, such as white or very light/pastel shades of other colors. But if you want more vibrant colors than I used in this tutorial, you can probably start with a slightly darker-colored piece of clothing and it will still work. :]

Materials

I ended up using a jumble of dyes I already owned and dyes I purchased just for this project. None of the brands carried all of the colors I wanted, so I used dyes from three different brands (Rit, Dylon and Tumble Dry).

What you'll need:

The garment/garments you want to dye

Spray bottles, one for each color

Fabric Dye: liquid or powder both work fine

Paper towels

Latex/Rubber gloves

Scrap fabric, similar to your clothing, to test on

A plastic garbage bag

When mixing the dyes with water, it's best to start with the water and add dye as needed. Start with a small amount and add more as you test the color; it's easier to add more than to take it away. :]. Also, the Tumble Dry bottles (the yellow and pink) may look small, but they're super concentrated and needed a lot of water before they were light enough to use.

Above you can see some of the colors I tested out~ Keep in mind that the colors, once dry, will be lighter than they are when you first apply them. The colors may also fade a little bit when you wash them.

Dyeing Preparation

Here you can see that I used a mannequin to hold my dress while I worked on it. You can also just have the dress hanging on a hanger while you work. :] Either way, you should put a piece of plastic/garbage bag inside the clothing if you want to prevent the colors on one side from bleeding onto the other while you work.

Start Dyeing!~

My best advice here is to just go for it when you're starting. :] It takes a little practice to figure out how you like to blend the colors in. The main thing to think about here is what colors do and don't blend well with eachother. Colors that are almost opposite eachother on the color wheel (red/green, orange/purple) will get murky and tan when you blend them. So in this case, I tried to avoid these combinations: pink next to green, purple next to yellow or orange, and blue next to orange.

Edit: Thanks to a message from staygold-blanka, I want to mention that using a sponge to blotch the dye onto the clothing works as well (but it won't work as well with paper towels because they are less porous and won't hold as much dye at once). I did this on some parts of my dress for more control of the colors. :]

Often when I was spraying the dye on, I ended up with splatters of dye like on the left of the photo. They look okay but I didn't want them on this particular dress, so I got rid of them by smudging them with a paper towel before they dried. :]

Using a paper towel/sponge also helped with blending the different colored dyes together while they were still wet.

A final tip with applying color would be to keep an eye out for hidden spaces that are easy to miss, such as pleats, ruffles and folds on the fabric. The dye might not soak in enough to get all these places on its own, so look for them as you go so you don't have to go back and re-match the colors to fix them~

Above is a photo of the dress when I was finished dyeing it, while it was still damp. :] As you can see, the colors are darker than on the final dress.

Heat Setting and Washing the Clothing

Depending on the brand of dye you used and on the type of material you used, you may need to heat set the clothing before washing it. Personally, if the material of your clothing can handle it, I'd recommend heat setting whether the dye requires it or not. To do this, first wait until the material is completely dry so the dye doesn't rub off and color your dryer. Then, toss it in the dryer on high heat (unless the fabric isn't meant for high heat) by itself for about 20 minutes.

After that, wash the dyed clothing with COLD water on a delicate/not-heavy setting, and dry it again. I accidentally had the washer set to hot when I first put my dress in, which is why some of the dye washed away and I ended up with a few white spots. :c I have yet to find out if I can wash the dress on warm after the initial wash.. but for now I recommend that you only use cold water when you wash your piece. :]

And now you're done! Hope that helps a little, and as always feel free to contact me with any questions or comments (I might be a little slower than usual in responding though since I'm currently on vacation~). Also, if you end up creating anything using my tutorials, I'd love to see! Just tag me, comment here or message me with a link. ♥ ♥ ♥

[szmoon]

I had originally planned on taking photos for an outfit post today.. but after having to bus home at 8pm (instead of getting to bike because it was raining), and not eating dinner until after that, I really didn't feel up to it anymore. So I changed into comfy clothes and am putting off my schoolwork by doing everything else imaginable. :x

This webcam photo will be my last form of procrastination for tonight (I swear!)~

[kjempereke]

[szmoon]

Today's outfit was a casual 2NE1 inspired look. :D

A little bit of background story first. A few years ago, after my first boyfriend and I broke up, all I listened to for awhile were US Top 40 songs (UgHh). There wasn't any super good reason for it; the only reason I can think of is because all of those songs are super loud and catchy and don't make you think about anything deep. :p

This time around I've been listening to K-Pop (Korean Pop) nonstop. Specifically, mostly the newer Wonder Girls albums and 2NE1. A complete upgrade from the top 40s I think, haha.

But anyway, that's probably the reason I felt compelled to dress like this~

Breakdown of the outfit:

Digital Superstar Shirt: Handmade and sold in my Etsy :]

Cheetah-print Jacket: Forever21

Bracelet: Forever21

Yellow Lace Socks: I think H&M, but am not completely sure because I stole them from my mom.. ;p

Studded Litas: MakeMeChic.com

Oh, and in case anyone saw me earlier in the day, I did switch from skinny jeans to shorts because it got warmer. ;p Silly midwestern weather...