♥ Outfit Post - YCC 8! ♥

Since the last time we wrote on this blog, we've attended 1 convention, several lolita meets, took part in GLISH and moved across the country for university! We've moved from Hull (in the North of England) to Chichester (in the South of England!), which has definitely been a bit of a difference! It's not so intense a culture shock for Haz, who lived in Bristol, but it's certainly been for me! 

We've also attended an International Lolita Day tea party and done a whole musical, but they were in June so appear to instead be two events I chose to skip over!

In August we attended our last Northern convention before we moved down South (although we will be attending Yorkshire Cosplay Con 2016 next summer, which we're very excited about! It will be the first 2-day convention we've ever sold at, we're treating it as a test run before we look at any Big Big conventions!), Yorkshire Cosplay Con 8. 

The problem with being behind a table is definitely balancing looking cute and being practical! We had a friend helping out with our table this time, and she was also wearing lolita, so things did tend to get a little bit poofy around the back. Thankfully, Haz was wearing decora/fairy kei, so we didn't have 3 petticoats to contend with!

My favourite moment of YCC was definitely the 5 minute walk we decided to take around the convention centre, during which we were asked if we would like to take party in an interview for the BBC! We ended up being interviewed for the BBC Radio show "Women's Hour", they spliced together lots of audio clips of other cosplayers and fashionistas to make a whole feature about geeky culture and fashion. I did feel a bit embarrassed when she asked me how much everything I was wearing cost, though!

Nat

Mint isn't really a colour we have a lot of in our wardrobe, so I definitely had to improvise! I really like the way that pink and mint compliment each other, so I'm glad that my attempt didn't turn out too horribly! I also went for something new with my wig, in the hopes it would resemble bear ears! It looked very cute at the beginning of the morning, but it slipped as time went on. As it turns out, hectic tabling is not the best environment for carefully styled wigs! 

JSK - Teddy Chocolatier by Meta
blouse, wristcuffs & shoes - Bodyline
bag - Angelic Pretty
accessories - handmade/Twinkle Kitty Boutique, offbrand, many many bargain shops!
socks - ASDA kid's section
wig - Geisha Wigs

Haz

Haz really loves the whole aesthetic of fairy kei and decora, and I think she looks adorable in it! We don't have too much of a fairy kei wardrobe, so we make do with a lot of offbrand stuff and a lot of normie clothes that just so happen to be in pastels! We both get very excited about pastels being in fashion when they are. 

top & cardigan - offbrand/high street

wig - Pastel Doll
skirt - Bodyline
shoes & socks - Primark
accessories - Sanrio, handmade/Twinkle Kitty Boutique, offbrand, Primark, Celestial Castle, vintage

We both had a lot of fun selling at YCC, although we didn't really purchase very much because we were so swamped with people! A tiny negative all wrapped up in a neat parcel of positives. We met a lot of people who'd bought from us at other conventions, a lot of people who were wearing things they'd bought from us, and a lot of people who we recognized! I think one of the nicest things about being behind a table at a con is getting to know all the other convention regulars and making friends that way.

Thank you for reading! I hope now that we're at uni and much closer to exciting things and with a brand new community, we will be able to blog more! Just recently we did a big Swimmer Haul, we're waiting on things from Yahoo Japan, and Haz bought herself one of her dream dresses! We're also in the process of planning a Halloween meet, so watch this space! 

 ✿Love,✿

♥Haz & Nat♥

☆ Majikkon Haul! ☆ Prints, Accessories, Mini Wig Review and More!~ *:･ﾟ✧

This past weekend we packed up our little etsy store and headed to Huddersfield for Majikkon! We previously traded at AnimangaPOP! in Bristol and we had so much fun decorating our little table and talking to other vendors and artists that we decided we wanted to do it again. Majikkon was at the University of Huddersfield, and there was a lot going on! As soon as we got there we were shown to our table and set about making it as pink and cute as humanly possible! 

The tablecloth is actually from Tesco and has little bow scalloping all around the bottom; how cute is that? As always, we probably spent just as much as we made (oops!) but everyone else's tables were just so cute and full of pretty things that we couldn't help ourselves! 

The very sweet Wonder Box had a stall in the other section of the vendor's corner, and they were selling little £1 surprise bags! Surprise bags, blind boxes, or anything where you get a mystery gift are definitely weaknesses for both of us, so of course we bought 4 of them! We clipped the little "I Love You" clips to our guest lanyards to make them just that little bit cuter! 

Next to Wonder Box was the adorable Two Days Slow! They had lots of cute handmade jewelry, bows and even bags, but eventually we settled on this little cat rosette. The back is a two-way clip, meaning we can use it as a brooch or a hairclip! And I mean, can you really ever have too many cat-related items? 

Two of the guests who performed on the mainstage (which we had a pretty good view of from our little corner of the vendor's area!) were Kelsey Ellison and the Maids of England maid idol unit! The Maids of England were also running a maid cafe but we were too busy to check it out :c. We got some cute stickers from Kelsey's stall and this Popin Cookin from the M.O.E. stall, which I bought and forgot to check the instructions of, which is terrible seeing as we don't have a microwave! It was the very last one so I had an impulse buy because we've wanted to make a Popin Cookin together for forever! 

These prints and badges are by the very talented Starsqueak! Magical girls are definitely one of our weaknesses, and cute art to put on our walls are always a plus! Above is a Cardcaptor Sakura, a Sailor Moon, and a Bee (and numerous Puppycats!). We also picked up matching Sailor Moon and Chibi Moon badges for some outfits we've been planning to wear together! We also got some little stickers from Starsqueak, but I forgot to include them in this picture! Oops! 

These prints and badges (definitely another weakness for us both!) are by Brogan Coral, whose illustrations are absolutely beautiful! I saw someone carrying around the mini version of the Sailor Moon print, and hunted around every table looking for one! Unfortunately by the time I got there they were sold out of the mini prints, so I picked up the big version (not that I'm complaining!). All of her art was so beautiful, it was difficult to choose between it, but eventually I picked up a mix of spooky, cute and celestial art! The little cat button says "Cute as Heck" and is a perfect description of both of us. 

We also picked up a teeny tiny surprise Sailor Moon figure from AnimUK, the stall next to us! She's so tiny and detailed, although I'm a little sad we didn't get Sailor Moon herself! I guess that means we're just going to have to collect them all! 

This is how we've been displaying business cards we get at conventions, but we're rapidly running out of room! 

Finally, we splurged out and got a wig from Pastel Doll, a stall opposite us whose wares were all absolutely adorable. The girls working on the stall were really lovely and friendly, and we spent a lot of time umming and ahhing over which of their lovely wigs to get! Although a very sweet lavender/mint split wig was a point of debate for a pretty long time, we decided to go for versatility and got a blonde/pink split wig! We wanted to get some little buns to go in it, but they were out of the matching colours, so we're going to have to keep an eye out on their online store! 

The fibres on the wig were very soft and easy to comb through with our fingers for volume, and the eventual gradient between the split was very subtle and pretty! One of my pet peeves with split wigs are super abrupt changes in colour, especially when the colours aren't too far apart to begin with! 

Apologies for the sudden dip in photo quality! The wig when on is super comfy, very lightweight (and adjusts all the way over my uncontrollable mane of hair, which is always a plus for me! I'm one of those people who sometimes orders wigs and they just won't go on! :c ) and most importantly, is super cute! I would definitely recommend getting a wig from Pastel Doll, I think this wig was about £23, which is a really good price for something so well-made and pretty and means you're supporting a UK kawaii business (which is definitely something you want to be doing!). In wake of all of the recent drama with Gothic Lolita Wigs, Pastel Doll is definitely a wonderful alternative! ♥

✿Love,✿

♥Haz & Nat♥

★ ♥ AnimangaPOP haul! ♥ ★ (⊃ ´ω`)⊃♥⊂(´ω` ⊂)

This weekend we've been away at animangaPOP in Bristol, selling our kawaii shop's handmade wares! I realize we haven't really posted very much on here regarding our shop, but we're super excited to be running it and we love doing it! We sell kawaii handmade jewelry designed to be worn with J-Fashion, things we would be happy to wear ourselves! Here's a quick little link! 

I think one of the best things we found about selling at a convention was how lovely and supportive everyone else was! All of the other stall holders were so friendly and lovely, and we definitely overspent our budget! Oops. . .

We picked up some little Madoka blind boxes; one for Nat and one for a friend! 

The above are from the lovely Jessabel! A lot of the items on the left came from a lucky pack, and everything was super cute! The Lagoona print is definitely going up in our craft room! The stickers on the right (we are both so awfully tempted by every sticker set we see. . .) will probably end up on packages and penpal letters!  

All from the sweet Minty Kitty! Absolutely everything on her stall was so adorable, it was difficult to choose what to buy! I definitely want to get more prints and more keychains and more everything; I think we both went back to this stall about five different times! 

A quick summary of all the prints we got, featuring art by: Moonlily Illustration (appropriately, the cat girl on the moon!), Anastasia Catris (the girl with the muffins), Kavon Illustration (Elsa, Anna and Miku) and JammyScribbler (the adorable science cats illustration!).

To be honest, I've never really bought prints at conventions before - but when you're on the other side of the table, you suddenly start to get a lot more of an idea of exactly how much goes into manufacturing every single thing that's being sold, and it definitely gives you an appreciation of other handmade crafters and artists! I know that next time I go to a con, I'll definitely stop to look and purchase; and if you've never really thought about it, you should too! 

We also bought a couple of goodies from 8th Sin Creations; the rabbit brooch is a gift for a friend, but the rosette is for us! The girl running the stall also gave Haz 2 free pairs of earrings, which was super sweet!

I also bought a little Rilakkuma stapler as a gift! Cute stationery is the best kind, after all! 

All in all, we had a fabulous time at AnimangaPOP, bought some adorable crafts and met some lovely people! We definitely want to attend another Keep It Secret event in the near future, and it's given us a bit of a push to carry on exhibiting and selling at cons!

✿Love,✿

♥Haz & Nat♥