city folk.

Emily and I took pictures together today. We went into the city to get supplies. I remembered I needed to go for some reason but I couldn't remember what for.

Emily is wearing a handmade hat from convention, borrowed sweater from Thrift Town, dress from Bodyline, TUK cat mary janes, Pusheen pin. I'm wearing an Esprit coat from Goodwill, swacket from Harputs Union, Alice and the Pirates Horoscope print JSK, TUK creepers, scarf on head from Tiffany's.

I stopped by Midtown Comics because we passed by on the way from Elegant Fabrics. They always have the most recent Adventure Time comics in stock but I'd never bought them because I'd want to buy all of them. Adventure Time came out with a compilation so I bought that one, and then a couple single issues of covers I liked.
A comic I drew today. Lately I've been sleepy all the time starting from when I wake up. I would want to take a nap when I have breaks between classes but I need that time to make lunch. I've been in need of those naps really badly. But somehow when it hits 12 when I'd like to go to sleep, I start to feel really productive and want to work on things.

Love, Kaia

opposite me.

My friend Stephen put me up to the challenge of wearing two outfits in a day with the first being super girly and the second being androgynous. I was up for it. I had been planning on wearing one of my new lolita dresses, but decided against it last minute and wore this outfit that I've wanted to wear for a while and never got around to.
It's a little hard to differentiate my bed jacket with the dress, but my bed jacket is this translucent puff sleeve jacket that goes down to my knees. I was lucky enough to find it at the flea market for a dollar! What a deal. One of the things I love most about the Bay Area is going to the flea market every month. I haven't taken much of a liking to New York flea markets.

dress from H&M conscious collection, vintage bed jacket from flea market, coat from Baby the Stars Shine Bright, Forever21 stockings, shoes from Taiwan.

It's also my first time wearing this coat out. I've never thought about wanting a lolita coat since it doesn't get cold enough for me to need one in California. I didn't even have that many jackets, and was generally unprepared for the winter on the east coast. I've adjusted so well that I start to feel overheated when it hits 50 degrees in New York.
I've also had these stockings for a while. I think I bought them about a year ago when I realized all of my tights are black and I don't always want black tights. The flower print is a little flocky. They're pretty darn good for $5! I really like this outfit. It makes me feel like a princess


I had about an hour and a half between classes, but I had to wash and dry my hair and make lunch and eat it so I didn't spend as long as I would have liked to to choose out an outfit.

Hooded shirt from Taiwan, Obey t shirt from Buffalo Exchange, Kangol beanie from Beacons Closet.

Gosh I wear these creepers everywhere now. They were slightly heavy for me when I first got them but it didn't take long to get used to them and now they're my favorite, most comfortable pair of shoes.

I was on tumblr today and a girl that I follow posted the newest SHINee video so I watched it. I was a big follower of Kpop a couple years back but I more or less don't keep up anymore aside from reading occasional updates on SHINee when they come up on facebook, and f(x) when they have new music. And whatever is on MTV or playing in stores when I'm around in Taiwan.
Taeminie starts it off! How exciting. I'm diggin his hat.


Love, Kaia

Tutorial: Chain beading for pretty beaded jewelry

A few months ago, I mentioned possibly making a tutorial on jewelry making on this entry, after making a pearl necklace for my final draping project. Well, I've got around to doing that!

My favorite necklaces and chokers from Angelic Pretty and Baby the Stars Shine Bright were all made by chain beading, but because I have little to no knowledge about jewelry making, it took me just about three years to comprehend how the technique is done. Once you know how, it’s super easy!

•  First, let’s start of with materials. The basic things you should have are wire, pliers, and beads. I am asked often about where my beads are from. I buy all of my pearl beads from Michaels craft stores. I buy Crystazzi brand ones in the 6mm size.

• Choose what wire color you want to go with for your project. use your pliers to cut a length of wire. It should be long enough to fit your bead and make two loops.

• Using your needle nose plier, curl the bottom of the wire to make a loop.

• Here's what your loop should look like

• Now thread your first bead in

• Determine a good length for another loop, and cut off the excess

• Loop the other side, and now you have the general idea!

• Here’s where the chaining/bead linking comes in. To continue your chain, repeat what you just did by cutting another length of wire and making a loop at the bottom. This time, allow your loop to connect with the loop of your first piece.

• Tadaa! Just like that. After you get the hang of it, just keep going until you reach your desired length.

• Here’s the final piece!

• Remember that you’re not limited in your creativity! Your beads can be different colors, different shapes, and different sizes. For added fun, you can link charms into your piece also!

 Hope you guys found this tutorial to be useful!
Love, Kaia

let's try something different.

It felt like I had been wearing skirts and dresses every day for the past month, so I decided to switch it up a little bit. I liked switching between more feminine and more androgynous outfits when I had shorter hair but with my current long hair, I felt super feminine in everything I wore.
I finally invested in a binder! I'd been meaning to for a while but every time I try to, I get put off by prices and push it off. I ended up buying a cheaper comfortable one with the money I made from online sales at my store. No more awkward lumps when wearing guys shirts, thank goodness.

plaid shirt from goodwill, t shirt from swap meet, pants from zara, t.u.k creepers, sex pot revenge chain lock necklace

I tried arranging my hair into a rocker hairstyle by pulling it all to one side. I am a pro at losing things and I couldn't find my bobby pins, which made it a little difficult to keep together. Lucky for me it's my free day and my destination for the day was Target so I bought another pack of bobbies.
When am I touching up those roots? Maybe never. Or when I cut all my hair off. I've always wanted my hair short and silver. I have a bunch of pictures saved on my computer from Valentine's Day. Trying to decide if it's too late to post those. Also working on a tutorial or two to post on the blog! Looking forward to those.

Love, Kaia

let it burn no more.

Here's a more serious post. Last Thursday was Valentine's Day and I received a ton of letters and cards on that day that I planned to stay up all night writing. Around 2:30 in the morning, I was sitting at my desk which faced the window and started to smell what smelled like barbeque. There were a ton of people running and screaming in the hallway, which was pretty typical but not usually for so long. Around that time someone also knocked on my door. I didn't open it so I don't know who it was. The strangest thing was the sirens outside. I live in Brooklyn, so hearing sirens every night isn't uncommon. What I didn't quite understand right away was why the sirens never ended, and why it sounded like more and more every minute.

It was around then I went on facebook, and read a few posts on my newsfeed like "I'm crying so hard right now," or "I'm praying," or "look out your window right now." Something was up and I immediately got up and looked out my window. And it was something that I've never seen before.

Photo from my window

Absolutely unbelievable. Right outside my window, right across the street from my room, my school was burning down. I'd never seen so much fire before, that it didn't seem real to me.

Photo by Tori Eng

But it was most certainly real, and it was terrifying. My school's main building was on fire. From where I could see, the whole 6th floor was illuminated and engulfed in flames. The fire burnt through the roof and it was the most surreal scene I've ever seen.

Photo by Becca Wong

Photo by Joseph Ghaida

Photo by Maddi Walker

From my window, I could spot about 6 fire trucks. It wasn't until later in the morning that I found out there was a grand total of 39 fire vehicles and 168 fire fighters on scene. I couldn't bear to go to sleep until there was some indication that it would be alright. The first was finally put out around 4:15am.

Photo by Diana Q. Ngo-themissding

As of now there have not been many photographs of the aftermath. Since the fire, the whole area surrounding the building and connecting to the building have been cut off, and the area is off limits to anyone who is not certified as part of the clean up crew. Thankfully, no one had serious injuries from the fire, but the fire destroyed the artwork and art supplies that were stored in the building, including, for many of the senior fine art students, all of the work they've accumulated and been working on for their senior show. I can't even begin. How tragic that is.

I have only one class in that building, which was relocated for Monday. During the time we usually have class, we were to attend a meeting in the student union to discuss plans and ask questions about the aftermath of the fire. Attending the meeting left me so aggravated. Our faculty announced the plans that they had, in which many were terrible. Many of the fine arts and painting majors that attended had genuine questions and concerns that the faculty members deflected or answered in a roundabout way. Students gave suggestions for what they believe would be good steps forward, in which all students agreed with, while the faculty flat out responded saying they're not interested in taking any of those suggestions, because the plans that they created are ones that are in the interest of the students. Which they clearly are not, since all the students are opposed to it. It got to the point that even the teachers who were sitting and listening couldn't take it anymore and spoke out in favor of the ideas given by students. An uproar of applause. One thing that I absolutely cannot stand about our school is the incompetence of our faculty members. Absolutely cannot stand.

While I wasn't directly affected too much by the fire, it was truly among the most terrifying things I've ever witnessed in my twenty years of living, and as an artist, it hurts to know so many people lost so much from this. Some students are left with nothing; all the work from the past four years and their supplies. Losing all of that is like losing part of yourself. At this point, some seniors may need to stay longer to complete their education. I just hope everything ends up working out.

Love, Kaia