Clockwork Fantastica Review

It's been a bit quite on the F Yeah Lolita front! So sorry about that, I've been caught up a bit with other things, namely my Ophanim shop. I've been reworking the packaging, getting things organized, as well as working on making a bunch of new stuff. I've also been trying to get back into creating art, so I've spent a few full days slaving over a hot tablet and Photoshop. I'd like to get back into the blogging swing of things with a review. In time, I hope to do a few more review of products by other talented people, both in the Lolita community, and just admirers of it.

Recently, I was sent a music box necklace by Clockwork Fantastica, a one woman shop based in Toronto featuring lovely necklaces with embedded music boxes. "Jewelry with a secret" is their, very fitting, motto.

Shipping was very quick, my necklace arrived in the estimated 7-10 days which is to be expected with mail from Canada to the US. I usually don't focus too much on packaging when I review something, but I was blown away by how nice the packaging was! I love getting something wrapped up in a bow, it makes it feel a little bit more special that way.

Inside the box was even more lovely packaging. The necklace was nestled in a cotton bag, and the little box was packed with a pretty butterfly (that is now pinned to my great big cork board full of pretty things!)

There was even a care card, signed by Ola, the maker of these pretty necklaces. A care card is incredibly useful for something like this, because music boxes are rather delicate items and I wouldn't know what to do if I had to go about cleaning it.

The necklace itself is just beautiful! Mine features my favorite scene from Alice In Wonderland, the mad tea party. The print is beautiful and very sharp, it's also set in resin to protect it. Copper accents frame the scene perfectly. It's chunkier than most pendants, in order to contain the music box mechanism, and on a long copper chain, so it makes a really great focal piece accessory.

If you're wondering, it doesn't constantly play music, just like any music box it has to be wound up to make music. On the back is a small key with which to wind it up. Fully wound the necklace plays about a minutes worth of the tune Love Story, which is actually my favorite music box theme!

I couldn't resist a quick interview with Ola to go along with the review! She's a charming girl with a very interesting hobby.

When did your love affair with music boxes begin?
First of all thank you for asking Caro. It's nice to know I'm not the
only one fascinated by these old fashioned things... Surprisingly few
people appreciate real, mechanical music boxes in the modern world.

I don't think I truly appreciated them until quite recently, about
three years ago. I had tried to repair a broken music box. That led to
a passionate interest that worked nicely with my taste for nostalgia.

What made you decide to combine music boxes with jewelry?
I worked for a while assembling traditional music boxes, but I do have
a pre-occupation with miniature things and it wasn't long before I
realized I am much better at working with and making teeny tiny music
boxes than with the larger ones. Ultimately I would like to remind
people about music boxes and perhaps revive their appeal by making
them a unique, quite beautiful part of daily life, in a way. I make
them so that they can be worn or carried very unobtrusively.

What is your favorite piece that you have made so far?
Right now I'm particularly fond of the new Alice design and a Rose
Locket that I put on my site earlier this week. I'm always in love
with my latest designs.

Do you have a favorite music box tune?
I really like the sweet simplicity of the song Amazing Grace and I
also like the tune Romeo & Juliet (A Time For Us).

Now, how is Caro-chan going to be coordinating this necklace? I have a few ideas that involve classical prints and a few subtle Alice elements. Here's a coordinate that was inspired by the very elegant and very classic feel of the necklace.

It's a classically Classic Lolita dress with a few opulent accessories, such as a Victorian inspired beaded purse, creamy lace tights, and a very ruffly cream blouse. A few Alice themed jewelry pieces from Disney Couture are mixed in with some simple, but girly, pieces.

Clockwork Fantastica necklaces can be bought through the webshop. Just a heads up, her shop will be going through a possible name change in the next few weeks, so keep an eye out for that!

F Yeah... DeviantArt?

I finally got around to making a DeviantArt gallery to show off all of the various crafts, art, and photography stuff that I do. While I do have a separate blog for that, I like the more informal way that DA works. I can upload things like sketches, half finished projects, or just doodles if I feel like it. So, if you're interested in seeing the various arts and crafts that I like to keep myself busy with check out my gallery. I'm still in the process up updating it, so a lot of stuff currently on there is probably stuff everyone's seen before because it's either in my shop or on my other blog.

OphanimGothique on DeviantArt

If there's anyone else out there with a DA gallery I would love to see it! Do you have any favorite galleries? I haven't been on DA in literally years, so it's about time for me to rediscover all my old favorites and discover some new favorites. In a few weeks I'll probably be making another post of some great, Lolita inspired, artists. So keep an eye out for that!

Amaranth Opulent, Ophanim, & Lolita Nouveau

Last week I got the chance to get together with not only a couple of incredibly talented Lolita designers, but also a number of lovely models. Aly a.k.a. Miss Lumpy has recently opened her own shop, Amaranth Opulent, and Lindsay of Lolitas-N-Cream, a sweets jewelery collection, has recently branched out into clothing designs under the name Lolita Nouveau. It was incredible getting together for a day of photo shoots with these two, I could practically hear my wallet crying out in fear as I got to see first hand the beautiful things they both create. The models were fantastic too, I got the chance go work with Crystal of Pretty Wonderland, Jesi of Sweet Teef, Dalin of La Vida Frills, as well as sneaking Aly and Lindsay away to get some photos of them in my designs.

In anticipation of this photo shoot, I spent some time making new bonnets as well as a few new items for my shop, such as mini tricorns, cake hats, and sweeter styled jewelry.

A couple getting ready shots. We sort of overtook part of an incredibly beautiful ivy covered stone walkway. Check out the second picture, of the end that we didn't cover with hat boxes and suitcases and makeup bags, it's like something out of a fairy tale!

My newest bonnet is a pink and lavender OTT Sweet Lolita one. This bonnet, while the base is relatively simple it is very decorated with a lot of flowers and little chiffon bows.

A new addition to my shop, which the first one actually sold out within an hour of posting it is cake hats. I just love making things out of felt, it's so fun and the result is always adorable. I could not resist making an over the top cake slice on a headband! While this one may be gone, keep on the look out for more in the future.

Another new addition to my shop is mini tricorns. I've been wanting to make these ever since I got into millinery and finally got around to just now covering a base I made months ago. I found out it was so fun that I made another one a couple days before the day of the photo shoot.

Something that is not yet in my shop are straw bonnets. This one is from my own personal collection and is a prototype for future ones. Straw bonnets are very different from my regular bonnets, as they are made with straw hats, cut and shaped into bonnets and then decorated with trims and flowers. They are much simpler than my regular bonnets and will be much less expensive, that is, when I finally have the time to make a couple and get them posted!

For a while now I've been making sweeter jewelery, mostly featuring little hand sculpted teddy bears I've been making out of polymer clay. I really enjoy making jewelery for Sweet Lolita's because it's so colorful and fun.

As well as some new pieces I also got some great pictures of a few of my older pieces, a few hair corsages, and the couple of bonnets I had left for sale.

Here's Lindsay and a few girls modeling her new line of skirts. The park had a fantastic ruined greenhouse that was the perfect place for her Steam Punk coordinate.

Another quick behind the scene's photo! Lindsay fixing Crystal's skirt while our photographer gets ready to take some pictures.

Here's a couple more photos of our location! We were in the beautiful Harkness Park, a Connecticut state park that's filled with beautiful gardens, architecture, and a couple of sprawling mansions.

A final photo of the three designers. I'm on the left, Aly's in the middle, and Lindsy is on the right. While I did all of my own photography (I'm trying to learn to be a better photographer!) this particular photo was taken by the photographer that joined us, Sean Walsh.

Lindsay and Aly have both posted their own photos from the day, check out Aly's photos here, and Lindsay's photos here. And don't forget to check out our shops!

Ophanim
Amaranth Opulent
Lolita Nouvea/Lolitas-N-Cream

Summer's Coming To An End

Today is the first day I noticed a little bit of nip in the air. I also noticed that it wasn't painfully, unbearably hot out! A sure sign that summer is coming to an end, but there's still some time left to get one last frilly fling in before the weather turns cooler and we all have to break out the wool and velvet. This time of year is just about perfect for Lolita's. It's still nice enough that we don't have to worry too much about being chilly, but it's just getting cool enough that we can go out in all our ruffly layers without melting away in the heat. Here are some ideas to help you get the most out of these last few days of summer:

• Host one final meetup before fall. These last few weeks before school starts and everyone (whether or not they are still in school!) gets just a little bit busier is the perfect time to plan one more quick and casual meetup. Pick the perfect summery thing that you've been planning on doing but it's just been too hot for! Have a picnic in a park, go for a sea side retreat, or just get together for some ice cream.
  
• Take a day trip by yourself. If you don't really have a big local Lolita scene, but still want to do something special, use this time to get all dressed up and take a little day trip somewhere. It doesn't have to be somewhere big and expensive, just somewhere nice that you've always wanted to visit, or even revisit an old favorite place.
• Enjoy some summery snacks. Soon we'll all want to be snacking on apple fritters and spiced teas, so use this time to indulge in some summery snacks one last time. Whatever your favorite's are, ice teas in the garden, gelatos in the park, or even lemonade while parked right in front of the TV. My summery favorite of the moment is rose lemonade. I was lucky enough to finally find some rose water at a local Indian market and I've been adding it to everything! I've discovered my favorite way to drink it is in lemonade, made the ghettofabulous way with lemon juice concentrate, because we never have lemon's when I'm craving it, and damned if I know where the little squeeze juicer is anyways!
• Do some closet cleaning. Right before the seasons change is the perfect excuse to do a little closet cleaning. Look for stuff that you planned to wear this summer, but never got around to, things from last winter that are no longer your style or no longer fit you, or just things that you think you've worn enough of and would like a change. Make a pile of stuff you can bear to part with and take a day to get everything clean, take photos of, and post them for sale on the Lolita sales community. Whatever money you make from selling put towards some fall and winter appropriate clothes. It might seem a little early, but especially if you are getting something commissioned you're going to need to start buying a few months in advance. You don't want your winter coat arriving in March like my very first Lolita coat did!
• Take this time to learn a new craft. If you still have a few weeks of summer loafing ahead of you and you don't really have much to show for the rest of the summer that you loafed away, use this time to learn something new. It can be something easy like stringing a few beads together to finally make the perfect necklace to match a favorite dress, or learning to sew some warmer skirts for when autumn comes along. If you're at a loss of what to do, check out this big list of Lolita related tutorials.
• Just enjoy the weather! Find a good book and put some pleasant music on your headphones and curl up in the shade somewhere and read it until you fall asleep. It's getting to be the perfect weather to spend some lazy time outside!
  

So, fellow Lolitas, what are you planning on doing with these last few days of summer? Is your summer going out with a bang, or are you planning on taking it easy? Myself, I plan to hopefully do another round of closet cleaning. I would like to get the last bits of clothes I never wear out of my closet and replace them with a few basics that I discovered I've been living without. I also hope to spend some more time outside, as I've locked myself away in an air conditioned room for most of the summer. It's just been too hot to do much else!

Giveaway Winners

The giveaway has finally ended, thank you to everyone who entered! I got over 70 entries for it, but there can be only 5 winners. the names were all put into a list and then I used the random list generator on Random.org to make a list of the names, number 1 being the winners. I will be emailing all of the winners within a few days and they have a week from then to respond or I'll be forced to move down to the next person on the list. If you're a winner, please be sure to check your Spam folder for my email as my emails sometimes end up there!

The winner of the Classic prize is MintySheepDog! MintySheepDog will receive the rose and feather corsage, mori girl hair clips, Alice cellphone strap, and bag of antique styled beads.

The winner of the Sweet prize is Catmint! She will receive the bow brooch, gummy bear cell charm, a deco'd tin full of deco pieces, and a cupcake ring.

The winner of the stationary destash and pin sets are, Knottia, Allie, and Erin! They will all receive a pin and a selection of stationary. I forgot to highlight Erin's name on the proof-of-winning list, but she is still a winner, regardless of her lack of highlight XD

Thank you very much to everyone that entered and thank you all for reading F Yeah Lolita for the past year. I want to share some of my favorite comments, about what Lolita means to you, from this contest with all of you.

"Lolita to me means I can be a princess. In the awful times of life I can escape, and in the good times the world looks that much more beautiful. I love looking at everything with an eye for frills, and I really like being able to see others enjoy themselves in the same way." -Maya

"For me, Lolita is both beauty and a rebellion against everything/one in my life that attempts to change and hurt me. It's a way to say that I am worth something, no matter what other people tell me, and to bring life and love into my world. I can't dress in it very often yet, but it always makes me feel wonderful. Plus, the clothes have a beauty, elegance, and attention to detail that I don't see in many other places, and which I love."
-Bridget

"Lolita is a reminder (to me) of a simpler time, and a reminder that every girl is beautiful and radiant in her own way. That less is more and way prettier! It helped me find my inner beauty and makes me see how much I have without even putting on a stitch of make-up!"
-Brandy Harlan

"I'm fairly new to the fashion, but Lolita seems to be built on all the ingredients I love; elegance, girlishness, modesty, dolliness, cuteness and antique feel, all wrapped up in a gorgeous sugary fruit cake."
-Eleonore

"Lolita means to me having self-confidence and being able to wear what I love and what I feel beautiful in no matter how many unusual stares or disapproving looks I receive. Lolita helps me feel confident in myself and keeps my hopes and spirit high. It means believing in yourself, achieving goals, and looking super cute! "
-Emily Sansom

"To me, lolita means rebellion. Society has been pushing the idea on women that you must be sexy in order to be beautiful, you must dress to please men, and you must base your self worth on whether or not you meet their standards. Lolita allows me to reject those notions and set my own standards. By wearing lolita I'm proving that even if a woman wears modest clothing she can be beautiful. By wearing lolita I am wearing what I want to wear and NOT what men want me to wear. Lolita gives me the power to realize my own self worth and not let others decide it for me."
-Angie