Where the Magic Happens

This post comes in two flavors! You can either take a look at my traditional post, or scroll down to the bottom where I experimented with video content.

Hey everyone! Today, I'm going to show you where I blog. I have a desk in my bedroom which doubles as my vanity, so it's kind of half makeup storage and half writing instruments, with a dash of inspirational nonsensery. 

I had initially intended for the desk to only serve as a vanity, but as I gradually started moving from blogging as a casual hobby to something I took more seriously I decided to allocate some space in the prettiest room in my apartment so I could feel more inspired while I work. 

I sit on a pink tufted bench which opens up for more storage space. I don't really like the color of it, it's a much brighter shade of pink than the rest of my room so I've been looking into fabric painting, anyone have any experience with it? 

Here's a closer look (with me in my lounging clothes in the mirror... class-ay) I keep my makeup brushes and drawers to the left side of the desk, as well as my palettes that you can see stacked next to the mirror. My organizational binder is open and ready to go -- it's been incredible for keeping track of all the minutia of running a blog. I'm terrible with sticking to a schedule but this cute, customized binder has kept me pretty on track. 

I don't have my laptop on the desk for this just because it's not a pretty little Macbook... it's a big, blocky Asus that I got for its gaming capabilities and kinda, y'know, ruins the overall aesthetic. Not every aspect of my life can be pink and dainty, but no one can say I don't try. 

I dug up some pretty books that I use for inspiration. The bottom is a book on Chanel's life and the top is The Last Unicorn comic -- the artwork is gorgeous and flipping through it puts me in a whimsical mindset. The movie has been one of my favorites since my childhood and this is my first venture into the world of comics. I've wanted to get into them for a while but for some reason I always felt really unwelcome any time I went to a comic store and never ended up getting anything. I digress... 

I keep my prettier makeup on display in a vintage candy tray. I've got everything from my Mor Cosmetic's order in there, as well as a YSL lipstick and a Too Faced lipgloss. I like to bask in my material possessions sometimes, so sue me. 

I also have a Baby, The Stars Shine Bright mug (which is a Lolita brand) where I keep pens, highlighters and dry erase markers. 

When I change apartments for next school year I'm really hoping I'll have an area I can designate as an "office" and get a desk specifically for blogging with more storage space for books, my binder and my laptop. All of the extras can be distracting sometimes when I'm trying to write, but I definitely think I manage to make due for now. 

Bonus Super Fun Exciting News: I acquired a point and shoot recently that has a video function, so I decided to experiment with giving the gist of this post in video form. I honestly had no idea what I was doing, but let me know what you think and I'll try making some videos that involved more foresight than just "Oooh, let's see what this button does!" Enjoy! 

This post was submitted to IFB Project #85: Where Do You Blog? 

Outfits Inspired by Betsey Johnson Earrings

If you caught my Link Love post yesterday, you'd have seen an article about the ever-fabulous Betsey Johnson getting back into the game after filing for bankruptcy. Even though her accessory line has remained in-tact, this is really exciting news for those of us that love her quirky, over-the-top designs. 

If you were to skim through my outfit posts, you may notice that virtually every. single. one. of my outfits utilizes at least one Betsey Johnson accessory. It's safe to say I'm obsessed.

My favorites are always the earrings. I have several from her brand, but I tend to stick to safer choices like basic heart-shaped studs. As much as the more outlandish pieces make me swoon, I all too often find myself asking "What in the world am I going to wear that with?" 

So I decided to challenge myself to style two pairs of earrings! Here are some ideas for how to inject some of Betsey's eccentric style into two wearable outfits. 

{earrings, shoes, clutch, bow}

Cute black polka dot bows with gummy bears and conversation hearts dangling from them... an oddly specific choice of accessory, for sure. But by anchoring the outfit with a basic black polka dot dress, you can incorporate a host of the various pastel, candy-coated colors from the earrings into a sweet but sophisticated ensemble. 

{dress, shoes, earrings, necklace, ring} 

I love how Betsey Johnson jewelry can take a simple design like a star and turn it into something unique. The vibe I get from these earrings is somewhere between sorceress and fortune teller. You can balance the gold color of the earrings with a matching pair of pumps, and add some detail with metallic gold nail polish as well. The nebula necklace adds a pop of color to the murky blue dress while tying into the mysterious space inspired aesthetic.

How would you style some of Betsey Johnson's earrings? Tell me in the comments!

This post was created as a submission to IFB Project #79: Your Best Earring Bling. 

The 5 Sparkliest Posts of 2012

I just recently hit my one year anniversary with Rhinestone Religion, so 2012 has been a huge year for me in finding my footing in the blogosphere. I've done a lot of learning by trial and error as well as just plain experimentation. After a year, I'm glad to say I've made several posts that I'm proud of -- posts that I think show off the personality and overall feel of my blog. 

Without further ado, here are my top 5 favorite posts from my first year of blogging!

Fashion Inspired by Game of Thrones

I spent hours making the collages and writing the descriptions for this post, but it was well worth it. Not only was it a huge success with readers and new visitors, it also allowed me to show off some of my personality and incorporate some of my geekiness into my content, win-win for everyone! 

In this post you'll find outfits inspired by Daenerys Targaryen, Melisandre, Sansa Stark, Margaery Tyrell and Cersei Lannister, as well as a brief description of the character and their style!

My Favorite Accessory

Sometimes simple posts can be just as rewarding as long projects. This post is a showcase of my favorite piece of jewelry -- a cream and gold colored rhinestone watch by Betsey Johnson. Just from looking at it, it shouldn't be too terribly hard to figure out why my blog might be named the way it is. This piece fits perfectly into my style and aesthetic taste, and it photographs beautifully to boot!

Life and Style in Iceland

One of the best parts of 2012 for me personally was getting to see my friend Svanhvit for the first time in two years. I met Svanhvit when I was a senior in High School -- she was a foreign exchange student from Iceland. We bonded over our love of Pokemon and by the time of graduation we were practically inseparable. She came back to visit over the summer and we got to spend two weeks together.

Before she went back, I took some pictures of her style and did a mini-interview with her. It was a great opportunity to introduce some unique content and give my readers some fresh perspective on an international level. 

Top 5 Favorite LUSH Products

To my surprise, a post I wrote during an interim pit class last year ended up being my biggest source of pillar content; information that stays relevant and continues to draw in new readers. 

I've tried a bajillion LUSH products, and in this post I share my absolute favorites -- from facial cleansers to perfume, if you're feeling overwhelmed by LUSH's options, this post will start you in the right direction. 

Poison Ivy Halloween Costume

I spent almost the entirety of my free time in September and October making my own Halloween costume -- I was a pin-up inspired version of Poison Ivy from Batman!

When I was a kid I used to watch the Batman animated series and Poison Ivy was always my favorite character. I've wanted to make a costume in tribute to her for years now, but this year I finally got around to doing it. I hand-sewed glitter sprayed leaves onto a corset and made eye masks out of craft foam... it was a lot of work but I was so glad to be able to share it!

I'm looking forward to continuing blogging in 2013, and all the inspiration it will bring!

This post was created as a submission to IFB's Project #75: Share Your Greatest Hits of 2012. 

Poison Ivy Halloween Costume

I love any excuse to get crafty and dress up, so it goes without saying that Halloween is my absolute favorite holiday. Every year I spend the entire month of October working on my costume, because it feels incredibly dull to buy something pre-packaged. Last year I went as a Splicer from Bioshock and painstakingly made a bloodied masquerade rabbit mask. All things considered, that was a relatively cheap costume. This year, I went a bit more extravagant.

I've wanted to make a Poison Ivy costume for a long time -- she's my favorite villain, after all. However, I've put it off because I wasn't entirely satisfied with my body and didn't think I'd be able to pull it off. After losing 30 pounds, I decided I may as well finally go for it. (Though truth be told, I'm still not entirely satisfied with how I look in it. Oh well, we'll stick to the positives today.)

I didn't have a specific version of Poison Ivy in mind when I started fleshing out the costume. One of the cool things about her character is that the costume is pretty open to interpretation while still being easily recognizable. I knew I really liked the way Kim Kardashian wore it, so my silhouette was heavily inspired by her. I also knew I wanted to add a dash of my own personality, so I decided to go with a burlesque/showgirl inspiration for the details... which of course, meant lots of glitter. 

The skirt portion, admittedly, was thrown together rather quickly. I realized I didn't have the time I needed to make exactly what I had pictured, but I suppose it will do for Halloween purposes.

I would like to wear this costume to a convention at some point though, in which case I will definitely revise the skirt. I think a green bustle skirt in the same kind of fabric paired with a garter belt would look really interesting and add to the burlesque inspiration of the costume. And of course, more leaves!

The pieces that required the most work were the corset and the eye masks.

For the corset, I bought two branches of faux leaves, snipped them off into individual pieces and then used glitter spray paint on them. After they had dried, I hand sewed every single one onto the corset, taking extra special care with placement and to try to keep the colors contrasting against each other as much as I could. I've seen a lot of versions online where the leaves look plastered onto a body suit, and I wanted to avoid that as much as possible and allow for a more organic look.

I practically had a heart attack the first time I sat down with needle in hand ready to attach the first leaf to my brand-new $110 corset. Everything went much better than expected though, and I'm actually extremely satisfied with how that portion of the costume turned out.

For the eye masks, I followed this tutorial via The Deadly Garden. I had initially intended to attach them using spirit gum, but upon considering the possible (and likely) consequences that would have on my eyebrows I decided that eyelash glue would be a safer bet.

Total, I'm estimating that the costume cost me about $250 to complete. Though a large chunk of that was just the corset. The wig is this one from Gothic Lolita Wigs. It was actually my second choice wig, but I like the vintage feel of the one I ended up with a well. I also want to mention that I highly recommend Gothic Lolita Wigs -- this is the third wig I've ordered from them and they always have great service and insanely fast shipping. I got this one in two days!

If there is one thing I've learned from going all-in for Halloween this year, it's that as stressful as it can be sometimes I really love making costumes and I'd like to start being crafty all-year. I'm a cosplay admirer, but rarely ever actually participate outside of Halloween. I've been throwing around the idea of making a Qarth costume for Daenerys from Game of Thrones since I saw the perfect fabric at the store while shopping for this one!

What were you for Halloween this year? Have you ever made your own Halloween costume? Tell me in the comments!

This post was created as a submission for the IFB Project #70: Halloween Costume Challenge. Please take a look and give your support to the other entries! 

Crisp Leaves and Chai Tea

My Autumn style board on Pinterest, "Crisp Leaves and Chai Tea" was featured for Independent Fashion Blogger project this week! Go check it out, as well as the other featured boards and entries.

My Favorites 

1. Fifi Tesi's Fall Fest

2. Maya Bogaert's Autumn Arrives Early in the Morning

3. Toronto Shopoholic's Fall Style Inspiration

4. Joanna Suhayda's ~The Autumn Leaves~

5. Simply Kim's It Must Be Fall 

Have a Pinterest account? Leave it in the comments, I'd love to check it out!