Either Suffer or Make Others Suffer

Do you have any idea how long I've wanted to make my own T-shirts?! Do you know how badly I still want to make my own T-shirts?! 

It has been a long and hard road for me when it comes down to crafting v.s. career!

I keep getting this hair up my ass about the T-shirt printing, it comes in waves of intensity and I go digging just to fall back down on my face when I go equipment pricing.
The cost of an industrial inkjet printer is equal to a brand new car, the cost of the transfer paper/vinyl in any amount comes out to a new outfit that includes brand new shoes. Its not an easy thing to start! So, almost defeated, I looked up my local printing shops, even the one right down the road from me wants a bit too much for their services. The price for one individual shirt would make it IMPOSSIBLE to profit from! Stuff like that is more for personal pleasures and groups, not personal profit. This makes me really sad and disappointed, I have so many things that I want to do and things that I want to get involved in, but the big price on the little things make it way too difficult for the average joe.

If I made you a shirt, or just an abundance of the same shirts, I'd NEVER want to charge you more than $10 for it. In a realistic world, in order for me to continue the act of producing these things, I'd need to profit enough to keep me going along with the service. So, even $20 is a stretch, but if it was a damn good shirt with a statement or depiction of YOU then it might be worth it, right? But, my local business wants over $22 for a single black t-shirt. That would literally leave me only one option, charge you $40+ for each shirt!! NOPE! I refuse and I will not do it! 

Now, I understand what it takes to print a shirt. I know from personal experience. With ease, you must pay. With difficulty you must get paid. 

I have cheated, doing silk screening. Its fun, it can be cheap yet time consuming with the slightest of artsy enthusiasm. I can't draw worth a damn, but I'm pretty good at tracing and going off someone's idea. That was and is worth it! If I could do a better job on the handmade screens, THEN I could sell my shirts for $10-$15 and still profit! In fact, I used to make shirts for a local band, they were not the best, but they were pretty badass!

Back to the drawing board, my friends. I will make this work in our favor!!!

Cold Porcelain DIY Review

Its better than polymer clay. It may even be cheaper in the long run!

I've tried a bunch of different homemade clays and never had much success...

Until I ran across This:

I had previously invested in a TON of school glue, so I gave it a shot…

LOVED IT!!! It's so smooth and dries rock hard!! The ONLY issue I had was the sticky stickiness it has even after refrigeration, and I didn't know what to sculpt once I had this beautiful ball of clay in front of me.

If I get a hair up my butt, I'd love to actually MAKE nice little gothy charms with this stuff! SO NICE!

Note: It was a little messy. Having to move quickly to transport from bowl to plastic wrap surface was a bit of a pain, but worth it in the end.

About That Tutorial

I filmed the mini hat tutorial….but I hated it!
It seemed like I rushed through it, the material looked awful…I would never wear it!

But, things are starting to straighten out, so hopefully I will have enough money to put more effort towards my videos and crafts and things!

I am currently playing with shrinky dinks, and listening to "Punk goes Christmas" on spotify. I don't know what I'm doing with my life right now, I'm kind of lost today. Its almost like I don't know how to be me, its weird.

In other news, I'd love to put cool things up in my store, so get this:

      + I have a T-shirt press (my uncle shares with me)

      - I don't have the money for the paper or ink

+ I own 2 different sewing machines

-Not enough material to sew anything

+ A bunch of acrylic paint

- Nothing to paint

See the issue? HAHA its so ridiculous. 

You know what I've been doing for the past few weeks? Trying to keep the house clean, a fucking impossible task!! Every time I turn around, its messed up somehow…I'll spare you the details.

So, I am sitting with grams, I don't know how to entertain her because she hates me right now, any noise I make she yells at me LOL. Its funny, but I really don't wanna keep her pissed off all day. Its after 1pm and my man is still in bed…MY LIFE RIGHT NOW, THO!!!!!!! 

IF ONLY I HAD FRIENDS!!!!!!! 

I HAVE NO FRIENDS….even if I did, I'm sure none of them would be patient with my obligations and what not. 

Just wanted to let ya know whats up, and say HI!!

 Sorry I suck.

My Top Ten Must Haves *Goth DIY* + Examples

Instead of spending your life savings on a few articles of clothing, invest in materials!!

If you step back and look at the amount that you spend on materials, you might say "Well, I could've just bought that outfit already." But, if you are like me, I don't want what is available to everyone else. I love unique and individualized things, so I invest in my materials. In the long run, its worth it, here are some of my personal tips:

1. Thrifting (it saves lives) You can find blank canvases while thrifting!
2. Acrylic paints! Painting on your own clothing is cheaper than paying a company that prints the same T for millions of other consumers.
3. Cheap Materials. Your local super market or fabric stores will have some really cheap fabric, I always go for stretchy, that way when your measurements are off, its not that big of a deal. Also, look for really thin, sheer material, this will come in handy if you want to make your own screen for screen printing!
4. WOOD GLUE! Its always handy and a perfect glue for screens (screen printing)
5. SALES!! At your crafty stores, always look at the clearance sections! 
6. Know your brands! At Hobby Lobby, I always have a specific brand I stick to, because I know how well the quality is for the price.
7. Bring a friend. Friends can help you sweep the stores and help find what you are looking for faster.
8. Food coloring (kool-aid)! Its cheap and always handy!
9. Poster board/Cardboard. For anything and everything
10. Sharp Utensils!! Exacto knives are preferred due to their precision, but a box cutter works too.

Things you can do if you already have these things:

Acrylic paints allow you to paint your own Coffins!

Sheer Material=SCREEN PRINTING DIY!!! (thats an embroidery ring holding the screen)

Thrift material and Cardboard, DIY Mini hat!

Poster board and Cardboard+Sharp Utensil=Awesome project time!!

Kool-aid or other inexpensive dyes can dye your Wool/Human hair weave/Clothing etc.

I hope this was helpful and inspiring!! Follow my Youtube channel for video tutorials, random acts of craaaaaayyyyy and funny vlog stuff <3

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Office Space For The Hermit

I've been working on my office all day, I've gotten as far as getting my monster computer set up in here…WHY DO WE ACCUMULATE SO MUCH STUFF?!!!

While cleaning, I found some things that were meant to be forgotten! Being a crafty goth, I tend to accumulate so many strange things. Clothing that I haven't seen in AGES! Pictures from when I was 2, diaries of a mad goth girl, crappy paintings I did over 2 years ago…need I say more?

Being a bit of a hoarder, I don't really think at the time that I'd later question why I ever kept certain things. I feel like "Man, if I throw this away now, I might need it later! I'll just put it here…" well, I never find it when I need it, or find it and throw it away, then need it or stare at my own reflection and ask myself "Why you do dat?!  Why you hoard garbage?"

I'm a hermit, I do not like going out in the "General Public", I'd rather hang out with relatively awesome and weird people…when all my people are gathered in one place, I have no need to leave, you see, I stay here and hug my junk, lol.  

Making this office is probably a GREAT thing for myself and everyone else here! It's forcing me to deal with my mounds of chaotic messy doom!

NEXT, I will set up my sewing table, then my sit-in vlogging set up with ghetto-fied box lights (the better to see me, my dear). I believe the only other thing left to set up, other than my awesome amazing pole, is my bed. When I say bed, I mean cushy, soft, oversized dog bed, pretty much. When I happen to stay here overnight, it will be only me…all by myself…with no snuggle buddy…except cole, he'd snuggle, but its not the same,
 :( shad faysh

sad chibi me

I cannot wait to start making all my DIY and vlog videos! If I can lose the camera-shyness, I think it'd be a great way to connect with all of my fellow weirdos!

How DIY Goths FAIL! (warnings and tips from personal experiences)

Through SO many trial and error experiments, through bringing a dead girl back to life, how much can a DIY Goth fail?

I've tried to make my own things for years with so many mistakes and fumbles, I thought I was a hopeless crafter. But, I do have some pointers for the crafty bunch out there!

Mind you, these are opinions and experiments I've done, and I am no professional. Trial and error is the only way I've learned.

Now that everyone in the goth community knows how to make their own dreads, I have a suggestion for the girls and ghouls about dreads:

NUMBER ONE!!

Synthetic Dreads

Always make sure that when making synthetic dreads, you use KANEKALON! This was the first lesson I learned, whew, almost 5 years ago! Kanekalon is the fiber you want because of its shrinking properties. When steam is added, the tangled fibers shrink and tighten around each other, causing the lock to stay, well, locked.

NUMBER TWO!!

Accessory and Jewelry making

When you decide to make your own accessories, make sure you know exactly what you are going for. Try to avoid bursting your own bubble, but go hard, jump to it! It took me 2 years to figure out the proper way to create a mold and to make my own charms, and to be honest...its almost not worth it :(

I went out and purchased the mold maker mix, $14. The apoxy jewelry maker (you pour it into your mold and leave it sit for like 24 hours and it gets hard, pop it out, got your charm.) which was almost $20. Jewelry wire (optional, if you want your charm to dangle) $10 for a spool. Then what ever else, like glue, ribbon, sparkles, gems. That was a $40+ dollar trial and error!! OUCH! So, unless you fully plan to mass produce something that will go for 15 to 20 dollars a pop, the hit and miss for your personal uses almost isn't worth it! FAIL! I'm not saying this will happen to you, I'm just sharing my failureness with you :) I won't hold you back!

NUMBER THREE!!!

Corsets

When buying corsets, be aware of the cheapies! My mom used to buy us both the cute corset shirt things from hot topic, NO! Be warned, if you suffer from short torso-itis, be careful buying boned corsets in general! The corsets from HT had plastic boning, cost $50 and with our short torsos, the plastic boning got all wavy and deformed!  These are not meant to make thick girls look smaller! If anything they made my shapely, shortness look much wider than I am. Instead, go for slim fitted tees or something.

GET CRAFTY OR GO HOME...WAIT...usually I'm crafty at home, only.

When crafting elsewhere 

You can pick your friends, you can pick your nose, but you can't pick your friend's nose!

When crafting at someone else's house, please clean up your messes! Don't leave anything permanent on their walls or floors. Don't paint their little one's bodies with non-toxic paint and tell them to play hide and seek. Its just never a good idea!

I'm Getting a Serger!

Raise your hand if you know what a serger is!!

I've been wanting a serger for a while now! If you don't know what a serger is, click the link, or take my word for it:

A serger is a magical machine that creates the most beautiful stitch for perfect hems on wizard robes. The Mystical thread is usually made from unicorn hair and when used, your clothes become powerful...You won't even need a wand!!

Haha, ok, That's a tiny bit of an exaggeration! But, its that important to me! When I first learned about a serger/overlock machine was here:

I've been following squeak for a long time, mainly because we share very similar tastes. Especially when it comes to making tutorials. So, I have learned a lot from this chick :)

I've been whining about making my own clothes for a few years now, and I finally have all the tools to do so! 

My next few posts will most likely be on DIY clothing...pictures pictures pictures! 

If my computer would stop being a turdasaur, I'd make VIDEOS! lol

Stay classy and trashy, dearies. 

btw, I'm on vine

zaneybat

To wig, or Not to wig...

That is a question for us Goth Folk!

Wigs come in many quality categories, but the most popular is usually the least expensive and the most itchy!

I have a lot of hair, so its hard for me to wear hair pieces that require snug fitting. I do, however, love clip-in/tie-in  pieces! I've made a handful of pretty colored head things.

Being a diy-er and a goth at heart, it is no surprise that I've looked like this:

...or this....

(((So, I guess hair pieces have always been "my thing". I remember how excited I was when I made all of these. Every piece has a story, but shockingly, I no longer own any of them, now! I am an artist, I can make some similar, but I could never ever clone any of these pieces! I've tried)))

Now, Some of us do not like hair pieces, but some of us have gone out of our way to purchase or create some kind of extravagant creation to wear! Here it is again, To wig or not to wig?

What are the pros and cons of wearing hair gear of every category?

Does it not always come back down to the price? When I originally made either of these pieces, I did it to: 

1. Save money
2. Be original
3. Create for others
4. Artistically express myself through my appearance.

None of this was cheap! Even buying the cheapest materials, It ended costing a few hundred dollars altogether due to the learning process. When I started, there were 2 tutorials on youtube and only a few pictures...I learned the hard way. It was a fun, yet, a frustrating process, but I would not trade those experiences for the world! Now that I know how to do these things, I want to share with everyone else who is interested, I want to be the one that starts a 16 year old girl on her dread making, or clip-ins selling extravaganza!! I want my people to join me in creating and DIY-ing! I want us to come together and share our knowledge and our methods of madness!!

WHOSE WITH ME?!!

Let me know in the comments below!

Recycling Accessories-Goth DIY-Studs

Got an old studded belt that fell apart and is no longer functional? 

                            

I got just the thing!

You will need one of these:

• needle nose pliers
• hemostats 
• butter knife

Depending on which of these tools you have will greatly impact the outcome. In this case, I have needle nose pliers:

Now, get to the back side of the studs and pry the claws upward and try not to let it bend out of shape too much.

Just pop it off and set aside.

Now decide what article of clothing or accessory you want to relocate the studs to. Now would be a great time to have pliers.

Just press the stud into the fabric until it penetrates through to the other side.

Using Pliers or crimping tool of some kind, bend the claws down inward and now you have a great start to a new project.

Recycled studs can go a long way. Be as creative as possible and really enjoy this project!

If this version was not sufficient enough, and you would like to see this tutorial in video form, Please comment on this post and let me know. Any questions or suggestions are always welcome.

~Love Zaney~