My First Vlog, The Force Awakens, and A Dressember Update.

Hey friends,

I'm pleased to announce the winner of my giveaway is Angelica S.  Congratulations on winning the lovely Tigerwood necklace seen in my Holiday Gift Guide.

This week I'm trying something new!

So without further ado here's my first vlog:

Please note the volume starts out a bit louder and gets softer after the first couple minutes as I test equipment.

My Dressember Outfits

If you want to find out more about my Dressember participation check out my donation page here and go here to read stories about the lives changed through International Justice Mission.  Affiliate links are marked with a ◊ symbol, so if you happen to follow a link and buy something you help support my site.

Day 1, Dress - LuLaRoe, Leggings - Victoria's Secret, Ballet Flats - American Eagle by Payless

Day 2, Sweater Dress - Style & Co for Macy's, Leggings - Target, Boots - Trendsetter for Hushpuppies

Day 3, Cardigan - LuLaRoe, Dress - Her Universe◊, Leggings - Modcloth◊, Flats - American Eagle by Payless

Day 4, Dress - Cherry Velvet, Leggings - ASOS, Flats - American Eagle by Payless

Day 5, Flannel Shirt - Faded Glory, Dress - Her Universe◊, Leggings - Target, Flats American Eagle by Payless

Day 6, Jacket - Maurice's, Dress - ModCloth◊, Leggings - ASOS, Boots - Trendsetter by Hushpuppies

Day 7, Dress - Style & Co by Macy's, Bracelet - Old Navy, Leggings - Target, Socks - Gold Toe

Day 8, Shirt - Switchfoot, Dress - City Chic, Watch - Pick Your Plum, Leggings - ASOS, Flats - American Eagle by Payless

Day 9, a dress...not sure which, and Leggings by Bombsheller (get a discount with my affiliate code GEEKMEUP)

Day 11 (Day 10 was a pajama day, because I dyed my hair finally), Flannel Shirt - Faded Glory, Dress - Her Universe◊, Leggings - LuLaRoe, Flats - American Eagle for Payless

Day 12, Bag - Red Bubble, Necklace - Marsha Elliott Designs, Dress - Torrid, Leggings - Victoria's Secret, Flats - American Eagle by Payless

Day 13, Locket - Forever 21, Dress - Cherry Velvet, Leggings - Target, Flats - American Eagle by Payless

Day 14, Dress - LuLaRoe, Leggings - Target, Flats - American Eagle by Payless

Day 15,  Dress - Her Universe◊, Leggings - LuLaRoe, Flats - American Eagle for Payless

Day 16, Dress - Style & Co by Macy's, Leggings - Target, Boots - Trendsetter by Hushpuppies

Day 17, Cardigan - Anthropologie, Dress - ModCloth◊, Leggings - ModCloth◊, Boots - Trendsetter by Hushpuppies

Day 18, Cardigan - LuLaRoe, Dress - Her Universe◊, Leggings - Bombsheller, Boots - Trendsetter by Hushpuppies

Day 19, Cardigan - Anthropologie, Dress - Cherry Velvet, Leggings - ASOS, Boots - Trendsetter by Hushpuppies

Day 20, Cardigan - LuLaRoe, Dress - Her Universe◊, Leggings - ModCloth◊, Boots - Trendsetter for Hushpuppies

If my wardrobe choices look limited it's because I've been using a 24 piece capsule wardrobe for the month of December.  One of the pairs of shoes (new ones I ordered in a Cyber Monday sale) didn't fit right, so I'm just wearing 2 pairs of shoes!

Thanks for stopping by and if you liked the new multimedia format let me know in the comments and subscribe on YouTube!

Love,
Lydia

My December 2015 Mini Capsule Wardrobe + Bombsheller!

Welcome friends,

Today I'm happy to reveal my mini capsule wardrobe I'll be wearing this month for Dressember 2015.  If you're not sure about my spelling in that sentence I promise it was on purpose.  I'm doing a great fashion based challenge called Dressember for the month of December.  It involves wearing just dresses to help raise awareness, start conversations about, and put a stop to human trafficking.  You can read more about in my last post where I explain in depth and help me support the Dressember Foundation here.

Dressember Capsule Wardrobe

With wearing dresses I wanted to have enough in my capsule collection that I don't need to be constantly doing laundry.  So I settled on 7 dresses, 7 pairs of leggings (because I have a ton of leggings, I culled some, but I still might have an addiction), 7 tops, sweaters, and jackets, and 3 pairs of shoes, totaling to 24 pieces.

Items still for sale:
2 - Her Universe◊, they're almost out of 9th Doctor dresses, but 10's is in stock here.
3 - Cherry Velvet several other patterns available in the same cut here.
4 - City Chic, available in kite print, big polka dots, and small polka dots.
5 - LuLaRoe "Nicole" dresses in limited sizes and colors available in my friend Nicole's shop. (tell her I sent you!)
7 - ModCloth◊, available in 6 other colors, plus several other cuts.

Still for sale:
12 - Switchfoot Tee, it runs big so I'm able to wear the XL, found in their shop here.
14 - LuLaRoe "Sarah" cardigans in limited sizes and colors available in my friend Nicole's shop. (tell her I sent you!)

Items available currently:
15 - Bombsheller "WyvernScales" leggings available here as a limited edition item up to size 6x (I wear 2X), please use code "GeekMeUp" for a special affiliate discount!
16 - ASOS shimmer disco leggings available in red and black.
18 - LuLaRoe leggings in limited sizes and colors available in my friend Nicole's shop. (tell her I sent you!)
20 - ModCloth◊ Fresh Take leggings in Blue, Green, and Red/Pink.

23 - Converse Chuck Taylor Lo in Cosmic.

Wohoo! I'm so glad to finally show you all this collection.  For some reason the editing seemed to take forever, which makes me extra glad to be done putting this together.  Feel free to ask me questions in the comments!

More About Bombsheller

So I heard about Bombsheller a while back in an article detailing how comic book author Kelly Sue DeConnick's books were getting leggings made all the way up to size 6x.  I immediately had to check out their site and was pleasantly surprised to find that yes, they're selling larger sizes up to a 2X in nearly every designs now, with up to 4X in most designs, which just started yesterday!  Eventually they want to have up to 6X too.  So they excited me for that....

Then I found out that they're an ethical place to shop too!  They make every pair of leggings to order in Seattle, WA, USA, with fabric sourced from Italy that's also ethically made.  Awesome right?

It gets better, their designs are fun, comfortable, and artist designed!  So you can download a template and create your very own pattern.  Not that you'd need to since there are several hundred fantastic patterns to choose from, there's comic book themes, antique maps, layer cake, geometric designs off all kinds, circuit boards, flowers and way more.

They were kind enough to send me a pair of their leggings to try so I could tell you all about them.  They do not disappoint!  They're very comfy, and true to their size chart.  Here are some shots of me wearing them, with more to come in my outfits as the month continues.

Ok, here's a bit of midriff for you all!  Not too tight, but it might show lines under clothes.  If I try sizing up to a 3X next time I'll let you all know if there's a big difference, but this is fairly normal fit for this weight of leggings in my experiences so far.

As you can see there's extra length at the ankle, so tall folks need not worry.  I'm 5'6" and seemed to have about 3 inches in extra length, not too much, though it might be for someone under 5' tall.

My leggings above are the #WyvernScales design that's made in association with Espionage Cosmetics.  (a company that makes geeky themed makeup!)  It's a limited edition design so if you're in love with it go here to snap it up now, it'll only be available until January 1 2016!  And be sure to use code "GeekMeUp" for a discount and so they know I sent you.

That's about all for today's post other than this bit of fun from my studio:

I decided to try using an exercise ball as my desk chair.  Of course I'll have the added fun of getting used to it while wearing skirts all month.  haha  Thank goodness for leggings, right?  I was given an exercise ball from Forever Flex to try out and I'd definitely recommend it!  The 65mm size is just right for me as a chair.

That's all for today, but I'll be back again soon with a crop of new book reviews.  See you in a day or two!

Love,
Lydia

Reflections on November & What I'm Looking Forward to in December

Hi folks,

November

So, I had another topic I wanted to post about today, however sometimes life happens.  Instead I spent my morning waiting for Bryan, my husband to get out of surgery.  He had a growth on his tongue that showed up almost two months ago.  Our family medical practice thought it was a boil or other bothersome skin condition and tried (wrongfully because it's not supposed to be used orally!) putting silver nitrate on it near the end of October.  It did nothing but give my husband chemical burns in about a quarter of his mouth.  They decided it must not be a boil and said they'd refer him to a specialist.  After a month of waiting (in which Bryan lost his job and was told his health insurance would run out at the end of November) he kept bugging the office, and was finally contacted Tuesday of last week.  The oral surgeon saw him the day before Thanksgiving and scheduled him for surgery Monday, the last day of November.

We'd been looking into insurance options, but until the holiday thought it wasn't quite as urgent since we didn't really expect to need the insurance so much in December.  So yeah...I spent pretty much all afternoon on the phone with the government health exchange and my insurance company to come up with some sad sounding answers that might work.  Bryan's dad helped me out too thank goodness.  Bryan was asleep with a swollen tongue until around dinner time.  It was right around that point that I decided to call his insurance company that I assumed was dropping him from insurance and research COBRA options.  After all the long hold times on the other calls I spoke with a fantastic lady who in 15 minutes including wait found that Bryan's insurance was actually paid for until the end of the year!  I just about cried when I heard that, I can't say enough how much of a blessing it is that it worked out that way.

Hopefully this along with some of my other posts explains why I've been absent more than I'd like this past month.  November was hard!  However there was good stuff too with family at Thanksgiving and Word Balloons comics reading group.  Overall though I'm glad that November's chapter in my book is ending and December is fresh and new.

December

So I know we still have some financial issues to work through connected to the change in jobs, but I already feel like December is going to be a spectacular month.  I have a really exciting fashion post to share with you all at the end of this week as I show off my December mini capsule wardrobe and along with some fantastic sponsored content that will be a big first for me!  (hint: if you want a sneak peek of my new friends check out http://shop.bombsheller.com/)

Other great things I'm looking forward to this month include:

1. Making new traditions as we decorate our new house for the holidays.
2. The Boylan Heights Artwalk in Raleigh, one of my favorite places to find gifts ever as well as meeting fantastic artists.
3. Making my blog more beautiful as I create new, better graphics.
4. Baking things in my kitchen and drinking hot cocoa.
5. Finally hosting our housewarming party!
6. Spending time with friends and family at the end of the month.
7. Tackling a great new Monthly Instagram Challenge with the Geeks & Beauties Community.
8. Finishing some long overdue art projects that I'd normally be more passionate about, but life and a bit of procrastination have made a bigger burden of than they should be.
9. Going to the Raleigh Ringers concert (an incredible handbell choir that is not to be missed, and a Dickson family tradition).
10. Finding the perfect gifts for everyone on my list, I might put way too much thought into it, but I really enjoy finding a present that will make the receiver smile.
11. Feeling that things are finally calming down after the past months' turbulence.
12. Participating in Dressember!

Dressember

I'm thrilled to be able to share about Dressember with you all.  To explain further Dressember is an event that lasts the whole month of December and it's purpose is to raise awareness for human trafficking and help put an end to it.  Participants ONLY wear dresses for the whole month, no pants or skirts, some folks even limit themselves to one the whole time.  And similarly to a walk for charity or event like Extra Life where gaming is what's done to raise awareness you can help support this endeavor with the Dressember Foundation at any time over the course of this month.

But let me guess, you're also wondering, Lydia, why dresses?  Here's what the Dressember Foundation has to say about why they selected this as their challenge:

          "Dressember uses fashion to advocate for women who've been exploited for their

          femininity.  As women take on the creative challenge of wearing a dress for the 31 days of

          December, they are advocating for the inherent dignity of all women."

I love this idea, and the challenge too.  I'm building a small capsule wardrobe for just this month, which I'll share with you all later this week.  Plus if you want to see what I'm wearing each day just come follow me over here on Instagram.  And, if you want to join in it's not too late, it's quick and easy to sign up at the Dressember site, we'd be happy to have you!

Day 1

Please check out my donation page here for more information on the project.  Additionally, I'm not alone, there are several other ladies from the Rising Tide Society dressing it up with me for the next month.  I've joined some of them on team Grace Belle to do good for some of those least able to help themselves in the world.  You can read a bit on their takes on the project here at GraceBelle.com and here at Phylicia Nicole.  They've really said things much more eloquently than I have here.

85% of proceeds go to International Justice Mission and A21, of the rest 5% is used to process credit card fees and the other 10% for the foundation's admin, tech, and marketing.  All of these organizations are 501 c3 tax deductible, and you can read more about them here.  Even a tiny bit can help, and my goal is to raise $200 for them, since it's my first time.  I'm a little nervous about it because I honestly feel bad asking for anyone's money, but this is it, I'm asking that you join me in helping to end human trafficking.

Thanks so much for reading.  I'll see you all again very soon.

Love,

Lydia

Handmade Holiday Gift Guide

Welcome friends, and happy Thanksgiving!

I hope you and yours have spent a wonderful holiday with family acknowledging all the good things you've been blessed with this year. Personally I am very thankful to have all of you readers here as I get to know you more each day. I'm especially glad you stopped by today because I have a wonderful batch of small business owners I want to highlight as we think about our holiday gift giving.

While I love many mass produced things like comic books, clothing, and makeup I also have a soft sport for all the beautifully handmade items. And the great part is there are tons of makers who focus on handmade items that fit more niche interests. I believe that spending our money on their great products is one of the most rewarding things we can do this season for our loved ones and the makers. So I hope that you will join me in shopping at some of these amazing stores as you find the right beautiful, geeky, fun, and handmade gifts for some of those special people on your Christmas list. At the end of the list you'll find a giveaway too!

Lydia's Designs - 2015 Handmade Holiday Gift Guide

Paper & Chocolate Press

I heard about Paper and Chocolate through The Rising Tide Society, and was hooked the moment I saw their fantastic superhero themed journals and blank books. As you can see they cover a bunch of great fandoms, plus they have more traditional journals as well as some lovely Christmas ornaments! They're running the following sales this year:

Seasonal Deals:

During November use the coupon code NANOWRIMO15 to receive 15% off writers notebooks and journals; excludes recipe books, ornaments, and guest books.

Black Weekend Special: Free Domestic Shipping with coupon code: BLACKWEEKEND2015, November 26-December 1.

Holiday Deadlines:

All custom orders and made-to-order items need to be ordered by Thursday, December 10, in order to arrive by Christmas.
All ready-to-ship items need to be ordered by Thursday, December 17, in order to arrive by Christmas.

Social Media:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Authored Adornments

Authored Adornments specializes in literary inspired jewelry. Seen above is a beautiful cuff bracelet, and in their shop you'll find rings, pendants, and earrings as well as bookmarks and wine bottle stoppers. Most of the works featured are classic literature, but they also create custom pieces and have items in partnership with John Green which you can find at http://store.dftba.com/collections/john-green.

Seasonal Deals:

Black Friday is amongst us once again! This weekend will include some great sales. Each sale will be announced the day before, so please stay tuned! Since Thursday is Thanksgiving and I'll be spending my time with family, the Friday deal will be announced a little early, thanks!

Use: FRIDAYISBLACK for 20% off your entire purchase, good through 11/27. Visit the shop for more information.

Social Media:

Facebook
Twitter
Tumblr
Instagram

Wood Notions

Sometimes I find myself looking for a more traditional gift, and ornaments are the perfect fallback. My husband, Bryan, is picky about no glitter being brought into out house, so I've found that one of the best types of ornaments we can both agree on are laser cut wood ones. Wood Notions has pegasus and griffin designs, many animals, and nature themed pieces, as well as creating custom designed pieces. I found them while looking for the perfect dragonfly Christmas ornament as part of Bryan's Christmas gift last year.

Social Media:

Facebook
Twitter

Ruskerville

You all may recall not that long ago I wrote about how I'd found a wonderful Ravenclaw themed planner, well, Ruskerville also carries planners fit for a time lord! And for those with less nerdy inclinations there are a variety of other general printed covers to choose from as well.

Holiday Deadline:

December 18

Social Media:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Paper From Heaven

Paper From Heaven is a fellow North Carolinian who creates bags for just about anything you could want, from the fantastic cosmetic set above, storage for essential oils, crayon aprons for kids, to crochet hooks. And her fabric choices are lovely to boot!

Holiday Deadlines:

12/12 for US order
11/27 for International and military orders

Social Media:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

Spicy Paprika

Each pendant and earring in Amber's shop, Spicy Paprika is made delicately from tiny beads and semi-precious stones to create completely unique pieces. Each one is imaginative and has characteristics inspired by nature's own beauty. One of her pieces occasionally makes appearances here on my blog too, I was lucky to be able to watch her create it while visiting her home in California.

Social Media:

Facebook
Twitter

Olive + Pine

Olive + Pine collects beautiful handmade items from different makers and curates a collection that's sure to please the most picky people on your list. And importantly, their shop carries items hand picked for the men in your lives.

Seasonal Deals:

10% off storewide with the code SHOPSMALL valid Friday-Monday (for black friday, small business Saturday, and cyber monday!).

Holiday Deadline:

December 15

Social Media:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Pinterest

Flytrap Clothing

Flytrap makes beautifully designed botanical printed clothing. I own and love one of their cowls that I got last year when I first saw their work at the Boylan Heights Artwalk in Raleigh, NC. Their work is also 100% made in the USA, down to their labels. Additionally they carry a couple of shirts for men as well as womenswear (currently available in S-XL).

Seasonal Deals:

11/27 15% off your entire purchase
11/28 20% off all apparel, both men's and women's
11/29 20% off all scarves
11/30 - Cyber Monday, $30 off orders over $150, free shipping, plus a pack of blank Flytrap Clothing notecards.

Holiday Deadline:

December 21

Social Media:

Facebook
Instagram

babyCorn Soaps

BabyCorn Soaps create a variety of fun bath and body products as well as traditional soaps. Plus they make monthly subscription boxes on a nerdy theme (Star Wars is December's, and November featured Doctor Who) and a more conventional box with seasonal themes too. Anything from their shop would be perfect for the beauty lovers out there. Additionally they make items for men too, such as radioactive shave cream and lumberjack soap.

Seasonal Deals:

BFRIDAY for 20% all items except wholesale and subscription boxes from 12/27-12/29

Holiday Deadline:

November 30

Social Media:

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram

The Little Smith

And last but not least is The Little Smith. Their jewelry designs are hewn from wood and silver to create stunning geometric shapes and sinuous metal details. They've been kind enough to allow me to do a giveaway for one of their gorgeous Tigerwood Geo Pendant necklaces, pictured below. I'm thrilled to be working with them on this article since they happen to be longtime friends of mine.

Seasonal Deals:

11/27 - 20% off the Earth Collection with code blackfriday2015
11/28-12/16 - 20% off orders over $25 with code holiday2015

Holiday Deadlines:

December 16

Social Media:

Facebook
Instagram
Pinterest

Lydia's Designs and The Little Smith Necklace Giveaway

Thanks for stopping by and letting me share some of my favorite handmade shops with you today!  If you have any questions or comments I'd love to talk to you more, so feel free to leave me comments.

Love,
Lydia

P.S. If you need a few more ideas head over to my Etsy art shop at http://lydiasdesigns.etsy.com or check out The Rising Tide Society's own gift guide here.

Cooler Coverings - Fall Fashions

Hello Friends!

This week has continued to be yet another crazy one.  I've been to doctor's visits and getting things done with Bryan while he's around.  And hopefully I'll be able to schedule a follow up for some of the tests next week too.  In any case I've been having trouble with my keyboard that's led me to several house of troubleshooting and very complicated systems of trying to work around it as I've written posts and anything else typed online.  I finally found that a separate keyboard fixes the problem, even though it's super awkward since I don't own a Mac keyboard.  My computer is apparently warped enough that the keyboard is having severe problems, and the trackpad is starting to as well.  At this point my laptop is over 6 years old, so it's done well to get this far, but another fix is probably too costly since it's almost to the point of being outdated technology.  (I had to stop updating my OS a couple years ago since if I moved to the next version I wouldn't be able to use Photoshop.  Of course now it's harder to do all the beautiful things I'd like to do with the tools I can find for Photoshop because they're all meant to use with newer editions, and I'm still running Creative Suite 3.)  But on to more fun subjects.

Poshmark

On another note I am loving selling on Poshmark!  I started selling most of my clothes that didn't make the cut for my capsules there.  I haven't even finished listing everything yet and have already had 7 sales totaling around $90.  If you haven't tried it yet go for it, and have a $10 off coupon on me by using my code to sign up - PYIHF at www.Poshmark.com and then just download the app.  You can buy on the site using any device, but selling and the $10 for signing up is only available by downloading the app.

Fall Fashions

Transitioning to Cooler Coverings

Fall is here in full force and North Carolina is finally nice and cool most days.  I woke up this past Sunday morning to frost covered grass and chickadees pecking at our backyard feeder.  I'm finally having to break out my jacket a couple times a week and we tested out our new home's heater too.  In terms of fashions I'm experimenting more to make the summery portions of my fall capsule wardrobe keep me warmer.  Here are some examples:

With this outfit I decided it was time to start pairing some of my fun tees with skirts.  this outfit is comprised of my Switchfoot shirt, bag from Target, skirt from Torrid, leggings from Target, and boots from Hushpuppies/Trendsetter.

 

For Halloween I wore this Doctor Who, 9th doctor inspired outfit.  Dress from Her Universe, bag from Amazon◊, leggings from ModCloth◊, boots from Hushpuppies/Trendsetter.

I'm really excited to get to reading our picks from Fight or Flight's Halloween sale.  And Miles Morales Spiderman is a new one for me, which so far I'm enjoying a lot!

I know I don't show my makeup looks often, because I don't wear as much.  But I have fun playing around with it and a couple weeks ago I donned a bit to go on a double date night with Bryan's parents.  I used Boe eyeshadow in Fun House, Face Stolkholm's Jeanann eyeliner, Tarte Lights, Camera, Lashes mascara, and Stila Stay All Day Liquid Lipstick in Venizia.

This date night outfit is the Paige dress from Cherry Velvet, leggings from Target, and boots from Hushpuppies/Trendsetter.

Another thing I've been experimenting with is styling my dresses.  In this shot I paired my LuLaRoe "Nicole" dress (I'm hosting a LuLaRoe online party for the next 24 hours if any of you readers want to catch a sale with me! You can find it on Facebook here.) with my sweater from Target, plus leggings from Target, and flats from Payless/American Eagle.

I also threw in some Julep nail polish by using the color "Darby" with this outfit, well technically I'd been wearing it for 6 days before this picture was taken.  It just lasts so well!  As always you can try a free box from my affiliates at Julep by checking them out here:

I've been breaking out my jacket from Maurice's, and wore it with a top from Old Navy, skinny jeans from Torrid, and flats from Torrid.

And finally my last outfit I'll be sharing from my fall capsule includes the jacket from Maurice's, top from Target, zip ankle jeans from Torrid, and flats from Torrid.

This fall capsule has gone well, better than I thought it would when I was panicking that first week about how to style things.  Now I'm thinking ahead to winter and the next capsule.  However I'm going to be doing a mini capsule for December as I adjust when my seasons change.  I've found that grouping the months of October-December would have been a better choice with less need for both summer and winter items.  So next year my capsules will run from January-March, April-June, July-September, and October-December.  I'll tall you more about what I'm planning for December in my next fashion post around December 4th.  I'll be taking a break from writing next Friday for the holiday and so I can focus on filling orders from my Etsy art shop at http://LydiasDesigns.etsy.com where you can find art like that in this picture below:

I'll see you all Monday!

Love,
Lydia