#Step-by-step shirring guide

[anielskaaniela]

Shirring Fabric for Beginners: Easy Sewing Tutorial

In this post, you’ll discover how to step-by-step shirring fabric for beginners. Love what you see ? Support me by snagging some cool items from my shop! Every purchase helps me bring you more awesome content. Thank you! Shop Now Shirring fabric is a sewing technique that uses elastic thread to create stretchy, gathered fabric. This beginner-friendly sewing pattern guide will cover everything…

[schlobba]

⋆.ೃ࿔* :･ lasso.ᐟ ft. erwin smith

( 🗒️: love erwin smsmsm )

⋆.ೃ࿔*𐔌 synopsis゛ remorsefully, your fiancé makes up for trying your patience. reassuring you he has no intention of dodging the responsibility of marriage, in fact, he wants to practice consummation as many times as you allow.

⋆.ೃ࿔*𐔌 ♯: fem!readr; most lowercase intended; breedingg ofc; mating press; oral (f); country life; domestic/homestead; engaged; pet names: diamond, sugar ‎ ‎ ‎ ⓘ wrd count: 3.2k

ꉂ`⟡···· “y’know my dress might needa be a little bigger by then, right?” “’course, diamond… how else are we gonna fit that behind?”

➜ darby, montana

( 1898 ) 12:02 pm

fall sent whipping breezes throughout the acres of land erwin had so lovingly tended, the head of his horse emerging first from the thick tree ridge. your nape greeted him in place of that sweet as syrup smile he’d grown accustomed to. a ways down the hill divided by a dirt path, carving knife warm with your sweat cutting into an apple, nectar running down your wrists while taking pieces for yourself.

the herd stayed closely knitted, expecting ewes grazing peacefully under the territorial eye of your unruly ram byström who also spared glances at the hound dog. with such dense clouds above, the shifting trees surrounding your little washboard and seating provide an unneeded shade, branches supporting a sprawling line of linen above your head.

a wooden table shaved of any splinters supported your elbows, brown eyes taken with how autumn sweeped this ranch not even days after your engagement. tutting your lips in intellection, there wouldn’t possibly be any time to plan a ceremony with erwin making preparations for winter. it was as if snow already coated the ground, seeing as you’d all but noticed hooves heartily beating against gravel.

the rusted whine of the gated entrance finally caught your attention. schulz obediently follows the statuesque blonde, yankee blue eyes digesting you. from that shirred cotton embroidered in floral design to your bare feet — he would turn his trouser pockets inside out all over again.

“one of these days you’re gonna step on something,” he shouts all proper in passing while guiding the chestnut stallion to an open pasture. always speaking chaste yet possessing the unique ability to understand your nonsense.

“not with all these leaves,” one leg over the bench already – you sat the knife aside, “we needs a rake ‘fore snowfall.” you insisted. adjusting the hem of one’s gown, pulling it above your buxom and rushing over.

carefully shutting the enclosure he turned to your nosey expression, “I’ll pick it up with my sheers.” he assured. the man’s lips couldn’t help but curl as you were now inches away from him. though his affections were promptly rejected, “what?” erwin asked.

“ya’ talks about your sheers more than anything,” eyes rolling you ignored that knit forming in his thick brows.

“come on now…” the blonde’s voice faltered in the skin of your neck, pulling away just to see if anything changed.

“spring or summer then?” you scrutinized all but those things that tempted you to drop it like his cupid’s bow.

“elaborate.” his brows fell with an air of unamusement.

even upspoken he knew you were serious. your persiflage continued, “well d’you think white would look good on me in july heat?”

“I think it’s timeless on you.” he gushed against your cheek and settled for the corners of your mouth since you kept moving.

“well then - I just wants to know why you’re so nervous.” your forearms interrupted his rough, calloused hands sliding down your waist. in that moment you glared through him, truly trusting he’d answer accordingly.

“it’s been two months.” erwin stated. “I don’t wanna rush it, diamond.”

the fleeting gaze you unknowingly gave sent aches to his chest, his adam’s apple bobbing before you parted your lips, “why not? are you not excited?”

“please.” eyes cutting to the tip of your nose and pillowy lips, he scoffed. “I want to make sure everything is right before we start a family.”

you giddily flashed your crooked teeth. “who said anything about that?”

“we’re getting married,” he knocked his forehead against yours like a bull. “you’re having my babies.” grin across his face toward the end, finally planting a kiss more becoming than the last few.

analogous to a whirling current of wind gathering you up, erwin’s hands now firmly hoisted your weight in a candid fashion. a brief glimpse of concern lit in his pendulous eyes when your breath hitched in response to such suddenness, subsequently washing over as soon as your hand began blithely unbuttoning his blouse.

your lover’s snug embrace radiated a warmth, twirling with your nerves. for the first time during this lazy october afternoon you’re finally looking like you’ve lifted a finger throughout, erwin hungrily watching these beads of anticipation fall below your collarbone.

“do you wanna start practicing?” he fondly asked, words steady despite his haste. effortlessly carrying you toward the porch of his ancestral farmhouse, authentic leather boots sounding off creaks in the steps he feverly trekked.

“what’d you call it before?” you played with the strands of hair laid thick across his chest, ahead of sitting up in his arms to kiss along his jaw as he jangled the doorknob.

“extracurriculars—” a sharp air left his nose, earning your laughter. the blonde’s support altered to where his palms now held your behind, your legs wrapped around his waist tightly as to stick along for where he’d take you.

the house smelled of sweet spices and vegetables, thoroughly flavoring the meat you had been slow cooking for hours in hopes of a tender finish. its scent wafted through the foyer and pleasantly met erwin’s nostrils, surprisingly arousing him even more.

“christ, how’d I get so lucky...” he deeply spoke into your mouth amidst the hissing breaths and smothered noises you both let out without discipline. the tent in his pants growing larger under the white gold buckle of his cowboy belt, poking at your heat needily.

the blonde didn’t care for sheets or hide blankets, he marched straight into the dining room like one of them soldiers.

“what?” you broke the sloppy kisses to watch the hallway staircase grow distant, eventually out of sight once he passed the kitchen countertops. “y’wanna eat first?”

“mhm.” erwin answered. prompting his placement of you directly on the table yet to be set, hiking your frills up above your thighs. cotton panties gated with a bow, that of which haloed over a stain of longing just for him. a finger of his pressed against your wetness absent of novelty, exploring your folds and watching as they ate up the fabric, cloth roughing up against your more sensitive flesh.

the man had since kneeled, practically breathing into such supple skin whilst pressuring more against your clothed cunt with his thumb. he often caught himself wolfing down the spit collecting in his mouth, salivating at the thought of you on his tongue. it wouldn’t be the first time he considered himself at your mercy.

“yous gone let me take ‘em off all by myself?” you queried, looking down at him with an expectant stare. your fiancé’s gaze was more occupied by your other set of lips then, but he eventually adhered and reached his hands up your spread thighs.

he slid your pretty underwear down the skin of your legs, a hand helping you wriggle the rest of the way. your body tensed when he kissed one of your feet which were damn near filthy from chasing chickens, but erwin was just as ribalding. he simply won’t admit the times his languish left him cumming to only the scent of your worn panties. as if he really needed to, his expression outwardly famished at the sight of you dripping onto the polished oak, smooching up your inner thigh whilst holding a vehement glare.

a gratuitous groan rattles from your depths, enduring the waves of pleasure ensuing as his tongue greedily laps at your juices. those rigid palms of his subconsciously found themselves hooking your thighs over his broad shoulders, allowing himself to suckle at your intimacy more aggressively. your precious hums and squeezing legs encourage the blonde, his pronounced nose bumping up against your shorthairs, jaw slacked so his tongue could properly punch in and out of your twitching cunt.

erwin’s cock had been weeping between his legs, jumping at the sound of his spit bubbling against the bud of your cunnie. you didn’t think his tongue could reach any further but he soon required deeper conversation with such a talkative pussy, forcing you backward onto the sanded tabletop. his hairy forearms wrapped around your legs to urge them apart, fingers creating little indents in your thighs while his face buried itself snug between those soaking folds. the blonde loudly smacked and sucked like a bitch to a bone, licking stripes up and down your cunt interchangeably with tongue fucking you, bottom lip firmly pressed under your slit.

“that feel good?” he slobbered. your yelps and drawn out vowels were complimented by his attentive croons. he empathized with how starved your hole was for his girth, feeling it tighten around his saliva coated muscle in prayer for something shaped just like him to guzzle down.

amidst reply your chin bunched up under the downward look you gave him, reaching lower to spread yourself wider. “go up—“ you insisted breathlessly, heaving in and out while a ball of yarn unraveled inside your tummy.

spoiling you similarly to a debutante made it so erwin rarely put his needs first during sex. only when you began bucking into his face after around twenty minutes of nonstop devouring did he become the slightest impatient. still he chose to satisfy himself with your climax on his taste buds, ensuring his girl’s cunt drooled ahead of pounding it senseless. but even in this pussy-whipped daze the blonde’s cock kept him mindful. the man would never be devoid of any purpose, not when your plump pussy’s sitting all gorgeous, practically begging for his attention.

this time you didn’t have to yank his head of angel hair to shoo him in light of your overstimulation. he’d already stood on the soles of his boots, breathing through his mouth like an exasperated idiot, deftly undoing his belt to release some of the tension.

“diamond,” erwin murmured under his breath only to realize he’s called on you, “mnh, don’t eye me like that.” knitting his wild brows did he whisper. your lover boy could barely stroke his cock he was so close, and your repeatedly renewed expression of excitement at his length was incredibly rousing. “can I…?” words laced with perversion did he query, gently pushing his fat cockhead against your gushy cunt, a groan leaving him as his eyes ate away at your beautiful body.

your meek smile melted him with embarrassment, “hmph, I gots to say it?” you asked, lips forming to wince while you elevated up onto your elbows in search of a better listen.

“no, s’just—“ erwin’s voice rasped out, only when he discarded anything from his waist down and began climbing up onto the table did your face morph with curiosity. “let me lift your legs a bit.” he kindly requested, breath now clashing with yours.

your movement lasted little without his assistance, softly guiding you back to fold your legs. he was now looming over you with an ounce of uncertainty, analyzing the scrunch of your nose and wrinkle ridden strain. words of concern were promptly exchanged, initiating an adjustment beneath his large stature. now that the burning in your hamstring subsided, you had more room to experience this relatively new position, his pelvis hovering a ways above yours — sheer length of his manhood all but making up for the distance.

he grinded his stiffness in a specific motion, teasing himself with your slick while securely grasping the skin under your knees. your moans goaded him to pass the surface, heightening once a few inches actually did. in this state erwin felt he could thrust deeper than ever, sweat running down his hefty ballsack in temptation. all your devoted fiancé could think about was jerking his dick against the hugging walls beyond your entrance, desperate to fill up his barn cat of a woman.

after a few moments of torturously paced action, erwin finally honed how hard he’d let his shaft slap against the plush skin of your ass. grinding his forehead into yours while rhythmically thrusting into you, drinking up your adorable faces if he wasn’t occupied with blinking in that very second. his voice had periodically joined that of your own each time you gripped particularly tight, sucking him in a spoiled fashion each time he reared back. the plap plap plap of his dick made your brain rattle ’round, eyes half lidded and mouth wide with moans like a brothel girl. when words were coherent they implored he continued, begging like the submissive wife everyone expects of you.

the table rammed back and forth on its four legs, parallel to erwin’s ploughs that became harsher each time his cock plunged inside your saturated mess. you couldn’t recall exactly how your dress turned into a flimsy skirt around your waist, folded a dozen for erwin’s gawking. but it was his regards that centered you — his constant presence no matter how primitively he may have fucked into you. the blonde didn’t relent in his shower of love across your exposed skin, passionately kissing over your shut eyes and such when you’re much too engrossed to return said kisses. even minding his off white teeth against your breasts, pampering you delicately akin to a hand sculpted china doll. such precise movements yet the furniture beneath you still moved with exuberance, and you still frothed around him in melded bouts of ecstasy.

“feels nice, don’t it?” erwin exhaled, experiencing himself flex inside you sensitively. the heat of the kitchen spilling into the room, droplets on one’s skin illuminated by a warm rustic lighting. he wondered what you thought of him, pinning you down like that of a roman trying to win a brawl.

“god almighty…” your voice eased out between hiccups of enjoyment, “don’t stop!” you need not ask but he’d developed some liking for the nagging - the reassurance.

“gone have to wed in spring then,” the blonde happily reaffirmed his position with blue collar arms, “seeing as you’ll be a mama by tonight.” he lovingly said before weighing into you more, damn near flattening your thighs onto the table just to allow more room for his shaft to grind against your swollen bundle of nerves.

your reply was written roughly, forcing your tongue past his supple lips and somehow pulling him in closer, imagining your hands cradling his head like this under sunlight stained by fancy colored glass. neither of you let up for air — breathing between this salivating exchange in an animalistic intensity, daydreaming of one another, comfortably naive.

“you’re squeezing me so tight.” he spoke into your loose lips, watching you break away with pitiful squeals once his dick began repeatedly bullying a certain spot near your cervix. erwin relished in your expression, all gobsmacked like an innocent southern belle, only to be broken in by some rugged stud. those beady brown eyes grew wide, and he could only buck at the thought of you cumming around his girth. “what’s that sugar? can’t take no more?” he nibbled at your chin.

“mphhm—“ you hum and swore all at once, subtly nodding while a pressure built up just below the surface of your abdomen, brows knitting almost painfully.

your fiancé struck hard opposed to fast now, letting his pelvis slam against yours with every coo and comment. “y’ain’t bailing on me now, are you? not when y’got me all worked up…” he muttered, his lovely blue eyes sitting drunk on a determined expression. “…not when I got so much to give you, hm?”

it was erwin’s actions that were more demanding compared to his words, usually. but the tone he’s giving you more than beckons you let him hammer you til’ the next harvest moon. his breath hit against your face in wild pants like some dog in heat, and you more than obliged with your digits digging into his shoulders. nose brushing against yours, he continued rutting inside your squelching cunt until your voice was giving out, grasping behind your knees tighter than ever before just to keep his soon-to-be wife still for his thick ropes of cum.

“m’not, mmm’not,” you slurred incoherently. “y’just gonna get me knocked uuuup!” how cute it was to watch your lip quiver with restraint. erwin wondered if you measured your affect on him. certainly not — not when you walk around here asking to be barefoot and pregnant.

sounding like a babbling fool, your trembling legs fought the urge to lock around his defined back, toes curling so hard a knuckle or two may have popped. the blonde’s baritone voice encouraged you almost frantically, pacing his breaths in hopes you would follow said motions, thoroughly guiding your unruly reactions beneath him. all while pumping back and forth, ruts getting sloppy and short as to keep any semblance of your alluring warmth and maintain the perfect environment for his seed.

his ears perked to your groans of relief, listening as you came undone around him with an expression only he got to see. ‘twas a matter of time before your cunt made way for his gluttonously dense amounts of cum, weakly throbbing with each tense of his balls against your gaping hole, pussy lips impressively parted by his sheer mass alone. erwin intrinsically held you under the grip of his large farm-hands, placidly shuttering in response to the tranquil lull your body provided. he was no longer overladen with energy as you more than sucked every bit of it out of him, all your love could do was slowly flutter his lashes back open, witnessing your edible expression stare back into his own unexplainable countenance.

“did y’mean it?” you ask, voice labored with exhaustion and knees still surrounding your pretty lil’ head.

his grapple became lazy and slick with mixing sweat, “huh?” erwin grew perplexed at such a persistent thing like you. though accompanied by how persuasive you are, he learned to love it years ago. pet name on his tongue, he inwardly hushed himself and filled the silence with a considerate gaze.

“‘bout me being a mama ‘n stuff.” you tried to avert your eyes but not only was he still brooding over you, he followed the turn of your head so he never left your field of view, all to kiss you once more.

“a million times over—” erwin muffled into the plump skin of your cheek, marking you from your forehead to your chin with good loving. “you know that.”

“and the wedding?” another familiar question soaked with insecurity left your nectar flavored lips, those of which erwin often had to ignore just to hear you clear.

“hmph…” he freed your legs at last, sitting up but not slipping out just yet. “may. when the sun lasts longer and you won’t need sleeves.” erwin said thoughtfully. the blonde’s sentence narrated the image he envisioned, his wife amidst fields of green dawning victorian lace and warm silver.

“y’know my dress might needa be a little bigger by then, right?” you said cautiously. a hand of yours grazed your belly, heavy with implication and overall fatigue.

“’course, diamond…” you could hear his toothy smile before cutting your eyes to him, both his palms now encapsulating the waist they fit so perfectly around. “how else are we gonna fit that behind?”

ᯓᡣ𐭩

[femmefatalevibe]

Femme Fatale Guide: Fall Wardrobe Essentials

Staple Tees:

**Purchase in Modal, Pima cotton, or a cotton-cashmere blend**

Fitted crewneck tees (long-sleeves/tees & tanks for layering)

Relaxed fit long-sleeve tees

Turtleneck long-sleeve top (fitted & relaxed fit options)

Contour bodysuits

Blouses/Shirting:

Silk button-down blouse

Cotton button-down blouse

Silk shell top/t-shirts/camis (for layering)

Sculpt knit top(s)

Self-tie wrap blouse

Shirred boatneck, mock neck, or cowlneck silk blouse(s)

Leather button-down

Knitwear:

Thin cashmere/wool crewneck sweater (fitted/relaxed fit)

Thin cashmere/wool turtleneck sweater

Chunky relaxed-fit cable knit sweater

Knit polo-neck sweater

Cashmere sweater vest (crewneck, v-neck, and/or turtleneck)

Mockneck cashmere/wool sweater

Cashmere long-sleeve sweater dress

Cashmere/knit skirt (mini, midi, or maxi - depending on your personal preferences)

Sophisticated coordinating knit set (top/pants or skirt of your choice)

Casual knit set (top/pullover and relaxed fit pants)

Cashmere cardigan

Cable knit cardigan (doubles as a light jacket)

Bottoms:

Black straight-leg jeans

Black bootcut/flared jeans

Black straight/bootcut trousers

Wide-leg trousers (I love a solid black, black pinstripe, and black with lace-up detail selection)

High-waisted leather pants

Split hem trousers

Stretch jersey/cashmere pants (straight-leg or flared)

Quilted leather/tweed mini skirt

Knit/wool mini and/pencil skirt

Leather skirt (mini or midi)

Silk midi skirt

Dresses/Jumpsuits:

Knit/sweater dress

Little black dress (shift dress/A-line cuts are great)

Blazer dress/jumpsuit

Slip dress (for layering)

Minimal black jumpsuit ("LBJ")

Leather and/or denim dress or jumpsuit

Jackets & Outerwear:

Black tailored blazer

Leather blazer

Tweed jacket

Trench coat

Leather moto/cropped/bomber jacket

Black wool coat

Raincoat ( I like Rains for high-quality options on the affordable side that are still built to last for several seasons)

Statement jacket/coat

Footwear:

Sleek flat/low-heel black boots with a pointed-toe or square-toe silhouette (I love Vagabond, Jeffrey Campbell, Vince Camuto, and Sam Edelman for more affordable, high-quality options)

Black loafers/sleek black flats

Black lace-up boots

Black heeled boots

Black pumps

White sneakers

Rain boots (I recommend the Melissa Shoes Welly/Grip/Step boots or a stylish, sustainable, and more affordable option)

Accessories:

White/black ankle & crew socks

Black control top tights

High-waisted shapewear shorts

Chunky/small chain necklaces & bracelets

Simple pendant necklace(s)

Pearl necklace

Simple diamond studs

Crystal drop earrings

Minimalist bangles

Stackable rings

A sleek, minimalist black tote (can fit a laptop for work/travel)

Black shoulder bag

Small black bag (top handle, crossbody, etc.)

Statement bag/evening bag

Cashmere scarf

Silk/decorative scarf

Fingerless/touch-screen friendly, lightweight gloves

Lingerie/Loungewear:

Seamless bra/underwear

Lace bra/underwear

Matching pullover cotton sweatshirt/sweatpants

Knit or jersey cotton top/lounge pants set

Luxurious pajama set (silk, Tencel, cashmere, etc.)

A to-die-for piece of lingerie like a lace slip/silk teddy

Silk or cozy robe

Cozy open-back slippers

[kleftiko]

❦ IF YOU’LL LET ME

cw: mature, early seasons spencer, loss of virginity, soft sex, fem!reader, praise, mentions of alcohol

“hey, spence. it’s late.”

his eyes dart down to your chest, words stuck in his throat but you don’t seem to mind. instead you continue to dab your shirt, holding open the door and turning your back as you head in to allow him to follow you into your hotel room.

the plush duvet folds under your weight as you sit on the bed, spencer stands awkwardly eyeing the table beside the fridge.

“you were drinking?” he asks.

you chuckle a bit and motion to your wet shirt. “i was trying, but the mini bar had other ideas.”

his nimble fingers pick up the small bottle, briefly glancing over the label before bringing it to his nose and grimacing at the smell.

“didn’t know you like whiskey.” he says.

“spencer.” you lean back on your hands, eyes trailing over his lanky frame and combed back hair. “what are you doing here?”

“am i not welcome?”

“you’re always welcome,” you shake your head. “if you let me know why. we’re flying back home in the morning, something bothering you?”

spencer attempts to place the bottle back on the table, but his clumsy fingers knock it over, causing a disruptive sound to ricochet through the room as the glass comes in contact with the wood. he awkwardly tries to catch it, placing it back up right and taking his hands far away from it.

the boy’s gaze moves back towards you, his mouth opening to answer your question when he looks back down at your chest and flushes, turning his head towards the door.

“don’t you want to change your shirt?” he asks.

the dark fabric clings to your skin, highlighting your silhouette and putting your tits on display.

“it’s my room.” you say and stand up. he doesn’t look towards you.

“i can’t imagine wet fabric that reeks of alcohol being preferred to a clean and warm shir—“

“—spence.” you cut him off, standing in front of him. “what’s wrong?”

his focus flickers to your face for a split second.

“nothing is wrong, i just… i was thinking…”

your instinct is to pull a joke at his words, but with his demeanour you could tell this was really bugging him, so you refrain.

“about?” you prompt softly.

“you…” his fingers travel back to the mini whiskey bottle, tinkering with it. “i’ve been thinking of you a lot lately…”

you couldn’t help the small smile that tugs at your lips.

“you have?” it comes out in a soft tone, and spencer nods. “what about me?”

you had an idea as to what has been bugging spencer. with the warm weather finally making a comeback, morgan has been going on his yearly appreciation rants about spring break. women having fun and warm weather we’re two of his favourite things, the sex that usually leads to that was just a bonus.

everyone figured spencer hadn’t had an experience like that, not having gone through the typical childhood, after all. and it didn’t take a room full of profilers to notice the way his eyes stayed on you for a second longer than everyone else.

spencer sighs.

“morgan said i should just go for it.” he mumbles.

you take a step closer to him, looking up through your lashes at his handsome face. “i agree with him.”

you see his adam’s apple bob from a harsh gulp.

“can—can i kiss you?” he whispers.

you nod your head.

and his lips are soft. spencer is so gentle and awkward as he kisses you that it’s you who grabs his hands and guides them to your hips. it seems he has a hard time touching you and kissing you at the same time, alternating between the two every few seconds and setting a choppy pace. you feel him start to get angry with himself at not being able to do both at once.

you pull away. “it’s okay, spencer.”

“i’m sorry, i’m new to this.” he rambles quickly and you giggle, taking his hand and pulling him to sit on the bed.

you take the place next to him and look into his eyes, bringing his hand back to your waist.

“you can do whatever you want.” you give him permission.

his hands start to wander your body. those curious fingers that clumsily knocked over the whiskey now exploring the curves of your body. his focus followed his hands, and you watch his face, smiling at the look of wonder on his face as his touch travelled higher up.

when they reach your face, his hands cup your jaw and he pulls you slowly towards him. you hum softly into his mouth, getting lost in his gentleness.

it’s not longer before you find yourself pressed up against his body, enjoying your own exploration of him until you come down to his pants.

“do you want to continue?” you ask him after feeling his hard on.

spencer gulps a bit, but nods. “please, if you’ll let me.”

you smile at him and move back, finally taking off your wet shirt, his eyes once again zone in on your chest. he reaches out a tentative hand, and when he doesn’t get a slap on the wrist he touches your skin.

it gives him a surge of confidence and he goes back to kiss you. the make out session staying slow but heating up as you two began to undress each other, both looking with wonder at each other’s bare bodies.

you find him mounted on top of you as you lay on the soft duvet, his fingers between your legs as he listens to the noises you make.

“how are you so good at this?” you gasp, eyes screwed shut.

“the clitoris has over 10 000 nerve endings, more than any other part of your—”

you kiss him, not meaning to shut him up but you just couldn’t help it, he was too cute.

he lets out a small whine when you pull away from him, and you can’t help but coo as you grab a packet from the nightstand.

“don’t worry, spence, it’s not over.”

he breaths a sigh of relief, allowing you to roll the condom onto him before you fall onto your back again.

“are you sure about this?” he asks, grabbing the base of his dick to line up with you. you nod.

“please, spencer, if you’ll let me.”

your eyes close in content as he fills you up.

“you feel so good.” you mumble, and he pulls back a bit to thrust softly.

you don’t hold back on noises, wanting spencer to feel confident that he’s doing a good job.

“w-wow.” he gasps.

“i know, baby, i know.” you reach your hand up to card through his hair. “you’re doing so good.”

he picks up the pace again, breaths becoming heavy as he gets the hang of making himself feel good.

you feel him going quick, muttering about being close as you tell him, “you’re making me feel so good, spencer. please cum, i want you to feel good, too.”

he groans your name, voice catching in his throat as he cums into the condom, but he doesn’t stop. you hear his pained noises of over stimulation as he continues his thrusting.

“spencer, what are you doing?” you ask, a bit concerned.

“you didn’t cum. ‘need to make you feel good, too.” he mumbles.

“oh, baby, no.” you go to kiss his lips, drawing his attention away from thrusting as he melts into you. “you made me feel so good already, this night is about you.”

“but—”

“—no buts.” you give him another kiss. “lay down with me now, you need rest.”

you can tell he wants to argue some more, but his body betrays him, falling into your embrace as you hold him.

“you did so good, spencer.” you reassure him, fingers in his hair as you coax him to relax.

“i did?” he asks, tone unbelieving.

you kiss his forehead. “so, so good.”

[lizzaneia-elizalde]

Slow dancing in the moonlight with either Zero or Ashton? Who would enjoy that more? What song would they be dancing to?

Slow dancing in the moonlight with Zero and Ashton!

I need a break from school so here I am answering a bit of my inbox. Still on hiatus tho! Just need a break.

Also, ALL LAUFEY SONGS YEAHHH

Yandere! Butler

Song: What Love will do to You by Laufey Lately, I've been in a haze Running late, can't think straight The world feels smaller, yet the trees look taller There's enchantment in the air I know I sound stupid, I do That's what love will do to you

Zero has been patient all the time with you. He's been slowly making you fall in love with him, but also making sure you were fine with your pregnancy. He is still a chimera after all. This pregnancy might be dangerous for your health.

But he held your hand gently as he guided you to the rooftop balcony.

The prince has been stressing you out greatly, even after you announced that you want to annul the engagement. Saying that he'll accept this bastard's son, and that he wants to be back together with you.

This, of course, pissed off Zero a lot. What does he even mean by that? Typical behavior.

After being caught, the prince fainted from shock, but you only batted your eyelashes and hugged Zero, who has a protective hold on your body. After being dragged away, the prince went on a mad ramble saying that you cheated on him.

The public was more or less secretly laughing at the prince's hypocrisy, getting tired of having the prince and his mistress as gossip, and was now more interested in you and Zero.

But currently, the both of you were on the path of marriage.

Marriage?

Yes, because of the child growing inside of you, Zero cannot just be your butler forevermore. He needs to be your spouse to recognize the child officially.

But, at the advice of the doctor, you need to get to 2nd trimester to avoid any danger, especially that the 1st trimester is the most dangerous.

But with the prince going on and on about wanting to be back with you... It's stressing you out.

So, to ease your tense body, he brought you to the balcony.

"Master... Ah, no. Y/n." Zero whispered, holding your left hand with his right as his other hand gently caressed your waist.

Music wafted from a resonance device, playing a song from the up and coming singer that you heard of.

Zero smiled, guiding you to a well practiced dance that you expected from your perfect butler, who knows everything.

With the night breeze just chilly enough that it was comfortable, and the moon being your personal spotlight, Zero brought you close, leaning his head on top of your head/on your chest.

"I love you, Y/n. And I will do anything and everything for you. I promise you that."

Yandere! Emo

Song: Lovesick by Laufey When the gold rays fell on your skin And my hair got caught in the wind The choir sang a melancholic hymn In the morning, you would gone I'd be mourning, tryin' to hold on To the memory of your lips God, I'm so lovesick What have you done to me?

Ashton stumbled forward. His feet clumsily prodding from one step to another as you pulled him from the Spring Dance.

It's been three months since the start of your arrangement with him.

You truly don't know how you became so in love with Ashton, but here you were, giggling as you pulled him away from the blaring pink lights, flowers, and the gaggle of students dancing and flirting.

You wanted to be alone with him again.

It honestly agitates you how much you always craved him. It felt so... Forced? But do you care right now?

No, not by the look of Ashton flushing red as he watched the both of your hands intertwined.

Is this the same guy who bends you over almost everyday and makes you his?

In your rose tinted glass look of him, he's adorable and perfect. Just the correct amount of gap between his dorkiness and seriousness. You loved his connection with emotion, his lifestyle, and well, style.

Even in Spring Dance, where he's wearing a rolled up white dress shirt, black vest, loose necktie, skinny jeans, a pink rose corsage, and his piercings, he still incorporated his unique style despite being targeted due to it.

Maybe that's it? He's so unapologetic about it.

Yeah. Maybe.

And with your pink spring outfit, you both looked the total opposite but you honestly loved it. Breaking barriers between socially constructed groups is what you want to advocate after weeks being with Ashton.

The pink flower petals scattered around you as the wind picked up, brushing away the petals like a broom.

And now, you dragged him to the rooftop and away from the gardens where the dance happened.

"Ashton! Let's dance! Just the both of us!" You delightfully said, bringing him close and goofily dancing to the song that the garden was blasting.

Ashton gave a light chuckle, a blush on his cheeks. "Alright, alright."

On the other hand, Ashton was over the moon. His eyes looked at you with so much affection that you were unaware of.

You were enjoying yourself greatly, the pink lights reaching your skin and casting a fun, exciting glow to the both of you as you both danced to however both of your bodies wish too.

And, as the night went on, Ashton forgot the pink love potion hidden on his back pocket, deluding himself that your affection was real, and not forced by him.

At the very least, this night will be something genuine to him.

[supplychainbeat]

How to Implement Flat Rate Pricing on Shopify: A Comprehensive Guide

In the world of e-commerce, pricing strategies can make or break your business. One popular and effective pricing strategy is flat rate pricing. This approach simplifies the pricing structure for both merchants and customers, making it a go-to choice for many online retailers. If you're considering implementing flat rate pricing on your Shopify store, this comprehensive guide will walk you through the process, benefits, and tips for success.

What is Flat Rate Pricing?

Flat rate pricing refers to a pricing model where a single price is set for a specific product or service, regardless of quantity, customer location, or other variables. This approach eliminates complexity and confusion around pricing, making it easier for customers to understand the costs associated with their purchases. For example, if you sell T-shirts, you might set a flat rate of $25 for each shirt, regardless of the size or design.

Why Use Flat Rate Pricing on Shopify?

Simplicity: Flat rate pricing is easy to understand for both you and your customers. There’s no need for complicated calculations or tiered pricing structures.

Transparency: Customers appreciate knowing exactly what they will pay at checkout. Flat rate pricing builds trust and encourages customers to make a purchase.

Encourages Bulk Purchases: Customers might be more likely to buy multiple items if they know the price remains the same for each item. This can lead to increased sales.

Streamlined Marketing: Flat rate pricing allows for clear messaging in your marketing efforts. You can easily promote a specific price point, making it attractive for customers.

Easier Inventory Management: With a straightforward pricing model, you can more easily manage your inventory and track sales.

Setting Up Flat Rate Pricing on Shopify

Setting up flat rate pricing on your Shopify store is straightforward. Follow these steps to get started:

Step 1: Log in to Your Shopify Admin

Go to Shopify and log in to your account.

Step 2: Create a Product or Edit an Existing Product

From your Shopify admin, navigate to Products.

Click on Add product to create a new product or select an existing product you wish to modify.

Step 3: Set the Price

In the product details page, locate the Pricing section.

Enter your flat rate price in the Price field. For instance, if you are selling T-shirts for a flat rate of $25, simply input $25.

Step 4: Configure Shipping Settings (If Applicable)

If you're also using flat rate shipping, you can configure it in the next steps:

From the Shopify admin, go to Settings and then click on Shipping and delivery.

Under the Shipping section, click Manage rates next to the shipping profile you want to edit.

Click on Add rate to create a flat rate shipping option.

Enter a name for the shipping method, such as "Flat Rate Shipping," and set the cost to the desired amount. This will apply to all orders regardless of the order's weight or value.

Step 5: Publish Your Product

After setting the price and shipping options, scroll down to the bottom of the product page and click Save. Your product is now ready for customers to purchase at a flat rate.

Additional Considerations for Flat Rate Pricing

Bundling Products: Consider offering product bundles at a flat rate. For example, if a customer buys three T-shirts, you could offer them for a combined flat rate of $60 instead of $75. This encourages bulk purchases and increases average order value.

Discount Codes: Implement discount codes for your customers to incentivize larger purchases. For instance, you could create a code that offers a flat rate on orders over a certain amount.

Sales and Promotions: Use flat rate pricing during sales events to attract more customers. For example, you might have a "Flat Rate Day" where all products are sold at a reduced flat rate.

Custom Options: If you offer customizable products, consider a flat rate for specific options. For example, a personalized T-shirt could be priced at a flat rate of $30, regardless of the design or text chosen by the customer.

Monitor Performance: Keep track of how flat rate pricing affects your sales. Use Shopify's analytics tools to analyze customer behavior and identify any trends or patterns.

Pros and Cons of Flat Rate Pricing

Pros:

Customer-Friendly: Flat rate pricing is straightforward and eliminates confusion during the checkout process.

Higher Conversion Rates: Clear pricing can lead to more completed purchases.

Improved Customer Loyalty: Customers are likely to return to a store that offers transparent pricing.

Cons:

Potentially Lower Profit Margins: If not carefully calculated, flat rate pricing might reduce your profit margins, especially on lower-cost items.

Not Suitable for All Products: Some products may require more complex pricing strategies due to factors like size, weight, or customization options.

Best Practices for Flat Rate Pricing on Shopify

Do Your Research: Analyze your competitors’ pricing models to ensure your flat rate prices are competitive yet profitable.

Test and Adjust: Implement your flat rate pricing and monitor its performance. Be willing to make adjustments based on customer feedback and sales data.

Clear Communication: Clearly communicate your flat rate pricing on your website, product pages, and marketing materials. Ensure customers understand what they are paying for.

Use High-Quality Images: Invest in high-quality product images to enhance your store’s visual appeal. A clear representation of your products can justify your flat rate pricing.

Leverage Customer Reviews: Encourage satisfied customers to leave reviews on your product pages. Positive feedback can help build trust and encourage new customers to make purchases.

Conclusion

Flat rate pricing can be a game-changer for your Shopify store. It simplifies the purchasing process, builds customer trust, and can lead to increased sales. By following the steps outlined in this guide and implementing best practices, you can effectively incorporate flat rate pricing into your e-commerce strategy.

Remember to continuously monitor your pricing strategy's performance and be open to adjustments as needed. With the right approach, flat rate pricing can enhance your customers' shopping experience and boost your business's bottom line.

[rlikerefashion-blog]

Shirring Fabric for Beginners: Easy Sewing Tutorial

[buckyswinterbaby]

Always By My Side — Prologue

Synopsis: Young Bucky and Ziarah learn about the story of the fates and soulmates. Whether the tales are true or not is left to be seen.

Pairings: Bucky Barnes x Black!OFC Ziarah Heartwell

Warnings (will change with each chapter): none that come to mind for this chapter besides a referencing to God.

Word Count: 1,189

Acknowledgement: I’ve created this AU alongside my best friend Taylor in roleplays, along with many of the plots and scenes that will be featured. I’m posting this with his expressed permission as we both continue to work on the story in our chat. Credit for its creation goes to both of us.

Please like, comment, and reblog (I love that shit). Click here to fill out the form to be added to my tag list!

Note: This is is kind of a teaser/prologue to the series I’ll be posting the first chapter to soon called Always By My Side. It’s an AU my best friend Taylor and I have been building off of an imaginary friend prompt. I’m hoping this snippet will give you a bit of insight into the purpose of the soulmate bond in their world so you have some context going in. Hope you enjoy.

Addition: I said I’d tag you when I posted my WOC OFC story so here’s the first part, @bucky-the-thigh-slayer!

[Brooklyn - Late 1920’s]

Faded hues of yellows and oranges could still be seen through the thin panes of glass of the Barnes residence. The table had just been cleared from supper, the delicious aroma of Winnifred’s cooking still clung to the air.

Bucky and his sibling gathered on the floor in front of their mother, all freshly bathed and dressed for bed. The anticipation was clear in the younger ones’ faces as they prepared for their nightly story, though Bucky decided Rebecca’s shown the brightest. The woman couldn’t help but laugh as she settled into the wooden rocking chair that had soothed all of her children throughout the years.

“What story would you like to hear tonight, dears?” Winnifred’s smooth voice interrupted the youngest pair’s fit of giggles.

Charles, the second oldest after Bucky, was the first to answer. “Tell us the one about the coal miners again!” It was always his answer as he loved the voices his mother would use during her retellings.

Rebecca seemed less than sold on the idea as her freckled nose scrunched in distaste. “That one is silly! I want to hear about soulmates. Will you tell us that one, ma?” The glint in her eyes only seemed to grow as her mother hummed in agreement.

The rhythmic creaking of wood on wood could be heard as she began to rock, summoning the tales of lovers separated by miles being brought together with a bond that only true love could create, or so they said. Her blue eyes fell to Bucky’s, which mirrored her own, as she began to speak.

“They say the bond of soulmates is rare, God’s way of bringing together two people destined to meet and fall in love. The first stories were from long ago, before planes, cars, or even trains existed. When the corners of the earth were undiscovered and untouched by man. A time when mere miles could act as a barrier to keep others from ever meeting. The two individuals would see visions of one another, guiding them closer together over time. A mirrored reflection of their fated love.”

The children listened to her words with great interest as she continued her story, even Bucky’s attention seemed to turn her way. He had heard the stories a million times when he was younger. He’d lean in the doorway as she rocked a babe in her arms, telling them the tale that he had deemed himself too old to care about. Yet, as he found himself at the age where the pretty young dames around were of great interest, he also found himself considering the possibility. That there was someone out there in the world who was destined to love him in the truest way.

Bucky was sure it was a fairytale at its core, meant to spark a light of hope and possibility in the young eyes of youth. Even so, he couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something more akin to fate at play.

[Brooklyn - 2004]

Ziarah leaned over the top railing of the bunk bed she shared with her older brother. The boy on the lower bed rolled her eyes at the continued antics of their nightly routine as this was the third time his sister had been brought to bed that night alone. The four year old grinned goofily as her mother, Hanna, adjusted the silk bonnet on her head.

“Lay back and tuck in, my little bumblebee,” the woman said fondly, climbing the first few rungs of the ladder to pull the blankets up to her daughter’s shoulders. Once she was satisfied, she climbed back down to sit on the stool she kept nearby for bedtime stories. “Which one shall we read tonight?”

Hanna couldn’t help but sigh as Zara popped straight up in her excitement, wiggling out from under her pile of blankets and stuffed animals as she made her way right back down the ladder and onto her mother’s lap. She knew any scoldings she would give would be fruitless so she settled for gathering the girl warmly in her arms.

Zara seemed to consider the question for a moment, emerald green eyes scanning the small bookshelf tucked only a foot or so away. Her gaze settled on a small book on the second shelf. As her mother selected it, Zara’s hands reached out to run over the watercolor themed cover. Shades of blues and pinks blended together to create the scene of a galaxy, two lover constellations drawn into the stars.

“Ahh, yes, the lovers. This was one of my favorites growin’ up as well,” Hanna mused, memories of her own childhood swimming to the surface of her eyes. She shifted her daughter in her arms slightly so she could open the cover more easily, clearing her throat before she began to speak. “Once upon a time there were two fates, old and wise women who spun the tales of all humans. They did not control the stories as much as they were scribes--”

“Momma, what’s a sk-shir-scribe?” Zara looked up at her mother for an answer, her head leaning back against the woman’s shoulder.

“It’s someone who copies things down to keep a record,” she answered, placing a kiss on Zara’s forehead before continuing. “Of life. Occasionally, the threads of time would become twisted and out of line so the women would step in to correct it. That is how the existence of the soulmate bond came to be. Some time ago it was believed to be caused by the distance that separated two people meant to be together, but now they believe it’s changed--”

“To what?” Zara’s eyebrows knitted together in a line as her cheeks puffed out at her impatience.

Hanna couldn’t help but laugh at her dramatics. “I don’t know, love. Though, perhaps if you let me read more than one page without interruption, we’d know by now.” While the color was barely visible, the girl’s cheeks heated up as she bared her baby teeth, one of her less subtle ways of defiance. Even so, Zara nodded for her to continue.

“They believe it’s changed to times when one or both halves won’t survive without the other. The fates trigger the bond to preserve life and sanity, to provide support to both halves when they need it the most. The occurrence is more rare than ever now, as it relies on both sides truly needing it,” She went on to finish the rest of the story as Zara’s eyelids seemed to grow heavy. She was ever so careful as she stood to carry the girl back to her bed, tucking her in for what she prayed would be the final time that night.

Zara let out a large yawn as she pulled her stuffed bunny, Frankie, to her chest. “Momma,” she called out through another yawn, blinking over at her lazily. “Do you think that I have a soulmate?”

She was asleep before Hanna could even answer, but even so she gently brushed her thumb over the girl’s soft cheek. “I hope that you never need to find out if you do or not.”

[anielskaaniela]

Shirring Waistband Sewing: A Beginner’s Step-by-Step Guide

In this post, you will learn how to use sew shirring waistband. Are you eager to add a touch of comfort and style to your garments with a beautifully crafted shirring waistband? Whether you’re new to sewing or looking to enhance your skills, this comprehensive step-by-step guide will help you master the art of sewing a shirring waistband. We’ll cover everything from drafting the waistband…

[jerryslogan]

There are few things in the design that are more important than color. Color can evoke reactions, emotions or even action all without using words. So how do we know which colors look good together? The answer is color theory in graphic design! The color theory describes the use of color in graphic design. Otherwise known as graphic design color palettes. However, it’s not only for artists as people use color theory in their everyday life as well! Whether it’s choosing an outfit or putting together a party invitation for a family members birthday color theory helps you choose a colorful graphic design!

1.The Understandings of Color Theory In Graphic Design

The biggest power behind color is their ability to evoke emotions and make people feel things, but the color meaning in graphic design can seem confusing at first as colors often have different interpretations. Let’s take a look at not only what emotions they evoke but also their symbolism!

Color Theory In Graphic Design: Red

Red is in the “Warm” color family and tends to evoke feelings of passion, both love, and hate! Proven by the fact you can see the color red used in both imagery of Cupid, an angel of love, and demons.

red

As it’s also been associated with power and imagery of fire, violence, and warfare we tend to use red as a warning of danger or even to reprimand someone, like marking things incorrect using a large red “X” mark. However, red can also be seen as a symbol of status like when used at red carpet events or it can make someone think of red rubies.

Red is best used as an accent color, as it can be overwhelming, and even harmful to the eyes if used in large amounts!

Color Theory In Graphic Design: Yellow

Yellow, also a warm color is considered to be one of the brightest and most energizing of the warm colors. It’s commonly associated with happiness and sunshine. However, it can also be used to convey a warning or caution as it’s commonly used in construction sighs.

yellow lemon quote wallpaper

Click the Image to Edit

Use yellow when you want a bright pop of happy energy or to draw immediate attention to an area. Yello is also great to use when creating more industrial or modern designs! If you find that yellow is too stark and bright, try using a more muted yellow.

yellow

Color Theory In Graphic Design: Blue

Blue is often associated with sadness however blue is also used to represent calmness and tranquility. The meaning and symbolism of blue are heavily reliant on the shade of blue. Light blues can be both refreshing and friendly while dark blues are considered stronger and reliable.blue computer science post

Click the Image to Edit

When using blue remember the exact shade of blue you select will matter most with how your design will be perceived. Light blues are often calming, bright blues can be refreshing or even energizing while dark blues, like navy, are great for corporate designs where reliability is a featuring trait.

blue

Color Theory In Graphic Design: Orange

Orange is bright and vibrant and so also gives off an energetic vibe similar to yellow, but is much more subdued in comparison. It’s commonly used in food labels or other cooking-related products (including cell phone recipe apps) as orange is said to invoke hunger in people!

While orange in its purest form is vibrant and bright, more muted forms will give off the feeling of warmth, and remind people of fall leaves. Which can be ideal for designs that want to give the feeling of being “cozy” and warm.

orange flower quote post

Click the Image to Edit

Orange can be a better warm option to use over red as it has all of the vibrancy and energy that the color red has but without the potentially aggressive symbolism.

orange

Color Theory In Graphic Design: Green

Unsurprisingly green, a cool-toned color is considered as earthy and will invoke images of nature signifying renewal and abundance. Alternatively, green can also represent envy and jealousy as seen in the phrase “green with envy”.

Going with the same theme as “abundance”, green can symbolize wealth especially in countries where their currency is green.

green christmas party invitation

Click the Image to Edit

Green has a similar calming effect as blue, but with some of the energizing tones of yellow. The brighter the green the more energizing it will be. Muted and olive greens will work best in designs of nature and the natural world while dark greens are the most stable and representative of wealth.

green

Color Theory In Graphic Design: Purple

Before modern-day dyes were created, purple dyes were hard to find and extremely expensive to make so only royals and the wealthy could afford them. Given this history, dark purples are associated with wealth and royalty.

However, lighter purples, like lavender, are typically associated with softness and a more tender romantic love, as opposed to red which ignites more passionate love.

aesthetic purple cloud wallpaper

Click the Image to Edit

When using purples in design dark purples will give a sense of wealth and luxury while light softer purples are associated with spring and romance.

purple

2. What’s the Color Terminology?

When talking about the color theory you may notice a few key terms pop up quite frequently. That is because describing color is best done by describing it’s hue, saturation, brightness or value. Let’s cover what exactly these terms mean!

Hue

Hue is one of the main properties of color and is the property of light by which the color of an object is classified as red, blue, green, or yellow in the color spectrum.

Green, orange, yellow, and blue — each of these is a hue, a color or a shade. A rainbow shows the melting of one hue into another, from red to violet, and all the shades in between. The noun hue means both a color and a shade of a color. Green is a hue, and turquoise is a hue of both green and blue!

hue

Saturation

Saturation is the intensity of a hue from a gray tone with no saturation, to pure, vivid color with high saturation. High saturation colors will come off more colorful or deep, while low saturation images will come off muted or pastel.

low and high hues

Value

Value refers to the lightness, brightness or darkness of a color. Value in the art will refer to the shadows and highlights and will give your work more dimension. It is especially important in black and white photos, design and illustration as it will separate objects from each other and their background.

saturation

Brightness

Brightness is simply both the hue of color along with the value of the color. It refers to its lightness and its ability to replicate light or reflection. This is also known as “luminance.”

value

3. Color Palette For Graphic Design

Creating a cohesive color scheme relies on one thing: knowing what colors go well together and compliment each other. Luckily there are a number of different ways to mix, match and find the perfect color scheme for you!

Color Wheel

The color wheel for graphic design is a circle with different colored sections used to show the relationship between colors. The typical color wheel includes the blue, red, and yellow primary colors. The corresponding secondary colors are then green, orange, and violet or purple.

color wheel

Secondary Color

A mentioned above, secondary colors are colors that come from mixing two primary colors. There are three secondary colors. In RGB graphic design, the secondary colors are purple made from red mixed with blue, orange made from red mixed with yellow, and green made from yellow mixed with blue.

secondary color

Complementary

Two colors that are on opposite sides of the color wheel are called complementary colors. Complementary colors of graphic designs provide high contrast and high impact color combination. When placed together or next to one another these colors will appear brighter and more vibrant.

complementary color

Split Complementary

A split complementary color scheme involves the use of three colors. Start with one color, find its complement and then use the two colors on either side of it.

complementary

Analogous

Analogous colors are among the easiest to find on the color wheel. Pick any color at any point on the wheel. Now, look at any three colors directly to the left or right of the chosen color. Together, those four are a group of analogous colors. Mixing colors that are adjacent to each other creates a colorful yet harmonious look. When using an analogous color scheme it’s best to choose one main color, using the other three as accent colors. This will help keep designs from becoming too chaotic or busy.

Triadic

Tertiary colors are colors made by combining a secondary color with a primary color. There are six colors considered tertiary. In the RYB color wheel, these tertiary colors are red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, and red-violet.

triadic

4. Color Sites for Graphic Design

These sites are the top free to use color guide for graphic designers giving you easy to use tools to create graphic design palettes.

COLOURlovers

COLOURlovers is a creative community where people from around the world create and share colors, palettes, and patterns, discuss the latest trends and explore colorful articles. With more than 4,682,736 palettes, 10,035,451 colors, 5,844,503 patterns in 532,217 templates you’re sure to find inspiration to kick start your creative projects.

triadic colors

Color Hunt

Color Hunt is an open collection of color palettes, created by Gal Shir. Color Hunt started as a personal small project built to share trendy color combinations between a group of designer friends. The collection scaled up and now being used daily as handy resources by thousands of people all over the world.

color hunt

Paletton

Paletton, a design tool for creating color combinations that work together well. It was formerly known as Color Scheme Designer.

paletton

5. How to Create a Graphic Design with Color Theory?

Step 1

First, you are going to fotor.com and choose your template by going to Design and choosing Poster found in the Marketing category.

Choose your template from the side panel, I will be choosing this Black Friday sale poster!

Step 2

Next, let’s customize the design!

First, the text, let’s Click on the title text and change the font face to Alibaba Sans Bold.

I will also be changing the “When” and “Where” to Alibaba Sans Bold.

Double-click on the text to change what it says, I will be changing it to “bikes and accessories”

Now onto the colors. Let’s change the yellow to a more outdoorsy green color.

Click on the yellow header, in the upper left-hand corner choose the pastel green color.

Change all yellow sections to this green color. You can even change the rippled texture in the bottom right-hand corner!

Once done, click on all the text and change them to white using the same method. In Fotor, everything is customizable by simply clicking on it, it’s that easy!

change the color

Finally, let’s use complementary colors to make the bike stand out. In this case, we have a lot of green. The complementary color of green is red! So let’s click on the bike, and choose red for our third color box, changing the frame of the boke to red.

Finish up by changing the rims of the bike to white, using the second color box.

change the color of the bicycle

Step 3

Lastly, let’s save our image by Naming out file, choosing .PNG for out the file type and then choosing High for our quality! And you are all done!

[randomikemendegen]

If your characters had to dance what dancing style would they take and If with a partner would they pick someone who takes the lead or they are the one who takes the lead?:000c

HUUUUNNNYYYYYY—

THIS QUESTION MADE ME BRING UP SO MANY TABS AND SITES JUST TO FIND AN ANSWER FOR EACH HAHAHA (but I don’t mind ily lol)

Quintin: Quickstep & Swing, can dance Ballet as well; when he gets really into it and he looks like he’s having fun THEN he takes the lead, but most of the time he just lets his partner lead unless they want him to lead in which case he’ll try to get into the groove as quickly as possible.

Seisear: Flamenco & Swing, can Tap dance too; it’s half-half with this one, he doesn’t mind leading but he also doesn’t mind being led, he leaves it up to his partner on whatever they want to do– though you can bet on it that he’s the one who starts the dance.

Lala: Jazz & Modern, can do Hip-hop dancing greatly; WILL LEAD THE WAY 100% GUARANTEED– though on occasion, she’ll allow her partner to lead, only if to see how they dance the dance and try to outpace them just for the fun of it.

Ophiou: Ballet & Waltz, can Belly dance extraordinarily well; would prefer not to dance at all if there’s a large amount of people, but if it’s just him and his partner then he’ll feel a bit more okay in dancing– he’ll only take the lead if his partner wants him to lead/gives him the ok signal, or if they wanna be taught.

Cirnu: Viennese Waltz & (Classical & Romantic)Ballet, can also dance Salsa; doesn’t mind leading or being led honestly, doesn’t mind as well being the one to teach her partner how to dance– it’s quite a nice and relaxing moment. (and did I forget to mention how she would probably be great as a teacher?)

Berebis: Waltz & Ballet, can actually do Modern dance nicely; his upbringing and personality contrasts here, kinda– he’ll normally lead his partner on the slow part of the music, but quickly backtracks and makes his partner lead at random times (though don’t worry, he’s guiding them throughout the whole thing so they don’t end up stepping over each other’s feet).

Fuyume: Waltz & Kabuki, can dance (Classical)Ballet as well; contrasting with Lala, this one will let her partner 100% lead her all the way through– though, she’ll only lead if and when she’s teaching someone, that’s it.

Shir: Jazz & Contemporary, can Breakdance and dance Street Jazz too; he immediately asks his partner on which of the two of them will lead the dance, he knows how big-built and tall he is(compared to most people not Malleus or anyone at the 200+cm mark) so he doesn’t want to accidentally bump into his partner or whatnot.

Hokusai: Swing & Latin, can also do the Tango quite well; this foxy man knows a LOT of dancing and has a lot of experience, so he normally leads- though he’ll ask his partner if they would like to lead next time… he says this when he has them in close reach during the dance (to tease them).

[somekindoftuber]

vld YouTuber AU (klance, part 8)

(content warning for this chapter: medical stuff, surgery, hospitals)

part one | part two | part three | part four | part five | part six | part seven

(full disclosure that I am not a medical professional! I did some research but some things might be off but it’s fiction so just, uh. go with it)

-----

Waiting had never been so hard.

Lance had given the nurses as much info as he could before he was asked to move his car into the parking lot. He barely remembered doing so, quickly returning to the ER waiting room to sit in a chair and try not to break down. He’d called Shiro eight times. No response. He’d call Allura if he had her number, but he didn’t. No one was picking up at the Holt household, either - they were probably at work. Lance sent a frantic “call me asap!!” text to Shiro and then hung his head. He didn’t know how long he was sitting there when his phone buzzed in his hand.

Hunk hey man everything okay? the stream was supposed to start almost an hour ago

Oh god. The stream. Lance had forgotten all about it. He opened twitter to see his notifications blowing up, so many comments that he couldn’t even read them all. It didn’t matter, because they were all some variation of “where is the stream??” and Lance absolutely did not have it in him to do damage control right now.

Lance! @lanceylance stream cancelled due to emergency

Then he closed twitter, dropped his phone into his lap, and put his head in his hands. This had to be a nightmare. He’d stressed himself out over Keith’s visit and was just having a bad dream. Wake up, please wake up.

His phone vibrated. Lance snatched it up - the screen read Hunk’s number. Hunk was calling him. He almost dropped his phone in his haste to answer.

“Lance,” Hunk’s voice came through the speaker at his ear, tinny and distant. “What’s going on? What emergency? Why did you cancel the stream?”

“Hunk.” Lance felt his eyes sting as tears welled up in them, blurring his vision. “It’s Keith. He - he was fine and then he suddenly looked like he was dying, I brought him to the ER, I had to carry him in --” he cut off with a sob. So much for not crying in public.

“Which hospital?”

Lance sniffled loudly. “S-saint Joseph’s, the one on Candler street.”

“Stay there,” Hunk commanded. “I’m on my way.”

Lance could only whimper a confirmation before hanging up.

Someone called his name at some point. He had no idea how long he’d been sitting there, staring at the floor, his face itchy with drying tears. Lance looked up to find a nurse walking straight towards him, and immediately stood.

“Lance McClain?” she asked. “You brought in Keith Kogane, right?”

“Yes,” Lance’s throat went tight and he struggled not to panic. “Is he gonna be okay?”

“Have you been able to contact his family?”

God, why couldn’t she just answer his question? “Not- not yet. I’ve been trying to reach his brother.”

She nodded, looking at the chart on her clipboard. “Your friend’s appendix burst. He’s being prepped for surgery now.”

“Oh my god,” it came out as an exhale. Lance felt hot tears sliding down his cheeks.

The nurse gave him a little smile. “Easy, he’s going to be fine. You got him here quickly, so the danger of sepsis has been minimized.”

Going to be fine. Keith was going to be fine. Lance heaved a breath and sat back down.

He spent the next hour twirling his phone in his sweaty hands. He was hungry and thirsty and the shitty ER waiting room chair was making his ass fall asleep, but he didn’t want to move. He wanted to see Keith, see with his own eyes that he was alive. But Keith was in surgery. A burst appendix, that was - that was really bad, wasn’t it? You could die from that, couldn’t you? No, she said Keith would be fine. They wouldn’t just lie to him, would they?

“Lance!”

He looked up to see Hunk rounding a corner, heading straight for him. Lance leaped to his feet and let Hunk wrap him up in a warm hug, sinking into his friend.

“I gotcha, buddy,” Hunk murmured into his hair. “I gotcha.”

“His appendix burst,” Lance told him, his voice wavering and cracking. “He’s in surgery.”

Hunk guided him back to a chair and sat beside him. “Breathe, Lance, breathe. He’s in good hands, this is one of the best hospitals in the state.” Hunk was rubbing a hand up and down Lance’s spine. “He’ll be fine.”

Lance nodded. Hunk always knew exactly what to say, what to do, how to keep anyone calm in a crisis. He led Lance to the bathrooms so he could wash his face, then bought him a sports drink and a bag of granola bites from a vending machine. Lance couldn’t stand the thought of eating, but managed to choke down some of it anyway.

“Better?” Hunk asked, taking the half empty drink from Lance’s hands and capping it.

“Yeah.”

Lance sat in silence as exhaustion began to set in. He heard Hunk call Pidge and explain what happened, but she was four hours away at a conference. Hunk was promising to take care of Lance for her. Was he really that pitiful?

Yeah. Yeah he was.

His heart went into overdrive when his phone rang, Shiro’s name on the screen.

“Lance,” Shiro sounded even more panicked than Hunk had. “What’s wrong?”

He was so tired, the drop off of adrenaline leaving Lance woozy as he explained what happened to Shiro. On the other end of the line, Shiro let out a long breath.

“I’m coming up,” he said, his voice hard. “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Keep me posted.”

Lance sat in the chair with Hunk for another hour. Other people in the waiting room came and went, the setting sun that streamed through the windows painting the carpet gold. Lance could have passed out where he sat, if it wasn’t for the swift steps coming his way.

A tall man in scrubs with his hair covered by a surgeon’s cap was coming towards them. Lance stood so quickly that his phone and sports drink hit the floor.

“Keith?” Lance asked, the only word he could get out.

The surgeon nodded. “He’s out of surgery. Everything looks good, he should make a full recovery.”

Hunk had to reach out and catch Lance as he swayed, his knees threatening to give out.

“Have you been able to reach any of his family?”

Hunk answered for Lance, who probably wouldn’t have been able to speak if he tried. “His brother is on the way, but he lives on the other side of the state, so it’s gonna be a few more hours until he gets here.”

After they both gave detailed contact info to the receptionist, Hunk convinced Lance to go home and rest. He’d wanted to see Keith, but Lance wasn’t family, so he was denied. Hunk sent detailed texts to Shiro and Pidge about what happened, then loaded Lance into his car and drove them back to the apartment. Lance’s car would just have to sit in the hospital parking lot for a while.

Once home, Hunk had him shower and change his clothes, then practically dragged Lance to the couch, arranging him so that Lance’s head rested in Hunk’s lap. Lance fell asleep quickly as Hunk combed fingers through his hair.

He didn’t dream of anything, and before he even realized he was asleep, Hunk was shaking him awake.

“Hey, Shiro is almost here. I told him to meet us at the hospital.”

Hunk drove them back, street lights flashing over Lance’s face as they went, the sky now pitch black. They were in the ER waiting room for all of ten minutes before Shiro came bursting in like a tornado, going straight for the reception desk and asking about Keith.

“Shiro!” Hunk and Lance ran up to him. Shiro turned to them and he looked like hell, his eyes bloodshot and lined with dark circles. He didn’t say anything before reaching out and pulling Lance into a tight hug. Lance just hugged back.

With Shiro present, they were allowed to see Keith, and Lance’s heart was once again in his throat as a nurse led him and Shiro down a long hallway. Hunk offered to stay behind. They found a room and Lance gasped, because there was Keith. Dressed in a hospital gown, propped up on pillows, an oxygen tube in his nose and several cords sticking out of the collar of the flimsy garment. An IV was dripping into a needle stuck in the back of his hand, a paper bracelet on his wrist. A heart monitor next to him was beeping steadily as his chest rose and fell in a gentle rhythm.

Shiro was already at the side of the bed, so Lance numbly followed. Keith’s skin was ashen, dark circles under his eyes, his hair tangled and dull.

“Keith?” Shiro called softly, setting a hand on his shoulder. “Keith, can you hear me?”

Keith’s eyelids fluttered before opening, drawing a lazy path to his brother’s face. “Sh...shir..o?” His voice was shredded.

“Yeah, I’m here.”

Blinking, Keith seemed to wake up a little more, looking around the room. His eyes landed on Lance and lingered, and Lance smiled at him.

“Hey there, good lookin’.”

The corners of Keith’s mouth turned upward, just a tiny bit.

“Hi.”

Lance let Shiro talk to Keith, who was still pretty out of it - he was probably on some pretty strong pain meds. Reaching out, Lance indulged himself in petting Keith’s hair, smoothing it away from his temple. The roaring hot fever was gone, and Lance breathed a heavy sigh.

Keith nodded off again in the middle of a sentence. Shiro just laughed.

By then it was well past midnight. After talking with the doctors, Lance rode with Shiro back to his apartment while Hunk drove his own car. It wasn’t the setup he’d planned, but the pullout couch was ready with clean sheets, so Shiro brought in the tiny bookbag he’d packed and got ready for bed. Hunk went for Pidge’s room, apparently having already asked her permission. Lance collapsed into his bed, having barely managing to brush his teeth before passing out.

-----

Lance’s alarm went off at seven as it always did, and he snorted awake, groggy and disoriented. He stumbled into the living room, and it wasn’t until he saw Shiro asleep on the sofa bed that he remembered what happened.

Keith was in the hospital. His chest ached as he made a pot of coffee. It was enough to wake up Shiro, who sat up and rubbed at his eyes. Hunk came out of Pidge’s room a few minutes later, and went straight for the kitchen and found the waffle iron.

After blueberry waffles and coffee, Lance let Shiro shower first so he and Hunk could return Keith’s rental car. Shiro had apparently borrowed Mrs Holt’s sedan for the five hour drive, and Lance couldn’t blame him. He’d been in Shiro’s old truck, the shocks were almost non-existent.

Lance showered and dressed, then went to the hospital. He was directed to a different waiting room this time, so he texted Shiro and Hunk to let them know where to go. Hunk had to get back home as soon as he could, so he stayed just long enough to give Lance a tight hug, then he was gone. Shiro and Lance were led to another room where Keith was staying for the next few days to recover from surgery. He was awake this time, though groggy.

They chatted a little, then Shiro left to use the restroom - or at least that’s what he said, but given how he’d shot Lance a knowing smile, it was probably a pretense. Lance went to Keith’s bedside and leaned his face into his hair. He wanted so much to hug him, but he was still hooked up to all sorts of machines, wires and cords everywhere.

Keith patted his arm. “Sorry about the stream.”

Laughing, Lance snuggled his nose against Keith’s scalp. He smelled like sweat and plastic and hospital antiseptic, but he didn’t care. Keith was okay.

“It’s fine.” He frowned. “I mean, I think. I haven’t checked twitter since yesterday.”

Keith laughed softly. “Your followers are probably pissed.”

“I should probably tweet something.” Lance took out his phone. “What should I say? I won’t tell the internet what happened if you don’t want me to.”

Keith shrugged, a dopey smile on his face. “I don’t care. Post a photo of me all wired up if you want.”

“You sure that’s not the pain meds talking?”

Keith laughed again, then put a hand over his stomach, wincing. “Probably.”

As carefully as he could, Lance sat next to Keith and put an arm around his shoulder, then opened his photo app and set it to the front-facing camera. He leaned into Keith’s hair, smiling when Keith leaned back and gave a weak peace sign with the hand that had the IV and heart monitor cuff.

Lance snapped the photo, then showed Keith, who smiled and leaned back on his pillows. “Tell twitter I said ‘I lived, bitch.’”

It was hard not to laugh as Lance carefully composed the tweet, attaching the photo of himself and Keith.

Lance! @LanceyLance Hey everyone, sorry for the cancelled stream yesterday. About an hour before we were going to start, Keith’s appendix decided to go out in a blaze of glory, so we ended up in the ER instead. He’s out of surgery and on the mend! He wants me to tell you all: “I lived, bitch.”

Lance hit ‘tweet,’ then pocketed his phone.

-----

Keith spent another two days in the hospital.

Lance and Shiro visited several times a day. Keith became more lucid, though as the pain meds were tapered off, he looked more uncomfortable. Once he learned the details of Keith’s surgery, Lance understood how serious it was - they really had to slice into him to clean out where his appendix had burst. It would take a month to heal completely.

When Keith was discharged, he was carefully loaded into the back of Lance’s car and driven back to the apartment. He wasn’t cleared for long distance travel yet, so he’d be hanging out here for another three days. He could barely walk on his own, still stitched up and sore, so it took both Lance and Shiro to get him into the apartment and to Lance’s room. They carefully hoisted Keith onto Lance’s bed and propped him up on the pile of pillows that was prepared for him.

“I’ll get you some water,” Shiro said, then left.

In the quiet of the bedroom, Lance carefully sat on the edge of the bed and observed Keith. Some of the color had returned to his cheeks, though his eyes were still lined with dark circles. His hair was visibly oily, as was his skin - major surgery meant no showering. Lance had been there once.

“You’re staring.”

Lance snapped out of his trance to find Keith’s barely-open eyes trained on him, a tiny smile on his lips.

“Sorry,” Lance laughed softly. “You just… kinda gave me a scare.”

“Didn’t mean to.”

Reaching out, Lance took one of Keith’s hands and gave it a little squeeze. “Sorry this weekend turned sour.”

Keith shook his head, resting his other hand on his stomach, over the place where the surgery bandages still sat. “It’s not your fault. I’m pretty sure my appendix would still have exploded if I’d stayed home.”

Lance frowned. “I still feel bad.”

“Don’t.”

“But--”

Keith opened his eyes, tugging on where their hands were laced together. “Lance.” He kept pulling until Lance was forced to lean forward, planting his other hand on the mattress to support his weight. Keith’s other hand came up to cradle Lance’s cheek, pulling him in, and--

Keith kissed him.

It was soft and slow and Keith was kissing him, just a gentle press of lips, and Lance couldn’t even care that Keith hadn’t showered in days because his lips were soft and warm. Inhaling through his nose, Lance leaned into it, letting Keith hold him in place.

When they broke apart with a tiny smack, Lance hovered, lightheaded. Keith just grinned at him and settled back in his pillow nest with a sigh.

Lance’s heart was about to burst out of his chest. “Oh,” he breathed, stopping to lick his lips. “That’s not fair.”

“Sorry, I know I’m kinda gross right now,” Keith said, not opening his eyes. “But in my defense, I was planning on doing that this weekend anyway. I just got delayed.”

Straightening his spine, Lance raised an eyebrow. “Oh, were you now?”

“Mm-hmm.” Keith shifted in place a bit. “Now get over here and sit with me.”

Lance obeyed, climbing up to curl against the side of the pillow nest, reaching for the TV remote. He was intensely glad to have a queen sized bed, flicking on the TV and finding the Disney Channel. He had a shift at work tomorrow, but Shiro was staying to take care of Keith.

-----

Three days later, Keith was loaded into Colleen Holt’s borrowed sedan, finally cleared to make the five hour drive home.

It had been a very, very strange three days. Keith had pretty much lived in Lance’s bed, rarely moving. Shiro had to help him to the bathroom, help him take little psuedo-baths (he couldn’t shower for another week until the stitches healed) and change his clothes, and Keith could only eat soup and soft things. But overall, he seemed in high spirits, asking Lance to bring in his laptop and play Overwatch so Keith could spectate. Pidge came home from her conference, giving Lance one of the most intense hugs he’d ever had.

Keith had complained about feeling gross, especially his hair, so Lance had run to the pharmacy to grab a can of unscented dry shampoo. Although he was skeptical, Keith let Lance use it on him, spraying his scalp and combing it through his now thoroughly greasy hair. It worked a fair amount, and it gave Lance an excuse to play with Keith’s hair.

Now that it was over and Keith was heading home, Lance was going to miss him. A lot. He’d gotten used to having him close at all times, and he enjoyed sleeping next to Keith in the same bed more than he was willing to admit. Lance gave a fleeting thought to the Springdale Community College enrollment website and smiled.

“Have a safe drive,” Lance said, leaning into the car where Keith was buckled into the passenger seat and giving him a little peck on the lips.

Keith grinned. “Thanks, I’ll text you when we’re home.”

As they drove off, Lance put his hand to his chest and let out a long breath, watching it turn into a puff of white in the freezing early December air.

.

TO BE CONTINUED!!

[20dollarlolita]

Okay, so, let’s go to step 2 of the guide on making your first lolita dress.

Yesterday, in step 1, we talked about why you should find a dress and copy it when you’re making your first lolita dress, why that’s different from buying a replica, and a bit about patterns you can use as a base for making your copy.

You probably also want to read the introduction post, which is split into part 1 (things to know about lolita) and part 2 (things to know about sewing lolita).

So I was thinking about just making a series of post like that about most of the steps of making your first lolita dress, and subsequently your first lolita coordinate, with both lolita quality and accessible budget in mind.

I’ve got similar resources on this blog, but a lot of them are from roundabouts 2014, before I finished costume college, before I started working freelance in costume design, before I ever took a fashion design/merch class, before the styles of lolita had moved to their current trends, before shopping in store and online had picked up the trends they are in now, and a lot more. It’s the new decade, so let’s rewrite this from my more experienced viewpoint.

So, grab yourself a dress you like, and a pattern. Let’s talk about how to do some really basic pattern manipulation, how to identify fabrics and trims that you’ll want to use, and the vocabulary you need to shop for them online.

I know these series are kind of long. This isn’t a difficult process, but there’s a lot to it, and I don’t want to skip over anything crucial.

It’s difficult to explain, but what we’re going to do is learn how to pick a pattern and shop for making a dress using actual lolita as a reference, instead of assuming that some Simplicity designer who bootlegged a dress pattern has any idea what she’s actually looking at can guide you into making something coherently lolita.

So, let’s start by grabbing a pattern we like, and finding a dress we can use with that pattern. We’re going to use Simplicity 8444, because it’s a shape that applies to a whole ton of lolita, and the pattern is ready for border prints.

This is a JSK with full back shirring. I’m going to assume that you’ve done enough research to know this, but JSK is short for “jumperskirt”, and means a dress without sleeves. Shirring is where you gather up the fabric with lines of elastic, making it stretchy and available to fit more sizes. A dress with full back shirring or partial back shirring has elastic in just the back (or just part of the back). A dress with full shirring has shirring all the way around the bodice.

So let’s go to Lolibrary and look at other dresses that are basic JSKs with partial shirring.

Lolibrary has a filter, so you can sort it to only show you dresses with that option. Then, all you have to do is find one that you like, that more closely resembles your pattern. There’s 113 pages of results for just this search, so feel free to also narrow it down by brand, year, or by adding other features.

For example, I narrowed my search down by adding the tags of “plaids”, “solids”, “polka-dots”, and “florals.” I picked these because I know these fabric patterns are easy to find.

<This got REALLY long, so I’m going to save everyone’s dashes and stick a jump right here>

When you’re looking at printed dresses, focus on the design of the dress, and the way the colors and motifs are laid out, but do not limit yourself to just motifs that you like. If you don’t like swans, but you like the way they colors look on a swan-themed dress looks when you hold it at arm’s length and squint, consider that dress. Motif will probably change (more on that later).

Here’s a couple of dresses that I’d avoid, because those stripes of lace that run from the bodice’s princess seams down and onto the skirt would require some re-patterning.

Here’s a few that I’d avoid just because they’re as incredibly simple. If you’re making something simple, you need to get the proportions and trim really right, or else you’ll look like you bought your dress on Wish.

And here’s four dressed that I ended up liking for this pattern. Three of them are Meta, which doesn’t actually say anything about Metamorphose as a brand, and says a lot about the limited research that I did when I was looking this up.

I really, really suggest using a resource like Lolibrary for this research, because it’ll tell you the year the piece was released. This will be incredibly helpful later on. If you’re just using google images, not only will you have to fight your way through a lot of unrelated, not-lolita content, but you’ll also have no context for who released the dress and when.

We’re going to use the one on the rightmost side of the image as our sample. It’s Meta’s 2016 release, Strawberry Garden Stripe Ribbon JSK.

We are absolutely doing this because Meta has a technical illustration for this dress, on the bottom. Up top is the Simplicity front and back views for view A of 8444.

From these, we can see the changes we need to make pretty clearly. Here’s our plan of attack:

Remove the frills from the straps

Change trim application on the front of the bodice

Remove that weird line of lace around the bottom of the bodice

Add a ruffle to the bottom

Add waist ties

We’re going to say that two changes are optional, due to a combination of the difficulty of the necessary pattern manipulation, and the fact that they’re not crucial details. We’re not going to redo the back of the JSK to be a partial back shirring with a corset lacing. We’re going to justify that by saying that the corset lacing is in the back, and that a lot of people take out the corset lacing entirely to get some extra breathing room.

We’re also not going to scallop the hem. While I actually have a pretty darn great tutorial on scalloped hems, if I do say so myself, getting that ruffle on under the scallop will require adding a slip, which is a bit much. Instead, we’re just going to add the bows at the hem and hope no one will notice. We’re going to justify this by saying that there’s a lot of lolita dresses that don’t have that scallop, so our omission isn’t removing anything that’s absolutely a crucial part of the look, and that it’s so subtle that skipping it will probably be unnoticed.

If you’re newer to sewing, or just don’t do this kind of pattern manipulation too often, or just don’t want to overcomplicate your very first lolita dress, doing small changes like this is acceptable. However, you want to keep them small, and have a good justification for doing so.

Since our changes that we’re making are all pretty cosmetic, we don’t need to start this by taking out our pattern and cutting it up. We could just jump in to making it by the pattern instructions, and doing our adjustments more or less on the fly.

Or, well,

we could just jump in, if we had our fabric and trim.

So let’s do that.

Since prints are the hardest thing to match, I start by looking for a suitable one.

For the main fabric, you can sort of skip matching the motif, as long as you keep the color pallet and scale of the piece. In other words, it’s less important to have a strawberry print, and more important to have a print that has a smaller, widely-spaced motif with a larger, more colorful detail around the hem.

I went onto Fabric.com, searched “border print”, and grabbed some images that had the spacing we needed. None of these are of strawberries and bunnies, and none of them are light pink with red detail.

Out of all these fabrics, the cherry one on the right is the closest to the strawberry print, but I don’t like wearing cherries, so I’m eliminating that one.

Then next thing I do is look at what kind of fabric the print is printed on. While quilt cotton is...*sigh*...yeah, I guess it can be fine...if the print is on something more substantial, you’ll have a better chance of success.

So, we have four of these on plainweave cotton prints, and two on stretch sateen. Stretch sateen is a better fabric for this than the quilt cotton is.

Remember when I said that copying a dress does not remove your need to be a designer? Here’s where this starts to become very apparent. We don’t have access to the same fabrics that Meta had four years ago, and we’re going to have to decide what we want to work with.

As previously mentioned, I don’t like wearing cherries. I’m not fully sold on the spacing on the other sateen one. I feel like the border of the flowers is too large, and the non-border is too closely spaced and cluttered to match the specific dress that I’m modeling this after. Again, the motif doesn’t matter as much as the spacing.

Here’s the skirt, next to a photoshopped version of the print. This print isn’t available with a white background, but I put it on a white background to (hopefully) better illustrate my concerns with the spacing in the upper part of the print.

At this point, my instincts are saying to give up, scream, “I WANT SWANS,” and pick the dark blue fabric, but instead, I just keep researching more fabrics. The swans are also a double border print, which is fine. However, when you have a double border, you have less of the upper fabric per yard. This can get tricky when you’re making your bodice. So, instead, I keep looking for a border print, on a sateen or twill, with a relatively narrow border and a wide spacing in the upper area, and with a somewhat analogous color pallet.

There’s something to be said for perseverance getting you what you need, in situations like these.

I found a couple more border prints that I liked. The top one is from Mood, and the bottom one is this Spoonflower print.

I like the Mood one, but I don’t like it for this dress. It’s a monochromatic color pallet, and there’s no pattern in the upper area of the print. The Spoonflower one is cute, but the print make clearly designed it with the top area intended for something and I don’t know if that design will work with the dress model we have. Also, Spoonflower’s price for this in twill is $26/yard, which isn’t super friendly if your goal is to save money by making your own lolita.

However, I did find my favorite print for this dress concept.

It’s a stretch sateen with a nice color pallet. It’s a single border print. The print isn’t upside-down, and it’s decently spaced up top (though closer than I’d love). Also, it’s skulls and freaking ravens. It’s also only $9 a yard.

So yes, I’m using a fabric that’s theme and motif is about as far from happy pink bunnies eating strawberries as we can possibly go.

At this point, I did a bit more research, just to see if there were any JSKs in a darker theme that were still styled like our original one. I found this BtSSB JSK that used black lace and ribbon to keep a dark theme with the sweeter styling. This convinced me that this fabric can work in this application. Because of that I queued up 4 yards of that skull fabric in my shopping card, and held that to the side, while I looked at trims.

.

Note: If all that fabric shopping looked too complex, find a dress with a polka-dot or solid color fabric, and then look for a fabric in a sateen or lightweight twill. If you’re doing a more classic or gothic look, also check out tropical suitings. You can also find a dress with an all-over print, which gives you more options when trying to match print scale/spacing/pallet. Border prints are trickier than other prints due to their relative scarcity, which is why I chose to illustrate that process here.

.

So, first, we inventory what trim we need:

Beige circle: Contrasting fabric for waist tie back and bottom ruffle. Green circle: Embroidered lace (or any gathered lace with lots of drape), about 2.5″ wide for top edge of bodice Purple circle: Embroidered lace, about 1″ wide, for bottom hem, bow ends, and princess seams Red circle: Coordinating fabric for bows on front, shoulders, and hem.

Lolibrary’s listings will usually tell you what kinds of laces are used in a dress. There’s something to be said for swapping laces out, but it’s a good starting place.

My print has white, black, and red on it. While not universal, you get different feelings from different contrast decisions.

Using white lace on a black or dark background looks more old school lolita. Using black lace on a black background looks more refined, and slightly more gothic. Using red lace is a huge pain and looks more Hot Topic than lolita. However, using a red fabric to coordinate the small bows will probably look balanced. I’ll take the option to match the darkest red in the fabric, and use that to keep the whole look toned down.

Fabric.com has a good floral chantilly lace in black, which I’ll use for all the pink-circled lace parts. I bought enough to put my purchase into the free shipping category. That’s more than I need, but I always need lace, so it’ll be fine. Because the motifs in my print are skulls, roses, and ravens, I’m especially looking for trims that have any of those in it. It’s much easier to find roses than the other two, but if I find venise lace skulls you can bet your petticoats that I’m buying all of it.

Speaking of buying all of it, at some point in your lolita career, you’ll cave and buy an entire putup of lace from cheeptrims.com. Accept that it will happen one day, and you’ll feel better when you eventually do. Today, however, fabric.com had what I needed in terms of lace.

Because I don’t know what colors my print is going to be until I have it in my hand, I will save buying the coordinating and contrasting fabrics until I’ve had it shipped to me. I’ll just get those at my local fabric store.

At this point, with shipping, I’m at about $55 ($57 with the pattern, since the Simplicity $2 pattern sale happens sometimes). I have a basic rule to add 20% to the cost of my original online purchase, because I will have forgotten something and have to buy it locally. This puts the dress cost at around $70 While you can absolutely find offbrand lolita dresses listed at $80, you usually cannot have them shipped to you for less than a total of $80. This amount should also give me enough extra fabric to make a hair accessory and maybe a purse.

But there you go, how to start out your first dress by actually referencing real lolita instead of trusting some Simplicity designer to have half a clue what she’s looking at.

Once I’ve recovered from spending a literal three hours on this post, I’ll do a shorter one about what kinds of fabrics are good for what dresses, kind of like that post where I said what dresses are good for what patterns.

[laminy]

Could u write a fluffy/touchy harlee blip? I hope ur having a good day & i enjoy your works very much :)

(I hope you’re having a lovely day as well, and thank you very much! so kind ☺️)

Ben lets go of Gwil as he takes out the key to the flat, unlocking the door. “Okay,” he says, holding the door open, “first step there.” He smiles, watching Gwil reach out to guide himself and carefully take the first step into their building. Ben lets the door close behind them and then he takes hold of Gwil again. “Up the stairs.”

���Thank you, love,” Gwil says, “but I’m quite sure I can—” His toe hits one of the stairs and he stumbles, and Ben smirks.

“Just a bit slower,” Ben says once he’s sure he’s not going to burst into laughter. “It’s fine.”

“Sorry,” Gwil says, and he reaches up, pushing his sunglasses back up his nose. “Just...blurry.”

“I know,” Ben says, and he tightens his hold around Gwil’s waist. “They said it’ll go away in a couple hours.” They slowly walk up the stairs to their flat, and then Ben unlocks the door, letting them in. 

Gwil toes off his trainers, and then reaches up to take off his sunglasses, but he immediately squeezes his eyes shut again at the bright sunlight coming in. He gently rubs at them and then puts his sunglasses back on again. 

“Let’s just sit,” Ben says, and he guides Gwil over to the sofa, then closes the window blinds. “That’s better,” he says. He walks back to the sofa, sitting down beside Gwil, smiling. “You look so dark and mysterious with sunnies on. Do your eyes feel alright?”

Gwil nods, settling back against the sofa. “Sensitive,” he says, “but they don’t hurt.” He looks at Ben. “I can see you just fine.” He smiles. “Lucky me.”

Ben smiles back. “How many fingers am I holding up?” he asks.

“I just had my eyes tested, love,” Gwil says.

“What about now?” Ben asks, moving his hand closer to Gwil’s face.

Gwil shakes his head. “I don’t know, love,” he says. “It’s too blurry.”

“Can I get you anything?” Ben asks. 

“No, I’m alright,” Gwil says, “just fine.” Ben smiles at Gwil again, snuggling against his side. “What’s going on?” Gwil asks, lifting his arm up, wrapping it around Ben’s shoulders. “You know I haven’t had surgery or almost died,” he says. “It was an eye test.”

“I know,” Ben says, “I’m just in a snuggly mood. I feel protective over you now.”

Gwil laughs softly. “You mean since you had to walk me home to make sure I didn’t bump into anything.”

“Yeah, it was funny,” Ben says. He reaches up, his hands to Gwil’s face. “Can I have another look?” he asks.

Gwil sighs, but nods, and Ben carefully pulls Gwil’s sunglasses down his nose, so that he can see Gwil’s large pupils over the top of them, and Ben starts to laugh again. “Thanks, love,” Gwil says, and he pushes his sunglasses up again as his eyes start to tear up, still sensitive.

“Do you need to a tissue?” Ben asks, and Gwil shakes his head. He smiles, and then pushes himself up, kissing Gwil’s cheek before he settles back down, sitting on Gwil’s lap. 

“Oh, hello,” Gwil says, moving his hands down, pushing his fingers up under Ben’s jumper to settle on his waist. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“You should rest your eyes now,” Ben says. “Let’s have a nap.”

Gwil laughs. “Are you ever not tired?” he asks, rubbing his thumb in soothing circles over Ben’s skin.

“Don’t think so,” Ben says, and he snuggles against Gwil’s chest, wrapping his arms around his waist.

“I’m not tired, love,” Gwil says softly, murmuring to the top of Ben’s head.

“Should I move?” Ben asks, and Gwil smiles, shaking his head.

“No, not at all,” Gwil says. “I’m perfectly happy with you right you are.” His hands tighten just briefly on Ben’s waist. Gwil groans softly as he stretches out his legs a bit and then relaxes back against the sofa. “Are you really going to sleep?” he asks softly, reaching up to gently play with Ben’s hair.

“Probably not,” Ben says, “but I really am going to sit here and cuddle until one of us has to move.” He presses a kiss to Gwil’s chest through his shirt, and wiggles a bit closer.

“Well,” Gwil says, still teasing at Ben’s hair, “let’s hope neither of us have to move then.” He presses a kiss to Ben’s head, smiling.

[fiftyshadesgrl]

He saved me/ part 6

Summary: reader is in a abusive relationship. When things take a turn for the worst she finds help in the winchesters.

Warning: this story will have smut, violence, language, abuse, and torture. If you are triggered by any of this then i suggest you not to read.

I sat down on the bed and sorted through the bags and decided that since it was just a local bar theres no need to dress up to much. For some reason though i felt the urge to look nice, for dean. So i picked out a black strapless shirt, some ripped jean shorts, a red flannel and some sandals. I walked into the bathroom and showered with the new shampoo and body wash i bought. It was called lust, fitting for the occasion. I stepped out and wrapped a towel around my hair and then one around myself.

I stood in front of the mirror and applied some makeup, i went for a smoky eye look and some dark purple lipstick. After i got dressed i towel dried my hair and left it in waves down my back. I started to get nervous hoping dean would think i looked okay. I applied some perfume of the same brand as my body wash and shampoo and put in some small hoop earrings.

A soft knock on my door brought me out of my thoughts. "(Y/N), you ready? Sammys not going so its just us."

Oh great i thought. Now my stomach was really doing flips thinking i was going to be alone with dean tonight. "Yeah, just a few more minutes."

Dean must have walked away because no other sound came from the other side of the door. I looked in the mirror adjusted my shirt, my shorts, fluffed my hair. Obviously i was stalling because of the fear that dean wouldnt like the way i looked.

I took a deep breath and walked to the bedroom door, hand on the door knob my heart was racing. Its now or never. I turned the knob and opened the door, and gasped as deans eyes met mine.

His mouth fell open as he looked me up and down. My eyes fell to the floor as his gaze went from my toes to my head. "Holy shit." Dean whispered.

I closed my eyes waiting for the next words to come out of his mouth. His finger under my chin raised my eyes up to meet his. "Youre so fuckin beautiful."

I blushed and tried to look away but he wouldnt let me. He smiled and ran his fingers over my cheek, he leaned in as if he was going to kiss me then he pulled back. "Lets get going, dont want all the good tables to be gone."

I sighed and nodded, even if dean thought i did look good doesnt mean he wanted me. I walked slowly behind him and waved at sam who was sitting in the library again reading this time. "Dont wait up." Dean said over his shoulder. Sam nodded but i doubt dean saw it and he went back to his reading.

Sitting in the bar was way different than i thought it would be. The air was thick with smoke and the smell of alcohol, there was no bikers sitting at the bar like i had imagined. There was actually just a handful of people here. Dean and i got a booth in the back where it was secluded. I slid in the booth and dean slid in right next to me.

The waitress came over swaying her hips and batting her eyes at dean. He didnt pay much attention to her but it didnt keep her from trying. "Two beers, two shot glasses and a bottle of whiskey." Dean said cooly still not paying attention to her.

She placed her hands on the table and leaned in close to dean. Showing her clevage to him, "you sure thats all i can get you?" She said seductively as she glanced over at me.

Dean gave her a quick glance, "yeah, thanks." Then he turned his attention back to me. The waitress huffed and walked back over to the bar. She came back soon after and placed our drinks on the table with more force than she needed to and never said another word.

Shot after shot i began to lose track of time. I began to feel fuzzy and more relaxed as the night went on. Dean and i were laughing and having a great time, every now and then we would share little touches or glances at each other.

"Im really glad you decided to come out with me tonight. You deserved it." Dean said brushing my hair over my ear.

I leaned into his touch and sighed at how it made me tingle all over. "Im glad you asked." Dean smiled as i took another shot. "Ya know, parker never took me out like this. He always kept me under lock and key all the time while he went out and cheated on me and done god knows what."

Dean shook his head and opened his mouth to say something but i cut him off. "But you, not you. I wish i had met you before i did him. I wouldve jumped you the moment i laid eyes on you."

Dean chuckled and took a shot. "Thats the whiskey talking."

I shook my head which made me dizzy. I swayed sideways and fell onto deans chest. He wraped his arm around me, i smiled up at him as he smiled down at me. I licked my lips as my eyes focused on his.

I stretched my neck and kissed him, at first he didnt respond but then his arm tightend around me as he deepend the kiss. Our tongues tangled with one anothers and a small moan escaped my lips. He growled as my hand rested on his thigh and started moving upwards.

He pulled away from the kiss and i could see the lust in his eyes. "Come on, we need to go home." I nodded and smiled knowingly up at him. He just threw some money on the table and guided me out to the impala.

I slid in through the drivers side and sat in the middle. Dean sat next to me his breathing was harder than it was earlier. He sat there with a death grip on the steering wheel. I leaned close to his ear and peppered his neck and jaw with little kisses and i flicked my tongue out to lick in some spots.

"Fuck." Dean cursed under his breath. I ran my hand up his thigh to rest on his belt. I fumbled to get the belt loose but dean stopped me.

"(Y/N), what are you doing" dean asked in a whisper.

"Whatd ya think?" I asked slurring my words together. I unbuttoned my flannel and tossed it in the backseat. I moved down to my shorts and started unbuttoning them when dean placed his hand over mine.

"For fucks sake, stop trying to take your clothes off." He growled as he grabbed my flannel and placed it in my lap.

"You wanna do it?" I smiled at him.

He shook his head as he turned back around in his seat. He started the impala and before he pulled out of the parking lot he said, "no, not here not now."

I huffed and slung my flannel back over my shoulders and tried to cover up as much as possible. This makes the second time hes rejected me. There wont be a third.

I didnt say another word to him until we got to the bunker. "Thanks for tonight dean." It came out in a cold flat voice. I opened my door and stumbled out, dean was there before i knew it. He picked me up and i shoved at his chest.

"Put me down, i can fuggin walk." I slurred and pushed against him again. He just carried me down the stairs and into my room. He placed me on the bed and before i even hit the pillow i was out.

The next morning

My eyes slowly opened and i felt the throb in my temples. I groaned and rubbed my eyes, they felt like they had sand in them. Then it hit me, i felt the bile rise up in my throat. I jumped out of bed quickly and ran to the bathroom and just barely made it to the toilet. Even after i had emptied my entire stomach i dry heaved for several minutes.

I flushed the toilet and walked over to the sink to brush my teeth. After i was done i splashed cold water on my face to try to take away some of this hangover. I slid down to the floor and rested my head back against the counter. I closed my eyes hoping that would help this horrible headache go away.

"I would say good morning but it looks like youre having it rough." I heard deans voice come from the doorway. I cracked my left eye open and seen him standing there with a glass of water and something else in his hand.

He knelt down in front of me and handed me the water. He opened his hand and there was two pills settled on his palm. "Take these asprin, itll help with your headache."

I grabbed them hastily and drank the entire glass of water. I leaned my head back again and whispered a quick thank you. I figured dean would leave but he didnt.

I opened my eyes and looked over at him, "im never drinking like that again." He chuckled and sat down on the floor next to me.

"You just gotta know your limit." He said quietly. I sighed as a comfortable silence filled the room. We sat there for i dont know how long and my head finally started easing off.

"I think im going to take me a shower now since my head has quit spinning." I said raising my head up. I looked down and noticed i was in one of deans shirts and nothing else. He helped me up off the floor but stayed standing in front of me holding my hands.

"Did you undress me last night?" I asked looking him in the eyes.

He nodded, "yeah i figured what you had on would be uncomfortable. I knew you liked my shirts so i gave you mine that i had on." He said smiling. He touched my cheek with his hand and ran his finger across it.

I sighed and leaned into his touch, then the memory of last night came into my mind. I know it was the alcohol that made me do what i did but it doesnt mean that i didnt mean it.

I opened my mouth then closed it again, not knowing what to say. He cleared his throat and took his hand off my cheek. "I guess ill leave you to it." He turned and walked towards the door.

"Dean." I said stopping him from leaving. He turned back towards me, his eyes burning with emotion. His breathing rough and fast. "I remember what happened last night. In the bar and in the car."

He just stood there looking at me, waiting.

"It wasnt just the whiskey." I said quietly. I noticed his fists clenching and his jaw muscle ticked. He closed his eyes and turned and walked out the door. Never saying anything.

I looked in the mirror and my god i was a mess. Yesterdays makeup was strewn down my face my lipstick smeared and my hair. Lord my hair was nothing but a fuzz ball.

I turned the shower on and washed everything from last night away. An hour later when the water had gone cold i stepped out and wrapped a towel around me. I grabbed deans shirt from the floor and brought it to my face and inhaled his amazing scent.

I walked back into my bedroom and grabbed a pair of shorts and i put deans flannel back on. I wanted to keep him close to me for a little while longer.

@an-unhealthy-obsession

[chika-writes]

A Place to Call Home

"Are you ready?"

Her voice was like honey against his just awoken senses. She'd asked him to take a trip today, just the two of them, but he'd have to be blindfolded. Part of him had wanted to say no, but the light in her eyes as she asked him made him feel bad before he even said no so he agreed. The two went out the back of the inn, a black blindfold in Karma's hand as she stopped in front of her caramel colored mare, a gleam in her eyes. "I guess we wouldn't be walking, would we?" Shiro gave a sigh and climbed onto the now annoyed mare.

Karma giggled and jumped up behind him. Once she was situated, she snatched his glasses from him and wrapped the blindfold over his eyes. "Since you won't tell me when your birthday is, I'll give you a present that'll make up for all the years I missed."

Shiro leaned back into her, trying to remember the ways she turned and when she slowed or would speed up. "It's a two-part present, but if you don't want the first part, that's okay." He relaxed a bit, smiling when he'd hear reactions to people seeing them. Karma rambled nervously as they rode, letting the mare pick the pace for most of the trip. Shiro shifted a little when the ride went from dirt beneath hooves to cobblestone. He turned his head as if he were looking at Karma, his eyes still shut behind the blindfold.

The conversations around them seemed fancier, like they were in a richer district. It was an hour ride North from their inn, but Shiro couldn't remember the name of the city, if he'd even heard of it.

The horse slowed and Shiro felt Karma slide off from behind him. He carefully, and blindly, slid down. Karma eased his slip down with her hands on his waist before she grabbed his hands, pulling him in some unknown direction. "Arj, where are we?"

Karma smiled, unable to help herself as she leaned down in front of him, taking his blindfold off and putting his glasses off. She gave him a soft smile before sidestepping out of his way, her arms sweeping out towards a small house. "This is home, if you'll have it. But, there's only one bedroom. And there's a reason that it's home! Before you completely shut me down, I have part two to show you!"

Shiro's mouth was open to protest, especially the one-bedroom thing, they'd only solidified this relationship a month or so prior. He gave her a look when she held out the blindfold again. "Kar, I get what you're trying to do, but-"

"Please, Shir! Oh, pretty please with carrots on top?!" She liked to tease him for the rabbit tattoo on his shoulder, but she usually got her way if she could sneak it in creatively.

"That was a first. Fine, show me part two, but no blindfold."

Karma pouted but grabbed his hand. "Then keep your eyes closed." She waited until he did so before yanking him away from the cute little house.

They walked for a minute before Karma pushed him in front of her, making sure his eyes were still closed. She put her hands on his shoulders and walked him forward, guiding him around people before she stopped him. Her fingers tightened on his shoulders for a moment before she relaxed. "Okay, open."

Shiro hesitantly opened his eyes, his body freezing in place when he saw wall to wall, floor to ceiling shelves filled to the brim with books and scrolls. "Arjwani Ada, what is this? Did you take me to heaven?"

"No, no, silly. I don't have the magic to do that. I overheard someone talking about the great library of Alexandria. So naturally, I came looking for it." She stepped away from him, wanting him to go explore. "And home, if you'll have it, is just down the road."

Found one of my short stories I wrote forever ago with @lady-ragnarok-draws 's Cleric, Shiro and my Rogue, Karma. It’s a little short to post to AO3/FFN so y’all get it on here. This was probably my favorite short to write with those two. Shiro is just so cute!