Review of Opples Apparel

So I just made my first order from a newish shop called Ooples Apparel out of Texas. I've been following this shop on FB for quite some time and they recently got their website up and running for non-local customers. I was excited at this and they were having a sale on a new Hatsune Miku plush so I couldn't resist. I bought 4 things from them: 2 shirts, a tote, and the Miku plush.

Ordering from them was simple, they use Google check-out which gives you a couple ways to pay.You can use Paypal, a credit card, or pay in person at their store. I used the credit card option and it was easy and straight forward. They ship with USPS, which I love since UPS always seems to give me the run-around, and give you different options with that which are: Express Mail, Priority Mail, and Parcel Post. I choose Priority because for my order it was only about 3 cents more expensive than Parcel Post. I placed my order on the evening of the 14th and it arrived on the morning of the 18th. I wasn't given a tracking number for the package, but I estimated that it would've arrived about then (I mail a lot of things, so I've gotten good at estimating when things will arrive). They sent me a lot of emails telling me about my order, but they seemed to be the same emails recycled over again with different subject lines. It showed me a summery of my order and provided a link that was meant to show more order details that I couldn't get to work for the life of me.
Customer Service: 4/5 stars

The box that arrived to me was a plain brown box with the addresses written in sharpie. The mailing label was the kind that you get when you go into the Post Office instead of printing it online. I didn't think much of it, since that's not really important. What was important however, was that the box was crushed and opened a little. The tape was peeling off the edges and you could see right into the box. If I had purchased anything small or fragile I fear that I would have been lost or broken in transit. I found this unsettling, but everything I ordered was there. Another thing I found to be odd was the lack of packing slip or invoice.
Packing: 2/5 stars
Shipping speed 4/5 stars

Now lets move on to the items I ordered! Lots of photos coming up. First up is one of the shirts!

As you can see here the fit is relaxed and a little loose on me. I haven't decided if I will keep it as is or make it into one of this DIY altered shirts so that it fits nicer. It's a size small as you can see the the next pic, and it seems that means like a standard adult size small. It's probably one of those unisex t-shirts. I am a size US 4-6 for reference.

This is the inner "tag" I love that it's printed on because traditional tags always irritate the back of my neck. All the legit shirt stuff! It's licenced, so no bootlegs here and 100% cotton.

Front of the shirt unworn. I love the print. It's clear and vibrant. It looks great and if I don't put it in the dryer  I can see it lasting a long time (note: things just last longer when you don't put them in the dryer, this is not a manufacturing problem.)

More about the sizing. It's 18 inches from armpit to armpit.

Overall this is a really great shirt. It's well made and I feel like it will last a long time. The website doesn't list how the fit is on them, so I hope this can help someone make the correct size decision.

4 out of 5 stars

Next: The other shirt!

This shirt is so cute. It's more fitted than the other shirt, I believe it's in juniors sizing. I have seen this same shirt at Hot Topic, but they charge more. Anyway, I got the small and it's pretty perfect. I am a little afraid of it shrinking and not fitting. Again, the website did not list the sizing fit, so I had to guess. I like how it fits now, but if I could do it over I think I would have gotten Medium size.

Inner tag. This one is identical to the other shirt. Also 100% cotton.

Here's how it looks unworn. As you can see the fit is completely different from the other one. This one has more of a shape to it than a straight up and down. the sleeves are also shorter. The screen print on this one isn't as thick as the other so some of the colours have become distorted, but this is necessary due to the knit of the fabric. It's stretchy and if the print were thicker it would crack. :-)

This one measures 16 inches from armpit to armpit.

Next up: the tote bag. I cannot say enough good things about this bag. It's awesome. It's made of a thick canvas material. I have more expensive totes that are thinner than this one. The inside is lined with a small zip pocket and the top zips shut.

Here's how it looks. The colours are brighter than the shirt because they were able to print the ink thicker. It looks really great. The handles are long on this one, which helps it stay on my shoulder easier and is more comfortable.

Just a close up of the print. Here you can see how thick and nicely it's printed.

And the lining.

Cute zipper pocket. It can fit a phone or some personal items.

Here it is all full of my stuff. It's still got room to spare!

This is everything I had inside for size comparison.

Last but not least is the plush. She is so adorable and I am so happy.

She is about 8 inches tall. I was at first surprised that she was so small for the price, but I remembered that Japanese import products can get expensive. I really love her regardless, and I feel better buying a product where I know what it will be instead of a possible bootleg off ebay.

Her face is embroidery instead of screen printing, which I think shows a higher quality plush. She will last longer.

The back has kind of a big tag on it, but you can tuck it under her shirt.

Also, she can stand up on her own.

An added bonus is the loop attached to her head so you can hang her off a doorknob or in your car.

Over-all I will give my buying experience with Ooples a 3.5 out of 5 stars. They delivered a nice product, kept me updated on my order, but could use improvement in describing their online products and in their packaging. So, if you want your own Miku swag you can head on over to Ooples.com and pick it up! Check them out on FaceBook too for specials, promotions, and updates.

**This review is an unpaid honest review of products I paid for from Ooples.com**

I'm Still here!

I  am the worst blogger known to man. XD

So I had a lot happen, I've been super busy, so bear with me. I have a lot of new things in the works, and a lot of new art posted to DA.
Check out my videos on YouTube, please! Youtube.com/seraphimfeathers


I've got 7 artcards to finish up for a commissioner, so I will be posting those soon!

7 art card commission

I recently was contacted by an unpublished author (who has high hopes to be published) to draw her characters for her book. Here's they are at about 50% done. I love painting hair in watercolour, its so much fun.

If your interested in commissions please see the link at the top of this page.

Vocaloids and Life

Some drawings of Vocaloids I've been working on. Sorry for being such a bad Blogger, I've had a lot going on. I recently moved so things should be a lot better for me now. :-)

Finished Commission and Dragons!

This is a commission I finished a few days ago. I am super happy with how it came out and it looks great on my new plus sized dress form that I got on sale! It's been since mailed out to the client and I have yet to see it on her. It took a long time to make, but looks great!

This is also something I've been working on. It's about half done here. It was supposed to be a project for a wedding for a family member, but that fell through. I don't want to get into it to much here, but it's better this way. Anyway, I decided to work on it for myself then. And I am happy with the outcome. I'll be sure to post the finished version in a few days.

My Zazzle Store

So I updated a bunch of new products on Zazzle yesterday. It's a work from 2010 that is one of my more popular pieces. Please check it out!

Are you Addicted to Stamps?

Hello again! I said I'd be back later and here I am. I am here to announce that my rubber stamps for scrapbooking and papercraft are now available for order!
This is just one of many images you can get for your stamping needs! Buy them here!

Keep an eye out for some very special Halloween reeases coming soon! They are called Costumed cuties are art sure to spookify all your Haloween themed products!

Finally!

On Monday I scanned all the artwork that I've finished over the past few weeks, so that while I was recovering I could process and post them. Well, it turns out there was a HAIR on the scanner and all of them were unusable. So today before he went to work I had my fiance tote the scanner out into the living room, which is where I've set up my MacBook so I can be comfy on the couch and still do work. So I rescanned them all today.

Between the scanner woes and there being absolutely NO INTERNET at all yesterday, I've not got much done. But today I sent off new images to be made into stamps, and some cake arts. I'll be sure to post when they are up.

My recovery is going well. I am still having pains but the pills are keeping that at bey. I am also still having a hard time going up and down the stairs, but that will take more time. Today Jon's siters and children came over and I decided to be socialable for lunch. I also got a big box from my friend and fantasy artist Meredith Dillman. She sent over som book she's not using, some paint, and various goodies including my very first Mini Pullip. She's Litte Lan Ake I think. I plan to get her an 11cm obitsu body soonish. She sent over some prints of Miku and Luka she painted as well as a couple cute keychains. It was so awesome! She helped me a lot this year, with advice and networking. It's so cool to have a famous artist like her believe in me so much.

So today I feel like I got a litte caught up on things. I need to download my ustream videos and edit them for YouTube. Until then check out my other new video.


I also posted this painting that I made about 1 month ago. It's big, and I've failed at scanning it and piecing it together, so I will just have a pro do it for me. For now, its a photo.

Angels by *SeraphimFeathers on deviantART

Ok, that's all for now! There will be some stamps with my art released later today, so I will come back and post about those too.

After My Surgery

Well, my surgery went well. It took about 45 minutes, and they said I did great. When they woke me up though for some reason I was in a panic, so they brought Jon in. I'm not sure if I asked for him or not, but they thought his name was Don, so I remember I kept signing the letter J at them until they understood. After they calmed me down they took off the oxygen mask and I talked to the nurse a bit. I remember asking to take my appendix home in a jar. They declined my request, and I was less than thrilled. But I guess they chop it up and run tests on it. So it's for my health and all that.

They brought me to the recovery room and I found out my mom was coming to see me. She told her supervisor that I had the surgery and they told her to leave. She showed up about 30 minutes I guess after I got to the recovery room and I got to go home about 30 minutes after that. I was home before noon even.

After that we went home and sat around a bit then to the Mongolian Grill. I ate a lot too soon after my surgery, so I ended up not keeping it down. Then I went to my mom's house. I stayed there through the weekend, so that is why I've taken so long to update. The day after my surgery was the worst as far as everything goes. I was swollen, dizzy, in the worst pain of my life and I was unable to keep food down. Friday was much better. And today I am feeling pretty good. Other than still having pains and being pretty tired.

Here's somethings I am working on! I finished the rabbit today, and I have to scan the chibi line art to be made into stamps. It's a little early for Halloween art, I know, but they will be made into stamps that you can buy to make Halloween cards and things.

Review! Hatsune Miku and Snow Miku Pullips, bonus Review ToyMalaysia

Well, after months of waiting, my Snow Miku doll has finally arrived at my home. I pre-ordered her back in February, and she came out in June. She arrived at my home almost exactly one month after her release date. I'll be reviewing their service at the end of this entry. Snow Miku was a collaboration doll made for the Sapporo 2011 snow festival. She is limited to 1000 pieces and was supposed to be a Japan only release. Thanks to the internet and shopping services many people outside of Japan were able to get her.

Here's her next to the standard Miku Pullip. My Snow Miku is named Yuki. Haha, not very original, but whatev.Their faceups are identical. The eyebrows are different colours, and Yuki's seem to be feathered, or have a hue around them of blue. I wonder if this is a production flaw or how she is meant to look. They eye chips are different too. Miku's are more teal, while Yuki's are obviously blue. They look a lot like Clara's with some white bits painted on them, which are pretty hard to see, I didn't notice them until I was done taking photos, so this doesn't show them.

 

The leeks. The blue one's are Yuki's "frozen leeks" and the green are Miku's. In all, I think the leeks look pretty odd. Nothing like a real leek. I keep Miku's in a box and Yuki's fit into her snowman as his arms. That's why he's so grumpy I think.

Their shirts. Be careful! I managed to break Miku's tie when I took her shirt off. I did managed to fix it though. I love the little added snow flake on the tie for Yuki's. It makes me with Miku's had something on hers too, but I don't know what they would put. There is a logo on the collar that is easier to see on Yuki's top, but it is on Miku's too. Yuki's top seems to be made of a nicer material too. It's not as stiff and shiny as Miku's It's soft and smooth and reminds me of snow.

Here are the skirts. I thought at first that Yuki's was more detailed than Miku's, but they are identical. I had a really hard time removing Miku's, it was really tight. So I guess no obitsu body for her!

I've not tried to take their boots off, even though other owners have assureed me that they are easy to get back on. Again, they are identical. There is a striping at the top that is more evident on Yuki's boots.

Aaaaand, PANTIES! What you all have been waitinf for, yes?? Haha, Miku on the left, Yuki on the right.

Armwarmer/Sleeve. More of the same.

Their headphones are very different. Miku's are the standard Vocaloid ones, while Yuki's are little earmuffs. I really prefer Yuki's, just coz they are so cute.

Yuki's wig has finer stands than Miku's. I think this has to do with the colour. It's almost white, like a translucent blue. And maybe they are going with the principle that albino's have finer hair? Who knows. Due to the fineness it's a little softer and doesn't seem to tangle as easy as Miku's.

The grumpy snow man. I just love him. He's grumpy in some photos, and sad or vacant in others. He doens't seem to be to pleased about this hot weather we are having. He's a lot larger than I would have expected. He's really solid too. They did a good job on him. I expected a couple of fluffs kinda stitched together, but he's completely stuffed and has a good weight to him.

And one last photo of my Hatsune twins being cute and loving.

If they ever come out with Sakura Miku as a Pullip I am screwed. TOO MUCH CUTE!

Now I want to talk a little bit about the service of ToyMalaysia. We snagged her off their ebay store and they promptly sent an invoice of about $170. Shipping was $34, so I thought it would be EMS, but we'll get to that later. After the payment we got back an automatic email thanking us for our purchase and that we'd be emailed when they dispatch it. Mind you this is back in February for a doll that comes out it June. Well, a few days later we got another email saying the doll will released in June and will ship after that. Then months went by with no contact or update. I found our through the internet that they changed the look of the doll from the prototype, but never got an email from ToyMalaysia stating this. I would have liked with the amount of changes they made that they would have emailed me and offered to refund me. It looked like a completely different doll, and I know they'd be able to sell her fast anyway. June came and we waited and heard nothing. She dropped on the 20th, and on the 25th we emailed them to see when they were getting her or if they heard from Groove about their shipment as Virus Doll and a couple places already had her. We got an auto-responce copy-paste kind of email back saying that we would have her by July 15th. Then another email a few days saying they don't have her yet, and it will be mid June before she arrives to them. So we waited. The 15th came and she wasn't here. On the 17th we got an email saying she would ship by airmail to us. I thought this a little odd since we paid the hefty price of $34 for shipping, when I've gotten airmail from this region and it costs about half that. As you can see she did arrive, this was 25th that she made it home.

Over-all I am displeased with this complany's communications and service. I don't think I will be buying from them again since I went months with out contact and that is a lot of money to shell out and not be sure what is going on.

Communication: Poor

Shipping Price: Poor

Shipping Speed: Fair, but poor due to price. I was slow for how much I paid.

Packaging: Fair. The doll was new in box, and even in the little crate that Groove mailed to them. Which they slipped into another slightly larger box with no padding or bubble wrap. I was pretty lucky that she came undamaged. It was better than nothing, but if the box had gotten damaged which often happens with over-seas shipping she would have been ruined.

Product Price: Good. We got her for about $140, and that is pretty good for a limited doll's price. I got my Chloi and Clara for $124, and they were limied to 600, which makes them more rare.

Surgery!

Well, I will be having my appendix out tomorrow. I've been having a lot of troubles with it, and we only reaslized it after I had a surgery for Endomitriosis since I still had really bad pain. I went to see the surgeon today, and he thought it would be a good idea to remove it. They are also going to take a look and the Endomitriosis scarring and pass it a long to OB/GYN to see if that might still be causing me pain.

So for today this is a short entry. I have a drawing video to share though. It's from my livestream last week, just sped up a lot.



Enjoy! I'll be writing some more entries here that will be scheduled posts.

My Products: Cake Sheets

100% Edible Cake sheets from Party in a Box Designs
Gluten free and vegan friendly!

I love these. They are so cool! They are made of potato starch, so 100% edible. I've sent in several designs, so I am hoping they will be up soon. I'll make sure to post when you can buy them!


Buy them here!

Incubus, and a fun day

Well, today was a bridal shower that admittedly I wasn't at first crazy about going too. I didn't know the bride well, and had a bad fiesta impression of her. I was also informed 60 people would be there, and that was less than thrilling. Well, I grit my teeth and got ready, I used my new Tokidoki eye shadow and Sephora mineral make up and felt pretty fab about myself. I had high pain in the morning, so I took some pain killers and went with it. Well, 60 people dis not in fact show up, and I got to know the bride and her bff a little better. In all I had a really good time, and won a lot of prizes in the dice game.

After the shower I hung out with my friend and played Wii games and watched anime for a couple hours. It was a lot of fun.

So here's what I am working on currently. I don't draw enough males so I wanted to. Hope you enjoy!

Hello and Welcome!

Hello and welcome to my new blog. I will be using this blog to chat a little about my life, and artwork. I'll reveiw produts pertaining to my work as well. I will also try to feature other artists I know and admire.

Please subscribe to my posts, as I will do my best to update everyday with how I am doing and what I am working on.

If you are a fan of my work please consider donating to my book project. There are many nice perks for donors, and it will help me get on the way to bringing my art and technique to you.