Babysitting Sucks (Day 157)

Five kids, eldest 12, youngest 8, all boys. All they wanted to do was fight. And yell. And fight. And did I mention fight?

Non-Cosplay Shopping (Day 156)

I shopped, but obviously not for cosplay things. That $20 should have gone to a new pair of jeans for Clyde, instead of a new naval ring, a Charlie the Unicorn bandanna, and a smoothie. But, y'know, even I need some time to be fairly normal xD

Fruit Galore! (Day 155)

I made almost all of the fruit for Pac-Man's shirt today =] They're really cute! My cousin says I should sell them, haha. But in their current state, they're completely useless and not marketable at all. If I could make a little wristband or something, maybe, but they're really time-consuming. I spent about two hours making five of them. And that's not including the little white pieces I had already cut out.

Anyway, I still have to make a banana and an orange and then I'll be able to sew them on the shirt. I still have to buy more iron-on letters to put on the back of Pac-Man's shirt. See, I didn't really think about it, but to write both PACMAN and CLYDE, I need two C's. Oops. I wish I could buy just one letter, but I can't.. Ah well. Maybe my boyfriend will pay for it >_> It is his shirt after all.

I can't finish the Pac-Man headpiece until my boyfriend comes over so I can fit him into it, and he's been sick a lot lately =[

Tomorrow, I'm going to the mall with a friend, and while I'm there, I plan to visit Hot Toys again to talk to whoever it was I talked to last time (I know his name, but don't want to post it, and I don't know his title). I'm wondering how much I could help out with Hot Toys, because it sounds like something really fun to get involved with. But that's for another time, I suppose.

Clyde's Almost Finished (Day 154)

I finished all I could on Clyde today. I can't do anything else until I buy pants and fabric paint. So I worked on Pac-Man too! I made him 3D basically. Which involves cutting out strips of cardboard and a lot of hot glue. I managed to get glue directly from the gun onto my hand. Not quite as painful as I thought it'd be, but still, ouch.

I took the red ghost off of the shirt and put him in the right spot, then I sewed on the other two ghosts. I also had to re-iron the iron-on letters, but that was pretty easy.

Tomorrow, I plan to put the fabric on Pac-Man and cut out the fruits for Pac-Man's shirt.

Sewing & Stitch Ripping(Day 153)

So I sewed one of the ghosts on my shirt today, but it's in the wrong spot, so I'll have to re-do it xP Whatever.

Ghosties AWAY! (Day 152)

So much progress, it's terrifying. My boyfriend and I bought our shirts for our Pac-Man and Clyde cosplays today, finally.

So I put the lettering on the back of my Clyde shirt. I messed it up a couple of times, but the great things about the letters I chose is that you totally can't tell that I messed them up ;D It makes me very happy, very happy indeed.

I also cut out and glued together the three other ghosts (Inky, Pinky, and Blinky) that will be on my shirt. I intend to sew them to the shirt some time tomorrow. I'm actually taking them to school so that I can start on them before class and during Break. I'm that excited for it =O My classmates will be so jealous >_>

I also networked my butt off today for Kin-Yoobi Con =D I so proud ^-^ There's a new (ish) store in the mall near where I live (Newpark Mall) called Hot Toys. They sell used retro toys, action figures, and video games. I got into a conversation about one of the employees (I dunno if he's owner or manager or what) and he was telling me about the store's plans to expand and begin hosting video game tournaments and costume contest. The conversation went from there as I am very much into costuming (uh, duh) and I told him about how I'm a staff member at an anime / gaming con, yadda yadda, and he's interested in getting a booth and selling some of the store's action figures and gaming things =D Also if I understood right, he was looking for people to help his and the store out in their upcoming expansion and events. We traded contact info, and once I contact the rest of the Kin-Yoobi staff (Thursday) I'll get back in touch with Hot Toys and let them know what's up on my front.

A very productive day on all fronts, I believe. I also bought my mom's birthday present as her birthday is this Wednesday. Tomorrow I plan to finish my shirt and get started on my boyfriend's. After some volunteer work at my local teen center. =]
(The top image is me balancing the ghosties on my chest, trying to figure out where the place them, and the bottom image is the back of my shirt.)

Shopping~! (Day 151)

I've been blogging for as many days as there were Pokemon in the first season. Wow. That was a nerdy statement. I REGRET NOTHING! Ehem. Anyway...

I went shopping with a cosplay buddy <3 Though not for cosplay things. Just for regular things. We mainly went to Daiso and read the instructions of products out loud to each other. "Not food!" ~ Written on a "Lift Ball" whatever the hell that is.

I bought a soda that actually turned out to be Ramune in an easier-to-open bottle. It didn't taste as good =[ I think I just like Ramune for the bottles xD The soda's honestly not that great. I also bought these two little collapsible containers for storing video games =D I do enjoy them. And a really awesome 26-ring binder. Yes. 26 rings. The paper for it is godly o.o It makes me want to write things, but I have nothing to write =[ And I got High-Chew candies and a Pokemon cell phone screen cleaner =D It's adorable, it has Pachirisu(sp?) on it.

Then we went back to her house to play more Super Mario World Wii. It made me so happy =] (sort of an inside joke). Then I went home and video chatted with my boyfriend because I haven't seen him in this many *holds up three fingers*.

Quote of the Day:
"Three holes! That's so confusing!!"

Giving up on Crossplay (Day 150)

Mom took me bra shopping today. And I came to the realization that I will never be flat. Which is, outside of cosplay, probably a good thing, but I'll never be able to pull off young girls or any boys xD Eh. At least Phoenix Wright has a thick shirt and jacket. Hopefully a sports bra will suffice.

I'll stop now. One can only complain about one's boobs being too big for so long. I also got very pretty-smelling perfume, but that's irrelevant to cosplay or crossplay.

I really wanted to work on cosplay today, but it didn't happen, of course. I wanted to hang out with the friend I hung out with yesterday too, but things got in the way, as usual. xD

I need to go to the bank to deposit money into my debt card to be sure that I can have enough for the Fanime hotel, and my contacts for Chi, which haven't been thought of for a while. I'd like to make my appointment with the optomitrist soon, but alas, my body has other plans. Need some moles removed from my back. Ew. It's expensive ($50 a mole D=).

Anyway, I'm rambling. I have Spongebob PJs! That is all. =D

Yay Mario! (Day 149)

I didn't work on cosplay today, but I was reminded why I cosplayed Mario. I played Super Mario World Wii with a member of my cosplay group. That game makes me love Mario Brothers all over again. It reminds me so much of the original games, which were my favorite, of course. Sure, it's a little different, but it's a challenging side-scroller with the same basic rules, and that's all that matters. ♥

That reminds me though! My group may have actually decided on a name! Well, we're choosing a=between a couple. Either "Cardboard Cutout Cosplay" or simply "Cardboard Cosplay", I came up with both (no one else bothers to think of things). I really want to use the word "cardboard" though. I feel like it metaphorically embodies everything that is cosplay. Using random materials in ways they were probably never meant to be used. Taking seemingly "garbage" and turning into something completely unrecognizable. I love the feeling of saying "Oh, yeah, I made this out of a toilet paper roll" and getting the response of "Whaaat?" or "Wow!" But "Toilet Paper Cosplay" just doesn't sound as good xD Theo nly reason I'm shying away from "Cardboard Cutout Cosplay" is that I don't want it to give the impression that "cutout" refers to what cosplays we choose or how we make them. We are not cookie-cutter replicates of other cosplay groups, we are our own group, we choose our own cosplays and our own ways of making them.

Anyway, yes, so far, two out of three of the other group members like it, the third hasn't heard it yet, as far as I know, so at this point, I'm thinking we are "Cardboard Cosplay", even though I'd rather it be three words -.- Ugh. I don't know xD This is exactly why we don't have a name yet.

Cardboard! (Day 148)

Mommy brought me cardboard =] That's all.

I Loves Mah Clyde (Days 145, 146, & 147)

Things were slow after I got the fabric, I didn't really work on anything, but I finally worked on things today!

I essentially finished Clyde. I covered all of the outside with fleece, made and glued on the eyes, covered the facial opening with mesh, and added extra fabric as padding behind where my head goes. The padding helps keep the box upright when I wear it too.

I'm already very happy with the outcome. I love working with both cardboard and fabric, the result is always brilliant, in my opinion. My mom would be so disappointed, she's a paint purist.

I wish I could work on Pac-Man, but I need more cardboard. Mom said she'd bring it, but she keeps forgetting. So the next thing will probably be the clothes. The decision has been made to wear short sleeves, so I'll be buying those whenever I get the time and money.

Of Fleece & Felt (Day 144)

I got to go to JoAnn's today! Finally -.- It was not without it's bumps though.

Originally, I wanted to cover both Clyde and Pac-Man and make the other ghosts and the fruit on the shirts with fleece. The universe always has different plans for my costumes than I do, though. The smallest amount of fabric I can buy is one-quarter of a yard, and I didn't want to buy all of that to use a 4"x4" square. So instead, I bought felt. It looks and feels a little different, but it could be worse. But of course, they didn't have the right colors of felt. They had most of them, but not all. So now I'm using felt for some things and fleece for others. Great.

Also, they had the color fleece I wanted for Clyde, but not for Pac-Man. They had the perfect color anti-pill fleece for Pan-Man, but not for Clyde. So I had to get one of each. I felt like the color was more important than matching material, but it still bothers me. The material isn't too different at least. You have to either put them one on top of the other or touch them to tell the difference. I am jealous though, Pac-Man's is softer than Clyde's. =[ That's not fair.

I did, however, find the perfect lettering for the shirts. Mine will say "CLYDE" across the back of the shoulders, and my boyfriend's will say "PACMAN". I'm very excited for that lettering. It's possibly my favorite part of the costume, which is kind of sad, haha.

I wanted a sheer fabric for the fronts of the costumes, so that we could see out of the boxes covering our heads, but, again, the universe had different plans. I couldn't find a sheer fabric that was sheer enough. This one was too solid, that one was too thick, ugh. Instead, I bought some net-like fabric. It's decent, see-through, and breathable, but you can't see the color very well. It's definitely better than nothing though. It should be alright. =]

I had the intention of covering Clyde with fabric today, but it didn't happen. I dyed my hair instead, but the dye didn't take, so that was a lot of wasted time.

Ghosts have Skeletons? (Day 143)

I made the "skeleton" for my Clyde costume out of cardboard. I already love it. It's all pixel-y and old-school. Not to mention UNCOMFORTABLE! But I'll fix that later.

It's already turning out better than I had hoped though, and even though it's uncomfortable right now, it's easier to wear than I had originally thought too. It's bigger than I would have liked, but since my boyfriend and I decided to go with the pixel look, we decided 1 pixel = 1 inch, and each character is 14x14 pixels. Eh, it could be a lot worse.

I ran out of cardboard though, so I won't be able to work on Pac-Man until I get more. My mom says she has some at her work (she's an art teacher), but she doesn't go back to work until Tuesday.

I'm hoping to go to JoAnn's tomorrow to get the fleece I need. I need at least a yard of orange and yellow, and maybe a quarter yard of white. Then as little as I can get of a bunch of other colors.

I'm also hoping to get some white iron-on letters, but that's a sort of secret ;)

Updated Costume Info (Days 141 & 142)

So I put up some more costume info here, but that's about it. I feel boring and lazy right now. I hate updating when I haven't done any cosplay stuff =/

So tomorrow I'm am determined to go to JoAnn's! *fiery eyes of determination* I. Need. Fleece! And lots of it. I wonder if I could get little "sample" swatches. I doubt it though xP I'm going to end up buying a quarter-yard and end up only using like a 2"x2" square of it D= Such a waste!

COSTUME INFO: Riza Hawkeye (Fullmetal Alchemist)

Brief Bio: Riza Hawkeye is a first Lieutenant of the army of Amestris and serves under Lieutenant Colonel Roy Mustang. She's very skilled with firearms, and keeps up a tough facade, rarely showing any emotions other than anger or annoyance, though she is very compassionate on the inside. She is very protective over Roy Mustang and would follow him to the ends of the earth and back if it was his wish. For a full biography, check out Riza Hawkeye's FMA Wikipedia page.

Why?: I absolutely Love Riza Hawkeye. I think it's just her overall personality, she's independent and dependent at the same time, but still strong enough to take care of herself at the same time. As for the outfit itself, I've always had a liking for military uniforms for some reason, so it totally works for me.

Construction: I consider this my first real cosplay for some reason, even though Tohru was technically my first. My mom helped with a lot of this too, but I did a lot of detailing, and things that didn't involve the sewing machine.

The jacket was bought from a thrift store and modified with fabric bought at JoAnn's (added collar, cuffs, and closing flap), the skirt and pants came with it, and the skirt was cut to fit. The silver trim and yellow shoulder stripes are ribbon from JoAnn's held on with Heat 'n' Bond, and the buttons are hand-sewn on. I already owned the combat boots.

In the pictures here, everything looks a lot darker than it is (bad camera quality), but the main reason I made this costume instead of buying one is that I didn't feel that the store-made costumes were a dark enough blue. My Riza is actually a proper navy blue.

Originally, I used my real hair for this cosplay, though you can't tell in the pictures here, my hair actually was blonde. However, I ended up cutting my hair and dying to black, so Riza went into temporary retirement. Now I have a blonde wig, so I'm hoping to un-retire her at a con soon-ish.

This costume is 95% complete.
The missing 5(ish) percent is the silver nameplates on the collar, the star buttons / pins on the shoulders, and a handgun.

Convention Info: I first wore this costume at Comic Arts & Anime Teen Expo (CAAT) '06. Since then it has been worn to various small conventions as well as both Fanime and Kin-Yoobi '08. It has never been entered in competition. As mentioned before, it has been temporarily retired since '08, but I hope to un-retire Riza some time in '10.

NEW COSPLAY IDEA: Phoenix Wright (Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney)

Heh. Heheheh. The image amuses me. He's objecting to my text! Oh noes!

So, really, while I love the games, I'm not a big fan of Phoenix himself. He's a little too wimpy for my tastes, but I suppose I'll manage. This is a companion costume to my boyfriend's eventual Mile's Edgeworth cosplay. I really love Edgey. I mean really. It's unhealthy, I'm sure. After convincing my boyfriend to cosplay him for my amusement, I realized that I wouldn't have a matching cosplay, which is just unheard of for me.

So I toyed around with ideas for a matching one, so many characters to choose from. Then I decided that my boyfriend and I would wear these to Yaoi-Con, and what better pain that MilesxPhoenix! OMG LOLZ TEH YAOI! I kid, of course xP Maybe.

The plan is to get a giant sign, like the commonly-seen "Objection!" sign, except it'll say "Yaoi!" on one side instead. Ah, all in good fun, of course.

I'm mainly worried about the hair though, of course. I'll most likely be getting a wig and styling the shiznit out of it. That's a lot of gel. I'm pretty sure I can just buy the rest, I even have a tie about that color already. I'm more worried about making Miles, but I still see it as being easy, though we really should start searching for stuff now, because everyone knows if we wait, we won't find what we need.

COSTUME INFO: Amaterasu Okami (Okami)

Brief Bio: In the video game Okami, Amaterasu is the Japanese sun goddess in the form of a white wolf. While most can only see her as a plain white wolf, those with pure heart or divine powers can see her true form, complete with cloud-like fur on her legs and shoulders, and red markings on her face and back. Amaterasu wields the power of the Celestial Brush, giving her powers such as cutting through enemies, moving water, and creating wind. For a full biography, check out the Wikipedia Page for Okami.
(Note: The description provided here is of that of the character Amaterasu from the Okami video game, not that of the Japanese folklore of the goddess Amaterasu.)

Why?: I don't remember when exactly I chose to cosplay Amaterasu or how exactly the decision came about. However, I absolutely loved the video game, and my obsession continued through the seven-month process of creating this costume.

A lot of the inspiration for this costume came from Ouka of .hack// Legend of Twilight (the manga version). I love Ouka as well, but I knew that no one I knew would even dare to allow me to walk around half-naked, heh (image not mine).

I suppose I technically have two version of this costume. Version two is really more of an upgraded form of Version one though, so I still count them as one costume.

Construction: I built the feet & legs first, out of slip-on shoes bought at WalMart, foam, and of course white fake fur bought at JoAnn's. The bottoms of the feet are craft foam covered with generic sealant and Shoe Goo bought at Shoe Stop. I already owned the white shirt under the vest and the white tights (though I later bought a new pair). I found the vest at a thrift store and added the red swirls to the back. I bought jean shorts at a thrift store, covered them with fake fur and added a tail. The tail originally had wire in it, but people always thought it was fluff and squished it, so now it is filled with fluff. I bought the fan at a store called Daiso Japan, it already had the red "sun" symbol on it. I printed and cut out the image of Amaterasu, traced around it on the fan, then detailed it by hand.

Originally, the makeup was eyeliner from Hot Topic, but I later upgraded to a mask. I bought a half-mask (covers everything except the mouth and chin) at JoAnn's. The muzzle is paper mache, covered with short fake fur and colored with Sharpie. The nose itself is Scuplt It! clay painted black and sealed with generic sealant. The wig was bought at Party City and styled by me. The red streak of hair is two hair extensions I bought from Hot Topic. My first set of fangs were "Scarecrow" brand vampire fangs, and the second set is "Scarecrow" brand werewolf fangs, both bought at Hot Topic. The black lipstick was also bought at Hot Topic.

The ears were originally foam inside of fake fur, glued to hair clips. After I bought my wig, I sewed the ears to it. The fur tufts are fake fur over foam and sewn to the arm bands, which are just fake fur. The gloves were made by me with four-way stretch crushed velvet and black cotton, held together by a combination of sewing, Fray Check, and Heat 'n' Bond.

The shield is cardboard covered with green vinyl, and the flames are sheer fabric with Fray Check on the edges. The straps are four-way stretch crushed velvet (same as the gloves) with elastic on the inside. There are two straps of thicker elastic on the back as well so that it can be worn on my arm instead of my back. The top of the shield opens and it can be used as a backpack.

This costume is 99% complete.
Some padding needs to be added inside of the forehead of the mask, because it presses uncomfortably against my head.

Convention Info: I wore Amaterasu to Kiin-Yoobi '09, where I won 3rd in the cosplay contest, Holiday Anime Faire '09, where I won 1st in the "Hand-Made" Division of the cosplay contest, and Animation On Display (AOD) '10, where I won runner-up in the "Construction" division of the cosplay contest.

This is the only costume I really compete in, and the only one I take really seriously. It gets loads of attention, and always does well in competition. Unfortunately, it's madly uncomfortable, so I'm wanting to wear it less and less, especially if I'm not competing.

Cosplay List for 2010

• SacAnime Winter Saturday - Aviator Kitteh (Original)

• Animation On Display (AOD) Saturday - Amaterasu (Okami)

• San Fransisco Cherry Blossom Festivale April 18th - Pikachu (Pokemon)

• Fanime
Friday - Amaterasu (Okami)
Saturday - Clyde (Pac-Man)
Sunday - Chii (Chobits)

• Kin-Yoobi Con Friday & Saturday - Pikachu (Pokemon)

• Yaoi-Con Saturday - Franzesca Von Karma *13 years old* (Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth)

• Holiday Anime Faire Saturday - Undecided
(Note: Holiday Anime Faire might be canceled this year.)

Days 137, 138, & 139

I've been really sick, so I've been going to sleep early instead of updating my blog, haha. It's not like I've been doing anything really. In fact, I've been so sick, I haven't been cleaning my naval piercing, and it's looking nasty >_< My ears and face are all stuffed up, and I can't breathe through my nose. And it's my boyfriend's birthday xP His party was today, and I'll be going to dinner with his family tomorrow.

I want to work on cosplay though! I've gotten my cosplay list figured out for pretty much the rest of the year, unless another con pops up. I'll make another post for it though, so I can link to it and include my previous cosplays for this year too.

Day 136

So being sick is no fun. Yeah. That's about it. I really wanted to get started on my and my boyfriend's Pac-Man costumes, but then I realized that in order to get the proportions right, we'll have to make them, or at least take the measurements, at the same time. So maybe some time this week.

These costumes could take anywhere from a week two three months, depending on how much money we have available and what style we're doing all of this in. The super easy way out would be cardboard, paint, and black clothes. Which, believe me, is tempting beyond belief. The harder but still ridiculously easy way is covering the cardboard with fleece, and then having black clothes. We really, really want to go with fleece. Just because we can, and it should looked cleaner and smoother than paint over cardboard. The hardest would be fleece over cardboard with black clothes that have the Pac-Man game grid on them. You know, the blue walls that you have to maneuver around in the game. I'm still working on ways to do that to shirts and pants and stuff, but I think that that detail would really help put our costumes over-the-top and make them stand out.

An option that we're not really considering is full-body cardboard suits, mainly because that is a lot of cardboard and a lot of work. Not to mention, it wont' be comfortable or practical at all, and I doubt we'd even be able to transport them to conventions.

Nostalgia Attack is Super Effective Against All Types! (Day 135)

So Fanime costumes have been changed AGAIN. Haha. It's s good thing I've got like three months or I'd be pretty pissed. Now instead of a Mario and a Boo or Shy Guy (stilts or none), we are going to be a ghost and a Pacman.

I've already chosen my ghost. I shall by Clyde! Because Inky, Pinky, and Blinky just don't cut it for me. I'm surprised I remember all of their names. *nostalgia attack*

I'm still working out the entire costume plans, but I think I've got a general idea of how I'd like things done >_> It's just a matter of doing it. In any case, I'd like to get a complete group (three more ghosts at least) but knowing my luck, this won't happen, so I won't waste my time or money or get my hopes up *emo child*

I also got a couple of pairs of leggings, one for my Pikachu and one for my rave outfit. Though I may use them both for my Pikachu *begins plotting*.

Day 134

I'm sick. Again. With what feels like the same thing I was sick with last time I was sick. Typical cold-flu thing. Hopefully I can shake it in a couple days like I did last time, 'cause that was pretty cool. In the mean time, I probably won't be working on anything much.

My boyfriend and I are discussing switching his Boo cosplay out for something else. We're trying to figure out how to make him into a Shy Guy on stilts from Yoshi's Island. That really makes me want to be a Yoshi though, haha. At least that would give me something to work on.

Also, I may re-visit my Pikachu costume, since I didn't take it seriously the first time. I probably still won't take it that seriously, but I'll spiff it up if Sheik and her group are doing a Pokemon group at the SF Cherry Blossom Festivale, which she says won't be very likely =/ Or if one of my cosplay group members will go as Ash, that'd be a good reason to bring Pikachu too.

Day 133

Yeah, I kinda did nothin'. I think I have to revisit the shirt I worked on yesterday because the eyelets keep popping out. I just have to tighten them. Time to bring out the ol' hammer! Never thought I'd say that because of clothing o.o

Day 132

Added the eyelets to the shirt that I'll be using for Fanime's rave. I also laced them up with ribbon. I like it =] A lot. I've worn it already xD I'd like to find a way to make the feathers detachable (I'm thinking snaps) so that I can wear the shirt on normal days too.

Rave Outfit! (Day 131)

So, I've committed b=myself to doing this rave outfit for Fanime. Like I said before, it's really just something to keep me busy while waiting for money to generate. I was going to do furry leg warmers, but I forgot the fur is expensive as all hell, SO I got two awesome-colored pink / purple / white feather boas that I'm going to use as ankle and wrist cuffs, and some black feathers and silver eyelets to add to a shirt. I now need some type of ribbon, I'm still trying to mentally choose a color, fishnet stockings to go with my fishnet shirt, also still mentally choosing a color, and a brightly-colored / fluorescent fabric, also an undetermined color, to add to parts of my shirt, which I'm still not sure I'll do. Oh, and I need to choose shoes and either a skirt or shorts. I kinda want to do shorts, but I'll need new ones because the only ones I have are tiny and I don't wear them without leggings because it makes me feel like a ho.

Started Up a New Blog (Day 130)

So I actually did end up making a convention blog. The convention-related pots will stay here, but have also been copied to the other blog. Most of my con info has been removed from this page and moved to the other. Also, the new page has info such as my favorite con, my first con, and my dream con.

I also added pictures to my AOD post of my costume.

Also, I've decided that I will make a "rave" outfit for Fanime's rave. Really, I just want something to do that won't kill my wallet, while waiting for more money to generate and for my boyfriend to get the money for materials for his stuff. I'll probably just grab most of my stuff out of my closet, but I want to make colorful, furry leg warmers for sure. Maybe I'll make a skirt too, if I find some cool fabric. It's really just a fun sort of project to keep me busy.