Kin-Yoobi's New Site!

I meant to post this earlier. Kin-Yoobi Con's new site is up! Kin-Yoobi Con is run by a group called Game-Zone Recreation, and so the main site is for GZR. The entire thing got overhauled, so not all of the links are active yet. However, registration for Kin-Yoobi is up, so check it out!

Game-Zone Recreation > Kin-Yoobi > Registration



The new site has video game reviews and will soon contain anime and convention reviews as well!

Kin-Yoobi Con 2010 Anime Feud Event Round 2

Second set of questions for Kin-Yoobi's Anime Family Feud event. It's me and one of the girls from the first video, Genna. I tripped over my words a little, but I don't really care, heh. I just don't want to watch it.



I'm still waiting on the blooper reel from last week, so don't expect the bloopers from this one any time soon.

Funny story about shooting these videos: The more weeks we shoot for, the more people start swearing when they mess up xD Blooper reels shall include loud, obnoxious bleeps from now on, I'm sure.

Steampunk Design (Days 178 - 181)

BLARG! Didn't update for hecka days. Mostly because I haven't been doing anything. At all. Heh.

But today I started sketching out my design for a steampunk outfit. It's more Victorian-inspired clothing than mechanics, so that needs some work, but so far, I'm liking it. I'll upload pictures, ahh.. Eventually, haha.

I've got a high-collared jacket with two tails and some Victorian era designs on the back, Victorian era men's trousers, a metal bustier with bolts for buttons and gears on the top that makes clicking noises similar to a heartbeat when wound. I also have a top hat with a Victorian-inspired design on it, though I can't decide whether that design should go in the front or on the side.

I'm also looking into making a steam-powered revolver, not a functional one, of course. I found a picture of one online though (shown above).

I haven't even decided on colors yet, other than brass and maybe a navy blue or deep purple. Bleh. I don't even know what to say.

Blarg (Days 176 & 177)

I'm probably going to stop updating until I finish these damn pants. At least one pair of them. Maybe I'll start writing informative blog pieces again, instead of progress entries for a while.

Kin-Yoobi Con 2010 Anime Feud Event Round 1

The first set of questions for Kin-Yoobi Con 2010's Anime Family Feud event. All information is included in the video. It's me and my boyfriend this time, the other girls couldn't make it.

Working with Tulip® Fabric Paint

Tulip® fabric paint is (obviously) a fabric paint, it comes in a variety of styles and colors. The styles include Crystals, Glitter, Slick, Puffy, Glow in the Dark, and Metallic. It comes in a bottle that can be stored right-side-up or upside-down, and you apply it to fabric by squeezing it directly from the bottle. Because of this, all of the styles of paint are three-dimensional (they stand up off of the fabric). Just how much they stand up from the fabric depends on how hard you squeeze the bottle, how fast you move it, and how far away from the fabric you hold the bottle while applying it.

All styles take four hours to fully dry, and seventy-two hours before they can be put through a washing machine. When washed, the garment must be turned inside-out. It is recommended to pre-wash the fabric, without fabric softener, before painting it.

The four-hour drying time is probably the worst unavoidable thing about this paint. Very rarely, if you do a very thin layer of paint, it will dry faster, but it's probably best not to risk it.

Holding the bottle is a problem for me, but that may just be because I have problems with the muscles used to do that, so I'm not sure that you can blame the company's design on that. I've also been using it for about an hour straight at a time.

The colors dry darker than what they appear to be in the bottle, but not so far off that it alters the overall look. They also appear on dark (black) fabric without darkening the look of the paint.

I've only used the Slick and Puffy styles of Tulip® fabric paints. The Slick is pretty much just like any other brand of fabric paint I've used. The Puffy paint puffs up and expands when it's steamed after drying. I of course bought it specifically for this reason, but it also helps the paint (specifically white) appear more vibrant on darker colors.

A bottle of the Slick paint, like what's pictured on the right (1.25 FL OZ / 37 mL), costs a little under two dollars, and covers enough fabric to be worth it.

Overall, fabric paint is fabric paint to me, but this is still a good brand of fabric paint. It's easy to use and you get what you expect out of it.

For some tips and tricks to painting with fabric paint, check out this FAQ page, written by Duncan Enterprises, makers of Tulip® and Scribbles® Fabric Paint Products.

Ran Out of Paint! (Day 174 & 175)

In the last two days, I've been working on my Clyde pants. I'll probably be working on them for, oh, forever. I finished one leg (or thought I did) and then got two-thirds of the way finished with the other before running out of blue fabric paint. I bought more paint, and then I decided that I was not done with the first leg, but I decided to fully finish the second first.

My right hand hurts a ridiculous amount from holding and squeezing the tubes of paint. And I've gotten blue paint on my new ironing board cover. That might come off though, since my ironing board cover looks like it has some protective coating on it. I don't know. The cover is supposed to reflect heat, so you can use half the heat you normally do. I haven't really ironed for a while though, not without steam, and my iron has to be on high for the steam to work.

Anyway, painting the pants is a ridiculous amount of work. It takes about an hour just to do one side of one pant leg, not including steaming to puff up the paint, which can take anywhere from fifteen minutes to a half-hour. Also, it's hard to get all of the game grids on the pants to look the same. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's impossible. Some of them look really good, but some of them.. Oy, the shame. They look terrible. However, if somebody's inspecting my pants that closely, we'll have an entirely different set of issues.

So my boyfriend and I are almost certain that we're entering the costume contest at Fanime as Pacman and Clyde. Well, I'm entirely sure we are. He just hasn't accepted it yet. I think we're just going to do a walk-on, possibly with our own music, depending on rules and allowances. There's not really much we can do in those costumes. The heads are bulky and weak in some points, and we'll have limited visibility.

Anyway, that's about it. I took a progress picture today (well my mom took it) of me actually in the costume thus far. But the camera died, so I can't upload anything until it's charged again. Maybe later tonight or some time tomorrow. =]

Pant Painting (Day173)

I started painting my Clyde pants today. Both the Clyde and Pacman pants will just be the Pacman game grid with the dots (no characters or fruits).

Painting the pants is a lot harder than I thought though, very time-consuming and tedious. It made my thumb hurt to be holding and squeezing the tube of paint for that long. I only painted one side of one leg, and that's all I'll be able to do at a time because of the lack of workspace. I'm working on my ironing board so that I can pin the pants down so they lay flat and don't move.

The design starts at the bottom of the pant leg, just above the hem, and repeats three times, so a little below the pocket. On the back, I hope to repeat the pattern four times, to go over the back pockets, and I may actually continue on the front too, depending on how they look when worn.

Pac-Man's Head is Finished! (Day 172)

Yay! I finished Pac-man's head. Except the extra piece on the inside that helps it balance correctly on the shoulders. My boyfriend also bought the pants he needed so that I can paint them. He bought them from a thrift store, so I'm going to wash them, along with the pants I've decided to use, before painting them.

Painting could take as little as one day, or as long as a week. I'm leaning more toward a week. The paint needs four hours to dry before I can put steam on it to puff up the white. with my workspace, I'm thinking I'll be lucky if I can do one pant leg at a time, and I refuse to move them until they dry. Plus, I have to do the front and back of both pairs of pants.

If I get off my butt and clean out the sewing room, I could conceivably have enough room to do one side of each pair of pants at once, wait for them to dry, puff the paint, then flip them over and repeat. Ah well. We all know that won't happen ^-^

Finished Pac-Man Shirt! (Day 171)

I finished my Pac-man shirt! Yay! I sewed on the rest of the fruits and finished ironing on the letters, because they kept peeling.

I also gave up on painting over the box for Pac-man's head. The marker just kept bleeding through. So I set to fabric over it and looked to see what showed through, then removed the fabric and glued printer paper over the marker lines. It worked rather well. =]

Tomorrow, I hope to cover more of the Pac-man head with fleece, if not finish it altogether. I'd really like to get the black jeans I"m wanting so that I can paint them. For some reason, I'm really looking forward to that. I think I just really like the puffy paint. =]

Leprechaun Land (Days 168, 169, & 170)

So I've been volunteering lately for the local Teen Center where I live, and they / we have been working on putting together an event called Leprechaun Land for Wee Folk. It's a small event for ages three to six, where they can play a game similar to 'Candy Land' with a St. Patric's Day / magical forest theme.

My mom and I originally volunteered because we got free tickets to Disneyland for putting either hours in, but we ended up getting roped into the whole thing. We made little fairy / elf / leprechaun houses out of refrigerator boxes, painted them, and glued fake leaves and flowers on them. They were rather cute for refrigerator boxes.

Anyway, the point is, on the night of the event (Day 169), I attended dressed as a fairy. I imagined it to be a lot more fun than it was, but I also didn't imagine that I'd have cramps and a migraine. My assignment was to stand at the entrance to the 'Candy Land' game with my boyfriend (who was dressed as a leprechaun). He handed the children a plastic coin (to be used later in the game) and I was to allow them to roll a pair of giant dice to begin the game. The dice were useless, though, as the children were only to move to the first game station.

I really don't like working with kids. I get frustrated when people don't understand what I'm saying or trying to explain something, and I know little kids just don't understand a lot of things, so it's hard for me to handle them without getting upset or stressed. In addition to that, the dice confused everybody, even the parents, in fact, even me. I mean, they don't move the number of spaces they roll! I dunno.

Anyway, I only went so that I could keep my boyfriend company while he got his final two hours, and because I got to dress up in costume ^-^

My costume was quick, but cute. I had a pair of Halloween fairy wings, black and blue, and I finally found a use for my ridiculously green, pleather, '60s go-go dress. Black shorts, black leggings, black high-heeled shoes, and a black button-up shirt. I also put green ribbon around my Gothic Lolita hat and wore it backwards (so the lace and feathers were in the back). And at the event, I got to sit on a giant mushroom, which I'm including as part of my costume because it was adorable ^-^ My nails were also painted green to mach, with gold glitter.

Anyway, that was all yesterday. Day 168 I did nothing, and then today (Day 170) I went to visit family.

Pretzels Are Not a Fruit! (Day 167)

SO I put a second coat of paint on the side of Pac-man that needs it. It's going to need at least one more, maybe two. Then I started sewing the fruits onto the Pac-man shirt. I hate that pretzel! It was quite possibly the most complex thing I've ever sewn. And it's not even a fruit! Rawr.

I finished sewing on the pretzel and the cherries, and sewed most of the orange (still have to sew the orange leave though). I also got around to cleaning up the sewing room a bit. Only to have my mom trash it seconds later. Ugh. Ah well.

I also tested out the puffy paint that I bought for the white dots that will be on the jeans (you have to wait for it to dry, then activate it with steam). Omg, I love it. They're all puffy and 3D and squishy =D. I also figured out how to use the steam on my iron! Yay! It's not hard, I just never needed it before.

No pictures today, sorry D= Didn't really finish anything, so I didn't feel the need for pictures.

Waka Waka Waka Waka (Day 165)

After a trip to JoAnn's today, I finally got around to putting Pac-man into his final(ish) stages, or at least catching him up to Clyde. (Some of the pictures are funky colors or odd angles. Sorry D=)

Initially, I was shopping for iron-on letters, because to write both "CLYDE" and "PACMAN" I need two C's. However, I did not want to pay $9.99 for an entire package of letters, just to use one C. While looking at the letters in the store though, I realized that a C is just an O with a chunk cut out. I wish I had thought of that sooner. I still ended up walking out with a roll of fleece (requested by my mom), a bra extender (because I can't find the one my mom bought me, I think she stole it), two tubes of fabric paint (one blue, one white), and of course candy.

When I got home, I had my boyfriend try on the Pac-man shirt so that I could place the fruits, after which I began ironing on the letters to the back. For some reason, they did not want to stay on though. I ended up messing up a couple of them, but overall, it's not too bad..

While waiting for the letters to cool, I finished putting cardboard pieces together for the head and began covering it with fleece. I ran into a little snag though. Turns out yellow fleece is see-through. Who knew? The cardboard on the side I was covering was predominantly white, but had a navy blue oval and lettering on it. Luckily, I was able to cover both seamlessly with a sheet of printer paper cut to fit and hot glued in. Unfortunately, I'm not so lucky with the other side. In the process of making the head, I turned the cardboard into a grid with a black pen, and then drew where I wanted to cut with colored Crayola markers, both of which show through the fabric. Thanks to my mom's suggestion, though, I will be painting over it with white paint. It'll take a few layers though, because the marker bleeds through.

After messing with the lettering some more, I decided I was just making things worse and gave up. It's not like they're going to fall off, I just wish that the corners wouldn't peel so much. I tested out the fabric paint I bough on a piece of scrap fabric, and I rather like how it turned out. The white puffs up with steam, but I have to wait until it dries to test it. My boyfriend and I thought it would would look cool and give it a more intense 3D effect. I like the colors I ended up with too, I was worried that covering an entire pair of pants with an intricate design might be too distracting, but I think the colors are just dark enough to give a subtle effect, without blending into the black.

Blog Issues... (Day 164)

Thanks to Sheik, I got confirmation that my blog was acting funky. I think I fixed most of it, it shouldn't send you to another page anymore.

Days 163 & 164

Yesterday, I threw a party for my improvisation friends. It went pretty well overall, but my mom wasn't too happy about a couple of things. Ah well, life goes on.

Funny thing is, after what was probably the best party I've ever thrown, I feel really, really depressed. Probably just that time of the month rolling around, but still. I don't feel like doing anything at all. Although I have a dull urge to sew. But of course, I don't have anything to sew T_T No wonder I'm depressed.

Days 161 & 162

I really haven't done anything. So lazy..

It seems like something's wrong with my blog page. The title "Recent Comments" is being shown at the top right of the page, and the side bar is pushed the the bottom of all my posts. Then after being on the page for a couple of seconds, I get redirected to some spam page. Is anybody else getting any of this, or is it my computer?

Anime Family Feud Event Intro Blooper Reel

Ahaha, usually I get embarrassed when I watch myself mess up, but even I laughed at this xD

Fruit Arangement (Day 160)

I finished making the fruit for Pac-Man's shirt today. I may attach them tonight, but I probably won't until at least tomorrow. I really wanted to put the name on the back of the shirt before putting the fruit on the front, but thinking about it now, I could do it in either order.

It took me a little while to figure out how to organize the fruits on the shirt, since there's seven of them, and I'm a big fan of symmetry, but I think I figured out what works. The image of the left is the felt and fleece fruit I made on the black shirt my boyfriend bought. I personally think it looks like a snapshot of them from the game, but maybe I'm just taking too much pride in my work. ;D The pear looks a little dark in the picture though.

Kin-Yoobi Con 2010 Anime Family Feud Event

I feel like I should post this on my Convention Blog, but since I already mentioned it here...
By the way, I'm so ashamed, if I had known that they weren't going to give me my Kin-Yoobi shirt, I would've gone more Pikachu and at least worn yellow T_T Ah well...

"Anime convention, Kin-Yoobi Con 2010, will feature a new gameshow for its attendees called Anime Family Feud. Your help is needed to come up with answers for questons of the new event. Check this video to see how you can win a free video game in the process!"


Click here to view the Game Zone Recreation (Kin-Yoobi) YouTube Channel. Be sure to subscribe and participate for a chance to win yourself a free video game. =D

First Kin-Yoobi Video Shoot (Day 159)

So we recorded the first of a series of videos to get Kin-Yoobi's Anime Family Feud survey started. I would post it, but it's not on YouTube yet. I'll post it as soon as I can.

It's essentially an introduction video to introduce a few of us that will be in the videos and explain how the following videos are going to work. It was a lot of fun, and it went really quickly and really well. I was proud of myself though. I learned my lines the quickest, and on our final take, I didn't use my script at all other than quickly reading through it before we started the camera. I just hope I used enough energy. Ah well. At least I looked good on camera. LOL.

Anyway, I look forward to shooting more videos =]

Day 158

Yeah.. I didn't do anything today. Well, I found out I am getting paid for yesterday. twenty-five bucks. LAME!