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. =]