Trying... (Days 540 & 541)

I'd like to try to get back into daily blogging again, and it should be easier since I have my laptop back (it was busted for a while). Of course, my lack of blogging and my lack of cosplay accomplishments are directly related. When I don't blog, I don't realize how much I'm not doing, so I continue to do nothing, and when I do nothing, I have nothing to blog about, so I don't blog! It's a vicious cycle, really.

So. Yeah. I've done nothing. I'm still waiting on my Yoko wig and fabric swatches. Still haven't touched the fabric for the bikini/shorts, though I did look at the pant pattern that I picked up. It's pretty cool, it has three separate patterns for three different sizes of pant (petite, average, and curvy), which it probably why it cost about seven bucks. I can't decide if I want to modify the pattern at all. It's for high-waisted pants, while Yoko's shorts are actually low-rise, but the overall shape is the same, and I don't want to ruin that.

I also still haven't decided what to do with the bikini top really. Feh. Yeah. That's all!

READ MORE - Trying... (Days 540 & 541)

ARG! (Days 511 - 515)

So, yeah, most likely not going to WonderCon. And by "most likely", I mean, there's like a 5% chance. So here's the story. (I asked people not to ask, but at the same time, I need to vent it, so here we go.)

Originally, my boyfriend's brother (we'll call him S, for anonymity's sake) was the one planning the trip. He invited my boyfriend and I to go with him and his fiance. Originally, this meant he would drive us there, pay for our entry, and pay for our lunch. Best deal ever, I should have known it was too good to be true.

Then, suddenly, he stopped talking about going. When he was asked, S would just say "Oh, yeah, that" and nothing else. It turned out that he didn't know which day we were going because of his fiance's work schedule. She usually works Saturdays, but we had originally planned to go on Saturday. Also, he wanted to go on the same day that the creators of the Dunny series were going, and for some reason couldn't figure out which day that was.

A few weeks later, when he was asked again, S said that he was worried about being able to pay for everybody to go. I said that I would pay for my ticket, as long as I was told which day we were going so that I could register online (I don't even know if this information was relayed to S). I also offered to pay for my own lunch. After waiting about another week or so, I changed my offer to $20 cash for my ticket (plus my lunch), because if S had been on top of things, I would have been able to pre-register, and $20 would have been the most I would pay.

At this point (probably about a week or so ago from today), I was mad. I can't stand the lack of communication, the constant changing of stories and plans, and the general confusion of the entire thing. This is exactly why I plan convention trips for myself and my boyfriend, and when anyone else wants to join us, they go through me, because I feel like if I don't do it, it won't get done right, and we'll end up sleeping in the convention hallway with one ticket between four people, three energy bars, and no water. It's instances like this nonsense that makes me think this way!

Anyway, about a week before the con starts, I'm told that S's Fiance is going to dictate the entire trip. That if she goes, we'll leave super early, stay at the convention for two hours, shop for four hours, go out to dinner on a "super-special double-date" (or something like that), and then go home. I'm sorry, but I'm not spending $20 just to go to a convention early in the morning, when most of the events are in the afternoon/night, and only stay for two hours. While I would love to go to dinner with S and his fiance on a double-date, that was not the point of this trip, and I'm insulted and offended at the possibility that she's commandeering this whole thing. Again, this is why I plan con trips.

Then, two days before the convention starts (today), I finally said to my boyfriend, "So we're not going to WonderCon, are we?" He gave me his wishy-washy answer of "probably not", trying to let me down easy, but really just making me mad at the thought of false hope.

Because of the way things have been panning out, I expect either Saturday or Sunday morning to go something like this:
S will wake up at about six in the morning, randomly with enough energy to get up. He'll get showered and ready in an hour, call his fiance, and leave. They'll go to the convention for all of an hour, leaving my boyfriend and I behind, then they'll spend the day shopping in SF and get back around midnight. When my boyfriend asks him where he's been, and why he left us, he'll say "lol You were sleeping, and I didn't want to wake you up." Not even out of spite, not even to make us mad or jealous, just because this is something he would just do. He would just not think about the fact that we (I) really wanted to go, and he'll just go. Ugh.

So, yeah, I'm mad. Never letting someone else plan a convention trip ever again. Even if they're my only possibility of going, I'm just going to say "no thanks" because this is too much stress.

And since I'm not going, I'm not going to be cosplaying Terra (Teen Titans) either. I wasn't overly excited about that cosplay anyway, but I am a little disappointed nonetheless. However, in it's place, I will now be cosplaying the lovely gem pictured right. It's a Koffing (Pokemon) gijinka. Unfortunately, I don't know the artist, but I would love to just because I love this design so much. It made me think of Koffing in a whole new light, and I love the subtle "Selfdestruct" reference that sets the tone for the entire design. Admittedly, I've never used Koffing in any of the games, and I was never fond of them in the anime, but I do have a special place for Poison-types in my heart, that's for sure. It's a newfound love, actually, starting from when I played HeartGold and really learned how to use bug types as strategic fighters. I branched out from there to love strategic-fighting Pokemon in general.

In any case, I really can't remember seeing any other Pokemon design as mentally stimulating and disturbing as this one. It's elegantly simple and so subtle, but once realization of it hit, it was impossible to get out of my head. Maybe I'm just messed up in the head like that.

On a side-note, if anybody could tell me what the blue gem on the necklace is supposed to be, that would be fantastic, because I can't for the live of me figure it out.

READ MORE - ARG! (Days 511 - 515)

ABC Party (Days 496 - 504)

So the "Anything But Clothes" party was awesome. Here's a picture of my outfit, it's made entirely out of trash bags, newspaper bags, and tape! Yes, even the headband, but not the shoes and naval ring, 'cause, well, yeah, no.

It's a little, um, breezier than I had liked, but by the time I was finished with the skirt and had fought with a top for about three hours, I decided "screw it" and went with a tube top and capelet. Besides, what good is a naval piercing if I don't show it off once in a while?
But, yeah, party was a typical college party and lots of fun. =]

Nothing really on the cosplay front. Took a commission for the first time in my life. It's a jacket commission for a friend, I need to get a price estimate together like now because, as far as I'm concerned, nothing is finalized until money is agreed upon.

I also took up a hat commission, but those aren't really "real" commissions to me. It's for a Dragonite hat, and because the design is a little complex, they've agreed to pay $35, but they won't be getting it or paying until Fanime. Which, yeah, sucks a little, but at least I'll have spending money for Fanime!

Speaking of Fanime, "Magikarp: A History" was approved, or so the forums say. I never got an official e-mail. So hopefully I get one soon with further instructions as to how to get out badges and if there needs to be any tweaking of the panel or anything.

READ MORE - ABC Party (Days 496 - 504)

A New Challenger Appears! (Days 494 & 495)

So, this is only slightly cosplay-related, but it has to do with crafting and such, and I'm very excited! I've been invited to an "ABC Party", that's "Anything But Clothes". The theme of the party is to make something out of trash bags, duct tape, anything but cloth/regular clothes. I've always wanted to try something like this, but never had the reason to. I was invited a few days ago, but didn't realize until today that it's this Saturday, leaving me only a couple of days to make something.

Originally, I was going to piece together something out of caution tape, but I couldn't find most of my caution tape (only found pieces), so I decided on plastic bags. I'm making a dress. The front is the goodie bag from Yaoi-Con, since it's black and has a pretty design on the front. The sides are Caution tape, and the back is a garbage bag. My main issue is getting it to fit in a way that I can get in and out of it without having to tap it on every time. I'm not even sure if this is possible.

Anyway, this is a fun challenge, and an excellent use for my dress form! I'll post pictures when it's finished!

READ MORE - A New Challenger Appears! (Days 494 & 495)

Pokemon Fever (Days 487 - 493)

It seems I've disappeared off the grid again. I miss blogging every night, I really do, I love writing and getting my thoughts out. Perhaps this is why I haven't been sleeping very well lately.

Anyway, not much to talk about on the cosplay front. I might not be going to WonderCon, but I do still really want to cosplay Terra, so I might not cosplay Panty for Fanime. I would still like to cosplay Panty this year, or next year at the latest, while Panty and Stocking is still popular, but before the mega popularity hits. However, I think I'll have a lot of fun cosplaying Terra as well, and it's a more comfortable cosplay as well. Of course, with Terra, it will be more difficult to find a gathering to fit into and people to take pictures with, but that will make it so much more rewarding when I do find people. I also enjoy seeing the looks on people's faces when a lesser-known or older character is cosplayed, it makes me happy to be told that I made their day. =] I enjoy making other people happy.

Speaking of Fanime, I am for sure bringing Franziska von Karma, but I still doing know if I will be cosplaying her the entire day or just bringing her out for the gathering. Chances are, I'll be her the whole day. She's still a lot of fun to cosplay, especially now that I have a riding crop. I haven't gotten into any "antics" with it (and I don't really want to), I just enjoy having it and carrying it around. I like the way it feels to hold it, as odd as that sounds. It feels.. Elegantly powerful, is the best way I can think to describe it.

Anyway, I'm sort of in the process of setting up a photoshoot with a girl who cosplays 18-year-old Franziska, the same girl I met at Animation on Display. I was delighted when she suggested that we have one, she was really nice and her cosplay was very good, she even had a whip prop as well, the two of us looked really good next to each-other, our wigs are the same color, and we have an appropriate height difference. I say I'm "sort of" in the process of setting up a 'shoot because I'm not really actively setting anything up at this point. All that we're going to have to do is set a time and find a photographer, but I don't want to start planning something like this so far in advanced, in case things change.

My goal for Fanime this year is to go to a bunch of cosplay gatherings. I've only been to one (the CLAMP gathering at last year's Fanime) and it was a lot of fun. I really enjoy getting pictures with cosplayers from the same series, as many cosplayers do. I think it took me a whole to realize how much fun it is to take pictures with other cosplayers, because when I began cosplaying, I was very shy, and people asking for my picture was very weird and intimidating to me. However, now that I've gotten used to people asking for pictures and to asking people for pictures, I've realized that it is a lot of fun!

So far, I plan on going to the Pokemon gathering as Pikachu, the Ace Attorney gathering as 13-year-old Franziska von Karma, and the CLAMP gathering as Chi. Originally, I had planned to skip the masquerade and attend the Comedy Club and then Rum Party instead, but since the masquerade is on Sunday this year, I may attend, depending on how it overlaps with the Black & White Ball. In any case, I plan on attending the Rum Party in a sort of closet pirate wench costume (don't ask how/why I have a closet pirate wench costume, I just do), and I believe I'll be attending the Black & White Ball in a traditional Chinese dress that I managed to find in the thrift store a few months ago.

Oh, and as to the reason that I dropped off the face of the planet, I actually would have posted a few days ago I believe, but Pokemon Black and White came out this past Sunday, and I've been superglued to White since then. Yes, it's been giving me crazy new cosplay urges (particularly gijinkas), but I'm trying really hard to resist them, since I feel like I'm already stretching my budget too far.

READ MORE - Pokemon Fever (Days 487 - 493)

Days 485 - 486

The timestamps have been moved to the bottom of the post to help make things look cleaner.

So I should be working on Magikarp (for my boyfriend) and probably Femme!Link, but those costume debut dates are so far in the future. I haven't gotten any materials for the cosplays that I need to finish sooner.

Instead, I've been working on stuff for the Magikarp panel. I really hope that I keep working on it until it's finished, and not end up putting it off until the last minute like last time. We're still not confirmed for Fanime, but we're still really hoping to get to present there. We think we'll do well there. =] According to a post by Fanime's Panel Coordinator on the Fanime Forums, panel submissions will receive news of approval some time in March. Since the last approval date was the second weekend of February, I'm guessing/hoping that the next approval date will be the second week of March. So only two more weeks of nervously anticipation!

READ MORE - Days 485 - 486

Day 484

1:50am - So I've decided that I would in fact like to start sharing tutorials, at least ones I've found, if not making my own. I'm having trouble with Blogger though, it re-sizes all of the images so that the text is illegible. I may have to use PhotoBucket and post pictures the old-school HTML way instead of the fancy Blogger way.

In any case, I would at least like to make a picture tutorial for temporarily coloring eyebrows that was seen here on Cosplay.com. I use it often, for both my Franziska cosplay and my Chii cosplay. It really works, and people are always baffled by it.

Even though I didn't come up with the method (I will give credit, I'm always very conscious of that), and it's already well-known, I would like to post it here, at least as a way of learning how to make a tutorial.

READ MORE - Day 484

Days 433 - 437

I haven't done anything cosplay-related except for expand my Future Cosplay list.

I finished watching Season 1 of Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt, which was refreshing because I haven't watched a new anime in a long time. But it also gave me ten or so new things that I want to cosplay. Also, I found a cheaper wig for Stocking! I... Don't remember the actual price, but it's cheaper! (And 10cm shorter, but whatever.)

The image on the left is the first outfit of Stocking's that I wanted to cosplay. I don't know if I'll do it first, but it was the first one I liked. It's from an episode where she and Panty were trying out a bunch of different odd jobs to earn money. The outfit shown was their first job as roller skate waitresses. My main setback with it is the roller skates. I'd love to get them, at least for a photoshoot, but that's more money that I don't have.

READ MORE - Days 433 - 437

Oh Dear... (Days 429 - 432)

So I'm broke. Almost flat-broke. Embarrassingly enough, all of my cosplays up until this point have been funded by an allowance from my mom, and now she's not giving me allowance anymore. I'm considering selling back my Comic-Con ticket in order to have enough money for a weekend pass at Fanime. I'm also considering asking my dad to fund my entire Fanime trip, haha. He owes me back allowance anyway. >_>

So I've been applying for jobs left and right, hopefully I can get one, just for pocket money.

I've also decided that I really, really, really want to cosplay Stocking from "Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt." I haven't decided on a version, but I want to do a bunch of them, not only because I like a lot of versions, but also to re-use the wig a lot, because the cheapest one I found was $70. Meep. Also, I want her cat plushie!

READ MORE - Oh Dear... (Days 429 - 432)

Happy New Year! (Days 427 & 428)

Happy New Year everybody! I'm trying to be positive about it, but I'm a realist. I feel like this year is going to be basically the same as last year, but I am going to try and do my part to make it better (as opposed to "here's hoping it get's better!"). I've been feeling extra charitable lately, and I need to get rid of some stuff, so some time this month, I plan to donate a bunch of stuffed animals to a women's and children's shelter. I feel like that's a real way to start the year right and set the tone for 2011.

As for personal New Year's resolutions? I'm still trying to gain weight. I'm somewhat succeeding, but it's a really slow and difficult process. I'm still aiming for reaching my weight gold by the end of January, but it's not looking like it's going to happen, so I'm extending my goal some. By Fanime, I will be my ideal weight, though I'd like it to happen sooner so that, y'know, my costumes fit.

Also, my visiting family went home =[ I miss my cousin already. We were supposed to work on a cosplay for her, but, heh, we never did. We were too busy hanging out and being awesome. Ah well. Turns out she may not go to Fanime after all anyway.

READ MORE - Happy New Year! (Days 427 & 428)

So... (Days 422 - 423)

I realized recently (I think I mentioned it) that some of my posts were numbered incorrectly. I finally went through all of it, and I think I fixed them. At one point, I had gone from day 295 to 226. That along with a couple of other mistakes made it so that I was was exactly 50 days off, which is why my post numbers reflected that I had not been blogging for a year, even though it's been way over that.

No cosplay progress, but I have been practicing my 12-hole ocarina so that I can play it at AOD. =]

Hopefully today I can finish my Yaoi-Con review and do my Holiday Anime Faire review so that my Convention blog is up-to-date before AOD.

Tomorrow, my cousin, grandma, and maybe aunt are coning to visit for a while, and my grandma is going to be staying in what is currently my sewing room, so either I'll take it as an invasion of space and start sewing more in order to maintain my claim over my territory, or I'll get all passive stop sewing altogether until they leave. o.o I really hope it's the first one.

READ MORE - So... (Days 422 - 423)

Merry Christmas! (Days 417 - 421)

So I went to my boyfriend's family Christmas party last night (Christmas Eve), and there was a White Elephant gift exchange. I made a Pikachu hat for it, and a lot of people were very amused by it. It ended up going to a kid, which I intended. Kid's don't participate in the White Elephant, but parents do, and the kids seem bored during it.

Anyway, for Christmas, I got my 12-hole Destiny ocarina ^-^ I got it Christmas Eve, and I'm learning to play it and read the music really quickly. Hopefully I'll learn enough to bring it to AOD.

I've been re-inspired to finish my femme!Link cosplay, I figured out the missing piece. I'm going to use silver/metallic lace in place of chainmail. It's going to be difficult to find the right kind though. I'll need a piece off of a bolt (like how fabric comes) that looks similar to chainmail, but not enough like it to be mistaken for it, to put underneath the top amd bottom of the dress so that it'll show through the slit. Then I'm going to put lace edges around the bottom of the dress and the sleeves, to imitate chainmail sticking out from underneath. Hopefully this works, I'll really have to search for the right stuff, especially since I don't think lace usually goes with the type of fabric that I used for the dress (a blend of 95% rayon and 5% spandex). We'll see what I can find.

As for all of those hats that I was supposed to make for $100, it still hasn't happened. I thought that my friend wanted them for Christmas, but he didn't contact me about them, in fact, there was barely any communication on his end, and we never set a permanent date that they should be done on. So I'm going to try contacting him again, but somethign tells me that this isn't going to happen. Which sucks because I really need the money for Fanime.

READ MORE - Merry Christmas! (Days 417 - 421)

Days 414 - 416

So, yup, done nothing. Pinned some of the parts of an Eevee hat together, but that was it. I haven't been doing much of anything lately. Haven't felt like it. Meh.

READ MORE - Days 414 - 416

Day 406

Yup, nothing, haha. I meant to work on things today, but instead I went to a Christmas tree lighting ceremony with my boyfriend and his family. I feel like I've blogged about this before, but I haven't had this blog for a whole year yet. Hmm. Ah well.

READ MORE - Day 406

Days 398 - 400

Woo! So nothin'! Got a couple more orders for hats, and made the patterns for a few. But I'm too freaking lazy to actually make any. *sigh*

So Holiday Anime Faire is this Saturday! I shall be there in my Clyde cosplay with my boyfriend as Pacman. I'm looking forward to seeing some of my cosplay buddies again and entering the cosplay contest with some real competition. =D

READ MORE - Days 398 - 400

Days 391 & 392

So, yeah, nothin' haha. I've been trying to finish my review for Yaoi-Con (yeah, I'm still not done), and I've also been trying to figure out what I want to cosplay during the Magikarp panel at AOD. Theoretically, it'd be best to be Pikachu, but I'll have my Link ears on still, and I don't know if my hair will cover them. So I may just stay in my Link cosplay and wear my boyfriend's Magikarp hat. Yup... We'll see.

READ MORE - Days 391 & 392

Day 390

Nothing of interest today. Saw Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1! ^-^ That has absolutely nothing to do with me cosplaying, it was just a really good movie.

READ MORE - Day 390

Day 389

So last night, I found a thread on 4chan about myself. Posted by someone on my facebook friends list. I'm still not entirely sure who it was, but I deleted a bunch of people that I didn't trust, and I hope it was one of them. Basically, one of my future cosplays was put out there to make fun of and bash.

Last night, when I first found out, it bothered me a lot. So much that I thought of giving up the cosplay altogether. However, I came to the conclusion that I am going to do whatever the heck I want. I'm doing the cosplay, and I'm doing it exactly how I want to do it, no matter what anyone says. 4chan and whoever posted about me can kiss my furry, genderbent, superhero ass!

READ MORE - Day 389

Day 338

I forgot to mention yesterday that the panel that my boyfriend and i want to do for AOD was approved! YAAAAAAAY! I've never been this excited to give a presentation before, HAHA.

So anyone going to AOD, you should totally come check out our panel, Magikarp: A History. "A survey of the history of the Pokemon Magikarp, including in-game capabilities, anime appearances, and physical changes throughout the years"

So today, I went to the mall with some friends. It was really good to get out of the house and see people. Well, people other than my boyfriend and mom. Don't get me wrong, I love them to death, but I see them all the time, so it was good to see more people =]

So. Yeah. No progress. WHEEEEE~!

READ MORE - Day 338

Sick =[ (Day 337)

I was sick in the worst way today. I woke up with a full-blown migraine, headache, nausea, neck pain, everything. I also had a stuffy, runny nose and sore sinuses. So I took some Tylenol extra strength cold medication, and that made me so dizzy and loopy, I had to lay down for several hours. Everything was kinda funny though xD No matter what someone said, it made me giggle. It makes me think I'll be a fun drunk, HAHA.

So, clearly, no cosplay progress today. We'll see about tomorrow.

READ MORE - Sick =[ (Day 337)