Month: May 2016

Critical Role

Charity, Writing

Well, I hate to admit it, but with all the cosplay craziness around here I’ve neglected my duties as co-admin of the charity anthology and have not been critiquing other writers’ works like I should have been. This morning (and possibly the next few) is going to be for playing catch-up.

I feel especially bad because the anthology has ground to a halt as writers await their critiques so they can move on with revisions and such. It’s not 100% my fault, but I do carry some of the blame for that.

I think part of my problem is that, in this group, critiquing seems like a never-ending process. I’ve posted so many updates to one of my pieces that I’ve lost count, even after thinking it was long since polished. I can see how that can be discouraging to the other writers, so I may have a talk with the head admin of the group about posting some positive things, like which works are “finished” and ready for publication. Perhaps that would raise morale and get things moving again.

Suppose I could write some more stuff too.

Invested in Cosplay

Anime, Convention, Cosplay, Crafting, Sewing

I’m almost done with Gaara’s vest for my husband’s cosplay! It only took me a day, which blows my mind because I had no pattern, no instructions, no real plan other than to make a rough mockup out of two pieces of fabric, cut a crapton of the actual fabric I was going to use, and pray.

This is the vest I was trying to recreate:

Garaa1

Not too bad, but I still didn’t really know what I was doing. I also had to make a hidden pocket for it, which I will tell you is no easy feat for a novice.

Here’s the almost-finished product:

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With this being the biggest piece left to do before Phoenix Comicon, I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders. Small things here and there I can do. The notion of two cosplays from scratch was intimidating a month ago when my husband decided that I’d have plenty of time to finish them before Phoenix Comicon (June 2). I didn’t think I could do it, especially considering I would be making my first coat, but I am so close to the end and it feels amazing.

Con artist

#nerd, Anime, Art, Convention, Cosplay, Crafting, Geek, Sewing

Ha! What a pun!

No, seriously. I may not be the world’s best artist. I may not even be a good artist. And I’m certainly not a featured artist of the con. But I am an artist. And I’m going to the con. So…yeah.

The cosplays are going so well that I can hardly wait for Phoenix Comicon. I mean, there is still a lot of stuff to get done. Mostly little stuff, thanks to my early morning insomniac sewing, but still a lot to get done.

The parts that are finished are looking quite nice, and I have to admit I’m egotistically proud of myself for doing so well, especially on my husband’s cosplay pieces so far. (I’m not particularly proud of the skirt I made for my Jedi TARDIS, but it’s finished now and it would take too much effort to remake the whole thing. Again.)

I don’t have any pictures of his Naruto cosplay–yet–but I have a selfie of me wearing my Temari kimono and headband. At 3am. In the dark. Still, it’s a cute photo, so I’m going to show it off here, along with hubby’s completed Sith Time Lord cosplay (missing just a couple red leather straps that are due to arrive *fingers crossed* hopefully by the end of the month):

As you can see in the bottom left corner of the picture of the front of hubby’s Sith Time Lord, our cat Rory likes to photobomb our cosplay pics. I have several examples of this. Seriously, cat, we’re just standing around in funny clothes taking pictures of each other. Relax. It’s nothing interesting.

We also *may* get my Temari fighting fan cosplay prop before Phoenix Comicon. Hubby ordered it last night, but we don’t know for sure if it will arrive before the con.

My plans for the evening? More artsy-craftsy cosplay art for our annual con. 🙂

Tick-tock, Tick-tock

Cosplay, Crafting, Poetry, Sewing, Time

Tick-tock, tick-tock

The hands go round and round

The more cycles that the hands complete

Her nervousness abounds

Tick-tock, tick-tock

So much work left to be done

There’s snips and clips and lengthened tails

Will she finish by the strike of one?

Tick-tock, tick-tock

The list, it ever grows

The more that’s done, the more’s to do

Will she finish? No one knows

Crunch time

Anime, Convention, Cosplay, Crafting, Fandom, Geek, Sewing, Time

It’s now exactly 3 weeks until Phoenix Comicon, and I’m still not done with all the cosplay stuff I need to do–in fact, my list is growing every day!

I have to:

  • finish my husband’s Gaara coat
  • work with my husband to make our Sand Village shoes
  • make the Gaara vest (and put a pocket inside it for keys/phone/wallet)
  • make the Gaara belt and leg strap thingies
  • paint Gaara’s symbols on the gourd
  • make a belt for my Jedi TARDIS cosplay so I have a place for my lightsaber
  • add belt loops to the bag I made for my husband’s Sith Time Lord cosplay (so he has a place for his keys/wallet/phone)
  • add a snap on his tunic so it stays flat in front
  • maybe make another couple of straps for my Temari obi

I’m sure there are other things I’m forgetting, but those are the major things. So yeah, 3 weeks for that, and I work a lot in those 3 weeks.

I think I can do it. I’m telling myself I can do it. I just need to buckle down & bust my butt. Once I get the Gaara coat and vest done and the Sand Village shoes for our Naruto cosplays, that should be the majority of the sewing stuff. So beyond that it’s little stuff. The painting shouldn’t take too long…the symbols are simple enough, just need to sit down & paint them. That’ll be, what, an hour or so? So yeah, not too bad.

The worst part will probably be making the vest for the Gaara cosplay, because I have no pattern for it. I have to 100% make it up from scratch. And I’m no Project Runway contestant.

I can do it. I can do it. I can do it. (If I make this my mantra, maybe the positive thinking will make it true lol)

Oh…and think up interview questions for any interviews I get with the con guests.

I can do it. I can do it. I can do it……

I hate sleeves

Uncategorized

Ugh. Sleeves. The current bane of my cosplay existence.

I don’t mind wearing them…it’s sewing them that’s the problem. You’ve gotta make a round peg fit in a different-shaped round hole. Then sew it without catching the fabric and having to seam rip a crapton of stuff. Oh, and the pattern calls for stupid ugly gathered shoulders, so I have to do my level best to figure out how to un-gather them and still make the coat fit right.

I’m hoping to have enough of it put together to have my husband try on the coat-with-one-sleeve before I put the other one on. I need to see exactly what needs to be cut and what needs to be let out. Fun (not).

After this comes the start of the lining, something I’ve never really done before. Another new sewing “adventure” on my cosplay journey. The coat requires lining, and the character I’m trying to create with this costume has a lining on his coat, too. Damn. A step I can’t skip.

I really need to step things up. I made a list the other day of things I need to get done, and there are a lot more than I thought I had to do. What does that mean? I may go silent on here for a while–too much sewing to do!

Well, back to the pains in the ass…I mean sleeves.

Stressing over nothing?

Anime, Convention, Cosplay, Crafting, Sewing

Yesterday, I spent Mother’s Day worrying about the coat for my husband’s cosplay. I was frantically cutting, pinning, and sewing in the hopes that I could finish it before Phoenix Comicon. Before I sewed the first seam I got so frustrated that I started bawling. My first pre-con freakout of the year.

As I started putting pieces together, though, I noticed that it really wasn’t as bad as my mind made it out to be. Sure, there are a lot of pieces. There’s a lot of technical stuff I have to do that I’m not accustomed to doing. It’s my first freaking coat. Still, the instructions are (thus far) easy enough to understand, and I have the aid of a friend who has made the pattern before.

Now that the top outer layer is getting closer to done after only a day of work–most of it spent pinning and cutting–I’m more confident that I can pull this off. There are a little over three weeks until Phoenix Comicon and I have a couple of half days and an off day in between where I can work on it during the week (and not just first thing in the morning before I have to get ready for work).

I just hope it fits.

A pre-Mother’s Day adventure

Convention, Cosplay, Exercise, Health, Interview

It’s off to some historical sites today as we take my mom & dad out of town to celebrate Mother’s Day a little early. Since my husband works tomorrow, we’re doing our day with my parents a day ahead of time.

I’m trying to mentally psych myself up for a day of walking, walking, walking. I considered exercising in the apartment “gym” (translation: about 3 or 4 different exercise machines) early this morning since I was up, but then I reconsidered after remembering that I haven’t really exercised in months and months and I’d likely end up sore beyond belief tomorrow…hell, I still might end up sore as hell.

Gotta get my stamina and fitness up at least a little bit in the next few weeks, though, because Phoenix Comicon starts June 2! There will be so much walking to do as we traverse downtown Phoenix to see all the sights (and be seen in our cosplays). I’ve also potentially got interviews to do; as a media member, I get to fill out a form letting the con know which guests I’d like to interview. The con organizers will forward my info to the various guests, and then they (or more likely their agents) will be in touch with me to set up interviews.

I’m super excited about this–more than just normal con excitement. I’ve only done one live interview, and that was a disaster. The band (I won’t name names) was so preoccupied with being late to the venue that only two of the five did the interview while the others started setting up for the sound check, and one of those two obviously did not want to be there. He was squirming in his seat, not making eye contact, and giving short answers to the questions. When I asked if they had a message for their fans, his response was: “Come see our shows. Buy our records. Buy our shirts.” Classy.

These interviews should hopefully go much better. I’ve got to figure a good way to keep my questions with me as we walk around, because I won’t have much storage space in my cosplays (just a tiny purse for the Jedi TARDIS and a small hidden pocket for the Temari cosplay). Maybe I’ll grab a small, small notebook at Wal-Mart or something sometime before the con so I can have my questions all written down. Or notecards. I have a shitton of 3×5 notecards…but my purse/pocket are so small I might still have to fold them up to get them to fit. Hindsight, I guess…

In the morning, before the dawn

Insomnia, Poetry, Writing

In the morning, before the dawn

I wake again, my sleep is gone

Also gone now from my day

Is any hope of restful play

 

I try to make some breakfast food

To lighten now my sour mood

But mood stays dark as starry sky

The time it ticks and passes by

Still my sleep I can’t regain

The path laid down is very plain

Try as I might, I can’t go back

To dreams so bright and room so black

I stretch and moan and groan and yawn

In the morning, before the dawn

May the Fourth Be with You

Convention, Corsetry, Cosplay, Fandom, Geek, Holiday, Movies, Sci-fi, Tattoo

Yes, it’s that day again: the day when the nerds come out of the woodwork to proclaim their love for Star Wars.

I’m one of those nerds. I love the movies (well, most of them), and if I wasn’t a bigger Doctor Who fan I would probably have been getting a Jedi Order tattoo yesterday instead of a TARDIS.

I guess I’ll let my Star Wars/Doctor Who mashup cosplay make up for it. I have less than a month to lose enough weight to comfortably squeeze into it, though I can still fit it. I’d just like the corset a little less…tight. Like, really tight. I mean, I know corsets are supposed to be tight, but this one is homemade, not professionally made. So I’m hoping there aren’t any wardrobe malfunctions at Phoenix Comicon.

Anywho, happy Star Wars Day to all, and May the Fourth be with you!