Finally some costume updates!

Life has been rather wild for quite sometime now, but things are finally smoothing out, and I have a whole plethora of things to prattle on and on about!
First and foremost, costume and convention updates.  We had originally planned on attending InvaderCon, but SADC is holding an event again this year at KawaKon and I felt more compelled to attend a con closer to home then drive all the way to Atlanta for a weekend, no matter how much I love Invader Zim.  That and it is my cosplay group, they do get some precedence.  So my regrets, apologies, and all that but unless I fall into a large sum of money the Victorian/Steampunk Gaz and Professor Membrane will be put on an indefinite hiatus.  But as we will be attending KawaKon again this year we have some new costumes floating around as possibilities.
Unlike last year we're planning on attending for only two of the three days.  From what we noticed last year the Sunday of the convention is mainly a pick up and go home day, so in all truth theirs no need for us to be there.  So you'll be able to find us there Friday and Saturday till sometime late when we decide to drive home.  Friday night is the SADC event, or at least it was last year, and as they always have the rave Sat night it stands to reason.  The theme for this year is "Ciel and Cain's Victorian Social Ball" based off Godchild and Black Butler.  Personally I'm unfamiliar with both but cest la vie I'll give it a shot.  I get to make whatever I want for DragonCon ne?  So in the spirit of the ball I've offered to be Prince Soma and Pip is slated for Lau.  With Lau their isn't much option costume wise, red or black trim is all the variance I've seen when I've googled it, however with Soma I'm going to have a couple options.  The two pictures I've found of Soma are first, followed by Lau. 

The costume on its own is a challenge, an interesting challenge to me.  First and foremost, look at my Revy costume. 

Notice anything?  How about how pale I am?  Now scroll back up and look at Soma.  Personally I have no interest in a tanning bed, I don't tan even with routine use.  I've tried sunless tanners in the past, and I have disliked them.  They smell, they smear on my clothes and all around look bad.  Not only that I don't want to be that brown for my regular life (it would look beyond fake if I did) so that leaves me in an interesting place.  How to make myself that brown for the night, but be able to go back to work Monday and be my usual self.  I may have a solution.  When I was working on my Poison Ivy costume I wanted to paint myself green, or just make my skin have a greenish hue.  When I was looking for ways to do this I ran across a Starfire someone had done and the girl had the perfect orange glow to be Starfire, and she was even nice enough to explain how she did it.  Using Mehron's body paint she mixed it with lotion and slathered it all over.  Now I tried this with the green and it didn't do bad but it wasn't as flawless as I'd liked.  But Mehron sells that stuff in about every color imaginable.  So I'm tempted to buy another bottle or two (I'm eying the Light Egyptian, Amber Tan, or Rich Topaz) and see how well that would work.  It depends on which costume I decide to make.  If its the dark one then that and some good bronzer would pretty much do me cause all that's showing is my face and hands.  But if I do the white then it will have to work because so much more of me is showing.  Of course as much as I like the white I'm not sure how to do it.  I mean crossplaying in and of itself poses new challenges, but to have an open top?  Oy.  That will take some researching and trial and error I'm sure.  But for whatever reason I think I'm more drawn to the white.  *shrug* we'll see. 
As for whatever else I'll wear to KawaKon, I'm still very much up in the air.  I may not make anything else, I may wear Revy or V or something again.  I've toyed around with the idea of Sango from InuYasha, but only if Pip agrees to be Miroku.  Re-L from Ergo Proxy maybe a winner, the costume isn't to wild but she doesn't have may 'action' type shots so that takes the fun out of the photoshoot.  I've pondered on Faye Valentine from Cowboy Bebop, but not sure I want latex shorts.  Then I went to Batwoman and Black Cat.  But I know I lack the chest to do Black Cat justice and as much as I like Batwoman I'm just not feeling it for that con.  So anyone's ideas or opinions are welcome. 
As for as DragonCon goes, I already have one costume lined up for that as well.  We have a group doing the 'Defenders of Enchanted Realms' artwork.  I'm Belle.  Here's a link to the first and second picture that was done for her, its not my art so I don't want to repost.  And I have a more definate set of costume prospects for that. 

Ghost.  

Yea its been eating away at me to make it.  So she's very much on the top of the list.  Other then that Madame Mirage or Masquerade are sitting pretty high on the list.  I'll keep you posted though, its still quite awhile away. 
Now on to other non costume related things.  I've got my own place, finally.  Well I say my own, Pip and I have our own place.  We're still trying to get everything set up the way we want but its getting there.  Theirs a lot of stuff we're going to need though.  So costumes, travel, hotels, are going to probably going to take a bit of a hit.  On the upside if I'm only making a few a year I'll have more time to fuss with them and make them perfect.  Or so I'm trying to convince myself.

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I think I have a problem...

This is probably going to sound very strange to .... well all of you but its something that's bothering me and I feel the need to air it.  For those of you who follow my twitter then you know I just cancelled my WoW account about an hour ago.  Now I did it because Blizzard (in my eyes) has screwed up the game to the point I will no longer enjoy it the way I had. 
The other side of that is I already miss my girls.  I miss Sybila's brashness (and come on she was my first toon who's swapped servers for me, and had a name change, the girls been put though a lot.) I miss Euriela's resourcefulness.  And even Raistlyn's arrogance.  I know they are simply 'toons' but I spent a lot of hours with them doing things in the world, and I got attached.  They have been my way to unwind after a hectic day for going on three years now.  I feel kinda lost, like I have this little void.  I know its stupid, and trust me I'm debating if I even want to post this but they were mine and Blizz did to them what Spielberg did to Indiana Jones. 
I know a lot of people never got that attached to their toon, they were simply a vessel to get them into raids, they don't care what they looked like or what their gear looked like.  It was all about the spec and the GS.  I'm not that way.  Those were little avatars for me to run around Azaroth, not just minions.  I mean I even miss my hunter's pet!  (If you knew how long it took me to tame the little bugger then you'd understand.)  I guess part of that is Blizz has quit catering to the players like me who are attached to their toons, want them to be unique in the world, and don't really care as much about raiding and end game stuff as they do the quest to get there.  Their is a reason why I only had a handful of mains, I took my time leveling.  I tried to level each toon in a different zone so I could see other places besides what I knew would shoot me to 80 the fastest.  Seems to me they are going the way of Aion, wanting everyone to look the same, and be speced the same.  I can tell you that my mage's spec would probably not have worked for many other people, but it did for me, I learned the in's and out's of a fire mage and I could seriously lay the hurt on someone if I wanted.  But now you won't get the opportunity to play with your spec and really learn the class, all you have to do is google 'mage spec' and you'll be handed the golden spec of which to do the most dps.  That's not fun to me, I don't like people telling me I'm speced wrong, if they give me the chance I promise I can surprise you.  I don't want to play a game with everyone the same, I like being unique.  I loved when they added the Barber so that I could change hairstyles.  And I think all of my main's went though 3 or 4 hairstyles before I found the one that fit their personality.  *sniff* I suppose I'll always have the fic Pip and I were working on to remember them in their prime.  I suppose this means no more Guild Weekends, and no more questing with my IRL friends...
Star Wars, you're my only hope.

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I live!

Seems like my last post started this way, but apologies for the lack of updating, hopefully I can get myself back into the habit.  Life has been … hectic to put it mildly.

First and foremost I feel like I need to apologize for something else, unfortunately life got in the way and it became unfeasible for me to attend Dragon*Con.  I feel rather bad, guilty to be exact.  I had told a lot of people that I would be there and I feel like I flaked out.  But I was having a severe eczema problem so I would have been probably as un-photogenic as I’ve ever been, my costume that was to debut was not as far along as it needed to be.  Part of that was due to the medication I was taking to try and help my skin which made me very tired, part of that was due to the hours I was working.  Another thing that didn’t aid in our trip was the vehicle we were going to be taking was having a/c problems and I dunno about you, but I had no desire to drive 10+ hours in September weather with no a/c.  Especially to Georgia.  We could have possibly rented something but I know I didn’t really have the spare cash to do that so in the end we opted to stay home and let me get some more R&R in and just enjoy the time off together.  Again I feel terrible I was unable to make it and feel kinda like a failure but theirs nothing that I know to do but apologize and hope that next year we’ll not have any hiccups and we’ll be able to attend without my skin throwing a fit and with a vehicle that won’t double as an oven.  So that said, lets move on to less depressing things.

I suppose I should talk about OMGCon as that’s the last thing I attended.  It was fun, overall.  We weren’t planning on any meet ups or photoshoots with other people which was sorta a bummer but also gave us the time to do some other shoots of our own.  The first would be the more unusual Seras I wore.  Pip opted (at the last minute, at the hotel) to not wear his Pip costume.  (*laughs* that sounds so awkward) so I grabbed his hat and scarf, and went as “Captain Seras” kinda a hybrid idea.  I mean she did eat him and then bring him back later… seems logical that she’d take on a few of his quirks.  Here’s where the photo’s begin.  I still have probably 20 or 30 to edit but hopefully I’ll have them done before the end of the year.

The second day I debuted Revy.  Now I was very self conscious in this costume.  Not because it’s revealing (though I did wish I had heels to make my legs look a little nicer) it was my skin.  I’ve been able to photoshop most the redness out, but I felt it was very noticeable.  And such I had to really concentrate and rely on Pip for pointers for tweaks to my pose.   I still have a LOT of Revy pictures to work on, and as she doesn’t have nearly as many pictures as my Seras I’ll probably work on hers first.  You can take a look at this page if you’re interested in the ones I’ve managed to get uploaded. 

But I did say life has been hectic, here’s a quick rundown.  Two of my close friends got married about a month after OMGCon.  Since Pip was a member of the wedding party I became the photographer, it was a fun role reversal, and an exercise on how hard it is to get a ninja on camera.  I did manage to get some really neat shots, and that’s part of why I don’t have my OMGCon pictures up, I had to get those done and uploaded first.  If you’re interested click on the link to my flickr.  I think it’s the most recent set I’ve created. 

Outside of that, I’ve been working… a lot.  Lots of drama there (as usual).  But drumroll please!  Pip and I are getting an apt!  *squee*  We have one that we looked at the other day that I really like, and another that’s not sending me but it did have a massive living room which did kinda make up for some of the other things I didn’t like.  So I’ll post which we get but cross your fingers for us that its our first pick!  The best part of this will mean I can work on my costumes anytime, currently our spare bedroom doubles as my dad’s room some nights (when Mum is up at 4 am for work you’d sleep in another room too) so I can’t sit up till the sun comes up working on this and that.  That and I’ll finally get to use my dishes, decorate my own place, and best of all get to annoy the holy shit out of Pip whenever I please.  ^_^

On a completely un-related note, I have been working rather hard on one of my fiction pieces.  Not fan fiction for once, one totally in my head.  Unfortunately I don’t have anything really up and available for people to read just yet, I’m still mapping out a lot of things and learning the world.  Yes I know I have to ‘learn’ the world that I made up.  Its not quite that simple.  I see it, I understand it, but even then I don’t always explain so that other people can.  Pip has been privy to a lot of the stuff I’ve read and that’s one thing he’s pointed out, is the world feels small and that he doesn’t understand what drives my main character.  When in fact the world is rather massive and her motives, while not just one thing, should be fairly clear.  Hopefully I’ll be able to get a sample up sometime soon, actually I think I’ll go see if I can find anything that’s been edited and post it.  …

Alright here we go, for those of you who have never had the opportunity to meet his character you can read a bit about here on my fictionpress page.  For those of you who’ve met Camina, well, enjoy.

“    It took hardly a conscious thought to extinguish the flickering candles in the tent.  The guards that had been stationed out front yet remained but were glamored, both would venomously deny seeing the black wraith enter their commanders quarters, and neither would hear the ensuing conversation.  The Paladin’s themselves were hard to glamor, their unyielding faith made fudging fact difficult but fortunately for me, the bulk of the armies they lead lacked that blind of a devotion.
    The tent was large, it was three tents really, interconnected.  High Doyen Daryun’s war room, study, and sleeping quarters.  Of course the leader of the Eshire division of Royal Paladin’s would not fall easily into my influence, but I did not go to harm charm him.  I wanted to meet my enemy, for once this one was competent.  Most tried to use their numbers or their faith as their primary weapon, and we’d developed strategies to deal with their feeble attacks however they came.  But Daryun was smart positioning all of his troops in a perfect formation.  For once my men had been forced to rely on their demonic nature to survive the fight, not waltz though it as we usually did.
    My eyes could see in the void I’d created.  Maps and parchments laid haphazardly across the main table, part of me wanted to pause and take in my enemies tactics, but I wanted the challenge of a fair fight.  To my left I could hear the High Doyens steady breathing.  He was still asleep.  I could kill him where he laid, but that would be no more honorable then killing an infant.
“High Doyen, please wake, we have some things I wish to discuss.” He started awake, grabbing a crossbow and aiming it at the entryway, at me.  He was dead on, if he released the arrow then it would hit me, strange how accurate it was as I knew full well he couldn’t see.
“Who’s there?”
“We have yet to have a proper introduction High Doyen.”  I let the candles light slowly begin to return to their former glow.  Not so much so his eyes could slowly adjust, but for mine.  “Please put the weapon down.”
“How did you get in here?”
“Well I walked by your guards of course... Don’t bother yelling, I’ve gone to some length to ensure our privacy.”
“What do you want?”
“Just a conversation, nothing more.”
“Who are you?”
“I suppose an introduction is in order as I do know of you but not vice versa.  My name is Camina Wistar, daughter of his highness Casimir Wistar, King of Pulsia.  I am his heir and his equal.  He has charged me with the leading of the campaign against the Paladins.”
“Their is no way that a woman, that your a ...”
“Not human?” I smiled.  “I get that a lot.  We come in all sizes and colors High Doyen.  My flesh is meant to mimic the most desirable traits in your kind.  Others are modeled after animals and plants still others seem to have no similarity to anything.”
“You cannot be the one I saw today.  You’re a woman.”
“For us gender does not play the role it does among your kind.  A lioness is at its most fierce when its protecting its cubs.”  He started seeming to take in the information.  “Please, get dressed, let us talk.”
“And why would I want to talk to you?”
“Wouldn't you like to pick the brain of your enemy?”
“Why are you doing this?  What are you up to devil?”
“My reasons are my own High Doyen, but if I didn’t come here to talk look at it this way, I could have killed you in your sleep.”  His eyes narrowed, hearing the challenge.  “I’ll be in the other room.”

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Lots to say

Been awhile since my last update, my apologies, life has been wild.  A combination of being laid off, working on costumes and a commission have taken their toll on my time to post anything.  So lets see if I can get you up to speed.
First, I'm sure you've seen my Motoko Kusanagi pictures, if not here's a link to the set on flickr.  I sent a few to the company I bought the jacket from (Abbyshot) and was featured in their blog.  You can see the article here.  I was floored, both from their compliments and the fact that's the first time any of my costumes have received anything like that. 
I just booked our rooms for InvaderCon next year.  Yes next year, I'm already working on costumes for next year, even when this year isn't finished.  I figure for one day of the con I'll wear a Gaz costume, the other day... well that's a suprise for now, I have plans but I'm still at the planning stage for the moment.  Looks like Pip is going to have a Gir costume for one day and we're still in debate for the other, I'd like to have a full cast of characters, so if anyone is interested shoot me an e-mail and we'll see what we can work out. 
I did attend the local con this year, and got to meet up with a fellow SCF person, actually we met last year but didn't know who each other were, of course I wasn't a member of the site then so its not surprising.  But I do have some pictures from that convention.  Not many of me though, most were of the costume contest.  I didn't have the new version of Ivy done in time so I wore the old classic Ivy costume.  I did find a place where I can get the tights so before Dragon*Con I'll have to grab a pair.  Fun part of the whole thing was after we left the convention Saturday we ran by Pip's so I could change then went out to eat, and ran into the Con Chair for KawaKon.  So we ended up talking with her and her table for quite awhile.  And looks like I'll be seeing her at OMGCon too.  ^_^ 
Speaking of OMGCon, I ended up cutting one of my costumes for it.  I'm just not going to have the time to get my 1st GIG Kusanagi done.  And done right.  Trust me I will have it done, but Revy got very expensive very quickly.  Thankfully Seras just needs some tweaks.  But Revy will be kickass.  I still need to cut her shorts and her top, but her holsters arrived today, real leather.  And yes they are gorgeous.  I will definitely be going to him for any other leather costume related stuff I need.  NyghtCraft Custom LeatherCraft, is the company in case anyone else is needing something made.  Be prepared for a nice price though, he's totally worth it because its the really nice saddle grade leather he uses, but it isn't cheap.  
As for the costumes I'm taking to Dragon*Con, they haven't seem much progress, I've been trying to save a bit of money for OMGCon.  But I did run to Lowes the other day and get a piece of PVC pipe and some paint for Hawkeye's staves.  You know the ones she totally ninja'ed from Mockingbird?  I was asking my dad about how to cut them to size, and wouldn't you know?  He has a special saw for PVC.  I love my Dad.  I just have to figure out how to seal the ends.  It can't be something that is like a cap, so I'm not entirely sure, I have a couple of ideas and PVC piping is only like a dollar or two for a 5 foot section so if I mess up I'm not concerned.  Its not like its gold. 
Now I do have a new costume that will be going to Dragon*Con, at my nagging Pip decided to do Evecutioner for us.  Yea this guy:

I pretty much went 'Honey, look at all the guns, and you get a mask!' and he was !!! OK!  I'm psyched.  First time we've costumed as a hero and villain from the same series.  We usually do the couple thing, Seras and Pip, Revy and Rock.  So this will be a fun change. 
Only other thing I can think of at the moment is how grossly overpowered my Paladin is in WoW.  I mean yes, she has 1 piece of Heirloom but still, she's sick.  Taking on 4 things 2 levels above her and raping them?  Yea I'm OP, and I love it.  Its a big change from how she was when I quit playing her, that was Pre-Litch King but still.  Its just night and day.
Ok at the beginning of this post I was talking about costumes for next year, here's what I have lined up.  No idea which costume I'll wear any of this two but ... Kasumi from Dead or Alive, Pip being Ryu Hayabusa (The Ninja Gaiden version).  Starfire, the animated Teen Titans version, I'm batting the idea of finishing my Nariko costume but I really want a Kai for that.  I know the boys are wanting to make Space Marine (Warhammer) armor, if they do then I'm going to try to find the most dainty, girly costume I can... I'm thinking Princess Aurora from Disney's Sleeping Beauty or maybe Kaylee's pink frilly dress from Firefly.  Not sure yet.  They have to do something other then talk about it before I'm going to dedicate the time to it. 
Someone on the forum was talking they had 30+ costumes they wanted to do, here's my 30+ list, mind you these are in no order then alphebitical.

 

Alice (Resident Evil: Extinction)

Arslan (The Heroic Legend of Arslan) Yes, a male character.

Ayame (Yotoden AKA Wrath of the Ninja)

Black Widow (Black Widow)

Char Aznable (Mobile Suit Gundam)

Columbia (The Rocky Horror Picture Show) This one only really works if I'm going to the movie, and if who I'm going with will dress up with me.

Ed (Fullmetal Alchemist)  I know its been done, but I want an Al that has the suit, so I doubt I'll ever do it.

Farah (The Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones)  Yes the game, not the movie, though I am curious about it.  I'd really like to have a Prince too.

Faye (Cowboy Bebop)

Haruka (FLCL)

Howl (Howl's Moving Castle)  This one is about 90% complete, I just need to finish the jacket and find a Sophie.

Igunis (Jingai Makyo)

Iria (Iria vs Zeriam)

Julia (Cowboy Bebop)

Kagura (InuYasha)

Kurama (YuYu Hakusho)

Lacus Clyne (Gundam SEED)

Leila (Vampire Hunter D)

Lina Inverse (Slayers)

Mireille (Noir)  The costume is acutally almost done, I just need a Kirika.

Queen Emeraldas (Queen Emeraldas)

Rally Vincent (Gunsmith Cats) Need a May for this costume too.  (Anyone noticing a trend?)

Re-L (Ergo Proxy)

Riho (Nightwalker: The Midnight Detective)  Need a Shido for this.

Siryn (Marvel) Very much a possibility as my big costume for D*C next year...

Talho (Eureka Seven)

Tifa (Advent Children)

Violet (Ultraviolet) Yes I have a bit of a crush on Mila Jolovich 

Yuffie (Final Fantasy or Advent Children, not sure)

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Quick note

I have started on Hawkeye a bit.  Her wig arrived yesterday (pictures available here) and I just got an email saying her earrings were about to ship out.  I ordered the latex earlier in the week and it should be here late this week or early next.  ^_^  It makes me happy when a costume starts to take shape, especially one that I've wanted to make for sometime.  I want to commission her arrows this week but I may have to wait till next, we're having a shopping day at work (no tax and 30% off) so I'm going to stock up on some summer stuff.  Hopefully I can find a swimsuit that I can use for Ivy... not that I really need much of a top, a bottom is more important.  I was just going to tape the top on... I may use strings we'll see.  Either way I need it before the local con.  Not that their is that much fabric to cover in ivy... hell I probably have enough left over from the last Ivy I made.  I will need shoes though... >.< always something. 
I do have another costume to note, we're doing a special photoshoot at D*C, a pin-up version of our favorite hero's and heroines.  I asked who they would like me to be (because I doubed anyone but Avengers fans would know Hawkeye) and after a bit of a debate they decided they would like me to be *drumroll* Lois Lane.  Yea I know kinda odd right?  I don't look anything like her really, or I don't think so.  But the wig I used for Spectre will get to be re-used again.  I have a red robe type thingie I'm wearing and blue undies and blue shoes.  And I'm going to ninja one of the guys (or girls) superman capes.  Alright I know most of you are sitting there confused asking yourself, 'Doesn't she hate Superman?' No I don't hate Superman.  I'm just not that big of a fan.  The reason I kinda liked the idea was because it was something that Lois wouldn't do.  I mean would serious Lois Lane pose for a pin up?  Hell no.  ^_^ Yea, kinda out of character for me but I think it will be fun.  And I think I'm going to swap into Ivy for a bit, we'll have two Ivy's but that could be a really fun shoot and a really neat set of pictures.

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KawaKon Review (Sunday)

Alright, sorry about the delay in posting, guild weekend and all, I may have been at a computer but I was otherwise occupied, I'll get to my weekend later, first I'm going to finish the KawaKon reviews. And I am going to make a separate post about the masquerade, I'm currently working on it, so I haven't forgotten.

So we got up a little later then we should have Sunday, but we were scheduled for a photo shoot at 10 which meant we had to get our shit together and get checked out and get into costume. I know checkout was 12 but we figured we could get it all done so we could just leave when we got bored... or more likely when the calling for IHOP got to strong. (I will try to remember the whole IHOP obsession later in the post.) We failed at getting checked out but we figured the person we were supposed to meet would understand if the photo shoot ran long cause they would need to checkout too, and if so inclined then we could resume after we were all done with that. So I think it was about 10:20 when we got to the lobby. Now mind you none of my costumes had I gotten the chance to wear, so I may have tried on pieces but I'd never seen it all together until I got it on. And let me tell you, their is a draft in Seras's skirt. Yes, you read that right. V's skirt wasn't that bad. I think I'm going to tweak it a bit before OMGCon, I need to work on the collar of the shirt anyway.
But we got down to where we were supposed to meet and couldn't find who we were looking for, we figured since we were late that we missed them and they were in the dealer's room or a panel or someplace. Well we, or well I, had plans to glomp Alucard all the while screaming "MASTER!!" .... only to find no Alucard. We were supposed to have an Integra too. Only we couldn't find them. I pouted awhile. I found out when I got in that night... or well Monday morning that some things had come up and kept them from meeting us. She was at least nice enough to pm me about it, but I was still kinda sad, we're going to try to do a shoot later, but I don't know when Pip and I will have time off again where we can do something like that.
But not finding Alucard we wondered around the con some, he bought a knife and had the Hellsing crest engraved on it. It doesn't look bad, I think in pictures it will be really neat, up close its not bad, and considering the girl free handed it its nice. I think I'm going to contact her about engraving a couple of Hawkeye's arrows. Just for pictures. I think a shot of me going to shoot, and having the camera focused on the arrow then seeing "Hawkeye" or something written on the arrow would be cool. I'm afraid it may effect its flight though, I may buy one extra for it or something. Leave it blunted so I can use it for photos. Unno, we'll see. Cliff maybe able to do it for me so I won't have to send it to her. But we bought some other stuff, I'll post pics on flickr once I get all of them edited. (I'm though Kusanagi and about a 1/4 of Seras atm, just got V's from Pip this weekend.) He got a pic of Optimus Prime, it looks really neat, and its the original art, not from the movie. Then from the same vendor we got some badges, two Repo! ones and one of someone in a Gir hoodie holding Gir. It's cute, we're going to take it to InvaderCon next year. I love my Repo! one, shows Graverobber holding the Zydrate gun and across the top it says Zydrate and next to him near the bottom is says "Comes in a littel glass vial". And its good artwork on all of them. And since we bought Sunday we got a deal on it. ^_^ We thought about getting some tee's, if we hadn't been starving then I would have gotten a pic in my Seras costume with the "Team Alucard" shirt.. I may see if I can find it online, it could make for a fun prop in a photo shoot. But other then that it was a rather slow day there, at least to me. I know Pip and I were two of the oldest there, but we were some of the only people in costume, and awake and not zombiefied and we got maybe 3 or 4 hours of sleep.
We got our shit together and checked out. I think it took like 4 or 5 trips to get it all out, it took us less to get it in, strange. Anyway once we got the car repacked we did a quick photo shoot in the parking garage, we stopped when I started shivering, it was cold and misty, and although the overcast worked great for Seras, I can't tolerate the cold that long, especially in such a short skirt. We did get a couple of neat candid photos, I ran back in after we were done with pictures to get my jeans on, so think Seras's top with jeans, came off really neat.
After that we headed to IHOP, only to be thwarted by the lack of parking. I swear that was the most jacked up IHOP I've ever seen. People were parking illegally to get into it. So we said fuck that, and found another one on the gps and went there. Now I got some funny looks going in because Pip took off his jacket and was just in his green shirt and khaki's. But I refused to take off my wig because I knew my hair was a mess because it wasn't 100% dry when I pulled it up in the wig cap. Being a blonde was kinda fun. And the waitress complimented my eyes (the orange contacts). And side note here, I used fixodent to hold my fangs in. And OMG I wish I would have done that years ago. They were so sturdy and held so well. I wasn't slurring in my speech because I was afraid I was going to loose my fangs or anything. It was definitely worth the 3+ minutes it took to set. I think I'm going to get some sort of paint or something for them before OMGCon though, they were to yellow to match my teeth. In pictures they look fine but if you were next to me they weren't so believable.
I don't know what time we got back to town that night, I know I wasn't crawling into bed till after 1 that morning. And I'm still not unpacked. All in all it was a fun weekend. The quality of costumes didn't seem to be on par with what was there last year. And the crowd was younger, or maybe I'm just getting older and pickier. Don't get me wrong their was some nice stuff there, but nothing sent me, none of my fav characters or anything. So if you're looking at my flickr and don't notice a lot of pictures of other characters, we weren't that egotistical we just didn't see a lot that wow'ed us. A lot of VK people and I'm sure those costumes are a pain to make, but you see one and you've seen them all. I think that's part of the reason I pick unusual characters, is just to be the only one. That said I don't know if we will be returning next year. We may check out animestl, or maybe or Memphis con. Depends. We didn't care for the venue and none of the panels really interested us, and since their was a very limited area to do pictures we had a lot of down time where we were just like umm.... what do we do now?
Ok I said I would explain the IHOP thing. You see we *gasp* live in a town with no IHOP. Now to most of you that doesn't seem like a big thing. But you try it, just a Denny's and a Huddle House. I'm sorry but I have never been desperate enough to go to Denny's and I have been to Huddle House once, they weren't bad, but they don't compare. So when I found that their was an IHOP less then 1/2 a mile from the hotel you better damn well believe that we were going. Of course we only went once and we never made it to Bellachino's but oh well, that's for another trip.

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KawaKon Review (Saturday)

Alright warning you now, this is going to be a beast of a post, I may split it into two.  Most of the conventions stuff happened this day, so here goes.
We had planned on getting up at a decent time and running to IHOP for breakfast, that didn't happen.  I'm not quite sure what time we rolled out of bed, noon-ish?  Something like that.  Part of it was due to going to bed at 3 am, part of it (for me) was just lack of sleep for so many days in a row.  And I know Pip worked Thursday night and slept on the way up to the con, then was a trooper during the con.  I kinda feel bad about it. 
But costume wise this this was Kusanagi's day.  And I hadn't even got to try her top on, so I was somewhat worried about it.  Especially when my mother (the seamstress, the lady who taught me how to sew, the one who tells me how to fix whatever I'm having trouble with) told me it wasn't going to meet in the back in certain places.  I was worried but I had to seam it together anyway.  Now see why I was concerned?  Especially when I had spent how much on the wig, hunting for sunglasses, etc.  Now remember all those things I told you about my mother?  Throw them out the window.  Because when I slid that half corset thing over my head guess what I found?  It was way to loose.  After finding this out (and the fact that I didn't like the look of the seam anyway) I decided I was going to have to remake it anyway for OMGCon to do the 1st GIG outfit so I told Pip to just grab the fabric glue and fold it over in the back and pull it tight.  Even doing that I had to spirit gum it to part of my chest to keep it from feeling like it was just going to drop off me.  >.<  Thankfully we had no wardrobe malfunctions.  I think I'm going to remake the top out of spandex this time, I have leftover from V and that way it will just stretch and hug me tight. 
Now here's where the disappointment begins.  Their was supposed to be a cosplay.com meet up.  I told them on the boards (since I was going to be the one spearheading it) just to look for the girl in the purple wig and to meet in the lobby near the piano.  A very obvious place but out of the flow of traffic.  I noticed that when we got our badges that I didn't see a list of photo shoots, but I figured that they were there and I didn't see them as their was a table behind the registration desk with various paperwork on it.  If people showed up, they never said anything to me.  Maybe I should have made a sign.  It irked me, especially when a couple people were all omg yes I'll be there but maybe I'm expecting to much.  We hung around there for a bit and as we had gotten up late and were without IHOP we voted to go eat the the hotel restaurant. 
Now ate there the night before.  Just grabbed some appetizers since we were really just thirsty and the service had been great.  This time it sucked.  We were seated and waited, well when Pip finally got up to find the manager it had been over 10 min.  I timed it.  I was rather proud of him, he's known for his... how do I put this eloquently?  Well he can have one hell of a foul mouth or he can be scathing without having any need for colorful language.  So when he got up, I kinda swallowed hard and prepped for the worst.  All he did was find the manager and ask if the table had a server, cause we'd been sitting for close to 15 minutes and no one had even come to take our drink order.  After that we had multiple server come by and ask if we needed anything.  And subsequently when we went there later for dessert we had no problem with the service.  And when I say we were there fifteen minutes I'm not exaggerating.  People had come in after us, and had not only gotten their drinks but their FOOD as well. 
After we got done with lunch it was time for the Osuwa Taiko performance.  We missed the opening but I really, really, enjoyed it.  Which made me forget about the bad service and the lack of people showing up, which in retrospective I think was due no flyer or anything promoting it.  And before you tell me shame on not making one, I was told that all posts in a forum dating a time and place would be printed and handed out when people registered.  Maybe I'm pushing the blame off on someone else.  It still bothers me.  Alright back to the performance.  As most of you probably don't know I played percussion for 5 years.  I didn't get to do as much with the drums the last few years as I would have liked as out of the eight in the band only two of us could read notes.  I was thrown on bells 90% of the time and the timpani the rest.  So this was really a treat to me.  And a lot of the performers were female, which was even more cool because in school I was the only girl.  (Told you I've always been one of the boys!)  After that we drug out my weaponry (since the hotel staff had asked that no weapons be on display in the lobby, which caused me to wonder how the hell I was supposed to get around cause that's the central area but I digress) and did a Kusanagi photo shoot.  I don't remember if the masquerade came next or if this was when we went for dessert.  Either way the Masquerade was the next thing of importance that happened.
And I think I will leave the Masquerade for its own post.  I have a lot to say on the topic, both good and bad.  And know I'll get sidetracked.  I will say I walked out at halftime and didn't go back.  I think we did more pictures somewhere in here (I have two different sets on the memory card at least) and the next thing was the Rave.
This, of course, required its own costume, so I had to change.  I can't wait to post pictures of my makeup for that costume.  My eyeshadow was really neat.  And I was mistaken for someone from the anime Spirit Wolf.  I haven't seen it, I'll probably google it later just so I can see what someone thought I was.  The DJ's were good, and they did some neat remixes.  The Mario theme they did was really cool though I bet less then 20 people in the room remembered the original game.  And speaking of the room let me tell you another gripe of mine, and this was partially why we left about 3/4 of the way though it.  It was HOT.  Now mind you I'm cold natured.  I survived an entire costume made of PVC for eight hours.  I know when a dance floor is to hot.  You know people are going to be in there, cramped, crowded, and bouncing around why wouldn't you kick the a/c on?  It was noticeable when you started down the steps, and bad when you hit the room.  Of course rumor has it that it was closed down early.  Since I wasn't there I can't attest for that, I just saw something on the forum's today about it.
But after that little adventure we headed to bed, knowing full well with the time change and the 10am photo shoot that we were going to have to be up at the crack of dawn to get up, dressed, eat, and get checked out.

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KawaKon Review (Friday)

Ok a quick impression of the weekend overall before I get going. It was... well I'm torn on how to describe it. I both enjoyed it and was rather discouraged by it. I enjoyed the time with Pip, the time away from the house, and the chance to wear some of the costumes that I've worked so long and hard on. But I didn't see the same quality of costumes I saw in previous years, and in all honesty I was bored. Yes I know I had a laundry list of things I wanted to do when I was there, but things came up and they didn't happen or we poked our heads into the panel room and went 'no way we're going in there!' But as unbiased as I can I'll walk you though my three days at the con. I started writing this as one post for all three days but after getting about half way though Friday, I thought it would be easier to read if I separated them out. And one other note, I will be doing a mass of different blog entires in the upcoming days, I could throw them all into one entry but they are separate rants or separate ideas and each deserves its own post. As for pictures, those will be forthcoming. I haven't started editing yet and the pictures we took on day one are on a different memory card which is still in Pip's care. Ok that said, here goes.

Pip arrived at my place probably about 9:30 Friday morning, I had to finish getting packed and gathering up the quick fix sewing kit just in case. I think we arrived in StL about noon, one pm somewhere in that range. We met a friend at one of the malls up there, walked around (I got more at Lush ^_^), ate, caught up. It was nice to see him again, I didn't even recognize him, he's letting his hair grow out some. I was still expecting the 'Tal shave my head' guy. (Don't ask, he was drunk, it was hilarious, yes I did it and yes his wife was pissed.) So we got to the hotel probably close to 4, checked in and it took us probably two or three trips to get all of our stuff in. Funny thing was we didn't really over pack we used most everything we took. I had one duffel that had five wig heads in it. Another that had all of Kusanagi and Seras's weaponry. A backpack that held all of the convention info, random stuff that I take (tide to-go pens, ibuprofen, etc) and a pair of shoes. I had a rolling bag that had my clothes and makeup in it, then my costumes were on hangers. Sounds like a lot, I think I'm going to either invest in a larger rolling bag or something. I mean that means its heavier but less trips... Ok I'm off topic.
He was going to wear Tuxedo Mask Friday night but even with me working on it all day the day before it wasn't quite 100% and he opted to let me finish it rather then put hasty seams in it and he wore Pip. So after a couple tweaks to the Codename Sailor V's costume we headed out to get badges. Last year when I went I remember the lines being a bit confusing as to where the line started and people just hanging out were. We didn't have as much problem this year, but it took awhile to get our badges even though we were pre-redged because the volunteer conveniently was taking care of the people who were buying them on the spot rather then turning around and seeing us. And I'm sorry I have no mercy for that, their were two of them back there, one could work one side of the counter and the other could do the other side. And if their was no one in the pre-redged line then she could help out on the other side. Maybe I've worked retail for to long, but you take care of the people who have paid you before you take care of the people who haven't. But it didn't seem to faze Pip so maybe I was just slightly anxious to get out and see what was going on, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize someone is standing under the pre-reg banner and to get their name and grab a badge for them. Especially when they are pre-printed and labeled you just have to check a name off and grab them out of a box. Ok I'll quit ranting and move on.
Pip and I went to KawaKon a few years ago but that was at a different venue, and although I went last year I was hoping things would have been laid out differently. I was disappointed. I hated having to walk through the lobby to get anywhere. I can only blame KawaKon for picking that venue, it was the designer for the place that deserves my wrath. I understand that they probably didn't design it with a full blown convention in mind, just for meetings and such and the layout for something like that, works. But the hallway to the dealers room was again horribly congested. Someone in the KawaKon staff should have been sent out on routine patrols to tell people to QUIT SITTING in the halls there. You had to wait for the line of people leaving the dealers/artists room before you could go in. Not only that they had overflow tables set up in the atrium so people were stopping there, so it was constant people dodging. It was a pet peeve of mine last year and was this year as well. I've been to other cons, with the same size dealers rooms and more people yet we didn't have that problem. The convention staff didn't let people loiter in high traffic areas. >.< And I know they were in limited space but it seemed like if they had picked a larger venue then they could have had more artist and more dealers because personally I don't usually give a rip about the guests and when their isn't a panel I want to go to then where do I go? I'm not trying to bash here, and maybe I just have different priorities then the other con goers. But cons generally mean two things to me. Dealers and Pictures. I want to look and see if their is anything I didn't know I had managed to live without, and I want a lot of interesting places for pictures. I'll get to the pictures rant at another time.
So we meandered around, unfortunately the dealers room closed a 6 (another boo) so until the VK Ball we were a bit lost as to what to do. Of course I was in my Codename Sailor V and spend a lot of time flashing her 'peace' pose. And we did some pictures in that time. I know I had said I was going to make a special dress for V for the formal, but I just ran out of time. Hopefully I can get it done for pictures at some point. I had to touch up my makeup so while we were in the room he got the idea of doing a 'formal' Pip. So Pip's khaki pants, boots, holsters... with a tuxedo shirt. Strangly, it worked. I'm trying to figure out how to get pictures of it... Anyway we arrived a bit late (15 or so) to the VK Ball and missed them entering *sob* But I did manage to get Pip to dance with me some, and a pro photographer pulled me aside for a few pictures, which made me really happy. Kinda made all that work worth it ya know? I'm not trying to say I don't like Pip's pictures, I like having a photographer I know and can work with in multiple settings that I am comfortable with coming up and fixing my hair or telling me how to adjust my pose, just that a pro wanted it .... I think that is one of the first times a pro has asked me for a picture. I was told that at my request they were going to play a tango for us, so I dunno if we missed it or didn't stay late enough. But my feet were beginning to hurt and knowing I was going to be in heels the next two days we decided to duck out. And I'm not so sure it wasn't a combination of the shoes and the lack of sleep. For about a week now I've only gotten about 4 hours a night beause I'm working on something. that and I had a bottle of wine in the room as a thank you from Pip for all the time I've put into his costumes.
All in all it was a fun day. Since everything was new to us we had fun, and not to many complaints. I overlooked the lack of good costuming (save the VK people which were everywhere) just because a lot more people tend to show up on Saturday then Friday.

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Update!

The con is less then a week away, I need to attach V's cuffs, and give the masks a coat of poly.  Kusanagi needs to have her zipper put in.  Seras needs buttons and some tweaking to her collar plus a hem, and Tuxedo Mask needs a jacket vest and cape.  Yes I'm stressing.  However I'm not going to think about it for a few minutes. 
I know I have posted saying we are going to Dragon Con but I thought I would update you on what costumes I will be taking.  Obviously Hawkeye will be going, but I have one new one and one update.  The update is Ivy.  I have a couple figures of her in a bikini rather then the leotard type thing, and I've really wanted to do the bikini version.  I think I'm going to take both versions though.  One night the group I'm with is doing a villain get together, but it has to be from the comics no movie or cartoon editions.  So no bikini Ivy for that.  But for a Superman/Batman type photo shoot I'm going to wear it.  ^_^
The big one I have to announce is Nahrees of th Inhumans.  Now I didn't know who she was, I simply asked if anyone needed someone for a group and after a few minutes of deliberation they all said I would make a good Nahrees.  Best thing about her costume is that I'll be able to wear the same wig I'm wearing for Hawkeye. 
Lets see, currently I have a commission I need to get started on next week, plus Hawkeye to get going on once this con is over.  Her debut is a local con so if its not 100% I won't be to upset, I mean I will be but I'm more concerned with her for DragonCon.  I think I've already said I'm going as Revy for OMGCon, Pip is going as Chang/Rock.  Speaking of Pip I dunno what he's wearing to DragonCon.  He wants a Shadow costume and I know someone in my group was talking about brining a Margo if he decided to.  And wow I'm totally scatter brained.  -_-" I have 3 things to organize at KawaKon, costumes to do and the brakes on my Jeep just went to shit.  Yea I'm swamped. 
Hopefully the Jeep won't be to expensive to fix.  I was wanting to use my tax return for a netbook, and since the government saw fit to take $400 more then they did last year I'm not exactly hurting for money, but the little amount I had saved up for KawaKon looks like I will have to use for something else.  And of course if one thing goes wrong with the vehicle 5 more things will.  >.< I don't make enough to pay for all this shit!!!  Ok rant over.  If I quit sleeping and keep breathing I may make it though.  Cross your fingers. 
I probably won't have the time to update till after the con, I'm at work and posting atm.  If all goes will I will have the chance to update my flickr during the con but we have a pretty set schedule so no promises.  Otherwise next week I should have a ton of pictures. 
We do have another guild weekend planned for the weekend after KawaKon.  I'm working a local home and garden show though, I will probably pop in for the evening though.  I'm sure we'll have more pictures from that.  Busy, busy, busy!

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Progress

Forgive me the lack of update, as they have been a bit sparse in the past week, and will probably continue to be until the convention.  I have a lot left to do and not much time to do it in.  lol  If you're dying to see my progress check Flickr, I tend to upload pictures long before I sit down and type it all out.  But lets see V's bow and hair bow are done.  I just need to sew her other sleeve on put the cuffs on it and do a bit of tweaking on the red below the bust-line and she's done.  I finally figured out what to do to get Seras to work so I'm kinda psyched to get going with her again as the patches are in!  And I think tonight I'm going to throw myself into Kusanagi and see how much I can get done.  Logically she shouldn't be that hard but logically V shouldn't have taken me this long.  >.<  Plus I have Tuxedo's stuff to do.  And I still need fabric for him.  Hopefully he gets it ordered Thursday when I give him his laptop back.  (He left it at my place, on purpose but still.)  We're running out of time and while it won't take me long it still will take some time.  I do have all the fabric for the lining for it so I can get going on that, and figure out where the kinks will be. 
My wigs for Kusanagi and V arrived this weekend.  Both are gorgeous.  I absolutely love Kusanagi, I'm not sold on V but part of that I think is just the way it looks without the rest of the costume.  I think it will work and look amazing, just solo its odd.  I don't have time to upload them here, so seriously go to flickr and look at Kusanai's wig.  It's freakin awesome.  And we got a great shot of me in it.  The first of many I hope. 
Also Revy is a go for OMGCon, not sure who's getting kicked but I want to wear that costume.  I think Pip is going as either Rock or Chang... probably both, only difference are a few details...
We'll my replacement will be in soon so going to shut up now so I can head home grab some food and see how much I can burn though.  Wish me luck!!

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More good news.

Gimme a minute, I have to chatter, then I'll get to the good news.  Ok, so I worked till close Sunday night.  No biggie, we close an hour early so I get home at a decent time to go to work in the AM Monday.  I'm not insane about the idea but its better then midnight like I did all Christmas.  So here it is Sunday night, maybe five or six, and it starts snowing.  Now it wasn't just snowing, oh no, it was doing that freezing rain, sleet, bullshit.  So what happens?  We get a layer of ice on the road and then a layer of snow.  Assuming no one has driven over the snow you can get traction, but if they have, well it turned into an ice skating ring.  So I call Da before I left and he said my mother had taken well over an hour to get home in this mess, so he advised that I stay at Pips.  Now that wasn't really a problem to me, it was Valentines Day and I got to spend awhile longer with my Valentine, but that also meant that I had to get up at the crack of dawn and hope that the road crews had gotten the road cleaned.  Now mind you I had no clothes with me, no makeup, thankfully I leave some of my stuff at his place so I had a toothbrush some mascara and I found a clean tee in the Jeep.  (And oh lord is that thing full of random jackets o.O)  But that also means I have to be at about six in the morning (which I don't usually see unless I haven't been to bed yet!) shower, and get on the road.  Best part was I wouldn't know how the roads were until I got going, so their was no way to predict exactly how long it would take me to get home.  Could be that the crews had it all clear, could be a lot worse then it was when Mom started home.  So I had intended on getting on the road about 6:30-6:45 it was a little closer to 7 then that when I actually did, sorry I had to have some coffee I was running on less then 6 hours of sleep.  And thankfully I the roads weren't too bad, I mean they weren't great by any mean and I had to take my time, and I saw where PLENTY of people had gone off the side of the road.  But I made it home a few minutes after eight, had enough time to throw on some make up and grab some clean clothes (thankfully I thought to shower at Pip's) and skid into work right on time.  >.<  Stupid snow!  I'm tired of it.  It can go away.  It's against my will!!
But on to the good news.  I have the hotels for DragonCon reserved!! *squee* We will be arriving on Friday about two or three and leaving Monday sometime, probably three or four in the afternoon.  Atlanta is a seven hour drive from here so we had to factor that in.  That was actually something new for us, most con's we've been to are only a couple hours drive.  I dunno what we will do to entertain ourselves.  I know he's never been there, I myself have only driven though on my way to Florida, and that was at four in the morning so I didn't exactly get the best feel for the place. 
As for costumes, with me getting snowed into town yesterday, and being so worn out today I haven't done much.  I cut out a couple patterns, one for the formal of Sailor V and another for Kusanagi, but that's really it.  I'm going to be heading to bed here in a few so that I can catch up on a few hours sleep so hopefully I will be rested enough to get some things accomplished tomorrow.  Hopefully my girl will be in on time to work tomorrow so I can get going early.  We'll see though, seems like she's usually a bit later on Tuesdays then she is on Wednesdays....   I did upload a few new progress photo's to my flickr that I'll post here.  Just to show them off a bit more

This is (most) of what I have done with V.  I'm working on her top at the moment.  After that I'll just need to get her shoes and get them dyed, then tweak both the shoulder guards and mask a bit more.  ^_^ So close to the finish line!!

I know its no Harkonnen, but it will have to do till I have the chance to make one.  It's not entirely painted in this pciture but its a good idea of what it will look like, assuming I have time I'll go ahead and paint Hellising Arms or whatever is on her gun in white down the side.  *needs to research that more*

And notice a difference between eye to eye?  Yea that's the orange in one eye and my natural color on the other.  It's really nice for Kusanagi, not spot on for Seras in my opinion, but I don't have the $75 on hand to buy the red ones I want.  Maybe before OMGCon, or at least before the proper photoshoot.  And mentioning Seras, as today was a holiday the mail didn't run but hopefully tomorrow my Hellsing patches will arrive...

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Great news everyone!

Yes that was a Futurama reference.  ^_^  But seriously great news.  Talked to Pip last night as I was looking on Dragon*Con's website (hoping they had a forum because I wanted confirmation of the YA shoot) and mid convo kinda did a HOLY SHIT, because they are down to TWO, yes two, hotels with rooms open.  So we talked it over and since I was willing to sacrafice Wizard World Chicago *sniff* We're going to Dragon*Con baby!  Of course I still have to make all the arrangements, hotel, badges, etc.  But still he said we would go.  *squee* I'm psyched and its how many months away?  You may notice I did update the con list, as Dragon*Con is in the confirmed list, I did take a couple out, sadly they weren't going to work with our schedules or we needed to be saving our $$ for other cons we were confirmed for.  But none the less I'm still just psyched.
On a completely unrelated note, we're supposed to get snowed on again.  Joy.  Of course I'm seeing this in two lights.  I need the money (cause some jobs failed to pay me last week, /boo), but I have costumes to finish.  I mean it is Valentines and I do want to see Pip (of course I have to close the store tomorrow) but we had planned on a few things in the AM, and I do need to run with him to the fabric store to pick out a couple things, but I have soo much to do!  That's half the reason I haven't posted as frequently in the past couple of weeks.  I work till I'm tired then I crash, sleep a bit, get up go to work, come home, work on something till I'm tired, rinse lather and repeat.  Like I didn't feel bad for the supersonic cheeseburger I ate today, because I'm sure I've burned it off.  >.< Stupid work interfering with my costumes. 

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Ideas?

Since it looks like its going to be another slow day here at the store I'm going to take the time now to update rather then when I get in so that way I can get going on a costume.
I spent most of my evening working on Sailor V's collar, took me a bit to draft it out, I used the guide found here as a start.  Since Codename's collar is a little different I h ad to mod it slightly.  I'll post pictures once I get it done, I have it cut out and sewn together, I just need to finish getting the red trim on it.  I have one side done but it takes me awhile to get that spandex to bend to my will.  I didn't work on anything else.  Well I did take a look at how much blue fabric I have left over and I think I'm going to have enough to my my Formal versions dress out of it... it would make me happy to be able to use it and know it will all match... We'll see.
The other week I was out at Pip's and he had an anime on I'd never seen, called Black Lagoon.  And well I fell in love.  Revy is foul-mouthed and a badass... kinda like Rally from Gunsmith Cats only updated.  Anyway her outfit would be a really simple cosplay and I was thinking about making it and Pip could do Rock, and we could take them to OMGCon.  It would be something cool to wear... I unno though.  I'd have to ditch one of my current costumes to wear it... And Kusanagi's 1st GIG outfit is already slated for that con... Like I said we'll see.  I want to make it, and waiting till next year on something so simple seems a bit much... that and I'm sure by next year I'll have decided on what other big costumes I want to make.  I also thought of Kim Possible.  It would be mega easy (not even needing a wig)... it'll probably just be for a photoshoot though.  Hopefully I'll have some money by OMGCon and I know they used to have a nice outdoor store near the con center (I used to live near there) and if memory serves they sold climbing gear, that could make for a neat photoshoot...
Of course speaking of Rally that's a costume I've wanted to make for awhile, I just need a May.  >.<  Same with Noir.  I've wanted to do Mireille for a long time (already have a wig and a top!) but not a Kirika.  And I have Nariko from the game Heavenly Sword nearly done (the costume not the sword) and I could wear it without a Kai, but I would like one.  /pout.  Why is it I can get boys to cosplay with me but not girls?

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Update!

Yet again more snow. Joy. Exactly do I have to slaughter to get rid of this stuff? I’m tired of it ten times over. It makes getting to work a pain, it makes getting to the gym even more of a pain, and it’s messy. Don’t get me wrong, it’s pretty but I can do without it. I vote we just skip to spring. Anyone else with me?
But on to better things. I’ve been working diligently on the costumes. V and Tuxedo’s masks are nearly finished. They need another couple good sandings and we need to get one more piece around the eyes cut out on each, but the tool we had been using couldn’t get into that small of a spot so I think Pip found something else that will work.

 If the weather isn’t to yucky tonight I may try sanding on them… unno Mom is home I still need her opinion on Seras. Ok I’m rambling. Back to V. Let’s see I still need to buy some gold spandex for her costume and her shoes, if all goes well I’ll be doing that this week sometime. I started sketching out a pattern for her collar, I’m having issues getting it even though. I figure I’ll have to scratch my current sketch and start over, I can’t tell where my new lines are and my old ones are >.< And I need to get going on Tuxedo, Pip finally bought pants so I need to have him wear them and go to the fabric store with me so I can find something to make his jacket and cape out of. I mean I could use anything so long as its black I guess, but I want them to be at least close. I did work on V’s shoulderguards this weekend. Have a coat of primer on them and gave them a good sanding, but they will need more.
Kusanagi has finally seen some progress, I found a pattern online that I think I will be able to mod, so while I’m at the fabric store I need to get some white gabardine or something that I can use as a base for the satin. But that being said I did get her contacts in last night. They look a little orange in the pictures here, I promise they aren’t in real life. Or at least they won’t turn that way when I put them on (I haven’t yet).

Seras hasn’t seen any progress, at least noteworthy. I started spraying the other side of the Harkonnen and ran out of paint /epic fail. When I’m in town Friday I’ll try to pick more up, it didn’t take long at all to paint, and it felt like I had enough in the can but I guess not. And the patches should be in the mail, I can’t wait to see them. I hope they look a little better than in the pictures, I figure they will and if worst comes to worst I can always grab a sharpie or white paint and clean them up a bit. But the good news is Pip’s wig is styled! It took me a couple of hours because this wig was MASSIVE, and it tangled SO easily. I ended up giving the entire thing a really good coat of hairspray and that seemed to help. The braid was tight against his head but it looks really loose in the picture, it kinda worries me, but I think I’m going to let it sit awhile and see if it won’t take to the shape a bit before I try messing with it.

So let’s see I’m down to:

V
Make top
Make bow
Buy Shoes
Get shoes dyed
Make toppers on gloves
Finish shoulderguards
Tweak Mask

Kusanagi
Buy Gabardine
Buy pattern
Make top
Finish Tachikoma

Seras
Finish top
Finish Harkonnen

Tuxedo Mask
Make Jacket
Make Cape
Tweak Mask

And I have about a month. Wish me luck!

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