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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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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This is going to be long.

Just warning you now.  Let's see they always say to start at the beginning, so the last thing I posted about was Guild Weekend, so I'll start there.  Had to do a couple things Friday before we went to Jon's.  I had to run by the gym and then I had my eye doc app.  The gym went easy, I'm not sure what to think of Cliff,  he's funny but he seems stressed or something around me.  Could have been the fact that my skin was doing.. well we'll get to my dermatologist appointment later.  Anyway he has a routine set up for me so I should be good provided I can get my ass in gear and actually go. 
The eye doc was a good visit too, he said I don't need glasses.  Not that I was thinking I would, but my eyes hadn't been checked in years so it was overdue.  I apparently do have astigmatism and I'm slightly farsighted, the interesting thing about that combination is that they cancel each other out, so he said in five years I may need something, but not now.  I do have my blue contacts though.  Ended up getting two different shades.  One as more aqua in it then the other.  I figure the one with more aqua will be for Sailor V and the darker shade will be for Seras.  I did get my prescription so when I have money again I'll order my red ones. 
From there we had planned on heading straight to Jon's then I realized I had forgotten to grab underwear and I needed to run though Victoria's Secret anyway since I found out I can wear black under Seras's costume and it won't show though.  Let me explain a bit more about that.  I went there once wanting a specific new bra that they came out with, but of course both online and in store they were out of my size in a nude color so I had kinda given up the hunt till I grabbed the boy shorts the other week and found they woudln't show though.  I'm happy, and I can't wait till we get to do a photoshoot for Seras.  Of course i have to get her finished first, but I'll get to my costumes in a bit.
Pip and I got to Jon's probably 6 or 7 Friday night after I'd done all my running around. We ran a couple Heroics and then went to to the BG's.  And I have to tell you about one in particular.  We usually run AV because we can farm some decent honor there, we don't usually go for killing the leaders we just camp one particular part of the road near a graveyard and hold it.   But this one was going to be a turtle and we were going to have to get in the fray if we wanted any HK.  So we all pushed up near their base and then WHAM!  all of us got raped by a freakin mob of toons.  I mean it looked like army of the dead only with named characters and different classes.  All of us smelled a rat and when we got back up there to take a better look our guild leader pointed out that they were staying clustered and it was sorta reminiscent of some shaman's we've seen.  Basically you'll see four toons all following each other, in the same gear, and with really similar names.  Only this group wasn't just one class, they weren't following each other and they had different names.  Putting it simply it was this swarming mess of toons that we figure one person was controlling.  BG's are fun when you PvP against other people, not one ass who's ruining it.  Then we had to deal with people in Warsong who were running Gears.  Rogues can't bubble damn it!!  But whatever, we still had a blast.  Stayed up till like 3 or 4 in the morning before all of us crashed.  Then we all got up and played more.  Pip and I ended up cutting out about nine or ten that night.  We had planned on staying though sunday but they didn't want to do anything but play Warcrack.  And don't get me wrong I love it, but I can only sit and stay at a computer screen and cuss at pixels for so long before I need to do something else.  And it didn't help that I kept thinking about all the things I could have gotten done of my costumes during that time.  I did get Jeeves though.  ^_^ I've been sitting on the mats for awhile now I just needed more titansteel, which our Alchemist transmuted for me.  I think part of the reason they were so intent on the game is because it was cold and rainy all last weekend and it's not like we could have gone out and played in the pool or done something.  Hopefully that will change this summer.  Pip said the boys tended to go out in the shop and do other stuff last year, I was only invited to a couple of the pool party's so I dunno, and that may change since Lisa and Sunny won't probably enjoy that as much as what the boys and I would.  Pip, as promised, did bring our SLR, you can view all the ones I resized and uploaded here, but here are a couple of my favorites. 

 

 

Alright gonna leave costumes for last, so fast forward to my doc appointment Thursday.  He was a nice guy but he seems to have it in his head that this whatever with my skin is eczema and urm I'm not a dermatologist or anything but you have to have dry skin to have that and urm... I have to put stuff on my face to keep it from being shiny and even when it says its good for twelve hours... it last about half the work day for me.  My mother has oily skin, my grandmother has oily skin.  I have oily skin, so explain to me how I have eczema.  He couldn't.  Its contact dermatitis, and he knows it.  I don't think he liked me walking in knowing what I had and basically just wanting a prescription.  Of course the cream he gave the prescription for was $100.  Yea it was steep.  It had better do that damn job though.  I'll be royally pissed.  Currently its faded and almost gone, but it did this last time.  Cross your fingers for me it stays gone.  I'm already self conscious about it, I don't want to be in my costumes worrying over it. 
Ok on to the costumes.  Kusanagi hasn't seen any progress (shocker isn't it?)  She's next on the list but I'm going to finish Seras before I jump to her.  V hasn't seen much progress either, I took my wig over to Krista's but her chi got a little hot and kinda melted a piece of it... we'll have to see if I can fix it.  I could possibly trim it out but then I'll have to add some extensions in it.  I unno we'll see how much money I have I may just buy another and use the mutilated one for something else.  But as for Seras, leaps and bounds.  The liner of her shirt is done and the outer piece is cut out, just needs to be sewn together.  From there it'll be hemming and the funky collar.  And then lots of buttons.  Lots of buttons.  >.<  But progress is progress.  I don't have a current pic but here's what it looked like before I got going the other day. 

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*insert evil laughter here*

Kusanagi's P90 arrived last night.  Sadly a piece is broken but I should be able to mend it.  Its the attachment from the rail to the scope, has a crack in it, big crack.  Any other time I would be tempted to send it back but the con is a little more then a month away and it would be my luck that I wouldn't get a replacement in time.  This one came with all the accessories, strap, flashlight, scope w/ 'laser' dot, suppressor, oh yes I likie.  And I think it will be perfect for Kusanagi since I can mod the gun for different shots.  First one is without all the goodies, second is with everything attached!

In that same shipment I also go Kusanagi's gloves and Seras's gloves.  Both are rather simple, Kusanagi's being fingerless and black and Seras's a standard white.  But both have grippers on the palm side so hopefully I won't be dropping everything all day.  Because that would be very, very annoying.
Also got Sailor V's fabric, I haven't taken it out of the bag, my goal is to get Seras wrapped up before I tear into V.  But here's a shot of it in the bag.

And as for Seras much progress has been made.  *drumroll please* Her skirt is done!! *cheers* Yay!  Last night I got the zipper seam cleaned up, not the way I'd like it but it will do.  I may tear it out later if I have time and re-do it again.  Unno.  But I did also get a hem in it, so its ready to be worn. First picture here is of a hem test I did, but that's the length I hemmed it at, so if you can ignore the pins at the bottom of the skirt its a pretty good mock up as to what it will look like.  The second picture is when I finished getting the hem in it last night.

Alright off the costume bit for a few.  I was successful in getting all my doctors appointments yesterday.  And let me tell you I called that dermatologists office probably 4 or 5 times before I got someone and not the recording.  Friday after I meet with Cliff I'm heading to the eye doc, I don't think I'm going to need glasses but we'll see, I have to have it in order to get my contacts.  And next week is the earliest they could get me into the dermatologist.  Hopefully I can survive till then.  I'm itchy and this 'rash' (as the convenient care ppl called it) came back as soon as the prescription they gave me ran out.  Hopefully its just some sort of allergy and he'll give me something and it'll clear up, I know whatever it was that the convenient care ppl gave me cleared it up so cross your fingers it can be done again. 
And looks like we're going to have a pretty much full turnout for the guild weekend.  (Can you tell I'm psyched about this?) I'll undoubtedly post from Jon's, and Pip already declared he's bringing the SLR so my flickr will be running wild (his to probably) sadly the weather is supposed to be kinda dreary for the weekend so dunno if we'll get to have our bonfire or not.  Oh well more noobs in the BG's to slaughter *evil cackle*

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another quick post

I'm gonna have to be heading out the door here in a few minutes, I have a session with a trainer.  Yes I go to a gym, yes I'm going to have an Avenger figure by the time I get my Hawkeye costume done.  Hopefully I'll have a better set of legs for Seras and V too for the con in March... *crosses fingers*
Lets see I ordered fabric for V very early this morning.  Cost me $211.  $50 less then my estimate.  Which wasn't bad, by subtotal was $180 something, shipping is what got me.  But that should arrive early next week, my goal is to have Seras's skirt done today.   I bought some more wig heads yesterday and some other little notatins I'll need for different costumes.  The goal is to have Seras done or almost done (obviously not the patches) before V's fabric arrives so I can concentrate on it.  Of course that's leaving poor Kusanagi out in the cold.... we'll see. 
I'll post pictures of the new wigs I got later this evening and of the other couple things I've gotten as well as give a more detailed report on how everything is going.  ^_^ G2G!

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And I just spent more money :(

Just dropped anther $100 on Amazon, got Kusanagi's holsters and her P90, and I re-ran the numbers last night, looking a bit better.

Sailor V: Total $200


Fabric- $170 (Much better then the $260!)
Shoes- $30
Shoe dye- $15
Contacts- $40
Wig- $100 (already have $50 on it)
Broach- $5
Choker- $5
Headpiece- $5
Mask- $15
Gloves- $20

Kusanagi: Total $175

Back holster/ Shoulder holster- $55
Wig- $120 (already have $50 on it)
P90- $37.50
gloves- $15
Contacts- $40
Jeans- $60
Boots- $60
Glasses- $10
Fabric/dye- $30
Jacket- $160


Seras: Total $90

Gloves- $15
Patches- $30
Airsoft- $45
Contacts- $40 (They will be Kusanagi's so this is a duplicate of sorts)
Fabric- $60
Shoes- $60 (borrowed from Kusanagi)
Buttons- $15
Wig- $40
Stockings- $10
Fangs- $15


Sailor V Artemis Variant: Total $20

Fabric- see Sailor V for pricing
Gloves- $20
Contacts- $40 (Again dupicates of Sailor V's)
Ears- $15
Tail- $20


Kasumi: Total $25
Fabric- $25

Fox: Total $205

Shorts- $15
Fabric- See Sailor V for pricing
Jacket- $190
Fabric for skirt- $20
Shoes- $30
Pattern- $3
Ears- $20
Tail- $20

I'm still debating on Kasumi, at least for KawaKon, I may take it to OMGCon as it will be warmer then... but the hotel KawaKon is at has a gorgeous pool.....

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o.O

Since the story is rather slow today (and I have no interest in starting inventory) I decided to add up what all I still need to get for my costumes.  And OMG am I expensive.

Sailor V: Total $445 (and I've already spent over $100)
Fabric- $260 (yes $260!  Apparently Matte Spandex is EXPENSIVE!  This does include the fabric for the Artemis variant and the Fox's top since they do a discount over so much but ouch!)
Shoes- $30
Shoe dye- $15
Contacts- $40
Wig- $150 (already have $50 on it)
Broach- $5
Choker- $5
Headpiece- $5
Mask- $15
Gloves- $20

Kusanagi: Total $270 (having already spent $320)
Back holster- $35
Shoulder holster- $35
Wig- $150 (already have $50 on it)
P90- $45
gloves- $15
Contacts- $40
Jeans- $60
Boots- $60
Glasses- $10
Fabric/dye- $30
Jacket- $160

Seras: Total $90 (having spent $140)
Gloves- $15
Patches- $30
Airsoft- $45
Contacts- $40 (They will be Kusanagi's so this is a duplicate of sorts)
Fabric- $60
Shoes- $60 (borrowed from Kusanagi)
Buttons- $15
Wig- $40
Stockings- $10
Fangs- $15

Sailor V Artemis Variant: Total $20 (having spent $35)
Fabric- see Sailor V for pricing
Gloves- $20
Contacts- $40 (Again dupicates of Sailor V's)
Ears- $15
Tail- $20

Kasumi: Total $25
Fabric- $25

Fox: Total $205 (having spent $93)
Shorts- $15
Fabric- See Sailor V for pricing
Jacket- $190
Fabric for skirt- $20
Shoes- $30
Pattern- $3
Ears- $20
Tail- $20

Grand Total: over $1000 guess who's going to do some cutting back?  Yea if it's italicized its on the cutting board.  And I still need to get my room reservation in, make sure I have spending $$ for the con.  o.O I so need another source of income.  I may have hated Christmas but I could go for more of those hours! 

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Progress

Okay I have made a bit of progress on just about every costume, now if I just had every day off between now and the con my costumes would be amazing, but since I don't have that much spare time this will be short.
Sailor V has seen the most progress, I worked on the broach and the mask.  Just put a simple coat of poly on the broach, when it arrived it had some minor I wouldn't call them scratches but minor imperfections in the surface.  It looked like they had tried to use a buffer or something on it to make it shiny.  Anyway a coat of poly got it a lot shinier so I figure it'll get another one or two so it will look more like a jewel and less like a piece of plastic.

That's before, and this next one is after.

The next one is the masks before we really got going on them, I had already mulitated mine.

The next is my mask about half sanded, and the last is how they look before we quit last night.  They will need a coat of plastic primer and then a coat of sandable primer before we continue.

As for Sailor V's shoes, those were a trial.  I had three pair to choose from.  The first pair I bought for my cousin's wedding last year and although the right color, they don't have a strap around the ankle and they are about half a size to big which would make dancing in them rather uncomfortable.  I bought the white pair for the Artemis variant of my Sailor V costume and really like the way they feel and they look like hers, problem was I couldn't get them in blue so I found another place that sold a pair very similar to them, or so I thought.  They ended up being to dark and the toe WAY to long.  The fabric in my hand in the picture is a swatch of the skirt fabric, just fyi. 

So, verdict?  The white pair.  Looks like I'll buy another and figure out exactly how to paint/dye them. :( more work.  And I hoped this would be the easy part of the costume!

As for Kusanagi, she got the least amount of love, but I can at least show off the jacket as I wore it the other week and have a picture, now its not the most flattering of me but the jacket does look awesome.

The next one is of Seras, well her boots.  I was kinda afraid her stockings would go see though in a flash so we played around with the camera trying to get them to do that and thankfully they ended up being solid.

And here I ninja'd Pip's hat for a few.

Now I do have some progress on Hawkeye, who I will explain at another time, I'm kinda running later then I hoped today.  But this is a swatch of the latex I will be using for that costume.  I just can't decide .30mm or .40mm? 

But I had to post this one, we took Lucky out in the snow yesterday and he had a big time. 

More of my progress pictures can be found on my Flickr, I just posted the ones I felt most relivant to what I was talking about.  Hopefully I will update in a day or two, I'm off to Pip's place to work on other pieces, work on that tango >.< (we did make some progress on that yesterday tg) and to buy some other pieces!

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Sooo Cold

I am so freaking cold, the high today isn't supposed to make it above freezing nor is it for the next basically week.  /cry.  I am so not meant for this weather.  I want my sunny and 70 degrees please!  But more costume updates, and I'll give you the low down on the camera.
I'll break it down by costume because I've made a lot of progress on some and not so much on others.  Let's start with Seras.  I bought a belt for her Friday?  Maybe it was saturday?  Either way one more thing to check off.  Also ordered 5 yards of yellow stretch twill for her outfit, along with a yard of red.  I wanted a half hard since the only red is on her arm, but I couldn't get anything less then that.  I wanted to order some white stretch twill too but they only had off white so I decided to wait till her thigh highs came in to see if they were artic white or more off white.  Of course I have a feeling it won't match, just cause that's my luck.  And speaking of thigh highs I ordered those last week so they should be arriving hopefully sometime this week.  I ordered her wig last week as well, so she's coming together quite quickly.  Only thing that is causing me some issue are her patches.  I'm currently in contact with a couple of people who may be able to make them for me but you would think these things would be easier to find then what they are!  Sailor V hasn't seen much progress though, I bought a masquerade mask that I'm think of using as a base for her because the one I bought is just HUGE.  I mean hers is big, but this thing looks retarded on me.  I think I'm going to start sanding on it this weekend, hopefully dad can find his dremmel so I can expand the eye holes.  And as for Kusanagi, I ordered the light purple thigh highs at the same time I ordered Seras's and I finally ordered her boots last week, according to amazon I should see them Wednesday.  So, not much real progress anywhere but I'm getting there, not as quick as I'd like but... I would much rather have them all done and be tweaking on them. 
I am going to have dad do some reasearch on the Wild Geese, since Pip is the leader of them and see if they have any special patches for Pip's costume.  Hopefully he will have some success only because I would find that more interesting then just me throwing random patches on it.  Of course we are going to put a G.I. Joe patch on it, just for shits and giggles.
Now as for the SLR

Yes that is me modeling the new camera.  We already have over 100 pictures on it, mainly us playing with different ISO settings and with the flash, etc.  And don't ask me why I'm holding my hand like that, I think I was trying to get the strap around my arm or something... unno.  Now as for actual functionality, its fun even though we're still figuring it out.  And I think its going to be able to do everything we need for sometime.  I mean when you can take a picture of a fan going at high speed and its not blurry or anything, but perfectly clear.  Oh yea ^_^

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Yay for more cosplay updates!

All right lots to say lets see how much I can get out before I forget everything I was going to say... First, a new con added to the usual lineup.  OMGCon.  Its in Paducah, which for me isn't that far away.  I've wanted to attend for about three years now but something kept getting in the way.  (Yes Rob I'm still upset you had to pick THAT WEEKEND to get married. :p) But I have mine and the new b/f (yes, yes we'll get to him in a bit) badges bought.  So no skipping out this year.  Its June 11-13 for anyone interested, and if you get on it quick badges are $25 till Dec 31st.
Next on the agenda, the costume list for Kawa Kon has been revised.  Remember how I said I was just going to do two costumes?  I lied.  -_-" No I didn't lie, I was talking to someone on the forum and they are doing an Alucard costume and it just so happens that I'd already be attending with a Pip, then they told me that they had an Integra so it only seemed natural to be Seras.  Anyone shocked?  No I didn't think so.  I'm planning on going with the yellow costume, and keeping it very close to the manga.  Meaning black and white patches.  What's that you say?  Black and white?  Yes if you look at the front cover of the second issue you'll notice Seras's patches are black and white and not in color as seen in the ova.

Picky detail I know but I wouldn't be me if I didn't worry over such things.  Currently I'm hunting for said patches.  I'm not having much luck, most places that will take custom orders require a minimum order and as between Pip and I we will be needing a max of 5 or 6 that doesn't work.  Hopefully someone on etsy will be willing to make some for me.  Dunno if I'll be making the Harkonnen, at least in time for the con.  Unfortunately I have a lot of work to do with Sailor V and Kusanagi, so it will depend.  I do want to have it for photos though.  And am I the only one who hears Harkonnen and doesn't think Seras but I think House Harkonnen i.e. Dune?  I read (most) of the series years ago and loved it but in my world Harkonnen=bad.  I know I'm crazy.  But as for the creation of the costume itself I think I have it pretty much mapped out.  Some stretch twill for the uniform, I'll be able to reuse Kusanagi's boots for this costume and her and Sailor V's contacts (red and blue respectively) which will make for some neat pics.  I think I'm going to go with white gloves a la the cover I posted above.  I know a lot of Seras cosplays I've found on Cosplay.com have gone with brown boots and brown gloves with a black belt.  Unfortunately I have this issue with black and brown being on at the same time so therefore I have to do black or the fashion ninja's will get me >.>  <.< 
Thankfully the cost of Seras's wig won't be up there with Kusanagi's or Sailor V's.  A very nice lady on cosplay.com who has already done a Seras cosplay was nice enough to respond and tell me where she got hers and what she did to modify it. 

You can find her on Cosplay.com under the s/n DestiniteLuna. But not to nitpick but you can see see did the brown gloves, which is correct if you do the OVA Seras, but I'm (as always) being different and doing the manga.  You'll also notice her Pip is in green, mine will be in khaki.  Why?  Hell if I know.  He saw some picture of Pip a year or two ago when he made the costume in brown and loved it.  It worked on him first time, I'll just need to find him the scarf and a few other minor things for this time.
But while I'm on the subject of Seras and Pip I ran across a couple rather racy pictures of the duo someone did (I can't find credits).  Dunno if we'll post them but you can bet we'll probably do our own variants of these:

And how are we going to do these semi racy photos?  Well ladies and gentlemen you'll be happy to know that we're investing in a new SLR.  A Sony 330 to be precise.  We're picking it up Thursday.  Sadly I don't think we'll have any fun lenses before the con, maybe a filter depending on price.  But they will be coming.  Splitting the cost of it made it a lot more reasonable for both of us.  And my bff has one as well that we can use if we need a second camera (why we'd need a dual camera shoot is beyond me but I'm just the stupid model he's the photographer).  And yes that's pretty much how it will be.  I don't mean to be egotistical but expect to see a LOT of  me and very few of him unless he has a mask on or is facing away from the camera.  For whatever reason he's mega shy about cameras.  /shrug
But as I'm thinking about variant costumes, have I prattled on endlessly about my Sailor V Artemis Variant?  No?  Hope your seated, this will take awhile.  The costume idea started when I was telling ... how should I refer to him... my photographer?  No.  My b/f?  No, even though he is.  Pip?  Meh its short, it'll do.  It all started when I was telling Pip about the plushie I commissioned for my Sailor V costume.  He loved the idea of doing some pictures with the plush then we started acting ... like ourselves and came up with this shoot I cannot wait to do.  Ok you all know the whole Family Guy Peter vs the Chicken thing?  Yea, same idea.  V vs Artemis.  Me 'fighting' a stuffed animal.  Figure first time V will win and he'll have to continue being the sidekick, but what if he won?  And had his own Sailor fuku?  Well then V would just have to be the kitty... Ok so imagine this

Only in white plus ears and a cat tail.  Expect to have a good laugh once we're done.  I'll post more details about the Sailor V Variant later have other things on my mind.
I finally, FINALLY got to dye my fabric for Kusanagi tonight.  I'm testing out a satin.  I plan on using the dull side for the costume but I can't find any satin in my hometown in a pale purple like hers so I bought a white and some purple RIT dye and went to work.  The first piece I used came out way to dark which was a major shock because about two years ago when I was making my Nariko costume I had to dye some satin to be the shade I needed and for the life of me I couldn't get that stuff to take color.  I ended up just having to setting for a paler color then what I wanted.  So knowing that I made it at full strength, and left the fabric in the dye bath maybe two minutes, pulled it out and rinsed it just out of curiosity.  The stuff was way to dark to salvage.  Before I gave the next piece a try I dumped about half of the dye out and refilled the pot with water so it was at about 50% strength.  This time I dipped it for maybe 30 seconds before I pulled it out and rinsed it.  It matched the thread I bought which is a very, very pale purple.  Which is what I'm going for.  I hope it dries that way.  See my idea is when I'm wearing the 1st gig outfit (the bikini bottoms and thigh highs) for the top to be questionable if its white or purple, but if I'm in the 2nd gig outfit (the white jeans) then it will be obvious that it is a very light purple.  So cross your fingers that it dies even and the color I need.  Otherwise I just wasted 3 yards of satin and a box of dye on nothing. :/
Alright on to the thing that most of your probably suspected from the last post but wasn't confirmed.  No I'm no longer single, but no I'm not telling you his name.  We'll just call him 'Pip' and be done with it.  Yes for those inquiring minds I'm extremely happy and finally able to gush this as we will probably still have ex-bf problems for awhile.  Hopefully he will get it that I'm done with him before the local con so we can hang out again this year.  I feel kinda bad I didn't mean to break it off with him the way I did, but I was unhappy and frustrated and didn't see things changing.  I felt it was better to nip it in the bud, besides he started the whole 'where are you and who are you with' type line of questioning and the only person who can ask that is my mother and she doesn't even do that.  That and he asked for me to 'think long and hard on if I wanted to be with him' I think he expected me to say yes so it was a major blow to his ego when I didn't.  But as for what happened with Pip, it was a total accident.  Just kinda happened, and although I'm extremely happy about it a certain part of me has reservations about it, I'm afraid of something going wrong and loosing a friend that means the absolute world to me.  (And no I'm not talking him up or exaggerating, we went 3 months without talking once and I was about to loose my mind I missed him that much.)
But one last thing and I think I'll have caught everyone up.  Christmas presents.  I got many, which was unusual, last few years have been... blah.  A Kohl's gift card and some amazingly warm socks from the paternal grandmother, a beautiful vase and a Hancocks fabrics gift card from Dad, a pre-paid gym membership from Mom (I may just be in Kusanagi shape yet!) and some money toward the white leather jacket (which was the only thing I asked for).  An XM radio from one of my jobs which in turn was a present from my grandmother because she didn't have anything for me under the tree so she gave me some money for it even though my boss gave it to me as my bonus o.O yea that was a twisted one.  $100 from the grandparents as well, $50 from the aunt and uncle (all of which is going toward the SLR), a funny little outdoor spinny decoration from my cousin (I'll post a pic when we get the new camera, it'll be something to take a picture of) And a kickass mug from Pip, with a quote from Alice and Wonderland "Somebody's head is going to ROLL for this!" Anyone who knows me knows how true that is in the morning.  And the very best present of all...

Everyone, let me introduce you to the newest member of my family, Lucky.  My parents found him when they were leaving my Grandparents Christmas day, he was running in the field covered in ice from some of the cows, which apparently thought he was a towel wearing terrorist.  And as soon as I set eyes on the lil guy he was adopted.  He also is going to be my Hellhound for my Seras cosplay.  Oh yea, double duty.  But in all seriousness he's the cutest and sweetest puppy I've been around since Rex was born. 

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Con Update

Well I have registered for KawaKon '10.  Got it in early enough that the cost was almost half last years ticket.  Which is fantastic cause this year we'll be staying in the hotel rather then at a friends house.  That in itself makes me happy last year I was tired and wanted to crash not navigate us back, even if it was a gorgeous house that we had to ourselves.  That and the other perk is who I will be going with.  As of the moment its only the two of us but at least I won't feel like I'm dragging him along.  Yay for being single ... err well sort of.  Yay for being done with bad news and possibly on to better things? 
But on to the heart and soul of this post, what I'm wearing to said con.
Only two this year, well two that I will be trucking around the whole day in, I'm trying something new.  Instead of three costumes, one for each day, I'm going to make a couple costumes more for special events, ie the Rave or going swimming.  So here's the current lineup:
Friday- Motoko Kusanagi from Ghost in the Shell SAC.  I'm wearing the 1st GIG costume sans the motorcycle jacket but getting a pair of white jeans and the jacket from 2nd GIG so I can change it up, and not freeze my perfectly shaped ass off.  (Can you tell that when I got rid of him I got my ego back?)
Saturday- Codename Sailor V.  No not Sailor Venus.  Well it is, but its pre-Sailor Moon.  Bit of trivia here, Sailor Moon was not the first scout, acutally she wasn't even the first one created.  Originally it was just Sailor V.  You remember the game she always went on and on about in the anime?  Or the outfit Sailor V wore the first time they saw her, with the red mask?  Yea that outfit.  I'm totally psyched about this one too almost more the my Kusanagi just because I get someone else to cosplay with, from the same series.  No I don't have another Sailor Scout, I gots myself Tuxedo Mask.  Of course we're still trying to figure out how Sailor V got Sailor Moon's man but meh, it was before Sailor Moon's time right? 
Sunday- Kusanagi again.  Since I can do the pants I can kinda make two costumes out of this one.  Though chances are I'll wear it the same both days cause I'm like that.
Now as for the other two costumes, the Rave and Swimming, let me explain a little about those.  For the rave you always see girls do the neko thing.  And cool and fun as it is, its a little old.  Ok like really old.  I see a multitude of girls in black outfits with cat ears and tails.  -_-" Fail.  So as I can do better, I opted to be a fox.  Oh no I'm not going to wear all black, hell at this point I only have a vague idea of what I want to wear to the Rave save the tail and ears... no that's not an option.  Ok as for the other.  Raise your hand if you've played DOA?  Yes yes everyone.  So you all can officially shut up now, I'm breaking down and doing a Kasumi costume.  And not just her little blue number oh, no.  I want more then that, try the swimsuit.  No not the black that she wore in DOA Extreme (didnt think I knew that did ya?) this is meant to go with the blue and white she normally wears.  Now this isn't going to be made with my omg that's not 100% accurate ocd.  Or hopefully it won't be.  I'm making more from my curiousity of putting a redhead in a blue and white kimono-ish outfit and see how many times someone things I'm Kasumi.  Then tell them I'm not.  Yes I have a twisted sense of humor.  ... shit customers inbound I'll post more later.

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