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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quick post

Alright just a quick post tonight, if I have time I'll post more in the morning.  I've gotten a lot done last night and today.  The nerf gun I'm using for a Harkonnen for Seras is half painted (had to wait for it to dry so I can flip it over and do the other side), and Sailor V and Tuxedo Mask both have painted masks.  I figured I'd take them over to Pip's this weekend so we could mark out where I need to cut them, and being the right color would probably help.  I got Sailor V's shoulder guards made.  They still need to be sanded and painted but that takes no time with the sander I have.  I think I've already posted that I have Seras's contacts ordered, I remember tweeting it... anyway here they are, they aren't red but I don't have the $75 to drop on contacts atm. 

 Especially when I just ordered a second wig for Seras.  I tried cutting out what got burned but when I did it left a funny layer way to high so hopefully I can mod that wig for something later...
But then here's the real big progress number.  Sailor V's skirt is done.  I may tweak it later if I get everything else done but I wore it around half the day and it was fine.  I started on her collar but I'm still in the pattern drafting stage atm.  The skirt took me a lot longer then I expected.  I drafted it a couple times but I was going to be all proper and finish all my seams and all that, but when I started that it ended up adding bulk and the skirt didn't flow as well so I ripped as much of it as I could back out and decided that it was spandex and really won't ravel.  ... shit I have to get my stuff together, I'm working at the other job tomorrow and I need to run to town a bit early to grab a couple little things.  Like I said if I wake up early enough tomorrow I'll post pictures of what I've gotten done, if not I will monday.  Check my flickr if your dying to see stuff now, I upload there first.  Night all!

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Announcing Codename Sailor V Formal!

Just thought I'd share a sketch I did the other night at work, its of a concept for the Vampire Knight Ball at KawaKon.  I'll be in my Codename Sailor V costume that day (and as its a formal Tuxedo Mask will be in a tuxedo) so I felt a little akward about weaing a miniskirt to the formal.  Not so much a problem with the mini because I will need the freedom of movement to dance the tango, but just that I'd feel underdressed.  So I came up with with what may be a decent compromise assuming I have time to make it.  Most of it will probably be made of satin.

 The ones in color are the ones I'm thinking of making, I'd like more white on the dress, especially around the top more like her normal outfit, but I think this will work.
The skirt will have two layers, a blue organza and a blue satin. The satin will be short and slightly not pleated but will have extra on it so I will be able to dance in it. The outer layer will be able to be 'taken off' so it will create a short train so I will be able to tango. The blue satin will hit probably hit mid thigh and the organza will make it appear to hit about knee length. It will be sleeveless a la her anime costume, and I will re-use the broach from her main costume. I will likely wear the same heels, gloves, mask and other accessories from the main outfit.

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More drabble

Worked on the skirt a bit last night.  Have the darts in it, which is mainly thanks to the assistance of my mother.  Yes she was a seamstress and yes she helps out once and awhile, and this was one of those things that I couldn't do by myself.  I mean I could have but I would have had to take it off and put it on a thousand times to see if the darts were placed even and enough was taken up blah blah blah.  Having her pull up what needed to be darted while I was wearing it saved me a lost of frustration.  Now all that's left is pulling out part of the seam near the bottom of the zipper and re-doing it and putting in a hem.  And I plan on hemming the liner and the outer layer of fabric seperate so I may have made more work for myself I unno, I think it will hang better if I do it that way.  

That's really all I got done by the way of costumes yesterday, I spent most of my time in the kitchen.  I made some blueberry muffins and then I made a sugar scrub and a rice water toner.  o.O Yes I know how to make that, I'm hoping it will brighten up my skin a bit before the con.  I mean I have a month. 
 

 

Basically pour however much rice you want in a bowl (I put in enough to cover the bottom and maybe a 1/4 in up the side?  The bowl I was using is deceptivly deep) then pour in water.  You want it to cover the rice by a good inch.  Then stir till its milky.  Pour it into a container of your choice and cook the rice and eat it or pitch it or whatever.  We'll see how well it works.  As for the scrub, this is all it requires:

Its 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons of honey and a 1/2 cup of sugar.  The extra virgin olive oil is a must.  No virgin, no plain olive oil, a definately no cooking oil!  The wicked thing about the extra virgin olive oil is that you can use it to remove eye makeup too.  With my skin going ape shit the past couple of months and being very unusually dry I'm going to give this a try and see if it helps any.
But while I'm on my skincare kick, I have to share the makeup pallettes I found.  I'll probably call them my Valentines Day present to myself and get them for the con season. 

That is the makeup I had already planned on getting, I figure I'll have plunty of colors for me, Pip, and anyone else I end up working on.  You can buy it here if you are interested, it retails around $50.  Which is a good deal. 

That is how my whole pallette obsession started.  I have been hunting for the right shade of red lipstick for both myself and for a couple costumes for sometime now and I can never find a shade that has more blue in it then orange or pink.  I need a cold color not a warm red.  >.<  I figure I'll have 66 different shades to play with, if one doesn't work I should be able to mix and match to get what I need.  You can buy it here if you're interested, its about $20. 

I'm debating on which one of those I want or if I want them both, they aren't to expensive and I get 88 different eyeshadows to play with.  The difference is shimmer.  The bottom picture is the shimmer set the top is the more matte set.  I'm thinking with flash I'm going to want the matte but at the same time shine is sometimes good.... You can get the shimmer here and the matte here.  Both are around $20. 

The other thing I found is what's supposed to be a really good eyeshadow base.  It retails for $17, but promises no creases, and for heavy costume makeup... that's probably not the case but for day to day I bet it would work.  If I get it I'll give a full review.  If you're interested you can get it from Urban Decay here.
And on a totally unmakeup related note, I just checked ups, the P90 is still showing on time so cross you fingers that its delivered today.  According to the usps site my fabric was delivered to the local post office yesterday so hopefully my mail carrier dropped it off today, course as much fabric as that was I dunno if that will fit in my mailbox, oh well I have to be up early tomorrow to work on .... something yet undetermined so I can make a quick run to the post office.  And according to the link in the other confirmation email I got I think my holsters my arrive today.  I swear the last time I looked they were in Kansas or some other flat state.  Props to UPS I suppose. 

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I is a chatterbox!

I’m kinda psyched, Wizard World just acquired the Atlanta comic con, which may add another convention to my list. (You will notice it on my pending list atm) hopefully they do it in November or next January so I can attend.  I can’t usually get off work in December and even if I could I’m so busy that I don’t think I would enjoy it that much.  ATM they don’t have a date or a venue set, let’s hope they do that quick.  Of course the person who makes all my wigs is in Atlanta… not that I’m like omg I want to meet them but they do some really neat work and I wouldn’t mind seeing their shop.

And with me working all weekend I haven’t hardly touched a costume.  I came in last night and didn’t do much, I was rather tired.  Hopefully I’ll get off work early today and I can get going on that skirt again.  I know I say every time I work on it my goal is to get it done and I never manage it but that would be awesome if I could.  Of course when I was as work the other night I grabbed a pair of underwear I hope won’t show through the skirt.  I’ll do a test when I get home.  I tried it with some that say ‘no panty lines’ and they lied.  So I bought a pair of boyshorts… cross your fingers cause I hate boyshorts.  I did talk to mom a minute about her funny collar.  She didn’t have much by the way of suggestions, basically how I’m going to do it seemed like a good idea to her.  She won’t be home tonight, I wanted her to help me with the darts… suppose I can try it on my own and see if I’ve had a tailoring skill up since the last time I tried darts. (And yes that was a WoW reference)  And I need to get going on her top.  Thankfully I have a pattern for that so I hope that means it will go fast.  The fabric for Sailor V should arrive in a day or so, along with Kusanagi’s stuff.  And I need to get that done too. >.< so much to do, not enough hours or energy!!

I may try to get up early Thursday before I go into work and do something on the costumes, paint Seras’s buttons or something.  Friday I’m headed to the optometrist to see if I need glasses (I don’t think so but some of the really small print I’m having issue with.)  And that way I can get a prescription so I can get the colored contacts I need for the con season this year, cause they won’t give you any, even if you don’t need any sort of correction, without an optometrists signature.  I understand why but I don’t want to go.  But I want the contacts so I’ll do what I must.  Supposed to meet with the trainer Friday too, my calves are still hurting after last week.  We did my assessment last week Friday and he basically said you have 12 min to run as many laps as you can… Go.  I didn’t get to stretch or anything and for those of you who know me, you know when I jog I stretch before, during, after and probably some other time I forgot.  But no stretching=days of pain.  My calves are finally stretching out and I worked the floor all weekend so that should have helped.  And for those curious I lacked half a lap to do a mile, not bad for someone who hasn't run in three months.  But nonetheless I am so going to give him shit when I see him.  And this is guild weekend *squee*  So I’ll be headed to Jon’s once I’m done with the optometrist and the gym.  We’re taking the SLR with us, so I’ll be uploading pics like crazy.  And I’ll get to run some BG’s with my girls again.  "Gimme your badge, Bitch!"  Yes we get that into it... god this going to be fun.  I think we’re having a bonfire, or I know fire was involved… ^_^  I may take Sailor V and Tuxedo Masks mask out and see if Jon has any tools that will cut them out the way we want… he has an awesome collection of tools I’m told.  He and Rob and Pip were going to fabricate Nariko’s sword for that costume but they never got around to it, course the costume never got 100% done so it’s not much of a loss.  Since I’ll have Lisa there I may take Pip’s wig and see if she can help me style it… course I’ll have to let her know ahead of time so she can bring her shit.  And I believe Krista is going to give me a hand with Seras’s.  I managed to take some of the curl out of the sides when I was messing with it.  Gimme a break my hair doesn’t curl I don’t know how to make them!  I may run that by Friday too since I’ll be in Jackson… may take it with me to Jon’s we’ll see.  I have a couple days to decide.  'Cause if I get that skirt done it might be fun to take a few pics as Seras in a black tank the yellow skirt and the thigh highs and boots… *ponders*  The guild would probably find it amusing.

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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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