Days 259 & 260

Umm... Yeah.. Nothing. I'm gong to do an editorial-like post today instead. =]

Super Lazy... (Days 257 & 258)

After nearly putting my Ho-Oh hat through a paper shredder out of sheer HATE, I haven't been working on hats. It was horrible what happened that day... Everything was going well until I couldn't turn the first wing I made inside-out because it was too small and thick. When I finally got both done (after way too much time and effort) I realized that they looked ridiculous because they were so small. I didn't want to remake them, so I thought I'd just have a Ho-Oh without wings. First of all, now you can't tell what it is... When I went to finish the last bit (the rim that goes around the bottom) I realized that I had no bright yellow fleece. After that ridiculously long trip to JoAnn's to buy all the fabric I needed, I forgot to get bright yellow. I held it up next to the same orange that I used for the body, but that just made it be too orange, so I left it.

I began a Dratini hat, but by that point, I was just too frustrated to work on anything and had to just walk away.

In other news, I'm also out of pink thread.

In other other news, I feel like I have three non-paying jobs. My hats, Game-Zone Recreation (aka Kin-Yoobi Con), and my mom's and my vending machine business. I'm over worked and, not underpaid, but not paid at all. Although my mom did bail me out of some pretty bad overdraft fees via US Bank. She said that was my pay =/ I don't think she would have paid me that much money, but oh well. At least I don't owe them $150 anymore o.o

In cosplay news, there's a ridiculous surplus of red men's suits at the Thrift Store near my house. Mile's Edgeworth anyone? =]

ALSO! (My goodness, this feels like a lot.) I'm almost finished with my beach cosplay of Swimmer Girl from Pokemon Platinum. All I need to do is paint the beach ball I got like a Pokeball and maybe find a red hair tie, because I didn't know hers was read, I thought you couldn't see it, but now I know ^-^

I've noticed that some of my cosplays I just don't take that seriously. Pikachu is definitely one of them, though I've learned to love it beyond belief. Swimmer Girl is going to be another one. I feel like my brain might explode if I take on too many serious cosplays. I need some that I can just play with and have fun. Although, I must say, I totally lucked out when finding my Swimmer Girl bathing suit. It's not quite exactly the same color, and the bottoms are cut a little higher than they appear to be in the one reference picture in existence, but for just walking into Target and finding them, they're ridiculously good! My only other option was making them and there's no way I was going to do that.

HATZ! (Days 255 & 256)

So, the day after I made my first Mew hat, I sold it. It's hard to complain about making money, but at this rate, I won't have anything to sell at Kin-Yoobi. So I sat down today and made three hats! Another Mew, a Lugia, and a Bulbasaur. As I mentioned before, I'm trying to get at least one of each done. I'm going down the list I made, and according to the list, I should have made a Ho-Oh today, but Lugia was ridiculously time-consuming, with almost twenty individual pieces to put together, and Ho-Oh has just as many, if not more. Bulbasaur just looked so much easier, and he was! He's also adorable.

Tomorrow, I should be making at least Ho-Oh and Squirtle, and if I have enough time, a Charmander too.

HATS! (Days 253 & 254)

I made two more hats =] Another Magikarp and a Mew.

ALSO~! I'm putting together a beach cosplay gathering on July 10th! Check out the Cosplay.com thread >>here<< for more info. I will be cosplaying Swimmer Girl from Pokemon Platinum, and my boyfriend will be cosplaying Biker Guy from Pokemon Platinum. We're actually almost done with our costumes too, even though we only seriously started two days ago. All I have to do is exchange my bathing suit bottom for a smaller one, buy a beach ball, and paint it. All my boyfriend (meaning me) has to do is find my old visor and paint it. Whee~! Easiest cosplays EVAH!

As for my Franziska von Karma cosplay and his Miles Edgeworth cosplay.. I suppose they're sort of on hold. I'm trying to finish all of these hats before I work on Franziska and Miles. I'm probably going to work right up to the day before Kin-Yoobi on the hats, but that'll still give me over two full months to finish Franziska and Miles, so I'm not too worried yet. =]

Norcal Summer Picnic 2010

(Since this isn't a convention, it won't be reported on my other blog, only here.)

The picnic was held in Kelly Park in San Jose, California. It was a great location for photographs as well as just having a good time in general. I cosplayed as human-form/gijinka Pikachu.

We arrived late, as usual, around 1:30. The first thing I wanted to do was set up the bubble machine, but to my dismay, we needed a screwdriver to open it! D= So with the help of foxberry and her boyfriend, we went on a hunt for a screwdriver. A ridiculous amount of people got involved. Eventually someone came with a pocket knife that had a nail file, and we got it open. Unfortunately, it wasn't the best bubble machine ever (that's what you get for ten bucks) but it did produce bubbles =]

Then it was time for a group photoshoot with all of the cosplayers. That took up a good chunk of time, but that's alright =] It was quite fun posing next to other Pokemon cosplayers. After that, I got to eat! I had a burger and a sanwich roll thing and some Chex mix and some Snapple. So basically everything but what I brought. All I brought (other than the bubble machine and toys) was a case of Pepsi, which magically disappeared while I was playing frisbee. I'm going to tell myself that they all got drank, which is awesome for me, because on the car ride over, I taped a Kin-Yoobi flier to every single can xD Shameless advertising for the win!

While I was trying to eat, I got my picture taken by OscarC. He showed me the pictures on his camera after he took them, but I'm still waiting to see them online.

Then back to eating! Except I didn't get to finish because it was PINATA TIME! I was going to hit the pinata, but I didn't want to be blindfolded, so I just watched instead. I still got candy! That was indeed the world's hardest pinata though. It didn't break until somebody punched through it...

Then back to food! I never did finish that burger... I got bored and we went to play frisbee. Out on the lawn, there were a bunch of cosplayers searching through the grass. We joined in on the search for a Rinoa cosplayer's lost rings. I'm not entire sure how long we searched, but it felt like hours... So many random people gave us so many weird looks. It was kind of funny, but kind of not. Kinda like "We're busy here, we don't have time to be looked at, sheesh!" One guy came up with his kids and asked it we did parties, like we were some kind of entertainers.. We tried explaining that cosplay was just a hobby, but he didn't get it, so we directed him to Cosplay.com. Ha. Poor guy. He promised that he'd come back with a metal detector to help us look for the rings, but we never showed.

The group of us looking for the rings ended up playing frisbee again. A running gag was that the frisbee was attracted to me because we were both yellow >_> In the end, we had to leave before the game was through, so I just let the group keep the frisbee. I do hope someone brings it (or a better one) to the another NorCal gathering =/ I didn't really want it though. I'll buy myself a nicer one over the summer.

Overall, I had a really fun time. I do hope I somehow stay in contact with a lot of people and get to see them at other cons and gatherings ^-^

Hater's Gonna Hate (Day 252)

Whoever's been leaving me nasty comments on my past posts, you can stop now, I'm just deleting them all. This is the only acknowledgment you're going to get from me.

In better news, NorCal Cosplay Picnic is tomorrow! I know I've barely posted anything about it, but I am going, I just didn't know that I was until like a week ago. There will be a "convention" report on my other blog and a general overview here, but since it's not a con, I'm not sure whether or not there will be an official Game-Zone Recreation report. I forgot to ask whether or not I'm expected to write one.

Ahh, I haven't sewed in what feels like forever (even though it's only been a couple of days). I may sew some time tonight, if not, then on Sunday =] I need to make hats!

So.. Much.. FLEECE! (Day 252)

So I spent like an hour in JoAnn's today getting fleece cut. Not sure if it was actually that long, but it sure felt like it. We were in the store for an hour at least. I bought all of the fabric that I have foreseen myself needing for all of the Pokehats I'll be making. I spent $77 on it! Whaa! Good thing I had coupons >_>

I also bought some fabric for Franziska's and Mile's neck ruffly thingies =] Because for some reason, i'm really, really looking forward to making those. I don't know why o.o

So tomorrow, work on the hats continues with Mew, Lugia, and Ho-oh. I intend to make one of each hat first and then starting with the easiest ones and making two more of each until I have all 62 done. Yes. 62. I'm kicking myself for deciding to do so many. But the good news is that I only have to sell four of them to have made profit. He he he.

Chi Maintenance (Days 250 & 251)

First off, for anyone wondering, I spell Chi with one "I" because that's how it's spelled in the manga, and I've only read the manga, so that's the spelling I'm familiar with.

In any case, however you spell it, I did a little bit of touch-up on Chi. Basically, I made it fit better around my torso because I had problems with it at Fanime and it looked sloppy. Also, I had planned to wear it to the NorCal Summer Picnic.

I changed my mind, though, I will be wearing Pikachu to the NorCal summer picnic instead. So many people are cosplaying Pokemon or Pokemon trainers, and I want in on all the Poke-shenanigans! My boyfriend is going to be Matt from Death Note, instead of the Hideki to my Chi. I feel a little bad switching on him so we're not matching anymore, but there's supposed to be a Misa there, so I'm not really worried about him feeling left out. Plus he loves being Matt, so it's all good. =]

New Pikachu Headpiece! (Day 249)

After much deliberation (all of five minutes =O), I decided to make a new set of Pikachu ears. Originally, I tried to make the ears to put on the headpiece, but they didn't stay up. So I took an old pair of Pikachu ears and used them instead. I must say, I think it worked wonderfully =]

The ears themselves were storebought about a year ago, and came attached to a Pikachu mask hat thing. I originally took them off and put them on hair clips, but those were hard to keep on and couldn't be worn for longer than an hour without having to be readjusted.

So I ripped them off of the clips and sewed them onto a piece of yellow fleece, which I then trimmed with white lace. It's held on like a headband with a piece of elastic.

Today, I also realized that I really, really, really need to buckle down and start making Pokemon hats. I need to make 62 of them just to have the minimum of what I originally planned. I may just give in and buy all of the fabric I need for all of them at once. Ah, the money. I will miss it..

Franziska's Vest (Days 247 & 248)

So I'm already almost finished with Franziska's vest after only a few days of work =] In all seriousness, no, it's not perfect, but it's pretty damn close. It just doesn't fit 100% perfectly, heh. However, the lines on the hems and everything somehow fall in the exact places that they should, so I'm not going to mess with it.

I, being how I am, did not want to make four buttonholes , partially because I don't trust my machine's buttonholing function, so instead, I ended up sewing on nine, counth then, nine snaps instead. Yeah... Still debating whether or not that was worth it...

Tomorrow, or most likely Monday, I'd like to make the buttons and glue them on. Yeah, I'm gluing buttons on. Because I used snaps instead of buttonholes. Because my machine scares me (as it probably mad at me >_>).

ALSO! I'll be going to the NorCal Summer Picnic on June 19th! If you're going, keep a lookout for me! =D I decided to go as Chi from Chobits and drag my boyfriend along as Hideki =D Hoping for some good photos of those costumes still, otherwise I'd be going as Pikachu. =/

Fabric =] (Day 246)

Whee! So I went to the fabric store and bought fabric for Franziska's vest things. It's absolutely perfect. I love the color and the type of fabric and the way it moves and stretches. Which of course all means that I'll hate the way it sews. I've never found a fabric that I 100% liked.

In addition to that, I also bought fabric from another few hats. I got a request for a Fox McCloud hat, which would be fairly easy, seeing as he only wants the ears and helmet, not the eyes or anything else. Easy enough if I can find a picture of the back of his head. Will probably check my Super Smash Bros. Brawl game for that some time tomorrow.

And I met a fellow cosplayer who works at the JoAnn's in my city! ^-^ I thought that that was her, but I never knew for sure >_> And now I know! Totally awesome if you ask me. =]

No Progress! (Day 245)

Yeah, so I've only been designing costume concepts, really. No real progress whatsoever. I need to get my butt down to the fabric store! And to Target >_>

It looks like I actually might get to do a cosplay beach gathering =D Anyone interested, let me know. An area hasn't been picked yet, but I was thinking somewhere in San Fransisco or Santa Cruz, but a less-popular beach that'll let us barbecue and stuff.

If that does happen, I want to be a Swimmer Girl from Pokemon Platinum =] I'm all re-addicted to Pokemon and the idea of Pokemon cosplays, sorry. Of course I can't find a picture of her. But it's essentially a light blue/teal bikini with a beach ball that looks like a Pokeball. I'd like to get as accurate as possible with it, but we all know that it's probably not possible to just go out and buy a 100% accurate Pokemon Swimmer Girl bathing suit from Target. SO I'm just going to try to get as close as I can and paint a beach ball to look like a Pokeball.

In addition to that, I got an amazingly awesome Pokemon cosplay idea, but I'm not going to post it, buahahaha! Because I'm evil. And I don't want my awesome idea stolen =[

Woah. Days 237 - 244. Oops.

WOW I slacked off on posting. It's only fair though, I'm on a sort of cosplay hiatus. I need to buy fabric and then I can start on my Franziska von Karma cosplay. I'm actually rather excited to get to sew, as opposed to all of the hot gluing and painting my last few costumes took (mainly Pacman, Clyde, and Amaterasu).

Other than that, I'm designing two Pokemon Gijinkas for myself and my boyfriend. First, I'm planning on being a Vespiquen in the style of a Medieval queen. I'm thinking a big, ruffly hoop skirt with pleats at the bottom to give the illusion of her honeycombs that are at the bottom of her dress. I haven't quite figured out anything else but that, but it's a start, I suppose. I'm more worried about my boyfriend's costume.

His will be a Scizor, in the style of a medieval knight. Heh, yeah, these are the things I get myself into. I've already started designing it. All I can say is that it looks like a gundam. A lot like a gundam. It's the wings that do it. Seriously, put some wings on a suit of medieval armor, I swear to you, it will look like a gundam. Even though I can't recall seeing a gundam with wings that actually looked like wings. But you know what I mean! Heh.

Anywhozit, Franziska von Karma and Miles Edgeworth get top priority for no real reason other than the fact that they're a lot easier to make, and I already have my Franziska wig. It's a little blue-er that I would have liked, but I think I prefer it to the alternative gray.

I've also made a brilliant discovery! You can make almost any kind of top if you have a jacket pattern! Yup. I made two different jackets with one (Mello and Hideki), and I already have plans to use it for Franziska's vest and jacket-vest-thing. It makes me wonder what I could to with a shirt pattern. =3

Fanime Costumes (Days 242-246)

I'm still working on getting photos, so bear with me here. My full review is here, on my convention blog, this is not a full review.

On Day Zero of Fanime (Thursday), I cosplayed my original human-form/gijinka of Pikachu, and my boyfriend wore a fleece Magikarp hat that I made for him a few weeks ago. Pikachu is one of my fly-under-the-radar costumes, as I call them. I wear it when I want to cosplay, but don't want to attract too much attention. I got a great reaction overall, and on girl even said I had the cutest Pikachu outfit she'd ever seen, so I was really flattered. Surprisingly, my boyfriend's hat got more attention than I did. Apparently people still do very much love Magikarp. "Splash Attack!" I do regret wearing heels to stand in line for two hours but, eh, live and learn.

Day One (Friday) I was my original human-form of Amaterasu from Okami. As usual, I was pleasantly surprised with the response to it. I was extremely flattered when the masquerade winners from last Fanime, Chief Pikachu and Charlie the Charmander, geeked out over my costume and asked for pictures and hugs. The response is always big to Amaterasu because it's a really detailed, in-depth, and eye-catching costume, but at Fanime, people actually knew who I was (though I was mistaken for Princess Mononoke again..). My Amaterasu is not officially retired. I may remake parts to make it more accurate (in my opinion) and comfortable, but other than that, I'm done with it, it's too uncomfortable.

On Day Two (Saturday) I was Clyde (the orange ghost from Pacman) and my boyfriend was Pacman. We expected a huge response and lots of love toward these costumes, of course that's not why we did them, but it was a nice perk. However, we didn't expect just how much attention we got. We were stopped literally every ten steps, and every time there were at least three photographers. Good thing we weren't really rushing to go anywhere. People really liked the pants, which was surprising but pleasing, because they were a lot of work.

Day Three (Sunday) I cosplayed Chi and my boyfriend was Hideki (Chobits). I thought that this was going to be another fly-under-the-radar costume, but I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of attention it attracted.Everyone geeked out over me again, this time because my ears were open with AV cables hanging out. People kept saying that it was a brilliant idea and that they'd never seen it before, but i know I've seen it somewhere before, there's no way I came up with that idea all by myself. I actually want to re-make the ears, but more on that later. We went to the CLAMP gathering, which started late because the Tsubasa gathering ran over. It was alright, though, because I ended up talking to another Chi cosplayer and we got swarmed by photographers, probably because we were the same height and our dresses almost looked opposite, so that was pretty cool. When the gathering finally came around, there were five Chi's, and everyone started calling out for a Hideki. It took a while for it to click in my boyfriend's head, but he finally ran out to the cheers and screams of onlooking fangirls. After that, four of us Chi's had a mini photoshoot with Chronoclix, a relatively new cosplay photography site. I'm very happy to help them get off the ground. I also wore Chi the Fanime's Black & White Ball and even had a picture of me taken there.

Day Four (Monday) was very short, and my "costume" fell apart pretty quickly. I pretty much looked like I had run through the dealer's room and grabbed every super popular stereotypical item I could find, haha. I had a short blue wig, steampunk-ish aviator goggles, cat ears & tail, and fingerless black ruffly gloves. However, instead of seeing it as a super-stereotypical "uncool" thing for me to do, for some reason, I thought (and still think) of it was a satirical portrayal of the general anime fandom. Maybe I' just too full of myself. But it amused me, and I will probably wear it again. Unfortunately, in my rush to get ready, I didn't put my ears on right, and they fell off later, so I took of the tail and ended up looking very wannabe steampunk-ish, which just amused me even more. [Pictured left is me with the wig and gloves, but no goggles or ears.]