An update - long overdue

AWA is only about a week away, and yes, you guessed it, I'm not done with my cosplay yet. But I am much further along this year than I was last year (last year, I showed up to the con with all the materials for a cosplay, but nothing actually put together. Not smart, but when you're taking 18 hours of school, working two part time jobs, and doing other school extra-curriculars, your life is kinda eaten up pretty quickly). But with the help of two good friends, I managed to put together a pretty awesome cosplay. Now, I'm getting stuff done now, and I should have a lot complete by the time we leave in about, oh, one week.

As mentioned before, I'm planning a Jolteon gijinka cosplay. I finally got a concrete design down, and with some help from my sister (who is a lot more artistically inclined than I am), I have it on paper!


Ya, my sister is awesome.

I've had the materials for weeks, but I've been so busy with my job that working on it has only been a passing thought. But now that the time is drawing near, it's time to get serious.

I sewed the entire dress together last night, sans arm straps.


I honestly don't know if I'll add the arm straps as it it. The dress stays on fine without them, and the top will be covered up by the vest anyways. If I have time, I'll add them.

I've been working on the vest now, and it's coming along swimmingly as well.

The bottom part with the ribbon is the back, which is completely done. I still have to figure out the front, because, well, it's a bit weird. My aunt is helping me figure out the pattern pieces, so hopefully, I should be almost done with it tomorrow night.

The next step is to make the underskirt with the tulle, which, honestly, if the scariest part for me, simply because I'll be working without a pattern. I'm not used to working without guidelines... so we'll see how that goes. After that, hand-sew in lights, and then make the ears.

I know it sounds like a lot, but I'm not really too worried about it. I'm pleased with the progress I've made in two days, and I think it's definitely doable. Besides, after Saturday, I won't have work at all, so I'll have a full 4 days of (almost) uninterrupted time to get stuff done. This should be 90% done by the time we leave at 8 AM on Thursday morning. IF I have anything left on to do on Thursday night in the hotel, it will only be the ears (which, I have heard, are pretty simple to make).

I think... I'm getting quite psyched for AWA. :)

I actually have news to report!!

So now that AWA is only a month away, it's time to crack down on the cosplay-makin's. I was gonna get started today, but as it turns out, I have to get help trying to figure out how my sewing machine works. I've always used Tony's machine to cosplay - which is only a few years old and easy to figure out. But the machine I'm using this time is my mom', which is a Kenmore, YEARS old, in it's own desk. I can't figure out how to change the bobbin... so I guess I'll update here. :)

I'm only making one new cosplay for AWA this year, but like the last, it's a doozy. Unlike last year, however, I don't have the stresses of school weighing down on me, and I'm not working two jobs (tho I'm not too fond of the job I have now). POINT BEING: I can actually get started on this project a month before the con... instead of only a week. >_>

At MTAC Odyssey, my good friend Lauren did a Pokemon gijinka cosplay of Blastoise. It was very impressive - completely adorable with working bubble cannons!

To be honest, she was the hit of the con. She was constantly stopped, and completely int he spotlight. And me, being the attention whore that I am, thought, "Hey, we should do a BIG pokemon gijinka group for AWA!"

And thus, that is how this all began.

We have quite a group planned: Lauren will be returning as Blastoise, John will be Charizard (with a flaming tail - not real fire, just special effects), I will be Jolteon (with working EL lights in my costume), Daniel is gonna be Beedrill (with working drills... the innuendos that are possible overwhelm me), Susan is going to be Dodrio (her arms will be her two extra heads, and she's gonna put speakers in each head so she can squawk at people), and Micah is going to be Haunter (I think we're gonna try to find a way to make her fog...). Ashton will also be Mew - she's gonna be ADORABLE. And Tony is branching out from the original 150 to be Zekrom, a new legendary pokemon coming out in the next Black & White games. He's focusing on armor, and a giant staff.

Basically, this cosplay is going to be completely epic (provided that everything goes as planned). I've got pieces cut out for my Jolteon cosplay. I'm doing something akin to this:

But with a few alterations. The white around the neck I am designing into a vest with a fur collar, and I'm opting for black shoes/gloves/accessories instead of brown. The sleeves on the dress will be removed, and the straps of the dress will hang off my shoulders. I'm using these patterns for the dress and the vest.

The bottom of the dress will be cut into triangles, and lights will outline each one. Under that, I'll be making a white skirt - with more triangles - and yellow tulle. Basically, the bottom half of me will be poofy and bright.

I also have to make ears, and I'm thinking about trying to make a Thunderstone pendant for a necklace. But those are the last two things I have to worry about. I'm putting so much thought into the details... I think this is going to be one cosplay that I am really going to be proud of.

I am SO ready for AWA.

I'm so bad at this.

I had a feeling this would fall behind again.

Not much to report on. MTAC has come and gone, and it's been so long that I don't have much to say about it. But there were a few things worth noticing...
-MTAC was during the floods on Nashville, so it certainly wasn't the best con.
-Decided on Empress CC cosplay. I might post pictures another day; I'm too lazy to do that now. :P
-Ran a Code Geass panel with Tony, and apparently, it went really well.

Don't know if we'll be going to MTAC next year, considering its on Easter weekend. Personally, I celebrate Easter with my family, so I'll probably be going to MTAC only on Saturday. But we're still planning on going to AWA, and gonna try to make it to ACEN next year in Chicago. :)

Starting to plan for AWA; here's what we have so far:
Pokemon Gijinka: Jolteon
Code Geass: CC

I'll post more when I start making the Gijinka cosplay. But know this: it's going to be EPIC. :D

Rethinking...

So I'm actually considering making the white battle suit for C.C. for MTAC now. I read how so many other people will be cosplaying C.C. in the black knight costume at MTAC this year, that I'm starting to reconsider things. I'm a bit of an attention whore, so I wanna stand out... but I just don't know if I'll have the time or the money (let alone the skill).

This is the problem with such an amazing anime growing so popular. The cosplayers of the series aren't so rare anymore, so you have to stand out and do something amazing if you wanna turn heads - and believe me, I do.

I guess I'll just have to take it one day at a time and see what I can do with it all. After all, I've got plenty of time to decide on things, right?

.... Right?!?

After a Looooong Hiatus...

Whew. I knew this would fall by the wayside eventually. But hopefully, I'm back! :)

AWA came and went. It was fun, but also very stressful. See, I took 18 hours last semester, and worked two part-time jobs. Cosplay was kinda the last thing on my mind. So the biggest costume that I had to work on was Hayate Yagami from Nanoha A's. Whew boy... that was... interesting. Most of the costume was put together in the hotel room with the help of my friends Lauren and Brittany (THANK YOU SO MUCH). Overall, we did pretty damn well - got most of it finished, except for a few details here and there, and the wings were a no-go. But overall, it turned out pretty good:

(I'm the one on the right). It was a fun cosplay - and my first entry into a contest, which was very cool. But I don't think I'll be cosplaying any more characters that friends ask me to cosplay. I mean, I was the one who said I would do it, and I did offer, but I didn't know the series super well, and the costume itself really ovewhelmed me. It was a good experience, and I'm glad I did it, because now I know better. But from now on, I'll be sticking to characters I know and enjoy. :)

The other big cosplay we did for AWA was Action Bastard! This one was amazing. We got stopped for pictures everywhere we went, which was a nice feeling. It turned out so well, and we had to much frickin' fun!

I wish I had a better pic... we also had a Mr. K and a Penny, but they didn't get to join us til a bit later. I was Lollipop (right in the middle), and Tony was the Deflowerer (at my urging :P). John was Action Bastard himself, simply because he can do the voice spot on. And Lauren - yes, she's the one in that giant Happiness Bunny costume. And Brittany was our Aya (which was fun cuz it meant that Susan aka Penny and her got to fight a lot). I am still thoroughly impressed with Lauren and John's costumes, and I'm personally proud of Tony's rape cape (that thing was a BITCH to sew, but I got it done). And yes, we'll definitely be bringing this back for MTAC.

As for future cosplay plans, MTAC will be sneaking up on me shortly, and I think that as of last night I have my final cosplay plans for the con. Tony and I are doing cosplays from Pokemon, mainly because during AWA the guys were making fun of Gym Leader Byron, and Tony can pretty much do the voice for him perfectly. So he will cosplay Byron, and after a lot of flip-flopping, I'm planning to cosplay Cynthia, the Pokemon League Champion:

I chose this cosplay for a few reasons. It's true that it's super easy, but have you actually looked at the costumes that the female gym leaders have? They are apeshit crazy. There is NO easy costume among the girl gym leaders - they're all either waaaaay crazy complicated (usually in the hair department) or they show their stomach, which I'm not too crazy about doing. Cynthia is badass, and has a pretty easy outfit to replicate. I'm pretty sure I already have half of the costume in my closet. I just need to invest in a good wig, and I'll probably have to make that duster/coat thing.

That's the only new cosplay for MTAC. I'm bringing back Black Knight C.C. from Code Geass, although this time I'm doing it right and buying a good pair of white thigh-high boots. And like I already said, we're bringing back the Action Bastard! cosplay group. It was too much of a hit to just not do it again.

The only other cosplay I'm looking into is for AnimeExpo in July - yes, we are hitting the big time! Not sure what all we're planning to do, but I think Tony and I will be doing new cosplays from Code Geass. He's planning to do Zero, and I want to replicate the white battle suit that C.C. wears:

If we can pull these off, it will be epic!! And we're certainly gonna try to make them. That's why we're waiting for Expo to do them instead of MTAC - I'm still taking 15 hours of school this semester, working 2 jobs still, and planning a wedding for one of my best friends. I'm the maid of honor, so a lot of responsibility comes with that. My priorities: school, helping with the wedding, cosplay. This way, I can wait until the wedding is over to get started on the complicated stuff.

...... I think this is a long enough update. I'm going to go do some more cosplay research... or watch some anime... something like that. Adios!

Nothing much, but...

... I am using this to procrastinate. XD

Anyways, like I said, nothing much to say here. Just wanted to drop by and say no, I'm not dead. Just in Con Dead-Time. Cons & costumes have definitely taken to the back seat right now - I'm more concentrated on finishing school and getting out of the dorm. Then, it's off to finding a summer job! Hopefully, once I get said job, I'll be makin' the money, and spendin' said money on some cosplays, and then I'll have more to talk about here.

I also may update weight loss stuffs here. I'm back to -42.6 lbs total, which is where I was before MTAC. Cons have never been very conducive to weight loss and diets and exercise (even though at my very first MTAC I lost 6 lbs... probably cuz I hardly ate all weekend), so I'm happy to (finally) get back to where I started. Only about 37.4 more pounds to go til goal! It's crazy to think I'm already halfway there...

And... I think that's all for now. Like I said, I really don't have much to say, except that I'm not dead - just swallowed and boggged down with school. I'll update with weight loss and cosplay as it happens, so we'll just have to wait and see. ^_^

Another con has come and gone...

So I know it has been a while, and MTAC has come and gone. So I have a lot to write about... and since I'm waiting for a tornado warning to be over so I can get back to class, I guess now is as good as any time to write about it.

MTAC was freakin' amazing (minus some personal drama that almost ruined my weekend). The weekend started when Daniel and Susan came into town on Thursday night and hung out with me and Tony at my house for the night. We played Rock BAnd and made giant pretzels, not to mention we finished the rest of the stuff we had to get done for our cosplays. Overall, it was a very fun night, and a great way to start the weekend.

Friday was when the real con began. We were able to check into our room early, which was definitely nice, considering I was not yet fully into C.C. garb by the time I got there. When I was ready to peruse the con as C.C. (with my faithful Lelouch by my side), we browsed the con for quite a few hours. To our surprise (and satisfaction), many people recognized who we were and asked for our pictures. I even got glomped by some random fanboy (though Tony just about wanted to slap him upside the head for that one). It's always a good feeling to be recognized and people to flip out over your cosplay. It was everything Tony and I wanted it to be.

Saturday was slightly busier. Tony and I had a private photoshoot as Lelouch and C.C., which went over very well. I'm very please with how thin I look in the pictures... XD If you wanna take a look, click here! After this shoot, we had a small shoot with other CG cosplayers, which was also a lot of fun. Again, if you want to see them (along with all the other pics of MTAC I took), make with the clicking here.

After the photoshoots was MTAC Idol, which went rather well (I guess). I don't feel like I did as well as I could have, mainly because there were so many technical difficulties that we got started an hour and a half late and I didn't get to sing my 2nd round song (which I was more familiar with). By the time I actually got on stage, my nerves were completely shot. My friends tell me that I did great, and Tony keeps telling me I did fantastic, so I believe them. I still feel like I could have done better, if I hadn't been so nervous and had better breath control (I couldn't breathe at all by the end of the song). But the judges did tell me that I had great stage presence, which made me happy. If you wanna see my performance, I'm sure it's on YouTube (I'm the first person who went on, singing "God Knows"), but since I don't EVER want to see myself perform, I'll have to let you find it for yourself. ^_^ Even though I didn't win, I still want to do it again next year. And I think I already know what song I want to sing. So don't be surprised to see me on that stage again!!

Nothing really happened on Sunday; mainly just an easy-going day. I got some awesome swag in the dealer room, and we watched Daniel make a fool of himself, which I give points to. He made us all laugh so freakin hard, doing his impression of the Yip Yip Aliens from Sesame Street, I still watch the video Tony took and it still makes me laugh. Geez, that is going to be funny for at least another year. Thanks again, Daniel. ^_^

Overall, MTAC was a blast. I can't wait for next year... but I've got at least one (possibly two) more cons before then! Tony is considering taking me to AnimeFest in Dallas, TX over Labor Day Weekend for my anniversary present! Even more, Tony talked to our good friend, James, and James said that he would introduce me to the voice actors at the con, since that is my dream job.

How freakin' cool is that?!

Geez, two cons in September. The very thought makes me giddy. ... But I've got a lot to do before then... must start and finish Hayate and Lollipop... And before that, I have to finished the hell known as school. >_<

Oh well. I suppose I'll get thru it all. I have to!

And now that the tornado warning has passed, I need to go work out with Lauren... I have another 20 lbs to lose before September. ^_^

Adios~!