I updated my Sinon To-Do List!
Things in red haven't been started, things in purple have been started, and things in green are done. There's some progress happening, though I worked today for hours and I didn't get anywhere.
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So, here's the TO-DO list for Sinon. Things in red haven't been started, things in purple have been started, and things in green are done. They are in no particular order, I just looked at the above picture and started listing things. I think it's mostly in head-to-toe order but, meh, who cares?
I don't know if it's because it's 1 a.m. and I've been deep into bow making today.. oh and possibly suffering from HEATSTROKE from mowing the lawn, but I want to ramble/vent/complain/ask-for-suggestions. I, honestly, think this rant stems from me being too nice? I think I'm too nice. Am I too nice? -_- As a cosplayer, you appreciate it so much when people ask you for your picture or want a picture with you. I know that I live for those moments. BUT. What I don't like is when people ask for a picture of or with you and then hang around for 20 minutes afterwards. Don't get me wrong - I love chit chat and getting to know people and meeting new people and all of that bullcrap.. but like.. if I'm hanging out at a con with my friends or family, I don't really have the patience (and I'm being honest here) to have a 15 minute conversation about all of your cosplans that you may or may not be doing; or discuss all of your favorite animes that you've enjoyed over the last 15 years of your life. God, that sounds so harsh when I write it down. >.< Ugh. I'm not trying to be rude. I'm not trying to sound mean. I think that there needs to be a limit, though, on the time dedicated to talking to strangers at cons.. I guess? HELP! How do you politely end a conversation with someone who JUST. WON'T. LEAVE? SECOND PART OF RANT. People that want to take fifteen pictures with you of various poses - some of which definitely impede upon your personal space. They may not be lewd - hand on butt, etc. - but definitely too close for comfort.
AGAIN, I'M FAIRLY SURE I'M TOO NICE FOR MY OWN GOOD AND I'M A PEOPLE PLEASER AND I WANT PEOPLE TO LIKE ME AND BE HAPPY AND I DON'T WANT TO LET THEM DOWN AND I LOVE YOU AND WANT YOU TO LOVE ME. Q.Q BUT. I don't necessarily want to be nose-to-nose with you in a battle scene, nor do I want your arm wrapped tightly around my shoulders. I don't want to (unless it's a planned photoshoot) spend 20 minutes of my time doing various poses for you/with you. Just.. pick maybe TWO poses tops that you'd want and leave it at that. Like for real. This happens more than I'm willing to admit. I suppose I already know the answer to all of these problems I have, but I just want to vent 'cause like.. it's a blog and that's what blogs are for... ...RIGHT!?!?
of this costume when I made it, and I'm still proud of it. I'm wearing it on Friday to Sci-Fi Valley Con to celebrate my one year con-iversary!! A year ago, I never would have imagined I'd be where I am today in regards to this cosplay universe. Ever since I started cosplaying, I've fallen in love with every aspect of it and sort of jumped head-first into it. In this last year, I have learned so much. I've learned new techniques, I have met new (and amazing) friends, and I have indulged in new opportunities.
I've learned to sew (sorta) and how to make armor, the friends that I have met through conventions and cosplay are, honestly, probably some of the best friends I have ever made and I hope that they will remain to be some of my best friends for a long, long time, and I've had a bunch of opportunities opened up to me via cosplay:
I am.. so grateful and amazed and humbled by everything that has happened over this past year and I am SO SO SO excited for what the future brings.
Originally, I wanted to leave my house around 6 pm on Wednesday. Ha. Didn't happen. I think I ended up leaving somewhere between 10:30 pm and 11 pm because I was having an anxiety attack over the turd of a scythe I had. I ended up just wrapping the thing in silver fabric to cover up all the crap. My first one turned out fine, but the second one.. was just a disaster.
Friday I was excited for Friday because I was planning on debuting my new Kabutops cosplay! I got into the cosplay no problem and off we went to Day 2 at Colossalcon.
On top of this, I almost passed out twice. I think it was a mixture of heat, dehydration, not eating, and my shoes completely ruining my feet. I got a piece of pizza and a diet Coke to get some food in me, but ended up completely snapping off my chest plate in line because I had to sit down (before I fell over). It was awful. I did my one CMV shoot (that was so much fun - I can't wait to see the final result) and then contacted my second photographer to ask if we could move the shoot forward. He was amazing and so accommodating - he shot some of my Kabutops on Friday and some of my Sith on Saturday to make up for missing part of the shoot on Friday. I'm SO EXCITED to see the Kabutops pictures. What he showed me were fantastic. I went back to the hotel, ate, and changed into my sith to meet up with some more friends and hang out for the rest of the night (now that I felt better). We ended up making friends with another Star Wars cosplayer (a Mandalorian, to be exact) and enjoyed hanging around with the crazy drunks that plagued the Kalahari on Friday night. Got back to the hotel around midnight/1 am and crashed hard. Saturday I just wanted to do chill on Saturday. The plan was to wear Kabutops again and then change, but after Friday, the last thing I wanted to do was get into Kabutops again. So I got dressed in my swimsuit/vacation sith and went off to meet up with some friends (new and old) for a day of chillin' and drinkin'.
So - I was staying on the floor of my friends' hotel room until Saturday night because some other friends and I got another hotel room. I went back and packed up my stuff before heading to the new hotel. First thing to go wrong: it was bike week and the parking lot was FILLED with bikers who were drinking and partying and revving their engines and being really loud and obnoxious. Whatever. I was upstairs and with the door closed and the A/C on, you couldn't really hear them too badly. I got a much-needed shower and sat down to play some Warcraft while I waited for other people to show up. No internet. Apparently at this hotel, Apple products don't connect to the internet. Great. I decided to watch T.V. instead. Nope. Didn't work. The lady at the front desk came up to fix it - she was SO nice and fixed the T.V. no problem. I can live without internet if I have T.V., plus it was like 10:30 pm and I was about ready to sleep anyway. Then I get a text from the people I was supposed to be sharing a hotel room with. They're not coming. Everyone bailed. So I'm left alone in this damn hotel room. I was so upset that I cried for a good 30 minutes before just packing up all of my things and driving the 4 hours to my parents' house. It was awful. I'm still exhausted from it. The most expensive shower I've ever taken... So what did I learn from my weekend at Colossalcon?
I feel like I was a bit of a butt during the con because of things that happened. I feel bad because the con was great and a lot of fun, but things were happening out of my control and it was just seriously affecting my attitude.
EVA and Craft Foam |
Here is part two of my EVA and Craft Foam tutorial - FOR BEGINNERS! I'm a beginner myself - I've only been cosplaying for a year and I've only been using EVA foam for approximately 10 months so I am by no means an expert, but these are my tips and tricks on how to craft armor using foam. Again, I’ve color-coded the tools for each step. Each color is associated with the store that I bought the item from. If it does not have a color, then it was an item I had around the house (and something you can probably get anywhere): Red is Harbor Freight Blue is Walmart Green is Joann Fabrics Orange is Michaels There are seven parts to crafting with foam: patterning cutting forming detailing priming painting attaching Priming Tools: plastidip (spray or paint-on), paintbrush (optional - only w/ paint-on) I always recommend heat-sealing your foam before you prime it. All heat-sealing is.. is taking your heat gun and blasting hot air across the surface of your foam. You want to be careful, though, that you don't keep the hot air on your foam for too long or it will either burn the foam or un-form. The heat-sealing does just that: it seals the surface of the foam and makes for a nicer finish on the primer and paint. Once you have heat-sealed your foam, it's time to prime it! I swear by plastidip - which is a spray- or paint-on rubberized primer. It allows the armor to move without cracking, and if it gets wrinkled, you can hit it with the heat gun and iron it out. I've used both the spray-on and the paint-on plastidip. I prefer the spray-on BLACK plastidip because it leaves a super smooth finish. I don't know what it is, but the white NEVER works for me. Like, ever - it sputters and bubbles. The grey is alright, but I definitely prefer the black over any other color. The paint-on is thicker than the spray-on and, when I started making armor, only used the paint-on. I like it, as well, but it's more laborious than the spray and leaves streaks/paint marks if you are not careful. I recommend doing at least two coats (I usually do three-to-four depending on the job), allowing the plastidip to dry in-between. If you are not patient (like me), you can speed up the process with your heat gun - JUST BE CAREFUL! Painting Tools: paint (spray paint or acrylic paint - whatever is appropriate for your costume), paintbrushes (small and large), paint sealant (Pledge Floor Finish), foam brush, water, black acrylic paint, small cup Once your primer is all dried up, you're ready to paint! Now.. depending on your project, your paint needs may change, so this section will be short and sweet. I usually use some sort of spray paint, though I do have an airbrush (that I need to learn to use). I use acrylics, too. With acrylic paints, you have to be careful because they may crack if the armor piece moves unnaturally. I've found that spray paint may do this, as well. There's not a brand of acrylic paint that I swear by. I usually use Krylon spray paint, mostly because it comes in a lot of colors and it's affordable. I recommend doing two-to-three coats of paint, allowing it to dry completely in between. Using black acrylic mixed with water, you will want to weather your armor. That just means doing a wash of watered-down black paint over your armor to give it a worn and, well, weathered look. It adds life and dimension to your armor. You will want to make the edges a bit darker to really make it pop and look three-dimensional. After you have finished painting and let it dry, you want to seal your paint. I know that there are spray-paint-type versions of paint sealer and different types of sealants, but I just use Pledge Floor Finish to seal my armor. Attaching Tools: velcro, elastic, hot glue gun, hot glue sticks, snaps/fasteners/eyelets When attaching your armor, you will need to do your research (Google search and YouTube) to figure out how you want to attach your pieces and what resources you will need. Below is generically how I attach and have attached armor pieces. Just like painting, attaching depends on the type of armor you are making. I generally use elastic and velcro to attach my armor. When you are gluing your elastic to your armor, make sure to SAND the area of your foam that you are gluing. EVA foam has a coating on the inside that makes it hard for glue to stick for long periods of time. Start by covering the area with hot glue and press the elastic upon the glue, then you want to edge the elastic with the glue and bring a line or two of hot glue across the elastic closest to the edge. This will stop the elastic from pulling and loosening. Again, please check Youtube tutorials for this, because it really depends on your needs! | Please make sure when you are working with any sort of tools that you exercise caution and wear any and all protective gear! I always wear latex gloves, a mask, and goggles. PHOTOS IN PROGRESS & WILL BE ADDED SOON |
We're CRUNCHING hard over here. I got all of the lacing put into my pieces - and ripped out an eyelet in the process SO now the lacing for the shin guards are decorative and I've added in three pieces of elastic to keep them on.
Rolling with the punches, baby.
I think I'll get this stuff done on time. I'm leaving Wednesday night to travel to my parents' house before departing Thursday morning from there to head up to Sandusky (because it's like eight hours from my house and four hours from my parents'). So.. I have today (from like 2pm on) and tomorrow (until 6-7pm) to do the rest of this stuff.
The scythe is what I need to work on ASAP.
Rolling with the punches, baby.
I think I'll get this stuff done on time. I'm leaving Wednesday night to travel to my parents' house before departing Thursday morning from there to head up to Sandusky (because it's like eight hours from my house and four hours from my parents'). So.. I have today (from like 2pm on) and tomorrow (until 6-7pm) to do the rest of this stuff.
The scythe is what I need to work on ASAP.
Still on my TO DO list:
add velcro to the hip plates
add loops to belt for hip plates
may need to cut off one of the talons on each shin guard as they may impede me... walking
fix the clasp on the necklace
attach loincloth to belt w/ velcro
woodglue/water wash the scythe
sand the scythe
plastidip the scythe
paint the scythe
shape and paint nails (brown)
add velcro to the hip plates
add loops to belt for hip plates
may need to cut off one of the talons on each shin guard as they may impede me... walking
fix the clasp on the necklace
attach loincloth to belt w/ velcro
woodglue/water wash the scythe
sand the scythe
plastidip the scythe
paint the scythe
shape and paint nails (brown)
SO! With one week left until Colossalcon, I've finally decided to start finishing up and assembling my Kabutops armor. I made gloves (for the first time EVER) and added elastic to the hand pieces. I also added the lacing to the two bracers and the two upper-arm pieces. I attached the headband to the headpiece, as well, but that isn't pictured.
Still on my TO DO list:
add lacing and velcro to the hip plates
add lacing and elastic to the shin guards
may need to cut off one of the talons on each shin guard as they may impede me... walking
add lacing to the breastplate
fix the clasp on the necklace
sew fabric to belt and figure out a way to cover the clasp
attach loincloth to belt - sew or velcro??
woodglue/water wash the scythe
sand the scythe
plastidip the scythe
paint the scythe
shape and paint nails (brown)
add lacing and velcro to the hip plates
add lacing and elastic to the shin guards
may need to cut off one of the talons on each shin guard as they may impede me... walking
add lacing to the breastplate
fix the clasp on the necklace
sew fabric to belt and figure out a way to cover the clasp
attach loincloth to belt - sew or velcro??
woodglue/water wash the scythe
sand the scythe
plastidip the scythe
paint the scythe
shape and paint nails (brown)
holy poop.
>_<
Some progress videos
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Makeup & hair
My version of Kabutops is a gijinka version - meaning that it is a humanized version of an otherwise non-human.. thing. Now, Kabutops is a bipedal creature, so humanizing it (him or her.. whatever; 80% are male and 20% female) wasn't too much of a challenge.
Here are some pictures of the finished result after the first makeup test. Below that are the videos I created showing the process. I liked how this makeup looked doing it for the first time and will probably end up doing this (or something very similar) for Colossalcon.
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So.. I've been planning on going to the Harrisburg Comiccon for awhile now, and it just so happened to fall on a weekend when my mom was coming to visit, so I ended up dragging he along! I'm really happy that she had such a good time and could get a taste of what it's like. I also got to meet up with my friend (whom I've known for 25 years - yeah, we're old), so it was a great girls-day-out. ^_^
SO - dpiddy was there, and if you don't know who that is, look him up on Youtube immediately. I was sort of fan-girling all day to get a picture with him, so I slowly slunk towards him with the intention of getting a picture.. but instead he asked me to be in his video! I about died.. and I got to slap the heck outta him (even though I still feel bad about it)! That was probably the highlight of the day. ^_^
I entered the cosplay contest - mostly because my friend wanted to enter. I pulled out the night before because I really didn't think my Sora cosplay (which is literally hot glued together) stood a chance, but when I got there, I was shoehorned into signing up (thanks, Matt).
Prejudging was first, so I had a chance to stand in line for an hour before talking to three judges for three minutes about my cosplay - of which, the keyblade (one of the most essential parts) was bought. Aha. I was a wreck, but we made it through!
During the actual showcase, we were invited up onto the stage to introduce ourselves, our cosplay, and show off a bit. That was fun and everyone just looked so great! Once everyone did this, they announced the winners. I was NOT expecting to even place (1st, 2nd, OR 3rd), but when they got to the first place, Maiacat Cosplay was announced as the winner! I kind of sat there in disbelief for a minute - mouth agape and eyes wrought with confusion - before I made my way to the stage to accept my prize, which was a bag of goodies and a trophy! I was so excited, and (it sounds corny) but it made it even better that my mom was there! ^_^
Prejudging was first, so I had a chance to stand in line for an hour before talking to three judges for three minutes about my cosplay - of which, the keyblade (one of the most essential parts) was bought. Aha. I was a wreck, but we made it through!
During the actual showcase, we were invited up onto the stage to introduce ourselves, our cosplay, and show off a bit. That was fun and everyone just looked so great! Once everyone did this, they announced the winners. I was NOT expecting to even place (1st, 2nd, OR 3rd), but when they got to the first place, Maiacat Cosplay was announced as the winner! I kind of sat there in disbelief for a minute - mouth agape and eyes wrought with confusion - before I made my way to the stage to accept my prize, which was a bag of goodies and a trophy! I was so excited, and (it sounds corny) but it made it even better that my mom was there! ^_^
dpiddy's video | my con vlog |
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Maiacat Cosplay
Amateur cosplayer new on the cosplay and con scene - just trying to get her name out there!
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