Silent Hill Mandarin Cosplay

So this is half  year late, but I just love this photo I took at A-kon 24 in 2013. She won a well-deserved award in the cosplay competition. Hopefully I will get more A-kon photo posts here. I used to have a photo gallery many ages ago. Not sure where it's floating on the great wild world of the interwebs, LOL. 

Parenting done right! Kiddo Mega Man Cosplay.

My kiddo made me proud when he asked to be Mega Man for his cosplay debut at his first comic con last year. Needless to say, we had to make something that he would be proud of as well. He got lots of fan love and also won Honorable Mention in the children's costume contest. And he loved every moment of it!

HELMET: This was by far the easiest part. It was also the reason and the base of the entire costume. I bought it for him this past Summer at A-kon 24. Here it is on Amazon. I just took that bad boy to the fabric store and found some matches.

JUMPSUIT: I used one of his long sleeve t-shirts, some pajama pants, and a pair of his shorts to to trace patterns and sewed those myself. For the shorts, I just used a slim piece of elastic I had laying around for the waistband. The best thing about the shirt: it doubled as a great long sleeve top for his Adventure Time Fin costume for Halloween.

That's him with the same shirt attacking his step-daddy :P

BOOTS: This was our first attempt using EVA foam. It consisted of 2 pieces (which were not attached, had so much trouble with it!), then I hot glued the fabric over them. The bottoms were left open, so the boots are simply covers that we slipped over his tennis shoes. I had attached an extra wide strap of elastic across the bottoms to keep them in place. It was just a lot of trial and error. Not sure if EVA foam was the best option for them, but they turned out great anyway.

The only complaint the kiddo had about the entire costume was that the boots were too difficult to walk in. He tripped in them once and that was the main reason he didn't want to wear this for Halloween.

MEGA BLASTER: We made the barrel out of EVA foam as well, then my husband added some LED light components he found at Radio Shack because, well come on, it HAS to be able to light up! It also had a handle inside of it made from a pen casing and there was a button attached so the kiddo could trigger the light himself.

The red fixture on the end was used from a few plastic things found in our dish cabinet. One of them was a lid from a Rubbermaid Twist & Seal container (pictured below) that I used for the kiddo's lunchbox. They were bought at Target. It was used as the base on the end to cover and protect the LEDs. The other red piece was some kind of red plastic circle we had in our lid drawer :S  Not sure what it went to but we found a purpose!

My husband left it at that but it needed a gauge or it was just unfinished to me! So I simply cut out a piece of yellow craft foam and used a ruler and a sharpie to draw straight lines on it, then simply hot glued it on.

And he was very proud of it! 

Assassination City Roller Derby Demo at A-kon 23 - Dallas, TX.

A-kon 23 was just as crazy as ever! So many people, it's insane. Glad it's moving to a larger hotel and convention center next year (Hilton Anatole, hope you can handle the chaos that will be A-KON 24).

My favorite event of this year's con was the Roller Derby Demo that was held Friday night. Several bad ass ladies from Assassination City Roller Derby came out to the Sheraton and demonstrated some derby basics and maneuvers. And we were privy to learn a little bit about each skater :) They really are an awesome group of women!

It was good fun and got to see some derby at A-kon. I didn't get the best of snapshots (FAILURE!), but you can view more at Flickr.

A-kon 23 Excitement!

Project A-kon, my Sanctuary of Acceptance.

A-kon 23 is this weekend. HUZZAH! The husband and I are super stoked because we didn't have to opportunity to go last year. It's been 2 years since I've had my ultimate raging nerd fest and I am in need of being with thousands others of my own kind (but for the love of god, use soap and deodorant DAILY!). Plus we have a good group going this year and that always makes the best cons. The husband hasn't had the opportunity to go with a group like this, or with my brother (finally going back after a long dry spell!), so it's a new excitement for him.

This year's theme is Yokai. So many costumes I could have worked on, but it's been a crazy, busy year. Like I always say, "There is always next year!" But it still never happens. I started drafting a Harrowed Mage costume from Dragon Age Origins, even started buying materials. Sadly it's not even put together. So going back to what I always say...

At least I still have my Final Fantasy XI Alchemist Apron. It's my "go-to" for A-kon costumes. Speaking of other A-kon projects, I want to get my photo galleries from past cons up and running again.

The glorious A-kon Circle of Mages have an extreme amount of awesome events lined up, like great panels (of course), Cosplay Chess (want to see), Anime Hell (my eyes still burn from 3 years ago), Steampunk stuffs, dances, Neko Maid Cafe, a Spirit Walk, Scavenger Hunt (which I never have done but always want to!). My husband is lucky, he's been to three different anime conventions: A-kon in Dallas; Animethon in Edmonton, AB; and Otakuthon in Montreal, QC. He says that A-kon is the BEST anime convention because it has so much to offer.

But best of all A-kon 23 will host an Assassination City Roller Derby Demo. O_O That alone is freaking awesome! Because I am thinking of joining my local Roller Derby Team. That's right, I said it. I'm dying to get out there and get my shove on. More to come on that story later. :P Been "training" a bit. Already my body is hurting ~ YAY!

.hack//SIGN "Macha" Cosplay DIY Hat with Kitty Ears

I went ahead and posted a pic and brief summary of the kitty cat ears on cutoutandkeep.net (awesome site by the way) since that's where I found the easy tutorial on how to make them. The original version and tutorial is by "Cat Morley" on the same website. Hers are definately better, but I still got compliments on it.

The hat I made myself using brown felt and the McCalls costume pattern 3789 (Misses'/Men's/Teens/Children's/Boy's and Girl's Witches /Wizards Costumes).

It was my first time making a hat and it was fairly easy except for one step: matching the two pieces together! I piddled with it for days and got so frustrated, but I eventually threw my hands in the air and said, "Screw it!" and sewed it together. It ended up looking good, lol.

I cosplayed Macha at A-kon 21 in Dallas this past June. I still haven't posted pics of the kon yet and I'm sorry! Wedding planning and my getting my kiddo prepared to start school has made me into a busy Queen Bee. But A-kon was fun, as always, and I got to cosplay as "Macha" from .hack//SIGN and "Zoey" from Left for Dead (she was way fun!).

The A-kon 20 Experience: 20th Anniversary of one of the Longest Running Anime Conventions in the U.S.

A-kon 20 has come and gone, and it sure didn't take long for them to update the website for A-kon 21 (practically the next day.)

I wasn't going to blog about it, but it just doesn't feel right to not make note of something so awesome. Although this years con was kind of uneventful (aside from it's 20th birthday!!!) and all my usual roomies had to drop out due to lack of funds, but it was still a ton of fun!

I wouldn't have been able to go myself if my absolutely WONDERFUL boyfriend hadn't been there to save the day! It was his first year to be able to go, and he heard all the crazy/wonderful/scary stories from me and friends... so he said there was no way he was going out miss out this year. His first true A-kon experience was the pre-reg line.... and he said that was the funnest and best line he had ever been in. Hey.. it's A-kon... crazy stuff happens EVERYWHERE! Thankfully it wasn't the pre-reg hell like we had last year (over 4 hours in line and it was NOT fun!) This time we got there early on Thursday and only had to wait an hour and half... and listen to some cranky teenage she-demon. But she got told off and it was so glorious.

So in a nutshell, here's our A-kon 20 experience:

• I got The Boyfriend addicted to Ramune. SCORE! Next year if my brother goes, I'm sure our hotel room will promise mountains of used Ramune bottles. He also got to sample several Pocky products.
• He won a free Sonic T-shirt at a booth. First try too. Amy won last year. Do I ever win one? No. I win Pocky and only Pocky. Unlucky I am. I shouldn't complain. I used to win free DVDs from the FUNimation Booth.
• Sheraton totally remodeled a ton of stuff. So I'm walking along thinking I know way... BOOM! "What the heck!? There's a wall here!?" Kind of annoying, but I adjusted. Some of it works better than it was before, but I (as well as others apparently) miss some of the old stuff too...like cowboy statue *sobs* He will be missed.
• The rooms are SUPER AWESOME now. Flat screen HDTVs, sweeeeet bathrooms, and better comforters than those crappy things Adams Mark made us sleep under. Stayed in the North tower this year too..that was a first. It was nice elevator-wait-time wise, but the view was of the outside Central Tower wall. I missed the window view!!
• We got the chance to experience Anime Hell this round. It was a love/hate thing. Love most of it, but there is a heavy price for such amusement (i.e., the reindeer castration video... my retinas were pierced and the image is still in my mind...). I will do this again next year.



Canadian Ice Skating in a Kimono. 

• The Boyfriend bought a Yukata while we were there and wore it when he went ice skating at the Plaza (pictured below). At some point someone called him "Jesus on Ice" or something of the like. Another new A-kon Ice Skating category to add along with "Anime on Ice" and "Nerds on Ice."
• I bought a pink wig. It's really cute. Will be put to good use for many A-kons to come.
• Finally got a chance to sit down and watch the Sleeping Samurai Demos and the Kobushi Taiko Drummers. Way awesome and entertaining. Cept when you really have to pee and those drums are making the floor vibrate....
• Attended my first Masquerade Ball ever (I'll post pics later). Raymond wore his awesome white suit with a top hat. He got more compliments than I.
• Freshly exposed to the world of Steampunk costuming and gadgetry. WAY NEAT!
• Was rudely awakened twice in the wee early hours of Sunday morning from an intercom announcement and a fire alarm. Probably some drunken 13-year-old thinking he's gonna be a riot by pissing everyone off by pulling the alarm.

That's all I can remember for now and I'll try to post more pics later. Hopefully all my A-kon buddies will be there next year! And the cosplay this year was really cool; really inspired me to get busy with my coveted Macha costume! We'll just have to see!

Public Service Announcement: The Side Effects of Watching Anime.

I was highly amused by this t-shirt on a girl in the Plaza during A-kon 20, so I sneakily snapped a pic with my cell phone. She was in front of me in the McDonald's line (don't judge, I was craving some serious salt).

If you can't read it, this is what it says:

WARNING!
Watching anime may cause...

• irrational fear of tentacles
• loss of innocence
• fond memories you can't share with family
• shouting of random things
• love of fanservices
• painful withdrawal with discontinued use
• unnatural obsession with checkers
• ANIMEYHEM!

So true so true...

Final Fantasy XI Alchemist & Clothcraft Cosplay at A-kon 20.

Alicia and I at A-kon 20 in our Final Fantasy XI Crafting Aprons. Her Clothcraft apron made it's premier this year, while my Alchemist Apron made a second appearance (see how it was made here.)

Next year, I am really wanting to make the Macha from .hack//SIGN. I've always wanted to cosplay that one.  I think I'm going to start that soon, while I'm motivated (~_^;)

Edmonton, AB - Day 3: West Edmonton Mall

I think it's neat that it's almost 10 o'clock in the evening and the sun still hasn't set yet! It will go down soon tho, in about 30 minutes or so.

Today Ray took me to the Casino a short distance from his home and we had breakfast. It was actually my first time in a casino... aside from when I went into Harrah's in Shreveport, but I wasn't old enough to enter and stood outside by the million dollar wall while I waited for some friends. After we ate, he showed me around the place (very pretty wall water features!) and I got to play some slots! Didn't win anything tho. Poo.

Afterwards, we were on a journey to the University of Alberta (again) to find that darn S.U.B. and locate that bookcrossing zone. I wouldn't be so hard up for it if they hadn't mentioned they had manga there. We drove around a bit, but we finally found it. But lo, all the manga was gone. *cry*  But I did manage to grab one book to take back home with me, and I managed to drop 2 off at the zone 

After being stuck in a traffic jam for over 20 minutes, we made our way to West Edmonton Mall, which is the largest mall in the world. We spent a good 5 to 5.5 hours there. Finally got to try Tim Horton's coffee while I was there. What's a coffee lovers visit to Canada worth without trying Tim Horton's!? And lucky me, today they were giving away free small iced coffees  :D So I got one of those and an English Tofee Cappuccino. OMG they were so good! Ray got an Iced Cappa, but he didn't like it much, so I had his too! I was sugared up and caffinated! But I needed it for as much walking as we did. It's official, I'm hooked on Tim Horton's. I'm getting  more tomorrow.

I took lots of pics at West Edmonton Mall. Most are on my Facebook now, but I'll post them here too. But it's late and I'm going to watch Balls of Fury with Ray :P

Gigantic Picnic Basket!

No caption needed.

Sunken Ship

Edmonton, AB - Day 1: Greetings and Such

May 19th, 2009

Well, aside from the unfriendly customs people, my first day in Canada was really fun. The boyfriend took me to meet his mom and his brother, then we walked a few blocks to Boston Pizza. We had to run across an intersection and I was really tired. I felt like my spleen fell out at the curb and I had to remind him that if you die in Canada, you die in real life!

We sat in the bar section so it would be a lil' quieter, and when the waitress asked us what we wanted to drink, she look at me all weird like and said, "Um, can I see your I.D." I so got carded. And the BF didn't! What's up with that!? And he's younger than me...

Anywho, I really liked it. There were about 6 or 7 flatscreens in the place and the best part is... not a SINGLE ONE played football or basketball! It was Hockey on all of em! I loved it! And believe me when I say that Canadians really DO love their hockey. Lots of emotions and reactions whenever a player scored a goal. Last night it was the Detroit Red Wings and the Chicago Black Hawks. The Red Wings won btw :P

I was sooo hungry that everything looked good, but I went with a Szechwan personal pizza because it looked tasty and interesting. It was delicious :D

The he took me to a cool shop called Warp 1 Comics, and it. was. AWESOME. Tons of anime, comics, action figures, manga, tons of tabletop gaming stuff, t-shirts, and STUFF. It was like being in a mini-A-kon dealer's room. But the one thing I kept going back to was The Legend of Dragoon action figures. They had Rose, Lavitz, and Dart. At the time I hadn't cashed in for Canadian munnies. That wasn't my main convern tho, my major problem was trying to decide between Lavitz or Rose! Rose is awesome, but if it would be unacceptable if I passed on Lavitz. So the BF helped me get Lavitz, and now that I have slept and thought about it...I'm going back for Rose!!

The store was way cool, and they had so much stuff thatI want to take a second look. Cthulu was hanging from the ceiling, as pictured, and the first person I thought about was my brother of course. That would be a nice throw pillow for my brother! HA! 

The BF bought the first volume to Claymore and we watched 5 or so episodes of that then played some Wii bowling. I did pretty gewd for a beginner! :D  But I was pooped by the time I went to bed, and I had no problem going to sleep :)

Yesterday's flights.

Yesterday was really exciting! For the first time in YEARS, I am on vacation!! Waiting it out too was horrible! I felt like a 6 year old waiting for Christmas to slowly come.

I was scared to fly again, because it's been over 12 years since I've been on an airplane. But I got extremely excited once that plane started speeding up for take off. And i got to do that for 3 flights yesterday! All my flights departed on time and arrived early. I had about an hour and a half layover in DFW, and about 40 minutes at the Denver International Airport (which I'm not too fond of that airport btw, it had a funny smell). The seating was extremely cramped in the first two flights, but the small jet that took me from Denver to Edmonton was really nice and roomy.

It was a good day for travel too. The skies were clear or partly cloudy until we neared the Edmonton area. I got to see the Rockies from above :) And I saw some really big canyons and such, but the clouds started to cover most of the view at that point.

Descending into Edmonton was a good experience. I could tell that most of my co-passengers were Canadian because at they would look out the window and see patches of snow on the rooftops or ground (it was about 1C, or about 33F with some snow flurries when we landed) and they would go "EWE snow!" and make nasty faces and sigh heavily. Me on the other hand, I was as giddy as an overly excited child and thinking "YAY!! Snow, cold weather, NO heat/humidity and Ray is down there waiting for me!" And there was a poor 2-year-old on the plane that DID not like that seatbelt and all I could do was smile and feel sorry for the lil guy...and was ready to yell at anyone annoyed by it and say "Leave that poor baby alone, he's just scared!" But even with all that going on, my heart was thumping with excitement when the plane landed; I was FINALLY on foreign soil!

Going through customs was very uncomfortable. It wasn't comfortable at all having security go thru my underwear and personals at the first airport, but even MORE uncomfortable to be interrogated by 3 different parties, have them search through ALL my stuff, and ask me all kinds of personal questions. I understand why they do it, but wow, it was the most unpleasant experience (aside from a root canal!) I'm not looking forward to having to go thru it again when I go home.

But going thru that mess was totally worth it! When I was finally released (without going through a full body cavity search or detained as a weirdo), I walked out to see the sweetest, bestest boyfriend waiting for me with white roses and peanut butter yum yums!

Final Fantasy XI Alchemist Apron to reappear at A-kon 20.

So the lolita costume project got dumped about a month back, but I did manage to work on a few things that have been irking me about that Final Fantasy XI Alchemist Apron. I tried the apron on last week and it was just horrible, the neck strap was just too short, the slits were upsetting me, and parts of it became misshapen after I HAND-WASHED it after A-kon last year. Grrr, stupid bias tape! I'm slowly starting to hate the stuff. But anyway, I'm still a few pounds heavier than A-kon last year, and I remember how horrible the pictures were. And after trying it on, I said no way! Aprons are very unflattering to begin with, especially for a girl with big bewbs.

However, the other day I threw on my Alchemist t-shirt for the heck of wearing it and wore it all day, even to pay my insurance and go grocery shopping. Yup, I'm that kind of nerd. And I love it! And it kinda got me motivated to fix the apron. I don't want to be at A-kon without a costume, now do I?! So I had to make new neck straps and fixed the belt loops (I have become a better seamstress over the past year!).

Now I just need to find a way to put my K-ray's name on the lilac corsage... So it can match the one he made me in game :P

Here's a link for more Alchemist Apron pics and details about how I made it--> http://www.cosplay.com/costume/154583/

(Dang Ray, those logos look good!)

A-kon Anime Convention Commercial

This was from a few years back. I still think it's cute *^_^*

Written, directed, and produced by Anthony Brownrigg.

At this point I'm really excited , it's only 2 weeks away. So much fun, and not just all anime either. Yay for gaming and watching people do stupid stuff! \^.^/

I'm going to Canada!!

I'm going to Edmonton, AB! And I'm very excited! That's where the boyfriend is from and I'm going to meet him there. I never get to take vacations so this is very exciting. And it's like I'll have my own personal tour guide too, teehee. I'll leave at the end of May and stay for a week. Then we are both coming back together and then, it's off to Dallas for A-kon 20! Yippee! Fun times ahead :D

I've already applied for my passport (Eeek!) and I should be getting that in the mail within 2 weeks. I've always wanted a passport since I was a kid!

This is a BIG step for me in may ways. Most of all, it's my first trip to another country! I love to travel and always dreamed of visiting other countries. I never thought I would ever get the chance to and for some reason I had it my head that I never would (well I can think of a few reasons why I thought that, but I'll keep this blog nice lol). And the best part is, I made the decision by myself and for myself :)

Loli Bloomers

I plan on wearing a Lolita outfit to A-kon 20 this summer, and so far all I have managed to put together are the bloomers. Here's a picture of them!

I used Simplicity's pattern 2777 and a black poly/cotton blend fabric.

Considering that I am still a novice seamstress, these were pretty easy! They gave me a few problems when it came to the leg bands. They were so wide that it looked like I was wearing boy boxers with ruffles. 

After calling my Mom and fellow cosplay buddy, I was still confuzzled on how to fix them without taking it all apart. The legs were made up of 3 sections: the ruffle, the leg band, and then bloomers themselves. I noticed that some of my seam allowances from the bloomers and the ruffles were sewn together, and it looked like it could make a perfect casing for elastic. So I grabbed a huge safety pin, ripped open only a few seams, and started threading some elastic through. Sure enough, it had made it's own casing! There were a few parts that I had to hand stitch to complete the casing, but it was WAY better than ripping it all apart. When that was finished, I re-adjusted the mock-bows and they turned out perfect! 

Also, instead of using a drawstring waist, I added elastic to that as well. I figure since it's an undergarment that's going to sit under a petticoat AND a dress, I wasn't going to want to fool around with keeping a drawstring tied. Then I added another mock-bow at the waistline and then viola! I have my first pair of Lolita Bloomers! 

Now that I've made my first pair, I am thinking of making one or two more to sell on Etsy. Maybe a white pair and a black pair.

I always learn something new with every thing I sew. The bloomers taught me how to gather for the cutie ruffles. It's so easy and it was so much fun :)