Sorry for the lack of updates again - I intended to have the Gallery page completely updated and a couple more posts done by now. Unfortunately, between health and other obligations I haven't had the time or energy to put into this thing. It's a shame - I know that I have to get myself out there in order to kick-start the things that need to happen in my life, but my current life stands in the way. How do I remedy this..?

On a less morose note, discussion has been heated over next year's cosplay ideas. For once we are ahead of the game. Our hotel room is already booked, next step is deciding on costumes. The current ideas are:

• A trio group from Record of Lodoss War. I would be Deedlit, Krell would be Slayn and our friend Dregn would be Ghim. 
• Krell and I also want to do Fenris and Merrill from Dragon Age 2 at some point... I would have to start those NOW in order to be done in time, but I definitely don't have the funds. Or the time. Ha!

So we shall see where the next year takes us. The only certain thing is that we will be at Otakon 2013 come hell or high water!

Otakon is over, and I apologize for not making any updates since... ::looks:: July 12! So sorry about that... things got crazy, then the con came and went, and then my health just started degrading faster than before. As such, I've spent a lot of time in doctor's offices or lying around feeling sorry for myself.

Anyway, the costumes DID get done in time!!! It's amazing, I still don't really know how it happened. I was up until 3:00am the morning of the con working on Ellen's headgear, which ended up falling apart about 10 minutes after I put it on Friday. I ended up going to the con without it, then attacked it with hot glue and wire later that night at the hotel. I'm happy to say after that it lasted the remainder of the weekend!!

Note to new cosplayers: always, ALWAYS bring your toolbox! We've been doing this for 3 years now and inevitably I have needed my tools at least once a weekend at every con. Stuff inevitably breaks, and it's awesome to have your supplies at the hotel.

If you want to see them, head over to the Gallery page!

Overall, these costumes were mostly comfortable to wear and a few people actually recognized us. Hooray for Folklore fans!! ♥

Folklore: Ellen & Keats

Description of costumes located below the photos! :)

Whew! Our newest endeavor: Ellen in her Cloak of Midnight Sun and Keats in his default outfit. Both are characters from the AWESOME game Folklore, an early PS3 exclusive. Folklore is a sort of.. action/RPG, murder mystery/brawler... yeah, you get the idea. It's really something I consider to be in a class of its own!

These costumes were meant to be less expensive than Judith and Schwann, and more comfortable to wear. Sadly, I only managed to uphold one aspect of that deal: more comfortable! The cost came in close to the Tales costumes, and took nearly 200 hours to complete. Unfortunately I work slow - I hope that my work is worth it to those who see us! (It's definitely worth it to us. :) )

You may be interested to know that my cloak has just about 45 yards of trim on it, and Krell's coat has real leather with faux embossing. (only a cosplayer would have the chutzpah to do such a thing! XD ) I also handmade my buttons - one of my favorite things about Ellen's costume! And on a real costumery-masochism note, the collar and cuff pieces were all handcolored and triple-sealed by me. It took SO long.

More photos can be found on my deviantART page, or my Cosplay.com page. ^_^

I apologize for a few things:

1. Keats' boots: We ordered these with the intention of surgically removing the buckles and altering them to look more like the "real" thing - we got them and thought they were just too cool to alter. :( On that note, tall brown lace up boots for men are REALLY hard to find!
2. Ellen's hair: I know the bangs are wrong... I love the wig though, and didn't want to cut it up to change it. Plus, leaving the thicker bangs sort of helped to cover my terrible brunette sideburns (gasp!). Blasted tiny-headed wig!
3. Ellen's collar: Looks...messy in all of these photos. I messed it up pretty much every time I turned my head and drug the braid across it, so eventually I stopped fussing with it.

All in all, we love these costumes and are hoping to wear them again next year to at least one con. Thanks to everyone who recognized who we were at Otakon! ♥

So here we are: 7 evenings and 6 full days to complete the costumes. I put the buttons on Keats' vest and closed the sideseams, so that is 100% complete. (Though admittedly I put the wrong buttons on... sigh) My mockup for Ellen's cloak and skirt are done for the most part, so now it's on to the real deal! I still need to figure a couple of things out with the capelet thinger (storm flap? I dunno.), but I intend to wing it on those pieces. Oftentimes those are the things that work out easier for me - things for which I have no pattern or plan. I just eyeball it and it works out one way or another.

I also made a quick mockup for Ellen's buttons last night and I think it came out pretty good considering I didn't spend more than 10 minutes on it. I know people will think I'm crazy for hand-making buttons for this costume, but I feel that the character artist went to the effort to put a specific design on them - and I want to honor their work by following suit.

Otherwise, not much to say on the matter of progress. I did futz with Ellen's wig... I've never done a French braid before, so I had to practice a little. I think it will turn out well enough. :)

Still to be done:

• Doctor Keats' boots once they arrive
• Finish Keats' coat (buttons, epaulets, hem)
• Do mockup for Ellen's top
• Make Ellen's coat
• Make Ellen's skirt
• Make Ellen's top
• Boot covers for Ellen
• Style Ellen's wig
• Super style Keats' wig
• Make buttons for Ellen's costume (10 total)
• Make Ellen's headpiece and hair tie
• Make Ellen's "collar"
• Make Ellen's belt buckle
• Doll up Ellen's gloves

The heat is on... bring it, Otakon!!! D:<

Progress updates have been delayed because I spend every possible minute working on the costumes... sorry for that! I made a lot of progress Friday and the first half of Saturday (or so I thought), but Sunday was a complete bust as far as I'm concerned. Woke up feeling tired, depressed and just plain not in the mood to put in my third long day in a row. And of course, it showed in the work I got done.

Keats' coat is together, for the most part. Shell and lining are done and joined. However, I apparently am an idiot and the lining is a bit longer than the shell, so now has to be ripped out and re-hemmed, then tacked to the shell. It still needs the decorative leather bits, epaulets and buttons. Sigh.

I managed to get a mockup done for Ellen's skirt. Once I had it on and looked again at the OC art, I realized just how bloody short the thing is! D:

Still on the list:

• Doctor Keats' boots once they arrive
• Finish Keats' coat (buttons, epaulets, hem)
• Finish Keats' vest (buttons, close side seam)
• Do mockups for Ellen's coat, skirt and top
• Make Ellen's coat
• Make Ellen's skirt
• Make Ellen's top
• Boot covers for Ellen
• Style Ellen's wig
• Super style Keats' wig
• Make buttons for both costumes (17 total)
• Make Ellen's headpiece and hair tie
• Make Ellen's "collar"
• Make Ellen's belt buckle
• Doll up Ellen's gloves

... 18 working days to go before Otakon - which breaks down to 6 full days and 12 evenings. My back hurts, my wrists are inflamed and I'm already tired of looking at Keats' coat. But I shall prevail! The Cosplay Demons will not win this battle if I can help it...

Ugh. Progress is not going so well. I hit a speed bump with Keats' pockets, as I have never done inset double-welt pockets. And the more I read about putting them in, the more confused I get! I did find a video on YouTube about sewing in the welts, but nobody seems to discuss how to put the pocket in after that is done. I managed to do a mockup that came out passable, but it's definitely not the quality I wanted. But with only 22 days to go, I have to make it work. At this point, the only thing done is Keats' vest - sans the buttons.

Still on the list:

• Find boots/boot base for Keats
• Doctor Keats' boots or do boot covers
• Make Keats' coat
• Finish Keats' vest
• Do mockups for Ellen's coat, skirt and top
• Make Ellen's coat
• Make Ellen's skirt
• Make Ellen's top
• Boot covers for Ellen
• Style Ellen's wig
• Super style Keats' wig
• Make buttons for both costumes (17 total)
• Make Ellen's headpiece and hair tie
• Make Ellen's "collar"
• Make Ellen's belt buckle
• Doll up Ellen's gloves

Yes, crazy me decided to make buttons for these costumes. Ellen's buttons have a very specific design, so I will be casting them from an original I will be making later this week (I hope...). As usual, my timeline and the timeline that life hands me do not correspond. It will truly be a miracle if these get done in time for Otakon, since I have been feeling like hell for the past 3 weeks (and still have to wait another 10 days to see a doctor). Sigh.

Time to start progress posting!  ^^;  (I won't post photos unless it's something complicated, interesting, or an awesome process.)

Today I managed to finish the mockup for Keats' coat and vest. I got frustrated and didn't sew in the coat sleeves on the jacket, but still got a good idea of how it will fit when it's finished. Thankfully, it doesn't look like it will need any alteration. Yaaaaay!!

Tomorrow's goal will be to try and get a good start on the final vest, then it's off to shop for the fabric for Ellen's Cloak of Midnight Sun. Fingers crossed that I find something this time!!

Changes

It's amazing how I had all these grand ideas for a shop and Blog design, etc... and how quickly it all fell apart. I guess I should know better than to try and start things like this while I'm still in college!

So originally this was meant to be more about Etsy, but I'm wondering if it should be more of a dialogue about cosplaying and sculpting. (I'd have a lot more to write about right now if it were, haha!) I went and took on a new project for the summer, and it might be nice to document it somewhere. We'll see! :)

Folklore

Here are reference images for the characters we will be cosplaying for Otakon this year. (hopefully...) They are Keats and Ellen from a highly underappreciated game called Folklore for the PS3 - if you haven't played it, I definitely recommend it!!

...what have I gotten myself into...? D:

Keats CG Art

Keats OC Art

Ellen - Cloak of Midnight Sun

And so it begins...

Well, this Blog was originally set up as a test run for the Book Babe Blog... this was my virtual playground to get the hang of Blogger before officially setting hers up.

It has now been given a facelift in anticipation of launching my Etsy shop! It will likely be a bit of time before everything happens - I am sick at the moment, and classes begin tomorrow! Updates will come as often as my broken body can handle them. :)