Ikasucon 2013

            Ikasucon 2013 has passed and I've been able to showcase my Beelzemon cosplay, winning a judge's award at the Ikasucon Masquerade. There were quite a few mishaps at Ikasucon right before the pre-judging that caused me to break into tears. Two of the fingertips to the gauntlets popped off then a shoulder piece came off as well – on top of that I was sweating to beat hell from having to book it down there from our hotel room only to find the judging was running a little behind. MY SWEAT WAS IN VAIN! Some very kind cosplayers let Taka and me go ahead of them so I could get out of my costume more quickly, but when we got in there I began to cry even harder and told the judges about how poopy I felt about everything. They were so nice and let me leave to get a new judging time and come back later when everything was put back together and I was calm. After about an hour of cooling off and fixing myself and my costume up, we scurried back and I felt extremely better about it all – it felt even better to have won something in the end through all my frustrations and tears! 

                 

 the beginnings of the helmet - looks like a basket lol

 just derping around with the tape while working on the helmet UoU

            

          

The Friday and Sunday of Ikasucon, I was Ion Fortuna from Trinity Blood – the Iblis Desert outfit. I didn't use a wig, though I will if I ever reprise it. I was originally not going to make Ion's outfit at all until I found out there was a Seth Knightlord cosplayer going who was told that I would be Ion. I didn't want to disappoint her and I'm so thankful I didn't because she looked beautiful and we are now friends because of it.

I'm extremely proud of this costume as it's my first Trinity Blood costume – I've been wanting to create different outfits from this series for a long time and, despite wanting to tweak this outfit and add/fix some small details, I can say I'm thoroughly pleased with myself! I've received wonderful compliments as well which just inspires me to continue to work harder and learn even more.

    

    

Cosplayer Nation was there and my friends and I were stopped by them for photos a few times and Emily, my friend cosplaying Seth, was even featured in a video! I happened to be there by chance when she was and had some video time with her haha. Taka and I went to one of the Cosplayer Nation panels right before the masquerade – we had wanted to give an interview since it had been offered to the panel goers, but we ran out of time (~UoU)~

On the subject of panels, Taka and I hosted a jrock panel the Friday night with what I feel was great success! A bit of mayhem happened – the presentation malfunctioned a bit, her laptop died and we forgot her charger (a friend ran up to the room to retrieve it), and we were set right next to a karaoke panel where they were, for lack of anything nice to say, loud. Through all this, the panel goers stayed with us, seemed to have fun and a few even befriended us! We learned that we should definitely have an 18+ panel simply because language is a hard thing to control – most people who go to a convention, no matter how young, use “bad words” but it's still something you have to watch when you're at a panel that isn't 18 and over. All in all, the panel inspired me to come up with more ideas for different panels and that's something I'm surprising myself with as it's not something I ever saw myself getting into.

There's so much more that went on, so many people that I've met and had a great time with. I'm more than excited for next year's Ikasucon even though it's so far away! At least there are upcoming events to keep my preoccupied lol

See Ya Later Space Cowboy
Hachi

-clears throat- Oops

      Ahhh I never fully finished my vest project (I need to finish sewing the lining to the vest around the armholes and just haven't gotten around to it for whatever reason lol) and despite it not being an expansive amount of time, Ohayocon has already come and gone and I haven't even shown you guys photos!
    Ohayocon 2013 was January 18th through 20th; this is my second attendance, my first being 2010 for Saturday only, and this was Taka's first Ohayocon experience! For class and badge pickup that Friday, I dressed as Isabella Yamamoto from Paradise Kiss (Live Action) by raiding my closet and wearing one of my newer wigs while Taka did a thrown together Ruki of the GazettE look - we wanted to be comfortable but still feel personally cool lol. Saturday and Sunday were the days we wore our planned costumes, Flandre Scarlet and Patchouli Knowledge from Touhou 6: Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil. We would have had a Remilia Scarlet, but our friend who had begun to commission us for the costume (and even purchased the contacts and wig) couldn't afford the costume nor the badge price so the poor dear couldn't even attend. I think I would have enjoyed being Remilia had our friend not planned to, but I'm still happy that I was Patchouli.

    

  Despite enjoying the cosplay, I had some issues with it that had me panicking last minute and/or have me bothered even now. First issue I have is the stripes - the underlayer of the dress I did, I had sewn the stripes and skirt pieces together but found it to be too tedious so I tried fabric spray paint. Needless to say, it bled and caused me a lot of stress which led to taking the light pink fabric and dying it to a purple that was darker than the overcoat. I nearly cried because of how awful I thought it looked, but when I had it on the dress form and took a photo, the stripes didn't look nearly as bad (I recently acquired my dress form and am hugely thankful for it, especially after working with Patchouli's dress). The second issue is the sleep bonnet which merely bothers me because I feel it's too small (while Taka feels hers is too big lol). I've been thinking of ways I can make it larger with the fabric I have left and I have an idea in the works, but we'll just have to wait and see - the friend who attended the convention with us took these photos and wants to get better ones when spring comes around.

      Patchouli took 14.5 yards of lace, 11 yards of fabric for the bonnet, overcoat, capelet, and boots, 7 yards of fabric for the dress and a foot or so of ribbon (along with random bits of elastic and felt lol). Taka thrifted the blouse and already had the white skirt/petticoat beneath the red skirt from a previous project. I believe she purchased 6 yards of red, 3 yards of white and a yard of yellow? (I used to know, but now forget lol). The wings are set on a backpack harness and made of wire, Christmas lights [oh yes they do light up!], and glossed/painted tissue paper while the gems are made from plastic folders and acrylic paint. Her father helped her with the wings and I think they did an amazing job - so many people stopped her, even those who don't know the series.

      Some singles in which my face is covered because my wig and face were being goofy lol

     In more recent events, I finally went ahead and bleached my hair - I had decided on doing my hair and makeup but it took me a week or two to actually get around to it. The photo pictured was taken Thursday February 7th

FIT 110 and a mix of halloween white cream makeup were used for the foundation
Maybelline cream liner, black shadow and black pencil liner were used on my lips and eyes
a Maybelline palette was used for contouring my nose and brows

teasing brush and nylon brush with a flat iron to flip out some layers - my hair had slightly fallen for this photo but it was the best shot of the makeup

I'll try to get back into the swing of things and work on more projects <3
Thanks for reading,
Hachi

Videos, Tutorials and Cosplay

     Yeah about those videos.... :/

     I have videos recorded regarding FOAF's upcoming plans and a tutorial/watch me do this makeup video for my own personal YouTube. I would have them posted already, but my phone, being the only source of high speed internet, says the files are too big and cannot be posted without wifi. I don't have wifi...thus my dilemma.
     For this blog, I'll probably do step by step in photos with pictures of my products which honestly will probably work out better for those interested than the video of me doing it. It took me about 6 and a half minutes and there wasn't much in the way of actually tutoring any of you. I sped it up to about 3 and a half minutes, gave it a little music track - I was pretty proud of it lol
   Anywayyyy ~ for the step by step photos, I'll be sure to take my time. I couldn't tell you why I rushed through it - I can speed it up so the video is shorter etc etc; I suppose it's just my own habit as I'm usually speeding to get ready as to not keep anyone waiting. The video I recorded may still be posted on my personal YouTube, but a nicer, more "professional"(lolwut) video will probably be done at a later date as well as more of my tutorial ideas being posted here photo by photo.

     As for FOAF (Freaks Of A Feather), as much as we want people to help make it a bigger group, it really has been just me and Taka (I guess that works out for Trinity Moon Commissions - our little duo work set up). We have had a decent amount of friends becoming interested in commissioning us and joining in on current and future plans which is great! Now if only they would give us a definite yes or no so we don't get too excited and too ahead of ourselves!
     Ohayocon 2013 is closing in and within the coming weeks, I will be purchasing fabric to begin work on Patchouli Knowledge from Touhou (along with Taka's fabric as she's a bit short right now; she'll be paying me back later). One of our friends has commissioned Remilia Scarlet and Taka will be taking that up while I talk to one of her co-eds about a Jet Black (Cowboy Bebop) cosplay for Whittcon in March. QUITE A WAYS I KNOW! But best to plan much too soon than much too late, right?

     After Touhou - Embodiment of the Scarlet Devil, we want to work on costumes FOR Whittcon - Taka's probably going to do a Sailor Gijinka group with the "Remilia" as Sailor Zapdos (I believe?) and another friend as Sailor Moltres while she's Articuno. I wasn't quite sure I could swing that many costumes in a year as we hope to attend Colossalcon for the first time and are definitely attending Ikasucon 2013, I decided that I would work on the costumes we intended to wear for Colossalcon from the series:

     (~*^*)~ digimon!! As of late, Taka has been extremely excited to begin work on Sakuyamon from the Digimon Series. I was stumped for a while before deciding on Wizardmon (just this past weekend actually). The character has been portrayed with varying shades of hair colour so I was thinking of purchasing a burnt orange wig to be later used for Fujimoto from Ponyo. If I work on Wizardmon for March AND June, I'll be saving myself personal work AND money as I'll be eliminating one costume - an idea that has been increasingly appealing to Taka aside from the fact she's unsure she'll have the money to work on Sakuyamon around Whittcon time.

 

      I think the most difficult part for Wizardmon will be getting the small details like that of the inside of the coat and the zippers etc etc along with getting the hat to stand just so and have the cape cover my face in a certain way. I'm most worried about the designs on the lining, but that's to be thought upon on a later date ~
     I hope to be better with progress photos and fabric shots with Patchouli and maybe even Jet since I'm excited to work on him and will be asking around for help with the boots and arm, but until I get the fabric, I won't really be sure! Until then, I'll just keep telling myself to photograph progress so I can continue writing and hopefully review some wigs, fabric and maybe even contacts soon *^*

Spyro the Dragon: Cynder

     I was a humanoid adaption of Cynder the dragon from the Spyro the Dragon video games for Halloween while my friend was a humanoid adaption of Spyro. This was the first time either of us had done wings - she had her father's help while I did them myself and had his help later on. Her dad heated the PVC and bent the wings into shape while I cut the PVC into pieces and connected them with elbows. My downfall was not having the glue - while they stayed together at home, fast movement and the wind conditions on "release day" proved that they weren't sturdy enough without it. Before beggars night in my friend's town, her dad screwed the pieces to the elbows to give it a little more sturdiness

.

                              (sorry for the image quality; most of these photos were taken from my phone)




     The horns gave me issues as well - the first set was made of Softee Dough and the next with Crayola Model Magic. They were glued to a headband at the base; the larger horns had a floral foam base while the smaller horns were baseless. They lasted through the evening on both accounts, I just know for next time to use model magic and definitely have a sturdy/sturdier base for all horns. My friend used Crayola air dry clay with a foam and wood base and screws were drilled through the headband and wood to keep them in place.
     The flesh of the wings and the tail were made of black felt and the lining of the wings was red costume satin - my friend had wire for the fingers while I went wireless just for ease of sewing and lack of supplies. I used a shirt I already had but made the coat and skirt - the base of the skirt was black broadcloth as was the outer part of the coat. The lining of the coat was more red costume satin and the mesh pieces of the skirt were black and red netting.

     Thank you to the photographers at the Ikasucon 2012 Rave - a few others took our picture, but these were the only two posted. This was the first time I had done the makeup for Cynder (and you can tell the claws on the wings weren't sturdy yet either; my friend's dad added wires to them for me later so they actually stood up). On beggars night, I tried something new and was much happier with it, but I wasn't able to get any shots that night either. I also had a black tank top for beggars night which made me feel much more comfortable along with red fishnet tights after being unable to find them for the rave.
     The wig I wore to the rave and for beggars night was a wig I received from a friend - I haven't a clue where she got it or for how much, but it came in handy to me despite how shiny it looks in some photos.

     Overall, I'm very pleased with the results - this was our first time doing something like this and it turned out rather well for a first attempt. My friend wants to remake most of her outfit - it turned out nicely, but some mishaps took place and rips kept appearing at the seams (costume satin is cheap and it really shows but on a tight budget it suffices).

Plato's Closet

     I went to Plato's Closet in Huber Heights with a friend (second time going; her very first visit) - we spent a decent chunk of time in there and came out with a pretty good haul. I have new shoes (flats! I desperately needed fashionable shoes that weren't heeled) and a few tops (spent about $40) while she faired amazingly and basically gave herself a new wardrobe ~ good thing she had a nice paycheck ~
     I'll probably post pictures AFTER this thursday as we're planning to go back and bring her mom with us this time. I'm getting some of the nice/brand name clothes and shoes that just hang in my closet in hopes to make a little money - I'm really hoping they take some of them and I can make my $40 back and then some lol

     In the mean time, I started work on my halloween costume. I'm doing a humanoid Cynder of Spyro! I have a Spyro and we want to make my niece Sparx (she's only two and a half; we'll just dress her in all yellow with some wings and put her hair up in little pigtails atop her head lol). I started cutting the pattern for the coat and found myself missing the sleeve flange (a little cap that extends the shoulders and gives the sleeves just slightly more Victorian style and a little more pizazz lol).

   The wings will be made from PVC for the boning, felt and costume satin for the fleshier parts and probably backpack scraps for the harness that keeps the wings on me. My friend and I are trying different ways to make the wings as this is our first time doing it. I hope to post progress shots for you all and give you a good idea of how to do it when I get it done. (It took me FOREVER to find helpful tutorials and tips).

     Hopefully next post will have photos ~ this was just a little update ***

Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt - Chuck and Brief too~

This is about a month late, but here is me with my Panty and Stocking group! I made the costumes for Brief (the ginger cosplayed by me) and Panty (the blonde cosplayed by a friend ~)

For the most part I used cotton or cotton blends, even with the protopack - it is sagging in this picture since I really wasn't sure of what I was doing; it was my first time really working with props.

Taka (my friend and fellow sprouting seamstress) made her Stocking costume (purple and pink hair) along with our friend's Garterbelt costume (afro lol). I'm pretty sure she used cotton and/or cotton blends as well lol

Finally, we have a humanoid Chuck who is actually a zipper dog in the series; our friend made her costume and the tail and ears herself - I think they came out rather well lol

Our Garterbelt is actually white lol Taka did most of his makeup while she, our friend who was Chuck and I all had a hand in the facial hair at one point or another ~ There were many compliments on his makeup and a few people in disbelief that he is caucasian lol

For Panty's dress, I used a simple halterdress pattern; I had to estimate measurements then finally take it in to fit her when she came for a visit. The dress was a birthday gift of sorts lol

With Brief's outfit, I used a hoodie pattern and a scrub bottom pattern - his design in the show is similar to Ghostbusters so the outfit should have been more like a mechanics uniform, but I had no pattern for that or really any general idea to go about it. I have, however, been given the advice to look for the Kwik Sew 3389 Pattern which is a jumpsuit I assume lol I intend to look this up in the future if I ever want to recreate Brief or just work with more jumpsuits lol
His protopack was made with an altered backpack pattern but next time I want to see what I can do with papier mache - someone who I was talking to before tackling the protopack had actually used a styrofoam cooler lol

Given the things we, as a group, knew could have been done better, we are still quite proud of ourselves as we received an honourable mention; it means a lot to us to get recognition for our hard work. I don't know what we plan to do for Ikasucon 2013 if we rally to go, but I hope we just keep working and improving (:

(photos aside from the first group shot taken and edited by me)

For a further look at Taka and what she does, venture here:

https://www.facebook.com/KagakuCosplay

For a look at our group work visit these:

www.youtube.com/user/FOAFproductions

www.facebook.com/TrinityMoonCommissions

Uuhuu

This weekend is Ikasucon 2012 and I've been working on two costumes, hotel booking, and just getting the money from all the people in our group to help pay for the hotel lol. I completely finished all the work for my costumes last night and bagged up the costumes in "garment bags" and have the backpack that I made sitting beside me. I do hope to post photos of MY costume, but I will certainly get photos of the bag and the dress that I made for my friend's birthday present.

I have a new camera - a model by GE that was about $170 all together for the camera, a new SD card, a camera bag and the warranty. I can return it in fifteen days so I can take all the pictures I want and, if I'm not satisfied with the results, I can trade or return for refund by the 18th - just enough time to go to Ikasucon and get home lol I don't think I'll be returning it, but it's great to have that for safety. I never knew GE made cameras and I did do quite a bit of research on it before deciding that I'd purchase this particular model (my first choice was a fujifilm but they didn't carry the one I wanted; they only had one that was $200 and I didn't have the funds for that lol). I sacrificed most of my spending money so I more than likely won't make any purchases at the convention but a new camera was truly what I wanted - my Nikon L20 was sufficient but the battery door snapped right down the center and wouldn't stay closed for anything. I could duct tape it and it'd somewhat work, but it just wasn't cutting it for easy use.

I hope to have quite a few decent pictures to post so I can do the cosplayers justice. I'll admit now that some fandoms I don't really like, but if I think the costume is good, I'll probably snap a photo of it.

Sorry for being silent so long - not too many people read my blog but if I kept up with it, there'd probably be more traffic lol I want to do more makeup and art supply reviews or tutorials. I'm not sure if these will go on youtube or if I'll stick to blogging instead of vlogging lol ahhh such is life.
I'm excited to actually be posting more so I hope that I can actually make it exciting lol