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The convention went well, by my standards at least. For a (novel) change, I didn't spend the entire con with an actual (physical, not metaphorical, and remarkably resistant to ibuprofen) headache--only the first two days! This has vastly improved my perception of things and made me a good deal more cheerful about staffing next year.

The cookies all disappeared by Sunday morning, which speaks well for my and Wonderful Husband's baking skills. Two of the three panels I presented (Cosplay for the Real Body, and So You Want to Be a Fansubber) went over quite well and I feel no hesitation in repeating either of them, though I keep thinking wistfully of a little more structure to the first and maybe more in the way of examples on my part, though [livejournal.com profile] hoshikage had her ducks in order with her costumes book. The third panel, however, The Wide World of Tokusatsu... we needed more organization. And knowing how the video hookup worked. And our third panelist not getting locked up into an emergency staff meeting half an hour before the panel was to start. --;; It didn't quite go down like a lead balloon, but no one needs to tell me it needs work.

But in any case, I had a good con. My cosplay was minimal (ConOps "dress Japanese" day, and wearing the GUYS t-shirt [livejournal.com profile] hoshikage made for me), but there were a lot of good costumes there, even if I didn't get to watch Masquerade, and my creative juices are starting to flow again. But before I can do any costumes for myself, I have a wedding dress to make for Armida.... Though, [livejournal.com profile] hoshikage, I need to speak with you about the design for your White Mage cloak.... ^_^

clothing

May. 1st, 2007 12:46 pm
sakon76: (Default)
on what I wear )
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Back from PMX. Didn't see much of the con itself, being busy with judging and sleep deprived to the max (I have now in fact broken my record for staying awake... previously it was twenty-three hours, now it's thirty-eight). Pity. I wanted to go to the Ultraman panel. But there were some really cool and some really well-made costumes, so that part was a pleasure, even if we didn't get to award a couple of the people we would have liked to. But there were ten awards spread across twenty-two groups. The Best in Show was a Kingdom Hearts 2 group that utterly wowed us with their attention to detail and clean construction, and then made us die with laughter with the best dance skit I've ever seen. They are going to be a force to be contended with in the cosplay word, methinks. It felt really good to give that award to them, and I honestly think none of them were expecting it.

But after Masquerade was over (with some wonderful MC'ing by Darryl), I got hit with my usual post-con depression, HARD. So I skipped out on a group dinner, which I probably shouldn't've, and came home, picking up Ash from where he'd spent the day with my mother. She took him to get de-wormed today. He needs to go back in two and four weeks for rounds two and three. And, much to my surprise, my Wonderful Husband spent the day calling around to vet places and handed me a brochure for kitten insurance just about ten minutes ago. I thought I wasn't going to be allowed to keep him...? So I'm confused.

We've managed to trap two (well, three, but the third one escaped as we were transferring him to another cage) of the neighborhood strays at work. One of them, who we've called "Blackie" for a while, we suspect is Ash's father. He is about eight years old, has now been neutered, and is utterly feral. He's spent the weekend recuperating from his surgery in a trap cage in my parents' backyard and will be rereleased at work tomorrow. The other cat we trapped, who we think /might/ be Ash's mother, is a lovely Siamese I've started calling "Chess" who apparently a day or two before we trapped her lost her tail flush to her back. I've seen her a few times before during the nearly two years I've been working there, and she always had a tail before. The vet's office is keeping her until Thursday to recover from the surgery for that, and she's probably going to be kept at my parents' house for a bit after that to give her recovery time. She's about three years old and is most likely an abandoned pet, as her behavior in the cage was quite calm and dignified, and we were told that at the vet's she walked quite calmly out of the cage and up to the doctor. I'm kind of hoping my parents will fall in love with her, as I know my mother would like a cat....

I also got a call from my coworker, saying that the reason we hadn't been able to trap Ash's siblings was because the neighbors (in whose yard the litter of them were likely born) had been feeding them. So she moved our traps into their yard and has all three of them in her possession now, to be handed off to me tomorrow. Anybody want black kittens...? Ash is apparently the runt of the litter, incidentally, and the neighbors thought he'd died because they hadn't seen him recently.

And that has been my weekend, Ultraman Moebius 30 is cool (even if not as cool as 21, 22, 24, or 29), and I smell pizza so I'm going to have some and then get Ash to eat.
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Well, my dance instructor liked the new skirt. And I have to admit, coupled with the strappy heels I wear to the ballroom dance class (and should probably wear to the swing class), I felt quite elegant for a change as we foxtrotted, merengue'd, and tango'd. Of the three, I have to admit that the tango is my favorite. It has friction in it, sparks, love/hate relationships... and it reminds me very much of Fakir and Ahiru's relationship. I need to find a way to write it into the third story in the "happily ever after" arc when I get to it. As it is, I'm still pondering how to shoehorn in the Alice theme.

I started reaming out the costume closet tonight. Finished costumes on this side, works in progress on this side, and the tubs of scrap fabric/fabric to be used/other works in progess out onto the floor of the workroom. Which has massively diminished the available space at the moment and I /still/ haven't found the Victorian corset pieces I was looking for. Grr. But I did find my half-finished pink-brown-and-cream horizontal striped surcoat, so I've ironed the pieces for that and reconsidered some details of construction. It's cut across a 60" width of fabric, so it's going to be pleated in at the neckline and I'm considering possibly leaving the side seam open... maybe just brief ties at the bottom of the sleeve openings? Because with the center front and center back pleating having decorative lacing up the sleeve openings seems kind of silly. But I don't believe I have enough extra fabric for side gores.... Not that this is going to be remotely period, of course. *rolls eyes at self* Peri-oid, maybe. Ah well. For my next trick maybe I'll finally make a period construction white linen underdress for this era. And figure out veils, wimples, and coifs.

Oh, and my eleven-year-old cousin has apparently discovered EGL. And begged me to make her some new clothes. I countered with an offer to her father: she has ice skating lessons Saturday mornings, I'll take her Saturday afternoons and teach her how to sew. Because while I have no objections to making her some clothes, I'd much rather she help me with them and eventually learn how to make things for herself. It's a useful skill. And, hey, maybe this means I can interest her in a Hinaichigo costume....
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Had an awesome dream about the possibility of presenting the second YYH movie as a cosplay skit at Fanime next year. My brain was casting myself as Botan, [livejournal.com profile] hoshikage as Kurama, [livejournal.com profile] phaelin as Yukina, [livejournal.com profile] sandpanther as Hinageshi, Wonderful Husband as Kuwabara, Maria Tom as Hiei... unfortunately, I think my brain realized the unfeasability of this. Haven't seen Mari-chan in years, [livejournal.com profile] sandpanther will be too busy with con stuff, and that's still half the cast uncast. Still, it was a nice cosplay dream. Maybe I'll make myself a Botan costume for next year anyway and knock one off my long-time list.

But now to bake.

Pics

Aug. 29th, 2006 09:49 pm
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Hmm. Not many pics to work from, [livejournal.com profile] hoshikage having most of them currently, but here are a lineup, a group shot to show off wings, and a shot with our diligent and much-beloved Backstage Ninjas.
sakon76: (Default)
Combining two similar memes gacked from [livejournal.com profile] frualeydis and [livejournal.com profile] hoshikage since I do some (not enough) historical costuming as well as cosplay:

GEN:
- What costume (that I could realistically pull off) would you like to see me do?
- What costume (with no constraints on time, skill, or money) would like to see me do?
- Which costume that I've completed do you like best?
- What genre or time period costume do you think I should do more of?

COSPLAY:
- What do you want to see me cosplay really bad?
- Pick a costume above my skill level that you would like me to do.
- Pick a costume thats EXTREMELY easy to make.
- Pick a "sexy" character you could see me pulling off.
- Pick a "cute" character you can see me pulling off
- What character could you see me cosplaying as?
- Which cosplay outfit that I've completed do you like?
- Which cosplay outfit that I've completed don't you like?
- Anything else?
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I feel like I've been living most of the past month to the Run, Lola, Run soundtrack.

Costume College, at the beginning of the month, was awesome. I learned how to make gloves. I learned tambour embroidery. I sat in on classes about the changes in fashion that Eleanor d'Medici started. I learned how to make resin-cast armor and face-fitting plaster masks. I showed the teacher of the blackwork embroidery class what I'd done with what I learned last year (she gave me a skein of embroidery silk as a reward) and promised to bring my samples to her class next year. I flipped through books in the marketplace and decided on some I do and do not want. I got to chat and spend time with [livejournal.com profile] hoshikage and a good friend from high school. I got to actually spend some time talking with [livejournal.com profile] twjudy! And I met [livejournal.com profile] eldawen too!

Then came the Three Weeks of Hell. Constructing most of five costumes (source art: mine, hoshikage's, iaurcalien's, phaelin's, and Cyndie's; photos of results to come later) in three weeks is not a task I want to replicate ever again, but we managed. There were lots of very late nights, lots of stress, fortunately no sewing machine troubles, though at points we had up to three running... lost of trips to JoAnn's and Michael's, orders to wig shops, orders to shoe dyers (who claimed the style we were ordering ran true to size, which was so not true)... we were literally finishing things up backstage at WorldCon, putting the wings together for the first time (they worked; thank god, they worked!), and going onstage. Our timing, which had been perfect on the second run-through, was slightly off. But we survived. And were awarded Best Workmanship, Journeyman Class, as well as a Most Photogenic award. And then there was much collapsing done. Until the next day when we did a photoshoot. And then there was more collapsing.

I did get to go to two panels, and found some new artists that I must stalk, and purchased a Pocket Dragon for myself as a souvenier (waaah, what do you mean Real Musgrave's retiring and there'll be no more Pocket Dragons? ;_;)... and that was it. So now I clean, I relax, I catch up on missing sleep, and I try not to plot to open the very large box that just arrived that contains my birthday present from my Wonderful Husband.....

*thud*

Aug. 27th, 2006 10:42 pm
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Am extant. Have "done" a WorldCon. There are some areas in which I think it was better than an anime con, but many more points where the converse is true. Will discourse later.

Our group won Best Workmanship, Journeyman class, as well as a special Most Photogenic award. I'd feel more elated about how special this was had there been proper workmanship judging. As it was, our group of five was gone over in less than three minutes, and at least one of the judges was extremely ticked off at this brevity as well.

Attended Baen's preview panel where it was confirmed that Bujold has signed a contract for another Vorkosigan book (to be published ~2009).

And that is all for now as I am now ISO unconsciousness.

Bizzy!

Aug. 23rd, 2006 05:30 pm
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Y'know, there's a certain argument to be made that the modern equivalent of corset removal is not taking off one's brassiere at the end of the day, but rather the relief of shedding one's nylon pantyhose....

Have finally finished sewing all the leaves onto my bodice. Have also now got everyone else's bodice lining stitched in place (which involved a new blood sacrifice to [livejournal.com profile] hoshikage's costume as I ripped my arm on one of the pins...). Onward to more sewing!
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Still alive. Up to my ears in costuming. Later.
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Well. Cyndie's bodice mostly done (as in it needs the boning [cut and filed and tipped by my Wonderful Husband whom I love LOTS] inserted, the skirts attached, and the grommets, well, grommeted). Her sleeves are about half done. Her underskirt [livejournal.com profile] hoshikage is about half done with. [livejournal.com profile] iaurcalien's bodice is cut and pinned (the outer three layers) while the inner layers are actually sewn. We got choreography blocked and music decided on. So progress has in fact been made. I'd just feel like it was so much more progress if we could actually list anything as "done"... ah well. Perhaps tomorrow. Also got a mail back from CosWorx regarding our wig order. We'd gotten most of it on Friday (after placing the order on Tuesday--I love the speed of their service!), but the box was labelled "1 of 1," which confused us. Fortunately it was a mislabelling and the second half will be shipped on Monday, to arrive no later than Wednesday. And now I go to shift my sewing machine, as well as relevant pieces-in-progress and spools of thread, downstairs so that I can theoretically continue to work both after [livejournal.com profile] hoshikage goes to bed and before she gets up as well.
sakon76: (Default)
Sewing has been being done. And [livejournal.com profile] hoshikage and [livejournal.com profile] iaurcalien and I have finally (hopefully) gotten everything we need from JoAnn's and Michael's. Cyndie's bodice mockup went through two iterations yesterday and will get taken apart and made into the real thing today, while [livejournal.com profile] iaurcalien's is on its second draft (will sew as soon as I finish typing this) and will hopefully also be made into the real thing today. [livejournal.com profile] hoshikage's bodice is nearing completion and so (hopefully again) is Phaelin's... so we may be able to pull this off. In the meantime, I have my pot of tea and the sewing machine calls. Ta~!
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Back from Costume College. Enjoyed the heck out of it, learned a lot, already signed up for next year. More later, when I can reflect on what I've learned. Currently creativity is being focused, due to the onslaught of WorldCon sewing projects commencing. Today I have molded acorns and cut and fray-checked leaves.

Also got an e-mail today from someone I don't immediately recognize begging me for information about whether or not Howie Dorough of BSB is gay. Um. While I appreciate the maenedic franticity of fandom, how am I supposed to know? While still a fan, I'm out of the fandom. The only reason I knew about Lance Bass of *N Sync being gay was because the DJ mentioned it during my morning drive to work. And I've since read the article in People and concluded that *N Sync isn't reforming any time soon. Mainly from Lance's crack about "I should call Justin and tell him I'm gay" with the inference that he would hopefully be doing so before the issue hit the newsstands. Yeah, real group solidarity there. So, for the record, I don't know if anyone (aside from Lance) is gay. Or bisexual. A few of them I assume are somewhat straight, given the married-with-kids thing. And also for the record, I really don't care. The reason Lance being gay pleases me is not because he is, but because he seems to feel he's in a place where he can admit it not only to his family and friends but the world at large as well. I never thought I'd see a boy band member admitting publicly to homosexuality during the time frame when there was any chance of their career continuing. So what pleases me is not with whom anyone partners, but that they can accept it and that they hope others can as well.

My name is Kristin, and I'm both bisexual and married to a wonderful man. Thank you, and good evening.
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Dining room... mostly clean. A small stack of mail to be gone through, and my Edel wig still clamped to the table until I get the costume closet cleared enough to hold it. And digging through my costume closet has yielded some fun finds. For instance, a finished muslin skirt that I don't remember making. But it's clearly my work, and a bit long, so perhaps I made it to be a petticoat over a hoopskirt? I've also found my old RenFaire chemise and offered it up to my sister if she wants it, as it's barely been worn. Tidying things away from AX is also fun, since it leads to "hmm, I need to iron this before I can wear it again"s and "ah, this needs to be taken to the dry-cleaners'" and "where are the two other scarves for this costume?" as well as "where's the glue? need to repair this before putting it away!" But I make my costumes to take a beating, so there's not too much of that last one. Slowly the post-AX costume sprawl is being contained.
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AX, Day Three--it being Monday, I worked. And it was busy all day. I stopped filing an hour before the office closed to paint my nails purple for the Masquerade. None of the rest of the office got to go home early, but the manager (as usual) went home at 2pm. *rolls eyes* Zoomed home, gathered together cosplay stuffs, went up to AX. Rushed upstairs with Wonderful Husband to the green room, kissed him goodbye, got changed, started make-up application. Yumiko, a very nice Trinity Blood cosplayer from Japan (it was her first AX) helped me get my wig on my head (for those who don't know, my head is actually slightly larger than most people's and. [livejournal.com profile] hoshikage, who was costume wrangling for another friend of hers, helped put it together after it was on, jamming the support wires into the styrofoam ball on the top of my head. The Masquerade not only started on time, it actually started eight minutes early. And it was very strange backstage because I didn't know anyone except [livejournal.com profile] hoshikage, who wasn't even competing. Ususally I know at least half a dozen people! But everything turned out okay, a lot of awards were given out (Best of Show went to an awesome Clow Cards group who very definitely remembered our Clow Cards group from AXNY.) I didn't win anything, but then I wasn't expecting to. I did get a lot of compliments on my wig work, though. Reference picture is here at the very bottom.

AX, Day Four--a last run through the Dealer's Room, snagging four artbooks, picking up the cross-stitch Totoro piece I'd won in the Art Show, and resisting temptation yet again at Nene Thomas' booth. Looking at the online store prices, though, I should've given in to temptation. Alas, hindsight is ever 50/50. Drove [livejournal.com profile] velvetpaws to the airport and came back for the charity auction. It was kind of a light year... CLAMP only donated four signed posters (which ranged from $475-$800 each) and the highest item, a Getbackers sketch, only went for ~$4300. The most fun items were the half-dozen AX water bottles signed by almost all of the GoHs, which inspired people to bid on the water bottle (Crystal Geyser; not AX water) the auctioneer was drinking from. He even signed it and it went for $20! ^_^ Moments like those are why I attend the art auction. Then Wonderful Husband and I left, running through the Costa Mesa Book Off and Kinokuniya with [livejournal.com profile] iaurcalien before heading home.

Today, I went into work and finished the filing and am now caught up again.
sakon76: (Default)
I have hoopskirt boning!

This makes me very very happy because when I phoned my order in to Greenberg and Hammer a week and a half ago, I requested that they phone to let me know when my order shipped, and they hadn't phoned and I need the boning if I'm to wear Sophia this weekend~!

*goes off to measure hooping steel and beg Wonderful Husband to cut it with the demel tool*
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Right. Having discovered that I have royally screwed up and sewed the skirt stripes so they're slanting the wrong way, I have to rip out all the stitching and redo. Fortunately I discovered this before sewing them all. However, I've got the bangs on the wig finagled (hairsprayed and glued and drying), the inner side of Edel's floating sheets of hair sewn and glued and drying, and have decided that as I did not get to sleep until one in the morning and have suffered all day due to it, I am quitting for the night and going to bed now.

I have also printed out the second Princess Tutu story (possible title Enchantment) on our lovely new printer so that I can stare at it in solid form and yell "You! Text block! Merge and conform!" and wrangle a few discrepancies into shape. I have the feeling that once they're done the end will flow smoothly. And I have smoothed the first part of Princess TaTu into lovely yuri shape. Any takers for beta'ing? I haven't written lemon, let alone yuri, in years so I'd like votes of confidence (or not) before I post it here.
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Two wefts done, two more setting and I've finished my first tube of caulk. Fortunately I have a second. Also have sewn shaping wire to my two foamcore sheets and painted one side of each green. Wig is on its stand clamped to the dining room table and I picked up a bunch of clips today to make dealing with it easier. So progress is being made. Slowly but surely.

Have also discovered today, while attempting to map the plot of "Princess TaTu" and figure out when to set it, that I have lost the ability to PWP. A simple lemon fic maps itself out in my head to be an "episode" (the way The Dancing Princesses did) and then expands to a second episode which... whoo boy. PLOT! All over the place! I just need to find the beginning point of the story.

But for now, to bed and then early to rise and work more on wefts and painting, hopefully, before I have to go to work.
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*rereads Mytho-POV section she wrote today*

I will not slash Mytho and Fakir I will not slash Mytho and Fakir I will not slash Mytho and Fakir until I write "Princess TaTu" I will not slash Mytho and Fakir... no matter what red rose symbolism there may be in-series.

*goes to caulk wig wefts*

(Progress report on costume: trousers done, vest done, choker done, sleeves done. Skirt and wig remain.)

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