Boogie Wonderland

Azkatraz pimpin'

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 02:16:12 GMT

Grad Party 3.0

Be there, bitches

azkatrazgrad

Friday night of Azkatraz, contact me, serade_black or tatiana422 for info.

HBP

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 13:05:00 GMT

It seems to be all online lately, scenes popping up all over the place. Now, I know the movie is coming out soon and they need to pump up advertising, but what happened to, oh I don't know, commercials on TV? Every time I check my LJ there's a new scene posted by TLC.org. I've been really good and haven't watched ANY of them. Well, mostly because I'm still sewing my arse off. I'm SO CLOSE to finishing, it's all starting to hit.

My vacation was approved of, but I'm working 8 days in a row, maybe even more, just before we leave :( I should've taken the week before off, since my lady-wife is going to be here in Chicago for a improv class that week. But I didn't want to push it. I really shouldn't have to feel bad about taking a vacation. But now with the store moving and us having to reapply for positions, it's going to be really rough. I'm crossing my fingers that nothing bad comes up and I can still make it to D*Con :/ Besides, working 8 days in a row will guarantee me money for SF, so I'm really not complaining. Too much.

On the sewing front, today I'm tackling my last quilted leather piece and then some gloves (which are possibly the most complicated thing in these costumes). The last thing to sew is in_motu_proprio's final piece to her Ball costume. Cross your fingers that it'll all get done.

Harry Potter The Musical Act 1 Part 1

Tue, 23 Jun 2009 00:06:43 GMT

AAAAAAAAAAAAH

And now for something completely different ...

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 17:48:09 GMT

I've got a small pic spam for those of you out there that want to see what I've been up to. It's very small, so don't be too excited.

Because I jst finished putting together the vest, and I have plans to make buttonholes and sew on buttons before the end of the day, here's a progress of y. Dumbles. The amazing bit will be kept under wraps until Azkatraz :D

Next is a quick addition to a costume. For D*Con, I was told of a great costuming group. Disney Good Guys Dressed As Pirates. Awesome concept, but I was just going to be Barbossa. He's a Disney 'good' guy, it would fit. But then I had an epiphany. And I made this to add onto my existing pirate girl outfit.

It's a mermaid tail! I'm going as Ariel the Pirate! ARRR! Now all I need is some of that fake fish netting and some shells and I'll be set.

Finally, the last photo in this update is a picture of my healed tattoo.

Progress shall comence, because if it doesn't I'll hate myself.

Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:47:38 GMT

Pirates, tattoos, but not necessarily pirate tattoos.

The 4th Anual Port Washington, Wisconsin Pirate Fest was last weekend, as some of you may know. I had to work my arse off this week, hence the report coming so late.

I didn't take ANY pictures, but I did have a few taken of me. That's not right. I shall remedy that at Azkatraz.

This year we didn't have a vendor booth, so we had a lot of time to bum around, and bumming around is what we do best. That, and eat. We arrived Saturday afternoon, got all set up at the Super 8 down the street. I wore my pirate girl outfit and looked a bit like Kiera Knightly dressed as a typical pirate wench. I got a few compliments. Mouse took a few photos. Dana was dressed like my auburn haired brother.

We walked around and explained to Dana what was there last year, Mouse met up with her friends. We did a lot of wandering up to the Windy and back to the giant inflatable 'krakken taking down a ship' slide thingie. It was wicked awesome, and I cursed myself for leaving my camera in the hotel room. At the end of the first day, they were deflating it and a Jack Sparrow picked up a half deflated tentacle and had his friend take a 'Victory' pose of him. It was epic.

Lots of amazing costumes this year, only a few Jacks. I didn't see TJ from last year as Jack, he was in fact in an original outfit this time. But who could miss that famous Jack-like goatee and mustache?

We ate at the China King, which was downright delicious once again. It was slightly cloudy, maybe a little drizzly, but overall wasn't completely unbearable weather. We were tired, Lisa had been driving all day, and we wanted to hit up the hot tub in the hotel again. It did wonders on our feet after a hard days work. This time we added a little liqor involvement. Got to bed at a decent time, knowing I'd have to wake up early tomorrow to put on my more ambitious make up.

Sunday arrived, clouds on the horizon, but by the time we were finished getting breakfast, getting dressed and packed to load up the car, the rain would be gone. We were actually on time for the pirate parade, as measily as it was. It was a whole 2 minutes long, lol.

But then the rest of the day was brilliantly sunny. We watched the fight on the hill, the cannons fire, the belly dancers. It was overall much more enjoyable. We bought home made sasafras root beer in a wicked old school like bottle. Met up with TJ, this time he was in Jack. Caught up from last year, improvements on costumes, etc.

By then we were beat, Lisa looked ready to collaps, and I was starving. We decided on Cheesecake Factory, and I'm going to KILL Lisa for suggesting it, but the Bang-Bang chicken and shrimp I had from there was the most orgasmic thing I've ever tasted. I inhaled that dish and licked my plate clean. I'm even tempted right now to go spend $20 on lunch just to get it again. That's how good it is.

I also got a tattoo updated. My crappy free lightning bolt that some of you know as the 'N' on my chest was made bigger and way more bad ass. It's still healing, so I'll be taking a photo when it's more healed. First tattoo of the year down, 2 more to go. Next is either a) potion bottle over DM b) Rocketeer c) a design for my dad (which I haven't quite decided on just yet) d) another portion of my back piece (TBD). I may possibly even do it on the last day of SF, gotta scout around for a parlor that's decently priced.

Speaking of SF, on Tuesday it will be exactly 1 month until Azkatraz, and 3 weeks until my lady-wife is due to arrive here in Chicago. I've got to get cracking, but many of you know I work best under pressure. I've got what feels like 14 projects going at once. Sewing will commence, despite the fact that I've now been drafted into doing Dana's hair extensions on Monday and a field trip to Evanston for Vogue with Sara ... sewing must commence. I don't know when I'll have another day off, and this is getting into danger territory. I might enlist the help of a worker bee or two (namely Dana and Lisa, of course).

And I want a new phone. I want to satisfy the ADD side of myself and get a touch screen 3G ... something.

Thu, 04 Jun 2009 16:12:45 GMT

Remembering a dream from last night, I was cosplaying Ichigo. Now I say "cosplaying" because I knew I wasn't accurate. I had a bad wig, horrible clothes, and a cheap cardboard sword. But I was suppose to look bad. I was following a bunch of other costumed people onto a stage and risers, and we were standing in front of a group of ... parents. Like, our parents. As if we were back in junior high. We started to sing something, but I had no idea what we were singing. There was no music, people were still moving around on the stage, no one was ready for this apparent performance. And then the parents got really ornery and bored, so they decided to just bum rush the stage and pull their kids off.

The worst part about it, though, was seeing my dad in that crew. I hate it when he pops up unexpectedly like that. Every time I see him, it's a sudden shock to my system and I usually wake up from it. And he almost never looks me in the eyes.

Today is a sewing day. It's only 11 am I've finished a pair of pants and have cut out all the fabric for my vest and shirt. All that's left is to work on the coat, and young Dumbledore will be DONE. If I have any energy left, I'm going to try and at least cut out the coat fabric and possibly get the Quidditch robes cut out today. Watching marathons of HP movies seems to be helping and really getting me motivated and excited as HELL for Azkatraz. It's looking more and more likely that I'll be finished with a record number of costumes in the shortest amount of time. I realize I fret over my costume making more than it takes me to make them. I blame my mom for turning me into this paranoid freak.

This weekend is the Port Washington pirate fest and I will, of course, be there. And not surprisingly it's going to rain! Awesome! It's what's to be expected, really. Every single year it's been there (this is it's 4th year I believe) it has just POURED. Really not going to stop me. We're not running a table this year, so it should be more exciting. Barbossa will make an appearance, as will my girl pirate outfit that I made last year and never wore. That should be an exciting weekend, hanging with Lisa, Mouse and Rob again. I had a BLAST last year, and I'm sure it'll be just as fun this year.

Rough game, Quidditch

Thu, 21 May 2009 18:32:53 GMT

I really have to stop being so damn fussy over details. I just bought bolo tie cord and bolo ties (from 2 separate online companies, mind you), faux leather, quilters batting, hook rug binding, and piping cord. I still need to find antique gold rivets, and buy the socks. Other than that, I just need buckles and I'm done buying. It's time for MAKING.

Ho shit, watch out Azkatraz.

I'm going to have to buy the broomstick from Noble Collections just to be super ~~crazy~~ accurate. Damn, scratch that. They only have the Nimbus 2001 and the Firebolt. Oh well, at least Draco can have an accurate broom.

Harry Potter: The Exhibit, first visit

Sat, 16 May 2009 15:53:21 GMT

I didn't get my hopes up for it, I'm trying my best to not do that lately for a lot of things. I usually set myself up for dissapointment if I do. But this exhibit was well beyond my expectations.

I don't know how detailed you folks want me to be, in case it shows up in your town and you want to be pleasently surprised. So, for the sake of spoilers, I'll put it behind a cut. And this is EVERYTHING, nothing left out. So it's super spoiler-rific.

It was a nice rainy day, perfect time to go to an indoor exhibit. Until I found out that it was actually so big that the Museum didn't have a place for it, so it was actually in a big tent outside. In the end, the pitter patter of rain against the tent worked really well for the ambiance of the exhibit.

The Sorting Hat was sitting so wonderfully on his stool, ready for the kids to be sorted. A few eager kids were sorted, and then one eager child at heart was sorted. Into Slytherin! Despite the fact I was wearing my Gryffindor jacket! Oh well, that's what I wanted. Snape as my Head of House? HELL YES!

You walk through the big double doors and they have 8 screens set up with the 6 movie posters. The posters melt away and turn into a wonderful montage of the films, including some stuff from HBP of course.

When the movie montage ended, a big curtain arose and we were all doused into the headlight of THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS. YES, THE HOGWARTS EXPRESS. The engine, man! There was a girl holding a lantern, smoke billowing out everywhere. It was surreal. They did a FANTASTIC job of entering you into the wizarding world. Next to the engine was a stack of luggage, Hermione's was on top as you could see her name written on the front of it.

You walk in and the Fat Lady is screaming in her frame, trying to break the wine glass, there are paintings along the wall, a few of which moved. Right when you walk in, the first section is Harry, Hermione, and Ron's casual clothes from the 4th film, Ron and Hermione's wands, the Dumbledore's Army sign up paper, Gringot's coins, Ginny's uniform, Neville's Yule Ball shoes (why it was there and not in the Great Hall room is beyond me). Across the isle then was Ron and Harry's bed, with their student uniforms. It was surprising to me that the red in the robes was really really dark, and that the white shirts were, indeed, cream. The Map, Harry's glasses and wand, Ron's R sweater from OotP, Harry's shoe care and shaving kit, a Chudley Cannon's shirt signed by ... someone, the cursed box of chocolates from HBP, the Howler, Ron's knitted afghan, the Golden Egg from the 1st Task, Harry's Hogwarts accepance letter and envelope, and some other Chudley Cannon's stuff were on display.

Next to that was Professor Trelawny's section, the Grim cup, the Crystal Ball, some tea pots, a lamp, and Trelawny's green outfit from PoA.

Across the way from that is the Potion section. Slughorn and Snape's outfits (you could see the make up still on Snape's collar. I touched it when no one was looking XD), a ton of potion ingredient bottles and jars, a cauldron, the felix felici vial (but no potion?) from HBP, the Advanced Potion Making book from HBP, and Snape and Slughorn's wands.

Next was Umbridge's station. Kitten plates, her really pretty dark oak desk, framed photo of Fudge, her pink furry twill suit (from when we first see her, including the kitten pin!), and her evil quill with the 'I must not tell lies' paper written in Harry's blood.

Next was Gilderoy Lockhart. His dueling outfit and gold Professor suit were on display, along with some signed photos, his 'entire collected works' including "Wanderings with Werewolves", his first day test papers, a maquette of a cornish pixie, Lockhart's wand, and the framed painting of Lockhart painting himself :D

Then, beside that is my favorite DADA teacher EVAR. Professor Remus Lupin *siiiiigh*. His wand, a Defense book, 2 of his swing music records, and his Professor's suit were standing beside the boggart wardrobe *_* It was making sounds, and it almost looked like it was moving. Beside that was the creepy Jack in a Box. Yes, it looks just as scary up close than in the film. Still, it was awesome to see the detail in it, and not have it jump out at you.

Next to Lupin's display was Professor Sprout. Her Greenhouse outfit was made of suede, and in a box in front of it was a Mandrake and her wand. Beside her display was a 'pull your own Mandrake!' interactive display. Yeah, I pulled all of them and made them ALL scream at once. It was epically annoying.

You turn to the left and enter what appears to be the 1st Task tent. Off to the right was the gorgeous lifesize stand in of Buckbeak and I about cried. I LOVE Buckbeak. He smelled a little funky, though. Surrounding him were pumpkins from Hagrid's hut, and the Trio's casual outfits from the finale of PoA. It was amazing to see just how SMALL they were. I know they were kids, but still. It's surreal.

Across from Beaky was a display case that had the Nimbus 2000 and Nimbus 2001, along with a ton of Quidditch World Cup pamphlets, the Omnoculars, some binoculars, the trunk of Quidditch balls, of course the Golden Snitch, and some Quidditch flags. Next to that was an interactive game, where you can play Chaser and toss quaffles into some hoops that dinged when you made it. The balls were actual quaffles, so that was neat to see just how you hold one.

Farther down the way from Beaky, in the corner of this room was a reproduction of Hagrid's hut. You could sit in his huge chair and Norbert's unhatched egg was on the table. There were also hanging baskets everywhere, and the fireplace. On the other side of Hagrid's hut was the Hungarian Horntail head, the baby thestral, and Firenze and (maybe?) Bane lifesize maquettes.

Across from Hagrid's hut were 2 displays of Quidditch outfits. The first display was Madame Hooch's regular professorial robes (not her referee outfit), Ireland and Bulgarian outfits, some Quidditch tropheys, Harry's training Quidditch outfit and Ron's game outfit from HBP, all sitting on the risers from the Quidditch pitch. Next to that was the Hogwart's Quidditch outfits, the first was Harry's from SS, then in the middle was Cedric's from PoA, and next was Draco's from CoS. Harry's arm guards were installed upside down. And one of the fake British accent ladies came up to inform me "Do you notice that Robert Pattenson isn't actually mentioned in this? It's Cedric's outfit, you see, but this was BEFORE Pattenson was chosen to play Cedric!" I just smile and nodded. I could talk circles around these girls, no joke. There were also two plaques behind Harry and Draco's uniforms that showed past Captains of Gryffindor and Slytherin. That was cool.

Past that is the Dark Magic section, the one that was the least watched by staff and the most bad ass (of course). The first thing you see is Tom Riddle's suit, the stabbed diary with basilisk fang, Collin's camera and the petrified Collin. Next to Riddle and Collin was the Angel of Death statue (NOT the whole tomb stone) from GoF. And when you stood in front of that, Voldemort whispered to you. Again, creepy and effective. Next was Harry's finale Sorcerer's Stone outfit beside Quirrel's outfit. In a display case off to the side was the Sorcerer's Stone and the old flying key.

Next to Quirrel were Wanted posters for ... oh, now their names escape me ... Amycus Carrow, Bellatrix, Fenrir, and 2 other Death Eaters from HBP. Following that wall and you hit Draco's CoS robes and Lucius Malfoy's PIMPIN' suit. PINSTRIPES, MAN! It blows the mind. After spending a little too long staring at that, I turned and saw the Death Eater robes. They're actually made of a patterned taffeta, and the hoods are just awesome. It looks like they simply skinned a cow and sewed the skins together. Next to that was Voldemort's wand and rebirth outfit. It was so thin and so raw, it made sense that it was simple. Twill tape, dyed silk, raw edges. And it WAS green. Although with the lighting placed on it, and the white sheet used beneith it, it looks far more green than one would initially think.

Continuing on, next to Lucius and Draco's CoS outfits was the life sized maquette of a dementor. It's tail was like the end of a tail bone, and it was very, very creepy as a dementor should be. Beside that was Sirius's prison robes, a lifesized Kreacher maquette, and Bellatrix's prison gown.

And finally, onto the last room. The Great Hall. Just before you hit the Great Hall, there's a display case with the Bloody Baron's shimmery gauzey outfit. Now there's a pirate costume I'd love to make, had I the means and the motivation to do so. You walk through the ACTUAL Great Hall doors, lined on each side by a dozen or so of Umbridge's Decrees. Right down the middle of the Great Hall room is a table filled with fake food, all of which looked delicious and made my stomach growl, forgetting that I hadn't eaten yet that day.

Off to the left was Cedric's school uniform, and Krum and Fleur's welcoming feast outfits, with the box that held the Goblet of Fire behind them. Next to that was a chunk of the Yule Ball Great Hall set, a table with party favors and fake food, even the lovely silver velvet chairs they sat on. And in front of the table are the Yule Ball outfits. Krum, Hermione, Ron, Harry, Cho and ... not quite Cedric's Yule Ball outfit. I say not quite, because the robes were TINY and didn't look a thing like they belonged on the mannequin. Dana and I both agreed that Rob probably stole the originals and they just put a random set of robes on it. I mean, the robe sleeves were a good 3 inches too short, the white shirt sleeves could be easily seen! And it only went to the knees. Totally not Cedric's.

Next to the Not Cedric robes was a case displaying the Tri-Wizard tournament cup, Rita Skeeter's acid green quill, a lovely set of her dragonskin, monogramed notebooks and a pile of "Potter Stinks" pins.

On the other side of the Great Hall room was Fudge's pinestripe robes, his not lime green bowler hat, and Percy's matching suit. Beside that was a display case of ALL the candy from the films. Chocolate frogs, Berttie Bott's, fizzing whizzbees, skiving snack boxes, and even a Quidditch board game.

Finally, at the head of the Great Hall was a platform that had McGonnigal's green Yule Ball dress, Dumbeldore's Yule Ball robes, and my favorite costume in the whole exhibit, one of Richard Harris' Sorcerer's Stone outfits. Oh my GOD the level of detail in that was just well beyond me. All of that embroidery, all of those buttons, all of that brocade and embossed purple-blue velvet. Wow, just wow. I sketched out the embroidery, in case I ever had a couple thousand dollars to spend on my career-ending Dumbledore outfit.

Next to that was a display case of Dumbledore and McGonnigal's wands, and beside McGonnigal's dress was Fawkes. He was a lot bigger than I thought, and just awe inspiring. He was really really gorgeous, I wanted to take him home with me. Oh, and behind the SS Dumbledore outfit was a naked statue of Dobby. Downright CREEPY, need I say more? On the other side was Sirius Black's "Black Family Tree room" outfit, the burgundy velvet long coat one. That whole outfit is just kick ass and is so Sirius. Next to it was Tonk's magenta dragonskin coat. And that was it!

And as you're leaving the exhibit, there's a wall full of clapping portraits, and you're in the gift shop! Yaaay, gift shop! I'm still beyond frustrated that they don't have an exhibit book, and I'm to the point where I'd love to write the WB and tell them to pull that stick out already. I've never seen a company so uptight over such miniscule things. I can understand not making it because you want other people to pay to see it, and having a book would consitute the scanning of images and such maybe ... but c'mon, it's about time the fans got a visual companion! They didn't even have regular shirts, just stupid glittery girl-cut shirts with those super short sleeves that never look good on me.

Overpriced shirts aside, they had a neat sweatshirt I might get next time I go, but for my first trip I found something I couldn't let go of. They had Gentle Giant Ltd. busts, including the one I'd been craving about as long as I knew it was coming out. The transforming Remus Lupin limited edition bust. And it was only $5 more than what GG was selling it for, but they've been out of stock on them since 2008. Ebay only has a few that are about 3 times that price. Now Severus has his wolfie friend to chill next to! So, with werewolf in hand, it ended a wonderful day.

Pictures are up on my facebook here

I couldn't get too many photos, because photography was forbiden. But I was sorted into Slytherin, so I had to break the rules just a bit. When I go again, I'm more confident that I can take more photos and not get caught!

Hear ye hear ye

Wed, 13 May 2009 19:26:37 GMT

It's official, I've finished paying off my ambulance bill! I've only got $300 more to go on my ER bill and I'm free!

Then I can start on my mono clinic bills *headdesk*

ACen '09 Report

Mon, 11 May 2009 13:11:46 GMT

I don't know what to say about it. I had fun, I'm tired as balls (as would be expected), I made money. I didn't take as many pictures as I'd liked, which was surprising considering I always have my camera with me. I think it was mainly because I didn't really recognize anyones costumes this year. I've been out of the anime loop for a while now. There were a few fantastic non-anime costumes, including a Rufio from Hook, The Shredder, and even two guys dressed as contestants on Legends of the Hidden Temple. My childhood was going nuts at this con, it was pretty wicked.

The walk back and forth to the InterContinental didn't seem like a bad choice at the time, but after it all I'd MUCH rather stay at the Hyatt. It may have been less than a half mile to walk to, but even that, after being sick, was too much. I partied way too hard Friday, that also might've been what did me in this weekend but I hardly regret it.

I know now what to expect from anime fans as far as the artist alley table goes. I highly doubt I'll do it next year, but I was happy I actually sold something. Everything I was hoping would sell quickly didn't go so quickly. I did sell all of my Mario star purses, but for less than half of what I expected. The sushi purse didn't sell, the keychains did quite well, I sold a potion bottle, and someone stole a bracelet. Which is ironic, considering that was the WORST out of the bunch and I was laughing that someone would steal that piece of shit. The jewelry didn't do so well, but I don't know what I was expecting from this crowd.

On Saturday, my contacts were bothering me so much that I couldn't take it. I either had make up on them or they were just way too old. And the second pair I brought, in case they didn't work, I did something incredibly stupid and put 2 pairs in my one case that sometimes leaks the saline solution. So they weren't floating in their solution, and hence fused together. Good going me. This makes me want Lasik really really badly. I wish I didn't have to deal with any of it any more. But $1,000 an eye? Not covered by insurance? Yeah, that hurts.

in_motu_proprio stopped by and I feel bad that I didn't hang out with her more. Particularly because I was feeling rather shitty Saturday night after she left. I went back to the room around 10 because my eyes were hurting so badly I looked like I'd smoked a bong through my eyeballs. But that wasn't the case at all. It was the hurt long after I took the contacts out. My eyelids were nearly fused together, I was terribly afraid I had pink eye.

This year didn't go by as quickly as the past years, probably because I wasn't wasting my time walking from one place to another and did a lot of sitting at the table. I enjoyed my roommates Sarah and Betsy very very much. They were super cute and made my weekend most enjoyable. Betsy's Edea costume was STUNNING. She was, hands down, the best of the 3 I saw. And it was her first costume! That helmet was just so bad ass. Our group was well recieved at the Final Fantasy photoshoot, and I'm glad to say I was the only Irvine. Everyone else had duplicates, but I was the lone cowboy.

Now that it's done, it's time to get started on Azkatraz! I do have Port Washington coming up next month, which should also be a blast now that Mouse isn't doing a table. But I'm looking far more forward to Azkatraz and my lady-wife's visit to Chicago. If I wake up a bit more, I might work in my sewing room today before work. I'm busy now for nearly the entire week, which is alright considering I abandoned them during a busy weekend.

Acen is like crack, crack is like anime? No, wait ...

Thu, 07 May 2009 16:18:05 GMT

Last minute packing = last minute costume for Saturday night. Why? Because I wanted to.

What posessed me to want to actually be a girl is beyond me, but it's going to happen. And My Girls are going to be front and center. I'm doing a steampunk ensemble, naturally. I started thinking about what I wanted to wear, then I got to thinking, "Maybe I'll be a stereotypical vampire. Corset, slinky skirt, elbow length gloves ..." and then it totally morphed. I started adding more and more shit to it until it suddenly became steampunk. I'm even going to werewolf it up a little by wearing my contacts and fangs. I'll be wearing my wavy platinum white Dumbledore wig as well. Or maybe my Cissa wig, I'm really not sure. I've got 24 hours to decide!

There's nothing more exciting than being able to pull something out of my stock of stuff and create something completely different. I'm even wearing some window treatments! Two of them, to be exact. And a rabbit pelt donated by in_motu_proprio. The only thing I have to do now is think of a name. I don't even know what my character does. Maybe she's a professional gambler? Yeah, that sounds right.

The weekend is looking phenominal. The Weather Channel people are even jealous of us here in Chicago (I think they're around the Atlanta are, because one of them mentioned it once) because they keep swooning over it.

Time for some last minute errands, then to work, then to sleep ... then to work early again, and THEN Acen. Phew!

Too much of a good thing ...

Tue, 05 May 2009 18:59:04 GMT

Well, my day yesterday was better than usual. No work, lazed around most of the day with nothing to do. It's good, though. I need to relax myself before my weekend of crazy awesome.

Started packing, got all my table stuff in my suitcase with no room for the rest of my stuff. Costumes fit in 1 dress bag, rest of my stuff fits in a small duffle bag. 1 bag of snacks and 3 12-packs of soda. That's it, not bad considering I can fill the trunk with nothing but my stuff normally.

Got an e-mail from none other than Glockgal, one of my favorite HP artists, to inform me that my design had been picked for the Azkatraz convention t-shirt contest. Wow, I was so not expecting that. I'd come up with about a half a dozen designs, so I guess it helps when you have a lot of choices right off the bat. It's not only a good thing that you all going to Azkatraz will be wearing my design across your boobs, it's also a great graphic design portfolio piece. I do have to say that in_motu_proprio gave me the dementor idea, so part of its success is from her input.

The other good news that made my day was that my lovely lady stupid_drawings will be attending Azkatraz. I'm so excited, even more so than I was before. I might explode. Siriusly.

Now that ACen is right around the corner and costuming for that is done, it's time to start thinking on my sewing projects for Azk. So as of right now, my tentative Azk costumes are as follows: Quidditch Harry, green version Narcissa, and Young Dumbles as new costumes. Then, I'll probably bring one Harry outfit (I've got 3 ideas for new Harry outfits and then 2 other Harry's I'm willing to bring, the problem is going to be picking just one) and I have to bring Snape now that I have my bad ass Death Eater mask. On top of my own costumes, I've got 3 others to make. Oh joy. 6 costumes to make, let's hope it'll happen. Fingers crossed.

Ohhh why can't it be Friday?

Sat, 02 May 2009 15:37:00 GMT

I'm getting those nervous jitters, and my stomach is making those ... 'sounds' that us girls know as our favorite time of the month. It better come now, I'll not go through ANOTHER Acen on that.

Pulled out the suitcase, realized my gun WILL fit in it and got ecstatic. Irvine's gun will be coming with me to D*C! I hope it makes it, structurally.

I'm really really trying my best to NOT over pack for ACen, but that's near to impossible for me. I'm even bringin 2 suitcases just because I want a smaller wheeled one with me to drag my crap to the table. Gotta go shopping for some food necessities so I'm not buying a $15 burger at the bar in the Hyatt. Or the $4 water bottles in the gift shop. I swear, they jack up the prices JUST for the cons. They've got separate menus for 'anime otaku' and 'normal costumers'.

Got some Crystal Ball pics made, now I just need to do Terminus, and the rest of Portus. man, it sucks to actually have to PAY for these photos ...

Oh, and I sold a Mario star purse on my etsy. Boo-yah.

A mish mash of things

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:01:27 GMT

Welp, lots of things going on with less than 10 days to go until the official start of my con season. And I still haven't finished getting my photos developed from Terminus and the Crystal Ball ... better get on that.

Irvine is DONE. 100% not touching it any more. Photo on my dA and Facebook, I'm too lazy to link a photo here. Well, I might fix the bottom of the chap that keeps flipping up and showing the ugly side. I've decided not to make Academy Training Izuru for ACen, but probably for D*C. It's a simple costume, I don't need a sword (just a book). It'll be good to bring a costume with so little pieces to D*C.

The Crystler (my old car) is acting up again. To fix it would cost more than what the car is worth. The AC compressor shaft is clanking obnoxiously and would cost $1500 to fix it. Although if we don't, it'll probably explode off and rip apart fan belts and gut the engine. I haven't needed the AC in that car for the last 3 years I had it, it doesn't need to be fixed now. There's just no way this car is going to survive much longer. We're looking into trading it and the Plymouth in for a slightly newer used car for my brother, but that's just it. It's for my brother. He'll not pay for it, so it falls on my mother's shoulders to get him something. That Crystler has a LOT of miles on it, it's due to be dumped. It went through years of toting my brother back and forth to Aurora for a school he was kicked out of, and then I had it for about 50,000 miles and didn't exactly treat it as I should've. 1 accident, 3 run ins with a pole. Ok, so that's not THAT bad. I'm certainly a better driver these days.

The Harry Potter exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry is opening tomorrow. I can't believe all the stuff that's going to be there. From what I've glanced at so far, this is WAY bigger and WAY more bad ass than the Star Wars exhibit I saw way back when. I'm definitely going to be going more than once, taking photos each and every time. Probably in costume, at least a casual student Harry if not Snape. Boy am I glad to live in Chicago! I'm trying not to spoil myself, but one of the things I'm most excited to see is the Angel of Death tombstone from GoF. I'm also hoping they'll have an exhibit collection photo book to buy, the closest thing I'll get to having a movie companion. They actually have an audio tour I might do as well. You even get to hear from the costume designer from the films.

Keidy is home from her stint in Japan after suffering some health issues. She wasn't happy, that was the bottom line. It seems like Japan is a harsh place to live by yourself if you're a friendly person like Keidy. I'm sure if she'd gone with someone else, it would've been much easier. When she was finalizing her return home, Keidy went all out on last minute buys. And to my surprise, Keidy gave me a whole goodie bag of stuff. I got Bleach notebooks, Bleach folder, Bleach stress ball, Bleach pencil boards, and a ton of Gackt stuff, some of which she got for free. I got 2 window cling things from what I believe is his first R&R concert, a Sixth Day Gackt card, the same thing I got when I bought my own Sith Day except the photo is of Oasis Gackt instead. I also got some old stickers, they look like they're from just after his MM days, and a Seventh Night guitar shaped cel phone dangle. But the creme de la creme is the newer Gackt stuff. I got a Ghost R&RII cel phone dangle, a R&RII purse, and 2 R&RII posters. All of that is official concert only merchandise, too so it's super awesome. I also got the Ghost single and the Kamen Rider Destiny single. Keidy is the BEST! It was like a second birthday, she doesn't have to get me a Birthday or Christmas present this year, that's for sure. Although she didn't find me the boob pudding I'd asked for :(

I also would like to mention that my brother has started some light anti-depressant meds. I'm surprised to say that I'm starting to see an improvement. He's actually told me that he feels like he should clean himself up now before he heads out. He's cleaning up his mess down stairs, and he's been doing an amazing job on the yard work this week and last week. This really might be the break we've been searching for. Although it's not going to help his SS Disability case we're trying to get for him. Who knows, it might still work out in the end.

It's getting harder and harder to go back to work, after I've had that wonderful mono vacation. It almost seems like good karma is coming my way ... but too much of a good thing, y'know ...

Costuming fury

Sat, 25 Apr 2009 17:23:25 GMT

Yes, that's right ladies and gentlement, this is another costuming post, brought to you by the letter C ... for ... cowboy ...

I've been working like mad on this project and I'm quite happy with the results. This is a prop for my Final Fantasy VIII Irvine costume, to debut at ACen this year (in 13 days!). I've been extremely lucky that my time has been well spent in the last month. I can honestly say I've done way more, learned so much in the last month. I don't want to give credit to the mono, but I'm almost glad I could do what I've done while sick.

I'm even starting to feel better about my stuff to sell that weekend. Just a little bit.

Next project will be the Quidditch outfits, if SOMEBODY would get me their measurments ... *cough alabastardragon cough*

Anyone watching that new crime drama show with Nathan Fillion? I keep frogetting to watch it. Krod Mandoon on the other hand, rocks my socks off. I love the 'sorcerer' that can't actually do any real magic. And that the big fat bald guy's lackey looks like Snape ... or the Berries and Cream boy all grown up! D'awwww.

And Deadliest Catch is back! Wooo! Mythbusters too! Yes, I realize how nerdy this makes me. I hardly care.

Oooh, we're suppose to have thunderstorms today. Awesome. Well, back to sewing! I *will* have this coat finished by the end of the day ...

Happy 420!!!

Mon, 20 Apr 2009 16:02:26 GMT

Yaaay 4/20! I don't have work today! Or tomorrow! Guess what I'm gonna do?

Yes, that's right. SEW. I was suppose to take my Sunday easy, but instead I spent the day putting together my fantastic new cutting table.

Saturday night I was setting a sale and found out that the really nice cutting table we had at work was going half off. So I came in first thing Sunday morning and bought it, along with some fabric, of course *headdesk*. And with the addition of my discount, I basically got an amazing deal on the table and felt very lucky. It's got shelving in the middle and the sides fold down, it even has castors (which doesn't work too terribly well on my carpet, but it's a good feature to have). With a few modifications, including possibly putting some canvas wrapped foam atop it so I can just stick my pins straight into the table, and maybe some sort of hooks to hang my scissors and meassuring tapes.

Now that I have this table, I won't waste most of my energy crawling around on my hands and knees on the floor to fit patterns to my fabric. Now it won't be "cut this out, sew it tomorrow" for me. And that may seriously shorten my production time. So I'm excited!

18 days and counting. I'm trying not to, but I can't help counting down.

Taking it easy, one day at a time.

Sat, 18 Apr 2009 17:01:41 GMT

I've finally gone back to work, last night was my first day back and it felt really good. Things were a little maddening, the store was a rather big mess, and I was rather tired at the end of it all. But I survived and all was good.

Dobby grandma gave me the most amazing present today, and something that finishes my super secret costume for ACen. I'm stoked, now I actually have a finished costume! Well, it's almost finished. A dye job and a little altering, in an hour it'll be done.

I've spent the last 3 days working on a commissioned costume, which is now 90% done and I'm super happy with for having only taken 3 days. Not my best work, then again it was a quickie. Then I've got the top to my Izuru costume, and Irvine about 50% complete and ACen cosplay is DONE. With luck, I'll have it all done before May.

Speaking of May, holy crap I can't wait to see X-Men Origins. I haven't been keeping up with that at all, and I've just seen the AMAZING trailer. Ho shit, definitely have to see that.

I really hope I don't burn myself out with this one con that I SWORE I wouldn't go mad with, costume wise. I've made 4 costumes, 3 from scratch. Then I have all of May and June to finish the ... 4, maybe 5 costumes for Azkatraz. And then I've got August to work on 2 or 3 costumes for D*C. I guess my average is 2 costumes a month. That's a bit nuts, for me at least.

*sigh* Time to rest before work. At least I'm not closing tonight!

Get me out of this place!

Tue, 14 Apr 2009 02:03:24 GMT

I've gone out! I've left the nest! I went to the thrift store (and found a bag that matches Harry's in GoF near to perfectly). I've done massive amounts of cleaning and organizing and now there's nothing more to do other than destroy my sewing room with projects. And oh I have projects.

This mono has warped my entire sense of time. I've got less than a month until ACen. The table stuff is FINE. I'm done with that, except the Star purses that need to be stuffed. Then I'm done.

I need to get cracking on my costumes now, working my best under pressure. I just hope to God I don't get sick again. Just talking on the phone had my voice doing funny things. It's widely known that once you have mono, it's really easy to get it back again for at least the next 6 months, so I should be relaxing. And I will, but I still need to feel somewhat active.

I started working on Irvine. 2 hours later and the chaps are 80% done. I'm ordering the hat now, and then all that's left is the vest, jacket and necklace. I can do this. No problem. I just hope once the steroids wear off I don't lose my productive edge.

I need the needle

Sun, 12 Apr 2009 04:48:22 GMT

So, I'm seriously considering another tattoo. It's been long enough This time, I'm considering something way out of the norm. Well, ok not WAY out of the norm. But it's not Harry Potter.

I'm very seriously considering a Rocketeer tattoo. Is that out of left field? Because it should be. I'm still going to do it, because it's classic and doesn't have to make sense to anyone but me.

Trouble is, where to put it? I'm thinking along my side, close to the hip below the ribs. Maybe the inside of my upper arm. I don't want to draw attention to my legs, and my outer arms are saved for other tat ideas I have for later dates. I've got nearly my whole body figured out. At least as much of it as I'd like to be covered.

The other option is to get either the map figured out or get the potion bottle for my back piece. I'm still planning on getting a full on gigantic collage of nothing but HP stuff, it's just the money situation that's keeping me from going hog wild. Actually, if I won the lottery tomorrow, I'd probably still wait a little bit before finishing the whole back piece in one go. It's all to do with experiences. Tattoos are experiences for me. Each of them has a date and a moment of significance.

I was trying to do one a year, but that failed in 2006. 3 years without one, I'm going to make up time by doing 3 this year. My 2008 was horrible, I wouldn't want to commemorate it with a tattoo, but I will think of it in retrospect as I widdle it down to the 3 I want to get this year. The Rocketeer is a definite, though. I'm leaning heavily toward the more retro teaser poster image of the very angular Rocketeer, but I found a fantastic comic book shot that would be equally ~~nerdy~~ nifty.

At the end of it all

Sat, 11 Apr 2009 21:33:40 GMT

Things that got done thanks to another dose of steroids: (I really need to watch it, I might abuse them)

I cleaned up my car. malfoymenace, remember how messy it was the last time we hung out? Yeah, that was about 3 weeks old at the time. So it's been sitting there for nearly 2 months. Gross.

Took out all of my trash, including recycling a TON of paper. I went paper cleaning crazy. Got rid of old magazines on my bookshelf to make room for new ones.

I found a stack of craft magazines that I cut out interesting pictures and typography to be used in photo keychains. I even found a travel magazine that had a cover article on Japan with cute little cartoons in them. I cut them up and put them in a few keychains and added some mixed media and junk. I made a few steampunk ones, too. If they still have these at Jewel on sale, I'm going to buy the whole box of them and make more. They're a ton of fun.

I made another pair of earings. That's in in the jewelry department.

My sewing room looks beautiful and clean. Just in time for me to mess it all up again with more projects. I did a lot of rearanging and perging of my costume rack. It was getting a little on the shaky side with how many costumes were on it. I moved ones I knew I'd never wear again to a closet and the rack didn't seem quite so unstable. And I'm just now realizing how much I've progressed in my sewing. My old stuff was falling apart as I moved them. The stuff I make now seems way more ... I dunno, solid.

I've got 2 more drawstring bags and a rubber stamp embelished red velvet dice bag to finish, a retro dress to finish, an ACen costume that's about 70% done, a shirt that needs to be aged and dyed a slightly darker shade of grey (how does one do this? Just dip it in black rit dye for a very short soak? Tips are greatly appreciated!) and a zipper that needs to be replaced in another dress.

And yes, I plan on getting this all done today and tomorrow. Well, at least SOME of it. All of it might be a bit of a stretch for me.

Artsty post, brought to you by the letter S!

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 18:34:00 GMT

Steroids are a magnificent thing. It's a shame athletes abuse them and they get a bad wrap.

One side effect is an increase in energy, or restlessness. Well that doesn't do well when I'm trying to go to sleep and it's nearly 2 am, like last night. On the flipside, I've switched my dose to the mornings so I can get to sleep at night.

Because of this burst of energy, I've managed to work on a ton of little odds and ends in my sewing room. I've turned 3 t-shirts I never wore again (because they shrunk in the wash) into drawstring bags. I have to say they are pretty cute, especially the one with the hoodie pocket in the front and the happy face stars, sun, and flowers on it. I also made a very cute pirate belt out of some really wide trim and a HUGE belt buckle. I fixed up a pirate tshirt purse's handles that didn't look right, so there's another one to sell. I've got 1 more drawsting shirt bag to make and I'm calling it quits for today. Can't overwork myself now that I'm feeling better.

I've got 3 Mario star purses to finish, just need the stuffing now. And I've got about 15 Golden Snitch pins to make. I've also got about 10 blank photo keychains that I found at Jewel on super clearance. I had planned to put little Auror badges in them for my party, but I ran out of time. I could still do that, but I don't want to make them ALL the same thing. So, anyone have suggestions as to what to put in them? They can't be copyright things, so I can just slap photos of Daniel Radcliffe in them and sell them. I was thinking of random pretty fabric swatches, or random collages from some old manga I had, or just magazines in general. I used to do that crap all the time when I was young. When I'd make mix tapes, I'd slather the cassette case with a taped collage of awesome. They were a lot of fun!

Then I'm DONE. No more crap to make and I can get to finishing up my cosplays.

I even worked a bit on sewing down some of the gathers in my 'Cissa bustle, to cut back on the pins that were in that thing. Oh, and added s'more lace to the bottom of my green and black skirt so now it actually hits the floor and looks awesome. All that's left to do of 'Cissa is finish the gathering, add more/replace the buttons on the black shirt, make the cape, and make a cute little hat. Maybe a purse, too. 'Cissa needs pockets for her cigarettes, as always.

Now that's not including the stuff I was working on while on my arse in front of the tv. I've made close to 40 different things to sell at the table, and I only hope someone's going to BUY my crap. I guess I could always list them on Etsy if it doesn't work out. But it would be really sweet to a) get some money and b) clear out my sewing room of some stuff. I've barely bought anything from all of this that I've made. More than 95% of it all was stuff I'd collected over the last year and a half of working at JoAnn's. If you have a problem with hoarding and you like to sew or craft, working at JoAnn's is probably not a job I'd recommend. From personal experience, of course.

Ho boy

Tue, 07 Apr 2009 16:09:17 GMT

I feel like I've been brought back from the very edge of death. THANK YOU STEROIDS! I can't tell you how close I was to going to the ER yesterday. The pain went well beyond 'worst sore throat of my life' and into 'how long would it take to kill me if I slit my wrists'. It was that bad, like ... THAT bad. I probably wouldn't have slept at all last night if I didn't have those steroids.

But thanks to my mother's wonderful nursing connections and a 25 year friendship with an outstanding doctor, I was given a perscription for steroids without having to pay for another appointment. Thank Merlin for that. If I'm lucky, the bill for the 2 visits to the clinic I had last week won't come until after D*C, so I don't think I'll have to worry about that for the summer.

I'm not 100%, but I'm better and that's something. I can swallow again, and that's really brought my appetite back. I even managed to sleep longer than 6 hours last night, and that really felt good. I even slept through my alarm that had to wake me to take more pills. Before, I was waking a good hour before it was time because the pain was so intense. This time, I slept 2 hours past that.

I've been watching so much TV, I watched The Fast and the Furious twice yesterday as it ran back to back on FX. God I'm so sick of commercials. Particularly the FreeCreditReport.com, lipozine, Rescue Me season premier, and those Comcast commercials. Maybe I should get a DVR. The one thing I hate the most is commercials, particularly when those damn jingles get in your head.

Hopefully when I get my second dose of 'roids I'll be well on my way to recovery. My mom called my boss the other day because it was nearly impossible to understand what I was saying, and work had called my cel to see if I was going to work this Wed. So she had to explain that I wasn't feeling good, and my boss went into a long story about how she had mono and was bed ridden for 2 months. I don't think it's going to be that bad for me. I've got my energy, I don't have a fever or nausea or anything like that. Just this blasted sore throat. So, with luck I'll not be missing ACen! Yay!

Dragon*Con

Mon, 06 Apr 2009 02:12:47 GMT

So, on a whim I went looking for a plane ticket for Dragon*Con, just wanting to see if there were any deals or anything. Well, there certainly was.

And I bought it. Cheapest flight I have EVER purchased. I'm committed now! Just need to find a place to stay while I'm there ...

Dragon*Con is going to rock so much, I can't WAIT to see all of my friends from Colorado, Florida, and everywhere else in between.

Update

Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:16:53 GMT

I'm in stage 2 of my mononucleosis, the worst sore throat of my life stage. My tonsils are completely covered with white gunk and I can barely swallow my own spit. It's draining on me just to swallow, yet I can't nap to save my life. I've managed to keep fluids in me, seeing as how ice cold drinks are the only thing I can really enjoy. My mom made me some comfort food in the form of corn fritters for dinner, and as much as it hurt to eat, it felt good. I was very surprised mom made them after I off-handedly said I had a taste for them. Her nurse mode is on full steam, it's going to suck when she has to go to work on Monday and I won't be waited on.

I hate viruses just about as much as I hate cancer. There's noting worse than having an ailment where the doctor says "Just rest and it'll go away on its own." I'm sick of this already and it's only day ... well hell I don't know what day it is of this, but I hope this major sore throat is the plateau of it and I'll start getting better or at least not getting any worse. Some sources say the sore throat lasts 1 to 2 weeks, some say 4 weeks. Some say the effects can last longer than a month.

I just really hope, for the sake of my job, that this doesn't last for a month. Not to mention being out of work for that long REALLY doesn't do well on my finances. I still have bills to pay and all that.

I actually purchased my Azkatraz plane ticket today. Now all I need to worry about are the costumes and the hotel. Excitment!

Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:26:19 GMT

Mono. I have MONO. When the Doc 2 days ago said to drink hot liquids and gargle with salt water and stay away from icy stuff because he said it was just part of my flu, he fucked me over. My throat is swollen to the point that I couldn't sleep well last night because I wasn't breathing properly. That sort of set off the alarms.

I have no clue where I got this. But I'm not happy I did. Another week out of work, eating as much ice cold stuff as I can, when all I want is REAL FOOD. This is getting to me. I love to eat, and this inability to do so normally is making me a basket case.

I'm sick of being sick!