Bet you thought I abandoned this blog. No such luck. I am still working hard at trying to finish up my last term. Starting Sunday I move to night shift at work. I haven't had the time, energy or mental bandwidth to do anything really. Da Kitteh is getting so big. She is almost too big for my keyboard cover. Doesn't stop her from trying though. :)

This year I am planning on attending several cons, and I have decided I want to cosplay at all of them. I am still in the deciing phase of this though. So I thought I would do a stream of consciousness and talk myself through it. The cons I am planning on are Rose City Comic Con, Steam Con, Norwescon. There are a few more, but I am not sure what I am going to be able to do. Norwescon is in Seattle Easter/Passover weekend. I am going with one of my Eugene friends and her friend who lives in a different state. We are sharing a hotel room. That one is a literary heavy con, so I am thinking the one I make new for that con should be literary based. I am kind of leaning towards something from the October Daye world by Seanan McGuire. I don't know what to do though. It would be a fun one to play around with making masks and prosthetics, as evenually I want to make myself a Madam Vastra mask. That will probably be years downt he road, though. I think I need to go through her character respoitory again and decide what I want to attempt. I may end up doing 2 for this one. Though anything I make that is done before then I can use there too. I am hoping to get Talleg done soon so I can use her wherever. Rose City also has some awesome actors. Christohper Eccelston will be there. He was the first reboot Doctor from Doctor Who. I am thinking I need to do something from an episode of his series as well. Or maybe I will be more creative than that and research his other roles. I seriously considered doing some kind of take on the Steampunk Tardis, which I could also use at Steamcon. Researching it though so many people have done it. I don't want to do another tired out cliche. I need to think harder on this.

Well, I did do a little bit of narrowing down. I will leave you with a gratuitous kitteh pic.

It has been a very very busy month. I can't believe I have not posted in so long.

So, today I am going to share pics of my in progress rebuild of my breastplate. I am so tired. I finally got my stuff out of storage. I had to empty the Pod container all by myself, and ever since my joints have been randomly failing. I can't do anything to make it better. Carrying around heavy things is something on the rheumatologists no-no list. But Pods really soaked me on "fees" and I had no money left to hire anyone to help. I don't really know many people here, and didn't feel like guilting my coworkers to help, as I have to work with them in a small room in the middle of a noisy data center. This morning I was going up the stairs to do my hair before work, coffee cup in hand, when my right ankle and left knee gave out and I fell down the stairs and spilled my coffee everywhere. Da kitteh was SOOO excited. She found the biggest spot and hunched over it, growling if I got close.

Did I mention my kitty LOOOOVES coffee? She is so funny. The first time I drank coffee when she was living with me, she kept trying to put her head in my coffee cup. I explained to her that coffee is for closers, and she was a kitty so would never be a closer. She looked at me a second, meowed loudly then walked away. Ever since she has been desperate to get coffee. She will sneak over my shoulder and try to drink from my cup. She will sneak in the side and try drink it if I hold it too low. I have to hold on to my cup or put my hand over the top or she is drinking it. :/ I dropped some coffee beans. She found some I missed. She licks them or sucks on them...never chews them. I thought I confiscated all of them, but from time to time she shows up with one and starts tearing around the house.

Anyway....

So here ya go. I decided to tear apart my breastplate because it was ugly and not very functional. I couldn't find my dome patterns, so I just cut apart the old ones and used them as a pattern. I think it looked ok.

Then I took some armatur wire and plied it and made a frame. I used a glue gun to glue the boob cups in, then started to cover it with 2mm foam. I haven't finished that part yet. My idea for the rest of it is to cover it with kelp leaves. I was originally going to sculpt kelp leaves out of Foam-Mo. However that did not work out so well. So I ordered som plastic ones off Amazon, and I have started spraying them down with black primer.

So it has been a few weeks. I have actually been sort of productive. Along with working full time, trying to get my household sort of settled, studying to take the AZ 100 exam, and trying to finish my schoolwork, I have also been inspired to work on my Talleg cosplay.

If you remember, I kind of was at a standstill for a while. I am struggling to make the spoon maille work. I am struggling to make the chaine maille work. The breastplate was a travesty.

So...I was watching a Twitch streamer make some of her EVA foam armor, and I got inspired. I also got inspired to pull out the makeup and play around with it.

I have never been good with makeup. As a teenager it annoyed me, and as an adult I just never got it. This does not help with doing cosplay makeup. At this point all I do IRL is some coverup from time to time and lipstick. To be fair I love dark lipstick. But that is about all I do.

So this is the 3rd time trying to make it work, and I think I am getting a bit closer to ok. Here are some before and after pics of this time.

Better. Not great yet though. I went a bit too heavy handed with the dark blue for contouring. Under the eye is supposed to be a bruise. Yeah....noooo. Looks like blood though, so I may use that technique. Just not for a bruise. I think it needs more yellow and purple, maybe. And a little less heavy handed. My lips are also very lopsided. That is because they are. Looks like I have had a stroke or something. It is waaaay more pronounced in the makeup. I need to learn how to make that less obvious.

And the worst thing...the eyes. I have always reacted badly to eye makeup. I finally found stuff that will be ok, and I have no fucking clue how to apply it appropriately. The blue face makeup needs to get closer, and I need to learn how to do eyeliner.

I have a blue wig that goes with this, but I could not find it before I took the pics. I am still unpacking moving boxes and hadn't found that particular box yet. I did last night. I guess I need to try this again so I can see the full effect. I also need to get finishing/fixing spray and face primer. Those are both easily doable though. Just not till the next paycheck, as I am still trying to get my Pod outta hock. Well, not hock technically, just out of storage. They are expecting way more than they quoted when I first started storing it. I am hoping to get it and have all the contents by the end of this month.

SO the next thing I am working on is redesigning and redoing the breastplate. Because she is water genasi, everything in her armor is nuatical/water themed. I was watching this Twitch person making her breast armor, and got inspired to try something new. I found this stuff :

That is all for now. I will update as things progress. Which is slowly right now as I work through a ton of life stuff.

It has been a while again. I have been so busy trying to find a job I haven't had time to do much else.

I have lost a lot of wieght, as a consequence clothes fit me that did not before. Last summer I ordered a bunch of clothes online that were really really cheap, but despite being size 3x they didn't even remotely fit. They were more like 14-16, which is in the Large/Xlarge range. At this point things are starting to actually fit. This weekend is Kumoricon, and I haven't had time to do much cosplay building. I was just planning on going, playing DnD and taking cosplay pictures. But this jacket now sort of fits, and it is kind piratey....maybe? It had a really crappy zipper on it that wouldn't stay together even if I zipped it up without putting it on so there was no pull on it.

For some reason I didn't think of getting a pic before I started working on it. First I just cut off the zipper. Then I reinforced the button area. I have pinned all the buttons on, and sewed about 3 of them. I will then make loops to hook over the buttons. I have no idea what else I will do with it. What will I wear under it? Skirt? Pants? Will it easily lend itself to being turned into a cosplay for an existing character? I dunno. It is 3/4 length sleeves. I have a ton of silver buttons. Originally I was going to put buttons on both sides and lace it together. However I do not have enough of the same kind of buttons, so I decided to do the button loop thing. I have these pirate skull and crossbones buttons. Not enough for the sleeve cuff buttons, but that is ok. I will put dragon buttons on the sleeve cuffs. The color matches. Sort of. I also found a bunch of Halloween themed stuff I bought on sale last year. I have no idea what I will do with them yet, but I am sure I will think of something.

I need to get back to job hunting. If I come up with something cool I will post it.

So I have a ton of holes in my armor that look really bad. I am running out of time to complete this, as the con is 7th of Sept. So I decided to just try to make some easy simple 4-in-1 chain maille to fill in those spots.

All I have is shiny aluminum 16 gage wire, and I have no more money to buy any, so that is what I used. I am in the middle of the second sleeve. I figured I would make a strap to tie them together and strap em to my person. That may not be what happens after I try it out, but that is the plan.

The principle behind the 4-in-1 is to put 4 rings onto 1 ring, then attach those 5 ring sets together to make the piece. It took me a while to get it, but after I finally wrapped my head around the concept it went fairly smoothly.

I am running out of rings, and I have completely run out of wire. I still have torso and legs to cover. So I have some 18 gage wire, so I guess that is what I will make the lower body chain maille out of. It'll be fine, right? I still intend to finish the spoon maille. I just haven't had time and I won't have time to complete it before the con. This is just intirim stop gap measure maille.

Neglectful blogger has been neglectful. But busy.

Talleg is supposed to be done for Rose City Comic Con, which is here in a couple of weeks. I do not think I will get the spoon maille done. But everything else is progessing nicely.

Mainly done, I suppose. The vambraces need leather straps and buckles. I am waiting for leather strapping to come in from Amazon. I am also going to replace the belt strap with leather before I attach that belt buckle. I am working on the thigh armor, which will look exactly like the vambraces only thigh sized. And I will rivet it in the middle as well as the edges. That too will need straps. Then I will just need to decide how to do the upper arms and torso. Cause those will eventually be the spoon maille. I may just try doing some kind of intirim maille look thing for now. I also need to get my +1 mace done. I am making it light up and it will be a flange mace with angry waves as the flanges. I am kind of excited.

But seriously...I am really really happy with how the gorget turned out. That is the last pic in that bunch of pics. I had a few false starts, but it got there in the end. I used a SCA leather gorget pattern and modified it. The first one I did out of 2mm foam. It looked great, except the trim looked like it had been done by a drunk person and it felt like it was too flimsy to last long.

I opted to use real rivets. They are cheap leather rivets, meant for decoration only not real work, but they will do. For $8 I got a set that had a hole cutter, 30 rivets and caps, an anvil and a setter. Amazon has those cheap buckles for 50 for $10. They are all different sizes, which is what I needed. I intend to use them for the vambraces, leg armor, etc.

OK this is getting long, so I am going to leave it here. One day soon I will do a post talking about the silver gilders wax I used to make the armor shiney. But for now, I need to get back to it.

Ok....so I really ahven't done much this week. I have been playing around little with photography, though.

I really want to be able to do cosplay photography. I have been working at learning what I can when I can. I have not had a ton of opportunities to practice, though, so I find my skills lacking still.

I took my camera with me to VersusCon. I had some issues, and it was clear I did not have the best equipment. And it was clear I am still struggling to remember all the technical stuffs. I think the more I do it, the easier it will be to remember.

So here are a few of the pictures I took. They are....ok. My lens decided half way through the day that it did not want to focus. I also was having issues getting it to be unmushy. I don't have a light. I need a light. I am aware of this. I look at my pics and can tell where it could use a fill light. Also...going full automatic did not improve the pics any, so I think overall my camera was unhappy and just crapping the bed.

I tried to edit where I could. There are still several I think I may be able to salvage.


So I was talking with a friend of mine, who suggested a speedflash with a triggering system. I found some cheap online and ordered them. A bunch of other people online suggested I invest in a 50mm 1.8/f lens. Found one of those cheap too in a bundle deal with the speedflash.

Turns out the triggering system, though it says it is compatible with Canon, is not actually compatible with Canon. After some frustrating stops and starts, a friend helped me figure this out. The speedflash works, though, if I use the on board flash to trigger it. The issue with that is the onboard flash leaves wierd shadows from the long lens or lens hood, depending. I would rather just be able to use the external flash by itself. but I chose to get a Canon so unless I have the money to invest in a Canon brand triggering system it isn't going to happen.

I tested it out with the puppers. These are with the kit lens (18mm-55mm, 3.5/f).

Still not great, but I think I am moving in the right direction.

So Friday I got the lens and did some testing. I really like the 50mm 1.8/f lens. I need to play with it more.

I think I am starting to get it. I do need to get more people to let me take thier picture though. As I practice and get better, I think it will be apparent.

One thing is certain, though. This is MUCH MUCH MUCH better than a point n shoot. I don't think I can go back to a point n shoot. And I have a Nikon point n shoot.

That should be the epitaph of my life. :(

So.....

Everything was going OK. The mop didn't work. Mostly because the orange bit at the top started crumbling apart, and the more I tried to glue it the more it crumbled until it was more glue than orange bit. Looked really really bad.

I was like oh well. I will just deal with it. I got the rest of it done. I adjusted the gloves so the white stripes were less wrinkly.

Then this happened:

You see, I live with a family who has a 5 month old puppy. I very chewy, rambunctious puppy. She is a love, but she has had a predeliction towards my foam for a while now.

Up until now if I said no and put it up, she would leave it.

But this time...

She has grown enough that she can now just grab things off my desk. I love that puppy, but damn girl. She also chewed up the belt stuff. This made everything I have been working so hard on this week all moot. I no longer had a cosplay. The mop and the accessories is what makes it VCD Janitor, as opposed to a random construction worker or janitor. This happened the NIGHT BEFORE the con. :/

After I was done crying in the corner, I considered what I could do. Because I already paid for this con, I was damn well still going to go.

I still have my Aoifa stuff. Sort of. I have lost 45 pounds since I made her, so her bodice no longer works. You can read about that build by going to October 2017 in the archives. There are several posts about it. I was going to link one, but I can't decide which one as all of them apply. I think I also have them all tagged Cosplay as well.

Anyway...So Aoifa's breastplate is waaaay too big now. The fabric bits are all in tatters. All that works really is the front bit and the horned circlet.

So looking at it, I decided if I had something to cover the back like a cloak, I could just tie the breastplate on directly around the back. It now wraps several inches into the back when tied that way.

So I needed fabric or something. And I would need a skirt and shoes. So I talked to a friend, who generously drove with me to Goodwill. There I found a furry vest with a giant collar, a tweed curtain, huge ass earrings, and a couple of pairs of knee length boots.

Photo vomit:

I first cut the collar off the vest. I included part of the body so I had a foundation. Then I cut the curtain to length. It was already finished on all the edges and was the perfect width.

I....am not proud of the next step, but it was a desperate situation. I then hot glued the curtain to the foundation bit I left on the collar. It worked waaaay better than I thought it would. I like the cloak. I think eventually I will sew it firmly.

These were earrings. Huge ass earrings. I removed the earring part, which was just french hooks held on by a jump ring, and attached 2 safety pins with black chain maille rings.

Then I painted them with some oil based paint pens I had. Obviously they didn't work well, as most of it chipped off quickly. And the safety pins were shite. They were in a $5 sewing kit, and they kept bending and popping open. They did look good though. I think I will try to find some more permanent enamel paint for these and better broach clasps.

Boots!! So I have to wear footwear that supports my ankles. I have joint hypermobility syndrome, and my ankles and hips are the 2 most effected sets of joints. I found this out when I started randomly face planting and spraining shoulders and wrists over and over again. According to the rheumatologist, this is permanent. It is a consequence of this degenerative condition. No more going barefoot, me. :( That means I have to find footwear that 1. fits my short, wide feet and 2. will go around my disproportionatly shaped calves. Up till now the best I could do is ill fitting ankle length construction boots. But these.....ah these...HEAVEN! They are comfortable. They fit my odd shaped feet. They have enough support for my ankles. And they have the two stretch panels in the back so they fit my calves!! And they are SOOOOOO comfortable. And they take 2 seconds to get on and off. I long ago gave up the idea of the quick on/off process of the footware. I wore these all day around the con yesterday, and they were still so confortable I didn't want to take them off. No rubbing spots. No too tight spots. They supported my ankles enough I could still walk without faceplanting after hours of cement walking. If nothing else, this is the best possible outcome of this frustrating situation. I ended up with footwear I CAN WEAR. Sigh. And they were $5. And hardly worn. I AM SO HAPPY I COULD CRY.

Ahem...

So I had a long black skirt with slits up the sides, so I decided that would work with this outfit. And the horns were still serviceable. So VOILA!! New iteration of Aoifa!

By the end of the day, tired cosplayer was tired. We did a photoshoot out in the sun. My chest is soooo sunburned right now. Fortunately I had on sunscreen, so it doesn't hurt. And it will go away soon and be blaringly pale again in no time. (I do not tan. And yes, I burn THROUGH sunscreen.)

So overall I am kind of impressed with how it turned out. For pulling it out of my ass last minute.

Sadly it is not the last iteration ever. The boob parts partially tore away from the base part. The grommets are pretty much toast. So I just need to reinforce the rest of the boob parts, attach them to a different breastplate, and figure out a better way of attaching it to my body.

So the con is Saturday. I am pretty much done except for the mop. That mop is hard, man. It does not look like a normal mop. Of course it is way complicated. 

I have the mop head with the orange bits done. I found a hose. Now I just have to figure out the middle bit. That is the hardest part.

The middle bit is throwing me. And the actual moppy things on the end. Like the parts that actually mop. They are white clumps, which is difficult to figure out. I tried buying a regular cotton mop replacement piece. I was going to try sewing a bunch of them together to make the clumps. That...sort of worked, except it is way too stiff.

So now I have to rethink it. I have no idea how to make it work. :/

I need to get back to work, but here are pics of the bits.

I accidentally cut the pantlegs of the overalls too short. My calves are too big and don't allow room for tucking the legs into the boots. I thought I would cut them down and just tuck them into the top inch. Yeah. So I had this girdle I bought for $5 that is too long for me to wear comfortably, so I just cut it into pieces and removed the stays. Sewed them onto the ends of the legs to keep them together and looking like they are tucked in. Sort of works, but sometimes you see a flash of black.

Not to waste anything, I used the stays to clip the pieces onto the belt.

I think the belt stuff worked great. I still need to remake some of the stuff, but it will have to be good enough for now.

The bib on the overalls was way too tall, so I cut it off and glued down the top, and then glued the buckle buttons on lower. Then I read an interview with the devs of Viscera Cleanup Detail, and they said the shoulder clippy thingy was not a walkie talkie as I thought, but a bar of soap in a leather case. :/ SO I ended up having to remove the pretty lights I put on the front. You can sort of thell they were there, but it looks alright.

Last thing was the santa hat. I don't celebrate christmas. I just don't care about it. But in the Santa's Rampage map, either the Janitor has a red hard hat or a santa hat on top of thier regular color hard hat. It is July, but for some reason they don't have christmas stuff out in the stores yet. So getting my hands on a santa hat wasn't going to happen before the con. I have some red fabric left over from Talleg's tabard. So I made one. It is really crappy looking, but it is just a placeholder till I can find one to buy.

So the cert test came and went. I passed, but barely. A big chunk of the test was on cloud computering, and there was nothing in the study materials regarding cloud computing. Whatever. It is done, over, now I have several others to face. :P

Anyway.....

So for the moment Talleg is on hold. I am going to Versus Con in Seaside, OR July 21st, and I am going with my cosplay group so I need something completed. There is no way I will get her done in time, and I have lost enough wieght I can't use Aoifa, so I am going to work hard in the next 3 weeks to try to get the Janitor from Viscera Cleanup Detail completed.

Here is an example of one of the iterations of the Janitor:

There are several different color schemes, and what is clipped to the belt depends on the map and point of view, I guess. I opted for the Santa's Rampage version, so my gloves are red with white stripes, and the boots are red, and the hardhat will have a blood splattered santa's hat if I can get one.

I am still struggling with how to make the bib of the overalls look right. But I have the belt now.

I made a version of the thing clipped to the shoulder strap, which I am assuming is a walkie talkie of some sort. It turned out OK, though I put the lights on the wrong side and there is a gap at the bottom.

I learned that if you just iron 2mm EVA foam it takes on a leathery sheen. Looks kind of cool.

I also glued a magnet on the back to attach it to the strap. We shall see if that works.

Then last Saturday my cosplay group had a crafting day. I was able to get another clippy thing done and part of another.

They look....ok....

I am not really happy with how they turned out, but I think they are close. I don't like how poorly they are cut out. I don't like how much slop there was with the paint and the gilders wax. If I don't have time to redo them before Versus Con they will do. but I would prefer them looking....better.

Now to figure out the bib.

One of the cosplay members said they have voltimeters that are thrown out all the time and he would grab one for me if I wanted. I hope he really does come through. I will just hut it so it isn't too heavy for the belt.