The Prop (And Armor) Blog

I'm Back.

proplady — Wed, 02 Apr 2014 12:29:34 GMT

Had to deal with some emergencies and a trip out of town this past week to pick up supplies. I did manage to pick up some new styrene so I'll get that sorted out soon. (I may have to charge a bit more for styrene in the future--they jacked up the price per sheet quite a bit. Though I probably won't change the actual price of the sheets I offer--just adjust the shipping price to reflect reality instead of offering a discount.) I have a lot to do---as soon as I've finish boxing up and shipping out the 8 things I managed to finish at the same time. >_

March: In like a penguin....

proplady — Sat, 01 Mar 2014 11:47:06 GMT

Hoo boy. In another three weeks, we might actually get above freezing. The Polar Vortex needs to f--- off, or to go fight Sharknado or something.

Been frantically working this month, trying to clear my schedule. Had some annoying bottleneck projects that sunk my time, but I did learn much about using vinyl and wiring lights into things. Will finish up e-mail as soon as I can.

I could use a new video card. I bought two back in August and they both failed. (One did months ago and the other is starting to. Would have sent the first card back to get a refund or replacement, but I didn't have the BOX NPC code for proof of purchase, because I cut it out and sent it in to the company to get a rebate--which the company never sent me anyway.) Grr.

Must get more sleep...

I haven't turned into a polar bear...yet.

proplady — Fri, 17 Jan 2014 11:59:08 GMT

I was trapped in a work cocoon for the past week or so. Am trying to catch up on my sleep and email.

I was so busy that I haven't posted pics of what I did over Xmas vacation while I was away from home:

It's about 2' long and I think it needs more tweaks, but it's not bad for something I made from scratch....

Merry Chrismtas!

proplady — Fri, 27 Dec 2013 02:53:13 GMT

Sorry I fell off the grid for awhile. I went down to the Cities to work on a few projects for friends just before the holidays. (I also managed to get some clerical/office-y stuff done while at my parents' house, which should free up time for me later on.)

If you have some time this Christmas vacation season, be sure to watch my first joint Rifftrax, located here:

http://atopfourthwall.blogspot.com/2013/12/linkara-riffs-scrooge-1935.html

I want to do some more plushie design/construction work in the near future and make some videos as well. (The last few months, I've had to deal with some huge armormaking projects with some equally tight deadlines, so my nose was stuck to the grindstone for awhile.) I need to sit back and do some planning of my schedule so I can work in a few tutorials and site updates here and there.

Hope everyone had a great Chrismtas! (Not Christmas, CHRISM-TAS. It's a holiday I made up that takes place the day after Christmas, and you celebrate it by going out to Walmart, buying up as much 50 percent off holiday candy as you can, then gorging on it until your bowels scream in agony. This causes you to remember that you're no longer 8 years old and as such, no longer have the kind of metabolism that can absorb enough sugar to shut down the pancreas of an elephant. Then you scream "MERRY CHRISM-TAS!" at the top of your lungs and explode. Whoever explodes the soonest wins the holiday. Fun times.)

Still active...

proplady — Sun, 24 Nov 2013 13:17:42 GMT

I've just been trying to finish up five things at once (and things were extra busy at work thanks to a huge influx of Things That Needed Zippers Put On Them.) I've finally gotten around to finding and reposting an old article of mine:

The Not So Grand List Of Overused Fantasy Cliches

Considered it a bit of an Old Shame, since it's pretty much been replaced by TV Tropes (where I also did a bit of writing under the handle Amethyst.) Don't have much time to do writing these days (although I'm hoping I can carve out enough time to update my website over Thanksgiving weekend, knock on wood.)

I do have plenty of styrene now if anyone's interested. I also did some more MLP Plushie work, but I want to wait until it's completely finished before I post any pics...

Happy Halloweenz.

proplady — Sun, 03 Nov 2013 13:47:07 GMT

I finally figured out how to get Mozilla Thunderbird to work with my ISP smtp settings. I don't know why I didn't do this five years ago when I moved here. Just lazy I guess (or I googled the wrong answer to my problem and assumed I had no other options.)

I'm hoping to score some more styrene this week. My supply took a serious hit with some big armor projects this month (and I was too busy thanks to said projects to leave town and buy more styrene.)

Holy crap! I want to make something like this soooo bad! (Not sure how she made the scales. I highly doubt there is plush fabric or fleece in that pattern. She probably dye-painted it or something--I'll have to look at the rest of her site.)

In the process of cleaning. Found some stuff I'd like to sell on ebay. I should probably list my last BJD since I haven't really touched him in a couple of years and I don't have any social venues to show him off anyway. (Second Life pretty much scratches my clothing design itch during the rare times that I experience it and at approximately 1/100th the investment of money and time required to make clothes for a real world doll. )

Need to go to bed earlier. All-nighters mess up my biological clock and stomach.......

Still heeeeeere.

proplady — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 08:07:41 GMT

I'm hoping my website doesn't go down. (I'm currently in the process of renewing my webspace, so if the site vanishes, it should only be a temporary thing until I get this sorted out.)

Was insanely busy the first half of the month. (I reeeeeallly need to update my web gallery. Have over 20 projects that I need to post.) Haven't been down to see my parents since August and I have to get more styrene since I'm running out. I'm hoping that won't take me too long to do. (You can still e-mail me and ask about pricing and such...)

Metacon 2013

proplady — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 07:23:18 GMT

Hiyo! I did manage to make it down to Metacon this past weekend. It was a good thing I did since Lewis needed a little extra help with his live show and with lugging stuff to the Dealer's Room and back. (It was nice of the convention to give him a hotel room so we could store our stuff. That made things a little easier.)

I regret I didn't make it down on Friday Night. The hotel's printed directions were crap and I forgot to take my GPS. (Not that it would have helped. Lewis had the same kind of GPS device and it gave him the wrong directions.) If you don't know where you're going in downtown Minneapolis (where this convention was located,) down to the last degree on the map, you'll never get there. Not without a sherpa guide, a fleet of expeditionary jeeps and enough provisions to last a week or so. And even then it's a complete toss up....

I wore my revised Rita Repulsa costume on Saturday. So many people love this character and wanted to get a picture of themselves standing next to her (which is something I don't think I've encountered with any other costume I've worn. So I think it was a good choice of costume to wear. The only other kinds of costumes that I think would be even more popular would be cheesecake/beefcake costumes, and I definitely don't have the figure to pull THOSE off! ^_^. But Rita is something pretty much ANY woman could wear...)

I tried answering as many construction questions about the armor and staff as I could. (I had to take off the headdress/wig a couple of times when it got too heavy and oppressive. Something in the front of the headdress is digging into my forehead --enough to leave a welt there--so I'll have to put some padding over that part.) The staff turned out really well. It was a bit wobbly, but I wanted to keep it hollow so it wasn't too heavy to carry around all day.

Sunday I spent mostly in the Dealer's Room with Lewis. I had some handmade Kanzashi hair decorations (that I made a loooong time ago when I had more free time on my hands) and some Japanese novelty erasers to sell. I was a little more aggressive in my salesman tactics than Lewis was. (He's used to being laid back and allowing people who want to buy DVDs and things to come to him. I hope I didn't freak him out too much. Not that I bellowed like a fishwife or anything, but I did do a lot of smiling and waving and not acting very Minnesotan at all..)

I regret I didn't get that many pictures, even though I had remembered to bring my camera this time. I did record a few segments for Lewis' show in the Rita Repulsa costume, which hopefully turned out well. Once I got back home, I spent an entire day trying to set up and format my new, larger harddrive since I figured it was about time I did that. (The smaller harddrive I bought after the Crash just doesn't have enough room for all of my files and programs.) I don't have a smartphone and didn't have e-mail access throughout most of the weekend so I kind of fell off the face of the earth for awhile. I DID manage to save my e-mail archives and transfer them without losing anything this time, and I even got my Mailwasher software to work, although I'm not a big fan of the new tiny-lettered interface. I'll keep the smaller, 40g harddrive I've been using and use it if/when this new harddrive fails. Which it hopefully won't for awhile.

I'll try and post my con pics, if I can ever figure out how to configure my FTP client (The server settings I wrote down for it don't seem to be working right now... -_- )

Fuuuuug.

proplady — Wed, 14 Aug 2013 12:25:55 GMT

Hard drive died today. I was fortunate that I had just made a backup of my files, but I lost a day of e-mails. (I might be able to find them if I can crack into the dead harddrive. But I need some sleep first.) Spent all day getting a new harddrive and then setting my computer and just the bare minimum of programs back up. It's been so long since I've done anything like this that I had to relearn everything from scratch. (And now I will finally write down the procedures on paper and use that as a guide to setting up my computer in the future. Provided I'm not stupid enough to lose the paper. Which could totally happen.)

August Update

proplady — Mon, 12 Aug 2013 10:33:36 GMT

Yes, I'm still alive. Been a rough July. Had two major armor suit projects to finish and my computer and car kept dying on me. Had to get a fuel injector in my car replaced, then a coolant hose broke, and now the "Service Engine Now" light is on. I'm not sure what it expects me to do about it since I had to buy not one, but TWO video cards recently. (The one I bought to replace the card that died, has itself died. Since the 30 day seller's warranty has expired, I have to send that card directly to the manufacturer, but in the meantime, if I want to have a working computer, I needed to get a third graphics card.) Did I mention that it sounds as if my hard drive is dying and I'll need to replace that soon as well? I suppose if disasters waited for a convenient time to happen, they wouldn't be called disasters. They'd be called "Sh*t that happened that was mildly irritating but which I was easily able to deal with."

I'm planning to go to MetaCon at the end of the month and I've got my Rita Repulsa costume all fixed up. Still can't find any good online pics of it. Hopefully I'll remember to bring my freakin camera this time around....

Pants.

proplady — Fri, 12 Jul 2013 11:18:14 GMT

Had some trouble getting home from the convention --my car needed a new fuel injector and thanks to the insane generosity of my brother, (whose mechanics shop I should really give a shout out to), I was able to get it fixed for far less than it would have cost if I'd had it done in St. Cloud. I also swung by Lewis' place and recorded some more dialog for his show. Really stretched my acting chops. Some good stuff, although you'll have to wait a few months to see the storyline play out.

I'd link to the AniMinneapolis panel video I was in, but I look really horrible. Like I just had my Driver's License photo taken. I'll link to the info page for his new DVD instead. Plan to go to MetaCon but I would like to be a little better prepared next time. Maybe bring some actual stuff to sell.

Managed to find one picture of me in my Rita Repulsa costume at least. (Been kind of busy since I got back so I haven't had time to search for more.)

I'm tackling some complex clothing/armor projects now. It's just like Final Fantasy 11 rose from the dead and started kicking my ass this past week. Took me three whole days to make a pair of pants. A PAIR OF PANTS!!!!!!!! ARGGHHH!!!!! (Not as bad as the Zam Wesell skirt, but pretty close...)

AniMinneapolis 2013 Mini Report.

proplady — Mon, 01 Jul 2013 06:07:16 GMT

Oh yeah! That's right! I have a Cosplay Blog! Remember when I used to post pictures and tutorials of actual real life costumes and props, most of which I made myself? And remember when I used to go to conventions and take hundreds of photos, (all of which I carefully labelled by subject matter and day taken) which I then uploaded to an online gallery replete with exhaustive and detailed breakdown of my convention experience, including types of meals consumed and the number of respiratory viruses contracted from sick, snot-nosed babies dressed up in cute Sailor Moon outfits?

No?

Hunh...

It's odd. Now that I've become more convention-savvy and have grown to know more fascinating, highly regarded fanwork creators than ever (and thus, have far more interesting stuff to report on than I did in my early, gawking newbie days of anime/sci-i fandom,) I just don't seem to be able to muster up enough energy or drive to actually RECORD any of my convention-doings. I didn't even bring a camera this time around. I just..... didn't remember to. (Of course, when your car decides to throw a cylinder on the day you plan on leaving for a big trip, and you're trying desperately hard to try to get it into a driveable state AND you're trying to remember to bring all 387 components of the massive costume you plan on wearing, all the while hoping like hell that you didn't forget something, you're bound to forget something.)

But Amethyst, you say. Why didn't you just use your Smartphone to take pictures like 99.997% of the population living in the 21st Century would do?

Because I don't have one. Because I spent all of my money on my costume. (No...really...)

And I dunno... I'm also a Luddite when it comes to newer technology, I guess. (Ooh! Thick-armed girl SCARED of tiny talking box with moving pictures that captures soul! Get it away!!!)

Aaanyway....

I agreed to come down to the convention to help my friend Lewis (whose DVD has just come out, by the way, you should buy it if you like being cool and awesome and owning stuff that's as cool and awesome as you will become when you buy it.) Lewis had a booth in the dealer's room and I helped him man (woman?) it. He was selling plushie cybermats, and would have been selling copies of his DVD if they had been shipped to him on time. (Curse you, laws of Temporal Reality!!!>_<) Lewis had a sewing box and a bunch of fleece on him, so I was able to (at his request) design and make him a small plushie Weedle. And then make a pattern for him so he could make a similar Weedle. Which will in turn inspire all of his fans over the internet to make their own Weedles, and soon the Wheedle virus will spread throughout the land, like a meme involving a fat Asian guy and a stupid dance, and then, AND THEN... the world will become engulfed in orange fleece and fiberfill and I WILL RULE IT ALLL! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!

Sitting in the booth cross from us was Lewis' friend Martin (who, though I heard of him, I hadn't yet met) and his wife Marianne. They were both very nice people, although I didn't want to geek out and bother them too much since they were both working (and since the venue we were in was pretty loud.) I spent most of my time on Fri and Sat. in Lewis' booth (and helping out at his liveshow.) I did manage to walk around the convention, catch the sights and watch Martin's liveshow/panel on Saturday, which was lots of fun. After the panel, Lewis, myself, and our fellow AT4W alumnus Will, went with Martin and his wife and friends out to TGIFridays. I was hoping to get a chance to geek out and talk during this interlude, but the restaurant was (like the dealer's room) pretty loud. (At least, it was louder than the level at which I could carry on a coherent conversation. I'm a severe mumbler and I also tend to sound like this while I'm trying to make off the cuff conversation, so I can only hope everyone else understood what I was trying to say.)

After dinner, Martin and company bid us goodbye so they could get nice and endrunkened for their 18 plus panel which was to take place later that night. Will, Lewis and I headed for my car to get....the costume.

Then we talked to Con Ops and requested a room to ourselves so I could put on...the costume....

And no, I don't have pictures of "the Costume" unfortunately (although my friends took some. So did a great many con-goers as well, so I expect to have a few pics to post here soon.) The character was Rita Repulsa, and I have to say it was the best damn costume I've ever done. Not because of its complexity and level of skill, but because of the emotional reaction it got from those who viewed it. You would have thought upon seeing me, that those twenty-something kids were seeing their own childhoods sauntering up to them with large gray hair horns and a scratchy voice. Never have I worn anything that received such a warm reception. Kudos to Will and his awesome makeup job (which was so effective that one of the women who dined with us didn't even recognize me when she saw me in the hall.) I was invited into Martin and Marianne's Adult panel to do a little Power Ranger improv, but I fear it went about as well as that scene in Ed Wood where Bela Lugosi tries to do a TV appearance with an off-script comedian. (BTW, if you haven't seen that movie, DO SO. NOW. I'll put off writing the rest of this entry until you finish it and get back...)

......

Are you done?

Wasn't it AWESOME? The Burton/Depp team-up at its finest! A celebration of everything weird and wonderful!

...which pretty much describes me and everyone I know. ^_^

Anyway, I didn't get a chance to wear the Rita costume as long as I would have liked, since the drawstring to my crinoline skirt broke and the armor started getting a little damaged. (It was pretty much a test run, so I got to see the costume's strengths and weaknesses.) I did get a chance to say goodbye to Martin and Marianne after their panel was finished. (Although I don't know if Martin was able to remember me. I was in my street clothes by then, but I think I still had my eye makeup on. He might have thought he was talking to a giant sentient raccoon.) I'm grateful I got the chance to meet talented new friends and I'm thankful for the help my current friends gave me. (Here's another pluggy-plug for Lewis' DVD.) And get on Anime Detour's ass and tell them to invite Lewis and Little Kuriboh to their convention (once their suggestion form opens up again.) Seriously, they need to get on the ball about that...

On Sunday, I went to see my mother at the hospital she's staying at. (You'll recall she had a heart attack about a month ago.) She's doing much better (feeding tube removed, not in the hideous death coma she was in the last time I saw her) and she'll hopefully be moved to transitional housing soon. I also went out to dinner with my sister for her birthday and then walked around outside a bit, enjoying what I'm sure will be the last few hours before the monsoons hit us again. I should be back home and back to work by tomorrow. I'll get those Rita pics (that I'm sure exist) posted as soon as I can...

Back Home...

proplady — Sat, 01 Jun 2013 14:26:49 GMT

I went down to the Cities to see my Mother in the hospital. She had a heart attack and her recovery has been a very slow process to date--I worry a lot about my Dad who's in a deep depression and will probably continue to be until mom's condition improves quite substantially. I tried to help him out as best I could (I do have brothers and sisters down there helping him so I'm glad about that. Still would have liked to have spent more time down there although I know my obligations up here would've made that difficult.) I did finally manage to pick up some styrene while I was down in the Cities (as well as finish up some long running clerical projects that needed doing. Wasn't able to update the website like I've been wanting to--I've got tons more pictures to add, but I need to play catch up with my prop projects first.) I have managed to finish a lot and I feel that keeping busy is probably the best thing I could do for myself right now.

Well that and getting adequate sleep, which has been tough lately. (Having random plumbers pop in to reinstall drains just as I'm laying down to sleep in the late morning isn't helping matters.....)

Coming up for air....

proplady — Tue, 19 Feb 2013 12:31:18 GMT

Just letting you know I'm still alive and will try to get all of my e-mail answered soon. I've got my nose to the grindstone trying to finish up my old projects. I took time off from my outside job to try and finish up everything I have on my plate (and back burner) before spring and summer convention season sets in (as well as bridal-and-prom-dress-season, which is when things at the outside job tend to get busy.)

Wanna know how busy I've been around here lately? So busy that I actually cleaned out every store within a mile radius of hotglue. (Every project I do these days seems to require at least three packages. Sigh.)

I'm back!

proplady — Sat, 02 Feb 2013 12:21:38 GMT

Did some interesting things down in the Cities this past week. (Some top secret stuff that you'll find out about eventually.) I also picked up some more styrene. (I will answer all e-mail inquiries as soon as I can. The price of styrene and postage went up so I might have to adjust the shipping prices on my styrene price list a little.)

I'm finishing up about 6 or 7 things now. Not sure how I get into the habit of finishing a bunch of things at a time. It makes actually getting stuff out the door kind of bothersome. It's easy to spend an entire day just packing things and not doing much else. Which makes me feel as though I haven't really accomplished anything for the day at all. Sigh.

It is so flippin COLD. I always turn into a Sasquatch this time of year, developing extra layers of fat, hair, and wearing the kind of clothing which makes me look like an Eskimo with a cocoon fetish.) It's tough to create a good impression on someone when you look like that. -_-...

Enough complaining. For now.

Yowza. Been so long since I posted, I almost forgot my login info.

proplady — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 10:56:18 GMT

Been busy with my projects--trying out new methods and materials. (Well, better to experiment with those kinds of things now than struggle with them during the Summer Convention Rush.) It's been awhile since I tried my hand at sculpting and silicone mold-building, but here are some results:

You can guess what game/series those were from, can't you?

I did revise my armormaking book while I was home during the Christmas break. It was mostly updating links and references. I'm trying to finish book five, but I've had to play catchup after Xmas break. I did get some nice stuff for Christmas--money mostly, since I have little need for material things (other than shelving and storage boxes.) My employer did a clean-through of our workspace and gave me a ton of old buckles she didn't want any longer. (Mostly plain utility buckles--perfect for making belts and straps for armor.) She also gave me some netted and ruffled petticoats so that was really nice. (Since THOSE things can cost a ton even if you find them in a thrift store.)

Don't like winter. Car froze solid the other day and I had to take out a glovebox fuse just to get the interior lights of my car to shut off and not drain my battery. If we can get a warm day one of these days, I'm hoping it will thaw my car doors out so they'll return to normal. At least I have an engine block warmer in this car (not that that helps when I forget to plug it in...)

Starting to look like the place where I live...

proplady — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 11:22:26 GMT

Aww. The 1-1/2 year run of snowless winter was nice while it lasted. We got ourselves about 8-9 inches in the recent blizzard. It's supposed to get cold tonight and turn all of the snow into concrete. I've already cleaned off my car and I managed to locate the block heater inside it, but I'm guessing it will do one of two things - (a)not work or (b)set my car on fire. I do hope I'm joking there.

I finished a big casting project, but since it was supposed to be a gift for somebody, I can't post pics until after Christmas. Been working on about 6 projects simultaneously (which is always fun.) Thanks to the nature of enamel and epoxy putty (which I'm using a LOT of lately), I can only work on each project a little at a time before I have to set it aside to draw, harden, whatever...

Christmas came a little early for me. My boss at the alterations shop decided to throw away the vast collection of buckles her predecessor had saved up over the years and I volunteered to take them home. I go through a ton of buckles, especially in armoring projects, and I managed to snag a huge amount of doll sized buckles. (I've sorted through all of the weird buckles and clamps which I don't think I'll need and I was thinking of placing them for sale on etsy, along with a bunch of other stuff I really should get rid of. Once I have the time.... -_-)

I've been doing a lot of projects involving lighted panels lately. (I wish thatscoolwire.com would get with the 21st century and accept paypal already. It's because of businesses like them that I have to keep a credit card around. (A Ring of Power would have a far less ominous influence on my life... I'm always sooo tempted to use it, but I know I shouldn't, unless I know the only alternative is being eaten by Ringwraiths...)

Luna Plushie

proplady — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 20:40:30 GMT

Hiyo. This month was pretty brutal for me. (In the last week alone, I worked 100 hours and slept for about 10. After sending off my last pre-Halloween package, I collapsed and slept for about 24 hours so I'm kind of a wreck right now. But I am trying to pull myself together and set up my schedule for the next few months, answer e-mail, etc.)

I did manage to finally finish my Luna Plushie.

I've been working on it since April (it took months since I had so little in the way of free time thanks to my working two jobs.) God only knows when I'll have the time to make another plushie. This one is MASSIVE in size. You can see more pictures of the plushie here at my DA gallery:

http://amethystarmor.deviantart.com/

I have the plushie up for auction. ( I really need the word to get out on this. I waited until the plushie was posted on Equestria Daily before starting the auction, but it doesn't look as if many people have stumbled upon it so far.)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140876143839

Please bear with me, as I try to get things sorted out. (It was a busier than usual summer and Halloween. I took some time off from the local job to finish things up around here, so hopefully I'll be up to 100 percent before too long...)

Styrene Update

proplady — Mon, 15 Oct 2012 12:10:30 GMT

I did finally manage to get more of it this past week (after being delayed by an illness for about a week or so.) I think I've got it all shipped and ready to send to everyone who ordered some (as well as answered all styrene inquiries) but if you haven't heard back from me in awhile, (or if you've paid for the styrene and haven't received it or a message from me yet,) please let me know and I'll get back to you asap!

More Aries Armor Pics

proplady — Thu, 04 Oct 2012 07:22:16 GMT

Here's pictures of the Aries helmet:

I've been absolutely devastated by a head and chest cold these past couple of days so I haven't been able to pick up the new styrene yet. (I hope to by this weekend.) I'm one of those people who, thanks to her hermit ways, only gets sick every 5 years or so. (Unfortunately, every time I DO catch something, it always turns out to be a doozy thanks to my lack of exposure to disease. Sigh.)

I've found a local Walmart that has stretchy gold foil (it was what I used for this project.) If you want to experiment with some, you can try looking there. JoAnns should have out it's metallic/shiny PVC fabric in the Halloween/costume section this time of year as well.

The local Menard's hardware store has its Christmas decorations out already . I can buy 10-12" plastic Christmas ornaments again. (If I had more money than I do, I'd stock up on them as they come in handy for making rounded armor/masks...)

I want to finish my Luna plushie before Nightmare Ni--I mean, Halloween. I really need the Spare Time Gods to smile on me for this to happen, though...

MY LIFE IS NOTHING BUT GOLD

proplady — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 13:30:34 GMT

GOLD

GOLD

GOLD AND INSANITY

(Please right-click the images and select "view image" to see the pictures in full.)

I used the same technique as seen in my embossed vinyl tutorial, only I used gold foil fabric instead of PVC vinyl. (The foil, being thinner than vinyl, tends to allow for crisper detail in the decoration. Plus it's more reflective.) I also used a layer of 3mm craft foam to make the raised decorations instead of hotglue. It's very labor intensive, but it's also one of the only ways I know of to make a surface this shiny (without requiring even more labor or far more expensive materials.)

I ran out of styrene this past week but I should be getting more as soon as I can pick it up. (Mucho thanks to the friends who are helping me out with that, since I find my schedule restricted during the workweek now.) If you've ordered or are interested in picking some styrene up, I will get back to you on that. (Last week was just brutal, workwise, so I'll try to recover and get back on track as soon as I can.)

August Update

proplady — Fri, 24 Aug 2012 11:35:49 GMT

A lot of mechanical/digital type stuff failed on me this month (my internet went down for awhile--I had to call in the Cable Guys to replace my outdated internet modem AND take away the phone modem they inexplicably hadn't taken away back when I had cancelled my phone service. It was still spliced into the internet cable draining away the internet....juices...or whatever....) My e-mail provider also went down for awhile--I'm trying to catch up with the e-mail backlog now (and I sent out a lot of styrene this week. I'm not sure I got everyone so if you haven't received it after ordering it, please let me know at dietzt@cloudnet.com)

(Yes, yes, I know I should have switched to a browser based e-mail provider long ago. It's tough to switch e-mail addresses when you've used one for 15 years or so, not to mention all the stuff it's currently associated with and the HUGE number of old webpages it's listed on. Hopefully there will be no more outages in the future...)

proplady — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 09:58:23 GMT

I've learned an important and very expensive lesson tonight--the odds of the el wire you bought to install into your costume project actually working when you test it for the first time is inversely proportional to the amount of time and money you've already spent on your project plus the amount of time you have due before it's finished. Odds are also good that the part of your project containing the el wire will be the part of the project which you choose to do last, thus guaranteeing that when you finally open the package of el wire and test it, it will be far too late for you to do anything about it once you discover that it doesn't work.

In other words, don't use fucking el wire on your costume projects. Use reflective tape or glow in the dark paint instead. Or if you MUST use el wire, take it out of the package and test it as soon as you receive it in the mail. Don't be a fool and assume it'll work. If anyone out there can profit from my pain, I'll feel a little better...

Oh, and another thing I've recently learned-- Final Fantasy XIII costumes are every bit as soul taintingly, free-time crushingly horrible as Final Fantasy XI costumes (*coff* Samurai Relic armor *coff*). About the only FF13 cosplay items that don't suck my will to live are Noctis swords, but I've pretty much got those down to a science now.

It's a Little Late to Do Spring Cleaning...

proplady — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 09:58:24 GMT

...but I couldn't put it off any longer. I literally could not work because of the mess. I wound up filling five garbage bags (of mostly plastic scraps) by the end of it all. I've also got a lot of props which I'm working on all at once and I've been trying to make another version of Fang's Lance (which I felt compelled to redesign since I didn't like my old design for the hinge blades). All of this plus the hours spent cleaning has led to me feeling as though I wasted this whole past week, even though I know I've been working my butt off.)

I discovered something while vacuumforming today--you can take failed attempts, leave them in the frame, put them back in the oven and try using them again once the heat smooths out the styrene sheeting. (Said styrene will melt a lot faster the second time around so you have to be careful.) I didn't know molded styrene could be reuseable when you heated it up again. (Yes, my apartment was well-ventilated. That's why I had to keep the fans running and my windows open despite the heat. -_-)

Convergence 2012

proplady — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 13:23:31 GMT

Hello! I've been busy ever since I got back from the con so only now have I been able to upload my pictures. You can see them here:

http://www.cosplay.com/gallery/231050/

Will and I wore our Trinity Blood costumes to the masquerade. (We didn't win anything-- either our costumes had eligibility issues or our presentation was crappy or the judges had a seething hatred of hotglue roses and lacy collars the size of drive-in movie screens. I'm not sure what happened.) But we got some great feedback on our costumes. And all of the people who did win did a fantastic job on their costumes. The bar was set really high.

The thing that really bummed me out about the evening was the fact that I couldn't stay and allow people to take pictures of my costume after the Cosplay Contest was over. I was in far too much pain. It had been years since I last wore the costume and apparently I gained a little weight--enough for the now-too tight sleeves to cut all of the blood off to my upper extremities. If our friend and con roommate Chase hadn't been in the parking lot of our hotel doing an outdoor photoshoot right as the masquerade was ending, I wouldn't have gotten any pictures of my costume at all. (I wanted to wait for Chase to set up an indoor photo studio so I could get additional pictures, but I was afraid of my kidneys shooting up and out of my armpits thanks to my corset. I just couldn't spend any more time in that costume.)

I'll have to ask my friend Will to send me links to the websites/galleries of our con roommates. They were all extremely helpful and super nice. (I'll need to get and/or post the latest pictures of my Trinity Blood costumes as well one of these days.)

Yes, that is Linkara in my convention pictures dressed as the Seventh Doctor Who. He had been at AniMinneapolis the week before but as soon as he heard that his favorite TV Doctor companion "Ace" (or the actress that portrayed her) was visiting the convention, he had to come down and get her autograph. He also posed for some pictures with the Masquerade Best in Show winners, the Victorian Steampunk Doctor Who Ladies. (They did a stunning job on designing and implementing their costumes, and when you consider the sheer number of people involved in the skit, the fact that they were able to pull it off is mind-boggling.)

Lewis has some new interview and summer movie review stuff posted on his blog. You should watch it when you get the time.

There's so much more stuff I want to report, but I don't want to overload you with information. I've got some interesting projects in the pipe that I hope to finish soon. Thanks again to everyone who helped me out at the convention!