Supplies!

So Summerween Mabel is 100% purchased. I (hopefully) have all the supplies needed to make this ridiculous outfit happen. Now I just have an immense amount of work to do, and not a lot of time in which to do it. WHY DO I ALWAYS WAIT SO LONG??!!!

Anyway.

Bitching aside. I actually think this is going to go well.

MY TO DO LIST:

Dye all my items

Sew the "Jar"

Build the frame from PVC

Sew the hat

Carve and paint the foam into the jar lid

Glue a strawberry to the front

Sew a strawberry on my sweater

Paper Mâché and paint the Jack O Mellon

Finish Noodle (Gorillaz)

All by Tuesday. 

Wish me luck. 

-Vanessa*

Day two and three: Ichiban Con Oh10!

For those of you just tuning in, I spent most of the coldest span of days in recorded NC history at a frikkin' Anime con in Concord (technically) NC. The reasons for going are explained in this pie chart.


The convention was a blast. We had a great time laughing about the mass amounts of terrible Naruto cosplay. This one girl made up her own character. To make the costume she cut up a pair of jeans and she duckt taped one of the legs to her arm. On the bare skin! Unfortunately I completely struck out in the picture department. Part of my intent for the weekend was to bring you guys multitudes of comedic photography to eventually get loaded to cosfu. But alas, somewhere between a 2 am Rock Band tournament and getting my car jumped because it was too cold for my battery to function, I failed you. And let me tell you, there was plenty to photograph. Ah well.

So when you walked into the con, the first thing you noticed was the size. I know size doesn't matter and all that but...Really you guys. A map? Did you think people were going to get lost? "Oh my god I'm lost!Let me check my map.""Oh thank god. i'm in the front hallway."

We competed as the only masters in the cosplay on Saturday night. (as the only people in our category we ended up not being recognized for an award at all. It felt kinda like being snubbed by the dumb kids for getting all A's) Britt pulled an amazing costume out of her ass at the last minute. Again. Man she looks cool though. She ends up just about seven feet tall in the geta. We even had some girls pose with her for size ref. Didn't catch their names, but they were pretty cool kids.

So before you start asking if she is an elf or an ogre, she is a Shiftry Gajinka (an anthropomorphic pokemon) This is the basic look. She didn't get the costume quite finished, but the effect was the same. She couldn't walk past someone without hearing a "holy crap" or "Oh my GOD!"
When we went to the lodge to take photos, the regular (non con going guests) were both enchanted and horrified. The children were mostly enchanted, the parents mostly horrified.
The kids seemed delighted by the idea of wearing costumes all the time. (i'm totally with them) This one little boy watched a group of costumed nerds walk past and exclaimed "Daddy, It's just like Halloween!" Adorable.

As always she made everything with the exception of the fishnet shirt. In three days.Yes, even the wig. And that wig is a beast.

One of the biggest draws to the convention for me was Michael Sinterniklass. He is a voice actor and happens to voice Dean Venture on my favorite show. I have a serious obsession with the Venture Brothers, so meeting Micheal in May of last year was a total treat. He really seems to love doing what he does (voice acting in Anime and American cartoons, directing, producing) and it shows. He was super nice and such a big ol' geek. He's quite approachable, and he will approach you if you give him a reason. Like appearing sleepy at his panels. So I show up to the first panel he's in and of course He catches me yawning. (Rockin' out till 5 am took a toll on me) He waggles a finger at me and snickers. After the panel he follows me to make fun. He queries if he's being too boring. I laugh him off and awkwardly sidestep my way out. The next panel he's late for and i am actually resting my eyes beneath a pair of over sized sunnies. I open my eyes to him hovering over me. "I haven't even started talking and she's asleep!" He called me "sleeping girl" all the rest of the weekend. He was completely Hilarious in all his panels. I really do just adore him. Check out how he signed my copy of VB season two. Awesome!I can't wait 'till Animazement. I really hope he can come again. Especially since it's looking more and more like Venture Brothers costumes are going to happen. Wendy and Todd were also great to listen to. Wendy has been in the biz for years and her take on acting was interesting. She also does yoga and actually demonstrated how high she can lift her leg to show off her super cute boots. Todd was so adorable, and such a nerd. I really enjoyed his panel on stage acting. I used to be into to it and wanted to act for a living 'till school sucked all the joy out of it. So it was nice to hear from someone who loves it. Still. Terrible photo. I know. Sorry.
I would love to talk to all of them when there isn't mass hordes of 15 year olds asking them to do voices.

I mostly managed to avoid cameras while in my costume that may or may not have been a(n intentionally) terrible Pikachu Gajinka. I played it mostly low key and went with jeans and tee's all weekend. It was comfortable, dammit. Anyway, this was what I wore Sunday.
Forever 21 tee and sweater, target jeans, Vintage Dingo boots, Jewelry all my design.

I'm really loving these boots. I bought them on Ebay on a whim and didn't see too much use for them once they arrived. Now I wear them minimum once a week. Always seems like the stuff I just get on a chance turns out to be my favorite stuff. Anyway i love them now. They jingle like spurs when I walk. Makes me happy.

I don't get many vacations so this was definitely fun and cheep! Over all, this was an enjoyable weekend. God this post took forever to put together. I hope you guys enjoy!
Luv
-Vanessa*

IchibanCon Day one

"Fail con Oh10" was not as fail as expected. Well worth the $25 pre-reg price, I didn't feel ripped off by the $35 at the door price tag this convention carried. Of course there was an enormous list of things they could do better next time. But for a first year convention, they were relatively well put together. Now that being said, the general attendees were absolutely what i had expected. 14-17 years of age, and combined I.Q. of a group of mentally touched seven year olds. Also, conventions should disallow the sale of sugar and caffeine on the premises. Screaming, bouncing, squealing, Geez they were annoying.
Anyway,the first event we attended was a Ramen eating contest. Not much is more visually repulsive yet so alluring than a bunch of out of shape Weaboos shoving noodles down their gaping noiseholes. Friggin train wreck. The pant less wonder in tramp boots nearly noodles herself to death.
But what really disturbed me was the two different Girly Naruto cosplayers. They were awful. And i got to watch them cram Ramen into themselves so hard it nearly came back up. Yeah. Try and keep that down pigtails. Also, WHY are you wearing a bathrobe?
The disturbing thing about the costume is it's a common closet costume horror. In one of the first episodes Naruto uses "sexy no jitsu attack" in which he transforms himself into a sexy lady. This has been used as an excuse for lady Narutards to destroy the costume anyway they see fit, add pigtails, and tramp about the convention. This is one of my biggest costuming pet peeves, and I hate Naruto.
This is what he should look like.
Crouching nimrod. I really hate Naruto. I mean, why the hell would you wear and orange jumpsuit to sneak up on enemies?
This is basically "sexy no Jitsu attack" Awful enough on it's own without terrible interpretation.

I tend to use conventions as an excuse to dress like a 17 year old. I never get to wear the massive collection of cutesy t-shirts, so I opted for cupcakes on day 1. Mmmm. Cupcakes. I'm hungry. These amazing boots have been brought to you by Merissa of "Merissa Explains it All" Check her blog out!
Limited Silk Cardi, Delias* cupcake tee, Vintage belt, Converse All Star skirt, doubles up tights- Target and Hot Topic, Rad Blue Boots a gift from Merissa, Jewelry all my design

Made the earrings specifically for this weekend. Kinda love these! Also Merissa did the painting in the background. And yes, that is Ash of the Evil Dead Variety. Did I mention she is completely awesome?

In the next post I will go into day 2 and 3. Brit's costuming was amazing! I can't wait to share. So here's a taste.

Also, the fabulous voice actors! They really made the weekend.

luv,
Vanessa*

Little Black Rain Cloud

The first half of today was so pretty and full of promise. So much so, that I opted to wear all shades of black. (huh?) I felt like Pooh hovering over the honey tree. Just a little black rain cloud. I was perfectly cozy in my black leather boots and polka dot tights. Vintage black leather riding boots, target tights, vintage black linin skirt(altered), Forever 21 t shirt, Tagrget cardi, Bracelet all my design, earrings by Mora Steel
And all dark colors was the perfect showcase of one of my favorite Christmas gifts. My friend Mora (another jewelry artist, and co-worker) made me the most stunning earrings. The garnets and the moldavite look so pretty together. It was incredibly sweet of her if nothing else because of all the wrapping involved. I have made a pair before. It's a bitch. I also piled on the bracelets in my current favorite combination. The pink and black one is a bracelet from my "Candy" line, and availible for you to own and love right here. So One of my New Years goals is to Post more on here. I'm aiming for one a week. I have two more in the works so this shouldn't be too difficult. I figure this is the year to stop half assing things so keep on me guys!

I have a crazy weekend of Nerdy shenanigans ahead of me. My hetero life mate Brittany and myself will be hitting up what we have deemed Fail Con 'oh10. This lovely convention (actually called Itchiban Con) is being held in the Concord NC Great Wolf Lodge. I can't wait to watch the Furries piss themselves. In anycase we re going for the lulz. So early next week check in to see how it all went. I'm most excited to see Michael Sinterniklass again. I'm going to be not stalking him all weekend.
Luv,
Vanessa*