Merry Chirstmas

Just a really quick blog post tonight. I just want to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and a happy new year.

Games I'm looking forward to in 2016

With 2015 coming to an end I thought I would share the games I'm looking forward to in 2016

First off is the long awaited Kingdom Hearts 3. Men I have been waiting for this game so long. So very long. Kingdom Hearts is probably the first single player game (beside for Pokemon and Harvest Moon) that I fell in love with. Up till Kingdom Hearts, when I wasn't playing Pokemon, I was playing party games like Super Smash Bros and Mario Kart with my siblings or friends. Until my cousin introduced me to Kingdom Hearts.

Second is Final Fantasy XV. Square Enix makes such good games and Final Fantasy is one of my favorite series. I have been a fan of Final Fantasy since I played Final Fantasy X way back. I kind of feel like I don't have to explain why I'm excited for this game, just because it is a Final Fantasy game and it is made by Square Enix.

Lastly is Pokemon Go. If you know me at all, you know I'm a massive Pokemon fan. I fell in love years ago when Pokemon Blue and Red first came out. So I have been a fan for awhile now. The idea of being able to run around in the real world catching, training and battling Pokemon is such a great one. I'm so looking forward to be able to do the stuff that I do in game in the real world.


In other words I'm only looking forward to Pokemon and Square Enix game.

My Very First Video Game

I have been playing video games for as long as I can remember. I have been playing since I was a young child. I also had older siblings who also played video games, so for me it was only normal that I got into gaming. I can't remember the very first video game I ever played, but I do remember what game was the very first game that was my own game. That game was Pokemon Blue.

I got into Pokemon though a neighbor who discovered the game and introduced it to me. I got hooked and really enjoyed playing it. I went on to borrowing Pokemon Yellow from them and loved having a little tiny Pikachu follow me around. Come on Pikachu is super cute, how can you not love it?

I have some fond memories of playing Pokemon Blue, like playing Pokemon Blue on long car rides to see family while listening to a tape my brother made. It was a recovering of the first couple of episodes of the anime, during the first episode my brother had recorded my name - Sarah, over that of Ash.

Ok so there is no hiding just how much I loved Pokemon back in the, not that I can say much has changed as I'm sitting here typing this in a Pikachu onesie. All I'm missing is my Pikachu slippers, and my Pikachu pillow. Yes, I have a Pikachu onesie, Pikachu slippers and Pikachu pillow, don't you? 

Supanova 2015 write up

About two weeks ago Supanova was on. I decided to go on the Sunday. I cosplayed as Dreadlord from Warhammar in the morning and Sabrina from Pokemon in the afternoon.

While I enjoyed, going I thought the amount of panels, screenings and things to do in general to be lacking. If I went for both days I think I would have gotten bored. I got there just before 10am, and ended up leaving just after 3pm after seeing the Matthew Lewis panel.

One thing I was surprise about was how little I ended up buying. I liked how much there was on offer but due to limited version in the morning while I was looking, I couldn't take as much in, and only went to a couple of stalls in the afternoon that stood out.

 T_T Costuming

 Kiri from Fireteam Serenity Cosplay

Why I Cosplay

As many of you would have noticed by now I love to cosplay. I know cosplay isn't mainsteam, but it seems to becoming more common and more people are getting into it. I find that explaining cosplay to normal people can be interesting at time. I am a adult after all, so why would I want to dress up as someone from a game or a movie, or a tv show?

For me cosplay is being able to show off your love for a show, a movie, a book, a game, or even just a character.  To me cosplaying as someone is one way of saying I really like this thing and I want to let other people know that I really like this thing. I also love the idea of bringing something to life.

I also love the challenge of bringing them to life and because of this I have learnt a lot already. When I started cosplaying, I didn't have much experience using a sewing machine. I still have lots to learn about sewing but now I can use one. I also really enjoyed the challenges of bringing my Weeping Angel wings, Chaos Blade and Highway Star to life. I learnt a lot from them, and I'm really happy with how they turned out.

I think the best bit is having it all come together and wearing it to a con. Having all of your hard work together and being able to show it off is a really good feeling.

Funny Cosplay Moments Part 2

Welcome back to the second part of funny cosplay moments, where I tell you funny moments that I have had in cosplay. This year at AVcon as you know I cosplayed as a Weeping Angel, this led to a few interesting moments.

I had a gold pass so I was able to get in early to have a look around, which I took full use of as I didn't know how easy it would be to get around and have a look at stuff with the wings on. This meant I was able to have a bit more of a chat with stroll holders.

One stroll holder, as I walked passed, told me no murdering, and we started to have a chat about leaving bodies in the toilet and how no one would notice the smell. Um ok than. The second one just stared at me and wouldn't say anything, that was until I asked her if she was a Doctor Who Fan.

The best reaction was from a boy who may have been about 13, on my way out of the dealers room and into the artist alley, I pasted by this boy who was going the other way. When he saw me, he stared at me as he spread past me, as he got closer he told me he couldn't blink, and span around so he could still see me and walked backwards into the dealers room. One of the artist in the artist ally saw this and had to laugh. 

Storage help

I have a small craft room so I try and make the most out of it. Over some time I hope to share with you all some of the different ways I store things.

One of my favorite things are command hooks. They come in different sizes and allow you to hang things. Which means you can get stuff off the ground if size permits. They have sticky pads which are replaceable that you stick to the back of the hooks and than on to the wall and when you pull them they aren't meant to damaged the paint which is handy if your renting.

Some of the things I hang using the hooks include my heat guns, my white broad, dremel, glue and a sword. All pictured below.

If I lived in the Pokemon world, what would I be?

If I lived in the Pokemon world I would love to be a trainer. With so much to see and do in the Pokemon world why would you want to be stuck in one area. What better way to see it all than with your Pokemon?

If I lived in the Pokemon world I would have to have Pokemon of my own and I would want a few. Not to mention that while I have a favorite type *cough*fire*cough* I wouldn't want to be forced to stick to one type of Pokemon like a Gym Leader. It wouldn't surprise me if I ended up with mostly fire type and than have a odd Eevee or Pikachu.

I also have a preferred area, I wouldn't want to be stuck in one area. I would love to travel across the land, searching far and wide to understand the power that's inside each Pokemon. It will be my pokemon and me, I know it's my destiny.
I'm sorry I couldn't help myself.

Like I was saying, the Pokemon world is getting pretty big now, so there would be a lot to see. Plus there are so many Pokemon that you wouldn't be able to catch the ones you love without traveling or hoping you found someone with a Pokemon you want who's willing to trade with you.

If you lived in the Pokemon world, what would you be?

Cosplay motivation!

Wednesday night I commented on Facebook about being the most motivated to work on cosplay at night. I had the whole day off and I could have spent it working on my Sabrina cosplay as SupaNova is soon and I'm probably not even half way though. Yet I spent the day doing other stuff and even when I went to work on it I still got distracted. That will teach me for leaving Warhammer stuff on my sewing cabinet.

This was not the only time it has happened. I don't know why. From memory I spent more time working away on my Weeping Angel wings either late afternoon or at night than what I did the rest of the time.

Surely I am not the only one like this, I would love to hear when other people get the most motivated to do stuff.

Updated Supanova 2015 plans!

With my Dreadlord all finished expect for the dragon with time to spare and having done a test run in most of it. I decided to update my Supanova plans.

When I did my test run I found that my costume is kind of hard to walk around in. Not enough to put me off wearing it, but enough to make me rethink somethings. First of I am considering not making the dragon as it will only be yet another thing to carry around and I think I will have my hands full with my sword.

Second of all I am planning on doing a second cosplay. Yes I know I'm only going for one day. I know I know but I want to cosplay the whole day and lets face it, Dreadlord is not a all day near summer cosplay. My plan is Sabrina from the Pokemon Anime. I am going to make the younger version for one of my dolls and take her with me.

So in the morning I will be Dreadlord and in the afternoon if I get it done in time I will be Sabrina from Pokemon

The Making of Dreadlord

As I recently finished making my Dreadlord I thought I would do a write up of how I made it.

The first thing I started to make was the helmet.

I started off by warping my head in glad wrap and sticking masking tape over it leaving a gap to breath and see out of. Than I drew a pattern on, and cut down the center.

Once off I cut one half into four parts naming each one.

I than traced each part on to paper, and modified each one slightly to get the shape I wanted. I used the paper to get an idea of how it would look once made.

I than cut out each bit out of foam and Worbla, covered it and stick it all together.

To get the added detail I drew the shape I wanted on to paper folded it and cut out. Than did the same foam/Worbla method.

Than painted.

I wasn't happy with the first shoe Armour I made so I remade them with just foam. I covered the shoes I was going to use in glad wrap and marked out the shape I wanted

Than cut it out in foam. For the attachments I used d rings and than scrap bits of foam to stick the d rings to the foam.

All painted

Once again used glad wrap and masking tape to get a pattern for my torso. I used some scrap EVA foam I had for the neck.

For the skulls I drew the shape on to paper, traced on to foam and covered with Worbla.

I also cut out little bits of Worbla for the teeth

I did the same for the triangle shape which I totally forgot to put on till after painting it. 

For the pauldrons I winged the pattern and did some practice runs for the curve to get the shape right. 

The little rings were made out of scrape Worbla and I hanged the fabric up to the pauldrons, to see how much I needed. Once happy I marked and sewed it together.

I did the same for the cape, only this time I used masking tape.

To attachment the cape I used Velcro as I needed a weird shape.

To make those I cut out three strips the same width, put a triangle at one end and than cut a bit off the top of two. I used Worbla for the balls and the skull. 

Once again glad wraped and masking tape was used to get a pattern of my legs. Than cut out a shape I was happy with, and used it to get a Worbla version. Skulls were cut out and covered in Worbla and stuck on. 

Same with my arm and hands.

I attached each part using hot glue

For the sword I made a paper pattern. Cut out on to two bits of EVA foam and stuck together.

Covered in Worbla.

Details added using Worbla.

Once all done primed and painted and its all finished!

Funny Cosplay Moments Part 1

When you cosplay, it is only a matter of time before you run into some weird or funny moments with involving other people. While this years AVcon marks my thrid year of cosplaying I have had a couple of interesting moments. This one will be a series as it could end up a long one, and the more I cosplay the more funny moments I come across. I will start with a story from the very first time I cosplayed.

The first time I cosplayed, I cosplayed as Hope from Final Fantasy at the opening ceremony of AVcon 2013. I was with a couple of friends, one of which was my cousin who was cosplaying as Miss Fortune from League of Legends. We went to the opening ceremony and decided to go the Pancake Kitchen afterwards.
It was on a Friday night and we were on North Terrace where AVcon was walking to Hindley Street where Pancake Kitchen was, one street over. For those who don't know Hindley Street is well known for being the nightclub central in Adelaide, just about every second building is a pub or a club and on North Terrace there is the Casino. Mix that with the cosplay folk leaving AVcon, you can only image what kind of things go on.
Getting back to my story, we were leaving AVcon, with my cousin in front, me behind her, with our friends following us. We didn't get far before we pass two guys (I think), one of them stopped, looked at my cousin and asked what I thought was "Who are you from, Final Fantasy?" She just walked past, and I did too, but as I did I replied in my Hope cosplay "Get your facts right"
It wasn't till we got to the Pancake Kitchen that I found out that they actually said "I will be your Final Fantasy"

How I got into Cosplay

Ever wonder how I got into Cosplay? Well your about to find out now.

So as many of you know I really enjoy playing video games. I have loved video games for as long as I can remember and have fond memories of playing Nintendo 64 games with my brother, sisters and friends growing up. So when I went to high school where I knew very few people I was able to bond with another girl in my grade over video games and we became friends. Sadly sometime in year 9 we kind of lost contact due to her being sick and I changing friendship groups. Fast forward to the year 2011 and the year we were in our last year of school we rebecame friends.
One day she told me about this thing called AVcon, a video game and anime convention held every year in July. We both thought it sounded like lots of fun and as AVcon had already been, we decided to make plans to go next year.

In 2012 I ended up going to my first AVcon with my cousin. I had discovered that many people liked to dress up as different characters from things like video games and anime to AVcon.  This led to me going though my wabrode to see if I could find clothes that a Pokemon trainer may wear the night before I headed off. I also stuffed a Pikachu into my old school bag.

After feeling under dressed both my cousin and I decided to put effect into cosplaying at AVcon the next year. This led me to buy my first cosplay, Hope from Final Fantasy XIII off Ebay. I also brought a wig from cheap as chips and shoes from Kmart. After sorting out my cosplay I ended up decided to make a cape for a Edward Elric cosplay as I had clothes already that I could use as a second cosplay.

I ended up having lots of fun making a cape, and wearing both cosplays at AVcon. I got hooked and decided to make more and as they say, the rest is history.

Fangirl Problems

I have something to admit. I am a fan girl. Here are some problems I face as a fan girl.

I don't just get excited about things. I get really super-duper excited. I have been know to get so excited that I lose my ability to speck and instead wave my arms around. This happens a lot at cons, you have been warned.

It's also normal for me to get weird looks when I talk to normal people. I think it's because of how into some things I get.

When you love something so much it's all you can think about and you try and find out as much as you can about.

You are willing to spend more than you should on something. Why I need another Pikachu, when I already have three? I don't know but this one is really cute and I must have it, and yes I need the Pikachu slippers on top of that as well.

You begin to have more shirts with references to things you love than, than "normal shirts". Buy all the shirts!

Loving something so much that you want to bring it to life. Yea I'm talking about cosplay.

You use words that either have no meaning what so ever to normal people or have a meaning other then the one your talking about, and people have no idea what your talking about.

Weird looks in general. I get so many weird looks for so many different reasons that I lose track of them all.

Those are some of my fan girl problems. Comment some of your fan girl (or fan boy) problems, I would love to hear them.

My hobbies

As most of you I have gotten into hobbies that to "normal" people either seem weird or strange, or is something they look down on. I get a lot of weird looks, and questions about what something is by those people. Mainly because they it is something they have never heard of and its something they don't really understand. For those reasons I decided to write a little about each hobby to give those not familiar with it a better idea of it.


I will start with the common hobby, video games. As most people know its a electronic game. Most people think that its for kids and that they are turning kids violent. Both things are untrue. People of both genders of all ages play video games, and there are many different kinds of video games. If your worried about the level of violence in a game just do your research, and most games should came with a rating.

I often use comics and cartoons as a way of describing anime and manga, just because its easier to explain what some thing is when you have something that the other person knows to liken it too. One thing a lot of people don't realize is that there is more to anime and manga than super heroes and kids shows. Well ok there is super heroes and anime for kids, but a lot of the super heroes and kids shows can be rather different to what your use to. There are anime and manga covering anything and everything, and targeted at all ages and both genders.

Cosplay is one word made up of two. The cos from costume and the play from role-playing. It means to dress up as a character and acting like them, but a lot of people just use it as a term to mean dressing up as a character. You can either buy or make your costume, or a combo of both.

Lolita is a street fashion that became really popular in Japan and has since spread from there. It is based on Victorian-era fashion. It features knee length dresses and skirts, with a cupcake like shape, its very modest and very girl, and can be very cute as well. There are many different styles of lolita but they all keep to the same outline.
I would also like to point out that lolita fashion has nothing to do with the book or movie of the same name.
Here's a photo of one of my dresses to give you a bit of an idea.

Finely Ball Jointed Dolls or BJDs for short. Like the name suggests they are dolls that are ball jointed. You can do a lot with those dolls and they come in a lot of different sizes. The smaller ones can be around 20cm and they can get up to 70cm or more. You can customize those dolls, by making clothes and props, changing their eyes and wigs, swapping heads and wiping off their faces and redoing it. A lot of people also like to take photos of their dolles.

Sophine & Toffee unboxing

 Recently I made a order from a shop called Sophie & Toffee, they sell cabochons, charms and dceo type things. I have wanted to make a order from them for awhile so I could make myself a new phone cover. I wanted to do something simpler to a deco phone cover I brought at a stall in Artist Alley the first year I went (2012). 

My order came well warped in bubble wrap, I didn't count how many layers there were but there was more than three.

It was than in a bag which included a cute thank you card.

Close up of the thank you card

I order air drying clay as it sounded easy to use and I wanted to try it out. I picked sky blue, scarlet and pink. Pictured above is the cute design on top of the clay, pictured below is the three colors I got.

I got two phone covers so I could make another one.

I order fake deco sauce in Chocolate and pastel pink, I have seen some cool effects and wanted to try them out for myself.

I got a tube of deco cream which include four piping tips which goes on the top of the tube

I only ordered five single cabochons which are 2 star confetti bows one in pink and one in blue, one glitter kawai (the glitter in kawai doesn't really show up in the photo) and two glitter hearts one in pink and one in white

I ordered a seets assortment mix grab bag and a non food assortment mix grab bag to get a mix of cabocahons as I didn't really know what ones to get

Now that I got them I'm looking forward to making my new phone cover