AVcon wrap up 2015

Now that AVcon is over for another year, I think it's only fitting that I do a wrap up.

As I don't actually live in Adelaide I had to travel down on the Friday. I also decided to take the day off work and make good use of it by going down early and I made it to Adelaide about 10:30am. First stop was Adelaide Moulding and Casting for some Worbla I ordered than off to Rundle Mall for some shopping, think crafting and gaming supplies. Than off to the cutest cafe in Adelaide, the Hello Kitty Cafe for some lunch. The food there is really yummy, the only problem is that it almost looks too cute to eat!

After Lunch it was time to check into my hotel, unpack and get ready for the night. I went with a causal Lolita outfit. I got to the convention centre just before 4:30, got my ticket, had a tour of the new convention centre and went to the meet and greet. The meet and greet was good, they had drinks, and it was really good to be able to talk to Yaya Han. She was really good to talk to! After the meet and greet it was the opening ceremony. Than off to the pre AVcon Lolita dinner.

Every year the Adelaide Lolita community has a pre AVcon dinner on the Friday night. This year's tea was held at the Hungry Hippo Board Game Cafe. It's this really neat cafe where you can hung out, play board games and have something to eat while your at it. 

I had a early started Saturday as I didn't know how long it would take to apply the body paint. By the time I was ready it was time to head off to AVcon. I brought a few things before heading off to photos with Yaya Han. When I went to have a photo with her, she recognised me and commented on my wings. Which was super nice. Afterward I had a bit more of a look around before having a group photo taken of the Adelaide Cosplay Girls group. Than it was time to get a paint of Yaya Han signed. 

After all that happen I decided to head back to my room and get out of my costume and have a shower as my feet and back were hurting and it was lunch time. I didn't do much in the afternoon as I was worn out. I did head back to AVcon for a little bit though.

Sunday morning wasn't as early a start as Saturday, and I ended taking longer than expected to get ready. One ready I headed off to AVcon. As I had entered in to the Lolita parade I was in full Lolita. There were quite a few girls entered which was really good. I didn't place but it was lots of fun being on the stage with the other girls.

After the parade I went to a tea party hosted by Moripop. It was located in the Maid Cafe in AVcon. It was really good hunting out with the girls as a few of the girls who entred the parade also went to the tea party. We were also treated to a dance by some of the maids which was really cool. 

Afterwards I didn't really do much at AVcon as I was really tried and worn out so I went back to my hotel room to start packing and relax a little.

AVcon 2015

AVcon is finally here! Only a couple of hours left till the opening ceremony and I'm really excited for this years AVcon. Why am I excited you ask? For a couple of reasons. 

For those who haven't heard the really big news earlier this year. Yaya Han is coming! For those that don't know she is a really great cosplayer and is someone I look up to. Her cosplays are always amazing and I am looking forward to meeting her.

This year I'm bringing out my biggest cosplay yet, a Weeping Angel from Doctor Who. The actually dress wasn't too hard to make, but the wings and the wig took so much work. So I'm looking forward to showing it off

I also decided to enter into the Lolita parade. I was thinking of entering last year but I couldn't decided on what to wear. This year I got my act together and was able to get organised early enough to enter. It will be my first time up on the stage. 

Lastly I also got myself a gold pass which I think will be fun.

So that's why I'm really excited for this years AVcon. 

How I made Chaos Blade and Highway Star

Today I will be talking about how I made Chaos Blade, one of two swords belonging to Gabranth from Final Fantasy XII, the other being Highway Star. I will mention Highway Star, but won't go into great detail as they were both made the same way. If you want to watch a time lapse of it you can find it over on YouTube.

First I did some research. I looked up photos of Gabranth and his swords and saved the ones I liked the most. I also brought a Play Arts model of Gabranth off eBay which really came in handy.

I printed off a photo of the swords I found and traced them on to some paper. Once that was done I changed the shape of them to match the two swords that came with my Play Arts Model as I was only using the photo to get a rough size and shape. I than scan it and using my height, and some measurements I took off the Play Arts Model, I made it larger until I was happy with it a painted it off. I stuck it together using masking tape and cut out the two swords. Using the paper patterns I cut a wooden broom handle to the size needed.

From here on when I talk about sticking or glueing something, I used a hot glue gun to do so unless other wise mentioned.

I decided to start with Choas Blade. I traced the pattern on to some EVA foam twice to get the thickness I wanted. Cut it out and stuck it together. I than cut out a slot for the broom handle and glued it in.

From here I used my model to cut out details and glued them on. Once down I marked out the golden bit that goes down the centre and started to cut a edge to the blade using a knife.

I than went on to sanding the edge down, sanding out the golden bit, and shape the detailing I had already glued on. At one point I came up with the idea of glueing craft foam over the broom handle slot to hide it a bit.

Before I started on Highway Star I made the solid ring that goes around the bottom of the swords and attached them together. To do this I cut out two ractangle bits of EVA foam, heated them out and glued the short ends together. I than traced the shape it made on to craft foam, along with a hole in the  middle for the broom handle four times, cut them out and stuck three on four of the ends. Before glueing the last one one I glued some EVA foam into it. I than glued both things on to the already made Chaos Blade and the yet to be made Highway Star.

I finished off Chaos Blade, by glueing some craft form around the broom handle.

Highway Star was made in the same way.

Ball Jointed Dolls

I love Ball Jointed Dolls or BJDs for short. I think they are gorgeous and thought I would share my BJDs with you.

First up is the very first doll I brought. Her name is May.

She is a Volks Super Dollfie Cute Girl May. I kept the name that Volks came with as I couldn't come up with a nicer name for her and I feel that May suits her.

Next up is Coco

She is a Volks Standard Model SD Coco. Once again I tired coming with a different name but found that Coco is suits her. I feel that she is like the big sister of my small BJD family always looking out for my other two days.

Last up is Jonathan

He is a Yo-Midi Boy Ryo Asuka. I felt that Jonathon suited him and I feel like he is like the annoying little brother who enjoys getting into trouble.

My first Cosplay

Over on the Facebook page Adelaide Cosplay Girls, they have been sharing photos of people's first cosplay. My first cosplay was one that was shared, and I thought I would go into a little more detail about it.

My first cosplay - Hope from Final Fantasy XIII

In 2012 I went to AVcon along side my cousin Megan from Biased Raincloud Cosplay. We just want for just one day. I heard of people dressing up as different characters, and thought I would give it ago. I didn't put much effect into it and pretty much throw it together either the day before or the morning before I was due to leave to head to Adelaide. I went as a Pokemon Trainer and because of little effect that went into it, I consider it less as my first cosplay, more of a intro into cosplay. Megan and myself saw so many people cosplay and thought that it looked like so much fun that we thought we would do it next year. 

I decided to Cosplay as Hope from Final Fantasy XIII for AVcon 2013. I think I chose Hope as I had been playing Final Fantasy XIII and he is my favorite characters in it. I decided to buy the costume off eBay as I had no sewing skills. The listing said it would take 4 months to make as it's made using measurements you give them. So I ordered it early in case of delays. It didn't include shoes which I find at Kmart, or a wig.

The wig, nothing nothing about wigs I brought from Cheap as Chips. They didn't have the length or style I wanted so I cut it to how I wanted. The first I cut it, I did such a bad job that I brought another one and retried it. This time less badly.

At the convention Hope was super comfy to wear expect for the wig. I had a red line across my head form the wig after wearing it for a short period and was given a sore head though out AVcon because of it. I hated it so much that I actually brought a better wig for it after AVcon. 

Cosplay Senpai

There are some pretty skilled cosplayers out who put out some amazing work. Today I thought I would share some of my favorite cosplayers that I look up to.

Please note I do not own any of those photos and all photos were taken from each cosplayer's facebook page

International Cosplayers

Yaya Han

I admire Yaya Han sewing abilities. Her ability to sew something amazing is out of this world.

Kamui Cosplay

What I love about Kamui Cosplay is her armour work. It always looks so good and she always adds details to it.

Shoko and Jerome Cosplay

I found this pair looking for Gabranth cosplays. I am still trying to get over the fact that their Gabranth was made out of foam.


Australian Cosplayers

Armored Soul Cosplay

I love Armored Soul Cosplay for her work with worbla and her ability to make such large armored projects.

 Floksy Locksy Cosplay

Floksy Locksy Cosplay had produced some amazing cosplays over the years, and so far my favorite would have to be her Yunalesca.

My Geeky Story (so far)

Hi my name is Sarah and I'm a geek. I love to play video games, reading (both novels and manga), cosplay and watching anime.

I thought I would share my background as a geek as a way to let you get to know me better.

This is my Geeky Story (so far)

I was a 90's kid, the youngest of four, and Nintendo was king. I can't remember which one we got first, but my first leap into gaming and geekdom was though the Nintendo 64 and the Nintendo Gameboy.

My siblings and myself would spend lots of time playing with each other and with friends on the 64. Our favourite games include Super Smash Bros, Mairo Kart, Snowboard Kids. We also enjoyed playing other games like Mairo 64 and Donkey Kong. Being the Pokemon fan I was, I also enjoyed Pokemon Snap, Pokemon Stadium 1 and 2.
Fun fact I got Pokemon Stadium 2 as a Christmas present one year and one of the first mini games I tried to master was the one where you had to catch eggs falling from the top of the screen using Chansey. To get a prefect score you had to catch all 100 eggs and it was crazy on hard, but I think that just made playing on hard so much more fun.

Oh yes, I loved Pokemon and everything to do with Pokemon and it was all thanks to my neighbour who introduced me to it. My very first Pokemon game was Pokemon Blue on the Gameboy and since then I have been addicted to it. I used to collect so much Pokemon stuff that looking back I am surprised that my parents let me get half the stuff that I did. Most if not all of which I still have even to this day.
During high school my love for Pokemon did calm down a bit. I was still playing the games, but I wasn't going crazy about all of the other stuff like toys, videos/DVDs, the cards etc. Now its just BUY ALL THE POKEMON STUFF!!!!!!!!!!!!

I feel that I should mention books, but there isn't much to tell, other than I read a lot. One series that did make a impact though was the Ranger's Apprentice.
While most other kids who read were reading and loving the Harry Potter series, I was in love with Will and the adventures that he would go on, most of which were with Halt. I started reading Ranger's Apprentice back in about year 6 (give or take a year) and to this day it has remained my all time favorite series.
I was rather upset when I finished the last book, that I think the only reason that I didn't have a breakdown was that I was on my lunch break, and I really need to go back to work.

Eventually the PlayStation 2 came out and by that stage my oldest sister had moved out and the remaining two siblings and myself decided we wanted one. It though the PS 2 that I really started to like different games than my siblings.
My cousin who was a similar age to myself discovered Kingdom Hearts and Final Fantasy X and introduced them to me. Both of which I really loved.
I remember trying to finish Final Fantasy X with my cousin in as short a time as possible and in order to do so we would take in turns to play so that the other could rest. We could not have been older than 12 or 13 at the time.

Small mention goes to Fire Emblem: Sacred Stone. I loved playing this game and only picked it up because I was looking for a game to take away on holidays and it was the only half interesting looking one at the shop. I ended up replaying it a few times, and want to play more of it, but for quite a while I couldn't find another Fire Emblem game. Until Radiant Drawn came out. It was good, but it wasn't great, and I wanted something more. Something only Awakening could fill.

During high school nothing made a big impact on me as the likes of Pokemon or Final Fantasy. I knew what I liked and I kept to those things and those in a similar category. That was until I became friends with a girl I was friends with at the start of high school but than drafted apart from.
We hit it off pretty well as we were both into gaming. It was during this period that she introduced me to a thing called Anime and Manga and it all went down hill from there (in a good way).
The first anime she showed me was Ouran High School Host Club and I was in love and wanted more. Now some of my favorites include Say "I love you" and Sword Art Online.

She also told me about this thing called AVcon.

After finding out about AVcon I thought it sound cool and that it was something that I wanted to go to. Which I did end up doing the next year. I had so much fun that I have been every year since (that was in 2012) and I have started cosplaying.

Its a bit hard to know about conventions and not know about cosplay. When I saw it I thought that it looked fun and that I should give it a go. My very first cosplay was Hope from Final Fantasy XIII. I call him my first even though I wore him and Edward Elric for the first time at the same convention as I brought Hope first, and Edward was a bit of a afterthought. Since than I have enjoyed making my own cosplays.

And that is my geeky story (so far). Thanks for reading!