Post-Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo update

The CCEE was awesome! I absolutely loved volunteering there. It was nice helping people to have a good time. Not only that, but I saw a lot of my old friends... friends I hadn't seen in years! The CCEE had brought me together with many new and old people.

Me hard at work helping people, lol. My friend Dustin
and his GF Lorraine in the background.

There were a few hiccups with the Expo. We projected high attendance (especially because of the huge names) but nothing like we had received that weekend. It got to the point where admissions couldn't let anyone else into the Expo because they had met (exceeded?) fire code capacity. Because of that, we had a few panicked exhibitors because they couldn't get their help inside of the Expo, and I had a lot of disgruntled friends on Twitter tweeting about long waits and how the Expo sucked. Interestingly, once they got in, their tune completely changed and they loved the Expo.

I found that kind of funny.

It was definitely a learning experience for all of the organizers. I think what this taught us is that geek culture is a lot more popular than we had all imagined. I learned that not from the backed up lines but from the many costumes worn by people of all walks of life, big and small, old and young, male and female. It really made me happy, deep down.

I volunteered both Friday and Saturday, and tried to keep Sunday open to explore the Expo myself. Sometimes life isn't that easy... I ended up coming down with a cold on Saturday night, and decided to sleep in and give myself some time to recover. It was a bummer because I really did want to see some of the panels and meet some people, but that's okay. I got to look around. I didn't even do any shopping, except for a replacement game for my cousin.

I did, however, get to see a lot of wicked costumes from my nice vantage point at the info booth. Here are some of the pictures!

My friend Devon and I. Devon made his own costume: a warrior from the Companions in Skyrim.

Me and Gir! This kid was sooo cute... he would have preferred
to drink his drink than get pictures with me, haha.

Quistis, (Drunk) Squall and I from FF8, in their SeeD outfits!

My friend Brennan as Gordon Freeman from Half Life. <3

My friend Luke and I... Though I can't remember for the life
of me where his costume is from! But he made it too!

My friend Dara in her Demon Hunter costume that she made from
scratch. She won Best Costume in her category! <3

Not only that, but my Chain Chomp earrings were a HUGE success! They turned out incredibly well. To be honest, I was pretty impressed with myself.

Elspeth. <3

Next year, Club N3rd and I are planning to do a group cosplay. 2013 is Year of the Plainswalkers, and I'll be making a Elspeth Tirel costume. I want to get started right away, too, so that there are no hiccups come Expo time.

The hardest part about cosplay, I'm learning, is it's so hard to just choose one costume and run with it... Bleh! I started playing Final Fantasy 13-2 shortly after my Winter semester ended and I am in love with Lightning's new outfit! She's another potential costume. So let's see... that makes:
- Terra Branford from FF6
- Dark Phoenix from MvC3/X-men
- Elspeth Tirel from Magic: The Gathering, and
- Lightning from FF13-2

... @.@

Anyway, that's enough of an update for now. Take care everyone!

Exciting news!

Hey everyone! I'm sorry I've been so quiet lately. I had a ton of papers to write, tests and quizzes to finish, yadda yadda. I just have finals to do now and I decided a breath of fresh air was in order.

*Breathes... and smiles*

So how have you all been? ^^;

Anyway, I guess I should explain my blog post title.

A couple weeks ago, I had my very first craft sale at my school! It went really well, actually. I was only there for a couple of hours between classes. I had a lot of people come to visit me, which was kind of nice! I also made a few sales and passed out business cards. I had nothing to lose by setting up shop for those couple of hours. So... I had a lot of fun and I have to do that more often!

My little booth!

I have been slowly pecking away at commissions that people have been giving me, too. I tell you... I can't WAIT to have more time to do more. Here's a few of the things I've been doing:

A French french toast charm for a friend of mine.

A pin made out of clay and handpainted with a logo from
the Nintendo DS videogame "The World Ends With You."

I love doing commissions because they're so unique and they're often things I would never think of. I guess what I'm trying to say is... I need people to request more things from me... ;P

Also, as I had explained earlier, my perfect first cosplay took a back seat when everything kind of .. didn't work out. I still wanted to be a part of the CCEE in some way, so I decided to sign up to be a volunteer for both the CCEE and a booth for my club, Club N3rd. The awesome part is that I know a few people who have serious connections with the convention, so it took very little effort for me to get my foot in the door (one text message, actually).

SO! I'm excited about that. I'll be getting my geek on in a couple weeks. Maybe not in the way I would have liked originally... but there's always next time!

For now, that's all I wanted to update you on. I have some exams to study for (just 5). So if anything else cool pops up, I'll update you! For now... back to being busy!

"My Perfect First Cosplay" blues

*Sigh*

Well, as I had mentioned previously, I wanted to make a Dark Phoenix costume for the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo (CCEE). Last week, I received 2 packages pertaining to my costume: the body suit and the boots. I was excited for both! ... until I tried them on.

I was swimming in the body suit, which was disappointing to say the least. I gave them measurements, weight, and everything. Not only that but I asked for no head attachment and they sent me a suit with the head attached. I was willing to make compromises and fix it myself, but why should I? I wasn't in the wrong... I had ordered it to my specifications and received the wrong item! So, I sent it back... it cost $20 to send it back, and I'm still waiting on word as to whether or not I'll get some of that money compensated. =(

The boots look absolutely fabulous. Unfortunately, my fat calves make it so that I can't zip them up. I tell you, I was so heartbroken. I thought I was making real progress with my weight loss, and even earlier that day commented on how good my legs looked. *Sigh*

... For most of the afternoon, I was on the verge of tears. I felt so bad about myself and disappointed about the situation. Unless I get the suit back in time and lose weight in my calves, I won't be able to do my cosplay for this years' CCEE.

I do want this to be my perfect first cosplay, so I would rather it be right than half-assed and lame. I know this now, thinking logically and not at the peak of my negative emotions. But last week was full of sadness. It probably didn't help that I had 3 tests that week (and another 3 at the beginning of this week). Now that I'm out of the onslaught, I can think a little more reasonably and think a bit more positively. If it doesn't work this year, oh well. Next year will be even better because I'll have time to prepare better, plan better, and a whole year extra of weight loss.

And that, to me, matters more than showing off a nice costume to Stan Lee... *Bites lip* ... there may very well be other opportunities... right?

Crafts+ studying + working = busy bee is me

@.@ ......

So... I must apologize for being so quiet lately. I'm just a smidgen exhausted. x.x

I'm doing my second wave of midterms right now. After that, essays are due. I'm also working a lot more, as I realized I don't make a lot of money every month. Working consists of tutoring, crafting, and taking notes for classes for those with various disabilities.

Despite that, I've made a few new awesome crafts that I will be showing off! <3

Mr. Saturn from Earthbound (an RPG for the SNES)

A baby cupcake cell phone charm! Because my cellphone doesn't
have any holes for charms, I put this on my wallet. =)

Pokeball stud earrings!

...and this is how they look!

Space Invader magnets! (These are especially popular with one of my friends.
He keeps buying them from me. I'm not complaining, I guess!)

Dr. Mario viruses. I pulled these from the original Gameboy game design.

Tetris-piece heart commission for a good friend of mine.
He's paying me in homemade chocolate truffles. :o

 ...so yeah, I reiterate: a bit busy. Mix that with my weekly weight loss video and a bunch of other random social-like things, and you get me... sleep deprived as ever. 

Flattering, I know. But hey, I'm still managing to smile!

I like to think, though, that everything is piecing together nicely. I designed and ordered business cards for my geeky crafts and I received them on Thursday! They look absolutely amazing! I ordered 1000... turns out 1000 is a lot of business cards... so I'll be handing them out like candy to friends, family, people I meet at events, with orders, etc. Besides, they look absolutely so cute and awesome. For those curious, I ordered them from a site called JukeBoxPrint.com. They had a fantastic sale at the time, so with shipping, my order came to only $35. Normally, the 1000 double-sided coloured gloss cards I ordered would cost $99... without shipping.

Needless to say, it was a steal of a deal, and I'm completely satisfied. If I ever run out of these, I will be ordering from them again!

Other than that, there isn't a whole heck of a lot to report. I'm entering a dodgeball tournament with my fellow Club N3rd members at 5pm today. I'll be dressed ridiculously in my hot pink Lululemon tights and my "Come At Me Bro" shirt. I'll try to get pics.

Take care! <3

Reading break: it's anything but!

Ah reading break... the Canadian equivalent to Spring break, though not set in spring and not nearly as exciting.

A week-long holiday from school with the expectation that students will read and catch up on various assignments.

Haha! Funny.

... As a diligent student, I will be doing at least some reading. I have 2 research papers to complete and a midterm upon coming back. I also have thousands of Magic cards, Final Fantasy 13-2, and Tales of the Abyss for the 3DS that I've been itching to play with. Oh, and of course the commissions on my crafts, hanging out with friends, catching up on sleep, cleaning the house...

Aiya...

This reading break, I plan to do everything above... somehow. I mean... last night, I made one of my commissions (another Nyan Cat perler) and I did 2 loads of laundry today, tidied up a bit, went to the gym, beat a random newb at MTG: Duel of the Plainswalkers for the PS3.. I even made my workout video for editing either later tonight or tomorrow. I'd say I'm well on my way!

Oh PS: I scored large on Valentine's day. Look at what I got!

A whole box of MTG: Dark Ascension boosters. Better than a box of chocolate any day!

Tales of the Abyss for the 3DS from John and the first Sailor Moon manga from my friend Andrea! <3

Tales of the Abyss seems pretty okay so far. Pretty much the same as the PS2 version, only they made the in-game content 3D. I was hoping they could somehow do some of the cut scenes in 3D too, but alas... that's me expecting too much, I suppose. I'll likely give a full-on review sometime in the future.

The Sailor Moon manga is so cute! It's very similar to the episode! I've been reading it on and off while I'm making dinner... thank you again Andrea! <3



I'm probably going to leave FF13-2 wrapped up too, for now. I have the collectors edition (because that's how I roll), and I'm hesitant to break the seal. =(

I like collector's edition everything... no good for a poor student.

Cosplay stuff is slowly being pieced together... I bought some fabric for Terra's costume yesterday. One thing I want to get my hands on is a sewing machine. I need to find someone with one, or think about getting my own. Bleh! Buuut check out what I have so far!

Some of the fabric for around her waist.

Beads for her jewelry!

A couple bracelets I bought at a thrift store. I might use the gold one for her hair... haven't decided yet.

 

Her cape! This fabric is perfect for it!

I think the biggest trick will be finding the fabric for her dress and gloves. I was hoping to find fabric with a flower design on it, but it's proving to be difficult. I even had a dream about how I might have to paint the design on myself with fabric paint... :o

Also, I got a text  earlier today from a friend saying he got all his Warhammer 40k stuff from his old place. Looks like I get to learn that this Tuesday! I'll tell you how it goes... I'm really excited!

Not much else to report. I'm pretty excited about the time off, but with all these engagements... I doubt it'll be very restful. =P

Any Canadian readers in the house? If you're on Reading break, how are you gunna spend it? What are your thoughts on 40k? M:tG? FF13-2? I need to prioritize my week! =P

Emotions... So many positive emotions

So this week has been incredible. So much awesome stuff. I'm about to share it all with you, of course.

First of all, the Calgary Comic and Entertainment Expo is going to be fricken AWESOME this year. Pretty much everyone going is amazing. I'm so serious. Check out the list of guests here. I'm probably most excited to see the cast of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Stan Lee, Katee Sackhoff, Jake the Snake, and James Marsters. But to name a few.

{ via }

When I learned that Stan Lee was coming to the Expo, I decided to take on another costume: Dark Phoenix. I would love to get a picture with him in this costume. Jean Gray as always been one of my favourite Marvel characters (along with Spiderman and Gambit). I did some searching around for some costume supplies and it's going to be an expensive costume for sure. There's nothing I can make cheaply other than the phoenix crest on her chest and the shawl around her waist. Everything else I need to buy independently and kind of put it all together. What this means is "expensive." The boots will come to at least $70 (on the plus side, many of the descriptions included the words 'stripper' and 'pole dancer,' so I guess I could always use them if I wanted to do a pole dance routine... x.x).

I'm still gunna work on my Terra costume. In fact, I bought some beads for her belt chain around her waist earlier in the week. Still looking for the red fabric for her dress, though... =(

Second of all, I was offered an opportunity to sell my crafts at the CCEE through a company called Project X. Discussions are still in the works, though after seeing the guest line up, I have no idea if I'll be able to do work it in. I'm definitely going to see what I can do. Maybe the guests could all come visit me at the booth. =P

Also, I got a wicked letter in the mail replying to some of the questions posed in the GTKYFB swap I participated in last week from my friend, Andrea (@lightmoonstone). Pretty much the coolest person ever.
PS: When you said your favourite TV show was Seinfeld, we were TOTALLY watching Seinfeld. <3
PPS: I love mail and penpals! Shooooot! <3

Finally, and probably the most emotion-filling thing yet, is the fact that I've had so many people tell me how much of an inspiration I am. As some of you know, I do a weekly weight loss vlog. I utilized some of the concepts I learned from Social Psychology to stick to a workout regime: namely the idea of commitment to a community to stick with goals. And the craziest thing happened... I had people come up to me, telling me how much I've inspired them! I can't believe it. I'm so humbled. Still a bit shy about it all, but.. I dunno. That was the best feeling, being told I inspired someone to improve their way of life.

It's times like this where I know my mum is proud of me and what I've done for myself and others. All of this was a nice turnaround, as lately I've been having just a crumby time with some of my friendships.

So... needless to say, I've been experiencing a ton of varying emotions this week: excitement, happiness, awe, humbleness, determination, and most of all, love.

Thank you. <3

Super Mario in Twi

One of the main dialects spoken in Ghana is one called 'Twi.' From what I can tell, this is a Super Mario skit, probably done on Family Guy, with (most of) the dialogue translated into Twi. Apparently there's a whole whack of other ones, but for the purpose of my blog, I'll share this one.