Holy crap, I feels old.

I had the BEST birthday yesterday! I am so blessed with so many great people in my life, and yesterday reminded me of just how much I'm loved.

To start off, my mom and brother decided to help me out by buying most of the stuff I still needed for an upcoming con (read more about that below). Fabrics, makeup, and a wig. So I ordered everything over the weekend.

Yesterday, Mike came home from work (he works at FedEx, so he works in the wee hours of the morning) holding one of my packages! It was some makeup for my Cortana cosplay, and I must say it is beautiful shade! We went to Subway to pay for my party sub I ordered for my birthday dinner, and I picked up my Avon makeup order from my boss/friend Lydia. I LOVE everything I ordered, I'm going to post pics and a few reviews on darkfirelabs.net when I get the chance.

Then, after a morning nap, my best friend Juney called to wish me a happy birthday, and we caught up and chatted for about an hour over the phone. Oh, and my friend Tiarra texted me a happy birthday. Mike then tells me he has a present for me. He had commissioned `SigurdHosenfeld to make a BEAUTIFUL Midna picture for me, at which point I literally cried since it was one of the sweetest things I've ever gotten, and Mike even made a point of having Midna look like she did in a descriptive idea I had a few weeks ago. I do hope he posts it soon, I want you all to see it. ^^

We then had lunch with Mike's friend Kyle at Buffalo Wild Wings, and had Cold Stone ice cream afterwards. We come home, I turn on Animal Crossing, and one of my neighbors greeted me with a present, then I open my mailbox and HOLY CRAP it was STUFFED with letters+presents from all the townspeople. After that, my mom called to wish me a happy birthday, and then my grandparents.

We go back to Subway to pick up my sub, and when I opened the box, everyone at work had signed a note wishing me a happy birthday, and taped it to the sandwich, and they did such a lovely job preparing the veggies on the side. I swear, I work with the sweetest people, and that's why I LOVE my job.


Here's the tasty feast of a sub.



We had a nice family dinner (that sub was freaking TASTY!), then we had ice cream cake from Cold Stone creamery! It was Red Velvet cake with Cake Batter ice cream.





I got a cute card from Mike's parents with $30 in it, needless to say I'm going shopping at Joanns this weekend, and I has coupons!

And here's a little project I managed to fit into my schedule these past few weeks. Yeah, yeah, I know I said this would be available months ago, but they're almost done!



And yes, the bigger ones are almost done.

Well, I'm officially going to my very first con next month! Indy GenCon to be exact. Mike and I missed out last year due to use not having any money, but we are determined to make it this year! We will be there all 4 days, so if you're in the area or are going to the con, please don't hesitate to meet up with us.

Sp, here's what all of you have probably been waiting for, cosplay updates. Ok, ok, I'll admit, I was planning on finishing Midna for GenCon, but she is just way too expensive and I don't have enough time. But I promise, right after the con, she will be getting all of my attention and she will be better than ever!

I've wanted to do Zero Suit Samus for a long time now, and over the months I've grown to love her design in Corruption more than Brawl. In Brawl, her colors are way too bright, and she is, well, way out of proportion. It was then I stumbled across this fabric one night, and I decided to make a Phazon-inspired Zero Suit.

[link]

My only worries at this point is finding the right pair of boots, and my wig arriving in time. Oh yeah, and working with spandex suits...again. Oh, and the GenCon staff being bitches about the blaster gun.

Aerith is pretty much done right now, I found a new, better fabric for the dress, so I'll be remaking that, I need to finish styling the wig(whyyyyyy must squeenix design such complicated bags?!?!?), and add a few various odds and ends. I'm debating carrying a basket of flowers around.

But my main focus right now is finishing my Halo 3 Cortana cosplay that I recently posted pics of. Hehe, nope, it's not finished yet. I commissioned ~godsavethequeenfashi to make me a wig just like the one in her gallery, and I commissioned someone else to make me a latex chest piece to glue underneath to the suit to give off a better appearance of being...nude, lol. My reason for focusing on Cortana is because I will be part of the 405th Halo Armor Community workshop at GenCon, and there will be a photo-op with me, Arbiter, and maybe an ODST or even Master Chief.

Also, I completely forgot, I never posted this here! I had started a thread with WIP pics of my Cortana cosplay a few months back on the 405th.com, and a few weeks later the Editor in Chief for the e-zine contacted me about featuring me in an exclusive article launching the new improved site! Needless to say, I was very shocked, especially since the costume wasn't even finished. So I worked hard at finishing up most of it, then did an exclusive photoshoot for them (which is the pics you see in my gallery), and they did an awesome job on the article! I even got noticed by Hawty McBloggy, in which she featured me in her blog as well!

405th Article: [link]
Cortana WIP Thread: [link]
Hawty McBloggy Post: [link]

So that's about it for now, I'll try and keep you guys updated over the next few weeks, but no promises since I'll be ridiculously busy. Just know that I love you all, and thank you for being so understanding and supportive.

Oh wow, I haven't updated my journal in a looooooong time. Well, better late than never.

Ok, first off, I'm NOT DEAD!!!(obviously, or else......who in the hell is posting this?!). Second, I want to say to you all, friends/watchers alike, I am deeply sorry for falling off the face of the earth. I know that I probably had some of you worried, possibly scared that something happened to me, but I'm fine, just been going through alot of shit. I had lost most, if not all interest in my dA and cos.com pages. I really don't know why, but I did. I just didn't feel like posting anything. I guess that's what happens when real life kicks into high gear, and you really start putting things into perspective.

I guess the first place to start would be where it all began. When I first joined dA I had just gotten over a very dark place in my life. My very first boyfriend broke my heart and dumped me, I was depressed most of the time; mainly because I had no life outside of working, then coming home and sewing/creating stuff, playing video games, oh, and sleep. I decided it might be good for me to branch out a bit, and show off some of my work and get valuable feedback. So, I joined dA. I have to say, it was actually a very big moment in my life. Little did I know that this site would change my life forever.

dA literally became my life. I was always on, commenting, browsing, and posting stuff since people loved my work so much. It gave me a reason to create, a reason to be proud of myself. Then, it happened; August 1st 2007, I randomly stumbled across this piece:



And that's when I met the love of my life. And my life was never the same. Nether one of us knew that just under a year later we would meet in real life. I gave up the life I was living in CA (or lack thereof) for Mike, and even though I have my moments of doubt, I never NEVER regret what I did for him, for us, for our love for eachother.

That is not to say that the whole thing was just a breeze though. Alot of things happened last year that really hit me hard; my cat Milo that I had had since I was 9 passed away while I was out of state. My grandparents moved out of the house that I had grown up in the past 14 years. My best friend of 14 years was going off to college. I was leaving everything I had ever known behind, all for one man. I seriously never thought I would do that for anyone, but God showed me different.

But after the move, after everything had settled, I was still going through alot. I was still processing everything that had happened in that short span of time. I eventually got over it all, but there was still some things that I had forgotten about. And then it all hit me; everything that I was secretly going through was finally coming to the surface. Everything that I hid away deep inside was coming out, trying to ruin everything I had worked so hard to build. I never realized how many bad habits I had, but wow, I'm disgusted.

My main issue; procrastination. I never used to procrastinate this much. I also lose my temper very easily, I attack those I love unintentionally, I'm really immature about growing up and doing grownup things (mainly getting my license) and I've become very lazy. I never realized I had all these habits since I was in survival mode most of the time when I was single and alone. But now that I actually need to be mature and responsible, I fail at every test, every turn, and it makes me feel like such an idiot. I literally have moments where I just want to beat myself up. I am becoming the very people I used to live with and was disgusted with.

And that's where Mike comes in. Despite my best efforts, he still loves me now, more than ever, and he continues to help me and support me through all these tough times. I try to do the same for him, but I feel like I don't do a good job. I feel so selfish sometimes, and I used to be one of the most selfLESS people I know. I guess I turned selfish when I had so many people taking advantage of me left and right on a regular basis.

The other main thing I've been dealing with is weight. Now, when I was back at home in CA, I was walking on a regular basis, I exercised every night, and I ate pretty healthy. Well, every since I moved to WI, I've gained 20 lbs, I've had terrible eating habits, and I don't get any exercise (except at work). That is one of the main reasons I've not worked on any of my cosplays, except one secret one. I don't fit into anything I made a year and a half ago, and I don't want to remake everything.

I hope this explains alot about myself and my recent behavioral change. I'm not trying to gain sympathy or trying to get attention, I just thought you all deserved to know why I've been the way I've been. And I hope I can make it up to you all soon.

So, needless to say I've had alot on my plate lately, which would explain my lack of progress on anything, and my lack of presence here on dA. I am however doing much better, we are going to be moving into a bigger house next week, one where I will have my own sewing space in the basement, AND for much less rent!!! What does all this mean? Expect alot of awesome new and redone projects. I also plan to get back into shape and drop all this weight. I need to look somewhat sexy if I plan to cosplay as Midna. I will make another journal once we get moved in, along with pics of the new rooms and a list of my summer projects.


Talk to you all soon!

A terrible tragedy has occurred to a friend of mine. I'm sure you all know Li, otherwise known as *pikminlink and all the wonderful cosplays and art she has contributed to this site and various others. Well, she really needs your help and support right now.

Last night someone broke into her car and stole over $1,000 in various items, including her laptop she uses for school and personal use. I think it's sick that some low life bastard would do such a terrible thing. But I also wanted to bring to your attention the caring and thoughtful journal of ~ryuchama . He has started a collection fund to buy Li a new laptop. Please, every little bit helps.

I'm planning on making some sort of plushie or something Zelda related to sell in which all proceeds go to the fund. If you have any ideas for me, please feel free to comment.

(Sorry this took so long, I got sick with a serious cold and an upper respiratory infection all last week. )



That's right, the discount slots for the Imp Midna plushies are now open and ready for ordering! I'm opening four atm, mainly because I'm unsure of how much supplies I have on hand to make the discount ones. If anyone drops out before payment or if I have more supplies that originally thought, then I will open them up again and/or open more, so don't be discouraged.

#1: =RolePlayWulf
#2: ~1unarSquall
#3: ~Clueless-studios
#4: Open

I was finally able to settle on a discount price for the plushies, which came out to $130 each. I will require a payment of $50 from the total cost for the slot that will be non-refundable, unless something happens on my end at which point I will refund it, but if you back out for any reason, it won't be refunded, sorry. These plushies require ALOT of hard work, and I start to work on them as soon as I receive payment.

Now, please keep in mind that this is just for the plushie itself, shipping is not included in that price. I will have a shipping price once I can get the thing weighed.

Also, these plushies will not have the Fused Shadow (helmet), but, I will offer a discount deal in the future on those for anyone of you who purchase the discount plushies. And, if you want a custom facial expression, just let me know, as long as you provide some reference pics. I will charge a $10 fee for that in the future, but I'll wave the fee for the discount ones.

As for the payments, I only accept Paypal.

Aaaand, as soon as I can get the time, I will be working on smaller, more chibi-like ones as well, which will go for about $45-$50 each, being about 6-7" tall.

One other thing, I'm going to TRY my best at getting these done in time for Christmas, but NO PROMISES. If you wish to pay me a rush fee of $45, I will make sure that you get it by Christmas, otherwise, no guarantees. (this does not apply to the smaller ones, since they require alot less work, and I can get them done quicker.)

Also, for all my friends, keep Mike in your prayers. He got sick last night, and we both had just gotten over being severely ill last week, and we can't afford to miss anymore work. Thank you all, and have a GREAT day!