Post-MCM post

 So October MCM 2013 in London will forever be.... the first time I got con-flu. Having finally recovered and caught up with stuff, I can now show you lovely people the... lack of photos I had taken of my costumes...

Friday I drove up to London for the first time, and the people I was room-sharing with didn't arrive 'till late, so I didn't cosplay. I did get a nice look round the dealer's room, and actually bought some stuff for a change though.

Saturday was the big one - the Jak and Daxter group with Jenny and Naomi (and Matt, but I drag him everywhere). I'd finished the costumes for Matt and myself the day before we left, so I was pretty pleased with how they came out, even if the rush to finish meant that I didn't seal the paint and wig dye again rain... and of course it rained on Saturday. Once the weather cleared up though, it was great fun, and lots of people recognised us, which was heartening.

Sunday we wore out Attack on Titan uniforms. I think I've found the definition of nerve-wracking - making a jacket and fully body harness which someone tries on half an hour before they want to wear it to a con. Oh well, everything mostly fit, and we met a ton more awesome AoT cosplayers, so that costume'll definitely be a keeper.

All in all, expo was great (a tad cold), despite the few teething problems that the new ticket/queueing system had.
Next projects include: Ms Marvel (Earth's Mightiest Heroes) and Faye (Cowboy Bebop). Keep posted.

October expo 2013 runup

Right, it's been a while since I posted becuase I have been swamped with prep for October Expo 2013 in London.

Following Ayacon, some friends and I got talking and realised we all liked Attack on Titan a bit too much, so with only two months to play with, I had the task of making the uniforms. Thankfully it was only three of them, but it still took a while, making the jackets, harnesses, skirts and my tshirt from scratch:

Also, my partner and I are doing a small Jak and Daxter cosplay group. I'm still in the panic-making stage of those costumes, but here's a sneak peak:















In-btween the large tasks, I've also had a great amount of fun for my first time using worbla, making Melisandre's choker from season 2 of the Game of Thrones TV show:
Hopefully the young lady who it is for will like it and look beautiful as one of the most undoubtably evilcharacters that GoT has to offer ;)



Other than that, October expo will be my second wear of Garrus, as I'm already planning a new big costume for Kitacon2014.

Very late Ayacon update - complete with Garrus

So, Ayacon 2013 (the final Ayacon ever) was last month. It was my first time going to an Ayacon event, and it was great fun. It was also my first time entering the cosplay masqurade, and I have to thank everyone that cheered and had nice things to say - it made the whole thing enjoyable rather than terrifying. It was also great fun getting to natter to some people in the waiting room for the masq, so thanks for all being so friendly.

I also managed to wander round for part of the day in my Garrus, though it was warm and quite akward to move in. My partner had to act as my bag-carrier in the battle dress Shepard I made.

For the other days I was lazy and wore May from Pokemon and Naoto from Persona 4, but didn't get any new photos as I was too busy enjoying the convention.

As always, especially as this update is so late, take a look at https://www.facebook.com/Zelvyne for more regular updates, including tutorials and progress pictures.

Commissions open

I've suddenly found myself with more time to make things, so I've deiceded to consider any and all commissions.
Below are a couple of examples of commissions I've done, though feel free to browser through my DeviantArt, CosplayIsland and Facebook pages (linked on the right) to see more, and contact me at zelvyne@googlemail.com for more information.

Elesa from Pokemon

Resident Evil STARS blanket and umbrella cushions

Facebook page

As I've been struggling with using a blog for the past year or so, I've decided that for the immidiate future I will instead try using a Facebook page to cover all my makingness:

https://www.facebook.com/Zelvyne

if that works better, I'll eventually get rid of this blog and just use that.

Oops - long time no see

Hey folks (if anyone reads this). I just realised how long it's been since I last put up a post (hint: aaages), but I have a good excuse - my health has been all over the place with lung trouble, tooth trouble, and general poor health (no doubt aided by the first two). Still, I intend to keep this up this time, if only to have somewhere to throw my thoughts.

Since then, I've redone my NCR ranger with a better helmet (actually a helmet liner, but it works quite well).
Unfortunately 'till furhter notice it's out of action as the chestplate has become a nightmare - the straps are pinging off, showing that hot glue won't hold if your chestplate isn't shaped to your body (I chose to have it flat for ease of storage) and the neck actually grazes my neck too much, so the patterns I used before clearly need yet more room for the neck (as well as the arms, really).

I've also finally delved into Assassin's Creed cosplays, with my own novice outfit, which will be going into its third iteration soon. If any of you want to do a Creed costume but are daunted, don't be - baggy clothes, a big hood (which this tutorial proves is easy) and a sash make the basics, and it's great fun - highly recommended for first time cosplayers or more seasoned costume enthusiasts ;)











Other than that, I've been experimenting with resin dyes (with humerous results), fabric painting, wig dying (with frustrating results) and playing around with beading, all of which I will mention soon, possibly along with a lot of cosplay-related rants (as such matters are topical at the moment).