So close to Sakuracon

So Sakuracon is close at hand. Which is kind of sad and yet so very exciting.

What I am excited and sad for is Angelic Pretty. I don't think I will have enough money to buy anything substantial from their shop since it's only two more paychecks till con. But then last year I didn't find anything I really wanted so that was kind of a loss for me, so who knows what will happen at this one.

If there's another tea party I will probably go again, but this time I won't be expecting much since AX's one was super lame, and it seems par for the course for brand tea parties (that are held within the convention center).

But I cannot wait for the fashion show that will happen.

Last years fashion show at Sakuracon took so long to get started but then burned out quickly their time wasn't even up before they were finished.

Anyway I have to figure out what things I wanna wear for the con aside from my cosplay.

I want to wear this but I don't have an ivory or a brown blouse to wear with it. I mean I have my new blouse from meta that I haven't worn yet. It may be a bit weird wearing white with ivory but it may be my best chances as of right now to have something new to wear at the con.

I mean while all my other stuff is nice. The rest of my pieces are relatively older AP and Baby items that I've had over the years.

Whatever turns out to be the case I'm just going to try to have more fun and try to be less of a wallflower than other times.

Countdown to Sakuracon

We've almost got about a month left before Sakura-con and I feel as if I am not ready for it.

To be honest my cosplay isn't finished yet, and it's starting to get in crunch mode. I haven't finished Ruby's scythe and accessories yet. But all I have of the main piece left is a second belt and her cape. So that's way better than I thought.

I will continue to work on my scythe though I am a bit disappointed I don't have the budget to make my scythe out of wonderflex. So instead I'm making it out of different paper maches. It will probably look ok in pictures but in real life probably not the best. I'll definitely have to fix it up for the next time I work on the costume.

Though to be honest I am excited that they announced that Range Murata is going to be at the con. I've always loved his art and found it very soft and interesting.

I may post up progress pics here for the prop but I'm not so sure...

Lolita and J-fashion Resolution 2014

Last year I didn't do so well on my resolutions, so here's hoping my list this year is going to be better. This is actually just copied from my tumblr, but with more detailed information.

Shiki collaboration with Angelic Pretty and Metamorphose

-Buy five main pieces not in the color pink (skirts,jumpers,OPs)
      If you're wondering why I make distinction of pink, it actually has to deal with it being my favorite color and a color I heavily gravitate too. So I still tend to buy pink pieces regardless, but hey, I need more variation in my wardrobe, so that's why this will always be in my list.

 

Stained Glass by Moi Meme Moitie

-Buy one Moi-Meme-Moitie main piece
     I've loved Moitie pieces since I started lolita (I actually remember Iron Gate being sold on CD Japan) and with quite a few Moitie pieces being more accomidating towards varying sizes, I thought it might be a good thing to try.

Milk Heart Bag in Gold

-Purchase something in my wishlist
     I've got a huge varied wish list that contains all sorts of items. Most likely from my list I'd probably end up buying shoes or a bag (or both) since as a lady accessories are quite an important thing.

Moonstar x Sousou collaboration Festival Tabi

-Buy a pair of unique shoes
      Actually this one is already done to be honest. I recently this year already acquired these tabi shoes. And you can't deny that they're not unique. You don't see many people wear tabi. I actually had a very interesting conversation with a Japanese lady about them. She was so surprised and happy that someone was wearing traditional shoes. And honestly, the grip on it is amazing. The regular shoes from Sousou don't have a firm grounding grip since the bottoms are more akin to tennis shoes.

Also, I bought these because I've started to dabble into using wa-fabric.

Metamorphose Diamond Print Blouse

-Purchase a white/black/and an unusual colored blouse
     Always needing those staples. I just purchased this Metamorphose blouse and am waiting for it to arrive. Already one third of the way there. Which is pretty great because I seriously need blouses, especially since it gets cold up here.

Haenuli dress

-Purchase one indie designer piece
     There are some great indies shops out there and I want to support them, so I thought that maybe if I just even get one piece from them, it would be a good start

-Purchase 2 parasols/umbrellas
     I live in the rainy part of the US, so I need these, because... It rains a ton. Kinda self explanatory.

-Make at least 3 sets of clothing that could be used for J-fashion or lolita
      Since I started to learn how to sew, I've been getting a quick grasp on it, so I want to sew a few outfits. I've got a lot of varied fabric and everything. Just need to start piecing them together.

Jane Marple Stamp Skirt

-Purchase an otome main piece
     I really like the idea behind otome, especially since this could work for when I don't feel like dressing up fully in lolita clothes.

Alice and the Pirates x Disney Collaboration

-Purchase a main piece in either alice or trump theme
     I really like Alice themes, so I still need to get something to brighten up my wardrobe.

So that's it for the resolutions, and I seem to be ahead of the game this year, which is great. Hopefully I can knock everything off of my list, even though it's longer than last years.

Kickstarters that need help

It may not be your cup o tea but there are a few kickstart pages going on that need help if you're interested.
First one is GAMCON which is trying to raise up funds to make an anime/videogame convention outside of the Seattle are.
GAMCON kickstarter page
Even if it's just a couple of dollars, I'm sure they'd appreciate the help. I donated $20 to just get a badge, since it's more of a local con for me. And the area that they're trying to rent is actually quite spacious and cheap. There are local businesses and everything willing to help and advertise, but they just need a bit of word of mouth to spread it around, so if you have any interest or know someone who would, by all means. Please show them.

Also another Kickstarter that holds a place in my nerd heart is the Wakfu kickstarter is up.
Wakfu dub+French sub Bluray
If you've ever seen the show or played the Tactical MMORPG, now is your chance to not only own the first season but at 200,000CAD we get season two as well for all the backers who backed enough to get the bluray. I was able to get the limited to 50 early bird special at the 100CAD mark so I so have that going for me. And the wait time for isn't too long, estimated April but they said it may be pushed back a month or two if they have to do even more dubbing, which isn't a bad thing because that means more goals have been met.

Also for everyone who says "I'll just get it later". In the kickstarter comments Ankama has said after this kickstarter they're probably not going to release it again, for a long time. So this is pretty much your shot to get something like this.

Anyway thanks for taking a look and everything. Hope that you'll donate, or even just spread the word.

More Sewing Fun

So there's going to be more sewing fun tomorrow. I'm going to finish up my skirt that I made 100% all by myself. Hopefully assembled it won't look like a hot mess like it does in pieces. Seriously, I seem to not be able to cut without help.

Also I have a lot of the fabric left so mom is going to actively help me make a matching vest for it since the fabric is more pop like. When she told me that she'd help I said; "is that so?" And was reminded of Kill la Kill because...Talking clothing, sewing, fighting the power of clothes, friendship with clothes, controlling the world with clothes... You know, Trigger saving anime.

Satsuki wants to know is that so...

Anyway besides sewing my mom is going to be helping with my Ruby Rose cosplay tomorrow. More importantly we're going to be making a petticoat akin to what classical puppets sells. But she's going to be using the serger and she's going to teach me how.

Mako looking at Sensei's needles

Honestly though, the serger looks intimidating, and I thought my mom didn't know how to use it, because all I've ever seen was my aunt borrow it from us to make her scrubs... But she does know how, which is good, because I need all the help I can get taming that beast. Anyway I hope to have progress and completion pictures up, since these are going to be interesting none the less.

I honestly have no idea if I'm going to just post the images up here or also to tumblr. May do both. I should probably though at one point link my tumblr and blog together.

Though honestly I just post simple images on tumblr, here is where I get to talk.

First Foray Into Sewing

So I recently started to make a skirt. And I already learned so much from my mistakes that it was an interesting experience.

The first thing I did wrong and I didn't know it until my mom pointed it out after I already did it. Was I kinda can't cut fabric. When I was using the pattern and pinning it, it kept flying all over the place so I had lots of pieces that were kinda uneven and everything. It didn't look pretty. Then my mom was all.
"Lol you pinned it wrong. Pin it the other way."

Literally the reaction I made after she told me what I did wrong

 I was more upset she didn't tell me this until after the mangled pieces were done. But she insisted that I wouldn't have learned anything if she just told and showed me how to do everything. She said the rewards wouldn't be fulfilling. I guess in a way, mom is probably right, but still; it sucks. Luckily I bought the fabric on sale when it was 4.99 a yard instead of the 9.99 it was normally.

On another note, it seems to be that I'm already stockpiling fabric like a crazy lady. Is this one of the affects of wanting and learning how to sew?

Anyway I should be able to work and finish my skirt on my weekend. I'll post it up on here, just promise you won't laugh. You can call it crap or shit, just don't laugh.

Houzuki no Reitetsu is here!

Houzuki no Reitetsu is finally here guys! I am so excited. I started to read the manga once it came out translated (since it's way easier to find translates than RAWs) and I gotta say hands down I loved it. So I was super excited when they announced making the anime of it. More than that, it's being similcasted on CrunchyRoll and was already picked up for local distribution by Sentai Films. This makes the youkai lover in me very happy!

Here is the official PV with English subs.

After the first episode came out I was really bursting with happiness, but I guess a lot of people don't like Houzuki no Reitetsu. I hear a lot that it's not funny and boring. It doesn't help that the show and manga is just as much a slice of life as it is a comedy. And a lot of the humor in Houzuki relies on knowing about Japanese culture and religions; most people from other countries don't know much about Buddhism besides Buddha himself, but that's ok.

I did really enjoy it, and the opening theme song just makes me laugh with how everyone is singing, like King Enma decided like it would boost morale among workers or something.

I did preorder the OP theme CD and the B-Alt limited edition version for the Japanese Bluray release. I'm a bit bummed about how much you pay for only two or three episodes, but you know. You gotta do what you gotta do to support the industry.