Posted by sparklepipsi on January 11th, 2012
Back from a great weekend at ALA!! My hubby, Firien, and I were lucky enough to share a hotel room with some of the folks of Ninja of the Night (the lovely Sumikins, Kayla/B@T, Nutkracker & GaMeReVX) and we had a delightful time ~ not only did we get to hang out with them for epic lulz and olive garden carb overload, I finally got to cosplay Mami Tomoe with Sumi as Homura Akemi and Kayla as Madoka Kaname <3 <3!! I’ve been looking forward to this for months, and it was just as awesome as I had hoped! GaMeReVX was kind enough to photograph our costumes for us, you can find the updated photos on my ACP page by following the link below <3!
Mami wasn’t the only costume I wore, although it’s pretty much the only one I have photographic evidence of at this point xD;; I also wore Ysera for a photoshoot on Friday night with Darkain, and I look forward to seeing those photos soon cuz I have a feeling they’re gonna be epic x3!! Also, I performed not once, but TWICE with Angel Hearts!! We were asked to perform at the Masquerade Halftime show at the very last minute, and we also hosted our panel on Sunday ~ I think both performances were quite successful, and I’ll be posting pics/video from those as soon as they hit the web. Seeya then <3!
Tags: anime la, costume update, events, photoshoot
Posted by sparklepipsi on January 4th, 2012
Anime LA is this weekend, and I’m taking a break from busily working on costumes to talk about some exciting news! Angel Hearts will be hosting it’s first ever panel at Anime LA! From the ALA program guide:
Angel Hearts presents “The iDOLM@STER”
When: 12pm – 1pm
Where: LP1
Angel Hearts is a pop-idol cosplay group that has been performing at conventions and events since 2003. Come watch a live cosplay performance from “the iDOLM@STER,” as well as learn about the game, the new anime, and idol culture!
There will be eight of us girls performing, and we’ll be wearing our new Holy Night Dress Christmas outfits! (well, everyone elses are new… I made mine last year xD;;). Hope to see you all there!! You can check out our Facebook Event Page, too ^^!
I’ll also be out wandering the halls at ALA on Friday and Saturday, so if you see me please say hi! On Friday afternoon I will be wearing Miki Hoshii’s Pop Sound Blossom outfit with some of the Angel Hearts girls, and in the evening I’ll be painting myself purple to get some awesome night shots in Ysera! Saturday is Madoka day, and I’ll be wearing Mami Tomoe with my friends B@T and Sumikins as Madoka and Homura <3! If I have time, I might wear Sailor Moon for a little while on Saturday too, we’ll see ~ and of course on Sunday I’ll be wearing Miki Hoshii’s Holy Night Dress!
Still got some work left to do on Mami’s rifles and my new Mami wig, but progress is coming along nicely and I’m looking forward to seeing everyone at ALA on Friday!! <3
Tags: angel hearts, anime la, events
Posted by sparklepipsi on December 31st, 2011
Like many So Cal based cosplayers, I am spending this holiday weekend busily preparing for Anime LA!! I affectionately call ALA “Cosplay Con” because the cosplayer to casual attendee ratio is so high ~ I love seeing soooo many costumes! Which is lucky for me, because I’m going to be doing Hall Cosplay Judging for the second time, woohoo =D!
I’m not making any new costumes for ALA, but I’m still busy adding some pizzazz to some existing costumes ~ namely Mami Tomoe, who will finally be getting her RIFLES (or is it muskets…? BIG GUNS, WHATEVER!!). I’ve been assembling them out of craftfoam w/ a simple styrofoam base inside for support, and I’m super happy with how they’re turning out so far *w*! Next step will be applying the resin coat, which is now my new favorite modus operendi for craftfoam x3
So yeah, they’re coming along ~! There’s a little bit of sewing to do as well, and I’m going to be restyling a new Mami wig too, so… I’m gonna be busy until ALA comes on Friday!
Also worth noting, Angel Hearts will be hosting a panel at ALA on Sunday! I’ll make a post about that in a little bit with more information, cuz I need to get to work on stuff now… xD;; Stay tuned!! <3
Tags: anime la, progress
Posted by sparklepipsi on December 14th, 2011
Last month, I performed with the Angel Hearts girls for the Pacific Media Expo halftime show! We had a cast of 7, and performed 7 songs from the iDOLM@STER ~ apparently 7 is our lucky number, cuz I think this was our best show yet =D! The girls were really on it with their dancing and I’m super proud and happy to have shared the stage with all of them! PINK SPARKLES <3!!
Our performance video is up on youtube, so please go watch!! =D
Tags: angel hearts, events, PMX
Posted by sparklepipsi on November 10th, 2011
If you’re going to Pacific Media Expo this weekend, make sure to watch the masquerade ~ Angel Hearts will be performing for the half-time show!! We’re dancing to 7 songs from the Japanese xbox 360 game The iDOLM@STER 2 (which now has it’s own anime too!!). It’s always so much fun to perform with these girls, I can’t wait <3!
Keep an eye out for us in our sparkly pink outfits in the halls too… hot pants, ahoy xD! Hope to see you there <3!
Tags: angel hearts, events, PMX
Posted by sparklepipsi on November 7th, 2011
Sooo this is somewhat old news, but I only just now decided I wanted to post anything here about it ^^;;. My Ysera costume was selected as one of the 20 entries for the Post-Blizzcon Online costume contest! Being included in this amazing set of costumes was an honor alone, but I’d be so grateful if anyone felt inclined to vote for me <3!! While I don’t expect to place in the top by any means (the competition is really impressive *__*;;) any help I can get to scrape my way into the top 10 would be most appreciated <3!
You need a battle.net account to vote, which I do believe you can create for free, but anyone that plays any of Blizzard’s games should have one already =)
Click here to go vote!! I’m entry #5! Thank you <3!
Tags: blizzcon, contests
Posted by sparklepipsi on October 28th, 2011
Wooooo, I survived Blizzcon, guys!! And I even finished my costume before midnight on the night before the con, like a boss xD!! I’m so proud of how Ysera turned out, it was an amazing amount of work, but getting to wear it amongst the gobs of Blizzard fans at Blizzcon was an awesome and fulfilling experience <3!!
I posted some pics of the costume up on ACP, along with a pretty thorough description of how I made it, so please check it out!
Tags: blizzcon, new costume, photoshoot
Posted by sparklepipsi on October 10th, 2011
More progress! I think I like updating here because it makes me feel like stuff is actually getting done… xD;; The reality is, I’m probably only a little over halfway there ^^;; The checklist of doom looooooooooms!! Even still, I’m feeling pretty confident I’ll get everything done ~ there will be many late nights, but hey, it’s cosplay. 8D
So I worked pretty much non-stop over the weekend… which kinda makes me feel like I should have gotten more done, but ah well ^^;;. I started out by putting the finishing touches on my green armor by applying the gems/settings to the gauntlets and breastplate, and putting the swirly straps on my plate bikini (not pictured, lol ~ I kinda feel weird posting a picture of that by itself xD;;). I then began to tackle the part of the costume that scares me the most… DEM SHOULDERS. I spent most of Saturday experimenting and putting together the base for shoulder #1, and sunday evening I replicated the process for shoulder #2. I was originally going to use expanding foam (a popular method amongst blizzard cosplayers for carving strange shapes!) but this late in the game I figured I should stick to what I know. The bulk of the shoulders is layers of the extra-thick craftfoam glued on top of one another, attached to a hallowed out styrofoam ball that sits on my shoulder. The curve of the ball helped to keep all the craftfoam curved in place, so I think it works! The rest of the shape of the shoulder I’m going to build up with paper mache clay ~ that process will begin tonight! <3
The bulk of Sunday was taken up by a lengthy trip to the fashion district in LA. I live about an hour away from LA on a good traffic day, but yesterday was not a good traffic day xD;;. The round trip took 6 hours, but I got all the fabric I needed to finish up Ysera; dark green organza for the cape, dark teal gray stretch for the pants, and blue moleskin for the bootcovers (which will be gradient “dyed” to from blue to green with spraypaint… 8D). Luckily this costume doesn’t require much sewing, cuz I’m plenty busy with the rest, thank you very much ^^;;.
So yeah, that’s where I stand… Blizzcon is a 11 days away now, which is a bit nerve wracking but I think I’m moving along at a decent pace ~ IT’S MAKE IT WORK TIME. 8D
Tags: blizzcon, progress
Posted by sparklepipsi on October 3rd, 2011
Sooooo… apparently Blizzcon is 18 days away now? Eeeep ;__;! I’m making pretty good progress on my costume, but there’s still so much to do!
Since the last time I updated, I finished building all my armor pieces out craftfoam, and then painted them with a couple of layers of resin to make them sturdy. Once the resin was dry, I primed them with a layer of green spray paint and started painting them by hand with acrylics. I have been EXTREMELY happy with the results so far ~ I’ve been doing a lot of drybrushing and shading so they’d look kinda battleworn and textured like the model, and it’s seriously turning out even cooler than I had hoped xD!! Plus painting is really fun, so the whole process is really satisfying <3! I only have two pieces left to paint, so I’m almost done with this step, woohoo!
I also did a preliminary make up test ~ I’m not the best with make up, so I knew I’d want to practice with contouring or whatever, and for a first try I don’t think it was too bad! For the final version I’ll want to clean up the green lines a bit, but the overall effect is pretty close to what I want, so yay :3
This weeks goals will be to get all the green armor pieces to 100%, and to finish the wig, horns, and ears. Next weekend I’ll be making a trip to the fashion district in LA to get the fabric for my pants and cape, and my friend Darkain commissioned some LED light bundles for my shoulder orbs so I’ll be able to get started on all that stuff next week ~ lots and lots to do, but I think I’m on track to finish! Blizzcon is going to be epic!!
(PS – The pics on this post are cross-posted from my tumblr, which I update with progress in real time, so if you’re interested you can follow me there too <3!)
Tags: blizzcon, progress
Posted by sparklepipsi on September 16th, 2011
Blizzcon is just about a month away, and I’ve been steadily working on my costume for the contest! I’m a WoW player and a Blizzard fan, and while this will be my fourth Blizzcon it’ll be my first time cosplaying there ~ I decided on cosplaying as Ysera, which has proven to be a fun challenge so far. I’ve been assembling the armor out of craft foam + wonderflex base, and have even been lucky enough to receive craft foam patterning “lessons” from my friend Maryssa (who has already made an AMAZING Alexstrasza costume!!). I’m almost done with building the armor (shown above) and the next steps will be coating them in resin and painting them ~ a project I’m hoping to tackle this weekend.
So yeah, that’s what I’ve been busy with! I still have a LOT of work to do… once the armor is done I’ll need to start on the crazy shoulders (with glowy orbs 8D!!), wig, horns, etc… lots to do, but it’ll be worth it to finally be able to grace the Blizzcon stage! <3
Tags: blizzcon, progress
