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[saveourspira]

It’s that time of year again: get ready for our Cosplay Black Friday-Cyber Monday roundup!!   This year’s announcements have seen some very last-minute timing because of Thanksgiving’s early date, and some sites are still keeping their sales a secret. However if you’re looking to stock up on wigs, lenses, makeup, or fabric for the 2019 con season, now’s a great time to do it - check out the below guide, comment with more vendors, let us and be sure to share with your friends to help out your fellow cosplayers!

*~*~*~*Circle Lenses*~*~*~*

Circle Lens suppliers are really keeping their deals a secret for even longer this year; so far nobody has announced their sales, but expect to see them updated here some time this week.  They will likely be similar to last year’s deals, and in the meantime here are the links and descriptions for last year’s discounts:

Uniqso (http://bit.ly/2AkTvm1)

2017’s sale: Up to 50% off lenses - for 2018 you can also stack an additional 10% off everything for up to 60% off with our year-round coupon CBC along with the above link

Honeycolor (http://www.honeycolor.com)

2017’s sale: Free trial lens with every order

Pinky Paradise (http://www.pinkyparadise.com)

2018 details will be announced on Thurs 11/22: “1=3 Promo”

*~*~*~*Wigs*~*~*~*

Again this year a lot of cosplay wig suppliers are offering rolling discounts that change from day to day!

Arda Wigs (http://www.arda-wigs.com)

Fri 11/23: 450 newly discounted wigs will be 30% off

Mon 11/26: 10% off site-wide.  Orders over $75 will receive a free factory sample wig and 15 random orders may receive a $25, $50, or $100 gift certificates

Tues 11/27: 15% off site-wide.  All orders will receive 10%, 15%, or 20% off of future purchases.  Discounted wigs will increase to 50% off and 50 random orders may receive a $25, $50, or $100 gift certificates

Weds 11/28: 20% off site-wide.  Orders over $75 will receive a random makeup grab bag or PixelSmithy jewelry gift and 15 random orders may receive a $25, $50, or $100 gift certificates

Keep reading

[saveourspira]

Full guide here. 

You guys have asked for a dye guide and here it is! We used Rit DyeMore fabric dye, Rit’s line for polyester/synthetic materials (not to be confused with just Rit Dye). It is far more pigmented as a wig toner than their standard blends since it was developed for plastics.

Swatches were made using our Classic White wefts (keep in mind that if you’re dyeing a wig other than white, the dye will not cancel out the original color but mix with it. ex: If you dye a yellow wig with blue dye, you will get a green wig).

300 mL (1.3 cups) of water was used with 19.7 mL (4 tsp) of dye. Water was kept at a LIGHT SIMMER (180F/82C), NOT rolling boil (212F/100C). Color took more evenly when water was at a simmer.

Individual swatches were placed in the simmering water at 1 second, 5 seconds, 1 minute, and 5 minutes.

Colors may turn out differently for you depending on concentration of dye, heat, time boiled, and how the wig gods are feeling that day.

It’s important to ALWAYS do swatch tests before dying your full wig. In addition, in the event that your fibers become curly after dyeing them, please use a regular flat iron (avoid chi irons) on low heat setting to straighten them.

Happy dyeing!

[saveourspira]

So, I’m actually really bad at keeping up with this blog?  Makes me kind of sad, actually, but I’m hella busy most of the time (not really, but we’ll say I am).  So, without further ado, here’s my 2016 cosplay update (also known as Chellerbee has homework and is slacking off again).

First things first, @makotokino and I have been doing panels together for a while now, but we never thought it would turn into a regular thing for us.  It has, though, and I’m pleased to announce that Mako Gems Productions is now a thing (and that name is a clickable link)!  We’ve also got Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube accounts just waiting for us to post some really awesome stuff.  There’s links to those in our sidebar.  And a link to Mako Gems in mine!

Ok, shameless panel team plug done.  For now.  It’ll happen again if we hear back from our recent panel submissions soon.

That being said, I’m hoping that 2016 is the year I actually get to get back into cosplay. 2015 kind of kicked me down and ruined a lot of plans, but I am starting a new job soon, so hopefully I’ll get to be more financially stable soon.

Yuna is still a thing and hopefully I’ll be competing with her this year!  Unfortunately, it might be a little while before I do.  I gained more weight than I thought I did since originally measuring and buying fabric for her.  This was the motivation I needed to get myself healthy, though!  I started exercising with @makotokino (which hasn’t happened for a few weeks because I got really sick -_-’), so hopefully I can get back to a size that will allow me to wear Yuna again.

As of right now, I’m not really sure what else I’ll for sure be doing this year.  The only con we currently have in the works is Tekko at the moment, so I’ll mostly be reusing things I already have (Eli Ayase from Love Live!, Honey Lemon from Big Hero 6, maybe Felicity Smoak from Arrow, etc.).  I already know I’m going to have some big cosplay-related expenses this year, but that’s due to wanting all the photography equipment.  Right now I’m trying to save up for a new flash and then I’m planning to start working on some lenses.  And a new camera bag.  My old one’s not gonna be able to handle all of this by the time I’m done (which will probably be never).

So that’s my quick little update (that was written during homework breaks), but I should probably try to get in some sleep soon.

Until next time!

-Chellerbee

[saveourspira]

Handy-Dandy new app~

Dear convention-going friends,

Even if you’re not a cosplayer, I’m sure you’ve noticed the increasing numbers of cosplayers who pass out business cards. Heck, you might even be one of them. 

I’m also sure we are all aware of the struggles of keeping track of business cards when we’re getting tons of other free swag and cards and the like that generally get dumped into one bag to be sorted through later when you’ve forgotten how to match the memory to the memento.

WELL. Let me tell you a thing.

There’s an app called Haystack that is 100% FREE for individuals. It’s a business card app. As in you put in your info and it creates a business card for you. 

Bam. Look at that. Someone takes your photo, you pull out your phone and have them take a picture of that immediately after. And then they can actually connect the dots and find you and tag you in that shit! :o

AND! If the other person ALSO has the haystack app, the app will SCAN business cards! Both paper cards and app ones. And organize them all nicely in a list.

AND not only that, but you see there on the left side (edit: RIGHT. RIGHT SIDE. I KNOW MY SIDES.) where the logo/black photo bubbles are? THAT’S ACTUALLY A PHOTO GALLERY. So let’s say the cosplayer’s card you just scanned is from the Haystack app. When the app recognizes that (I’m assuming via phone number or email listed), it will give you that person’s FULL Haystack card, meaning if they’ve uploaded other photos of their cosplay, you’ll get to browse through those.

For cosplayer’s that’s great way to showcase each cosplay you’re doing throughout the con or for photographers to showcase samples of their work.

It’s also super easy to go in and change/update your info! No more wasting money on cards. No more leftover cards. This app could seriously change up how photographers and cosplayers share their information at conventions.

DOWNLOADS!! iphone vs other guys

[saveourspira]

P.S.A ANNOUNCEMENT TO ALL COSPLAYERS  This is why we cannot have nice things. (i took this from a post on facebook i saw someone put up that had to be shared elsewhere) “1: Broken Light Fixtures on a couple different floors. 2: Busted Exit Sign cause some fuckwad thought it would be A Good Idea to high-five it. 3: Actual fucking flooding in a room. 4: Punching a hole in the bathroom door and writing “One-Punch Man was here.” 5: Writing “Katsucon 2016” all over the stalls on the main floors.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THIS NEEDS TO STOP, THIS IS LITERALLY DISGUSTING.  This beautiful hotel is holding an events for cosplayers to enjoy time away and this is how you repay them? you wonder why they raise prices?. This is totally fucking immature and disgusting and the cosplayers that did this make our community look like shit  Spread this like wildfire, this is not okay stop destroying things. 

[saveourspira]

In regards to your "fabric advice" answers lately: I get that you're a fan of teaching others how to research their costumes themselves, but it's pretty rude to dismiss people asking for help by telling them to learn. What if they don't WANT to learn about spandex, or how fabrics drape, or weaves/knits? Just because they don't want to teach themselves about fabric doesn't mean they don't deserve help. Even people who don't care about your elitist fabric knowledge can still be great cosplayers.

Whoa. Woweee. Whoo, boy. [lays down] Wow.

I’m going to invite you to reimagine the paragraph you sent in terms of aspiring chefs and cooking.

In regards to your “cooking advice” answers lately: I get that you’re a fan of teaching others how to plan their meals themselves, but it’s pretty rude to dismiss people asking for help by telling them to learn. What if they don’t WANT to learn about cooking temperatures, or how yeast rises, or different types of knives? Just because they don’t want to teach themselves about cooking doesn’t mean they don’t deserve help. Even people who don’t care about your elitist cooking knowledge can still be great chefs.

Now, having read that, would you suggest that such an individual continue to pursue cooking their own gourmet meals? Or would you offer them the advice of perhaps dining at a restaurant, ordering carry-out, or hiring a professional chef to cook for them? It doesn’t mean they can’t enjoy good food – it just means that, should they want to indulge in something difficult to make or prepare, they may be better suited to one of those options, rather than cooking it themselves.

Being able to choose your own fabric is one of the most basic skills a seamstress can have. If you want to improve and become a great cosplayer, you need to acquire that skill. Me giving you all the answers is not going to teach you to do that.

It is one thing to ask, “Hey, I’ve done all this research and I can’t decide between two fabrics for this costume, which would be better in your opinion?” I’m happy to answer those questions. It is quite another to ask, “Hey I need a fabric that has all these specific qualities, can you tell me what to use?” If you already know what the fabric has to do, and how it has to function, a basic knowledge of different fabrics will help you figure out what will work. Otherwise, Google can help you narrow it down, too. And the best part: you don’t have 1-2 weeks for me to answer once I finally have spare time to sit down and do your research for you.

Knowing how fabrics function is not “elitist knowledge.” It’s a basic foundation of garment construction. You want to tell me that Yaya or GSTQ or JHart became great cosplayers without having a basic knowledge of fabric? Sure. I’ll believe that just as much as I’ll believe that Alton Brown became a great chef without knowing jack shit about preparing a chicken.

And if you really, truly have no desire to learn about sewing techniques and construction basics? That doesn’t mean you can’t cosplay or have well-made costumes! It just means you’re better suited to buying or commissioning your costumes instead. I can’t imagine why someone would slog through the stress and high costs of making a costume if they truly had no interest in what they were doing. Seems a bit silly.

[saveourspira]

Looking for cosplay blogs to follow.

If you have a cosplay [side]blog that is exclusively (or almost exclusively) costume progress/photos/tutorials, tell me its name! It doesn’t matter what skill-level you’re at or what fandoms you’re in or anything; all we care about is that the blog is very “on topic”/cosplay-focused. 

I want to fill our dash with lots of cosplay progress. We will check out and likely follow whatever we get :) 

Recs are good too.

?

[saveourspira]

COSPLAYER QUESTIONS

1: What was your first cosplay?

2: Favorite thing to cosplay?

3: Have you ever been in a panel at a convention?

4: How many people do you think you met because of cosplaying?

5: What do you think makes a 'good cosplay'?

6: Have a cosplay blog?

7: Ever done a group cosplay?

8: Couple's cosplay?

9: When did you start cosplaying?

10: Would you consider yourself good at cosplaying?

11: Which cosplay took you the longest time to make?

12: Shortest time to make?

13: Do you like Genderbent/AU cosplays?

14: List all of your cosplays.

15: Are you currently working on something?

16: Would you, if given the chance, cosplay at school/work?

17: Do any of your IRL friends cosplay?

18: What does your family think of it?

19: Do you consider cosplay an art?

20: Have you ever had to get help with a cosplay?

21: Least favorite thing to cosplay?

22: Ever been in a cosplay contest?

23: First con that you cosplayed at?

24: What's your definition of 'cosplay'?

25: Favorite tumblr cosplay ask blog?

26: Ever cosplay an inanimate object?

27: Who is your cosplay headcanon of your favorite character?

28: What is your 'Cosplay First Aid Kit' (what you use to repair a cosplay)?

29: Would you go pro?

30: Who is your favorite professional cosplayer?

[saveourspira]

Sometimes I just stop what I’m doing and run my fingers through this thing.  I keep saying it’s because I’m checking to see if the fabric softener mix has dried yet, but it’s really because I’m in love with this wig.  The picture doesn’t do the color justice and I’m so excited to work with it!

[saveourspira]

So, here's the start of my Felicity Smoak cosplay!  I've chosen to do (what you can see) of her outfit from 1x6, Legacies, which is also really similar to what she wears in 1x3, Lone Gunman.  I have no idea what shoes she was wearing in either episode, so I'm going to assume some sort of black shoe (probably a flat, but I've got a backup pair of flats ready for when these heels start killing my feet), which led to my choice of black heels with a rhinestone-covered bow!  I also did a makeup test, but the colors came out a little funky thanks to the florescent lighting in my room.  I actually managed to blend some colors to get that signature Felicity Fuschia, so I'm pretty happy with that.

The tablet is not exactly canon (because she's got that really nice Samsung Windows tablet and mine is really old and shouldn't function as well as it does), but I thought it was a fun touch and would help me be more recognizable.  I'm running low on color ink, so the printout doesn't look as nice as it could, but I'll have the logo looking nicer before I need to actually have the tablet ready to go.  It's going to be really fun to complain about "company issued tech", though!  I'll also have her QC badge to go on the black lanyard.

I think the only things I really need to do is order the wig and finish making the pencil skirt (because the one I have is the wrong color).  If I have time, I might get her canon glasses, but that's not critical.

[saveourspira]

Ohayocon?

So, makotokino asked me to go to Ohayocon with her next month and I've never been, but I'm super excited about it!  So, without further ado, here's my anticipated lineup for the weekend (days haven't been decided)!

   Honey Lemon from Big Hero 6 and Felicity Smoak from CW's Arrow/DC Comic's New 52 Green Arrow are my two big projects at the moment!  I love both of these characters dearly and identify with them a lot.  I was actually told that I should cosplay Honey Lemon before I even saw Big Hero 6 and as soon as I saw her I understood why.  Felicity was more of a "let me get my friends into Arrow so we can do a group cosplay and people will realize who I am", but I'm adding in little things to try to make it more recognizable.  I'm going to have a Queen Consolidated ID badge (since I chose something from Season 1 that also looks like what she's wearing on the cover of Green Arrow #36), my tablet is getting the QC logo treatment, I'm locating a red pen (because that's a requirement), and I'm getting Starbucks just so I can have a cup with her name on it.

I'm also bringing two Homestuck cosplays, because I wanted some easy and comfortable things to wear as well.  I've redesigned my Genderbent Skater Mituna Captor (which looks a million times better than its original closet cosplay incarnation) and I'm so excited to be using that skateboard again.  It's one of my favorite props.  And, of course, the only thing I love as much as Captors are Serkets, so I've got a new version of Aranea all planned out!  A friend bought me a really cute spiderweb infinity scarf knowing that I'd immediately want to make an Aranea AU based on it, so I made a hipster.  I know.  Terribly unoriginal.

So, I think it's safe to say that I'm excited for Ohayocon!  None of my cosplays will take me very long to make and I think my biggest worry is getting Honey Lemon's shoes and glasses as well as the wig for her and Felicity in on time.

Happy Cosplaying!

-Chellerbee

[saveourspira]

So, 2014 is drawing to a close, and I've got to say that I learned a lot about my procrastination skills this year.  I've managed to not complete Summoner Yuna for the fourth year in a row, but I now know how NOT to make certain parts of that cosplay, so there's that.  I've also learned that I'm pretty good at busting out easier versions and AUs of characters at the last minute (and they look pretty hella).  Then there's the whole "remember to take pictures of yourself" thing.

I've already got a lot of cosplay goals for 2015.  My convention list is pretty standard, but this year I think we're replacing Tekko with Ohayocon.  Tsubasacon will always be on the list because it's my home con and I love it dearly.  Colossalcon is a little up-in-the-air at the moment, but I really hope that (I find a job soon) we get to go this year.

The cosplay list has also expanded and I'm so excited about it!  So far, I've got

Summoner Yuna//Final Fantasy X--I think I know what I'm doing with her now and I'm determined to finish her before Colossalcon!

Felicity Smoak//CW's "Arrow" and DC Comics' New 52 Green Arrow--I fell in love with Felicity's character from the moment she first showed up.  I identify with her in so many ways and I cannot say how important Felicity is, both to me and to the show.  I'm excited to see where she goes in the comics.

Honey Lemon//Big Hero 6--A friend actually said that they wanted me to cosplay as Honey even before I had seen Big Hero 6.  When I saw the movie, I understood why!  She's an adorable nerd and she owns that completely.

Agent Peggy Carter//Captain America:  The First Avenger--Peggy is who I aspire to be in life.  Not the whole military career thing, but the "stand your ground and let noone step on you" thing.  It also helps that I really like military history, love her character design, and have always wanted a reason to put my grandfather's old army jeep to good use!

Isabela//Dragon Age II--Isabela's design shows off a little more than I am usually comfortable with, but she's so cool.  I mean, her morals are a little questionable, but she's a badass pirate queen who knows her way around a pair of daggers and a tavern.

Cassandra Pentaghast//Dragon Age:  Inquisition--I liked Cassandra in DA2, but HOLY CRAP she's an adorable royal nerd who doesn't like to let people know she's a nerd.  She's incredible and is a great chance for me to learn to make armor.  I've never done that before and I've been wanting to learn how.

In short, 2015 is going to be The Year of the Awesome Ladies for me.  I've also got a few projects from past years that I'm still working on and I'm hopeful that they'll be part of my Colossalcon lineup.  We'll see, though.  One of them is a massive ball gown of my own design with a hoop skirt that I'm pretty sure doesn't actually fit through doors, but that's cool.  I've got some other things that I really want to do as well, but my complete list is SOOOOO long.  Too long, actually.  I'll never get all of them done in a year.

So, that's my year ahead!  I'll hopefully learn to post more pictures of things and finally get all my Tsubasacon pictures finished up!

Happy Cosplaying!

-Chellerbee

[saveourspira]

First off:  an apology for being gone for so long!  School caught up with me, so managing this blog (and cosplay in general) took a back seat for a while.

Tsubasacon went really well!  I didn't get my summoner Yuna finished, but I did make a pretty cute AU that I've lovingly dubbed "Blitzball Girlfriend Yuna" because I busted out a really quick Zanarkand Abes tee a few days before the con.  I really wanted to have at least one version of Yuna because I co-ran a panel with makotokino about religion and culture in Final Fantasy X and VII (which was a ton of fun and I can't wait to do it again!). I don't have many pictures of myself, but that's mainly because I was having too much fun taking pictures of everyone else with my new camera!  I started my first day with Hipster Genderbend Sollux (Homestuck), followed by 60s Mod Aranea Serket (Homestuck), and Prom!Stuck Aranea Serket for the ball.  Saturday was Rose Tyler (Doctor Who, "The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances"), then Samantha Winchester (Rule 63 Supernatural), and I finished the day with a really cute Sanrio/Street Fighter crossover shirt for the rave.  Sunday was nothing but Blitzball Girlfriend Yuna.  She's easily one of my favorite cosplays because a.)it's really comfortable and b.)it's too freaking cute!

In the time between Tsubasacon and now, I've been working on designing some costumes on my own as well as finding new canon things to add to my overgrown list.  I also made the unfortunate discovery during Tsubasacon that the clip-ons I used for Yuna's cartilage piercings hurt like hell and bruised my ear, so I took matters into my own hands and actually got my ear pierced in those locations.  I'm hoping that that will alleviate the large amount of damage I was doing by wearing clip-ons.  I haven't actually worked on anything since then, except playing around with my new camera to learn it better before my next con.

That's about it for now!  I'll make another post later with my upcoming cosplay and convention plans!

[saveourspira]

Reblogging this here as an update!

Did you abandon your cosplay blog? And did you ever finish finish your Yuna? Will we ever see pictures?

My cosplay blog went on hiatus for a while.  I didn’t get to finish Yuna quite yet, but I’m hoping to get it done before June.  She turned out to be more of a project than I anticipated.  I was actually getting ready to do some work on that blog this week and make a post about what’s on my to-do list for 2015, so kudos to you, anon, for reminding me to actually do that!

((Tbh, I didn’t think anyone was actually paying attention to that blog.  This ask made me super happy!))

[saveourspira]

I think I'm going to have to make a carrying case for my staff.  The gold keeps getting scratched off even after I seal it...

[saveourspira]

Guess who is going to have no focus today?! I get out of class at 9, am heading to the con around 11:30, back to campus for a 1:20 meeting, then MY LITTLE AND TWO OF MY FAVE SISTERS WILL BE HERE AT 9 TONIGHT AND I MISS THEIR BEAUTIFUL FACES!