It Must've Been Love, But It's Over Now

So, I didn't do an entry last week. I know I said I was going to do one on Monday, but to be perfectly honest, I was just too tired after MCM. I'm only just feeling like I have actual energy and it's been a week. So I guess that means MCM is officially over for me.

I had a real blast though, and I have loads to show you.

First of all, my Ariel cosplay was a hit again and Vanessa even showed up to steal my voice!

Photo courtesy of Emski (need to get her cosplay page if she has one and then I'll link it here) who made the most beautiful, not to mention lovely, Vanessa I have ever had the pleasure of meeting.

This was on the first day.

The second day was Wonder Woman and my goodness does MCM love Wonder Woman! Oh and I made a lasso of truth last minute that I was able to hook to my costume on the day and it went down fabulously. People actually went mad for it.

It's just yarn wrapped in yarn but it does the job and it looks cool. Main photo courtesy of Elmos_Empire Cosplay and secondary photos by a good con friend, Daisy.

But the third day. Oh wow. I was in my comfiest cosplay yet, which is just as well because the group had a super long, super awesome photo shoot with Joseph Leeder. I loved every minute of it.

Next year is Hipster Squirrel Girl and I am already pretty much set...

There is a draw back to comic con though. You spend a lot of money. I focussed on indulging my kawaii side so that I can feel happy with my accessories and B+, because that's still important to me. In fact, I've even started my bentos again and dressing up for girl's nights in clothes I like. Because I like them. Okay the wig definitely helps me feel more confident but if that's what I need to B+ right now, I'm just gonna go with it. We'll all take baby-steps and eventually, plodding along, we'll get to a point where we are empowered, independent women! (Throw your hands up in the air...)

I'm also experimenting with my style, and getting to grips with how I can get into lolita fashion, which I've always adored but never been able to wear due to my height. For now, it's a case of a few accessories and a bit of lace but this little outfit today has made me want to take it a step further and look at the possibility of making my own lolita dresses with matching chokers or hairbows.

I don't want to overload you guys since I've been away for a while and most of this isn't crafty, so I'll get back to making things again soon now that con is over. This will hopefully include my cosplays for October MCM, a cosplay for my boyfriend for October MCM and a lolita dress for Christmas Hyper Japan.

Oh, I'm also recording vlogs, which need editing, so they should be fun!

Until next time!

All In A Day

It's been too long!

I hate missing a blog entry but if you follow my Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, you'll know that I've been very ill for over a week and that's why my internet self disappeared off the face of the earth for a bit. My bad.

But I've been prescribed the right medication by a lovely doctor in A&E during the early hours of Saturday morning and I feel over 9,000 times better already. Seriously. Thank you lovely doctor in A&E.

Until then, all I'd really managed to do between my last entry and Saturday afternoon that was arts and crafts related, was one page of colouring in. (I felt that bad.) I did make it interesting though by nipping onto my Pinterest colour scheme board (there's some really nice ones on there) and selecting one to stick to. I chose the one below for a floral colouring page as there weren't too many different colours but it wasn't just tonal either. A nice little mix.

I love these colour schemes because for some reason I find it extremely satisfying seeing the inspiration behind choosing those co-ordinating colours and being able to witness just how well they co-ordinate. Plus, ice cream. Yum.

So I picked out my six matching coloured pencils and challenged myself to use all of those particular pencils but no others on the entire page.

Unfortunately the beige colour isn't overly visible on the page but I did use it, I swear. I just had to shade it with the brown because it was so pale.

It went quite well and the colours suited the picture nicely. I'm also really pleased with the pencils which were a Christmas present, as they shade just beautifully.

Luckily that's not all I have to post today though. Otherwise that would be a very short blog entry.

I can now show you the card and present I made for my sister's birthday earlier on this month, which I couldn't post in my last entry as she hadn't yet seen them!

The card had to be quick and simple because unfortunately I didn't have a lot of time to make it. So when I saw some Star Wars wrapping paper on my way home from a walk the day before, I grabbed it. It was used to wrap her gift and make this adorable card! I simply cut out a panel of black card and stuck it to a base before adding the cut out Yoda using 3d foam pads. A few hand drawn stars and sentiment in white ink and then some sequin stars stuck on with more foam pads, 10 minutes later you've got your super cute card. Woohoo!

The present took me longer. I bought a plain black sketchbook from Paperchase and used masking tape to cover an area to form my sister's nickname. I followed a tutorial I found on Pinterest to create the galaxy design over the top, peeled away the tape and then outlined the letters with a white gel pen just to make them really pop and was left with a really cool, personalised sketchbook for my sister, who is always drawing.

And since I am feeling over 9,000 times better today, I started work on two projects this afternoon.

The first was the second of my romantic book quotes for the bedroom in the same theme as my Harry Potter one. I even have a webcam as of today so this whole project was recorded and will have a timelapse video posted in the (hopefully) near future.

I had a lot of fun making this one. Both the quotes I've featured make me cry buckets and I'm just really glad I was actually able to write them nicely enough to feel proud displaying them on my walls.

The second project I started working on today was inspired by these fantastic felt succulent plants I came across on Facebook as I scrolled down my newsfeed. I like plants but I can't keep them alive and I find succulents particularly beautiful in a strange way, so there was no way I wasn't going to try and make these!

The box frame is a little cheapy from The Range which I took apart, removing the glass and then gluing the rest of the componants back into place so they don't shift around. To make sure the background was super sparkly, just in case any shows through once I'm done adding succulents, I filled the frame with PVA and then just poured in a whole load of gold glitter.

No crafter's stash is complete without glitter. I'm just impressed I didn't get it everywhere. It normally goes everywhere, so well done to me.

 While I wait for the glue to dry so it's safe for me to tip out the excess glitter (which is probably when it will go everywhere) I decided to start work on my first succulent.

I followed the instructions on the tutorial but I stitched a little bead into the centre and added some colour around the edges of the petals just because that seems to be my style - throw back to these little rose brooches. I just like a little extra detail and feel like beads make really pretty centre points.

I stopped after two layers of petals because I may be feeling a lot better, but I'm still not quite 100% and I don't want to overdo it. Plus silicone glue really smells so I wanted to call it a night.

That's all for now but I want to take this opportunity to say that next week's blog entry will be posted on Monday instead as I'm going to be at MCM all weekend!

Expect a loot post people!

In the meantime, feel free to check out my Pinterest, I find and save plenty of really cool projects, some of which I'll never get round to making but love the idea of, so if you're crafty like me, it might be a great spot to find some inspiration for your next make!

Until next time!

Prizes Fit For Princesses

This week was a much better week for Wonder Woman. The folks at Darkside for Free Comic Book Day loved her, so she should go down well at MCM in a couple of weeks!

So we're starting today on a happy note, and I have been very busy. I've finished off the Ariel hoop for my "I'd Rather Be A Mermaid" giveaway. The finished piece and my beautiful winner can be seen below!

I also got the Wonder Woman hoop done for my "Fight Like A Girl" giveaway, which can be viewed with my wonderful winner below!

I am definitely going to be making more projects in this style (once I've got some more embroidery hoops) because not only were they fantastic fun to make but I think they look really great.

That's not all I've been up to though... After all, I'm Always crafting. Heh. Heheh.

This post is getting pretty pic heavy so I'll try to keep the last few bits short and sweet, I just wanted the above image to be viewed at a decent size because I think it's really beautiful. I'm still making my flat seem more like home, tweeking here and there and the bedroom is the feminine space since the living room is more masculine because that's where the boy spends most of his time. So I'll be moving the two Halo canvas prints from the bedroom into the living room. Which means I'll have nothing on the walls in the bedroom apart from the shelves and memo board (that's an old one!) around my dressing table. Dun dun DUNNNN. The above was my solution, subtly geeky, romantic quotes to hang on the wall in pastel colours. The boy even got to choose the frames we'll be using. This is one of two that I have planned. The second will be "You love me, real or not real? Real." from Hunger Games because I cried literally buckets. That one will have a Mockingjay on it in place of the doe.

I also just realised that I never posted the finished Sailor Moon compact embroidery hoops or the finished badger birthday postcards on this blog! Shock horror! So here they are to finish off this week's entry with a much more confident Wondy! (Judy Hopps cosplay by Lunaris Cosplay.)

Have a great week guys, you have my sister's birthday present and some other small bits and pieces to look forward to next week that I'm unable to post yet because I want the recipients to see them first but I'm sure I'll be feeling crafty between now and next Sunday too. If you're interested in sneak peeks and more frequent updates check out my Facebook or my brand new Instagram and recently renewed Twitter pages. I'm getting super good at this whole social media thing! I'll try not to be so image heavy next week too.

Until next time!

B+

Today we're doing something a little bit different because yesterday I did something that is incredibly hard for me to do due to confidence and anxiety issues and because of what I encountered while I was doing it.

As you'll all know from my last post, I wore my newly made Wonder Woman costume around Chelmsford Town Centre yesterday to promote Free Comic Book Day at Dark Side Comics and my own Facebook page's giveaway so I could help out a friend and try and gain enough followers to set up my Etsy properly. I had business cards printed up for it and everything and I was so excited!

I have serious confidence issues and insecurities though and I've only recently learned how to cope with my anxieties, so wearing a skimpy cosplay in public was terrifying to me. As much as I thought it looked great and my friends agreed, I knew from past experience, from growing up being told by my peers that I was fat and disgusting, that there would be a lot of negative comments.

I went anyway.

Some comments made were nice, some people liked seeing their classic heroine out in town, some wanted selfies and were interested in Beckit's Boutique as well as Dark Side.

But they were few and far between. And though most comments and sniggers were quiet, I heard them. I've spent my entire life overhearing them because my ears are now acutely attuned to pick up certain words, phrases and sounds. Some weren't even quiet. And for the uptight, bigoted lady that felt the need to yell "Excuse me, there are small children around!" at me, I have a special question for you; For a start, there are no small children with you, so how does this affect you? Secondly, I was wearing a lot more than a bikini, what do you do with your non-existant children when you go to the beach, bury their heads in the sand?

The rest of you, I'm used to it, so I can take a few emotional blows as long as I have someone with me, which thankfully I did, but well done for crushing my spirit a little bit and sending me fleeing back to the shop feeling awful and ridiculous. You're so hard.

I write all this because it's important that people are aware that not everyone will defend you, or comfort you when horrible things are said about something you've put a lot of time and effort into. And I'm not just talking about my cosplay. I run at least 5k at least three times a week to keep fit. I'm currently in the process of losing weight and trying to make myself more confident. This is a long, tiring process that takes a lot of hard work and dedication. I have run four virtual races of varying lengths for charity so far this year and just signed up for four more virtuals and a live race in the next few months, one of which is a half marathon, which I intend to run the entirety of.

I have worked tirelessly to improve myself and feel better in the skin I'm in and you all shot me down! Well done. Very impressive. Your parents must all be so proud.

But this post is B+.

Be. Positive.

And it's about to really B+!

I didn't know this girl. At all. Never met her in my life. I don't even recall passing her yesterday as there were so many people. But she is my Wonder Woman.

As soon as I'd got back to the shop, I'd rushed into the bathroom to change and was nearly in tears because I felt so awful about some of the things said about me.

Meanwhile, this beautiful human being took to Facebook (guessing my dress size perfectly I might add) in the hopes this message would get to me. Another friend of Dark Side's owner saw it and automatically connected the two events. I saw it the moment I got out of the bathroom and immediately welled up again.

A perfect stranger had come to my rescue when I needed it and as soon as this post started getting shared, comments came flooding in.

(Gotta love my mum for not taking the route of "well you can't go around dressed like that" as most parents would.)

As did the private messages from both friends and family who understood how difficult something like that had been for me to do and that I'd done it because I will do anything to help a friend and because I like to make other people happy. I would be happy if I saw my favourite super hero in town!

(This isn't all of them by the way, there were far too many to keep screenshotting and censoring, I'd have been here all night.)

And suddenly everything was brighter, everything was better, because although some people put me down, there were so many more right there to pick me back up.

So I've gone from cowering by a toilet, hating myself and vowing to never wear a skimpy cosplay again, to being unimaginably excited to wear it at comic con in a few weeks. There will be like-minded people there who would love to meet Wonder Woman and I can't wait to meet them!

So whenever something seems awful. Please, be positive because there may just be a perfect stranger out there who thinks you're amazing! I know I do!

Until next time!

Can you make a cosplay in a day?

Yes. The answer to that question is yes, you can.

Today I have quite a lot to bring you guys, and it all happened in the last 24 hours.

First of all, if you follow my Facebook page, you'll have noticed that I did a little giveaway yesterday while cosplaying Ariel to help promote free comic book day at Darkside comics in Chelmsford. Below is the prize design and progress for the winner of the giveaway. Themed to match, of course!

If you missed out on this one but you're in the Chelmsford area next weekend, you'll have another chance to win! Next week I'll be Wonder Woman (again) so the prize hoop will be themed to match. The design work can be seen below.

But the papier mache Wonder Woman couldn't be worn again. So that meant I needed a new one. And I had some scrap fabrics and old leggings I was never going to wear lying at home, so I grabbed a red top in Primark yesterday ready to begin.

Low and behold, I started working on this cosplay at about noon today. TODAY!!

I made the entire cosplay below in a single day. All it's missing are the cuffs, which I will do in the week. Because to be fair, I think it's awesome enough I was able to make as much as I did in one day. Don't you think?

I cannot wait to wear this cosplay next week and possibly at MCM in May. It's a bit skimpy but no worse than a strapless swimming costume so as long as I'm not alone while flyering, I'll be fine.

Besides, I think I actually look pretty darn rad! Plus now I know I'm pretty good at boot covers and creating my own random patterns, so hopefully Glitter Lucky will be ready in plenty of time for October's MCM!

Until next week!

Suddenly Sunday

This week's been pretty busy, unfortunately not so much with the crafting, but mainly with running. I had a race to train for, it went well, yay. But you don't want to hear about that, you want to read about what I've been making, right?

I have done a couple of odd bits and pieces here and there in between going out running in my evenings and weekends.

The first thing I made this week was a hand-lettered motivational plaque for one of the girls I work with. She loved it and I'm glad because this is my first time doing anything like it but I do hope to do a lot more in the future.

I have some weddings coming up shortly so I'm thinking something similar to this but obviously romance/love themed might make a nice little gift. Maybe.

The next thing I worked on was making a start on some Hufflepuff themed postcards for the birthday card exchange for Hogwarts Running Club. This meant digging out my Christmas present from my sister and playing with chalk on the cards lucky enough to have embossed bits. (Sadly some don't as I only had very limited pre-embossed cardstock and no appropriate embossing folders to use. Never mind though, eh?)

The chalks are really fun to use with the little pom-pom applicator things and I chose the yellow for the flowers so they were in house colours. I've since added green to the leaves and it looks really cool but I've not got any pictures of that yet.

At this point, I'd like to take the opportunity to post a whole bunch of cards I've made in recent months and just never got around to posting. Say hello to picture spam!

You can probably guess what occassions most of these cards are for so I'm only going to go into detail on the big one. I was actually really proud of this card because I made a few of them as invitations to my "games night" birthday party, hence the theme. Sadly on the night everyone in attendance was super tired and we all kept nearly nodding off but it was really fun anyway and at least my invites were awesome.

The last little update I have to bring you is cosplay related... Hooray! Yes, you're probably going to see something cosplay related every week in the run up to MCM in May but you love it, so here it is.

My Tippy Pillow arrived, which means I got to add a pink ribbon and complete my Squirrel Girl in pajamas cosplay with my very own Tippy Toe!

Isn't she adorable? She opens up so many possibilities for photo posing too. I can cuddle her, prop her on my shoulder, leave her round my neck, rest my head on her like I'm sleeping. So many things!! I love her. And it makes me incredibly happy to complete a cosplay with plenty of time to spare.

Now I just have to get my butt into gear making Glitter Lucky.

Until next time!

Saturdays Are For Sewing

So I know it's technically not Saturday anymore but I accidentally had a nap in the day that lasted a lot longer than planned. Which meant my sewing got delayed and it was dark outside by the time I got the machine out...

Whoops.

I was then very productive though and got my Squirrel Girl costume finished and tried on, all except Tippy Pillow (I do hope she comes soon just because I love a finishing touch to a cosplay) and I'm really happy with the results!

This cosplay isn't canon but it's just a fun one and I think pretty accurate for the character. The ears are felt stitched over an Alice band and the earrings are made from polymer clay and painted. (It was easier for me to get them a decent, not tacky lookingcolour that way, I know you can use coloured polymer clay).

That wasn't all I did though. I finally sewed my boot covers for Glitter Lucky as well.

They still need pink toes, heels and cuffs added, plus the little ribbons on the front, but they're looking pretty good so far and I want to focus on the dress for a while. I'll be making that as a skirt and top combo though so it's a bit more comfortable.

I still have a lot I wanted to work on today, like a motivational plaque for a gift and some badger themed postcards to send out to the April birthdays in my virtual running club. (Hogwarts Running Club. I'm a Hufflepuff. Get it?)

So far all I've managed to do is cut the cardstock to size and dig out a badger stamp for the postcards. Hopefully I'll get to work on them properly tomorrow though.

That's about all for this week but I'm currently training for a big run next Sunday so next week might not have a lot of exciting stuff in. I'm sure I'll think of something to bring you all, I just don't know what yet.

In the meantime, if there's anything specific you guys want to see, mention it on my Facebook page! If you want certain tutorials or more detailed shots of my cosplay progress, reviews, shopping tips, you name it.

Until next time!

Wonderful Wednesday

I have been a terrible blogger. Let's start over, shall we?

So lately I've been having some difficulties but they all seem to be worked out now and I'm using my daily planner to keep motivated as well as organised using helpful, colourful little stickers. This is what a week of mine looks like. I'm a busy girl even outside of my day job. But I shouldn't be letting my projects and the things that make me happy sit on the sidelines and believe it or not, this blog is actually really important to me. I just need to know what I want to write every week.

So here's what I'm going to do.

After this post, I'm going to cut back to making entries once a week and keep those regular. On weekends, when I'm actually going to be home and have time to do them. This will mean no more Workdesk Wednesday but that doesn't mean I won't be crafting at least once I week. I need to, I have some big plans for this year after all. It just means that instead of showing you exactly what I'm doing, when I'm doing it, I'll be delivering longer, more varied content of a better quality, but it'll be delivered less frequently.

So that this isn't just a super boring re-introductory post though, I have the finished Wonder Woman costume to show you all.

Towards the end of making the costume I stopped taking progress pictures for two reasons. The first being that I was using the same processes over and over and didn't want to keep repeating what I was posting and the second being that I just didn't have the time. I had to get it finished before I wore it to Dark Side Comics in Chelmsford on 26th March.

But I got it done, it looked better than I'd thought it would and it got some great comments. Yes I had to keep adjusting the boobies every five minutes and my toes got so cold that I thought they were going to fall off but it was so unbelievably worth it for the reaction it got from people. There was also some excellent photography taken by Joseph Leeder, some of which you can see below!

Do not fret! This doesn't mean I'm out of cosplays to make! I've booked my tickets for May's MCM Expo in London and will hopefully be debuting two new cosplays. The first being Squirrel Girl!

I'll be doing this with a twist though as I'll be joining a group of other Marvel characters... in pajamas!!!

This cosplay is complete with the exception of turning up the trousers and the arrival of "Tippy Pillow" my squirrel shaped travel pillow that will have a pink ribbon round it's neck by the time I reach the con on the Sunday. Hopefully I'll get the PJ trousers turned up and be able to try everything on and get some pics of that this weekend. Keep your eyes peeled!

The other cosplay I'm working on for May isn't guarenteed to be finished but is already in progress. I discovered a Netflix original anime called Glitter Force recently and immediately had an overwhelming need to cosplay from it and fulfill my lifelong dream to finally be a magical girl. So this happened:

And I will be working on it a lot more over the coming weeks. I mean, what am I meant to do when I already have a wig that works, not cosplay it? Psh.

So as you can see, I have been quiet but certainly not given up my goal of doing something crafty at least once a week this year, I have in fact been quite the busy little bee.

I just need to sort out my blogging routine and get a handle on managing it once a week before I start posting more often.

Until next time!

Super Stock!

This Sunday is going to be a really quick post because I still have loads to do before bed and work in the morning.

Here goes.

So I previously mentioned that one of my friends from work was going to be doing a little fundraiser. That was this weekend and she kindly photographed the stock I'd given her to sell in exchange for a cut of the profit to go towards the fundraising.

First off, I want to say she did an amazing job with the presentation. I basically gave her a carrier bag full of random bits and pieces and she made it look really nice!

This is also great for me because it gives me an idea of what might sell should I take it to craft fairs and at what prices. I'm also digging the leaf bowls to display the bracelets and hairclips so I'm thinking of making some display bowls specifically for craft fairs when I can do them.

I've applied for my provisional license so hopefully this time next year I'll be driving and setting up stalls at craft fairs and markets.

Until then, this has been a great little opportunity to test the waters!

Until next time!

Workdesk Wednesday - #6 ~ What A Wonderful Project!

It's Workdesk Wednesday again folks and I've had loads of fun this week continuing to build my Wonder Woman cosplay.

The shin guards are comfy, the belt fits and the fabric is cut.

Again, my lovely boyfriend took a photo of me hard at work tonight (definitely not getting carried away or anything...) and the shot below shows me putting a base coat of white paint on all the accessories that were ready for it before I'm able to paint them the actual colours.

That was quite early this evening. Since then I've created my own little pattern panels and cut the fabric for the skirt part. The collage below is a compilation of the work I did on Sunday, tonight, how things fit and the references I've used for the skirt.

I hope you guys like it so far. I'm super proud and having so much fun with it. I can't wait to have another entire day to work on it because it's really starting to take shape and I can't believe it's working.

Until next time!