Remembering the betrayal…

Re-watching episodes of the Great British Sewing Bee, and remembering the greatest betrayal that I have ever experienced.

Imagine a young 6-7 year old Amber, watching her mother sewing on a regular basis and being the good helper by passing her the things she needs. The thread… The embroidery scissors… The sewing sixpence…

No problem, I am familiar with all of these things as I have been all my life, except for one thing…

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A SEWING SIXPENCE!!

But Amber, what is a sewing sixpence?

The sewing sixpence
(sometimes called the sewing shilling)

So why, dear mother of mine, am I almost 40 and discovered LAST YEAR that this is not what it is called and neither has it ever been called that.

Turns out that you just had one with an embossed coin print when I was small and I never questioned it because nobody EVER told me it wasn’t a real thing.

If I could find a coin print or coin embossed one, I think I would feel less like I have been conned but for now I will continue to mock my mother for her lifelong betrayal over a flinkin’ foil needle threader!

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A little update on the Studio…

I am getting there…

I have been clearing and digging the spot for it to go. I am continuing to try and level the ground before I start to dig foundations.

I have been donated some concrete slabs which will make the little path from the main walkway to the studio door and a thick waterproof membrane to make sure damp is at limited as possible. (Thank you Sharan)

I also got a delivery of OSB board (£28 per sheet) to fit on top of the crate and a large offcut of brand new carpet (£20) that is perfect size (pending a little trim) so the flooring is sorted. Both picked up from facebook market for super cheap so that saved me a heck of a lot of cash.

Ideally, the end result will look something like this:

In theory…

Thanks to Ikea, I already own all of these items so wont actually have to purchase anything

these are all Kallax or Kallax compatible items that we can use as is or maybe even hack together to make something awesome. I have planned out various hacks previously so I’m fully happy to go full mad scientist in order to get the sewing space of my dreams. <3.

But for now, I am tired, bruised from falling on my face, scratched from thorn bushes that I dismembered and very pink from the sun (dumb me ran out of sunblock).

I’ll take the weekend off and start again on Tuesday

Recovering some videos from the phone incident…

So as you may have read in my previous post, my phone died dramatically and I lost a ton of information including a ton of video clips that I was collating for a “60 second insight into Amber” that I worked really hard on so was absolutely gutted when I lost it all.

However, I did manage to regain a few of the clips that friends and family sent me for the project so I might re-edit them together and post them here for posterity…

For now, here is a little snippet of what my brother has to say about Me

James Bradley (not Bradley James this time)

Well they say bad luck comes in 3’s

And for me it seems to be no exception.

Firstly, whilst making the Kotatsu skirts for MinamiCon, my overlocker that had previously been a dream to work with decided to throw the timing out quite considerably meaning that is out of action until I can get her serviced (not an inexpensive feat with the current cost of living).

Then my Phone has a major crash and bricked itself and give me nothing but the Qualcomm crashdump error.

Saddle the Google backup is something to be desired so I lost a ton of data, and videos… Including my will and statement of wishes (which I didn’t backup elsewhere because I am an idiot).

And finally, to complete the trifecta, my trusty T420 laptop that I feel like I have adored for a century has started her descent into joining the great scrapheap.

She won’t recognise any microphone so all sewing streams will need to be put on hold until that can be fixed.

Not the best time for all 3 to go at once. Especially since I need to to dip into my rapidly depleting savings to complete a really exciting project that I was excited to post about.

TBC… The new studio!

Just a little 8×10 space that I can use to make things in, I won’t be keeping anything super expensive in there apart from an old bruised monitor that I can hook my laptop up to (when I get a fix or replacement).

*sigh*

Lets just put one foot in front of the other to start with and see how we get on.

For those interested in what my plan is, here’s a little scope List.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/117NCKLNF88C2?ref_=wl_shareor

THIS IS NOT A LIST FOR PEOPLE TO ACTUALLY BUY FROM!. I have removed the delivery address for this wishlist so you can’t buy anything from it, it’s just a good place to keep a reference list of things I need to buy. Most bits won’t come from Amazon, they will most likely come second hand.

I will put some better drafts together at some point but for now, here’s a snippet of the plan taken from one of my streams.

Peace out homies x

Ok, ok, I transferred most of my blog posts over!

Finally, they are now mostly here, I have a few older ones from 2016/2017 that still need to come across but I have been doing it all day so need a break.

However, we do have some cool new features in the main website (Ambersaur.com if you haven’t seen it already) that I am super excited about so feel free to check out the drop down cosplay menu and take a peek at the photoshoot map!

We have some other features coming too so keep a peeper out and let me know what you think!

The MoCo LoCo’s are having a party!

A shout out to all my Arty friends and those that appreciate Artisan crafts, this event is not something you are going to want to miss!

Some really close friends of mine have been cultivating an online art community over the last couple of years are celebrating their year anniversary of becoming twitch partner THIS FRIDAY where they have over 300 items of community craft works from over 80 different artists being given away for free!!!

These range from physical artworks, digital artworks and creative services

UK start time: 3pm and going to be going for 2 days with a short rest break in the middle

They are also going to be featured on the twitch homepage so it’s going to be a wild ride!

The twitch link:

https://www.twitch.tv/mocomade

This is the Discord link for if you wanna see what it being given away (in the PP party channel

(It’s quite high traffic so prep to have a lot of notifications from it if you join the Discord)

https://discord.gg/ERwKfnqk

I will drop a few examples of what is up for grabs in the comments

MinamiCon… you better appreciate this

How much sewing have I done for Minami?

With the help of Mother Bradley, we did 489.6 metres… (That’s 1606 feet and 3.59 inches for you US, or old folk)

8 tables, 61.2 metres of sewing per table including overlocking and French seams. we went through 4 sewing machines, 2 sewers sanity limits

Per table:
16 side seams at 60cm = 9.60m
4 hem seams at 220cm = 8.80m
4 hem seams at 80cm = 3.20
2 overlocking seams at 200cm = 4m
2 overlocking seams at 60cm = 1.20
2 joining seams at 2m = 4
2 joining seams 60cm =1.20
2 top stitch seams at 2m = 4
2 top stitch seams 60cm = 1.20

(Vinyl tops)
8 Velcro seams at 2m = 16m
4 Velcro seams at 60cm = 2.40
4 corners at 10cm = 0.40

Why did I do this? I am sure if I had any sensation in my fingers… I would be pained. Ka Ho Chan Simon Bland Sook Meng Muk Philip Laskey this is your fault collectively.

Still sewing…

#WhyDoWeDoThis

https://www.twitch.tv/ambersaur_uk

Come keep me company ❤

More MinamiCon sewing…

Come mock me being a big dumb

TWITCH.TV

Ambersaur_UK – Twitch
https://www.twitch.tv/ambersaur_uk

Sewing 128 seams… 32 down, 96 to go. can i finish in 4 hours?

Update

Long overdue Update!!!

NEW WEBSITE!!!

Thanks to the delightful Sys Admin that I keep tucked away in the back room, I now have a glorious new website that I will be adding things to. Please bear with me and I will update all the projects I have been working on over the last few years.

It’s likely that I will be doing less cosplay these days but I WILL continue to make stuff.

More on the way!!!

MoCo LoCo’s doing a big giveaway

A big evening tonight! over they are giving away over 100 items of free handcrafted stuff (everything from leather goods to steel fighting knives with the only requirement of winning is being a follower and being online when they call the winners for the various items.

Please check them out and feel free to name drop me as a part of my Brit crew!

https://www.twitch.tv/mocomade

I was the first follower they had on twitch that they didnt know and remember Devyn being really nervous on camera… now we cant shup her up

I have been supporting these guys every weekday for the last year and a half and I am SO DAMN PROUD of them.

I may have also made a special something to give away but you gotta hit up the stream if you wanna see what it is

#AmberMadeMeDoIt#BritNerdCrew

A hack is a hack

So, I just moved house into a bungalow and have been working on turning my “utility room” into a small office so I can work from home.

After sticking an IKEA tabletop on top of both of the 2×2 Kallax units from my old flat, I was staring at the old Lapland TV unit that I was going to sell and thought “that’ll fit on top of I flip it”

So with the help of my nephew, I fit it in with 2cm to spare at the top and side. The last thing I need to do if mount a drawer front (that I also grabbed from the IKEA free parts bin) as a shelf in the middle for my 3rd monitor. The overhead units are only going to store soft toys but if you want to store anything heavier, I recommend fixing a support bracket to the wall.

I have more IKEA projects coming up as I sight to store the 200 pairs of shoes that my sister left me in her will. Wish me luck and let me know your thoughts.

Cosplay Clearout!

Job lot of several cosplay outfits, more being added as I find them.

Mostly complete outfits, a couple of started projects and some accessories.

Ladies small size for the most part, a couple of male counterpart bits. I can check sizes on request

Moving house and I have no space to take them with me so please enjoy them if you can.

Some pictures of the outfits being worn can be found here:

http://www.cosplayisland.co.uk/costume/view/4653

Will need a steam and they have been in storage for a heck of a long time.

If there is something you can see on the cosplayisland site but isn’t shown, please ask and I will try to dig it out (the Vanellope car has gone to the tip 😭)

Long ass post, bear with me..

Today I went on adventure. I drove to the London Excel centre with my (legally defined carer) and bestie to get vaccinated.

I am incredibly lucky that Bestie and I have been able to get the vaccine but the reason for it is quite sad. The company she and I work for who assist is the distribution of the vaccine have seem massive wastage is London where people have been arranging appointments for vaccination and then either cancelling last minute or not showing up at all.

There are a concerning amount of people who seem to think this is no big deal because they have had covid and it wasn’t that bad…

Well. I hate to be rude (we all know that’s a lie) but I would like to personally ask those who feel that way to get fucked.

With the current medication I am on, there is a very high likelihood that if I get covid, I will end up in the ICU (you can look up ocrelizumab if you think I am being dramatic)

So please PLEASE take this seriously, get the vaccine if/when you can. Don’t make exceptions for things when you know you shouldn’t.

Just be sensible

I love you all! Don’t be a dick, that’s my job.

#PandemiCon

Whoops

Lol… So I had a bit of an incident earlier today. I may have dropped a resin trex head on my head and cut it open…

1 destroyed towel later and the bleeding has stopped. Thankfully I won’t need stitches but I will have to glue the tooth back on that Dino left in my head

MoCoMade Madness

Lads and ladies!!!

Check out this amazing sibling duo on twitch!!!

They are funny as all hell and do awesome pretty crafty stuff, they are really in need of follows to reach their affiliate goal so please pop by to “blame the Fucking Cherries”

also they make scrubs that make butts look amazing!!! (Luke, you aare gonna wanna check out their insta)

https://www.twitch.tv/moderator/mocomade

Tomorrow’s plans with Sibling Bradley

Building this beautiful pile of goodies into a lil beast

Tea is important to a lot of people, OK!

Talking to an American twitch buddy and he tells me the thing that makes him nervous about dating British women is not them judging how good he is in bed but them judging how good his tea making skills are…

I said that’s as long as he had a kettle and didn’t heat his water in a microwave he should be fine.

He doesn’t have a kettle.

Apparently this is “a very Amber thing to do”

Although I am not sure about the accusation that most of my science involves sticking things up my nose or in my mouth… 🤔😶

If there were ever an image that personified my brother…

Go be a Sew Bee!

I don’t think I will ever be lucky enough again to be selected for GBSB but would love to see one of you beautiful humans take part in my stead

The Great British Sewing Bee – S7

SEWING.TAKE-PART.CO.UK

The Great British Sewing Bee – S7

Nifty with a needle or handy with a hem? Then why not put your skills to the test!

A Sibling rivalry

Thinking of starting a website called “people I confuse with my brother”

or “people who look like my brother”

#BradleyJamesIsNotJamesBradley
#WilWheetonHasMyBrothersFace

Can I blag this?

This is going to seem like a really odd question but does anyone own one of these and is it feasible to wear it backwards?

I’m having some issues with structure in a dress where boning is not feasible, thinking of sewing one of these puppies into the under structure so that the back is in line with the bra I’m using… no idea if it will be enough but it seems an easier idea than buying all the individual components to make one.

It’s sad but…

I’m gonna be getting rid of a load of cosplay and sewing stuff if anyone is interested, if not it’s going on Facebook marketplace. I simply can’t store it anymore so am getting rid

Nostalgia

Am wearing a pair of my sister’s shoes today. I didn’t think it would make my heart hurt, but it does.

These were the ones I found for her when she wanted to cosplay Sarah from labyrinth. She never got round to wearing them.

An update

This is for people’s awareness of if myself or my family are non-responsive to things.

Just to make friends aware (and those of you that knew her) my sister passed away in the early hours of this morning. She was surrounded by family and we told her that she was loved so very much.

She was curled up resting on my shoulder with her son Jake, her brother James and our mum holding her hands. She didn’t appear to be in any pain and it was as peaceful as we could have hoped for.

My heart is crushed but I’m ok. Please don’t PM me or the family, we need to come to terms with things and sort out the awful administrative side of things.

I miss you.

cocktail making class in honour of my beautiful sister

Hey, wanna be me for a hot sec?

Something I found interesting. I never thought of any way that the average Joe could experience what I do

HANG THE BANNERS!

I need to pick 3 or 4 Cosplay photos for my pull up banner and I can’t decide which ones are the least crud… I was planning to pay for a photoshoot day but can’t justify the cost right now.

Why do I have aa derp face?

A little support would be appreciated

Guys, can you please check out this page.

My cousin Lucy is doing something I can’t, and is raising money through what I can only describe at “physical lunacy”.

For those that don’t know, my sister is fighting daily against terminal cancer.

It’s tough.

It’s not ok.

We need a cure.

If you can sponsor or donate, then please do. If not, that’s perfectly ok. If you can share, that’s awesome, if you don’t feel comfortable, that’s perfectly ok too.

Much love ❤️

https://fundraise.cancerresearchuk.org/page/lucys-giving-page-483

A request…

I would like to request all of the funny things to share with my big sister when she wakes up. ❤️

This fabric is just so fetch!

Nobody is gonna understand why i’m so excited by this except maybe my sister Caroline

Be a Bee to bring it back

This is what I was a part of last year and would encourage as many people to go as possible!

Hopefully if peeps sign up for the mailing list, then they can see there is interest and someone will pick the show up (here’s hoping)

The Great British Sewing Bee Live

“! Will there be a 2018 Great British Sewing Bee Live show?

The Great British Sewing Bee Live show is produced by Upper Street Events – the company behind the much-loved Knitting & Stitching Shows and The Festival of Quilts – in conjunction with TV production company Love Productions.

As the Great British Sewing Bee TV series has not been recommissioned, a decision was taking by Upper Street Events in conjunction with Love Productions to postpone the GBSB Live show for 2018.

Join our mailing list to stay up to date with news about any future Great British Sewing Bee Live events and to find out more about the Knitting & Stitching Show and the Festival of Quilts.

https://thegreatbritishsewingbeelive.com/join-mailing-list/

For more information on the Knitting & Stitching Shows and the Festival of Quilts please visit the following websites:

https://www.theknittingandstitchingshow.com/london/

http://www.thefestivalofquilts.co.uk/

Sewing hacks and tips

I’m sorry but the needle threading at 6 mins in… WITCHCRAFT!!

I’m always a bit weird but…

That moment when one of you friend’s cosplays from your favourite Anime and you suddenly get weirdly coy about asking for a photo 😍

well this is a little inconvenient

Following yesterday’s painful episode, I spent a bit of time in the hospital today getting stabbed and prodded.

I’m now on lockdown 😞 I had to bargain with my neuro nurse to let me keep keep working by agreeing to work from home… I have a laundry list of things I’m not allowed to do though:
Drive 😩
Use the oven 😕
Use sharp knives 😟
Boil anything on the hob😤
Lift a kettle,😳
Shower alone 😉 (this actually means without anyone else in the flat)
Go up and down stairs on my own 😠

This is at least for the rest of this week, depending on test results and potential steroids if my immune system is up to it.
Feel free to send me stuff to distract and cheer me up.

2018 Sewing Bee

Amy, dates for next year!

 http://www.thegreatbritishsewingbeelive.com/

Wish me luck!

I am here and heading in!

My new Tshirt

I came across this shirt in Primark and figured it’s very applicable to me!

Childhood throwback…

My next cosplay for Hibanacon,

Can you tell what it is?

Prep for the Bee

Lol!! Sewing Bee emailed me to say the sewing machine I will be using is a Janome CXL301 and could I look it up online to familiarise myself with its functions ahead of the show…

…This is my sewing machine.

Sharing Kenny’s Cosplay stream.

https://m.twitch.tv/kennycosplaystuff

A throwback…

2 years ago today, I started being taken seriously when I said something was wrong.

After being sent away from hospital twice, I was finally admitted and given meds to help.

It’s been tough, and a lot more unpleasant than expected. Given that they thought it was motor neurone disease when they first started running tests, I think I will count my blessings that I can still retain some independence.

And as always, I’m grateful to my sister Caroline and mummy Bradley for taking care of me in the hospibob.

A lesson in expectations.

So… Emma and I watch a bad movie tonight

Except it wasn’t bad…

it was actually really likeable..

and I want there to be a sequel…

and I want to cosplay from it…

It was Pride, prejudice and Zombies

#confusedandconflicted

#iusetoomanyellipses

I cant remember!!!

What do you call this fabric? I need some in purple for a ghetto’d Pokémon cosplay for Minami

Not Now Bradley!

Is going awkwardly viral on twitter because I can’t tell the difference between my brother and a Hollywood actor 😳

What do I do now?

Overheard in the hospital with Caroline…

Nurse: how do you normally walk?

Patient: on my legs.

This person is clearly my spirit animal

World Cosplay Summit 2016

YouTube link to anyone wanting to watch:

Birthday vibes!

My sister wins all the prizes for awesome birthday gifts!

 A combination of ocd awesomeness, dinosaur love and alcohol related win! Xx

A Pull back from an old blog

4 July 2016

Sewing bee…

I hope Charlotte wins!!!!!

Convention arrival – Disaster strikes!!

Things i’ve forgot to bring: bonnet detail and “cream Filling”

Things that are not working: Electric Go Kart

Things that seem to be broken: Foam Cart base (is now dragging on the floor)

Oh Crap!!

lets not SPOIL the Party…

The puns are getting worse… I cannot apologise enough
Spoiler Alert!!

No really…I need to make the Spoiler, and fast

The spoiler stems are made from water noodles which were wrapped in sticky back plastic and coloured electrical tape, I then cut holes in the car slightly smaller than the stems so that they would be held in by tension.

the spoiler itself is made from a section of polystyrene painted pink and sandwhiched between 2 pieces of UVA matting that were convenently already the right shade of pink,

as most glues react to polystyrene we used a mixture of silicone and no more nails in order to hold it all together. Holes have been cut in the bottom of the spoiler for the stems to slot into

to make the clocolate “splodge” I cut the drip pattern from camping mat foam and coated it in the same brown silicone that I used for the body of the car.

Leaving it to dry overnight and am hoping it has enough time

I LEAVE IN THE MORNING!!!! GET STUFF DONE ALREADY!!

I have 1 day left and so far i have on my to do list…
Windscreen

Spoiler

Straws

Headlights/Rearlights

bonnet detail

“cream Filling”

seat detail

interior

steering wheel

Needing to cut this list down I have sacrificed the following details as they arent really going to be seen and arent really vital to the look of the car:

seat detail

interior

steering wheel

for the headlights and rearlights I bought some fake security camera domes from the pound shop and sprayed the inside of them with red glass paint, I also put a flashing LED inside so that they light up while I’m driving, I might change these to static LED’s as I think it will look a bit better

the white “mallow” headlight is made from a circular piece of upholstery foam trimmed in a matte fabric, (I think I used an offcut of raw silk)

the windscreen is made from a piece of perspex that has been heated to get a curve, The perspex I’ve used is a bit too thick so I’ve ended up with some ripples…

…Sod it, I’ll fix it later

I WHEELY need to get a move on… (get it? I’m a funny lady)

Mike basicly constructed the base of these whilst i was at work.

He used the thick UVA foam playmats that you can buy in tesco and heat formed them in to a semi-circle and used the same UVA matting as the face to glue it to.

I added the faceplates when i got home and used pipe lagging cut in half to make the tyres. we painted the tyres in a PVA/acrylic mix.

the wheel faceplates are made from a mixture of Funfoam and UVA foam, i then used a dremmal to engrave the detail into the cookie wheels

DC fans and cosplayers!

I wont need to say a lot on this (Yes, I know i need to charge my phone).

http://www.sroaudiences.com

Breakfast tshirt sister buddies!!

SPRINKLES!!!

I (plus a small workforce of family members) spent hours cutting out various stars and sprinkles from multi coloured fun foam, we cut them slightly larger than ideal but with the convention being 2 days away i’m happy to compromise on the scale of the sprinkles in order to get enough to cover the area needed.

Also because nothing would glue to the silicone we needed to figure out a way of attaching the sprinkles to the car…
This could become an issue

I’m gonna frost you a little bit more

For the section of the car that looks slightly purple I studdied the reference images and decided that i wanted wanted to get a “sugary” looking effect. 

To do this I decided to top the silicone with milti coloured micro beads. I actually used nail caviar in a few different shades of pink and purple in order to get a shimmery multi tonal effect when photographed but without looking like a harsh obvious line.

I added the microbeads using a salt shaker straight after the silicone so it would stick to it without needing to add more glue, in retrospect this didnt work as well as i hoped and i was shedding beads all over the place, thankfully i had put enough on so that it didnt look patchy in the areas that the beads had brushed off of.

I used an A4 sheet of funfoam as a template for the edges so that even if it did stick to the silicone it would be easy to peel off

Go Frost Yourself!

Major kudos to my exHusband for helping me with this and for letting me do this in our tiny flat making it stink like wee and vinagar 😦

Wanting to make the frosting look as much like chocolate as possible i opted for brown silicone sealant. We put the silicone on by hand and protected oursenves with rubber gloves and facemasks, i used a huge tarp to protect the carpet and furnature in our flat because this stuff really does get everywhere!

I wasnt as happy with the look of the finished silicone as i thought i would be, I think heat forming vinal may be give a better result 🤔perhaps something to improve on in the future 

Freakin’ Genius!!

After throwing a masstve strop over not being able to get the frosting to look right I went to work in a huff and my ex husband took the task of getting this right for me.

he used 2 camping mats (from poundland) glued together with hot glue and heated them with a hot air gun until they were soft, then he molded the edges to drape over the corners as it would do if it was a fondant.
I’ve got to hand him the credit on this part, he done good.

Baking a car, filling edition

Slowly gluing the sections together making sure the joins sit underneath where the frosting drips over the edge. 

I also used this as an oppertunity to size up against the cart frame and make sure the body sat high enough for the wheels to have a decent clearance.

Carved body version 1.0

so the most part of the body has been carved. the sides and rear will need to be adjusted once the rear wheels have been made so that the car looks properly in proportion, I’ve also added some more foam to the sides in order to bulk it out

Stack o foam!

I know I’ve posted this image before but I figured I’d explain the image so you can see how I started the process,

I was originally going to use expanding foam for the body of the car but after discussing the project i realised the best way to replicate the look of sponge cake was to use actual sponge… well in this case old sofa cushions. 

So this is how many I got, they were mostly from an old sofa of my mums, they were in quite good condition so with a thorough spray with antibac I was happy to get to work 
Using my template, I carved out the begginings of the front of the car to form a rough shape (I thought the bonnet would be the most challenging section to carve so wanted to start here) I used an electric breadknife to get the basic shape and then finnished off with scissors for the minor shape adjustments.

Cheap karts and Sketchy details

I go driving in my car… 

(Posted 2nd July 2013)

I got an electric go-kart base off gumtree for £20, I was originally looking for a pedal powered one but when this one came up for cheap I figured why not! It’s doesn’t actually have handle bars or a steering wheel but instead you steer with your feet and have a little accelerator switch that looks like it would be more at home on a pod racer… O__o

It also doesn’t have much of a frame beyond the back seat and centre bar, (I think my plans may need to be adjusted)

So it’s electric but it does have problems with the batteries so figure once I swap them out it’ll be good to go!! (As it turned out I didn’t bother replacing the battery and everything worked ok) 

Next I drew a scale outline of how I wanted the car to look onto lining paper and marked in the size and shape of the go-cart frame

(I picked up a roll of lining paper in the £1 shop and its the best thing I’ve ever bought)

I used this to see where I needed to add extra hight into the foam and where I needed to cut divets for the framework to sit. This doesn’t need to be perfect but you need a rough idea 

The starting grid

So after being super lazy for the last 18 months I have now decided it’s high time to get things moving and update my WordPress with construction notes from various costumes and builds that I have done over the last few years.

Watch this space for more details coming soon!!

Best cosplay ever has been achieved!!

Wins all prizes

Health update

So there is a possibility I may be able to go home either tomorrow or Friday!! The Hospital have been great and all the staff have been lovely but I’m feeling happy to be getting back to my own bed now.

Potentially a proper diagnosis by the end of the week too 😊

I AM OK!!!

Hi all, just a quick shout to let people know I’m ok as i’ve turned Facebook on to find 50+ notifications and messages coming in faster than I can send them out,

I’m currently in hospital with vestibular Neuronitis and haven’t been able to contact people for about a week. :S

Please be reassured that I am ok at this point and its just taking me a while to respond to everything, I am being looked after by mummy Bradley and my big sister Caroline so am all good for the time being, I just have to wait for  an MRI scan before they tell me what I can do next

I’ve missed a few birthdays and i’m sorry if you haven’t had birthday wishes from me over this past week, much belated cakeness to you!! I promise I will make it up to you guys next time I see you!! Xxx 

Thumbs up for now, I’ll try to pull my head outta my butt and get over this pretty quick so I can get back to being my normal dinoriffic self 😃

Much love all xx

Getting the Cosplay bug again…

I still have my to-do list but think I could do with a couple more fresh ones to keep me enthused…

I’m already bullying Amy to be Louis lane with me, I’m now looking at the rest of my wives… (Chevi, Silvia, Emma)

Bombshells, (Ant Lucia)

Waaah!!! Love this group! I may have to con my lady friends into going a UK group with me!!

List of a setbacks cosplay wise…

I have managed to lose the box containing the old sections of Danger that I made! 🙁

Despite re-making most of it I was hoping to keep the feet and use the rest as patterning but instead I ‘m making the whole thing from scratch

I then discovered that I was running low on the paint I bought and discovered that the colour I had picked is now discontinued (devastated) this means I have to re-paint all the bits I have finished including the entire head 🙁

Then when painting the undersuit I found that the transfer method wasn’t working because I had used a different brand of greaseproof paper… I managed to ruin 3 drawings trying to get it working

HOWEVER

I have managed to find a better coloured paint that isn’t as dark

Heroes of Cosplay

I actually really enjoyed this article, it talks about the obvious edits that have been applied to the girls featured in the series

Comics Alliance Reviews SyFy’s ‘Heroes of Cosplay’

COMICSALLIANCE.COM

https://comicsalliance.com/heroes-cosplay-syfy-review-commentary-video-criticism/?trackback=fbshare&fbclid=IwAR36woSusUYYXlj_nyfXOzaAmVsPr7T8doF_0IyxSWIxp3cShYLX1pgvYic

Heroes of Cosplay is a docu-series that follows nine cosplayers (Yaya Han, Riki LeCotey, Monika Lee, Victoria Schmidt, Chloe Dykstra, Jessica Merizan,

He Felt the back of Batman’s hand…

Example 1… Lego batman slapping my brother — with James Bradley

HOLY CRABS ITS THE THIRD UPDATE IN A YEAR!!! (I think)

OMG, I MANAGED TO GET ON MY BLOG IN WORK!!

seems trivial to the non-Cemex-er, but Cemex block near enough every type of website you can imagine, games personal sites, shopping, all barred (strangely except eBay).

Ok well I’ve just had the call I’ve been waiting for, my agency have given me a call to say the (FINALLY) there is a position opened up in the legal department of Co-Op insurance,  I’ve given them all my bits and pieces and they are going to hunt down the bigwigs and make them buy me (in a matter of speaking)

I can’t wait!!!! so Excites if I get the job it’ll not only be at the wage I’m after and in the industry I want but also it’ll be at the end of my road!! it’ll take me 10 mins to get to work if I sleep walk in!!!

Also looking forward to Christmas!, I’ve done all my Crimbo shopping and am in the process of wrapping it up, I’m all done and stress free, also looking forward to having my brother over, he lives in London and works overseas a lot so I don’t get to see him too much, I’ve done a Crimbo stocking for him and the BF too, it’s not got a lot in really, just a few of the things I bought him for Xmas and a bunch of crap and sweets an stuff, not much but enough to make it kinda like when we were kids, I now just need a handful of nuts and a satsuma and it’ll be perfect!!

In other news we’re getting a new washer dryer delivered on Sunday… not exciting I know but if you’ve been round ours recently you’ll know how much dust our current tumble dryer kicks out, and for the sake of everyone being able to breathe over Xmas we’re getting a new one now,

Apart from that life is as the norm, we’ve been in our flat 13 months and are living in bliss, the BFs a tad worried about the rent but I have confidence that whatever we need will come along, anything more than that is a blessing.

Happy Sigh!!
(too lazy to spell check, Embrace the chaos!)

Anime and Cosplay

so…

as my new resolution to put more on my BLOG I start here, the wonderful world of amine, manga and cosplay,
I’ve recently come across a series called Clannad, I have yet to watch/read but have been drawn to it by the Doe-eyed art on the front cover and also the appearance of the FujibayashI twins,
 
I love the hair and the outfits and although they are twins it’s easy to tell who’s who, and you get a good indication of their personalities from their posture and body language

according to Wiki, “Kyou FujibayashI has bad attitude” I’m assuming she’s the taller of the two with purple eyes
Whereas Ryou Fujibayashi, (a class representative) seems likely she’s she smaller one who looks less mischievous,

I love the way they are drawn and the hairstyles, the outfits look less likely to be part of a school tentacle monster plot line, fitted – but not too fitted, although the over-knee socks snuck in there with the ridiculously short length of the skirt

but from the read up it looks like something I’ll enjoy reading or watching without having to lookout for the tell-tale signs of an approaching molestation,

next subject brings me to my current workings of cosplay, I decided (with the help of Stevie) to do SuperbI Squalo from hitman reborn
 
bad ass bad guy with silky smooth locks that even make GHD jealous,
I recently purchased a long white wig that I’m going to spritz with a bit of  silver to give it some depth,
the costume itself should be simple enough, I’m going to use some soft faux leather PVC because it’s really nice to work with and I can finish the seams up nicely,

I think I might struggle with the jacket,
It’s a 3/4 length double breasted military jacket with a collar,
there are no patterns that I can find for a military style double breasted jacket at all so I may have to wing it and make it up as I go along,
(I’m good at that)

the bit I’m most looking forward to is the belt buckle, I’m making 3 the same (for myself as Squalo, Stevie as Bel, and the BF as Xanxus)
I figured it would be a bit tedious trying to make 3 the same so I’ve make a mock up out of plasticine based on the pic below


I have a really soft air dry foam clay that I intend to push into all the details and bumps and try to make a mould make a mould as accurate as I can,
when the foam clay is completely dry, with any luck I can whip out 3 buckles the same and do any tidying up with a spatula


TA DAAA!!

Happy land of luffs n’ stuffs!!!

yes I know I suck and I’m rubbish, I never reply to emails and have disowned my Facebook page, I’m sorry I promise to do better and stop neglecting my much loved friends

things are going good, trying to think of a brief update on life….

Well…

it’s been 10 whole months since the BF and I moved in together and we’ve never been happier

we have most of the flat decorated and have all our own furniture, we just really need to do the hall and the we’re done

my love for all things pink is slowly invading the flat… (the BF will never notice)

will update more tomorrow, bed times awaits

WIN!!

YAYS FOR US

AFTER WAITING FOR INFINITY (TWICE) THE BF AND I HAVE FINALY GOT A FLAT TOGETHER!!
we’re both really excited coz it’s something we’ve never been able to afford before, but we now have a little one bed flat just down the road from his folks and very near our work

it means we’ll have enough room to work on costumes together and eat/watch tv/ troll forums at the same time,
although I don’t think many people would get excited about picking out paint colours after work so I doubt you’d understand how excited I am

I’m pretty much living with the BF as it is but I  really can’t wait for this, waking up next to the BF on a Saturday morning and being able to potter into the kitchen to make a coffee in vest top and pants… it all seems bliss to me…

AND of course we get to have Christmas in our own house with our own Xmas tree and decorations

but most importantly the flat has a cupboard that’s about 6 ft deep that we’ll use to store all our cosplaying goodness

it’s like a dream come true!!!

HOOOOOOO-RAYS!!!

Its official, I’m no longer a bum!!
I have now been Employed on a permanent basis by the ever so exciting company Cemex

It’s all to do with the building trade and orders of concreate and aggregates for building homes and stuff

You may think that’s kinda boring but they are gonna pay me 18k a year so I’m happy to do that sort of stuff, it also means I can save my pennies to put a deposit down and buy a house with the BF, I’ll also be able to retake my driving lessons and me able to afford to do all the conventions I want to without fretting  BIG YAYS FOR ME!! also unintentionally the building that I’ll be working in is next door to the BFs new job (and my old workplace) the RAC, which means I can pop over for lunch with the BF or my old work buddies

I’m going to have a rather busy weekend ahead of me, I have to finish Reiss’s ren Tao tomorrow but before that I need to find my dressmakers dummy and pad it out for a male form rather than the female form (it’s a good thing Reiss is stocky) and then I need to make a start on my Sei coat, the pattern I have isn’t long enough so I’ll need my mums help to extend it and I’ll me on my way, 
should I get anywhere with it I’ll post some preview pics up here and give you guys a sneak preview

Cos Cos!!!

RAAAAAGHGHGGG!!!!!

it has just dawned on me how many costumes I have to get together before May expo, I’m hoping to get a lot done over the easter bank holiday,

I have the whole of a Ren Tao costume to get together for Reiss, as well as the whole of my Sai, I also need to finish the base for my Donald duck and the add on costumes for it, so I need my Tron outfit, the original KH outfit and maybe a marvel rip-off, luckily I have already completed my Yumi (from the HI HI Puffy Ami Yumi cartoon series) but I do need to get the pink Ami wig sorted for whoever does that for me (Muffee/Stevie/Alex) although I’d still love it if Alex was kez…he’s short enough (lolz)

I don’t think I’ll have any fingers left by the end of it all…..

(memo)
must make 2 polystyrene pistols and a holster

Whimper!

overload

~ Oh the Ire~

came back from Ireland on sat, t’was much fun

the BF and I went to see his sister and her 4 kids, it was his sister’s birthday on the Wednesday so we went out for some super lush Chinese! (Yums!), and the BFs eldest niece Nicola had her7th birthday party on the Friday and we got to go in the soft play as well!! it was loads of fun, the flight home was “interesting”  (not as bad as our trip to Prague with captain Kangaroo)very wobbly and bumpy and we flew at stupid angles 😦

but we’re home safe now, and I did manage to get me a super cool pink PSP in the tax free Dixons shop as well I’m loving Puyo pop Fever at the moment, its loadsa fun, and I got micro machines just to be a bit nostalgic, I’m loving HMV’s 2 for £30 deal and I think we’ll tour eBay and get some bleach games for the PSP as well (Naruto on GC was kinda fun) I’d be grateful if you guys can recommend any good games,

back at work today systems are working, phones are crap hoping to finish my Donald costume fairly soon and I need to get my ass in gear with my Sei costume, I need some black lining material, some black strapping, 2 black buckles as well as blue strapping and 2 red buckles

this is who I’ll be cos’ing as in may

[Burst Angel Sei]

so far I have the boobs, blue fabric and black PVC…… oh and the boots

MinamI Fun!!!

All Awesomeness goes to the guys at Minami,

I haven’t posted in a week since I had nothing “non-emo” going on, (yeugh!)

The BF and I went down in the Friday, arrived at about 12:00ish, met with Alex, went to B&B, I got changed into lovely Inoue Orihme from bleach and the BF as JubeI from Ninja scroll, and headed out to the Novotel for the world’s greatest Minami!!!

it didn’t take long for us to find the bar, and after a few sensible beverages (yea right!) we were fully loosened and into the swing of things!!

we decided to visit the dealers room first off to see if there was anything exciting, picked up a few bits and bobs that I really don’t need but hey, I’m in the mood to spend some dosh!!

after some more drinks, poking a few ppl we hadn’t seen in a while and meeting a few new ppl 
(including a guy who’d changed his name by Deed Poll to Vincent Valentine!!)
we went in to the opening ceremony for a few giggles, we had a bash at the “shoot the Plushie” and I got to beat up a pinata, XD

both the BF Alex and I were quite shattered so we decided to crash at about half 11 for the first night 

Sat morning we went over to Minami in cos, me as Matsumoto from bleach (with an impressive set of fake boobs) and The BF as Kurosaki Isshin from bleach we had a great laugh pottering about doing various things throughout the day, I started to overheat slightly so I made a quick costume change into Kairi from Kingdom Hearts 1 and came back for more drinks, Jpop Karaoke, and the Masquerade!!


the Masquerade was AWSOME! we tried to take as much Video as possible and I think we got all of it, so if you want a copy of your skit/walk on email my fella the BF( removed email) and let him know who you were cos’ing as and if poss. your entry number and we’ll stick it on YouTube for ya!

just a few links for ya;

a subbed version of our skit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I51HmfSUJQ0

Alex’s walk on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6P3A3Uucq30

Awesome Princess Mononoke as performed by Rosie: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIsy8SCREhE

Sunday was less Exciting, we stayed about until about 4 ish, mainly watching Oz feel rough, went to the bar for a large glass of milk (no really)
and played a lot of the Shonin Jump game on the game cube, and left to go home

now this is where it gets interesting,

At 4 ish it was really hot and sunny so we dropped Alex at the station and went to the shopping centre to get a mother’s day card, on leaving the shopping centre we heard a loud BANG, assuming we’d clipped a kerb we drove back to the Novotel carpark to check over the car…

We’d had a blowout so we called the RAC to help as we didn’t have the key for the locking wheel nuts to change the wheel, the RAC  were really good and took about 20 mins to get to us, it did take about an hour to an hour and a half to get the wheel off but eventually we got it changed, although limited to 50mph so we knew it was going to take a long time to get home, 

Tired and restless we got back in the car and tried to find a garage to inflate the tyres a bit more, after the 3rd attempt we found one and headed onto the motorway, after about an hour or so we realised we’d missed our junction and were heading the wrong way!!

We finally joined the M4 at junction 1 in London to follow the road home, finally an easy ride home…..(or so we thought)
after suffering the blinding sunshine earlier we experienced immense winds that nearly blew us of the road…Torrential Rain so we couldn’t see… and then we hit a snow blizzard that took all 3 lanes of traffic down to 30 miles an hour!!

We finally managed to get into Bristol at about 10 ish I had a quick hug with my mum to wish her a happy mother’s day and went on to the BFs to get some well-earned kip

Hurraah!!!

MinamiCon here I come!!!  

the BF got a call to say spaces were available for MinamiCon so we’ve accepted and we’re now going!!!

it’s going to be a rush to try and finish my Donald Tron cos before the con but I’m going to take my Matsumoto, Inoue and Kairi, just in case.

will update with pics as soon as possible.

EXCITES!!!!

Also, I really wanna push the petition to bring back the sewing Bee!!

https://chng.it/bCrPsdrtkw

Please check it out and sign, I love watching sewing bee and was super sad that it went off air.

Here’s hoping though!

Am in work and….

everything is broken

the phones database and my pc has broken down….what a surprise
sadly that doesn’t mean we get away without doing work, it means we have to do everything twice

I’m tired and cranky, I haven’t been able to sleep properly and have a constant headache,
I haven’t been able to concentrate on any of the costumes I’m supposed to be making, I did make the pink scarf for the Matsumoto costume, but it was awful, the seams were sloppy and wonky and I didn’t measure anything
I just felt so crap, 

I did start on a paper mâché body for a Scrooge McDuck costume I’m going to try to fiberglass over the top of it for strength
although we made the mistake of using a heater to try and dry it… the balloon expanded and the paper mâché split, but it can be repaired, it’s only the base anyway, I’m sure we can make it smooth 

The BF has been really great, he’s been really supportive to me and my whole family and I really appreciate it, he’s never failed to be there when I needed someone,  I adore him I love him and he is my best friend

Thankyou to the BF

miss you nanny

I found out last night that my nanny died yesterday,
I don’t really know what happened, I found out when I got back from work, apparently my mum had been trying to get hold of me in the day to say she was sick but the battery on my mobile was flat, and I didn’t finish until 5, she died at half 5

I saw her a few weeks ago, she’d had a fall and was in hospital walking up and down the wards stealing other people’s fruit, it was lovely to see her, she had Alzheimer’s so it was difficult to get her to recognise me, I sat on the floor with my head on her lap for a lot of it, she just smiled and stroked my hair, when we left she was really upset and didn’t want me to leave, I promised that I’d come back the next weekend but I didn’t go, I was trying to finish my costume for the midlands expo, I regret it so much, I really feel like I let her down…
I hate the fact that I can be so selfish, it would only take a short train ride to go and see her, less than a tenner…but I’d rather sit on my lazy ass doing fuck all.
I hate it
I should have gone to see her more
I miss her so much already,
I don’t even know what she died from, she had a fighting will and a strong heart,
she’s never really been sick, she’s had trips and falls but that’s the only thing she’s ever had to go to hospital for

I hope she wasn’t in any pain
and I hope she wasn’t alone

I miss u nanny and I love you loads

Squeeeeeeeeze

so far today has been just like any other,  
I did get a steak dinner cooked for me last night which was absolutely lovely

I need to get some more black fabric to make another bleach kimono seeing as the BF will be wearing his on the same day I wanted it, (humph!) I did get a new wig today for my Matsumoto costume that I’m doing for MinamiCon, I tried it on yesterday with some huge fake latex boobs that I bought for a Sei (burst angel) costume and I was really pleased, although I may need to get a cheap bra from Asda to make them less pointy :O

Presenting… ME!

Phew!

Setting up this new blog thing is actually quite hard work
I figured I’d set up a freebie account to see how i get on for a few weeks and if it works well I’ll upgrade to a paid account

so I have just recently attended the Midlands MCM expo with my boyfriend where we met up with some buddies we haven’t seen in ages, met some new ppl, took some piccies and went bowling until my arm nearly broke off, it was a great weekend away and now it seem I’m suffering from post expo blues, either that or withdrawal from loads of my mates, 

didnt get to see Hot Fuzz but hopefully I’ll try to get to see that this week,

trying hard to finish about 4 costumes for different events but have also discovered that with a mixture of costumes I already have I can create another 5 characters costumes, BONUS!!
my mum helps me HUUUUUUUGLY with a lot of my costumes but at the moment I’m trying to fly solo as much as possible.

I have a Coat that I’m Trying to make at the moment that I bought a pattern for but its just a little short so I’ll need her help with extending it but I want to do all the sewing myself, it’ll be quite hard as it has some decals that’ll take a bit of practice to get right but hopefully it’ll be ok