Sleeping Beauty at Downtown Disney

Dress: Vintage, Petticoat: Amazon, Shoes: Kelly & Katie (DSW), Crown: Disney (borrowed)

When my friends suggested a Princess dinner, the cosplayer in me couldn't help but take this as an opportunity to do cosplay-lite/Disneybounding. And it was the perfect opportunity to wear this vintage dress I have had for ages...and because I had for ages it was now too big, meaning I had to take it in in about 5 minutes (my quickest sewing job yet) before leaving. But I really feel like this dress captures Sleeping Beauty/Aurora's ball gown (or even Cinderella, but I like Aurora better). Now I just need to perfect Aurora's weird ass bangs... Anyways, I also wore my pink jacket because I want to refer back to Aurora's dress switching between blue and pink.

My friends are also so patience and allowed me to take a bunch of pictures around downtown Disney even thought it was late. I don't think I could ask for better friends.

I hope my fellow Disney nerds appreciate my Disneybounding around Disney because it was quite cold. TTFN, ta ta for now.

Dia de los Muertos Maleficent at Comikaze

So, I am officially a month late on posting my pictures from Comikaze...sigh. What can I say, life gets in the way. But I am glad that I am finally able to share pictures of my Dia de los Muertos Maleficent! My cosplay was based off of Peter Steigerwald's art (he is an amazing artist at Aspen comics, go check out his art!). When I was at Comikaze, my friends and I found his table at the convention and I was able to take a picture with him and thank him for doing such awesome artwork. He was so kind and even gave me a print of Maleficent! Sweet!

Wandering conventions is always fun, and this time was no exeption. I was sad though because I really want to do a meet up with a group of people from Youtube, but because of a misprint in the schedule I missed the meet up :(. I think I will also go two days next time, there were a bunch of panels I wanted to go to but they were all on Sunday, but I couldn't pass up going to a convention on Halloween, the best holiday of the year!

While I had a great time at the convention, I was so tired that I didn't attend the cosplay ball at the end of the night *tears*. Wearing that headdress all day was pretty tiring. Oh, and btw my headdress is made of worbla. It is actually my first time working with worbla and I actually like how it came out (but I still see places I could make improvements). Looking at other people's worbla creations makes me want to work with worbla even more (but it's soooo expensive *tears*). And my friend made my staff, lights up and everything! Whenever anyone asked for a picture and I turned on the light, people went "ooh! Wow!" So I got to thank my friend officially for making such an awesome staff. Well, until my next cosplay/convention. I wonder what I will do next! TTFFN, ta ta for now.

Lana! Lana! Lana! at Long Beach Comic Con

Another con, another cosplay (that I have done before). Seriously, being Lana is so much fun! Whenever I am Lana I get yelled out so much! And I don't think I have heard "Danger Zone" so much in life! And I loved it!

I really like Long Beach Comic Con because it is such a small con and it's crazy the amount of people you run into! I ran into Thomas of SoCalCosplayfoto (https://www.facebook.com/socalcosplayfoto) and did a quick shoot with him! Which led to other photographers wanting pictures (if you happen to see a picture of me floating on the internet, let me know!). Plus I was in a video with Nerd Reactor and Archer (aka mynameisnotbrucecosplay): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5cYL08gfj0 .

Chatting with other cosplayers and going to panels is always such a blast. I love hearing how other people made their cosplay, and what inspired them to do it. Like, meeting probably one of the best 10th Doctor copslayers, left me a little star struck (and listening for the Tardis). I mean, seeing a Morrigan cosplay from Wicked and Divine was awesome! As well as seeing,  Over the Garden Wall, Wirt and Greg, cosplay (they were my favorite young cosplayers). Plus watching the Cosplay competition at the end, was actually super impressed by some people's innovation! The only awkward thing was walking back to my car in this cosplay...let's just say this dress is very short, and people are not always so nice. Until next time, TTFN ta ta for now!

Esmeralda Wandering D23

I'm sorry for the million pictures! I know I always say that, but seriously I'm sorry for the like 50 pictures, I was just so excited about this cosplay. I really feel like I nailed Esmeralda (but I know I could do better).

The second day of D23 was a complete world wind. When my friend and I arrived the second day we were greeted by a ridiculous line, and the sad news that the Star Wars panel had filled up (the previous night, so absolute no chance of gettign in). So, I suggested we go sit inside under the air conditioning and just go to the con later, and my friend was bold and walked up to door and...lo and behold, the door was unlocked! We were able to just walk into the con and bypass all the lines. It was amazing! Getting early meant fewer people on the floor, meaning more space to wander and fewer lines to deal with! Because there were less lines it meant that my friend and I were able to do a lot of stuff we were not able to do the first day (the Target gif creator, Marvel green screen photo-op, seeing the Moana exhibit, Zootopia setup, preview of Shanghai Disney, Pandora/Avatar Land for Disney World, etc.). It was great.

I also got to see the Star Wars Jedi Academy, which was freakin adorable. Little kids pretending to be jedis and "fight" Darth Vader and Darth Maul was too cute. After watching the adorableness, my friend and I decided to wander the floor and take some pictures. And while outside attempting to take a picture, guess who I ran into...Disney Legend Floyd Norman, one of the creators/animators/writers of Hunchback of Notre Dame! It was amazing to meet one of the creators of one of your favorite Disney movies, while you happen to be cosplaying as one of his characters! Meeting him and having him tell you, "You are about the size of Demi Moore when she came into record", was probably the highlight of the con! Absolutely amazing.

Another highlight was meeting a DarkWing Duck, who had a violin and was playing it. When I went up to her to compliment her playing she started playing the main theme from Hunchback of Notre Dame! It was such a rush to hear the music from the movie you are cosplaying while you are cosplaying! I know it might be lame to some, but I enjoyed it immensley.

While D23 was absolutely amazing, I must say it was one of the most tiring cons I have ever been to, but since it's every two years I could see myself going back (but I think only one day). Well, that took me forever to get posted, but finally did! So happy! Can't wait for Long Beach Comic Con this weekend! Until then, TTFN ta ta for now.

Minnie Mouse at D23

So, D23 was over a week ago and wow. But it was a fun unique experience! I have been quite a few cons at this point and I have never seen so many lines! I think I will do a post about tips for surviving D23 Expo...but for now here is a review of my first day!

The first day was a whirlwind of trying to get places, seeing amazing cosplay, and getting into panels. On the first day, I was able to get into the Animation Disney and Pixar Panel, which was amazing! Well, the Disney portion was amazing, gotta say I was disappointed in the Pixar portion of the panel. BUT I got to see Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson! He is even more massive in real life, and just as wonderful...sorry, back to D23...

But before seeing the Rock I had time to enjoy the con and all it had to offer! I went to the Uniqlo station and get some serious swag! I made sure to visit on the first day because I did not want them to run out of my size (like they did at Anime Expo). Uniqlo is doing a partnership with several artists across the world letting them redesign the classic Mickey logo in their own creative way. The  "Mickey 100 Project" will be in stores soon, but the lucky people at D23 got to it early (and a discount!). I even got my picture taken by someone at Uniqlo! Don't know where the picture is, but if you see it, let me know!

After seeing the Rock, it was actually pretty late, but I was determined to get pictures of my cosplay. This was actually the first dress I have sewn from scratch, and I am quite proud of how it turned out! It was nice to hear other people compliment my dress, and feel so very "Minnie"! After doing my cosplay photos, I looked in the schedule and saw there was a Minnie bar. I was able to get to the bar before they closed the floor, and took a few photos with the giant Minnie. It was just too perfect! I even got to walk the floor of the convention hall when it was practically empty, and got a few pics before being kicked out. My first day at D23 was magical (and full of lines) but overall wonderful.

Well, that was day 1, expect day 2 post soon (and even more pictures of my cosplay). I think I will start a cosplay gallery? What do you think? TTFN, ta ta for now.

MegaMan Sailor Pluto Mashup at Anime Expo!!!

 

Again...SO MANY PICTURES!!! But wow! I am so proud of this cosplay, mostly becuase I actually finished it! First, this cosplay was inspired by artist ShadowMaster23 on deviantart, please check out her art, it's amazing. This cosplay seemed cursed, everything that could go wrong went wrong. My staff heart broke...twice! I had issues with getting everything to work together and a wig that didn't want to not tangle. But! It all worked out in the end and I am so proud! This cosplay took up so much time and effort and to see it come together in these pictures only encourages me to do more cosplay (plus encouragement from other cosplayers-keep reading)! Before moving on, I would like to thank my friend who was an absolutely amazing human being who helped me get everything on, and helped me throughout the day to keep everything on. You know who you are, and you are amazing.

So, Anime Expo 2015 was so much fun! I havent' been to Anime Expo since it moved to the LA Convention Center, and wow...so many....people. This convention has really grown in recent years, and it warms my heart to see more people embracing nerd culture, and not being ashamed! I know so many people used be ashamed for liking anime, so it's nice to know I'm not the only one binge watching Moribito and reading Tokyo Ghoul (don't watch the second season of the anime, so bad). Plus the swag at Anime Expo was bomb! I got some super cute Luna stockings (expect to see them on the blog soon!), some artwork (one was free because I was dressed as a Sailor Moon character), and a picture of my coslay. Plus I saw a super cute Luna purse (that Sailor Moon is actually holding in one of my pictures) and ordered it on Ebay, expect that soon too. Anime Expo also had a whole section where you could do small drawings and write nice messages-as you can see one girl went all out. My drawing looked like nothing in comparisons to hers (I drew my friend and myself as Kiki). There was also a section at Anime Expo just for Cosplayers! They had set up backdrops for photos, a cosplay repair station, and a place you could get a 360 view of your cosplay (here's mine: http://qlqlexpo.com/frame/T5TC-7YE7)

Anyways, being Sailor Pluto was so fun! I ran into so many Sailor Moon groups, and it just made me wish I had a group to cosplay with! All the Sailor Moons were super sweet, and the other Sailor Pluto I met was incredible (follow her on instagram at _bambie.b). I also met the amazingly talented and kind Vividvivka, dressed as Vincent, who walked up to me and asked "Did you make your cosplay? Is this your first one?" "Yes, I made this. And this is my first big cosplay." I said. "Wow! You did an amazing job! If you have any questions on cosplaying, you can message me on Facebook or Instagram. I love helping others with their cosplay." I know this be lame, but I was so touched by someone as talented as Vividvivka coming up to me to compliment me, really encouraged me and made feel so much better about my cosplay (I was having major issues with keeping the thigh boot portion on my actual thigh).

I'm sorry, I've started to ramble. But I just wanted to express the love the cosplay community has for each other and how a little compliment can really lift your spirits. Cosplayers unite!

TTFN, ta ta for now.

Lauren