Found Fourths Spring is Here!

Hello! Welcome to my first Found Fourths post! Found fourths is where I'll write about something that was found, weather it be something physical, online, or a mental or emotional discovery.

   This week was the first week of spring and it has been glorious. We had a few days with lovely sunshine and even though I was inside for most of them, it make working in the drive through window a little more pleasant.

  Today was Easter Sunday. I would have loved to go to church, but rarely is that in the cards. I did get to spend some beautiful time with my flower in the sunshine. She likes being outside and her favorite outdoor activity is going down the slide. We've been trying to take walks when the weather is nice. Today we went to a place called Freedom Park. I'd only ever been there for the small water park that opened last summer. Found out today it had a nice walking trail. must have been about a half a mile.


Our neighbors have some nice yard decorations

 

  Earlier my flower and I tried to take pictures. We have a nice big pond behind out community. My flower was sitting on the wood fence, watching the ducks and geese. I heard something and my eyes went to the grass. Thinking was just the wind, went back to entertaining my daughter. I heard the grass rustle again and saw something move. It looked like a rat tail. Sure enough it moved again, but it was not attached to a rat. It had a head. It was a small snake.


My flowers favorite outdoor activity.

Growing up in Nevada, I knew all about snake safety. I had never actually seen a snake in Indiana though. I was caught completely unprepared. I didn't know what kind it was, so I whisked my daughter away quickly not wanting the worst to happen.

   So what did you find this week? Is the sun finally shining in your area?

Thanks for reading, see you next week.
Britanni



Tutoroal Thirds! Drawing Challenge.

Hey everyone!


   Its the third week of the month, which means its tutorial thirds week! We had to skip this months Silent Seconds due to some technical difficulties. But we are back and we are ready to show you what we've got.


    So the tutorial isn't too much of tutorial, more of showing you how my drawing process goes. I teach drawing at a Michael's craft store in Indianapolis, and I used to be darned good at it. Kinda had to be to get my degree. But having a baby changes things, and I've fallen out of practice. I've resolved to get back into it, and found a wonderful tool that will help me. My goal is to maybe pick up some illustration work when I feel I'm ready.



   The tool I found was at my fingertips. I do have a pinterest account under my name. I found some 30 day drawing challenges. Day 1 is something you can't live without. My answer is my Flower.

Here are my materials. A simple sketch book, I carry this one in my purse all the time. A drawing pencil, this one is an H lead, or a kind of medium lead. A kneaded eraser, a sharpener, and an ink pen. This pen is a rollerball, and the ink is very fluid. Normal ink pens, I just don't like the ink, and it looks amateurish.

 

 
 
 

I started with her head. She's only two so she's got the baby chub we all love in the cheeks. Her eyes are super big, I love her doe eyes. and her nose and lips are closer together than an adults would be. You might notice this quality in a lot of Disney characters, causing them to appear younger.

Now that I have her face mapped out, I can add in the details of her features and refine what is already there. Her chin is very square, her lips are a lot like mine, very full on the bottom.

Then I added her hair. In the reference picture, which has mysteriously disappeared from my phone, her hair is all over the place. In her defense, she had just woken up, and she has my hair, which is naturally crazy curly. Seriously the stuff needs a straight jacket.  Then I drew over the marks I wanted to stay permanent, starting with the hair, with my ink pen. Another reason I prefer the roller ball pen is sometimes ink doesn't go over graphite well. Rollerball ink normally does a better job than most inks.

Finally I erase all the map lines.  So this is day 1, and a cartoonish version of my daughter. This was just a quick sketch, maybe took me 20 minutes beginning to end. A lot of people use these challenges to keep their skills sharp, or in my case, to get back into shape. Trust me, this is not a masterpiece by any means. Those kinds of drawings take hours and some serious time with my iPod.

   Now during the process I was interrupted. Her name is Yuffie, and she's very affectionate. At night only. Any other time of day, she hides, or demands food.

   So there you have it. Show me what you do to keep your skills sharp, whatever skill that may be. Until next week!

Structure our first Frugal Firsts!

Hi everyone.


For the last two months I've been just writing posts about random topics. I'd like to add a little more structure to my writing. I'd like to stick to some themes.
 
  The first week will be called Frugal Firsts, and based on anything we do to save money, stretch our dollar, and conserve resources.

   The second week I'll call Silent Seconds. I won't write anything, I'll just post pictures and let them speak for themselves. These pictures will probably be of clients who I've been working with for professional photos, or of my nature walks with my daughter or our adventures around the city,

   The third week will be Tutorial Thirds. I'll post a tutorial of something I've made, either a craft, piece of fine art, or cooking. If there is a source I'll be happy to share it.

   The last week will be Found Fourths. Something I have "found" new, as I'm always trying to learn new things. I might have found it on pinterest, or in a book or some found object art.

If there happens to be a fifth Sunday in a month, I'll publish it as Freaky Free For All Fifth. I"ll find something that to normal people might be freakish, or in my case just right up my alley.

   So this is my new structure, I hope you all enjoy it like this, and I'm hoping it will help me improve my writing. On to our first Frugal First!


    A lot of people already know the joys of thrift shopping. When it comes to clothes there is very little I will buy new, and with a small child who grows like a weed, thrift stores are one of my best friends, along with knowing how to sew.


    There are two Goodwill stores and a Goodwill outlet within five miles of my house. These stores have been good to us. In December we were able to purchase a sectional couch and coffee table in order to accommodate with houseguests we would be hosting later that month. Both is very good condition. I was able to get a glider for my daughters room too. Every night she happily sits on it while I read her a story, if she gets to the glider before me, she climbs in it and proclaims "MAMA ROCK!"

   Of course clothes are bought here. There are two things I will absolutely not buy in a thrift store unless they are still in a sealed package, and even then I might have doubts. These things are undergarments and socks. When I'm looking for clothes, I look first for quality. Does the fabric hold up well? Is it stretched out? Are there holes, frays. weak spots, or stains? If so, can any of it be repaired easily. Second, where am I going to wear it? Where will my child wear it and how often? And lastly and this is probably the MOST important for people who are curvy like me. Try it on! There is nothing like the disappointment of finding an awesome article of clothing, purchasing it, and getting it home, only to find out it doesn't fit. Or worse it doesn't look good on you. I'm still trying to figure out what looks good on my shape. But try it on.

   I found a fabulous red dress last summer. It was kinda vintage looking, which is my style. So I tried it on. It hit a great length, hugged my curves without emphasizing my problem areas, but I couldn't get it zipped up past my shoulders. I was just too chesty.

I just couldn't get it zipped up.

Ended up buying this instead.

   Today I went looking for something different. Last summer I resolved to make my steampunk cosplay out of as many repurposed materials as I could find. I found some beautiful red metallic curtains with lining that became the bottom part of my corset and bustle skirt. I bought some black lace and lace trim from the fabric store, and that was all I needed. I'm making steampunk apparel and accessories for my shop and I want to repurpose materials this same way.

The bustle skirt

Making a corset

  














 I went to two stores. I found nine different fabrics. Mostly these are old curtains or bed skirts. I found one dress and one shirt that will make decent waist cinchers. These are all sturdy, thick and some brocade like. All seem in new or almost new condition. I'm really excited to start making these.

The light is off, but from left to right, purple, pink, green and silver.

   Thanks for reading.

Our first giveaway of the year!

Hello everyone!

   My apologies for the absence the last two weeks. Between the two jobs, I haven't had a day off in two weeks. But I've been brewing up new things for the Etsy shop, opening very soon, and cooking up our first giveaway of the year. I'll tell you how to enter shortly.

Our bow Shamrock Charm

   I love celebrating holidays! Doesn't matter how small or how big. Any day you wake up is cause for celebration, and honoring some traditions can be really fun. We have two coming up in the next month. St. Patrick's Day and Easter. I've been working almost every night making super cute hair ornaments for St. Patrick's Day and have the materials for the Easter bows.

 

Our Luck o the Irish flower

St. Patrick's Day is one of my favorite holidays. Not for the drinking, I don't do that anymore, but because I am Irish. Well half Irish anyway. Half my DNA is from Ireland. I want to celebrate my heritage. A lot of people believe its just corrupt corporate America trying to get us to buy stuff we don't need anymore and the real meaning of the holidays have been lost, and some of that is totally right. But I see no harm in celebrating anyway.

 

 For our giveaway we are giving away one of our convertible tunics. These beauties were our best sellers last year and they're so versatile. You literally can wear them 100 different ways. I may just post a video on how to wear them.


Our Romantic Red Tunic 2015 Best Seller

   All you have to do is like the post that we announce the giveaway, and comment. We are giving away our Leopard Light Tunic. The giveaway will end on Saturday March 5th at Midnight and we will announce the winner on Monday the 7th.

Our Leopard Light Tunic

Wear it like a poncho.

A beach cover up?

Fabric Detail

So go, like comment, and spread the word!

Thank you!

Prepping for a convention

   If you live in my house, you have cosplayed at least once in your life. If you don't know what cosplay is, I wrote about it a few weeks ago, but basically you dress up in a character or genre just for the fun of it. Often at conventions. Comic Con is huge for this.

   Any way, in our house, prepping for a convention takes a lot of time and planning. For the last several years, we have attended Gen Con in Indianapolis. We don't live that far, so travel in minimal, and tickets for the four days are reasonable.

  While we only live just outside the city limits, we do rent a hotel at the convention center. If you've never been to Indy, just know that we host a lot of conventions. I swear to cheese there is one at least every other weekend. Gen Con is probably the biggest. This year its been expanded to take over Lucas Oil Stadium, the home field of the Indianapolis Colts.


   Tickets go on sale in January and so does the waiting list for the hotel. We could get a hotel outside of the waiting list, but then we wouldn't be eligible for the discount, and the hotel most likely wouldn't be connected to the convention center.

   This year my brother Ryan is joining us. He's huge Flash and Green Arrow fan. While I've had little time to investigate these shows, I am intrigued. Ryan wants to cosplay as the green arrow. I've been trying to make his a mask for ages, and I've been failing miserably. So this time, we are taking a very different approach. We are also taking a bit of time, as Gen Con isn't until August.

We started with a paper mache mold of his face.


Paper strips

   We tore several sections of an old newspaper into strips. If you do paper mache avoid the glossy ads of the newspaper, or magazine pages. In my experience they just don't work as well.

  Second, we dip the strip in the goo. The goo is just water and flour. Equal parts, I've heard of adding glue, but never tried it myself.

  I covered Ryan's face and majority of his scalp in cling wrap and began applying the saturated paper to the upper half of his face. I did a good four or five layers. It didn't take long as we weren't covering a large area. I made him lay there for a half hour. After pulling it off, I propped the mask up on a bowl. Its now dry, and one side has collapsed, but I wasn't going to use that part anyway.

Ryan and I will work on this and post the updates.


   So what do you cosplay as? If you haven't what would you do?

Thanks for reading.

Birthdays! Birthdays Everywhere!

Hi everyone!

   This has been a busy busy week for me. My family celebrates four birthdays this week. My brother on the 28th, me AND my daughter on the 29th, and my mother on the 31st. So when I wasn't working at my regular jobs, I was trying to get things together for birthdays. But I was able to take some beautiful pictures of my daughter for her second birthday. I'd like to share then with you.

 I painted the candle myself. And made the cake. And decorated it. I truly suck at cake decorating.

 Yummy cake








 I love this face! I can't believe she's two already. She's the most amazing little girl to me, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

   A lot of people are wondering where I get her photography done. If the logo in the corner hasn't given it away, I do the photography myself. For me, its tons of fun. Maybe one day I'll share my secrets. But that's for another time.




Thanks so much for reading. See you soon!
Britanni

Cosplay in the Family!

 

Cosplay. Who doesn't love cosplay? I've been doing cosplay, sometimes without knowing what it was called, for about 17 years now.

For those of you who are a bit out of the loop, Cosplay is short for costume play. I've had people say "So you basically pretend its Halloween every day." Well, kinda, but not really.

There are dozens of different kinds on cosplay, but what I love most, is no matter what kind of cosplay you choose to do, what genre, what size you are, no one makes fun of you. It takes alot of guts to let your geek out in that way, even at a convention surrounded by other geeks. Everyone gets it. No one makes fun.


Mom and her steampunk witch

My entire family does cosplay. Well, most of them anyway. We all have our favorite genres too. My mom adores Steampunk. Corsets, gears, trains, and one of her favorite movies is Back to the Future Part III. She has also dressed up as a Japanese school girl, and can be seen running around town in a Pikachu inspired kigarumi. A kigarumi is basically a giant onesie, usually based on an animal or animal like character. She also really enjoys the work of YaYa Han.



Mom in her kigarumi, and my daughter in her minion shirt



First attempt at a fake beard

Dad has been a crew member from Star Trek, and been Gandalf the White. For his Gandalf costume, I learned how to use crepe hair and spirit gum to give him a realistic looking fake beard. He has a new Steampunk costume to match my mom, and we are thinking of a Gandalf the Grey and a Severus Snape costume for him.



My sister and her Neko Maid



My sister as a fox

My sister loves the neko maid costumes. Neko is Japanese short for cat. You can often see her running around with cat ears on, or in her fox Kigarumi.



My daughter is nearly two, but we are definitely raising her in the ways of geek. Her first cosplay was super simple, just a super girl bib that came with a cape. Since then she's been a neko, a costume she still plays in, Tinkerbelle, a minion and a moogle. We'll continue to take her to conventions and let her dress up as long as she wants. Now if I've been a good geeky mom, she'll want to cosplay for the rest of her life.

My daughter's moogle costume. Definitely her favorite.

Ryan is looking forwards to dressing up as the green arrow. The only person who doesn't dress up is my brother Jeremy, but only because he's been in the army and serving our country for the last four years.




My first cosplay, I was in fifth grade. I wanted to be Neo Queen Serenity for Halloween. I begged my mom to make the costume. Somehow she did it. She made me a white tube top dress, with sequins at the top. I had to wear a long sleeved leotard under it due to the school's dress code. My mom put my hair in buns and attached gold ribbons to them to make me look more like the character. No one knew what I was dressed as, the dress kept needing to be pulled up, but I didn't care. For six hours, I was Neo Queen Serenity, and I was awesome! This has stayed with me for the rest of my life. I love dressing up, and have no intentions to stop. I even wore a Japanese kimono to my high school graduation.


First attempt at Sally in 2010

Second attempt in 2011

 

Lilly Evas=ns cosplay. Gen Con 2015

In this house, very rarely do we buy a costume. Normally we make them. The exceptions are kigarumi's. Even then we could make them. The biggest obstacle is finding time. I've made my daughter's kigarumi, and last year I made my red steampunk outfit out of a pair of curtains from Goodwill. CURTAINS!!!! I was so friggin proud of myself, and its my favorite cosplay to date.

Pattern modification for my daughter's kigarumi.

Steampunk costume made from curtains

Back of steampunk costume

I've been commissioned by a friend to make a certain cosplay. We've mapped out what we are going to do to put this together, and come up with a strategy. It will involve marrying two patterns. We knew exactly what patterns we would need and waited until there was a sale at JoAnns. Today was that day, and what would have cost us $40 ended up being $2 plus tax. I'm one of those people who will use patterns several times and when the original tissue paper starts to wear a bit, I'll copy them onto an old bed sheet or if I can afford any, muslin. You can get alot of wear out of them.

Now I'm just waiting for my friend to come down so we can go fabric shopping. I'll definitely keep you updated on this one.

So where does one cosplay? Where ever you friggin want. I normally keep it to conventions, craft fairs and Halloween, but I'm trying to work more steampunk into my every day wardrobe. But if you fancy cosplay, and you want to wear it every day, and you can't see any consiqunces? Go for it. I've seen a meme that said something along the lines of "I was told to dress for the job I want, not the job I have. Now I'm sitting in a disciplinary meeting wearing a Batman costume". If this really happened, to that person I say you're awesome. Don't ever stop wanting to be Batman.

Thanks so much,

Britanni