The art of progress #1

It's been.. a while since my last update.
Nothing much has happened and I'm telling my self it's because I've been busy with school, but I guess I'm just lazy. So nothing new.

But now I've just realized how busy I'm going to be at the start of 2013 D:!!!!
First, I have my internship at the National Museum of Denmark (Yay! Making medival costumes for kids! <3) And right after that, I have this kinda big jacket/coat projekt that needs to be done sometime in March. Just like my J-pop costumes... So I need to get up and going NAAAAAAAAAAO!

So today I started working on the hoodie for Taokaka.
I'm finding the construction (?) of the collar of the hoodie to be very troublesome since it (in my opinion) has to be cut in the same piece as the front is (Okay, all this techncial stuff in English is giving me a hard time. Stay with me.)
When I'm looking at other Tao cosplayers they all seem to have added the collar to the front piece separately. So I had to find my pattern book and ask a couple of my friends at school if they had any suggestions of how to do this. And I must say I feel SO lucky to have such brilliant classmates! They helped me out a LOT by finding the perfect technique <3
I figured out how to do it after a couple of hours of cutting, gluing (swearing) and trying on my paper collar I finally got the shape I wanted! BLISSS!

So far so good.
Next I need to make a sample to I will know if it fits!
I also have to practice walking in these monsters some more...

I'm seriously starting to fear for my own safety when wearing them. But HEY! I'm just as tall as Mona with 'em on! Gotta count for something, right?
(How the hell am I gonna perform a fighting skit wearing those? What was I thinking? Why do I ALWAYS end up with the impossible shoes....)
Next week I'll meet up with Keon who has some ideas for the claws and the eyes. Yayayay!
So. Tao's on a roll!

What else can I tell you...

My vikings!
Veeeeery little progress here but enough to take pictures of!

Mathias was so kind to donates this wonderful fake suede to Project Fierce red head!

So now I'm one excuse less for working on my Abba cosplay!

Next up is
Astrid... My knitted viking from hell.
I've actually learned the basics of knitting and I'm kinda beginning to get the hang of it. I think. But it's just such a slow process! D: Makes it so easy to postpone... Oh well it's great for boring classes!

Besides the knitting I've started to sculp a sample of the skulls for her br00tal belt. Now I've never been good at sculpting but I like to think this could be worse.... Right? RIGHT?


Well that's all my progress...
Now I just have to wrap this post up nicely to to ensure you'll read the next one too. And what better way to end this first part with ANOTHER cosplay plan to my endless list:
 

Who?
Shaina (yes, that's her name) from Saint Seiya
With?
With Ice-nine as Marin
When?
Hopefully Friday at J-popcon 2013
WhyLOOK AT IT!
We have this secret dream of becoming fitness instructors inside joke with the Saint Seiya series and we wanted a simple (HA!) costume for the first day of the con.
Also it has pink on it. And brown.



That's it for me.
Happy apocalypse and please stay raptor!

A change of mind

So... regarding my plans I wrote about in my last post.... forget 'em!

It's like whenever I make my plans official, I grow tired of them and change my mind.

 I'm still gonna cosplay those characters some day but now I've got a whoooole new list!

Brace yourself:

Who?
Astrid Hofferson
With?
With my dear Yugi as Hiccup
When?
Whenever I pull myself together and learn how to knit!
Why?
She a viking that has skulls and spikes all over!
I also like the challenges this costume has to offer such as the boots and the top, with in my eyes, only can me knitted. So these days, I'm learning how to knit.
I also get to carry an axe.

Who?
Abba

With?
No one! But I really want a Justforkicks! ;____;
When?
I really want to finish it while there's still a chance of snow. So as soon as possible!

Why?
Have you guessed it? I have a thing for viking chicks!
But with Abba it's something else. She's a red head with space between her front teeth. Just like me! I'm sure I could pull her off just perfect!
The costume is pretty simple, but I want it to be as authentic as possible so I need to get some suede and some wool. Pricey stuff!
And I like the cape. Mmmh. Capes.

Who?
Taokaka from Blazblue.

With?
Mona as my Boobie La -I mean Litchi! Ever since we saw those characters, we knew we had to do it. The time has come! D:
When?
J-popcon 2013
Why?
Tao is Tao!
For a long time, I've wanted to do something obscure and weird. Taos design has both of it, while still being cute and fitting to my personality and bodyshape.
And of course the shoes. Suddenly it hit me: When teaming up with Mona, I always end up in fucked up shoes! This time horse likes shoes with a lot of plateau and no heel. YES!




Who?
Aika S. Granzchesta from Aria
With?
5 of Denmarks best cosplayers <3 We have all 6 undines!
This is my first time being a part of a group of this size!
When?
J-popcon 2013
Why?The uniforms are so cute! >___<
What can a girl do?
About 1½ year ago me and a couple of members from the group came up with this silly idea for a cosplay skit. It was fun and "Oh yeah, we should totally do that sometime!" And then nothing happened.
But when J-popcon announced that they will be hosting 2 competitions we decided that now was the time!





Who?
Chocolat Meilleure from Sugar Sugar Rune

With?
None.
When?
SVScon 2013
Why?
Chocolat was my very first cosplay and I looked like shit.
She is a character that is very dear to me and deserves to be cospleyed properly.
And I want a big dress.
And wings
And stupid, crazy hair.
And tons of beads.
And maybe a little surprise.
Hell yeah!





Now, let's see how long before I change my mind. Again.

Velo ~

Plans and the big Break

My motivation is Gone.
Have you seen it?

For the last couple of week I haven't felt like doing anything.
It might have something to do with what some people call TOTAL LACK OF MONEY WHATSOEVER. I call it laziness.

And when I can't actually make cosplays, I prefer to dream about what I may cosplay as in the future.
Sadly I'm not attending any convention untill March, so now I have this looong period with no deadlines and no cosplay stress. LOVELY.

No, not really.

See, I'm the kind of cosplayer that only cosplays at conventions. I'm not able to finish anything unless I have to use it in some sort of competiotion or because I'm part of a bigger group. And this year I only attended one competiotion. ONE! What the fuck! Because of that, I've only made one costume. (Well, technically one and a half, but still.)
I am SO bored and I need to finish and wear something soon or else, I'll go mad.

This is where my excellent skills of planning too far in the future kicks in!

Since I'm a true master in the ancient art of Changing My Plans i won't post ALL of my plans here. I'll just change it and confuse not only you, but myself as well.

Here goes:

Zria Gargarik - Shaman King
Originally I wanted to make this costume so I had a so called ''snow cosplay.''
I really love the Series of Shaman King and her design is so sweet. Just perfect.
I began the work in December 2011 and then.. got stuck. Right now my bad excuse for not working on any costume is that I'm totally and utterly BROKE! Bur in this case I already have al the fabric and the wig so there's really no excuse...

Fio Piccolo - Porco Rosso
It seems a lot of my fellow cosplay friends have their own personal ''Miyasaki girl'' they've cosplayed and I wanna join! It will be as this lovely lady from my favourite Miyazaki movie.

Toph Beifong - Avatar: The Last Airbender
All ways wanted to do a Toph cosplay. Ever since I did her fire nation outfit back in 2010 I've really wanted to make her green outfit as well.
I've bought the wig and got some fabric samples, so I really hope to get it done this fall!

Scanty - Panty and Stocking with Garterbelt
This is my favourite plan so far! For J-popcon 2013-
Scanty is my favorite character from the series and she basically contains everything I love!
Horns
Tail
Pointy ears
Fangs
Wicked eye color
Huuuge false eyelashes
And an opportunity to paint myself red.
What's not to love?
And the best part: I will be cosplaying with my Munna as my Knee Socks. You're in for a real treat! <3

Himawari Kunogi - Xxxholic
This outfit or another. The're now way I can tell right now. D:

A new cosplay competition has seen the day:At Animecon 2013 in The Netherlands you can enter a competition wherein you have to team up with cosplayers from another country! I'm so lucky to be able to team up with a couple of cool guys from Germany, Switzerland and Belguim!
We will be cosplaying from my favorite series Xxxholic! It's going to be SOOOOOO NICE!

That's all for the planning, Once we get to 2013 I'm going to be busy again!
Right now I'm just trying to work on Zria and Toph, enjoying the fact I don't have an actual deadline.
I might as well seize this opportunity to focus on my school and my new job.

Maybe this break isn't so bad after all...

-R-to-the-Aptor

This is me!

Welcome to my raptorlicious blog!

This will be my future diary concerning all my sewing/crafting projects/plans/ideas. And you are invited! Lucky you!

First; allow me to tell a little about myself:
My name is Anne, I'm 21 and I'm a danish cosplayer. Right now I'm attending a sewing school in Copenhagen, improving my skills so I - hopefully - will be able to create a living for what I love: Creating wonderful costumes!

I've cosplayed since fall 2006 and I've always made my own costumes. As a kid I always LOVED to dress up and since we don't have Halloween in Denmark, I rarely got the chance .___.

But all that changed when I by coincidence read about a phenomenon called ''cosplay.''
At that time I already read mangas and really loved it so swish, I whipped up a hideous closet cosplay of a stupid OC from  Tokyo Mew Mew and attended an event in Copenhagen.
That led to new friends, which led to even more friends and when I attended my very first convention everyhing got so much more fun!

Since then I've attended every cosplay competition in Denmark, except the ones I have hosted and that one time I got to be a judge <3

 Ame Warashi (Xxxholic) 2010

 Saya (+Blood) 2010

 Tsunade (Naruto) 2009?

Dokuro-Chan (Bokusastu Tenshi Dokuro-Chan) 2008

 Tai (Digimon) 2011

Because of me participating in everything cosplay I eventually won some prizes and qualifycations.

In 2011 I won the preliminaries for the Euro Cosplay Championship 2011 in London with my Souseiseki (Rozen Maiden) coslay. It was so unreal! I really wanted to win, and I worked really hardto get the costume just the way I wanted.

 Souseiseki (Rozen Maiden) 2011

Now it was on! My first big competition outside the boarders of tiny Denmark. I was so thrilled but also nervous! Everyone who attended the finals is really great cosplayers! Very intimidating. But I went and did my thing. Unfortunately, I'm much more of a stage/show cosplayer, than purely a crafty one... But I had a great time, and I met lots and lots of fantastic people!

My costume for the finals was the godess version of Hikari Shidou from Magic Knight Rayearth by CLAMP.
It was my inner pink princess who forced me to do it!

Hikaru Shidou (Magic Knight Rayearth)

Impossible to resist....


2 weeks after the finals I attented the cosplay competition of J-popcon, and totally (and along with my lovely team) winning the preliminaries for the Euro Cosplay Gathering in Paris!
Once again I had this How-Is-This-Even-Possible? feeling of cause mixed with sheer joy!

 Mami Tomoe (Madoka Magica) 2011

We started working on our costumes in January after deciding what we wanted to do. It was kinda obvious. It had to be big and detailed. But we wanted to be familiar with the series and the characters and we all wanted to be pretty!

Trinity Blood!
We got started and fast forward we won 2nd place in the finals!
Now if I ever thought it impossible for be to even make it to the finals, this was just silly.
But we did it and we're all really proud!

Esther Blanchett (Trinity Blood) 2012

When I'm not IN a competition or show, I usually host 'em.
Since 2009 I've been the team Leader and host of Genki's Cosplay Show <33333
A job I take very serioulsy and love! One thing is to participate in a show, another thing is to  make everything happen, and I really love that challenge. Suddenly it's not all about you. On the contrary it's about everyone else. The participants, the audience... no-one here to seeYOU, and that may be a little hard to comprehend. But it's doesn't really matter. Because the feeling you get when the show is over and everything (hopefully) went well: It's so great! Even though it's hard. Like... really hard!

Rin Kagamine (Vocaloid Bonus Stage) 2012

Wall of text, look at me, look at me!
I know. But hey, it's my blog, it's all about me!

Raptor ~