Hello everyone! It's been a few months since I did a journal entry on here, and my schedule is winding down for the year, so I have time to fill everyone in on what's been happening! First off, my personal life! It's been going pretty well. My son just turned two last month, and his vocabulary has essentially more than tripled this last month. My favorite word that he's recently learned is "sushi"; he REALLY likes to eat California Rolls
Health wise, I've been doing ok. I've still been having frequent fainting spells and migraines, so I may end up going back to the doctor about it and get retested. My blood pressure has been on the normal side, since having a kid, so I don't think that what's causing my random fainting is related, like it was for the previous ten years of my life. I've been catching up on some shorter anime series that I've wanted to see in my spare time, and I've discovered a few new series that I really like. The one that sticks out in my mind immediately is Seha High Hi Cool Sega Girls (think I got the name wrong lol). Basically, it's an English sub anime about the Sega Genisis and two other old school Sega consoles personified as human, female teens. Many misadventures ensue, and the characters actually go into retro games for part of their curriculum. It's just a great way to kill time and veg out lol. I also am up to date on the new Hetalia series. Not going to lie, I don't like the World Twinkle as much as the first two series, but it's still early on. I'll basically watch it out of commitment lol. I also just started watching Akame ga Kill. I really like this one so far, but I'm limited as to when I can watch it, since it's too mature to watch around my son. I'm so grossly behind on One Piece, that I need to take a week off to binge watch the last hundred or so episodes. I may be able to do that at some point this week. Speaking of this week, I'm in Michigan visiting my in-laws for Thanksgiving! I'm mainly just hanging out and sewing, all while trying not to freeze to death lol.Convention wise for 2016, I have a few larger cons confirmed. Anime USA is bringing me back as the convention coordinator next year, so I will be at MAGFest and Katsucon this winter, returning for the first time since 2013. I'm really excited to be coming back, and I'm working on some awesome cosplay plans for said conventions
I will also be attending Ichibancon (assuming they approve my panels) in January. I haven't finalized what I will specifically be wearing yet, but I'll probably be recycling an old costume with a bunch of new ones. I actually have several finished cosplays that you guys haven't seen yet, because I haven't worn them to a con or photographed them yet! As far as conventions are concerned this year, I'm putting my main focus on going to as many cons with AUSA this year as I can, because they go to all of my original con circuit. This past year, I was able to meet so many new, amazing people and attend a bunch of really fun smaller cons, but I haven't been to a big con in a really long time, so I'm going to be going to more of them this year with my con friends. I still have a relatively open schedule, since only half of my year is booked so far, but I'm being more relaxed about it all this year Something cool I'm in the process of starting is a live streaming sewing class. My fabric sponsors actually approached me recently with the idea of me doing a live stream class on how to make bodysuits with their fabrics, since I've created a lot of interest in their fabrics through the cosplays I've made for them. I think this is a great idea, since so many people ask me for help anyways, why not just have a weekly class where you can watch me make a bodysuit from start to finish, and I can answer questions live? Would anyone be interested in watching something like this? Also, something else I was considering was creating a Patreon account for my costume design. I was thinking about having a monthly free print for a donation amount, and then, for a larger donation amount, setting up a Google Hangout or Skype session for costuming questions, so I can help you pseudo in person with an ongoing costume you may have. Honestly, I really do like helping people learn more about costuming, and I think this could be a great way for me to go about doing it on a one on one basis. There's only so much help I can give people at panels and at my booth when I don't have my tools there to do demonstrations after all lol.
And the topic that most of you care about: My cosplay plans for 2016! Honestly, I don't really have much planned yet for 2016. I decided to mainly focus on a few REALLY big projects rather than a bunch of smaller projects (like the opposite of what I did this past year lol). So far, I have fabric purchased and am in the process of creating Frozen Fever Elsa. I really like this design for her, and I'm really excited to be making my first Disney Princess (Queen). I'm also making a Pokemon Card Armor Bikini Random thing. I really don't know what these things are technically called, but I'm making a suit of armor made out of Pokemon cards. I'm about half way done with it, and I'm most likely going to be debuting it at Ichibancon this January. A few other things that I have partially made are Terra from Teen Titans, Ironette from Iron Man 2, Miyuki Cheerleading outfit from Lucky Star, and a Snorlax Kigu. If I didn't have a toddler to take care of, all of these would be done by the new year, but because I have to adult on a frequent basis, these have been partially done for months lol. I'll most likely be debuting them throughout the course of the year at my own discretion. Another awesome costume ,that I'm really excited about is a Female Lancer from Fate/'Zero I'm going to start soon! I'm going to be doing this with a new cosplay friend who's making a female Gilgamesh, so I'm going to be doing my first group since like last year lol. I'm also going to be making a new set of Skyrim armor for next year. The only reason I haven't started it yet is because I need to buy a new leather hide, and the leather I need is balls expensive. I'm going to need to do at least two-three commissions to save up for it lol.
Well, that's what's up with me. In all honesty, I had a fantastic first year guesting. I got to learn a lot, meet a bunch of really cool new people, and I was able to start a business for my costume design. Something that I really learned this year is that business time frames are very different than any other time frames for success I've had to experience in. For almost everything I've ever attempted, I've experienced almost immediate success: as soon as I started sports in high school, I was getting college offers, same thing for music and art. For business, the time frame is much slower. I broke even this year, and I was able to help out with some bills when we really needed it (like some of my surprise medical expenses). It's going to take time to build up my business, and it's going to be ups and downs, but I just need to stay positive. Not going to lie, I've had some rough patches this year that have gotten me down, but my family and friends have helped keep me positive
What are some of your plans for 2016? Are you all starting any new art projects, are you going to any fun conventions or geek events next year? Tell me about them!
