First of all, thanks for all of the birthday wishes!   It was great to read all of them today!

Second, I made a write-up on how I made my Mass Effect 3 FemShep armor, if you're interested: [link]

And as a side note, I'm much more active on my Facebook page, and post progress photos and additional photos there: [link]

I'm happy to announce that for the next year, I'll be working with Red 5 Studios, creators of the exciting new game Firefall. They're big in supporting the gaming community in all its forms, and they'll be sponsoring my upcoming cosplays and photo sessions. On top of that, I'll be playing the role of their tough lead female Mourningstar at various conventions and promotion events. The Mourningstar costume is made by Steve Wang and his amazing team, and it is just absolutely awesome! I am so excited to be part of Firefall, and I feel very grateful for Red 5 Studio's support of my cosplay, and for the chance to play their awesome character. Here's the video and press release detailing it!

[link]

I've also gotten behind on replying to notes/comments/emails due to holidays and finals, but I'll try to get back to everyone this weekend!

Facebook: [link]
Twitter: [link]
Website: [link]

was kind enough to donate a year long premium subscription!  Thank you so much!

I'd also like to thank everyone who's commented/fav'd/watched me recently.  I may not reply to everything, but I do read all of the comments and I appreciate your feedback!

I should have a new costume finished in time for PMX in November, and it will be much more colorful than what I've made lately!

A big thank you to for the premium subscription renewal!  What a sweetheart!  By the way, you should all check out her gallery for her beautiful photography work.  Her photos have a feminine flair to them and range from elegant to sultry, definitely worth a look!

First of all, I finally made a decent looking site for my photos! [link]

Second, I just got home from my first Dragon*Con!  It was the best convention I've been to, hands down.  What a great bunch of people and costumes!  I especially loved the parade; it's the first time I've ever really seen a convention truly celebrate the cosplayers.

Unfortunately when we got back from the convention, we found out we had to buy a new car and do some home repairs, on top of other expenses like my schooling.  This means that I'm putting Raiden on hold until we build up our savings a little more because I want to recast the arms and the legs, which will be another $400.  We will have new costumes for Anime Los Angeles though, but Raiden will likely not be one of them.  We plan on doing MGS1 Snake, Sniper Wolf, Venus from Metal Gear Acid 2, and Klan from Macross F.  I already have the materials for Venus and Klan, so it's easier on our wallets.

Also, I'm sorry for being a bit unresponsive.  I've had trouble with DA lately, and it only recently was resolved!

Things turned out a lot differently than what I posted in my last journal.  I was asked by Konami to judge the cosplay contest, so I put Raiden on hold to make Laughing Beauty, since it would be MUCH more comfortable to judge in.  There are a few things that need to be improved, but I had about 3 or 4 days of work time so I did what I could.

Anyways, I had a blast.  I finished my costume at 6:30AM and had to get up at 8AM to leave for day 1 of Comic Con.  I got my costume signed by Kojima, Shinkawa, and Yumi Kikuchi.  Then on Saturday, I judged the Konami cosplay contest.  There were a lot of great entries, and I had fun meeting the contestants.

I've also been filmed by Sign on San Diego/Union Tribune about making a costume for Comic Con, and you can see that here:

[link]

And Kotaku used Old Snake as a lead-in, and my L. Octopus is in there too:

[link]

Anyways, the rest of the summer will be spent finishing costumes like Risty and Raiden, and getting started on new ones.  I also have my birthday on August 7!

My favorite and first convention!  This will be my eighth SDCC, I think.   I'm commuting from home this year, which is kind of nice.

Wednesday (Preview night)- Badge pickup in normal clothes, and I'll probably hit up the cgl meet.
Thursday- EVA cosplay.  I plan on going to the KojiPro signing at 1:30
Friday- Normal clothes during the day, and doing a test run of Raiden in the evening, around 6 or 7
Saturday- Wearing Raiden.  I'll be at the Konami Cosplay Contest from 11-2
Sunday- Wearing Raiden.

Photographers, let me know if you want to shoot!

Who all is going this year?

First of all, I want to give a big thank you to for the Premium Membership!  What a kind thing to do!  

Anime Expo is this weekend, but due to people in our hotel dropping out, it was too expensive to keep the room.  It looks like I'll be driving up for AX on Sunday, and maybe AM2 on Saturday.  If the Raiden headset is finished by then, I'll wear that.  Otherwise it'll probably be Cammy or Selvaria.

Raiden is coming along well.  I've been posting my progress on my Facebook page "Precious Cosplay" if you're interested.
I should be ready to cast sometime later this week or early next week, and after that it's a matter of making the muscle suit and leotard.  I plan on wearing it at Comic Con on Saturday for the Konami cosplay contest, and again on Sunday.

I'm also doing a basic textured under suit for the official Bioware Mass Effect 3 Garrus costume at Comic Con.  It's a very small part, but I'm happy to be doing my first professional job!  The very talented ~grimdarkkommissar is making the armor, and Holly Conrad's team is handling the rest including the mask.

I added all of my Swimsuit Selvaria photos and information as well as a few new Old Snake photos.  You can find them here: [link]

I'll be slowly uploading most of them here with a little alternation so it's not all the same thing.

I'm currently working on Raiden and Old Snake's Octocamo hood, and will start on Risty as soon as I get my leather trim.  I'll be posting progress occasionally on my Facebook and Twitter if you're interested in that sort of thing.

I think I got 300 watches and over 8000 page views in one day, thanks to this Kotaku article.   Woah!

It also put me over 100,000 page views!  Thanks, everyone!  

I went to the LA fashion district today to get materials for Risty, and I miraculously found all the fabric I need for Laughing Beauty from MGS4, so I'm probably adding that to my Anime Expo costume list.  I'm also going to try to (finally) finish Macross F's spacesuit Klan in time for a small comic convention at the end of the month.  Sure, Klan isn't comic related, but deadlines give me motivation.  I'll also have the Octocamo hood to add to Todd's Old Snake costume.

I haven't been active here the past few months, oops!  I've been busy with school and slowly sculpting Raiden (I post my progress every so often on my FB page).

Anyways, next weekend I'll be going to Anime Conji.  It's a tiny con, but friends make up for what the convention lacks.  My only plans are wearing Swimsuit Selvaria on Friday and maybe Saturday, and I'll be selling some things at the swap meet.  I may try to finish Klan from Macross Frontier and bring Pinup Cammy or regular Selvaria, but I'm playing everything by ear.

Say hi if you go!

2010 Recap

-Went to a lot of great cons this year (ALA, Conji, Fanime, Anime Expo, Comic Con, Tokyo Game Show)
-Met a lot of new friends, and had fun times with old ones
-Transferred schools...I hate my new university
-Made 8 costumes this year and improved my skills in the process
-Featured in a number of places, including Cosplay Gen, OPM UK, Kotaku, Game Informer, etcetera.
-Meeting the creators of Metal Gear Solid and the resulting free trip to Japan.

2011 is going to have a hard time beating this past year!  I'm planning on returning to Japan, making some costumes that will force me to learn some new skills, spending more time with friends, and being generally healthier.

Happy New Year everyone!

Kotaku featured my Selvaria cosplay! [link]

I'm really grateful, I've never been featured there before.  It's pretty exciting!

In other news, I can't make it to ALA this January.  This means I won't have much new content up for even longer.  Hopefully I can finish/make some costumes in time for Anime Conji or a local cosplay gathering.  I will be posting progress on my blog once I get the chance.  

Most likely going to finish Harlock and possibly Kei Yuki, and then begin on Raiden's suit.

I may finish Klan and throw together a Naomi costume for fun too, depending on how things go time wise.  My biggest problem right now is motivation to sew; I've had a real creative block after making Old Snake.  I'm too focused on MGS costumes right now...I think I could continuously work on Raiden, but I need to finish Harlock and Kei first.

The lovely people at Game Informer did a feature on my Sweet Raiden, as well as an interview.  Check it out!

[link]

My friend ~FantasyNinja has put out her own line of makeup inspired by video games, movies, and shows!  Each product has themed packaging- I'm particularly fond of the MGS3 inspired 'Subsistence' eye shadows and 'Grey Fox' eye liner.

In addition to Metal Gear, she also has products inspired by Escape From Monkey Island, Dune, Jem and the Holograms, and more!

If you wear makeup, check it out!  And if you don't, you might like the nerdy packaging.

You can purchase it here: [link]

And in case her site moves, here's the Facebook page: [link]

Ironically, as complicated as Old Snake's octocamo was, I was able to get it done in two weeks.  I haven't gotten ANYTHING done in months sewing wise because of my terrible school schedule.  Having my machine seize up constantly isn't helping either, but I got it repaired today, and as it turned out, I needed a walking foot for the material I'm working with.  Not knowing things like this makes me think I should've taken an actual sewing class.  I'm really hoping I'll have something new to post in January besides infinite Old Snake and Raiden photos.  

Speaking of Raiden, I've been planning out how I'm going to approach the MGS4 version.  It looks like I'll be getting a male mannequin with a similar height, sculpting the suit's arms and legs in Klean Klay, molding it with gelcoat and fiberglass, and then casting it in Dragonskin silicone.  Once I have the arms and legs done, I'll build a muscle suit to fit them and make me look like a dude.  From there, I'll be basically doing the same things I did for Sweet Raiden, except I'll spend more than 2 days on it and use better materials. Building off of a life cast would be ideal, but the outer shell has to fit a muscle suit, not me, and life casting upholstery foam sounds like a terrible idea.

Hopefully that will be ready by AX, if not before.  For January, depending on how fast I work and if I am able to go to ALA, I'll hopefully be done with Harlock, Kei Yuki (from cg Harlock), and Shizuka from HOTD.  I really hope I can go as a ton of friends I rarely see will be there!

I've also worked out how to make Laughing Octopus' tentacles, so that should go smoothly!