Cosplay time! Cosplay time! Time to talk about Cosplay!

Well hello there!  It's that time of year again - Con Season!  Not that it isn't always Con Season because there are Cons all the time, big and small, and such . . . BUT I am now working on my cosplays hardcore, all day, err day!  So here is a an update on the one with the most progress.

I actually had to change my plans up because my close friends are pregnant (we were doing a group thing, but she said she won't be comfortable doing it any more because of the wee baby).  So I decided to cosplay she who is, arguably, one of my favorite characters of all time: Harley Quinn.  Now I love all of her costumes, but when I was a kid watching Batman The Animated Series for the first time . . . I just loved how whimsical she was.  Yes I know she is a homicidal maniac and loves a homicidal maniac and is just all around insane, but I found her antics so goofy.  With this in mind I decided I didn't want to do one of her more sexy outfits, but I didn't really feel like doing her harlequin jester outfit . . .  I had always wanted to do a hoodie for her, but, being inadequately skilled in fashion sketching, I could never get a full physical visualization of what I saw in my head.  This really annoyed me because as a cosplayer I come up with stuff in my head all the time, but for some odd reason I was just stuck with her.  After hunting around for a bit . . .

Source HERE.  And my sincerest admiration to the artist, Helen Chen.

This is almost exactly what I was seeing in my head.  Suspenders are amazing, the ears/horns on the hoodie are not outlandishly large or small, just a hint of sexy, the whimsy is there . . .   There are some minor adjustments to be made such as the mallet, the gloves, maybe a shirt underneath the hoodie, but . . . I'm just so happy.  So have some progress pics!

The pants!  I took two sets of jeans and ripped them to pieces.

So much thread!  Hand for scale.

The headpiece.  As you can see, it still needs to be attached and needs white on the ends.

Attempting to make a pattern for the neck frill (?) when this happened . . .  Kind of creepy . . .

Finally got that figured out :-)

Thus far!

The only thing I have really had a problem with at this point is the jeans.  I got them too big so I would have room to adjust the sizing, but I am having issue with the crotch area . . . It is not too long at all, but too baggy - it looks like I've got some random skin flap from my belly button down.  I attempted to fix that and it looks good, but there were some flaws in the fix that are bugging me.  Everything else seems to be going swimmingly . . .  Now for that mallet . . .

Board Game Nights!

Sorry for the late post; had a bunch of stuff last week including my anniversary (yes, we take the whole week because reasons).  Anyways, as part of my anniversary week my SO took us to a local board games shop and I must say my interest has been renewed!

So we went here:

 and a link for your perusal: Around the Table

**Note: Logo is sole property of the establishment owner.**

The official name of the shop is Around the Table.  They sell new and used board games, have a nice in-store play section, and serve snacks/food.  We had heard about this place a while back, but had yet to visit so Saturday was the day!  Walked in, browsed the stock, realized they had root beer on tap, grabbed a mug of that, and, at the owners recommendation, tried the game Love Letters.  He even played with us :-)  Love Letters is a card game where the goal is to woo a princess (whom you get to choose).  Alas there are people who get in the way of your love . . .  If you are in the mood for a quicker paced and entertaining game then please take a look.  Note: I would give you a link, but it appears that many retailers have this game in stock and I don't have a preference on where to purchase this game so feel free to check it out yourself.

We decided to return later in the day with a friend in tow and ended up staying at Around the Table until about midnight.  During this second visit I enjoyed a root beer float using the root beer on tap - there was something oddly novel about it . . .

After hanging out for a bit the owner again decided to sit down and join us; this time we played Camel Up:

Now this crazy game was hilarious.  At it's core, it is all about camel racing.  You bet, you win or lose.  Simple enough, right?  Well, the creators added something a bit odd to the game - you can stack the camels.  So if Orange Camel lands on the same square as White Camel then Orange is placed on top of White and if White happens to move then Orange comes with it.  This makes the betting process a bit more complicated because if Orange manages to stay on top of White and they cross the finish line together then Orange wins, regardless of it being White who moved.  It was pretty funny and enjoyable - we even got another patron to join in with us!

So overall review on the the games:  you should check them out!

Overall review on Around the Table: Food was decently priced and tasty.  Game selection was somewhat small number wise but EXPANSIVE as far as genre (traditional board games, sci-fi, fantasy, cards, trading cards, puzzle, RPG, you name it and they had something to represent it).  Lots of space.  Clean.  Staff was very friendly.  We will be going back soon . . .  I actually kind of want to go tonight because my SO bought me Munchkin and I want to play so  . . . CHECK THEM OUT IF YOU ARE IN THE GREATER SEATTLE AREA!