Shots From MCM London Oct 2016

Heyya Everyone!

Whilst at MCM last month, I met up with the other page models for ItsTheNerdyLife [here is the Instagram and Facebook links for the page]. And whilst we were all together, the page owner, Danny, took some shots of us in our cosplays.
I received mine yesterday and I absolutely adore them!! He has done such a fantastic job, and I am thrilled with how they have turned out. I cannot wait to get more photos taken by him in the future, as not only is he very talented, he is lovely to chat to, and makes you feel really comfortable an at ease.

Here are the shots he took of my Black Widow cosplay. If you wish to use any of them please message me first, and ensure that we both get credited for the images:-

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Danny’s photography pages are linked below, go and show him some love and tell him Brii sent you!

ItsTheNerdyPhotographer Instagram Page

Much Love,

Sabrina
xXx

Advertisement

A Very Useful Site For Cosplayers & Photographers

Heyya Everyone!

Just wanted to share an awesome site I think will help a lot of you!

Have any of you had this issue; you go to cons, you get stopped by loads of people for pictures, but can never find them afterwards? Or you take an awesome picture of someone’s cosplay, but don’t remember their name afterwards to follow or tag them? I know I have, after every single con!

This awesome site allows you to post your favourite cosplays and pictures you’ve taken from conventions, and then you can credit the people who helped create them, like the photographer, the costume creator and makeup artist etc. It also allows people to comment on them, so if you are the cosplayer in the picture you can be credited.

I think in the lead up to MCM, it’s worth making an account at CosplayWon, so we can all find each other’s pictures! I’ve got mine and will be posting my pictures to it each evening of MCM this weekend! I find the site much easier to use if done on a PC or tablet, as it’s not yet optimised for mobile.

Much Love!

Sabrina
xXx

MCM London October 2016 Cosplay Plans

Heyya  Everyone!

As a lot of time has passed since my last update, we are almost at the weekend of MCM October, which I am attending next Saturday and Sunday.
As I am still on my gap year from work, I have had extra time to care for my family, sort the plans for our wedding, and work on my costumes – and as such, both my costumes for the convention are ready with over a week to go!

I will be attending MCM London on the Saturday as Blind Mag from Repo! A Genetic Opera, and the Sunday as Black Widow from Captain America: Winter Soldier.

However, if the weather stays as cold as it has been the past few days, I will be bringing Black Widow on both days. I will post an update on my Instagram and Facebook the morning of MCM to show which costumes I am wearing on the day.

I also have some of my commissions there aswell, Emma will be wearing the Melisandre and Maya costumes she commissioned from me, posts on how I made them, and what she will look like should you want to keep an eye out for her, will be posted soon.

If you see me at the convention, please come up and say Heyy, as I love meeting you all!

Much Love,

Sabrina
xXx

Lilith and Mordecai – MCM May 2016

Heyya everyone!

Sorry once again for the silence,  I get so distracted working on my costumes, caring for my Nan, wedding planning and updating my Instagram, that I keep forgetting to update my blog!
That changes now, for reals!

Since my last post was about the lead up to MCM in May, I’ll start there. My Lilith cosplay was updated for the event, and I finished my Mordecai commission for my client.
MCM was great fun as usual, and I got a brilliant shot of our two costumes together, taken my by Fiancee.

The highlight of our day was when Jason Liebrecht stopped us for pictures, and said that Karl was the best Mordecai he had ever seen! I was beyond proud!

I hope to organise a photoshoot with these costumes at the beginning of next year some time, and will keep you all updated when the images will be posted!

Much Love,

Sabrina
xXx

Countdown to MCM London May 2016!

Heyya Everyone!

It’s only 4 days till MCM London May 2016! This is where the mad rush begins to ensure everything is completed on time and ready for the weekend.

Within the next few days I will have completed my commissioned Mordecai costume for my client to wear on the Saturday of MCM, and I am so excited to see how he likes it!

After taking my Lilith costume out of my costume wardrobe, I noticed that some parts of it had taken a lot more damage than I thought, whilst other parts looked a bit basic, and could do with updating.
The most damaged piece was the shin armour for my boots, due to someone stepping on my boot, the base part has completely snapped off. I’ve used my heat gun, along with contact adhesive to re-attach the armour to my boot, and ensure the bond stays strong, even if another person treads on them. I have also repainted them, as the old cell shading was very basic, and my skills have improved greatly in the 2 years since I made this costume.

The shirt and jacket also had a bit of an upgrade, as the cell shading was very one dimensional, without any highlights. So I repainted the whole shirt, adding plenty of highlights and weathering, to make it look scruffy and dishevelled like her’s does.

One of my biggest issues last time, was that the wig covered most of my right eye, as I styled it on a mannequin head much smaller than my own – the wig looked perfectly styled on the mannequin, but on me the proportions of the spikes, and there placement, were a bit off. I have since purchased a mannequin head the same size as my own, and restyled the spikes to give it a more game-accurate look.

As I was in a rush to complete this costume when I first created it, I didn’t have time to make the correct trousers – I just cut up a pair of grey jeans and used those.
As I wanted the costume to look accurate, I thought that the trousers could use an update. I found my old pair of light brown trousers, and marked the shape of her chaps onto them – as well as where the holes and cuts are. The holes were cut out with a Stanley knife and pulled at until they frayed, then cell shaded with black fabric paint. I used various shades of brown, black and white fabric paint to colour the top of the trousers grey, to match her trousers under the chaps, then the inner parts of the thighs a darker brown, as her chaps are two colours -then added more cell shading over the top.

So my Lilith is now updated and ready to wear on the Saturday of MCM, and I will be wearing my Katniss Everdeen wedding gown on the Sunday.

Let me know if any of you are going, come up and say hi! I can’t wait to meet you all 🙂

Much Love,

Sabrina
xXx

 

 

 

 

 

Mordecai Costume Commission – Update 2

Heyya Everyone!

In my last update, I showed you all how I created Mordecai’s shoulder armour, leather vest and red body straps. Since then, I have got all of the cell shading done on the red straps and on the armour piece – and they look so great!

For Mordecai’s trousers I created a pair of combat trousers, cell shaded along all the seams and added highlights to make them look creased and crumpled – just like how Mordecai’s look. To keep them as comfortable as possible, I decided to create the knee brace on his left leg using just fabric paint. I used various tones and shades of brown, white and black, to make trick the eye into seeing it as a raised, 3D piece.

My next big job within this commission was Bloodwing. I adore Bloodwing and think she looks incredible – I was so excited to recreate her! I used thick wire to make an armature and fleshed it out with newspaper, to ensure it remained as light as possible. Once fully fleshed out, I covered her in multiple layers of paper mache to ensure she was strong and could withstand a blow (I’ve found that people at conventions don’t tend to value personal space, or the hard work that goes into costumes and props). To create the beak I used polymer clay and carved the holes and grooves into it to make it the perfect shape – this was then attached to the head and the seams covered with paper mache. All the details were added on with foam, and canvas fabric was used to make the wing membrane. Once fully dry, the bird was primed, sanded and then painted using acrylic paint. When dry, the cell shading was dry brushed onto the wings and body. As I wanted Bloodwing to stand up on her own, and not need to be held all day by my client, I decided to create a bracer and attached her feet onto it – once this was laced up, it would hold Bloodwing in place on his forearm. I used acrylic paint to paint her and add the cell shading, using in game screenshots to ensure I had her the exact right colours. Once the body was painted, I glued her feet to the bracer, then painted the legs. The bracer was then given a layer of brown spray paint, and cell shaded to fit the borderlands look.

 

The final part was to attach the red cell shaded strips onto the dreadlocks I created. This would complete Mordecai’s look, tying everything together. I used acrylic paint to add cell shading onto the dreadlocks, and the costume was complete!

 

If any of you are heading to MCM London on the Saturday, keep an eye out for Karl in this Mordecai costume!

Much Love,

Sabrina
xXx

 

 

 

Mordecai Cosplay Comission – Update 1

Heyya Everyone!

Thought I would post a quick update on how my Mordecai cosplay commission is coming along. I’m so excited to have been commissioned for another Borderlands costume, as I love the art style of the games, and creating real life versions of the costumes are a lot of fun. Creating the cell shading on clothing, whilst being incredibly time consuming and at some times tedious, is always worth it as the end effect is striking and eye catching. I thoroughly enjoyed creating the costumes of Lilith from Borderlands 2 for myself, and Maya as a commission for a close friend; plus they had a fantastic reception at MCM London October 2014, especially at the 2K booth where we were mistaken for staff and asked for numerous pictures. And as a thank you for helping them promote Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel and our characters at their booth, albeit unintentionally, we were given a lot of free Borderlands merchandise which was amazing, and the team were so enthusiastic and friendly.

My Lilith cosplay – MCM London October 2014

——————

As I had been using a lot of Worbla recently on other costumes, I decided to start by making the shoulder armour piece Mordecai wears. After measuring my client to get every measurement required, I made a base from foam, covering it in Worbla for strength. After priming and sanding, I spray painted it with a matte grey spray paint – and attached the added details.

   

 In the next few days I will be finishing off the cell shading on the armour piece, and give it a coat of sealant to complete it.

After creating the shoulder piece,  I moved onto the top, vest and straps that Mordecai wears. I used a grey T-shirt as the base for the top, everything would be stitched onto this. I’ve used a brown faux leather for the the vest, adding all the cell shading onto it with fabric paints.
The straps were made from red cotton fabric, cut into 2 inch wide strips. The cell shading was done using the same fabric paints used on the leather for the vest.

           

I still have to add cell shading highlights to both the vest and the straps, then they will be complete.

Hope this has been useful to some of you, if you would like any more information regarding the costume, message me 🙂 I’m happy to help! I will be uploading a full walkthrough/tutorial page for this costume once it is completed.

Much Love,

Sabrina
xXx

Workroom Completion

Heyya Everyone!

I am thrilled to let you all know that I finally have my new workroom up and running! Previous to this, all my costumes and props were built in my living room, which meant that I had to work in a confined space, and was forever digging around in cupboards and boxes for fabric and tools – nothing was ever close to hand. This meant that not only my costumes, but my commissioned pieces took a long time to complete; thankfully now that I have a fully kitted out workroom, I can complete all my pieces a lot quicker, and therefore take on more commissions than I could before.

Now that all the furniture is assembled and in place, all I have left to do is unbox all of my materials and tools from the boxes at the back and place them in my new storage draws. Finally I have all my things organised to continue my work.

On that note, I would like to quickly say that I am not currently taking on any more commissions, as all available slots have been filled. Keep checking back for when the commission slots are available again, I will update both this blog and my Facebook page when commissions are re-open.

Hope you are all well, and thank you for your continued support,

Much Love,

Sabrina
xXx

Bittersweet Decisions.

Heyya Everyone!

This week has been a really testing time for me. Those close to me will know I’ve had a lot going on in my home life which has had me struggling to keep it together and maintain my usual composure. However this week something in me snapped. I handed in my resignation at NEXT.
I’ve been struggling with depression for the last 2 months and have barely been able to do anything, which made the usual struggles of working in a very physical environment ten times harder. There is a lot of cattiness and gossiping in the workplace, as there’s far more females than males working in our team, and one in particular finds it necessary to blame me for everything that goes wrong in the shifts. Normally I have no issue brushing off these claims as I know I have done nothing wrong, and the truth will always come out, however in recent weeks it’s been nothing but thing, after thing, after thing, and I can’t deal with it at the moment. There is no worse feeling than working your hardest to be the best member of the team you can be, and constantly having someone spread lies about you, just because they can’t compete, it shouldn’t bother me, and yet it does. A lot. Combine that with Luke’s troubles with his eyes and the constant pain he is in, along with my Nan’s arthritis which on some days leaves her unable to get downstairs, and it’s a lot to try and deal with. I was working 5-6 days a week, and on my days off trying to fit in everything; seeing my Mum, tidying the house, getting to doctors/hospital appointments, doing the food shopping and still finding time to get my commissions finished. If I could drive it probably wouldn’t have been as bad, but I was having to do it all to the schedule of the buses. I couldn’t do it. So I’ve decided that I will take some time out, away from work to focus on my family, as they come before everything else.
I like working at NEXT. Excluding the one or two who lie and cause trouble to hide their own failings, we have a brilliant team, and I’ve met some wonderful people there who I am proud to call my friends. Providing my health and family’s well being has improved in the time, I plan to return there in time for the summer sale.
So thank you to all of you who have been patient and stuck with me through all of this, it means more than you know. Here’s hoping everything starts to calm down from here on.

Much  Love,
Sabrina xXx

Honey Lemon cosplay commission Update 1

Heyya Everyone!

Just posting a quick update on how my Honey Lemon commission is coming along. So far I’ve managed to plan out a pattern for her handbag, and have a basic idea of how I’m going to make her helmet.

For the handbag I checked out a few reference pictures of her bag, to get a feel for the basic shape and size of it, and also what details I will need to apply to it.

 

These are the ones I found the most useful, and looking at these, I started to measure and sketch out my first attempt at a template. I figured the best way to make it would be to make a front, back, base and 2 side pieces, then to have the front flap added on separately so it would have the most range of movement (last thing I waned was for her to be using it at an event and for the flap to break off, rendering the bag useless). I decided to make a mini version of the bag itself out of craft foam, just to see if my pattern idea would actually work, and thank God it did!

From doing this I realised 2 things, first; that the front and back pieces need to be slightly wider to accommodate the thickness of the side piece so they wouldn’t be seen, and second; that the front flap needed to be longer than I had made it, to make up for the amount it needs to bend over the front of the bag.

After making a few changes to my original pattern, I cut it out and pinned it onto an EVA foam tile. I figured this would be the best type of foam to use, as it’s not as porous as some of the others around, which would be a great benefit when it came to glueing it all together with contact adhesive. All pieces were then cut out with a craft knife and labelled so I knew which piece went where.

I’ll keep you all posted on how the bag is coming along as I make progress on it, next steps will be glueing it all together, priming, painting and making the closure flap, along with the heart panel for the front.
If any of you have found this useful so far, or have any things you would have done differently, leave me a comment! I love hearing how everyone else works and how you guys would go about things differently!

Much Love

Sabrina xXx