Otakon 2011 - Sleep Deprivation, Sardines and Silliness Ensued

We're back from Otakon 2011. On my part, I must say it was very enjoyable. The drive down from MA to MD was very fun with Kitaku and Madhouse. We left very early in the morning and got to Baltimore in time to pick up Lira from the airport. Our hotel room was smaller than last year by quite a bit. The only thing it had going for it was that we didn't have to go outside into the 95+ degree weather. Kaye had a photoshoot outside in her GORGEOUS Tomoyo-hime cosplay and her poor crown couldn't handle the heat. She had some beautiful shots all the same!!

The Garnet Rod that Goose and I put together did not make the trip very well. It broke in half at a rest-stop in NJ despite Kitaku and Madhouse trying to be careful around it. Goose tried to fix it up once we got to the hotel with many layers of epoxy and gorilla tape. It seemed to do the trick, but again during another shoot in hot weather, the epoxy melted and the only thing holding it together was the tape. It lasted a few shots, then Goose and I decided there was no salvaging the poor thing and he snapped it into eight pieces. No more soft wood for long staff pieces. And we need to make things sectional. Our Sailor Senshi costumes did come together (even if it was last minute) beautifully. Kaye and I worked tiredlessly through the night on Thursday while Kitaku, Lira, and Madhouse tried to help. They were very diligent workers. Mostly I did machine sewing while the other three worked on wigs (specifically Kitaku's beautiful Sailor Moon wig that Kaye put together), collars, ribbons, etc. Kaye was working on finishing her crown for her Tomoyo costume. The room's consensus was that it was beautiful and amazing and we all were very impressed.

We walked around the dealer's room and found a lot of stuff we wanted. Then around artist's alley and I got a few things from webcomic artists I follow like Bill Holbrook of Kevin and Kell, Gina Biggs of Red String and Caldwell Tanner of Loldwell and Collegehumor.

SWAAAAAAAAAGGGG!!!!!

Goose and I brought back our Portal 1 cosplays from last year and got a lot of pictures and recognition with it. It's so comfortable, but it's time to revamp the jumpsuit and the gun. The gun is becoming very temperamental, fixing itself only right before photoshoots, while I shake it and bang on it until the electronics set themselves right. The jumpsuit is fraying since the cotton I used for it was very thin and LOVES to fray. Not to mention I want to try my hand at making a full jumpsuit that has sleeves so I can use it for Portal 2 Chell. That's for another year though as we already have our line up for Otakon 2012. (And we've had it ready for about half a year now already.)

Goose and I are already browsing the forums and will be looking at finding a bigger room around. Passkey opens August 8th, so we'll be up late the night before looking at possibilities.

Still tired after a great weekend and looking forward to working with Kaye and getting ready for next year.