Tinkerbell's new challenge

Well, that sure went fast. I mean my summer holidays in Finland. Two weeks gone in a flash but I feel refreshed and ready to take on some new challenges! So I've decided to start making charity appearances again. Cosplay for a good cause feels fantastic and I need some new friends in my city. Tinkerbell will be appearing together with a fabulous group of costumers to cheer up some sick kids in Manchester in a few weeks' time! We will be also raising some money so if you would like to donate to our cause & The Ronald McDonald House in Manchester please click here!

I made the Tinkerbell cosplay costume on a rush schedule to debut at Animecon which was held in Kuopio, Finland a couple of weeks ago. I'm pretty happy with it, although I want to add some more volume to the bangs on my wig! If you are interested in seeing how I made the costume, or making your own, be sure to keep an eye out for a tutorial which I will be posting on this blog soon!

Photos taken by Feeniks (who was cosplaying Queen Clarion) & editing by me!

Tinkerbell cosplay costume made by me. Wings by Fairytrade.

Tinkerbell is spreading some pixie dust magic wherever she flies!

I also made this cute bag to go with the costume

Cosplaying Tinkerbell is the best!

I love these wings from Fairytrade!

Tinkerbell is enjoying her day in the Pixie Hollow!

The obligatory mischievous photo

The camera made Tink's dress pastel green, instead of the medium green it is, but it's still a very cute photo I think.

Tink had a fantastic day! Thanks to the photographer Feeniks!

Animecon 2015 in Finland & Tinkerbell's debut with Queen Clarion

Animecon 2015 was held in Kuopio last weekend from 11th to 12th of July. In this blog post I'll be talking about the peculiarities of Animecon and Finnish conventions in general, Disney Fairies cosplays and our brief stage cameo. So, keep reading! 

Brief introduction to Kuopio. It's a Finnish city with a population of about 111 000 (can't really believe it - it seems smaller than that) where people eat weird foods like fish baked inside a bread. It takes a staggering 5 hours+ in a coach to get there from the capital Helsinki, which I decided to take since the train fares where off the roof.

Cosplay competition group photo by Kyuu Eturautti.

Like in most Finnish conventions there were a lot of anime cosplayers and people dressed in Japanese street fashion. Western comics, movies and sci-fi are the minority here. That's right- no Star Troopers, no Batman and no Captain America. (Whaaat?) Just a lot of teenagers and a lot of anime characters. Well, luckily not just teenagers but it's true that most con-goers in Finland are below 20 years of age. There are a lot of panels discussing popular anime series, different genres of anime and everything related to cosplay. I only really went to see the improvised performance show, which was interesting but went on for too long. Karaoke would have been for me but the line was infinite.

Beautiful Magic Knight Rayearth cosplayers

Space Wolf and his impressive armor

One of the few Disney cosplays I could find was this beautiful Tiana who had made her costume herself!

I'm a big fan of this cool vacuum cleaner. How on earth did they make it!

Fluffy dogs! *__*

Mew Ichigo from Tokyo Mew Mew, one of the series I watched as a teenager. Look at the tail, just too cute!

Truly impressive details

I also found a beautiful Winter Belle and had my photo taken with her!

A traditional highlight of Animecon is the Anime Concert, presented by the Kuopio Symphony Orchestra. It is seriously unlike anything I've seen anywhere. This year's program included music from Spirited Away, Magic Knight Rayearth and Inu Yasha. It gave me the chills.

Kuopio Symphony Orchestra performing a song from Spirited Away

We'd been intensively preparing our costumes with my friend Feeniks over the last couple of months. The costume I made is Tinkerbell and I mistook it for a quick and easy one. (To some extent it is, but... maybe I was too ambitious). I will be making a tutorial of the costume making process, so if you are interested in seeing how I made it or in making your own, stay tuned!

My Tinkerbell cosplay. Photo by Santtu Pajukanta. Costume tutorial coming soon!

Tinkerbell and Queen Clarion cosplay costumes by us. Photo by Santtu Pajukanta.

Queen Clarion cosplay costume from Disney Fairies, by Feeniks. Photo & editing by me.

Feeniks cosplayed Queen Clarion and made every bit of the stunning costume herself. Even the crown and the wings! The wings ensured we got a lot of attention and the unexpected mention of "The Convention's Wings" in the "Convention Gems" category. We had not registered for anything, but were scouted from outside soon after we arrived. It was quite an honor and we even received framed certificates and gift cards, and were featured on the televised news! I seriously wasn't expecting any of this. I didn't make my wings, but I made the costume and my friend made hers so I think it's OK and I can be proud of us. ^^; Thank you to the organisers for selecting us in the Convention Gems!

Tinkerbell and Queen Clarion cosplays by us, on stage in Animecon. Photo by Kyuu Eturaitti.

Tinkerbell and Queen Clarion. Photo by Kyuu Eturaitti.

My "Cosplay gems - Convention's Wings" certificate! I couldn't show the entire certificate because it has our real names. They are written by an actual calligrapher - I was really impressed!

That concludes my adventures in Animecon. I missed my other friends who could not make it, but in any case big thanks to Feeniks for coming and for kindly obliging to cosplay the fairies with me :) It was an absolute blast and I hope to do it again soon!

Rapunzel cosplay photoshoot

A bit of break since my last update, but hoping to catch up the normal update frequency soon! I can reveal some exciting news, I am working on a new costume at the moment and I am planning on posting my first costume tutorial of this project! I am hoping it will be of use to all my fellow cosplayers but I won't give you the details of which character it is just yet, so you'll have to wait until the post is ready!

In any case, in the meanwhile enjoy these Rapunzel photos from MCM Birmingham 2015. Thank you to the wonderful photographers Paul Brennan and Robert J. Parker and the beautiful Chloe (White Rose Cosplay) for posing with me!

Rapunzel and Pascal. Photo by Paul Brennan

Photo by Paul Brennan

Photo by Paul Brennan

Sleeping Beauty by White Rose Cosplay. Photo by Robert J Parker

Frozen Coronation Anna & Anna's Accessories Tutorial!

I haven't really had the time to make full costumes in a while, as I am working as a party performer in the weekends nowadays. The parties are (still) all about Frozen, so I have purchased an Anna and Elsa costume. Anna is my favourite of the two! She's a fun, goofy and loud character, and it is more fun to play her than a serious character. I have to say that her plaits and freckles are pretty adorable as well.

Me as Coronation Anna

I prefer this gown over her "normal" dress!

Although I didn't have the time to make the costume itself, I wanted to make something, so the accessories for her coronation dress were a quick and fun project to pick. If anyone is interested in how I made them, here is a quick tutorial! (Sorry about the lack of WIP photos - in a goofy Anna manner, I only thought of a tutorial after I had finished!)

Frozen Anna's Coronation Accessories Tutorial

Anna's haircomb

Time to make: 45 min - 1.5 hours including oven baking and drying time
Level: Easy

Supplies

A packet of Fimo or Cernit modelling clay (any light colour)
Gold acrylic paint
About 40 cm of 10mm or 15mm wide satin ribbon in 3 different shades of green
A small plain haircomb
PVA (craft) glue
Hot glue gun
Modeling tools, knife
Optional: Glossy varnish

1. Massage the Fimo in your hands to make it soft. Create the base shape by flattening the clay evenly over the surface you're working on, then cut around it with a sharp knife. Smoothen edges with the tips of your fingers.

2. Make a thin tube out of the clay by rolling the palm of your hand over a ball of clay on the table top. It needs to be really thin. Then wrap this around the outside of the base shape, trim to right size with a knife and press around it evenly to attach. This will form a nice edge around the shape.

3. Create the patterns on the top of the haircomb by cutting several small shapes out of the clay and pressing them on to the main piece.

4. Heat in an oven according to instructions on the packaging of the clay.

5. Paint with gold acrylic paint and finish with a glossy varnish (optional)

6. Glue the 3 green ribbons at the back of the shape you made using a PVA glue. Add hot glue on top and quickly press on the comb, taking care to attach the right side.

7. Trim the green ribbons to the desired length and seal from fraying using a lit up match stick. (Gently touch the tip of the ribbon with the flame.)

Anna's necklace

Time to make: 45 min - 1.5 hours including oven baking and drying time
Level: Easy

Supplies

A packet of Fimo or Cernit (any light colour)
Gold acrylic paint
About 50 cm of 6-10mm wide black ribbon
Gold metal ring (for jewelery making) with opening, diameter about 7mm
Black snaps (or a necklace closing mechanism)
Small round tipped pliers (jewelery making)
Small flat tipped pliers
Modeling tools, knife
A sharp tipped object such as a grill stick
Optional: Glossy varnish

1. Massage the Fimo in your hands to make it soft. Create the base shape by making a ball of clay and flattening it evenly in a circle shape over the surface you're working on. The diameter of the pendant should be about 30mm.

2. Make a thin tube out of the clay by rolling the palm of your hand over a ball of clay on the table top. It needs to be really thin. Then wrap this around the outside of the base shape, trim to right size with a knife and press around it evenly to attach. This will form a nice edge around the shape.

3. Create the patterns on the top of the pendant by cutting several small shapes out of the clay and pressing them on to the main piece.

4. Use a sharp round tipped object (ie. a grill stick) to push a hole near the top edge of the pendant.

5. Heat in an oven according to instructions on the packaging of the clay.

6. Paint with gold acrylic paint and finish with a glossy varnish (optional).

7. Use the round pliers to open up the metal ring, Put it through the hole you made on the pendant. Insert black ribbon and close with flat tipped pliers.

8. Wear it to determine the right length of the black ribbon, then trim to desired length and seal edges from fraying.

10. Sew black snaps to the ends (easy way) or if you are very perfectionist, find a jewelery closing mechanism to attach.

That's it!  Hope the tutorials help somebody. Feel free to post comments and questions!

Me with my beautiful sister, Snow Queen Elsa played by Kirsty P.

Disney Magical World 3DS Review

Disney Magical World is one of my favourite games on 3DS these days, and for this reason I thought I would write a quick review. Not a detailed analysis, and maybe a little bit biased (considering I'm a huge Disney fan!), but if that's OK with you, then read on!

Explore a world of Disney and do what you please

In this game, the main character is your Mii, so you can play as yourself. You start in the main plaza and do a short introductory sequence, but don't worry - it's not long and boring. The best part starts soon enough - actual gameplay, where you can choose to do whatever you want. One of your goals is to obtain stickers which unlock new areas and features in the game, and to obtain stickers you get to do a whole lot of fun stuff: complete quests, get new outfits for your character, run your cafe, go fishing, grown plants and so on. You choose what you want to do and when you want to do!

There's a lot to love in this game

I love this game for many reasons. To me, it is like being in a virtual version of Disneyland. The atmosphere is bright and cheerful, and all the characters are very animated and true to the originals. It is a lot of fun to engage with them by going on themed quests or taking photos with them. 

I also love the versatility that the game offers. The quests are great when you're in the mood for simple slaying of monsters, whereas Winnie the Pooh's world offers tranquil activities such as growing your own herbs and flowers, or playing hide and seek with Pooh and his friends. Cinderella's ball offers a fun rhythmic mini-game. And if you're anything like me you'll love going shopping and getting cute outfits for your character! (Yes, you can dress up as a Disney princess or prince!)

Summary

What's good

• A truly magical world!
• Versatility - a combination of action, role play, simulation and more
• Getting to choose what to do and in which order
• Meeting all the favourite Disney characters and exploring their worlds
• Cute outfits and other customisation options
• Additional downloadable content

What's bad

• You do get forced to re-play the same quests which can get boring
• You have to pay for some downloadable content
• The game doesn't save the photos you take on to the SD card, so it's difficult to export them to your computer (hence the bad photos on my review!)

Easter = Cute baby animals

Happy Easter!

I'm spending the holidays driving around Scotland with my husband and some friends. The scenery is stunning, but one special thing that really made it feel like an Easter trip was when I saw some lambs. They were just too cute, I almost melted. Cute animal babies are essential in Easter. I hope I will see some baby chicks also!

Lambs I saw in Scotland. Too cute.

Can I take these guys home??

Adventures of the lonely Rapunzel aka MCM Birmingham 2015

Note: I try my best to give credit to cosplayers but I don't always catch all their names and Facebook pages. If you know a cosplayer I did not identify or link, please let me know!

I went to the MCM Birmingham convention on 21st of March for 1 day only. Not knowing any cosplayers in the UK, I went alone but I was lucky enough to have the company of wonderful people for most of the time. What a fantastic day trip it was!

I decided to wear my new Rapunzel (Tangled) costume, which I purchased mainly for children's entertainment purposes. (No way I would have the time to tackle such a "monster" of a cosplay!) She is a lovely character, so maybe I would have cosplayed her anyway. I must admit I don't have the best facial features for Rapunzel. Those lucky people who have a heart-shaped face probably fit the bill best. But hey, if I'm enjoying myself and the kids like me, then it doesn't really matter does it? I think it's totally OK, if not desirable to stress less about appearances and focus more on having fun.

Rapunzel had hayfever, so these pocket tissues with her picture on it came in handy

I met up at the convention with the amazing photographer Paul Brennan and we had a small photoshoot which I will publish later on. Check out his work, he is amazing! Also credits to Robert John Parker for being kind and taking a few photos for me!

Furry fellows and Jack Sparrows

Surely enough there were lot of cool cosplays around. The Disney ones were my favourites of course, and I could spot a lot of them thanks to taking part in a Disney cosplay photoshoot. Thanks to everyone who posed in the photos with me! Sailor Moon is obviously my other favourite but unfortunately there was a huge lack of Sailor Moon cosplayers (quite surprisingly, with Crystal running and all.) I did spot 2 of my favourite senshi though, Uranus and Neptune! And I also saw some random cuddly furry fellows. And Jack Sparrows. I'll let the photos talk.

The entire, beautiful Disney group at MCM Birmingham 2015! Photo by Paul Brennan

Poor Flynn, he is getting abused by Rapunzel's doppelgangers! Photo by Paul Brennan
Blonde Rapunzel by Celebrate the Magic Entertainment and short hair Rapunzel by CodeMiu Cosplay.

Ok, let's be nice to him. Photo by Paul Brennan

Double trouble. Photo by Paul Brennan

Catch them Sparrows! Photo by Paul Brennan

Uh-oh... Don't leave Punzie alone with these men!! Photo by Paul Brennan

The magnificient Peter Pan, Captain Hook and Jessica Rabbit

This Tink was adorable!

Loved this Zarina and Alice, and their plushies!!

I loved this original Pocahontas so much. This photo doesn't fully appreciate all the pretty details on her self designed costume. It was lovely and she looked much like the character!

A beautiful winter Belle

My favourite senshi, Uranus and Neptune!

It's-a-me, Mario!

Lego Batman was so cool...

...and so was the real Batman and his friends!

I'm sorry to admit I forgot the name of these cosplays, but they were simply amazing.

This blue furry fellow introduced himself as the Beast. I think he is from Marvel comics. Epic!

And this one is called Chewbacca from Star Wars.
Not knowing whether the furry fellow was a friend or a foe, Rapunzel felt a little intimidated.
But I think he was very soft and cuddly.

 

A massive exhibition hall and a small tent

The exhibition hall was huge (as you could expect from NEC, a massive complex) but funnily enough the main stage was inside a mere inflatable tent, which seemed minuscule in its capacity for this size of a crowd. This is where the cosplay competitions were held. I was satisfied with watching for a few minutes at the entrance and then stalking the competitors for photos later on, when they emerged after the show was over. The MCM also had autograph signing, a steampunk costume exhibit (which I unfortunately missed) and apparently photos with "glamour models" which just looked like blonde women in skimpy clothes to me, judging by what I saw on the website. Undoubtedly a way to attract men to the con, however not something I appreciated much. If anything I felt embarrased with women with huge tits appearing on the screen of my iPad when I was surfing the con website on the train... Anyway. On to the more interesting stuff.

I'm usually rational enough to keep the strings of my purse tight, however the newly launched Sailor Moon Crystal series has led to an influx of new merchandise which was too tempting. And I even succumbed to a few cute plushie items which were screaming "take me home!!"

A general photo of the exhibition hall

The main stage. Which was inside this inflatable tent.

I saw Cinderella's shoe!

My goodness, Tofu Cute's stand was just too kawaii. Including their merchants.

How can you resist this??  Bought this one...

...and this kawaii usagi-chan...

...and this kawaii Venus-chan...

...and these Moonie keychains which were TO DIE FOR!

When the convention started closing I headed to one of the women's toilets, which had ample space and changed back to my good old normal self. Travelling alone, I didn't really feel like rocking up in a costume on the train! But I had a wonderful day. It felt even more the success when excited kids came up to me for photos and hugs, and a mum told me I was better than the "real thing" at Disneyland!!

Thank you again to everyone who shared the day with me!