OzComicCon hits Brisbane

The next major event that I attended earlier this year was Oz Comic Con Brisbane. It’s a wonderful con to be a cosplayer at – there are panels, photobooths with photographers available, various backdrops to pose against, some of our Aussie cosplay personalities and a repair station. The organisers have really tried to include cosplayers in their planning process. Plus it’s a wonderful con and there are so many amazing costumes on show. Not to mention the cosplay competition which, if you win the Australian leg, will get you sent to the US to compete. Our Aussie winner from last year, Major Sam (and yes a fellow Brisbanite) actually took out the championship with her amazing Sikozou Necromancer Juliette.

Some of my fellow cosplayers:

Unfortunately it turned out to be a swelteringly hot September weekend, which made costuming quite the challenge. It’s only a two day con, but I spent quite some time in the lead-up flip-flopping about what I was going to wear. I had one brand new costume lined up but was planning to re-wear the other day.

In the end, it turned out to be a bit of a Disney weekend. First, I pulled out Periwinkle from Disney Fairies to wear on Saturday. It’s one of my cooler costumes and I love wearing the wings with it. My bestie Gael Storm quickly threw together a Rosetta as well so that we could pair it up for the weekend. And while she was working that afternoon and night, we did manage to find some time to take a few photos in one of the gardens around the carpark. I’m particularly in love with the ones that I snapped of her Rosetta.

Then on Sunday, I joined a group of fellow cosplay ladies with our mash-up cosplay of Hogwarts and Disney. Or Hogney if you prefer. Basically we each chose a Disney character and sorted them into a house. My love of Lottie from the Princess and the Frog made me desperate to turn her into a Hufflepuff student. I put my own spin on the uniform and made a 1920s style slip dress out of linen and velveteen. Paired it up with a blouse and tie, cloche hat and topped it off with home puff robes. I adore how this turned out. And we got some great group photos by the amazing Rebecca Burton.

All in all, I had a fantastic weekend which inspired me to get cracking on more costumes. Unfortunately there was only six weeks until the next one and my original plans were a bit too ambitious with me working full time. But I did put together something new. All in due course.

Brisnova

I spent the remainder of November working my fingers to the bone getting my new costume ready for our last convention of the year – Supanova. This year, it brought the summer heat and storms to our Queensland shores. But despite the heat and hail, the event came and went with a plethora of costumes on show. Various friends were in attendance over the weekend, but I just could not resist costuming it up and attending the entire weekend.

It started on Friday afternoon. I arrived with my sister Jeannie (DianaDaring) freshly dressed for our meet and photo with Barbara Eden, the original Jeannie herself. She was lovely to meet and Abi and I were so pleased that we were able to see her in person and especially to have our photo with her – a special memory to keep. Our afternoon was filled with visiting friends at stalls and chatting the afternoon away to our Jeannie best.

Jeannie photos below by Rebecca Burton Photography:

Saturday dawned and the heat was here to stay. The humidity had risen overnight and it wasn’t getting cooler. But between a Disney fairy costume and some much needed air-con set to Hoth, I lasted out the day. My fairy costume of Periwinkle was quite appropriate for the weather for once and I didn’t overheat too much. For my second wear of the costume, I had made a new corset to support everything and I was wearing my new fairy wings which weren’t quite ready to wear at my Birthday party. Oooh, and some furry pom poms on my shoes just to take it up that next level. I love this costume and how well it turned out. Now, I kinda want to make the rest of the Disney fairies.

Photo below by Pandom Images.

The weekend rounded out with another hot day on Sunday. I was excited to wear my completely new costume that I had spent the last six weeks desperately sewing and was relieved when it all came together smoothly. The costume is the Disney princess Merida in Art Nouveau style – based on artwork by Hannah Alexander. I tried my best to completely replicate the artwork in fabric – quite a challenge when I am so much shorter and differently proportioned to the art, but my historical experience came in quite handy. I started with a longline corset to give my figure the correct shape. Then it was a matter of applying a number of new and different techniques to finish it all – beading, ombre fabric dying, freehand machine embroidery, adding colour wefts to my wig, wired headdress, making the arrow (sculpy tip and feathered end) and the bow, shaped, sanded and oiled timber finished with leather and padded hand grip (the best prop I have ever made). It was a hell of a lot of work to get done in six weeks but I somehow managed it all and love the results. I just need to dedicate a whole photoshoot to the costume, but I do love some of the photos that did get taken.

The comparison:

Photo below by Kristabella Photography

Photos below by Pandom Images

It was another full day of sore feet and keeping out of the heat before it was all drawn to a close with a hail storm. It was a great weekend and I was so pleased to have the Monday after off to recover. And finally, below I have included my phone snaps. I’m amazed each convention at the number of costumers in attendance. We now far surpass the regularly clothed people in numbers and there are so many amazing costumes out there.

Neverland Party

The next major event on my calendar for early October was my 30th Birthday Party. This year I decided to celebrate in style and go out with a bang. So, I hosted a Neverland party. I knew from the beginning that I would be dressing as a fairy, but I had to decide my party layout and food – which took the most amount of time.

I decided to breakup my party space into different zones – Pirate Cove, Mermaid Lagoon, Lost Boys Hideout and Pixie Hollow. And I accomplished it by breaking up our back yard between the patio, the pool and the gazebo. I had been collecting decorations throughout the year since deciding on my theme back in January but a lot of the atmosphere came from the food which I strove to theme to the various areas. I’ll break it down for you:


PIRATE COVE:

Decorations included: mast and sail, lanterns, gold doubloons, golden goblets, guns. 

 
Food:
Cannonballs (thai chicken meatballs and lamb koftas)
Hot dog ships (mini chipolatas in dinner rolls)
Sea Scrolls (pistachio, pork and apple sausage rolls)
Golden Nuggets (chicken)

Seaworthy Muffins

MERMAID LAGOON:

Decorations included: shells, mermaids, glowsticks, pool.

Food:
Catch of the day (little fishies)
Seafoam sponge (blue sponge cake)
Clamshell cookies
King of the sea (prawn cocktail)
Octopus Dip (capsicum)

LOST BOYS HIDEOUT:

Decorations included: ivy, marbles, pan’s flute, Michael’s teddy, thimbles

Food:
Imagination Pie (from Hook – cheesecake)
War paint (onion dip, corn relish dip, toblerone mousse)
Pan’s Caramel Corn
Never Grow Up Punch
Star Sandwiches (egg salad)
Second Star Cookies (custard creams)

PIXIE HOLLOW:

Decorations included: fairy lights, oversized flowers, bunches of flowers, moss

Food:
Fairy Champagne Cake
Fairy bread
Lemon butter cups
Berry White Chocolate Mousse
Pixie Nectar (fruity punch)
Butterfly cakes
Citrus Cream Clouds
Jam Drops

I did try to get some photos of the night, but I was mostly trying to just have fun, so didn’t get as many as I would have liked. I did stop at the end of the evening and make my dad snap a few photos of my bestie and I in our Disney Fairy costumes. Diana Daring wore an outfit inspired by Rosetta and I dressed as Periwinkle. I love how my costume turned out and cannot wait to get some better photos of it taken. I’m planning to wear her to Supanova this month, so hopefully there will be some photos.

But overall, I had a fabulous party and it was a great way to welcome me into my 30’s. And after 13 hours of standing in the kitchen preparing all the food on Friday followed by a Saturday of setting up, more cooking and final party prep, I think it will be nice to take the easy route next year and skip the big party. But at least I went out with a splash! I love planning and setting up, but it is of a lot of work and really no wonder that I woke up the next day with the start of the head cold / sinus infection from hell.