There's been a change of plans, and Kyle and I will not be at Anime USA this weekend.

Though, this weekend I hope to go through photos and things on my camera and finally get caught up on my inbox.

Last convention of the year will be Ikkicon, which Kyle and I got invited to as guests. I don't have any new major cosplay plans until Katsucon, so I'll be taking things easy for a bit and working on Katsucon costumes here and there.

The YGO trip to Rhode Island was fun, as well as the Zelda Symphony concert. The concert gave me chills the entire performance, and I teared up a few times. XD We didn't end up going to New York for Sleep No More because of the Hurricane. :\

We were at Youmacon last weekend, and it was ok. I had fun hanging out with people Friday, but I got food poisoning that ruined my Saturday. I got really sick while at work, and Kyle had to roll me back to the hotel in a wheelchair so I wouldn't pass out. I was feeling much better by the late evening though, thanks to friends that went out and got goodies to help my stomach feel better. Hotel location was kinda cool, but I can't count how many times I got lost. Also, the dealer's room being in the Cobo center kinda sucked, especially when the train wasn't in service yet and we had to walk to work in the cold.

Sorry this update's pretty brief; I'll be posting more photos and stuff this week! :3

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"We *Heart* Card Games" productions founders

This next month is going to be SO busy! o.o

Ok, so, next weekend there's a Yugioh YCS out in Rhode Island, and a TON of YGO voice actors are going to be there. There's also going to be a charity event for Dan Green and his family (Watch this video here for details: [link] ). Though it's a 16+ hour drive from Chicago, we're not wanting to miss out on this opportunity!

is flying here from California, and then we're all going to road trip to the event, meeting up with and when we get there. We'll be all dressed as the different protagonists, and will be Joey/Jounouchi! :3  I'm making a new Yami wig right now, and I hope it's done on time! >____< Because of how long the trip is though, we'll only be there for the 20th.

Following that is the Zelda Symphony concert here in Chicago! We'll be wearing Link and Groose to that :3

Then we're making a trip to New York to see "Sleep No More" with our co-workers before heading straight to Youmacon O.O
Kyle and I will be working at the booth all weekend, so feel free to stop by and say hi during dealer's hours. Not sure what my cosplay schedule will be, but I will be bringing Yami, Link, Neku, and Rarity.

Right after Youma we have to repack things and head to Anime USA the following weekend for work. Again, stop by the booth and say hi if you're coming! XD Not sure what my cosplay plans are. Might be the same as Youma.

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"We *Heart* Card Games" productions founders

Finally have internet again! (WHOOO!)  Though, I've been quite busy with some cosplay plans and work, so forgive me again for not being too active on DA lately ;_____;

I still have to go through Animefest photos that friends tagged me in; hopefully I'll have some good stuff to share with you guys soon :3. The con was pretty fun btw, but not as fun as it was at the previous hotel. It was worth it for the friends though <333 (Miss you all so much!). I also got Best Prop award for my Sword and Shield. It was a big accomplishment, considering props aren't usually my specialty (and I'm usually limited to lower budget materials, so it's cool when people think it looks awesome regardless XD).

My new job at Arda Wigs is awesome and lots of fun. I do a lot of social networking stuff like answering questions and giving suggestions through several places like the Arda Facebook and Forums. I'll be starting wig styling video tutorials for the Arda Youtube channel after we set up a nice corner of the office for me to record them. I also get to travel to some of the cons Arda sells wigs at (not every con on their list, but I'll let you guys know which ones I'll be going to ahead of time).

First Arda gig is next weekend at Anime Weekend Atlanta! I'll be at the booth during dealer's room hours, so come by and say hi!

We haven't moved all of our costume stuff up to Chicago yet, so my cosplay plans are going to be pretty small and last minute. I'm trying to get Neku done, but I'm not sure if it'll be 100% complete by the time we leave. I got one of the new Dubstep Candy Striper wigs earlier this month, and now I wanna do a DJ p0n3 closet cosplay or just wear the wig because it's pretty (I don't wanna style it accurately though because I love the curls as they are XD). It'll be a more casual con for me.

Anyone else going to AWA?

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"We *Heart* Card Games" productions founders

Sorry for the lack of updates; I've been working on Link hardcore and barely got everything done on time (actually, I still have a few small details left, but they can be done tonight after we get to Texas).

We're about to leave for Animefest, and then right after we get home Monday evening we have to drive straight up to Chicago. We won't be able to set up internet until we are officially moved into the apartment, so it might be a little while before I can make any more updates.

This might be our last Animefest due to distance and Dragoncon (which I will be attending with Arda Wigs in the future). Most of our upcoming cons are going to depend on where work asks me to go, or what's affordable (and Texas is going to become pretty expensive to go to now).

So for those of you who are attending Animefest, this is my cosplay schedule:

Friday - might be Sanji in the earlier part of the day since it's comfortable, and then I'll be wearing Link for the rest of the day

Saturday - Sanji in the morning/afternoon, Rarity in the evening, and then a secret closet cosplay in the late evening

Sunday - Mako in the morning/afternoon, and Guy in the evening. That could get switched around though depending on when friends do stuff.

Monday - no time to cosplay. We'll be leaving probably before anyone wakes up.

Hope to see ya there! :3

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"We *Heart* Card Games" productions founders

Edit: THE AUCTIONS END IN JUST A COUPLE HOURS! It's a rare opportunity to get one of these wig styles, as I probably won't be opening up commissions anytime soon (and when I do, I probably won't be doing some of the more complex styles like Yami/Yugi since they take so much time to do).

Kyle and I are moving to Chicago in a few weeks, so to get some extra money to help with expenses, we're selling some cosplay items.

First up are my Yami Yugi and Johan/Jesse Anderson wigs. Yami was my first "crazy" wig style attempted, but now that I've had more experience, I've been wanting to style a new one. It still looks great and gets lots of compliments :3. Johan hasn't been worn very much, and I don't know when either of us will next cosplay him, so I'd rather see it go to a good home instead of it collecting dust on a shelf.

So here are the ebay auctions!
Yami Yugi - [link]
Johan/Jesse - [link]

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"We *Heart* Card Games" productions founders

Please read before immediately asking me questions about commissions or my upcoming wigs for sale

Been offline a lot again due to Animefest coming up as well as the future move to Chicago. Soooo...I'm thinking catching up on my inbox won't happen for a couple months. But I will be updating here soon with info on some wig sales! We're in need of money and space, so I'm going to be selling some of the wigs that I've been wanting to restyle or have already restyled. I might also be selling some wigs and costumes that I'm retiring. This will probably include my Yami Yugi wig, Sora wig, my 1st Yusei wig (not the one I currently wear), Johan wig, Dr. Fudo wig, plus a few others. I still need to figure out how much some of these will cost to ship, but once I do have things worked out I will be putting some of them on ebay and posting links here; so stay tuned for that :3. This is not a time to bug me for commissions; I'm just selling some things that I already have (I'm sorry! D: )

Also been hooked on One Piece. I got into it ages ago but then had to drop it when I was in college, but we've recently picked it up again since our friends are doing One Piece cosplay for Animfest (I'm gunna be Sanji! ;D). We might have an entire Straw Hats crew <3
The length of the series can be intimidating, but it's SO GOOD.

Cosplay lineup for Afest will probably be:
Link - in progress
Rarity - Finished
Mako - in progress
Sanji - Finished
Guy - Finished

I finally finished my Chainmail for Link a few days ago, but I've still got a lot to do before the con. I still gotta make the rest of my Link cosplay (I'm making his main garb from Skyward Sword), and I'm also making Mako for a Legend of Korra group my friends are doing. Not sure how well it'll turn out, but it's all for good fun XD. I've also got to style my husband's Zoro wig, a Bolin wig for a friend, and I'm not sure if I'll have my Link props done on time, but I'm going to try.

Thanks again for your patience everyone, and keep an eye out for journal updates about those wigs :3

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"We *Heart* Card Games" productions founders

Been going through my inbox and wow...I have a lot to catch up on ;______;
Even after deleting the activity notifications, deviations, journals, and polls, I still have over 6,000 comments to read.
Granted, a lot of those are piled up from nearly a year; I'm terribly sorry! I had a lot going on, and checking my DA inbox hasn't really been a high priority.

I think once I have an empty inbox to start fresh from though, things will be a lot easier to manage.

I get a lot of wig and costume construction questions, which is why I like to write up construction notes to direct you guys to. I might not get around to answering a lot of questions some people might have, but I'll do my best.

All the compliments and positive comments are much appreciated, and I promise that I read all of them even if I don't reply. Thank you for your support!

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"We *Heart* Card Games" productions founders

Capital City Cosplay Day in Jefferson City, MO is in less than 2 weeks! If you're in the area on June 23rd, join us on the lawn of the MO Capital and hang out with fellow cosplayers and anime/gaming/etc fans. I'll be wearing Aqua :3
Event page: [link]


I've got some big news. After Animefest, I'll be moving to Chicago to work for Arda-wigs [link]

I feels a bit surreal. Lately I had been feeling a bit lost with what I wanted to do after I graduated college. While I had a degree in Computer Animation, jobs are competitive, and there's no real guarantee that someone in the field will keep their job for more than a few years with how bad the economy is right now. I tried applying to film festivals to build up my resume, but wasn't very successful. And Kyle has it worse than I do; with an Illustration degree, there aren't a whole lot of options for him besides freelance work. There was one possible opportunity in the area that he could have taken, but the number of hours wasn't guaranteed to be full-time, and it paid less than his night position at his current job. We manage expenses alright with the money we earn at our jobs right now, but they're not workplaces we want to stay at long-term.

On my way back from Fanime, an older lady at the airport came up to me and complimented my wigs (I was wearing my Yusei wig and carrying Kaito so they wouldn't get crushed in my luggage). She thought I was a professional, but when I told her it was just a hobby, she told me, "You're going to go places." It was then that I got ideas about pursuing wig styling as a possible profession, or maybe look into attending cosmetology school to become a hairdresser. I had thought about doing costume design in the past, but after hearing horror stories from friends that went down that path before, I chose to avoid it. I don't really know anyone personally that does wigs for theater or movies, but all the hairdressers I know really enjoy their work.

Then not long after Fanime, I was contacted by the owner of Arda wigs, asking if I would be willing to move to Chicago if they offered me a position. I would be doing social networking and media, as well as traveling to help sell wigs at conventions across the country. I talked things over with my husband and our families, and we came to an agreement that this would be a great opportunity. Words cannot express how ecstatic I am to work with this business. I'll get to travel and work in the realm of cosplay; two things I'm very passionate about. They were also thinking about having me do wig tutorials for their website, which sounds like a lot of fun as well. :3

At the conventions I get to travel to, I will be required to be at the booth during dealer's room hours, but outside of that I'll have free time to hang out with friends. At home base, I'll be in the city of Chicago. I admit I'm a little intimidated because I've never lived in such a metropolis before, but I'm also excited because there are lots of things to see and do in the area. In fact, I've already got tickets to attend the Symphony of the Goddesses, a Zelda symphony concert that will be hitting Chicago in October. So excited!

As far as Animefest goes, I'm determined to get my Chain Mail done for Link, and I'll be doing Skyward Sword things with a group of friends. I'll also be bringing Rarity for MLP fun times, and Guy for a Tales of the Abyss group. If I have time I'd like to throw together a quick Sanji for a One Piece group, or Amelia for a Trigun group, but at this point I'm not sure what I'll have time for (Sanji is more likely because it'd be REALLY easy). I'll post more updates as I get things done :3

Oh, and I was interviewed not long ago for a digital book called, "Culture, Conventions, & Cosplay"
If you'd like to check it out, you can purchase and read it here: [link]

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"We *Heart* Card Games" productions founders

I got back from California a couple days ago and have a lot to catch up on.
There was a lot of stress going on throughout the weekend, but overall Fanime was a lot of fun.
We got there Wednesday afternoon and settled in. The friends I was staying with lived about an hour away from the convention, so there was a bit of a commute every day. It saved money on hotel, but I feel it caused a lot of stress.

I hadn't had a full night of sleep for over a week because I had been trying to get ready for the trip, preparing our skit, and helping my husband with his costumes. At the con I still wasn't getting a whole lot of sleep since we had a lot going on plus the commute, and it caused me to get a bad migraine on Saturday at the worst of times (during the masquerade). That on top of the nerves…I'm glad I didn't pass out on stage or something.

Thursday before the con we got to see a bit of San Francisco and take a few pictures of Yusei in the city. Hung out with friends in the later part of the day before going back and working on some skit related things.

Friday started off with a long pre-reg line. The YGO gathering got delayed, but even though we did manage to make it just 8 minutes late at the later time, they were pretty much done by the time we got there, which kinda sucked. After that I changed into Guy and met up with and for some Tales of the Abyss fun. It was the highlight of Friday for me :3. They're both huge sweethearts and really easy to talk to and get along with. Afterwards we had a group dinner at Johnny Rockets, which had apparently had a smaller menu and bumped up their prices for Fanime. Boo on them. But we had fun hanging out with everyone at least. After returning to the convention center we did some choreography practice before retiring for the evening.

Saturday was crazy busy. We spent a lot of time in the morning with craftsmanship judging and finalizing skit details. Afterwards I changed into Kaito so I could do Zexal pictures with and . The photographer we were working with was HUGE FUN. I had a hard time keeping a straight face, he was so hilarious. I was in a bit of a slump in the earlier part of the day from a bunch of things, but he pretty much turned all that around. We had to cut things short because we wanted to attend the Shonen Jump Alpha panel. Slifer and I doodled "high tech" Alpha-kuns and got first place and runner up prizes in the art contest during the panel, and Kyle won the SJ cosplay contest as Kuwabara. It was another fun highlight of Saturday :3. After dinner we went to the YGO fan panel, which I was one of the panelists for. There was a huge turnout, and I wish the panel went longer than an hour; I feel like we didn't have enough time! XD Our skit cast met up again for more choreography practice before we left.

Sunday was also a bit hectic. We had brunch with friends but then there wasn't a whole lot of time to get things together for masquerade rehearsal. It was a bit of a frenzy to transport everything, get our PVC rigs together, work out lighting, and then have everyone there at the same time to practice with our backdrops/lighting/etc on stage. The Zelda gathering was in the middle of the big rehearsal block, so I stepped out briefly to attend it. I was greatly impressed with the variety and quality of the cosplayers there (they even had a Byrne from Spirit Tracks)! Though, the photoshoot was overly crowded for the area it was held in, and the lady that was trying to move people around was a bit rude. I just stayed on the sidelines after a while and chatted with people instead before we had to head back to the theater and finally rehearse on stage. I had a little bit of time to change into Yusei and then we were back at the theater for lineup and then the masquerade itself. It was around this time that my headache was starting to get worse. At first it was just making me really drowsy, but by the end of the night I was in a lot of pain. I feel being in the moment on stage and then hearing the audience response really helped distract me from it all though; it was mostly just while we were waiting our turn and then after the contest was officially over that I wasn't feeling at my best. Thank you everyone that came and supported us; there have been a few instances in the past couple years when I just about gave up on the YGO fandom, but being able to perform and then getting a ton of positive feedback with this skit gave me more hope again. We got best comedic skit, and a standing ovation.

You can watch it here, as well as download the MP3 via the link in the description: [link]

Big thanks to the cosplay cast , the stage ninja setup crew, LK, and Shady for making this happen.

Last day of the con felt rather short. Kyle and I met up with and to do some Zelda pics together since we didn't have much time at the gathering. Then I did another change into Guy for some Tales goodness again, this time with as Peony! > It was in the afternoon when everyone was starting to leave, and saying our goodbyes to everyone was really depressing; I hope I can come back next year.

We had one more full day being in California after the con, which we spent again in San Francisco. It's a beautiful city, despite the crazy traffic and scary hills XD. We went to Ghirardelli Square and didn't want to leave (so much delicious chocolate)! Made some silly pictures at a Pika Pika booth and then tried on fluffy dresses at Baby the Star Shine Bright. Last thing we did was get some pizza, stop by a game shop to play on the duel terminals, and then headed back to the house to pack for our flight the following morning.

Thank you California friends for giving us this opportunity to finally travel to the west coast and have a great time. I know there's still a lot of post-con stress and issues that haven't been fully resolved, but I'm praying for the best and hope things will calm down eventually.

Last convention of the year I have planned is Animefest in Dallas. My goal is to get Skyward Sword (green tunic) Link done for that, and if I have time I might do some other smaller costumes, though with some other things keeping me busy this summer I'm not entirely sure how much time I have.

There is a cosplay event going on this month (June 23rd) in Jefferson City, MO called "Capital City Cosplay." If you're in the area please come check it out! We got the capital lawn reserved, and there are a lot of beautiful areas in historical downtown JC for pictures. I'm planning on attending as Aqua :3. Here's the event page on Facebook: [link] (if for some reason the link doesn't work, just search on facebook "Capital City Cosplay")
I'll probably make another post about this pretty soon.

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"We *Heart* Card Games" productions founders

Last post until Fanime, and then things will finally calm down enough that I might be able to catch up with things online o.o
Thank you guys so much for your patience and support. I'm sure a lot of my responses to questions will end up really late, and I might not be able to thoroughly get through everything (mainly journals and deviations) that have been piling in my inbox over the past few months.
For those who don't know what all has been going on this past year, I was really busy with college until May of last year, and then I was preparing my own wedding, and then it was convention after convention after convention. Heck, I might still be pretty busy after Fanime since I want to get my chain mail done this summer, but I'm sure I can take a few days to just go through my inbox.

I actually don't really have any new costumes at this con, but I've been spending the time between Acen and now working on some costume things for Kyle as well as a SKIT!
If you'll be at Fanime, please come to the masquerade/cosplay spectacular on Sunday and watch us! I can't say anything that spoils what we're doing, but I will say that I'm super obsessed with how amazing our audio turned out. I'm excited about this whole skit in general, but also really nervous; it's been a long time since we've one, and I've never done a skit at a con this huge before. Wish us luck! <3 We're going to be introduced as "Bonds of Friendship" Productions for this skit.

Also, I know I briefly had a journal up about my bookmarks being for sale at Fanime, but because of the new rules in the artist alley this year I'm unable to sell them at my friend's table, so I took it down. Really sorry, guys :<  I might make them available on etsy or something in the future.

As for cosplay plans:

Friday - WRGP Yusei in the earlier part of the day, and then Guy for the second part of the day.  I might not be able to bring my sword for Guy though since it probably won't fit in our checked luggage. I'll be attending the YGO gathering at 12:30 at the fountain.

Saturday - I'll be in Yusei, and then Kaito for most of the day. I'll be attending the SJ meet up panel at 5pm, and then I'm helping host the YGO fan panel at 10pm.

Sunday - I'll be wearing Skyloft Link until the masquerade/cosplay spectacular. Didn't get my sword done, but I'll hopefully have time to finish a quick prop. :3 I'll be at the Zelda gathering at 2:30 unless I need to be at rehearsal...which I really hope doesn't conflict with those plans D:

Monday - Wearing Guy again

I'm super excited about the things going on at this con, and the friends and people I finally get to meet. Kyle and I are actually leaving today to St. Louis, and my mom will be taking us to the airport Wednesday morning. We'll be in California for a whole week! We're staying with a bunch of awesome friends, and they'll be giving us a couple tours around San Francisco and some other places on the days when we're not at the convention. I've never been to the west coast before, so it'll be a whole new experience :3

See you guys in a little over a week! (or at Fanime, if you'll be there :3)

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"We *Heart* Card Games" productions founders

Read this first: [link]

On June 5th, the rights to the Yugioh francise is going up for auction.

Funimation, and I think Viz media as well, have shown interest in picking it up. I personally don't mind either company getting it, but Funimation has hinted on their facebook channel that'd they'd like to release an uncut version if they get it. Meaning:

We'd finally get YGO/GX/5D's/Zexal DVDs! Uncut ones!
The final seasons of GX and 5D's will be brought to the US
The show might get redubbed like they did for One Piece
etc awesomeness

Though, I do know that by redubbing the series, there's a huge chance that a lot (if not all) the characters will get re-casted with different actors. I personally would be a bit sad to see some of my favorite characters voiced by different actors, so I've been trying to spread the word to get Funimation to keep the original cast in mind. I know some actors like Eric Stuart might not be available because he's moved on from voice acting, but I would love to see Dan Green reprise his role as Yugi/Yami and Greg Abbey return as Yusei (and Tristan!), as well as other actors like Wayne Grayson (Joey/Syrus).
So please please please Go to Funimation's Facebook channel and/or Twitter and encourage them to get it! And if you feel the same as I do about keeping some of the cast, then let them know! If they do get re-casted I'm going to be super picky (there's a certain actor at Funi that I would not like to hear on this show; if he got casted as one of the lead protagonists I might refuse to buy it).

Funimation on Facebook (scroll down, and there's a YGO pic with the lead protagonists. Like and comment on it!) [link]

Funimation on Twitter [link]

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"We *Heart* Card Games" productions founders

Acen was a blast! I felt like I didn't really experience much of the con itself, but I still had a great time with friends :3
It was super cold. I had to wear a blanket on the way to and from the convention from our hotel so I wouldn't freeze. Hopefully next year it's in May again or we're in a closer hotel to the convention center. A couple of our friends drove all the way up from Texas and then rode up with our group to Acen; I was really excited to see them <3

Wednesday night Kyle didn't get any sleep while I only got about 2 hours, so we were very grateful that our friend Rory was able to take the wheel on our way to Acen Thursday. I was sleep deprived from working on my Duel Disk while Kyle was trying to finish up Rory's Keyblade. If I hadn't gotten so many hours at work the past couple weeks, I don't think it would have happened, but at the same time I'm glad I got more hours since we needed the money. We arrived pretty late at night and went to bed as soon as we got settled in at the hotel.

Friday morning we were up bright and early for an interview with Ejen of Cosplay in America. We hit the dealer's room afterwords and browsed around until the Yu Yu Hakusho cosplay gathering. It was pretty fun and had a great turnout :3. I think Kyle stole the show as Kuwabara hahaha XD. Right after, I rushed back and changed into Kaito so I could make it to the YGO gathering on time. It was a lot better this year than what I remembered it being like a couple years ago. Everyone was very friendly, and every cosplayer got to be included. A few people got a bit crazy, though that's a bit expected at any large gathering. The highlight was getting to see Jen again, whom I hadn't seen in 2 years. A while back, there was a big argument between several friends and things got really complicated. When I found out a few weeks ago that she would be at Acen, I broke the ice and we made peace. She and her fiance were cosplaying IV and Shark, and the three of us represented Zexal together at the gathering :3. Afterwords we roamed for a while, got a few photos thanks to Abby, and got filmed by Michael of MLZStudio. Not long after everyone was pretty tired and hungry, so we went back to our hotel for the rest of the evening. Harl from Arda wigs came by so I could do some trimming on the Ventus wig I styled for her a few months back. She got the jacket and vest of her Ventus done so she could join us for some Birth By Sleep fun on Saturday <3. A couple of our friends wanted to attend the Madoka gathering in the late evening since they made a big Charlotte prop, so I went to watch in casual clothes. Ironically they scheduled the gathering at the same time as the Madoka panel, so we decided to take Charlotte to it and crash it. It ended up being kinda lame though anyway, so we left.

Saturday started off with Kingdom Hearts. We didn't know anyone that was available to help take pictures, so we wandered the Dealer's room a bit more and got to meet a couple really generous fans. One was cosplaying Vanitas and gave us some really neat papercrafts, and another had gotten me a First Edition Arcee figure (I had been wanting one since I got into Transformers Prime with my hubby). Thank you both; you are too kind! ;~;
We finally got to meet Martin/LittleKuriboh and his wife Marianne. They both are really sweet, and ironically they had gotten married on the same wedding date as me and Kyle last Fall. We're hoping we'll get to hang out more at Fanime this month. :3
We made it to the Kingdom Hearts gathering on time, but it was REALLY crowded and cold, so we ended up leaving just a few minutes in. I was getting a bit tired in Aqua, so we went back to the room and I changed into Rarity while my friends did Batman things. I finally got to browse around the rest of the Dealer's room and Artist's alley that I hadn't gotten to see yet before heading back with friends and getting food. A few of us were still wanting to get out and wander, so Tracie, Amanda, and Liz joined me as Ponies and we walked to the Hyatt. On our way through the skywalk we found out that the Hyatt was actually evacuated because someone had pulled the fire alarm, so we just chilled out until they started to let people back in. Apparently this all happened during the cosplay contest too, so that had gotten delayed by 2 hours and they didn't have time to let the skits perform or let the winners come on stage to accept their awards. People were not happy. o.o
I'm really glad we chose to wander a bit more because we then got to see friends that we hadn't seen in ages while we were at the Hyatt.

Sunday was pretty short. I got into Kida and did a 1-hour browse through the dealer's room for cheap manga that I forgot to look for before. Also got to see the chalk artist near the end of his Madoka mural, which was looking fantastic. We couldn't stay long since we had friends that needed to get back home to Texas, but we did make a stop by Mitsuwa for lunch and some more shopping. The trip home was long, and it was sad when we had to say our goodbyes to friends. I can't wait until Afest when we all get to hang out again <3


So the next con on our list is Fanime all the way out in San Jose, California! We'll be flying in the Wednesday prior and then flying out the Wednesday afterwords, so we'll be in California for a week. The friends we're staying with want to show us some sights, so it'll be like a big vacation :3

Cosplay plans for Fanime are Yusei, Kaito, at least one varient of Link, and maybe Rarity. My goal this month is to work on some Link things and help Kyle work on 2 new costumes. Hope to see you there!

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"We *Heart* Card Games" productions founders

Ok, so, I had to drop some costumes so I could have room for others.

Since I will be bringing Kaito (though, the duel disk probably won't be done on time), I don't really have the time to wear Judai too.

I also chose to drop Guy because we figured there would be a better opportunity for us to wear Tales of the Abyss again, especially when we have the possibility of a bigger group and time for everyone else to fix their costumes.

As of now, I'll be bringing Kaito, Aqua, Rarity, Yukina, and Kida. I'll probably be wearing Kaito on Friday and Aqua on Saturday, and the other three will depend on when my friends are doing YYH, Ponies, and DRRR. Kyle's bringing Terra, Spike, Kuwabara, and Shizuo. I think he's also wanting to bring either Jack Atlas or Vash, but he's undecided ATM.

We don't have any masquerade plans. Which means more time for roaming, attending gatherings and events, shopping, and just having fun with friends :3

Hope to see ya there!

Current to-do list:
-finish keyblade (almost there!)
-help Kyle make Kuwabara
-Kaito's duel disk (if there's time)

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"We *Heart* Card Games" productions founders

Evillecon last weekend was a blast :3

Even though it's only been around since 2009, it had a very organized staff and everyone was so NICE!
And as cosplay guests, we were treated with more hospitality than we've ever had at any other convention.
The other guests (Eric, Micah, and Shane) were equally awesome and nice, and we had lots of bro-time with them throughout the weekend as well as with our friends Jamie and Rodney. :3

Panels went ok I think. When it came time for questions during some panels everyone was so quiet that I was a bit uncertain if I was doing ok. But a few people told us afterwords that we were very informative, so I guess I did a good job covering things. I'm not entirely sure if everyone at the "Crossplay" panel knew what kind of panel they were going to, because that one was the most awkwardly quiet hahaha.

I was Guy on Friday and we went to opening ceremonies and then had a cosplay 101 panel in the evening. We had an adventure to Wal-mart for swimsuits because the pool was right outside our hotel room. It was awesome.

Saturday we woke bright and early to put on Cloud and Zack before craftsmanship judging, followed by our Cosplay Presentation panel and the Cosplay Contest in the afternoon. After that we had a lot of time to ourselves. I felt like wearing Yusei for the rest of the day, and we went to a really good Japanese steakhouse before coming back to the hotel and chilling with people until the late-night Crossplay panel. I was greatly surprised because Yusei was the most well-received cosplay I brought that weekend. That never happens; usually people are most excited about my Cloud or a more popular character, so I was really happy that so many people enjoyed my favorite costume. Oh, and on Saturday, there were two Pokemon fans that had Pikachu cars. I nerded out a lot XD

Sunday morning was our wig panel, and we didn't have as big of a turnout as I had hoped since it was so early (and most people were still sleeping or packing up their stuff). That was our only obligation of the day, but we chose to stick around until about 6 before making the drive home.

Thank you Evillecon for an amazing weekend! :3


So next convention on our agenda is Acen at the end of the month. I'm pretty much ready to go except for my Keyblade for Aqua, which I hope we can get some warm weather again soon so we can go outside to finish it.

Kaito from YGO Zexal is something I've been working on for Fanime, but he's almost done. Most of the costumes I'm bringing are super compact-able, so if there's enough room, I'm going to try squeezing that costume in for Acen. Might even attend the YGO gathering after all if I can change costumes and do his makeup quick enough. If not, I might go and derp around as Judai. I'll just play by ear I guess. Most of the costumes I'm bringing have conflicting gathering times, so I'm still pretty indecisive on when I want to wear stuff.

So here's the current Acen List (not really set in stone since I don't know what gatherings my friends and I are going to):

Friday: Yukina, Guy, Kaito or Judai, maybe Rarity
Saturday: Aqua, Kida, maybe Guy or Rarity
Sunday: I'll just be in street clothes or something comfy like Kida or Judai.

The to-do list:
-Aqua's keyblade
-Kaito's duel disk

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"We *Heart* Card Games" productions founders

Hey everyone :3

I haven't been getting very many hours at my work lately, so Kyle and I are selling a collection of YGO promo cards from the original YGO movie (Pyramid of Light) that was released in America in 2004. We're selling sets of all 4 promos, as well as a few unopened packs (We only have a few unopened ones, so if you're a big collector, now's your chance). All cards are in mint condition.

[link]

Ignore the fact that Kyle listed some of them as 1996; he looked up the wrong date (for some reason, there are a lot of other sellers making this mistake XD)


In other news, I'm on a roll with the cosplays I'm working on for the next few months. Kaito might get done this week or next. The costume itself is done; I just have to style the wig and make his duel disk.

Evillecon is this weekend! If you're attending, the program is up online: [link]

Our panels are:
Cosplay 101
Cosplay Presentation
Cosplay Wigs
Cross-Play

I think I'll be wearing Guy on Friday, Cloud on Saturday, and Yusei on Sunday unless I feel like bringing something else.

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"We *Heart* Card Games" productions founders

(Edit) March 13th - I'm putting a few costumes on hold so I won't overstress myself. Neku and Twilight Princess Link will probably be done by the end of the year, but Neku isn't a top priority and I just don't want to rush Link (he will be ready when he's ready, at my own pace).
(end edit)

Kyle and I made a somewhat spontaneous decision to go to Acen this year since we're gettting more than expected on our tax returns. And all our local friends are going, so we felt we'd regret it if we didn't join them this year.

So 2012 is practically like a US tour for us! XD We hit the East coast for Katsuon, we're going North for Acen, West coast for Fanime, and then South for Animefest. Crazy, but a fun year <3

We won't be able to do this every year, but we're bound to revisit some of the cons we really enjoy in the future.

So here are the cons we're going to, and the cosplays I'm probably bringing:

EvilleCon: March 30 - April 1 (Evansville, IN) We're guests at this one! :3
-Cloud Strife (FFVII: Crisis Core) - complete
-Yusei Fudo (YGO 5D's) - complete
-Guy Cecil (Tales of the Abyss) - complete
-Undecided

Anime Central: April 27 - 29 (Rosemont, IL)
-Aqua (Kingdom Hearts BBS) - complete, but making keyblade
-Yukina (Yu Yu Hakusho) - complete
-Guy Cecil (Tales of the Abyss) - complete
-Undecided (maybe Rarity, Kida, Judai, or Kaito from YGO Zexal if it's ready by then. Or Neku if he's done by then)

Fanime: May 25 - 28 (San Jose, CA)
-Kaito Tenjo (YGO Zexal) - in progress
-Link (LoZ: Twilight Princess) - in progress, but might not be ready by Fanime
-Yusei Fudo (YGO 5D's) - complete, though I really want to remake his regular jacket variant.
-Skyloft Link (LoZ: Skyward Sword) - complete

Animefest: August 31 - September 3 (Dallas, TX)
-Hero of Brightwall (My character from Fable III) - haven't started yet
-Skyloft Link (LoZ: Skyward Sword) - complete
-Rarity (My Little Pony FiM) - complete
-Link (LoZ: Twilight Princess) - in progress, though I might not have room for it
-Amelia (Trigun) - haven't started yet


Lists are subject to change depending on how much room we have or if other costumes have higher priorities

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"We *Heart* Card Games" productions founders

At the end of this month is a convention in Evansville Indiana called Evillecon, and and I are going to be cosplay guests!
Convention website: [link]

Come see our panels and say hi! <3

My cosplay list isn't official at the moment, but I'm fixing up Guy (Tales of the Abyss) and I'm probably bringing Cloud. There's one costume I'm currently working on ATM that might make an appearance if I get it done on time, and I might bust out some older costumes that I haven't worn in forever.

If you're planning on attending, please let me know in a comment! We're not as familiar with the community in that area, but we are looking forward to meeting new people :3

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"We *Heart* Card Games" productions founders