Nerdy Ravings: Labyrinth Tattoo

I finally got another tattoo! Just like I said I would!

I call this one my "nerd stamp." It ended up being sort of a tramp stamp, which was not the original goal, but it's fine. My artist, Sherely, suggested the placement in order to make it flow with the curves of my body. Coincidentally, I have gotten compliments to that effect.

This one got me really nervous because it is my largest one and because its on my trunk instead of my ankle and wrist. Those ones were small and easy to deal with. In addition, I hadn't seen the design until I showed up for the outline.

When she showed it to me, that helped. I loved it. Then I was excited.

It hurt, however. That part wasn't so fun and exciting. And she knew it would be 2+ hours and I knew I couldn't sit that long. So we did the outline in the first sitting.

Working away!

And tada!

The finished outline! I'm sitting so it looks stretched...

Nice right?! Then I had to wait for it to heal, and then I ended up waiting way longer than I needed to. But it healed perfectly.

It took a nearly four months to schedule the sitting for the shading with school and all, but I finally made it.

The finished clock! This was right after the sitting, so it looks dark, but it isn't all black-there is a lot of brown.

After another sitting of over an hour, the clock was done and I was in plenty of pain, so we stopped. AGAIN. I really wanted it finished, but I could not sit long enough to finish the owl. At this point, my lovely tattoo was turning into a longer (and perhaps a little more expensive) than I was originally hoping. I was actually really tender for two or three days after this part was finished.

Despite that, having the clock done made it feel so much more finished. I never would have designed it like this, but I love it. And that is why I am not an artist and I hired a tattooist who is! I never could have thought up something so very pretty! I knew that I wanted the clock, the quote, and the owl. She was the one who thought of putting the quote in the clock. She designed the clock itself. When she asked if I wanted it shaded or colored, I didn't know. She was the one who suggested doing browns, since the owl is usually browns. Brilliant suggestion. See? That's why she's the artist, and I'm not.

To avoid waiting, I made an appointment immediately. I had to wait at least three weeks, so it was perfectly timed to finish it right before I had to return to school. And, just a couple days ago, I had my last sitting.

The finished owl! With "grapefruit" skin, as my artist said.

Here it is a day later when my skin is looking a little less aggravated.

Sorry about the shadow. But my skin is less angry.

I love it! Beautiful, right?!

So why a Labyrinth tattoo?

Well, I am a nerd. And Labyrinth is my favorite movie. I love it so much and I love, love, love David Bowie. I'm sure that knowledge comes as a shock to anyone who has met me... Not...

No matter how many times I watch Labyrinth, I never tire of it. It still holds so much magic for me and so much of it is open to interpretation. There are always new little things to find and notice. I get so happy and giddy when the opening credits roll with that song... And that is kind of magical, right?

I always love movies, shows, books, etc that mess around with time (Doctor Who anyone? That's why "Don't Blink" was one of the best episodes, in my opinion. Or the book "Time Like A River"). In this case, Sarah is in a land where time is different. I have always loved the 13 hour clocks. It seems to embody time oddities. Plus the quote on the inside of the clock says, "It's only forever, not long at all..." which is a song lyric in the opening that always jumped out at me. It goes nicely with the clock. Just hearing that line makes me smile. More magic, I think.

Side note: the time is not directly significant. It is a very rough (and probably very early) estimate of the time that Sarah entered the ballroom. Which is my favorite scene. I thought about the time when she exits the ballroom, which is shown in the movie, but it would have been at 12 o'clock and I didn't want a clock hand to end up covering the 13 at all. I also didn't want to necessarily draw attention to the fact that it is 13 hours. I want it to seem more common place, if that makes sense. Maybe some people with have to look twice to see that it is 13 hours.

The owl is because I happen to love barn owls and Jareth turns into a barn owl. I am too chicken to have a portrait tattoo of Jareth, so the owl is my way of representing him.

So there is my (latest) nerdy tattoo! And I LOVE it! And maybe one day, I will have a whole Labyrinth piece on my back. Who knows? I don't have such plans at this time, but I like having the option.

Also, the gal who designed and did the tattoo is Sherely from Fallen Owl Tattoo. The studio is owned by Adam, the guy who did my first two tattoos. They have earned my loyalty! Very happy with both of my artists! I recommend them to anyone in the Denver area! Thanks Sherely!

NDK 2013 Costumes Part Four

It's been a long time since I have posted progress, hasn't it? That's because I haven't made any progress! How about that?

I had finished Jareth's vest and went, "Awesome progress! I'm good for a while." And "a while" turned into about two months... Oops.

So I returned to my Jareth costume! It was time to make the dickey. The pattern I am using calls for a dicky instead of a full shirt and I'm gonna go with it because I am going to roast in this costume!

So here is how the main piece turned out. The most difficult thin was the collar, but it really wasn't bad. I also didn't hem the chest part because it won't show anyway and I think my attention needs to be spent elsewhere.

So proud! And there is a snap at the back of the collar.

The difficult part came with the ruffles.

I had already picked a long strand of ruffled fabric (not lace because Jareth's isn't). Here is a picture of Jareth:

Pretty intense, right? I haven't even gotten to the jacket yet...

The ruffles I picked are smaller because its not 1986 anymore and I am trying to stay true to he costume without being too tacky. Plus my frame is smaller than Mr. Bowie's.

Nice, not too big or too 80's.

I tried to start from the top for the ruffles as the pattern suggested and quickly figured out that it didn't work well hat way. So I measured to the center and tried from the bottom with almost as much difficulty.

I finally decided that I needed to pleat the two sides starting at the bottom and then sew the two together before attaching them to the dickey.

All my pain-stacking pinning.

Once I had it all pleated and pinned, it was just about the right length.

I haven't sewn it on yet, but that is basically what it will look like. Yay! And it will be sewn most of the way on, but the bottom will need to be detached to hang out over the vest.

During all this time, I was trying to devise a way to make his broach. I think I am going to bead it and I found some things that might work OK. I am going to have to do some serious experimenting with it, however. I will post that when I finally get it figured out. It is quite intimidating, right?

NDK 2013 Costumes Part Three

A costume update here!

JARETH:

I sewed snaps onto my Jareth vest. So the vest and belt are complete. Now to finish the rest. "The rest" being a dickey and the jacket.

I also haven't figured out pockets for this one. Maybe I will put a pocket on the front of the vest where the jacket will hide it. Remember cosplayers: you will need a place to put your phone, money, and ID!

I haven't decided on boots yet. Cat, my Sarah, said that she wouldn't wear heals. I am just a touch taller than her normally, so I just need a little heal. That's good! I will see what I have or what I can find.

I also still need the wig and then I will need to color parts of it and add glitter.

I studied the broach that he wears and decided to make it. After looking at all of my jewelry-making options, I decided to bead it. My mom used to do tons of beading, so I commandeered her materials and will, hopefully, start that soon. I will show that with pictures and such.

I found this material on sale. All shiny silver! Since it was on sale, I decided to line the lower part of Jareth's coat. I wasn't going to, but now I guess I have to.

ROGUE:

I found this amazing jacket for my Rogue costume at Old Navy:

I know it's a bit longer than hers, but I have, shall we say, a lot of "junk in the trunk," and I think it's best to cover some of that up considering I will be wearing a skin-tight unitard... ("junk in the trunk" = I have a big butt).

Also, we have pockets! Yay! And I didn't have to make them myself! Double yay!

The whole unitard thing is still tough going. I might just have to pay someone for one because I really, REALLY don't want to make it by hand. The search is still on, but it's not going well. I will probably end up ordering one that I found for about 45 dollars.

I also found that I can't buy the gloves or make the boots until I have the unitard so I can make sure my yellows match. So that is the hold up here. I did get a simple brown belt, however. I think I can make the X-men belt buckle that she wears.

GAMBIT:

I got a fake costume chest for Isaac's costume. I haven't done anything with it yet, sadly. But I did buy the red and blue fabric to cover it with! And regular old black gloves. I will cut the fingers off later.

One odd note about the costume chest: it has protruding nipples... Which I may have to file down or something...

Yeah. I am embarrassed to own this. I can't wait to cover it up.

I haven't figured out what to do with his pants. Isaac won't want to wear leggings, so I guess I need to find black jeans. I don't know if I want to actually sew the red on the sides of the thighs or paint them. It may depend on the fabric.

So we still need his coat (I'm thinking thrift store?), boots (which will be interesting, but I have a few ideas), pants, and the thing on his head. I found something that will work, but it wasn't black, it was white. Or a ski mask may work.

NAUSICAA:

Sadly, no new progress here. I have been keeping my eye out for brown loafer-type shoes and leg-warmers. I may make those myself since I will have to buy some matching fabric for the cartridges on her top. My Rogue belt may work nicely for her outfit, though. That's good.

Worry not, the denim tunic that I found for this costume does have pockets! Woo! Two costumes with pockets built in!

I also have decided that I can use my own hair for Nausicaa and Rogue as long as I keep it this red-ish color. For Rogue I will diffuse and curl it and spray some white on the front.

Well, that's that! More soon!

The Magic of Labyrinth

Besides David Bowie, of course. David Bowie=Magic. Pretty sure. On with the blog.

I first saw this movie the summer before 8th grade. That would make me, what? 13?

When I first saw it, I had no idea who David Bowie was. (There was a time before I was a DB fan?!?) I was young enough, at the time, to still enjoy it. I have found that people who watch it for the first time as adults tend to like it less.

So I saw it, liked it, and forgot about it. Until my other half (one of my best friends since we were very young) started whipping out songs lyrics from the Labyrinth. That's when I remembered and wanted to see it again.

I was lucky enough to have parents who owned a copy of the movie. For a couple years after, I watched it almost every day.

Then my mom dug out some David Bowie CDs for me and the rest of my obsession is history!

More than 10 years after my first viewing of Labyrinth, it still holds so much magic for me. As soon as those opening credits roll out and "It's only forever, not long at all..." starts, I'm sunk.

Believe you me, I do not need to actually watch the movie--I have it committed to memory (which makes me feel like taking a Cats tangent, but I will save that for a different blog post). So what is the draw? What keeps me so engrossed? Why, after all this time and hundreds (at least) of viewings, do I still love it so completely?

Besides David Bowie?

1. The music. How beautiful and haunting is it? "It's only forever, not long at all," just thrills me. What an interesting idea, right?

2. The owl. I love barn owls (and owls in general). Jareth turns into an owl--you never know when he's around, when he's watching. Gives a little magic. Who's to say the Goblin King doesn't exist? (Also, if you see the movie on a big enough screen, you can see that his make-up is meant to look like an owl. It took me years to figure that out because I'd never seen it on a big screen.)

3. The crystal balls that turn into bubbles. I love bubbles. There is a reason behind that, but that is another topic for another blog post. I have bubbles tattooed on my wrist:

My bubble tattoo!

So yeah, bubbles. Love bubbles. And they are pretty.

"It's a crystal, nothing more. But if you turn it this way, look into it, it will show you your dreams."

4. I love a good coming-of-age story. Plus, as Sarah grows up, she still has her magical friends from the Underground. Growing up doesn't mean all the magic is gone.

5. Interesting concepts and interpretations. Do you know people almost write essays about symbolism and meanings behind this movie?
     a) For instance: Jareth. He says, "Everything that you wanted, I have done. You asked that the child be taken, I took him. You cowered before me, I was frightening. I have re-ordered time. I have turned the world upside-down and I have done it all for you. I am exhausted from living up to your expectations of me. Isn't that generous?" In addition to the song "Within You." What makes Jareth Jareth? It sounds like Sarah's ideas and fantasies make him who he is. It's up for debate.
     b) Another example: Jareth's pendant. It is a silver, sickle shape with a gold circle in the middle. If you get a good enough look at it, the infinity sign is etched in the circle. The points of the sickle usually point down. He also has them on his belt (which I want!) when he finds Sarah and Hoggle in the tunnel. This is right before he calls the Cleaners. In the ballroom he has no pendant. In the Escher room, it is upside down. In the last scene with him, the colors are inverted.

Original pendant

 

Upside-down

Silver on gold.

     c) Time. The Labyrinth clock has 13 hours on it, not 12. Plus, Jareth messes with time. With careful watching and analysis you can figure out how our time matches up with time in the Underground. Sarah is gone for about four hours, our time. She is given 13, but Jareth takes away about 3. Anyway, I will stop nerding out about it. (I think my next tattoo might be a clock with 13 hours. Maybe with a barn owl? And/or "It's only forever, not long at all" underneath?)

     d) And more! Lots to look for and think about. Like the riddle--"One of us always tells the truth and one of us always lies." And the junk lady. Etc, etc.

6. Is there anyone out there who doesn't dream of going on a magical adventure? Especially in the Labyrinth? The challenge of a life-time.

"You're no match for me, Sarah."

"You have thirteen hours in which to solve the Labyrinth before your baby brother becomes one of us forever. Such a pity."

Of course, hearing those lines would only make me more determined.

7. The lines. The script and quotes. And we all know how much I love quotes!

"You don't even know what an oubliette is. " "Do you?" "Yes. It's a place you put people to forget about them."

And I think I need a doormat that says, "Oh, it's you."

8. Plus life lessons: "You know your problem; you take too many things for granted."

"It's not fair!" "You say that so often. I wonder what your basis for comparison is."

Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith.

It's OK to ask for a helping hand.

9. It's Jim (and Brian) Henson. And Brian Froud. And Jennifer Connelly. Which is all pretty great.

10. The ballroom scene. Enough said.

11. You can find Jareth's face in the scenery in seven different places. It's like a look-and-find! Do you know where they all are?

12. Reasons 12-100: David Bowie!

There you have it! Several of the reasons why Labyrinth is awesome and one of my favorite movies.

Costumes Part Four

Sorry I haven't updated in so long! Work got kind of crazy--I worked some late shifts and had some meetings, etc. We should be about back to normal now, so be expecting more updates.

So! Costumes!

I am pleased to report that Yoko Kurama is almost complete! I fixed up the ears and the tail (the tail wasn't long enough or fluffy enough for me and the ears weren't fox-y enough). I used a white (that ended up being a little off-white, unfortunately) fake fur and a little bit of quilt batting for the tail. I just wrapped it all up and hot glued everything. So this is what we have now:

I also managed to put in a little pocket. Let me tell you: they are much easier to do BEFORE you actually sew the pants together. I think I have learned my lesson. And the little sash to tie the tunic shut and attach the tail is finished. Yay! Just need a wig now! (And contacts? I still haven't decided. Based on my financial situation, I am guessing no...). My friend, Cat, helped me find some good wigs for all of my costumes, now just to save up and purchase them. I will post links when I make my final decisions.

For Shuiichi Kurama I have finished the pants. With a pocket! I haven't tackled the shirt yet because frankly it intimidates me a little. That is the next step, however. Hopefully next week will see some of that finished.
 I still haven't done anything besides the belt for Jareth. Cat has done my mask prototype, but I haven't seen it. I'm sure it is going to be great! I am scared about doing his outfit, too. I might leave most of it for last.

We have all been working on our Katamari heads! My friend, Jhenn, is amazingly brilliant! She came up with the whole mascot-head design, made all the measurements, and made templates. We all traced the templates onto cardboard and cut every tiny little piece out. So I ended up with this pile of cardboard with no notion of how it would all come together.

Jhenn began fitting it all, and we hot glued everything together. So here are some progress pictures:

Tracing

  

Cutting

Gluing

 Side note, hot glue guns for a project this big got glue strings EVERYWHERE! Leading to various lines such as "Holy glue strings, Batman."

And the finished product on my head! Soooo fun! And isn't Jhenn amazing?! I can't believe that she could visualize and create these! I am exceedingly impressed.

Next step: Cover the head base in quilting batting and cut a piece of cross-stitch mesh to put over the face. Then hot glue it all together!

And this is what I have!

I still need to put batting on the ends. We are looking for fabric to put over the face so we can paint on Katamari faces and still see out. All of us still need to make the outside cases, but more on that later.

Costumes Part Three

Sorry I didn't update on my costumes last week. I made shockingly little progress at all the week before. This week was much more productive.

Here is my belt for my Jareth costume. It sparkles. Need I say more?

All of these tiny rhinestones don't really like to stay attached so I tried Modge Podge on the backside (so as not to cover the sparklies). We will see if they hold up.

And I am almost finished with my Yoko Kurama costume. I just need to make a sash and finish the ears and tail. Oh, and the wig. Guess I need that, too. And find my shoes. Damn.

During the course of making this, I had to have my mom come over to help with the fitting. In case you don't know, it can be difficult to fit things to yourself without help. Especially under the arms. I had to interrupt my mom for this and she suggested getting a dress-maker dummy. While this would be a great idea, I don't have a whole lot of money to spend. The cheapest I found one was about 50 dollars, but I'm not sure it was adjustable (which is not a necessary feature, but it would be nice). The others were closer to 100 dollars, and I'm sure more with shipping such large, awkward objects. I haven't actually looked in a store yet, but I'm sure Joann would have something.

Then I ran across this link: How to Make Your Own Sewing Dummy on eHow. Brilliant, right? I think it would be fun to try. The most expensive part would probably be the stand. Anyhow, I ran the idea past my mom, and she thinks it would be fun to try. So this might be my next project. Totally psyched. Then I don't need help with fittings! Yay! I will post that when it happens.

I also started the pants for my Shuiichi Kurama costume, but they weren't far enough along to justify pictures. It's been a while since I have done pants, it took a while to remember how to put them together! The Yoko pants turned out well and the Shuiichi ones are fine so far. They are a little more complex. I also remembered after I finished my Yoko ones that I wanted to put in a pocket... I will make sure my Shuiichi ones have one, but I will have to go back and add one to the Yoko pants... Ugh.

Oh, I have also added another costume to my NDK list for this year: Katamari cousin. My friends talked about a group cosplay with someone dressed as the Prince and others dressed as his various cousins from the games. If you have no idea what I am talking about, here is a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katamari_Damacy. The basic premise is that the King of the Universe destroyed the stars (or something) in a drunken fit and his tiny Prince has to roll things up on the Katamari (a big ball which sticks to things smaller than it to grow) and make new stars. It is fun and silly. As you go through the game, you encounter various cousins.

It was decided recently that this will actually happen. So Amie will be the Prince and I believe we have someone who will be the King, and two or three others. I think that I will be June, shown here:

And hopefully we will all have Katamari. Hopefully with velcro things to stick on them! Fun fun! More soon.

Costumes Part Two

Costume progress report! Nearly all of my white fabric is cut out. So that means essentially everything for both Kurama costumes is cut (all except the trimmings). A couple pieces are pinned together, but that is about it... In other words, everything still looks like a pile of fabric.

I bought this set for the ears and tail for Yoko Kurama:

 

I know, it has sparkling pink with bling, but I figured that I could take all of that off and alter it to suit. So here are the tail and ears without the pink and sparklies on them (as much as I love things that sparkle...). I am trying to turn other pieces of the set to make the ears fuzzy like the tail. This is what it looks like thus far:

Not too bad, right? The strip at the top is one of the fuzzy cuffs that will hopefully fit on one of the ears. I'm not sure how yet, but I'm working on it.

I also bought white gloves for my Jareth costume, but I am still sort of afraid to start it.The belt seems easiest so maybe I will tackle that soon. Then I will have an awesome sparkly belt to wear if I so desire.

Still no wigs.

Still no money for contacts.

Costumes Part One

Yesterday I thought I needed a little retail therapy after Pico died. So my mom and I took a trip to Joann to buy fabric for some costumes I want to make.

In case you don't know, I am a pretty big nerd. I love, LOVE Halloween and dressing up in costumes. I also like many animes so I will be attending our local anime convention, Nan Desu Kan (NDK for short). Told you, big nerd. That's OK. Being normal is totally boring.

The fruits of my trip are shown below. Tons of white fabric, some dark blue and pink. Yellow ribbon, gathered sheer fabric (like gathered lace, but not lace) and a bedazzled silver finding. Plus, YARDS of interfacing, which my mother assured me many times that I really do need...

Oh, and patterns. I will be using these as my basic patterns and altering them as I need to. Yes, much altering.

As of right now, I have three costumes in mind. (Yes, there may be more depending on whether or not Isaac wants to do a cosplay with me for NDK).
First, Jareth, the Goblin King, from my all-time favorite movie: "Labyrinth." And not just any Jareth, ballroom Jareth. Mask and all. Here are a couple pictures. Luckily, I have an awesome friend and professional costume maker who is helping with the mask (she already has a prototype!) and possibly the wig. (Here is Cat's deviant site in case anyone wants to see what kind of work she does: http://angrylittlegnome.deviantart.com/)

Second is Kurama as Shuiichi in this particular outfit. When people dress like him, they do not wear this outfit, but it is probably one of my favorites.

Third is Yoko Kurama (same character, totally different look).

I will start with the very last because the costume itself should be easiest. Then I will probably work my way to the top. The Jareth costume is going to be intense. It has lots of little pieces to it (watch the ballroom scene in the movie a few times if you don't believe me).

Problems: The wigs. Especially for Jareth and Kurama as Shuiichi. The white wig for Yoko Kurama should be easy enough, but I am not sure how I am going to do the ears and tail...

Bonuses: I already have shoes for all three costumes! As well as black leggings for Jareth. Awesome.

If I have time: I may do colored contacts, but that's a lot. As a perfectionist, I really want to in order to "complete" my costumes. I would need a gold set for Yoko Kurama (which I could use for other costumes I have), green for Kurama as Shuiichi, and one blue and one brown for Jareth. That might be a hard order to fill, especially if I actually want to use prescription lenses. Well, we can save that for later.

I will be posting updates as I make progress. I am going to start Yoko today. Here we go!