He's done!! He's so cute and pudgey! Forgive his "jaunty hat" and uneven ears, they're not actually, they're just wonky in the photo lol. And I was going to add a cotton panel to his back to be signed but I figured Momoi can just sign his hat or something instead? Probably his hat. Just means he's accurate as a prop, rather than having a big white patch on his back.

Many thanks to Shido who did a lot of handsewing on him to get him finished since we stuffed him too early - I'm awful at handsewing (though I did handsew his.. er.. face? XD). He's full of polystyrene beans so he makes a proper beanbag plush noise when you squidge him. Oh man.. I could rave forever.. he's just so cute!! An adorable perverted little prop.

As for Komugi herself, these are the things left to do before she's completely finished:

- START WORK ON HAT. <-- no.1 priority lol.
- Dye, style & make accessories for the wig. Need to order more wefts soon!!
- Finish dress; add poppers, fastening strip and add cuffs & buttons
- Finish bow & tail, and attach to dress
- Modify gloves & attach bangles
- Modify stripey panties .. lol .. no foolin'
- Make namebadge
- Make new petticoat (not a priority)
- Design makeup & decide what I'll be taking for it. Lol.

Sooooo... I think I should start the hat. Should I start the hat? I think I should. Ugh. Really difficult part! ;__;

At least once Komugi's done I can start work on my other costumes. Luke still needs that red button sewing..

The lipstick I ordered for Komugi arrived this morning! Partially out of curiosity, partially out of confusion of what else I'd wear, I ordered one of those funky Avon SpectraColor lipsticks from eBay from the USA to give it a try. They have them over here in the catalogue, but srsly, £10 for a lipstick that's $9.50 in the USA is a rip off :/ and they get 4 more colours too! Agdjsagf.

Anyhow I ordered one in "The Berries", a nice pinky colour without being too pink (lol) for like £5 including postage. Figured that even if I don't like it, it's not bad to spend £5 on a lipstick that's apparently 7 colours in one and it's not the most I've spent before on one. Turns out it's not actually all that bad! It's more like a gloss than a stick, but it's nicely pigmented - really nice mix of clear and colour. Applicator's a bit odd though. But it should do nicely for Komugi if I apply some sparkly gloss over the top? I'll have to experiment and see what'll be *kawaiii~* enough for it lol.

But anyway less about makeup more about life :|

I was ughh really really worried a couple days ago. I didn't post about it and tried to keep my head up and focused on other things cause I felt like I was in a gutter and didn't feel too sociable about it. I've been feeling like a failure a lot lately. In any case, apparently, I've been "referred" for this year at University and have to redo some work from this year. I asked my lecturers what I'd failed. And well, a bit of digging and investigating later, and it turns out it was for an essay done in JANUARY that nobody told me had any issues about it. It's been listed as a "non submission".

Thing is, I handed in the work, but somewhere it's got LOST in their office when they moved buildings. Or that certainly seems to be the case.

I'm gonna see what happens but otherwise, I've passed everything!! I know for a fact I've got 2 firsts this semester, wooooo!!, but I shall find out tomorrow or Saturday what all my results are. Lets hope I get some good luck X_______X;; haha... I probably should've dedicated myself more this year, but I put a lot of effort in regardless, so fingers crossed!!

Also Mugimaru is donnneee beside having his hat, tail, bow and feet sewed on. Oh and his butt sewn up lol. But everything is finished otherwise!! Eeee :D he's so cute. Pics when he's finished up!! I hope I can get Momoi to sign him at Aya.

Kind of flat, but.. taking shape! All he needs now is a) motifs sewn on, b) his green hat, c) his kawaii marks, d) his red bow and finally.. stuffing!



...Why isn't Mugimaru the kind of cosplay prop you can just buy ;_____; ???


Also. I've had a real bad rash on my legs the past couple weeks, it's been driving me nuts. Today I noticed I had another few rashes on my legs - seriously I thought something had been eating me from inside. Then I noticed.. wait a second.. those marks.. they're.. in the shape of stars??

They're damn pin cuts from where the motifs were sewn onto my Komugi socks!!

I sure as heck hope my legs heal by Aya. Ughh I can't imagine how embarassing having horrible rashy scabby legs would be for Luke. :|

My legs are so fat ... ;w;

As for life-y stuff, rather than cosplay stuff, I spent the weekend in Leicester for Loli's dad's birthday. Was a nice break away!
It's my birthday on Saturday this week too. Not really looking forward to it though? Ehh. I wish I had some money so I could actually enjoy myself, rather than worrying I'm just getting further into debt and that I'll have to pay for everything again, as it usually happens -_-

I ordered some white over-knee socks last week. 80% cotton, 18% nylon, 2% lycra elastane. I also bought some multi-purpose Dylon dye. They became good friends.

They started like this...



Then I boiled them up in a pan..



Then I washed them..



And they were hung out to dry. I washed them again and then let them dry some more. And so today, fully dry and well dyed, I decided to start work on making them more Komugi-ish!

Because the socks are.. well.. socks, it's hard to sew stuff onto them, but I didn't want to sharpie anything on them (since.. well.. being honest, sharpied Komugi socks never look all that great. Just being honest!). So instead with the help of Shido the motifs have been sewn on by hand whilst on my leg :D so far I have 1 little star and the moon sewn onto one sock, and a pile of small stars and a great big star for the other sock cut out and ready.

Here's how the first sock looks so far! (and yes this is on the wrong leg lol.)



If both socks turn out as good as the first two motifs have, I will be very very happy indeed ^____^

The heart's a little bit big. And it doesnt taper the way it should do. But it's so cute!! :D

*adds to neverending pile of Komugi props*

Oh man this song brings back memories .. good times, good times /nostalgia
Anyway!

Firstly - I have a job interview tomorrow!! So I might get a job after the horrors of TJ Hughes~! I do hope so, eee, I surely do - I need me some money for summer, lol. Where I've applied to is REAL close too, so it'd be 10 mins walk there and back before and after my shifts which is awesome. Wish me luck~!!

And secondly, for summer I now have no excuses to overspend too much. Unless it's for cosplay/food/travel etc, I have no need to make any major purchases at all over the summer! Unless it's a tiny dollberg - which I refuse to buy until I find a reasonably priced one, and until I have a job!

But let's break it down. This year, of major purchases, I have bought the following:

Shiny DSLR camera

Shiny point and click camera

Shiny tablet laptop "baby-berg" as I call it..

Far too much shiny Stila makeup :x and a Stila makeup box too!

Annddd most recently (as in this morning), I'm getting pretty much the only other Stila item I wanted - a pink Asia-exclusive brush set from dearest mother and Shido for my birthday! I bought a Stila makeup box a while ago from Malaysia and the same girl is selling the brush set. She was great to deal with before and now it's finally means I have.. well.. Stila everything make-up wise, and can no longer complain I hate my makeup brushes!! :D
Really I don't think I need any more makeup at all, unless it's specifically for cosplay or whatever (and even then, I have pretty much everything I think I'd ever need.. lol) so that's another hole in my pocket gone! The only time I'll need any more is if I run out of what I have, and that shouldn't be for a long time!

Now it means that since I have these, and all my other stuff, LOL, I can save some money up!! Which I had better do. Next year I want a HOLIDAY, as in going somewhere abroad and not a convention (they don't count!), and I want some money in the bank this year. So it's time to get saving!

So.. in other words, if you see me buying something that's expensive give me a smack, really, just do it XD

The shoes I ordered for the cat-ear cosplay arrived today (which I'm keeping secret for.. no real reason, lol, I just want to see if anyone can guess what it is. Which I doubt will ever happen)!

It's sort of disappointing.. they looked so much nicer online when I was ordering x_X

The fur on the shoes is ugh! Not like the pictures at all - its cheap and horrible. The shoes are fine, though, so no complaints there, its just the hideous fur really. So what I might do is cut the fur off, rather than trying to get a refund/exchange, then replace it with the marabou from the ears to make them furry myself (lol). I think it'd look nicer and I'd be able to put as much or as little as I want on the cuffs without it looking weird. I might try that soon actually.. the fur is attached with this hideous faux-leather skin THING, which actually split when I tried the shoes on earlier, so maybe replacing it myself would be better anyway?? Might make them easier to put on too lol. It's a shame though! At least they were only £20 I suppose, not a huge cost.. if I modify them myself it's not unreasonable for a decent pair of white shoes.

And also despite being so SKINT I ordered more makeup lol ;___; it's on sale and there was only 2 in stock!! And the product I bought it for is £2 more expensive elsewhere in the right colour, and the set includes extras! ... /excuses lol. Yeah.. my makeup box is pretty full now. But I should be looking ~*fabulous*~ for cosplays this year if it's any consolation? (or as fabulous as someone like me can look.. lol..) that and going out as well, lol, of course.

Imma still tidying my room. Seems like I look away and it's a mess again, lol. I swear one day it'll STAY TIDY!!

I had a tooth taken out two days ago ;_____; so I am now Toothless McGubbins. Owww. I had awful toothache ughh so at least it's gone, and though it feels weird it's a back tooth.

But when I was in muchos pain after having it removed, I did more cosplay progress!!



My Komugi shoes are 90% done! All they need now is bows and they're done!! They're very comfy.. and so cute irl ^///^~ bunnies!!

Aaaand I finished my Komugi bag today:



It's made with.. this plastic curtain support stuff (for pelmets apparently? lol), foam, lots of glue, petersham for the strap and silicone sealant for the edges XD it's about the size as a standard 5-dvd box set, I modelled it off the Kare Kano dvd box haha so it's just bigger in size. Also means if I want my DVDs signing they'll fit nicely - they slide in with plenty space for purse, camera, etc so it's all good. The inside is a shambles but it velcros shut and looks pretty accurate on the outside!

I'm going to try finish up my shoes by adding the bows and starting work on the hat soon. I want Komugi done soon, eee :3

My wig arrived today, for the outfit with the kitty ears! The curls were quite tight, a lot tighter than expected, but brushing it out made it look much more full and more like the character. It's still not 100%, but her hair's really really curly in huge curls, so I doubt I'd be able to match that without a custom wig job, and it's meant to be a fun simple cosplay so I'm not spending more than I need to on this outfit!

I need to fix the ears a little though. Just to make them a bit better when on the wig. They look a bit odd atm, sort of.. unfinished? I should probably add the little hat bit to it too though I suppose. I'll be doing that tomorrow hopefully!! But I suppose all I really need now is the tail and outfit doing. The shoes I'm not going to modify when they arrive, even though they do need some to be accurate I'm not going to bother to not destroy them for normal wear. And the tail.. that's gonna be tricky.. I might sew 2 long tails together to get the length for the tail I need, haha, 1 won't be enough I think XD

I'm hoping to get Komugi's shoes finished soon (need pompoms, the wings finishing and the bows and they're done) but it feels like there's so much left to do on Komugi!! Some socks arrived today and they're too purpley. Back to the drawing board ... these socks are gonna be difficult enough as is when I handsew all of the details, but there seems to be no end of problems with them!!

I also have awful toothache ;____; I have an appointment on thursday to finally have this tooth removed haha. And I have no motivation to actually do stuff at all. Ahdksjahfs. I've spent all day playing Platinum aghh.

Also is it just me or is the censored version of this song much better than the uncensored version? I dig all of the glitchy parts and extra noise in the broadcast version. The swearing just makes it sound vulgar :|