xoxo

Lara Krystle Novales

And after long weeks of no update I finally have some content for ya'll. In this post I will be reviewing studs from PUNK SINATRA. 

So you just came home from a convention. Probably you ran a lot , or had a shoot with lots of hair flipping and tossing action, or you hugged your friends and such. Those can really put stress on your wig and as a bonus get it tangled like there is no tomorrow. And we all know that wigs are our BIGGEST investments when it comes to cosplay. So as cosplayers we need to be able to take care of them and this includes the daunting task of DE-TANGLING *dun dun dun *

 Being cosplayers in the Philippines we don't have much access to the proper tools and what more, if they are available, they don't come in cheap.

So how can one, such as us, be able to take care and maintain our wigs in a cost effective way? 

Well I am here to share with you how I detangle my wigs.

MATERIALS:

DIRECTIONS:

So first take out the wig or wigs you wish to detangle. In my case I had 3 long ones. A white straight one (Grand Young). My Pale blonde Lucaille wig that is slightly wavy and then my sister's curly pink Grand Young wig ( traded my Zorro "time skip" wig for this tangled long pink one). 

After much contemplation I was finally able to try working with craft foam and/or rubber sheet, for the first time in forever. *Breaks into song*

What brought this about?

For some time now, I have been admiring those cosplayers and crafters who make their own costumes. I always see these Beautiful armor or mecha or even costumes with intricate designs, apart from the cloth  aspect, and that made me really curious about it for several years now.  "How were these made?"

Finally after 1-2 months of planning, ICCON has finally come to a realization for me and my friends. It's been a while since my last convention and even a longer time since I last put out a new costume. ICCON really helped me push a little to put out a new cosplay. But I wont be wearing it until the second day. 

When my friend Aiyana told me about a certain event that was going to take place in Iloilo, I wasted no time in saying yes (despite my lack of funds at the time but I kept faith) So i took the ferry from Bacolod City and went to Iloilo. 

It was really a whole new world for me there. Iloilo is unlike the other cities in the Philippines I've been to. But this post is not about that but I want to focus on the event that took place that night in Savannah City. 

THE LIGHT OF PEACE IN THE PHILIPPINES 2014
A Guinness Book of Records attempt on making the 
"Largest Flaming Image Using Candles"

Yes, how could I not say yes to this? This event will be a part of our history. And, of course, I want to be a part of that! I wanted to see the lights ( lots of Disney quotes here).

After some food trips and shopping at the city center we got ready to go to Savannah. We were advised to bring certain items because of the rain. Yes it rained which really concerned us because these are candles that they are lighting. But all is well.

Well here are the photos taken during that event.

Being a crafter I keep a look out for awesome items around town and online. When a friend of mine starts a craft business or something to that effect, it excites me a lot! 

For some time now I have been eyeing the works of a good friend of mine, known in the cosplay community as d'Goddess Miaka, or Veronica Manuel. She creates these amazing pieces of sheer intricacy which baffles me.  I know clay charms can be minute and detailed but I don't think it meets the same level of intricate work as making a Kanzashi

So after months of canvassing and trying to figure out what design i wanted I finally placed an order. 

Now, here I am. I'm going to make a short review of

BLOSSOM BUTTERFLY by V.M.

I always start with Customer Service because I am all about "Customer is Number 1" Being a marketing student and also a small business owner I always see to it that all my customers are treated like princes and princesses (to a certain extent).

I expressed my desire to have a kanzashi commissioned a long time ago but I just never went through with it because I wasn't sure on the design and also because of monetary constraints. But finally when I did, the transaction went really well. 

The shop policies are very simple. Submit design. Submit order form. Pay for the product so she can immediately buy materials needed for you item and then a week later you'll receive your package. 

Last Saturday was Earth Hour. And what better way to celebrate it than with friends, at THE DISTRICT (Ayala) over at Silay City where they prepared a little something for all those who wanted to participate. 

To begin, We and the gang just went to District to watch a free showing of an old Julia Roberts film, "My Best Friend's Wedding. Talk about Throwback Flashback. We lay around on the blankets on the grass in our cosplay costumes and/or Japanese fashion and relaxed after Otakulympics. Then after the movie, Earth Hour started. The lights in the Mall were switched off and they lit up these lanterns on the ground. (They couldn't make them fly due to fire hazards)

We used the opportunity to do an impromptu "photo shoot" with our iphones and digital point and shoot cameras, using ipads and mini flashlights for lighting. 

The result?

FUN! FUN! FUN!

We are not, in anyway, skilled photographers, just a bunch of friends in costume trying to make the most out of an event. 

So here are some of our earth Hour Photos With the theme: 

"LIGHTS OFF"

It has been a while since I attended a cosplay event (big or small), and I was just so happy that 888 Mall here in Bacolod hosted a mini 2-day event called Otakulympics. 

This is my purple skirt. It was made by my grand aunt. The first time I saw this was during our reunion and her daughter was wearing one. I loved it so much and I asked my grandaunt where she bought it. She said she made it and if I wanted one she could make one for me. All I needed to do was to buy the materials!

This took me forever to post
. My Chinese New Year Celebration in The City of Smiles. 

We did a Coswalk with Team BanKai and it was so much fun! 

I cosplayed as RanMao from Kuroshitsuji (black butler) wearing a more traditional Porcelain -themed QiPao (Cheongsam)  and it turned out prety okay. 

I had a lot of fun with my friends (new friends at the time) Kai, and Stein. Kai went as Haru from FREE! in a festive Yukata, and Stein went as Gin from Gintama. It was a silly crossover
. 

We walked around a bit and then decided to eat at El Kaisei which was pretty okay. The food was so-so but the service was good. The people were nice enough to let us make their establishment a playground that evening.
 Not a lot of business establishments allow photography. 

Here are some of our photos.

Hello everyone, I just wanted to take this time and share with you all two very important girls in my life. 

I was browsing through my old photos and I saw this one album I failed to share months ago. (actually almost a year ago) and I think this would be the perfect opportunity to share with you my two best girls. 

Everyone, meet my two sisters. Dana and Emma. Though our Age gaps are very very wide.  24 years old, 15 years old, 3 years old, We still like having tons of fun together when the opportunity arises. 

I just really miss these two. They are in Beijing right now and I am living in Bacolod City, Philippines, and its really sad I don't get to hang out with those two. But anyway here are just some of our old photos I never got to post before. I hope you enjoy them. 

And because it is FEB 14th, today I will announce the winner of our Pokemon themed (and misc.) giveaway!

So without further ado, the lucky person who won the loot is....

Like I promised here are the finished products of my friends (and mine) during the Clay party which we are now going to call Khrafteesi workshops. I do hope you have fun browsing through their amazing creations! I know I did. :P 

First up are my creations. I focused mainly of sweet as cabochons because I want to decoden some stuff. So I ended up with just these :P

So I finally hosted my very first Clay party ever and it was so much fun! I've always wanted to craft with friends, specially those who are interested in getting their hands on cold porcelain clay.

So Armed with cornstarch, glue my friends came over to the house and we crafted for over 5 hours! and I was so amazed at their skills in making these little charms. So let me share with you some photo collection of that day.

The first ones to arrive were Brent and Jammy and they were already really excited to get started. First Brent and I looked through pinterest for some inrpiration and he was deicded on making a pizza slice and a cow. Where as Jammy... well you'll see her creations later. They are frikkin epic!

 Do you like our small Khrafteesi Clay Station? yes that is what I call my workplace. I know its not very original but I like it. The CLAY STATION Dun Dun Dun!

Here I was designating tasks for them. One to pour the cornstarch and the other the glue. I felt like a preschool teacher again. I didn't take photos of the cooking time because its just some boring photos of us mixing and getting the right intervals. Perhaps next time ^_^

So finally it was time to work with the clay. Everyone couldn't wait to start/. Here we see Jammy getting her groove on with some white clay

Remember Brent, wanting to make pizza, Look at him texturing the crust and cheese like a boss. ^_^

Once again, Jammy was sculting away, starting with these two adorable pandas. She is very very talented with this craft. 

How cute is that!!??

Here we see Yumi using her inspiration in making this kawaii mini turtle.

No face yet but we all know how cute this will be once it is completed. ^_^

Happy Yumi is Happy

Here we see Kai, hard at work with his own creations. He decided to dabble in mini bento boxes. Something I never even dared to attempt but he very much succeeded and you'll see in in the following photos.

 Here are the contents of Kai's bento creation. A bunny onigiri (riceball) half a hard boiled egg, tomatoes and sliced tomatoes. 

Yumi requested Jammy to make chibi heads of Naruto and Sasuke. Here we see Jammy succeeding with her Naruto head. GO JAMMY!

Everyone busy at work on the Clay Station extension. 

Do you want to see their creations? Well stay tuned and It will be posted tomorrow evening ^_^ 

xoxo

Lara Krystle Novales

a.k.a. Khaleesi-Chan

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Today i was cooking some Pad Thai when something came in the mail!

 I was so surprised when I opened it! It was a Modeling tool set and a Du-Kit polymer clay bundle! OMG!

So this is what is in the Modeling tool set:

BONE TOOL:

Ideal for thinning and smoothing the edges of leaves, flower petals, and frills. 

SHELL AND BLADE TOOL:

For creating simple embossed shell patterns and borders, also ideal for making the feet of marzipan animals.

BALL TOOL:

An essential tool for flower modeling, used to cup and shape leaves, petals and frills. The small size is ideal for creating figure's eye sockets, hands and ears.

SCALLOP AND COMB TOOL:

An essential modeling tool to create features e.g.a. smiling or sad mouths, ears eyebrows. The comb tool is ideal for marking and embossing serrated design patterns

SERRATED AND TAPERED BONE TOOL:

Used to indent or emboss into paste to create a con shaped hallow, ideal for modelling fruits. the serrated cone end creates detailed and realistic throats when making a wide variety of flowers

TAPERED CONES 5/6 STAR TOOL

Used as a simple star embosser. Also idea for creating centers or six-petal flowers or use as petal dividers.

BULBOUS CONE TOOL:

An extremely versatile tool that can be used to hallo and emboss a variety of shapes. Wonderful when used as a frilling tool e.g. Garment frills. 

FLOWER/LEAF SHAPER TOOL:

Flower shaper, often refereed to as Dresden Tool. Use the back of the tool to smooth and flute the paste, also idea for creating a wide shaped veining on leaves and flowers. Leaf shaper, the perfect tool for creating fine detailed veining on leaves and flowers. 

PS: Don't forget to join my pokemon gym badge bracelet giveaway HERE!

xoxo

Lara Krystle Novales

a.k.a. Khaleesi-Chan

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