Babble Away! A Babbling Contest With Prizes!!

[losna]

@MagiksGirl Wow that's awesome!! I've tried making costumes to wear to cons, but ... I'm not so good at it. View media item 285438

 

[segelkatt]

Shh - I'm not really here

Just had to say -beautiful pieces @segelkatt

I love the bead caps on the amethyst. That choker must have taken forever! Achieving a permanent 3 strand twist is something I've been struggling with for a while now. That tourmaline won't have been cheap either...but so worth it

Do you set your own stones or do you buy them that way?

I get the feeling we have a similar aesthetic

*really going to bed this time*

That tourmaline was $180.00 just for the stones (in 2001 dollars, more expensive now).  

This was a custom job for somebody who wanted something really different. There were round and faceted beads on the 3 strings I bought and I swore I would never do one again. Every time I twisted the beads the rainbow would be off and I would have to restring the strand. I had given a price beforehand  but should have charged more because of all the work involved.

At the Gem Faire where I buy my supplies the beads are already strung and you can buy whole strings of silver caps and spacers and findings, usually sold by weight, but you can also buy just pieces, like when I wanted a really big filigreed silver bead as an accent.

I make mostly necklaces, but also sets with bracelets and earrings, and bracelets on heavy-duty elastic. At the Gem Faire I can also buy watch faces, that is just the watch itself and then put a bracelet with it. They are base metal but highly polished to look like silver.

I like to work with stones that are out of the run of the mill. Anyone can have a stone that looks like colored glass but costs thousands, but finding a really nice piece of malachite with just the right stripes, or that absolutely gorgeous piece of lapis with not too many pyrites, just enough to make it look like the midnight sky, not too dark but also not denim-looking, that is wonderful. Or try larimar, sky blue with white, no brown spots, most people have never heard of it. I've gotten tired of amethyst, looks like every fool has some and most of it not very nice. So many stones hardly anyone has heard of : sodalite, aventurine, jasper, jadeite, helenite, aquamarine, let's not forget coral and all the shades of amber from yellow through brown, gold and black to green, how about some hematite which imitates black pearls but weighs a ton as it is a crystal of iron (it also will rust thus the name hematite=bloodstone),  the list goes on.

Many people don't know what they are missing when they only think of diamonds, rubies and emeralds.

 

[magiksgirl]

Well... I know my limits very well! I knew that with the time table, I wouldn't be able to finish the leotard and leggings so I had those commissioned. I did everything in my spare time, but if I add all of it it was about 40-50 hrs..

Just the darn breastplate took me about 8 hrs since it's a single piece covered in a single piece of shiny cloth.

I'm sure you'll make some great costumes! Practice makes perfect! 

 

[margd]

Originally Posted by Magiksgirl
PS: I don't have pictures on hand, but I like crafting anything and everything! The latest big project I made was some armor for a costume. I made everything except the leotard. I also made some knee pads, choker and headband that aren't in the pic.  The whole thing was very hard to make! The gauntlet was a glove with "knuckles" and the forearm thing had relief markings that didn't come out well in this  picture.

It was my first time trying something like this and it was falling apart a little but I was so proud and got a lot of pictures taken of it! This is one of them.View media item 285436

Ooooh.  That is REALLY very nice.  I bet you got a lot of attention in it.  I wish I could wear something like that. 
Lordy, you really are good at this.  That's just stunning.  It's very elegant.  I bet it looks great with practically everything.

 

[arielthechunk22]

Since we are gonna make the role play, what should it be about? Should it be normal or mythical, etc.

 

[raksha]

@segelkatt   That twisted rainbow tourmaline is a beauty!!! I've finally gotten to the stage in my (albeit bizarre) life, where I've decided necklaces are ok that sure is pretty!!!

 

[margd]

Since we are gonna make the role play, what should it be about? Should it be normal or mythical, etc.

I have never taken part in one but I think mythical sounds fun. But really I like the idea of either one.

 

[raksha]

@MagiksGirl   I LOVE CONS!!! My first con was so much fun- my group went as the gender bender avengers!!! All us ladies made the male costumes, and we convinced out guy friend to wear my Black Widow costume ^_^

View media item 285445
I was Captain America (not by choice), and jerry-rigged the costume together from different clothing items (obviously I didn't make the shield). Our group wanted to go full movie costume, not the sexified versions everyone else seemed to want to do. I have to say, it SUCKED wearing three layers up top! Undershirt, jacket, and corset to boot. I was sweating like a pig before we even got in the building

This one was from Halloween it was my second attempt at a costume

View media item 285444

 

[losna]

Wow.. so amazing.. I really wish I could do things like that.

I would totally wear the sexified versions though. I am a big fan of chainmail (and leather) bikinis.

 

[raksha]

@Losna  lol, I'm a fan, too, but I always feel awkward wearing them... Mostly because of my stupid insecurity about my stupid legs. I know I shouldn't care, but... ugh, lol!!!

I also had a lot of help with the Captain America costume, because it was my first time trying to construct one, so my friends gave advice, and an awesome seamstress helped me make the jacket I painted the corset myself, and added all the trimmings.

 

[margd]

@Losna
 lol, I'm a fan, too, but I always feel awkward wearing them... Mostly because of my stupid insecurity about my stupid legs. I know I shouldn't care, but... ugh, lol!!!

I also had a lot of help with the Captain America costume, because it was my first time trying to construct one, so my friends gave advice, and an awesome seamstress helped me make the jacket I painted the corset myself, and added all the trimmings.

If that's you in the photos and not some model you hired for the occasion, [emoji]128512[/emoji] you look like a million bucks. You could definitely wear those costumes.

 

[losna]

If I were to make a costume, I go as:

View media item 285448
Or:

View media item 285449
Looking at those though together like this, it'd probably be really easy to make one base corset used for both. "easy" hah. I'm not really good at costuming.

 

[raksha]

@Losna  That's why I always find someone who knows how to sew ^-^ otherwise it's all super glue, foam, and spray paint!

 

[losna]

I wonder if I could crochet a Zatanna costume. Wouldn't that be a trip.

 

[catladyvettech]

As for weekend plans... Today is day two of my three day "weekend". (I work Saturday - Tuesday graveyard hours 10pm-8am). After my shift Tuesday I stayed up for 24 hours and then slept all last night so I could be up during the day today. It's so hard going from night shift to day time hours, but it's worth it. I'm spending my "weekend" off just lounging by the pool and reading. And checking up on the babbling thread of course!

 

[margd]

Boy, things have really slowed down.  Where is everyone?  It looks like I'll be able to go to sleep tonight without fear that babbling will have finished.

 

[segelkatt]

Us "old folks" probably have no idea what you are talking about. "role playing", costumes, wearing this at a "con". huh? Would somebody please explain to me what this is all about? It's not Halloween or Mardi Gras, so what's going on? 

 

[margd]

Us "old folks" probably have no idea what you are talking about. "role playing", costumes, wearing this at a "con". huh? Would somebody please explain to me what this is all about? It's not Halloween or Mardi Gras, so what's going on? 

I'm one of those "old folk" but I'll give it a shot, even though I've never participated in any of this.

"Con" is, I think, a short form of the word convention. I think they may have grown out of science fiction and fantasy conventions where people came dressed up as characters in the books. There is a lot of overlap with action heroes from comic books - in fact there is a "con" devoted just to them.

So basically they are a lot of people with a common interest in fiction who dress up as characters from that world.

Truthfully I think it's fascinating and I wish I'd gone to one when I'd still look good in a superhero costume!

 

[losna]

A con is a convention, in the case of hero costumes, it would likely either be a roleplaying, anime or a comic con. Many people dress up as characters from movies, comics, video games, etc to attend. Most such costumes are very time and resource intensive to create, one of a kind handmade items tailored for the person wearing them.

Roleplaying is very similar to improv acting. You play a character, in a very similar way that an actor plays a role, although there is no script, and generally there is a set of rules that are used to govern interactions.

If I am roleplaying a thief, and you a city guard, for example, there would be rules to determine whether or not you could catch me as I tried to escape with my loot. That's very simplistic, but if you want a more in depth explanation feel free to ask for more.

 

[NewYork1303]

Wow. You guys talked a lot! I have had a really busy day today. Took the dog to a follow up appointment at the vet. There was a cat at the vet that came home unable to walk last night. That made me sad.

Came home and gave the dog a flea bath. Oh my goodness what a busy day!