FORGOT TO DRAW THIS IN TIME But! This is the patreon exclusive image for patrons ^^ to see the full image as well as all other patron exclusive pieces, become a 1 dollar patron! :DDD
For this past Indy Pop Con, my friends and I chose to do a simple cosplay day and two big days.We wracked out brains on what to do as a group when the idea of Sims popped up. Sure it’s been done so many times, but that’s because it’s a fun cosplay to do. Who doesn’t want to run around, speak gibberish, and sometimes pass out from sleep deprivation? I know I wanted to. There are probably plenty of tutorials on how to make the glowing green plumbob above our beloved Sims’ heads but I figured I’d add to the pile and show you all how I made mine. Now enough jabbering, let’s do this.
Materials:
Cardstock paper (any color)
Hot glue
Headband
Acrylic paint in plumbob green
Wood filler and sandpaper (optional)
Step One: Pattern Making
As all of my tutorials begin, start with your pattern. Usually we make patterns to avoid unnecessary mistakes on foam, but this time we’re doing it to make sure the plumbob halves are the same. Plumbobs have six faces on the top and bottom and I added little tabs to help with gluing later.
Step Two: Cutting
Make two halves from your pattern and cut them out.
Step Three: Folding
This step is pretty self explanatory.
Step Four: Gluing
Glue all the little tabs and assemble
Step Five: Wood Filling (optional):
This part doesn’t need done but I think it improves the final product. You’ll notice that just gluing leaves some nasty gaps in your precious plumbob. With a bit of wood filler and sanding once the filler dries, you can smooth out your plumbob to your liking.
Step Six: Paint
Now’s the time to coat the plumbob in a layer or two of your green paint. I chose a kind of electric green that I thought matched the plumbob pretty well.
Step Seven: More Gluing
Now the time you’re been waiting for, gluing your plumbob to your headband. Just a warning, although the plumbob is just cardstock, it’s still pretty heavy for gluing with such little surface area. Since the plumbob comes to a point, there’s little for the glue to hold the thing up with so it becomes top heavy. I found that three or four layers of hot glue helps to fix this up nicely.
And you’re done! I know this tutorial was super short but I hope you still enjoyed :)
Here’s some pictures of my friends and I accepting our lives as Sims at the con. We changed the paint a bit and filled the cracks in better right before the con began.
The last two were taken from Instagram, credit to those who posted them (I don’t think they’d want me to put their Instagram names on here so I won’t, but thank you to both of them for snapping and posting these)
Planning Your Cosplay panel, as given at SacAnime Winter 2017
Ever wanted to cosplay someone, but had no idea how to begin? Join cosplayer fabrickind to learn about how to take that first step! Topics covered will include costume choice, breaking down the parts of a costume, buying vs. making, researching materials and methods, and budgeting time and money.
This is just the bare bones of the panel, as many of the examples were elaborated on in-person, and it is just the slides, not any of my notes. It is not meant to be exhaustive or definitive, and is just meant for general advice and suggestion purposes only. If anyone has feedback they would like to give, feel free to do so. That said, I hope that people find this information useful.
Here is a link to a pdf of the presentation. You may download for personal use, but please do not alter the presentation, repost without permission, or do any sort of other unauthorized use. (If you have a question about how you can use this presentation, please send me a message with your question and we can work it out. I promise I’m not scary. ;]) Feel free to reblog this post as much as you want, though. I do these panels and post them because I want the information to be shared.
Here we go kids, we’ve reached #17. Absolute insanity. Remember to check my tag #10tips on my blog for about 160 more tips you can use in your craft.
1. Name your plants
They’re living things and they are your friends. You may even consider them your children, I know I do. Give them each a name. You can even name them after people in your life. I saw a post recently about a person who names their succulents after their friends so they can know when one of their human friends isn’t doing well based on how the plant is doing. You can also name them after your deities, if you have any, as an act of care and love.
2. Don’t use a tea strainer for tasseography
You will get leaves in your teeth and you will be bothered by them. I’m sorry, I really am. Tasseography, or tea leaf reading, works by using loose leaf tea for divination. If you put it in a strainer, it’s no longer as loose as you need it to be for your divination.
3. Alternatively, you can use an oversized strainer placed on top of your cup
If you just can’t do the whole loose leaf running free thing, here’s something that may help. You can get a tea/coffee strainer that’s meant to sit on top of your cup. You’ll have to drink with it on there, so be extra cautious the first few times. If it’s metal and your tea is very hot, you have the potential of burning yourself, so take care friends.
4. Pass on good karma
When something wonderful happens to you, or a stranger is extra kind to you, it’s always nice to keep the karma train going and return the favor to another person. I mean, it’s also wonderful to start the train, but keeping the good energy flowing is a wonderful way to live your life.
5. Make friends with birds - especially crows
Be kind to all animals, always, no matter what. But I’m going to specifically talk about crows. Familiars often present themselves in the form of crows. You never know if the crow watching you could be somebodies familiar. They will report back to their witch about how the interaction went. So say hello, perhaps offer something shiny if you can, & continue on your way.
6. Relax your mind when it starts to feel fuzzy - something incredible might be happening.
I’m sorry, I didn’t know how to summarize what I’m about to say for a title lol. Sometimes, when I’m struggling with something or just living my life, I get this weird feeling that’s almost comparable to the feeling right before you start to astral project. I’ve talked before about accidentally doing that before, but I can recognize the slight difference between the two states. Astral projection stems from the back of your head, and this thing I’m about to explain is the same feeling, but more localized in the 3rd eye region. If you begin to get this fuzzy, ‘zone out’ feeling there, relax your entire body. Don’t concentrate on the feeling and don’t try to suppress it. Just let it happen. You’ll start to get insanely fast flashes of images or words. Maybe you’ll be able to put them together and figure out what they mean. You may be having a vision.
7. Moon magick: the new moon
It’s a new moon tonight, so I wanted to talk a little bit about the magick of that phase in the cycle. Here are some things that are best to do spells for during the new moon.
Vows
Eliminating habits
Cleansing
Starting a long term endeavor
Riding the body of toxic energy
8. Your Familiar may not be a physical being
There’s a lot of back and forth about what a familiar actually is. Some people think their pets are familiars, others believe they’re animals that find you during your rituals, but many believe that they’re more of spiritual presence. They may not even look like animals at all. They could come to you during astral projection as a being you’ve never imagined. They’ll follow you sometimes, or guide you to where you need to be in the astral realm. Be sure to make friends with them.
9. You don’t have to astral project on your own
It can be kinda scary when you first start out. And even dangerous if something goes wrong or you’re ill prepared. Having a fellow witch or a member of your coven watching over you is a wonderful idea. They can keep an eye on you, bless your body, or pull you back to earth if things don’t feel right. I highly recommend having a witch more experienced in the field than yourself do this. It can take a lot of stress off if you don’t have to explain everything to them before you try to take off.
10. Sigils are about intention, not aesthetics.
You don’t have to spend 40 minutes trying to draw the perfect sigil that looks super beautiful and ends up frustrating you more than anything. Instead, try this. Close your eyes. Meditate on your intentions (be sure to look at my previous witch tips for important information about this) grab your pen and just draw what feel right. Let your intuition take over and see what happens.
Thank you so much for reading my latest witch tips!! Check out my profile if you want to see the rest. Have a magical day!
