State of the Neko address: week 5, part 2

song+ Stop- Erasure- Hits! Best of Erasure
book+ FFXIII strategy guide
scent+ paint
quest+ saving to visit Roro
upper+ i'm feeling creative again
downer+ ugh.. work stress
attire+ work clothes
drink+ dr pepper

the Ren Faire cometh! still incredibly distracted by Pokemon and FFXIII, but i have just enough spare time to think about how excited i am that Scarbie opens again soon. when it does, Moose will be working there weekends instead of at Ulta, which means i may actually realistically be able to make it out more than once this summer! xD usually i have trouble finding a ride willing to go out more than once since it's such a drive. i love it though and going more than once this year will be awesome. i think i wanna focus more on expanding my costuming options this year. i have mostly gypsy-ish components, and i wanna be able to do warrior, or noble, or fey/dryad if the mood strikes. i love my gypsy-ish pieces, but i want something more specialized. i've picked what i have so far based on how versatile it could be, and i think i'm ready to specialize. maybe next summer have a really awesome warrior woman thing pulled together. the armor could be expensive, but i can probably do a lot on my own. i have a few ideas, but i'm not skinny enough yet for them to look good. maybe next year i'll be in better shape. i'm working on it, but it's slow going since i'm lazy and really like eating. especially junk food. *fail dieter* i wonder if Moose will get some type of discount for the shop she'll be working at.. maybe she could hook me up for costume components. i really do think a good dryad costume would be super fun to construct and to wear. (fake) leaves woven into my hair, "falling" from a flower circlet, drape-y browns and greens for a Grecian robe/tunic and silk flowers spotted here and there. also flip flops, preferably in brown with greenery on the straps to disguise them. xD i think being a tree spirit could be pretty fun. it'd also work with my green hair, which i still think is awesome, so i have no plans to change it anytime soon. My original draft was mostly green, but i realized when i colored it that it'd kinda be overkill, even in paler tones, so my next version was much browner.

now i'm thinking about what fabric types would work best for draping flowy robes on HOT days, while still looking ethereal and majestic. a cape is a simple solution for transitioning to colder days, and since i already have several that's not a problem. i also wonder- how should i integrate a way to carry my money? xD hidden pockets i guess. no one could say it was historically inaccurate, they haven't personally asked dryads if they had pockets to hold their stuff in ye olden days. xD i figure as long as you can't see obvious pocket seams it's fine, so i'll probably go for vertical slash pockets just below hip level. simple enough to do on a lined garment. they'd really only need to be big enough to hold my phone on one side, and my debit card and some cash on the other. that would also leave my arms and hands unencumbered for characteristic frolicking. i do love to frolic. xD i've been doodling drafts of how i could construct it best, and pondering specific colors.. i'm thinking of using a chocolatey brown with taupe and sage sparkly sheer under layers for a natural tree-ish palette. i'd leave the bright green for my hair. xD plants tend not to be jewel-bright, so i figure a tree spirit would be mostly browns. pretty ones though.

anyways i've got it mostly figured out design wise, so now i just need to buy the fabric, figure out how to mod the patterns i have on-hand, and beat my sewing machine into submission so i can use it. i refuse to do my costuming by hand. that's entirely too much work. it decided to stop working when i was doing a dancing costume for Moose a few months ago. i think i can get it working and pull together this (surprisingly simple) dryad costume in the next 2 ½ weeks. i want it done a little early for once. xD i'm generally a seat-of-the-pants last-second costumer, but i'm trying to do better, having things ready before they day they're needed. if i buy some fabric this week, and the fake flowers i'll need, and the rest of the fabric next week, and sew my brains out i think i can have it done early enough to let it hang and settle so i can do last minute tweaking to have it fit perfectly. there's really no point in doing an absolutely custom work that doesn't fit right after all. xD

if i bought the flowers and the brown fabric this weekend, i could have the basic structure pulled together by the time i can afford to get the sheer greens next week and finish it off. ooh! Wouldn't it be adorable if i had FaithAnn dressed up as a little fairy to carry around with me? xD fairies seem like they'd be on friendly terms with dryads. being forest-dwelling otherworldly creatures and all. i imagine she could get a bit heavy after a while though, and that could get annoying,. probably totally worth it for the cute factor though. xD the hardest thing for a dolly fairy costume would be wings i wouldn't accidentally smoosh out of shape while lugging her about.. i could go more ornate and oversized before gravity became a concern though, so it's something to think about. I do have tons of seed beads though, and some jewelers wire somewhere so i could probably work out something dainty for her, in whatever colors end up suiting best.