Phoenix Comicon 2015

Howdy!

This past weekend was Phoenix Comicon 2015!  This is one of my favorite conventions.  I love it because it's huge, there's way too much to do and see, plus there are a billion amazing cosplayers there!

I always go to this con with my sister JadeGrass Cosplay.  Thursday the first day of the con was a slow day. JadeGrass couldn't come until after work, so I went solo for most of the day.

I kind of just wandered the halls looking at all the beautiful costumes for a little while.  I also went to two writing panels, which were super helpful and fun.  Phoenix Comicon always has a great turnout of authors(comics and novels) and they make good use out of it by having a lot of writing panels over the course of the weekend.  I love listening to authors talk about their craft and the industry. I think it's invaluable.


Friday was coslay day number one.  I wore my Raven costume and JadeGrass wore her Miss Martian costume.  I was really happy to see a lot of Teen Titans and a lot of Robin cosplayers at this con!  Long live the Teen Titans!!! Raven was definitely the most popular, but we did see two Beast Boys,a couple Terra's and a few StarFire's.

Friday was also super exciting because JadeGrass and I got to meetup with ThermoCosplay and a bunch of other awesome cosplayers from Heroes and villains of tomorrow!  It was super fun seeing everyone and taking pictures with them.  I don't really have any friends who cosplay besides JadeGrass, so I'm really happy I got to hangout with some other cosplayers! 

Saturday I wore my Jinx costume and was amazed that my hair stayed up all day!  I debuted this costume at Emerald City Comicon in March, but the wig did not look very nice by the end of the day, so I was stunned that it stayed up from 10am Saturday morning to eight p.m. when I got back to my hotel room! Holy smokes! That G2B hair spray and spiking gel are freaking amazing! I would never put that stuff in my real hair after seeing how glue-like it is, but for cosplay wigs I have a new friend! Holy freaking cow that stuff is strong!


Saturday JadeGrass and I did a panel called "Cartoons that got Canceled".  We weren't expecting a huge turnout.  It was Saturday evening and we figured a) people are getting tired, b)some people might be starting to get in line to see the masqerade and c) there must be cooler panels happening at the same time, but we were pleasantly surprised that we packed the house!  People had to be asked to leave because there were no seats available!

This was our second panel, we relied heavily on video clips and trvia because we wanted it to be fun for the audience.  At the end we had a special challenge if someone could sing the Static Shock theme song word for word(google was allowed to be used), we'd give them a special prize.  I honestly didn't think anyone would do it, but some boys agreed to and man was it hilarious! You can find the video on JadeGrass Cosplays facebook page.

Overall PCC was super fun and I can't wait until next year! If you know the name of any of the cosplayers I posted pictures of, please let me know! Shoot me an e-mail at OnyxSkyCosplay@gmail.com or message me on one of my social media sites so I can credit them!

Thanks everyone who said hi and liked my costumes.  I really appreciate it and I'm glad to see so many people still love Teen Titans! 

Walking to get Pizza with ThermoCosplay(Surge)

JadeGrass Cosplay waiting for our panel to start.

Let's Go Shopping!

I have a very long list of things I want to post about, but most of them feel too heavy to use as a second post, so I decided to just do a post on a few of my favorite places to buy supplies for my costumes.  Hopefully I'll do a formal write up on Storm and Raven soon, as well as some work-in-progress stuff, but for now here you go.

Fabric

Spandex World
This website is my absolute favorite place to buy stretchy fabric for my superhero costumes.  I've purchased fabric from them probably at least seven times.  It's not as cheap as buying from a major chain like Jo-Ann, but I think it's worth the extra money.  They have a huge selection, the quality is amazing, if you're not sure about color or texture you can order samples.  They also ship fed-ex and even the samples come pretty quick.  I love this store. The only con for me is how expensive shipping is and no free shipping options for spending "x" amount of dollars.  Now that my sister cosplays too though, we just order fabric together and split the shipping(Shipping cost/yards of fabric x fabric that person 1 ordered, etc.).

Wigs

Epic Cosplay
I love Epic Cosplay.  Their wigs are always great quality, tangle-free and pretty. My first and second Raven wig are from them, as is my latest Storm wig.  It's not as cheap as some of the wig shops on Ebay, but unlike with Ebay I don't have to worry that I'm not getting what I thought I was. I've loved everything I've ordered from them.  Their customer service has also been pretty A+.

Arda Wigs
This is my other favorite wig shop.  They have excellent wigs and a very wide rang of colors and styles.  If Epic doesn't have the color or style you need, Arda probably does.  I love that you can order cheap samples to be 100% sure that the wig is the right color.  Like Epic they ship from the USA which means you get your wig fast(Yay!).  Arda wigs are also more expensive than buying a wig on Ebay, but again it's worth the extra money to know you're not going to get a nightmare in the mail.  What you see online is what you get.  They've got a great reputation.  This is where I ordered my wig for Pixie and I will buy more wigs from them in the future.

Makeup
I don't wear makeup everyday, I usually am only wearing it for special events or costumes, but this is where I like to shop based on A+ customer service and vegan options.  I buy most of my makeup online, at Whole Foods or Target.  I'm not going to list all my sources, but here are a few I like.

White Rabbit Beauty
A portion of the money from your purchase goes towards an animal chairty, what's not to like about that? A++ customer service, fast shipping and good prices.  I've ordered from here a few times and I will continue to do so.  I love this shop, plus you're supporting a small business.

Etsy
I like to buy handmade cosmetics sometimes.  Etsy has some great shops to checkout, just read reviews, Google the shop, check their facebook page and if possible order sample sizes first.  I mostly buy lip balm on Etsy, but I've also bought eyeshadow and lipstick a few times.  It can be fun and I like supporting small businesses so.... 

Prop Building Supplies

Home
You probably already have a lot of stuff to make props with.  Save newspapers and sales papers to use for armor and sewing pattern drafting.  It can also be used for paper mache.  You can upcycle a lot of "trash" into amazing things, so always think before you toss something(but be honest about when you'll use it, do not hoard stuff.  If you're not going to use in the next few weeks, toss it).

Jo-Ann
Whatever I need, paperclay, markers, paint, etc.  I go here first.  Why? COUPONS!  You can save a lot of money by coming prepared with coupons or during a good sale.

Michaels Arts & Crafts
Whatever Joanns doesn't have, like casting resin that I used for my Raven belt, I buy here.  You can only use one coupon per transaction, but sometimes they have good sales too.

Cosplay Supplies
They have all the fancy thermoplastics, fast shipping and great customer service.

Thrift Stores and the 99cents Store
You never know what you're going to find and it will be cheap.


This is not a complete list of the places I like to shop, but it should give you some good ideas if you're looking for somewhere to buy something.  I'll eventually post a "where I buy" list that'll include everything and other categories like contacts, etc.There are also a lot of stores I really want to checkout when I have some time(they're all far or out of budget for now...T_T).