Echo from Pandora Hearts Cosplay Breakdown

 Echo from Pandora Hearts

Echo was definitely not the type of character I'm used to cosplaying. Her personality is way more passive and quiet then I am used to. Nevertheless I was still for some reason drawn to her. I liked the transition from quiet/passive to ultra bad ass in an instant. After watching Pandora Hearts for the first time I really fell in love with the series. Originally I had felt like making this would be pretty strait forward, however it proved to be much more of a challenge than I had originally anticipated.

The first issue I ran into was the fact that Echo, like many anime characters, suffers from "Anime Proportions." You all probably know what I'm talking about here. In this case Echo has these freakishly long legs, while still being one of the shortest characters. This would be an issue for me considering I'm 5'8" and a full grown adult >.<

But by adjusting the pattern a bit I was able to make it some what proportioned to my body. Granted it meant making a shorter skirt than I'm comfortable wearing. Luckily I had some shorts to wear underneath..

The pattern was hand drafted, and I started off with the blue dress as a base. I wanted to have the white center peice actually connect the dress in the front, but later I decided that might be a wardrobe malfunction waiting to happen, so I "faked it" so to speak.

 

 That is an example of the dress base. This is a later picture when I added the buttons on it, becasue I didn't get a picture of it initially. 

After making the dress, I decided to move on to the sleeves next since I needed the dress done to fit them properly.

Originally I got super excited about this cosplay simply for the fact that I didn't have to attach the sleeve to anything SINCE I HATE DOING THAT. But really these turned out to me just as big of a pain. Three failed pattern attempts later, I had things going.

 I marked my designs on it first using sewing chalk

On top of the strange design, this sleeve posed another issue for me.

Bias....

I decided the best way to achieve the look in the ref pictures was to use bias. I'm not use to sewing it with such detail, so it took me a while. I suppose the extra time paid off though, because the designs on the sleeve didn't turn out NEAR as bad as I thought it would.

My dog looks so enthusiastic..

After finishing the bottom I added a cuff at the top and Ta-Duh! My weird unattached sleeve was finished!

I made a second sleeve and then moved on to the front white piece.

I drafted the pattern and double the fabric so it would be nice and sturdy. After that I got to try the automatic button hole maker on my new sewing machine.

I got way too excited about this..

GAHHH I love that feature!! The old sewing machine I was using didn't have this and I had to do it by hand. I can't imagine ever doing one now without this! I made 8 button holes in a flash, and it couldn't have been easier.

Double checking to see if it looked right..

And there.. After that things were starting to come together. I marked where I wanted the button to go on the blue dress underneath. But before I could put the buttons on I had to solve a small issue. 

I needed the right color buttons.

In the ref pictures, they are a really nice periwinkle color (that was my favorite color as a child :3) the problem was in my local fabric stores, this color button only came with 2 in packs of 8, and I wasn't about to buy 5 packs of buttons just to get 2 of the colors I needed. I probably would have been able to buy them online somehwere, but I was short in time so I improvised..

So I decided to hand paint all of them!

I used acrylic paint to achieve the exact color I wanted. However the paint I used created some what of a powered matte finish on the buttons, and I knew it would come off with the slightest scratch. To solve this issue, I used a good old clear coat to make it shine and protect the paint.

The result was awesome! They ended up looking like I bought them that way.

After that the buttons were attached to the blue dress as illustrated earlier, and they seemed to line up OK!

The tie was also made during that time, which you can see in the photo. I just used some left over black satin and ribbon bias to make it. It attaches in the front with velcro :)

From here on it was crunch time, and I didn't get as many pictures. For the dress shirt underneath I found a mens dress shirt from the thrift store and added my own sleeves to it. I made hand pressed ruffles for it that would stick out of the blue sleeves. After that I put the finishing touches on it by adding the covered buttons near the armpit area and attaching ribbon to them, which ran through previously made loops on the detachable sleeves to the back where the bows were. 

In case you have no clue what I'm talking about.

While it looks like in the ref pics that the sleeve is held on entirely by that button loop system, I was worried it may not hold or sit properly so I sewed the sleeve to the top of the armpits on the blues dress just in case. As a result it was much more secured, and I was still able to move just fine in it.

 Test run!

After that things were pretty much done besides the stockings. I threw those together real fast and basically made them boot covers to go over my shoes. for this costume I styled my first wig as well. I used a Jaguar in Silver from Arda wigs, which can be used for another costume as well. My contacts were grey, and purchased from Pinky. I want to start getting in the habit of reviewing lenses as I buy them so look for that soon.

Photo by Daniel Ramirez. Do not use or alter without consent.

After all that here is the final result! 

I'm excited to report I won my first craftsmanship award with this costume at
Nebraskon 2012!

Guess all that work paid off :) This actually ended up being a pretty fun costume to make! I was very happy to see it come together and even more excited to win an award for it. I'm planning on wearing this again soon and hope to maybe get some pictures with other Pandora Hearts Cosplayers. I haven't seen many around my local conventions, however I did see another Echo cosplayer at Nebraskon which was neat :D

Anyways sorry for the somewhat abrupt end to this write up. The holidays are already keeping me really busy so finding time to update stuff is beginning to get difficult. But I'm looking forward to next year with new con's and new costumes :) 

See you soon!

-QK

Making Megurine Luka's Project Diva Kimono Outfit (Long Title is Long)

Due to the stress of making two costumes in such a time crunch, I didn't get as many pictures as I'd like to for a write up. Still, I think I have enough to get my point across. Again, this isn't meant to be a "how to" or a tutorial, but if these help someone make something, or inspires ideas AWESOME!

The costume is the Project Diva Kimono outfit, and was all made from a hand drafted pattern. I had some difficulty getting the right colored fabrics for this, but in the end I'm OK with what I found.

This costume was especially fun (sarcasm) considering it incorporated two of the things I hate most in sewing.

- Sewing silky fabrics.

- And sewing sleeves.

 SIX sleeves to be exact. 

In order to get the layers she has in the ref picture, I made 6 different sleeves, basted them together, then attached them to the main torso piece which you will see here in a second. I really wasn't keen on the idea of making 3 separate tops and wearing them together, so I made 1 and faked the layer you see in the front of the top.

 Top before sleeves were attached

 After that I drafted the pattern for the Obi and bow. I used interfacing for both to make them stiff and sturdy.

I followed used the same idea for Alice's obi on Luka's. It attached at the front and was secured with velcro. I then added button snaps to the bow once it was finish and made it detachable from the main piece for better transportation.

I also got to bust out the fabric paint again for this! I was able to use leftovers from my Alice cosplay which was convenient since jacquard is expensive and my JoAnn's doesn't carry it anymore (those assholes!!)
I really didn't get a good picture of the final product when it comes to the Obi's bow but you can see it in the final picture.

For the main skirt wanted to achieve the crinkle and gradient effect I saw in the ref pics. To do this I actually hand dyed Muslin fabric, twisted it up and let it dry wrinkled.

 I dyed the first section purple, then flipped it and dyed the other part pink.

Someone suggested I used starch to keep the wrinkles from falling out which I ended up not having. They did fall out a bit during wear but I will be going back to address it.

I think one of the things I loved most about making both of these costumes was the accessories hehe ^.^ I used some extra fabric from the hand dyed piece to make my rose clip along with some satin fabric and a silk rose. Both the giant bow and rose had metal hair clips secured to the back of them.

As far as the rest goes, the other black skirt looking portion of the dress was just doubled silk fabric. My shoes were some wedge booties that I made cuffs for. My tattoo was made by me as well using Papillo tattoo paper. I used it to make my friend Linda's as well after making the design in Illustrator. If you want a good tutorial on how to use this stuff check out Vensy's tutorial. I used it, and it turned out wonderful! Vensy is so great <3

Here is the finished product after all that!

 Photo by Mike Tinsley. Miku cosplay by Linda!!

There are still a few things I'd like to tweak on Luka. Otherwise I'm happy with the result regardless of what a pain in the ass it was. Hopefully me and Linda can do a photoshoot soon with these. Once again I Apologize for the lack of photos. If there are any details I missed or if you have any questions, leave a comment or get a hold of me on one of my other profiles.

Breakdown for Echo will be on the way soon. Thanks for stopping by!

-QK

Nebraskon 2012: I Ain't Got No Panties On!

So I've been neglecting my blog and other pages quite a bit lately. The good news is this horrific year is almost over! I figured I'd do a brief recap of my Nebraskon trip before the year is over.

My last convention of the year was Nebraskon 2012 in Omaha, NE. This convention has become the best one to attend when it comes to hanging out with friends.  Pretty much everyone in all my groups of friends go's to it, making it an awesome time. Last year was a blast and this year definitely did not disappoint.

For this convention I brought 2 new cosplays. I had also intended to bring a swimsuit for the swimsuit competition, but I didn't have time to finish it.

The two cosplays I made were Megurine Luka's Project Diva Kimono outfit, and Echo from Pandora Hearts

Echo was originally suppose to be done with my boyfriend who was suppose to be Vincent. We started his, but couldn't quite get it done, so we will be going together at a future con as the two :)
I cosplayed Luka with my favorite Lady Linda who went as Miku. We have apparently made it tradition to do Vocaloid cosplays together at Nebraskon hehe ^.^

Here was my final product for Luka!

Here's Linda as Miku, Myself as Luka, and Miss Shelene as Sheryl Nome!

 We had a lot of fun together and overall I think our costumes both turned out great together.


We wore these for Friday and got some good feedback. We got to go get sushi in these as well which was fun! We got some pretty strange looks at the restaurant.

Saturday I wore Echo!

Seeing this come together was really awesome.

Linda went that day as Serah Farron's Summoner outfit (It looked amazing!). I decided to enter the cosplay competition with Echo, since I really didn't have anything better to do that evening. It was a pretty long process like most competitions. Linda was with me as well as my good friends Lulu, Tima, and others, so we kept each other entertained while we waited. The competition went well, and there were a lot of great cosplayers and skits. My walk went smoothly, although everyone told me I went WAY to fast. I was about ready to check out near the end because of how tired I was, but it is a good thing I stuck it through because I got this!

 Derpy Excited Face is Derpy

I finally won my first craftsmanship award!

Up until this point I've either been competing in a higher difficulty then I am due to being in groups, or haven't won anything. Now that I finally have this I can officially be a journeyman without any arguments!

My friend Lulu standing next to me in this won both the Masters category and best craftsmanship in the swimsuit comp. She always dominates it's awesome!!

The Pyramid Head next to me is actually my friend Adam, who won runner up in the intermediate category. I love this picture because he pointed out that we all look like we just left and outlet mall or something with our bags, and I can't get over how funny it looks now.


That night we all got out of cosplay and took it easy.

And you can probably all guess who came to visit.

That's Right.

Rainbow slut..

And she brought friends...

There weren't many pictures taken at this point, but there were some videos which may be used as black mail against me in the future..

And of course on Sunday 

We went to Wheatfields..

Hello breakfast burrito. We meet again..

As I said this was my last convention for the year. I'm spending the rest of the year spending time with family for the holidays, making gifts, and working on cosplay for next year. At the moment I'm trying to make plans to go to Katsucon but that may not happen. I'll be going to Naka as always and I'm definitely going to shoot for ACen again. I'll have a half assed write up on how I made my My Luka and Echo costume coming up here soon, as well as share what my future plans are (they are big).

 Hope everyone has had a great year! And I look forward to seeing everyone in 2013! Enjoy your holidays with friends and family and stay safe!

Oh and don't forget to do the Commander Shepard Shuffle at your office Christmas parties.

Later!

-QK

Motaku 2012, Officer Jenny Cosplay, and Future Plans

  So summer isn't completely over of course, but I sure as hell wish it was. Those of you in the U.S. probably know what I'm talking about when I say this summer was hotter than balls. It seems for now though that extreme heat is starting to disperse a little, and I'm starting to come back to life so to speak. Along with it being so hot, I've also been struggling with some on and off bouts of depression all summer. This has been really weird for me since I'm usually always pretty positive. However, after doing some thinking I've been able to determine that the main cause for the depression is more than likely the result of some major stresses at work, and the lack of time off. I don't get any vacation time until next year, so going to summer conventions like I planned didn't end up happening. I don't need a vacation every month or anything, but a little trip this summer with some friends could have done me a lot of good I think. Having all your plans fall through can be a real downer. 

One thing that sucks about life is you often need money to do the things you love. One of the things I love is traveling to con's, and of course cosplaying. To get money you often have to work a job where you are constantly stressed and pushed to your limits on a regular basis. The end justifies the means though, so usually after I go to a con, or work on cosplay, it helps push aside the stress and unhappiness for a time, and I can get by. But that can only last for so long, and go so far. When things get so bad at your job that those things no longer help keep the sadness at bay, or when the people around you who love you can't help it either, that is when you know you have a real problem and it's time for a change. So with that being said, I will be making some very significant changes very soon in order to improve my current situation.

Now enough of all that, I wanted to tell you about the one convention I went to this summer which was Motaku 2012.

It was held August 17th-19th in Kansas City. I didn't really consider this a full con trip, because I only went for Saturday since the place is right down the street from my house basically. I decided to just go casually for a day since it was my first time at this particular con, and I had heard it was fairly small. I wanted to check it out to see if it would be worth going to for the full weekend next year.

For the most part I really enjoyed the convention. It was fairly small as i was told, but there were still a lot of nice cosplayers there and some stuff to do.  One thing though I will say, is that they could of easily renamed this convention "HOMESTUC-KON 2012" because that's pretty much all I saw there for cosplay. Seriously. That was it. If you don't believe me, just google Motaku 2012 and see how much homestuck shows up. It was ridiculous. I'm not saying I have a problem with Homestuck, or it's cosplayers by any means whatsoever, I was just so shocked at how many of them were there, it was sorta funny lol. They are taking over :D

 As far as my cosplay goes, I went as Officer Jenny from Pokemon! This was suppose to be a secret cosplay for ACen that didn't end up happening so I decided to finish it and wear it to this. Cosplaying with me was my boyfriend, who went as a Gijinka of growlithe. That't right I have a boyfriend right now.. Remember that guy Michael you saw in my Acen post? Well a little while after Anime Central, he asked me on a date and I accepted. He's quite the gentleman :3

 Photo by Hachiko Cosplay Thanks again Hachi!

Making Officer Jenny/Growlithe

The Officer Jenny cosplay was made entirely by me. I was so excited to make this since she has always been one of my favorite characters. Out of the whole cosplay I think my favorite thing I made is the hat! I use stiff interfacing covered in fabric and spray painted some buttons to go on the side of the visor and the pockets on the shirt. I made the star out of polymer clay and spray painted that as well. The visor of the hat was made using a recycled plastic sheet from a document cover (yay cosplay recycling!). I used a simple sew pattern for the skirt (it was so simple I probably could have figured it out myself if I had even tried..) which I had to alter. I completely hand drafted the pattern for the top. The pouch was altered from a thrift store purse I found, and I sewed the gloves as well. My wig is from Arda :) For Growllithe I actually made the hoodie and undershirt using a hand drafted pattern. My boyfriend was working on making matching pants but we couldn't get those finished in time. They will be done for a photo shoot though, which will hopefully be soon! Michael's wig was style by both him and myself, mostly him. 
That's really all for Officer Jenny. I didn't make a big write up because it was such a simple cosplay but if you have any questions don't hesitate to ask!

 
We got some really positive feedback, and someone even tried to propose to me with a Zubat, which was quite interesting. Besides walking around and posing for pictures, I participated in a panel for my friend Geoffrey, who hosted a Cosplay Life Drawing Panel. I have to say posing in those high heel pumps completely still for 5-10 minutes increments was quite an ordeal but totally worth it! 

My friend Jas was in the panel and he did a few sketches of me that were incredible as always

His artistic talent never ceases to amaze me. He actually had a table at Motaku for his art. It was unfortunately the last time he would have an art table at a con, but you can still check out his art HERE! If you want any of his fan art prints go get them fast because he is about to get rid of them all!


I also got to spend time with my main lady Linda! She went as her Jigglypuff Gijinka. Together we all looked pretty adorable!

Here's a picture my good friend Bethanie snapped of us posing for a video.

Photo by Bethanie W. Do not use without permission

All in all Motaku was pretty fun. I only had one complaint which was that I had purchased my day badge for 25 dollars, but not once while I was going around the convention was I ever checked for it. I'm not saying that I would have not purchased the band to get in had I known that, but it does make it a little frustrating when no one attempts to check it when they are suppose too, because that means that someone could just not buy a badge and get in wherever they want while you paid good money to do it the honest way. There weren't even people at the door for a lot of the panels and rooms to check. Maybe Motaku had a staff shortage or something, but I hope it's improved on next year. With that said, I do hope to attend again next year, but probably not for the full weekend again.

For the Future..

For the future there are going to be some changes. Basically from now on I will not be posting my cosplay plans in advanced until they are started and fully confirmed. I wrote a lot in a journal about this on my DA but to sum it up, I've been running into the issue of plans falling through on things, and also in all honesty, I suffer from cosplay ADHD where I get really excited about one cosplay and skip to the next. So for now, my future plans are to attend Nebraskon 2012. Badge is bought and everything! For that con I am currently planning 3 projects, one of them being a swimsuit. I will let everyone know later what those are once I'm sure they are happening. I have also started an armor build. I am working on making the Mark VI armor from Halo, which I started a while ago. I want to have it done in time for Halo 4's release in November (SO STOKED!!!). Again as soon as my cosplays are confirmed I'll be updating of course.

Any way I realized that was a long winded "try to catch up on everything post" but I hope you stuck with me through it without falling asleep.

Hope to have something to show you all soon!


-QK

Anime Central 2012: The Con of Epic Props

It’s time to write about ACEN!! Some of you probably know, but Anime Central or ACEN is a Chicago based con held at the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont IL. This year the con was April 27^th – 29^th, and it was my first time attending.  I was incredibly excited to go to this con because I had heard so much about it. I had also always wanted to go to Chicago and had never been there. Me and my friend Linda wanted to go all out for this since it was so big. The choice to do so ended up causing a lot of stress for us as you will see here soon.. 

As far as cosplay goes, I had originally planned 3 for it, Ayane from DOA, a secret one, and Black Gold Saw. Due to issues with time and other life issues in general, I was barely able to get BGS done in time so the other 2 didn’t happen. I’ll be doing them by the end of the year though. My friend Linda decided to go as strength. Her and I had been wanting to do BGS and Strength for a really long time. After deciding to do it for ACEN we randomly asked two of our other friends if they wanted to join and they actually said yes.  So we had the complete group! Linda would be Strength, our friend Tima would be Black Rock Shooter, Our friend Lulu would be Dead Master, and I would be Black Gold Saw. Getting to cosplay with such talented people was so exciting and also stressful. I didn’t want people to be like, “WOW those three cosplayers are amazing! But what’s with that fourth one in the goofy horns and sword??”

I worked on BGS as much as possible before the con. I still had to take a bunch of stuff with me to finish it at the con though. I barely got it presentable. For that reason I will not be doing a write up on it for a while, because I plan to go back and redo A LOT of stuff.  I apologize, but I do not want to tell people how to make something that is not finished.

Joining us on our trip was our always reliable and fun Nam, the talented Artist Jaz, and our good friend Michael. Jaz had an art table and got me and Linda badges for it. We occasionally came and sat with him or watched the booth if he needed to use the bathroom or eat. If I haven’t already said it a million times, go check out my friends art. He is incredible. Unfortunately he is retired now from Artist Alleys, due majorly to this con itself, but you can still see his work. I hope one day he gets back into it.

We left Wednesday before the con at midnight so that we could get to Chicago early Thursday morning and explore the city a little before Friday. The one thing we were all aware of when we left was..

 

It was going to be a tight fit.

Funny thing about cosplaying characters with giant props is somehow you have to get them to the con. We barely fit in Nam’s van.

That was before my sword was shoved in..

We slept most of the ride, except for when we all woke up because it looked like we entered Silent Hill outside. Seriously it was the scariest shit. It was like 2:00 in the morning and we were surrouned by this thick fog outside. We couldn’t get pictures of it with our camera’s either. I was half expecting to see Pyramid Head dragging his Sword across the highway somewhere up ahead…

"Dear god NOOOO"

Another interesting thing to note that I saw, was this really weird Church in the middle of no where with a neon cross and sign. I could have sworn it was the inspiration for Lady Gaga’s son “Electric Chapel.” So strange..

Anyway..

Nam took the liberty of taking pictures of us all passed out. there is Jaz and then me.

  

  

Then there's Michael and Linda..

 

 Michael wasn’t thrilled with Nam’s picture taking. Hehe ^^

When we got to Chicago we got settled in and then it was..

ADVENTURE TIME!!

I’d always wanted to see CHICAGO!!!

For our adventure we took the subway! Which was an adventure by itself!!

I had never rode on a subway before. It was pretty neat and it made me wish Kansas City would get a better public transportation system (it’ll never happen). And I only felt like I was going to die a few times! HAHA jk, though I did get hit on by this really creepy guy while waiting on one platform.

While I was riding the subway I saw something interesting on the walls..

Hell yeah!

First we went to China Town for lunch. I love food so much, and there is so much good food in Chicago.. After that we made it over to the Navy Pier. There we rode the giant Ferris wheel. Nam decided to share a piece of food with a seagull and as a result we got chased all the way down the Pier..

I’m smiling but that seagull is harassing me off to the side …

 The View from the Ferris wheel.  It was cold >.>

 After our adventured filled day we turned in for the night.

The next day was the first day of the con. I wore my Alice Silk Maiden cosplay again since I didn’t make anything else new. It was retired after this con.  Linda went as an adorable Jigglypuff Gijinka, and Michael went as Ky from Guilty gear

And Nam went as Nam hehe~

I didn’t get a whole lot of pictures at the con of others because I only had my phone and it takes forever to get pictures. Almost no one recognized me as Alice (Big Surprise!). A few people did though and that made t worth it.

I always have to get pictures with Spartans

Money’s on I-No. Sorry Michael..

Not much else to show for Friday. We got some AMAZING sushi that night.

God I love sushi.. 

Then it was the big day!!

Saturday was the day we wore our Black Rock Shooter cosplays. They were barely done in time but we did it. Nam was kind enough to snap some pictures of us getting ready.

 You can see how enthused I was about it..

Linda cut the bangs for my wig the day of, while I sat in the bathroom lookin all creepy.

And on with the horns.

BEST STRENGTH EVA!!

 As you can see, we always like to travel comfortably..

 I took us a bit but we got there!!

Poor Linda had a terrible time carrying those bad boys around. she looked awesome though!

Our whole group was signed up for the Masquerade. After wondering around for a while mingling, we made our way to cosplay staging where we me up with Tima and Lulu!! They both looked amazing!!

 

After arriving at the auditorium for staging, we went through a 4 hour process of getting ready and in position for the contest. 

 So much waiting :(

They had to move us off to the side of the stage due to our large props, so we chilled out behind the curtain. 

 The whole gang backstage! From the left you have Lulu, Linda, Me, then Tima!!

4 hours of waiting later, we were JUST about to start the show, when the fire alarm went off..

After arriving at the auditorium for staging, we went through a 4 hour process of getting ready and in position for the contest. They had to move us off to the side of the stage due to our large props, so we chilled out behind the curtain. 4 hours of waiting later, we were JUST about to start the show, when the fire alarm went off..

Oh yes. That infamous fire alarm..

Here's a video I found of the madness. I'm actually in it at about 9:02 trying to make my way back inside with Michael.

If you were there you know about this. Someone on one of the upper floors of the hotel thought it would be funny to unload a fire extinguisher. The fumes produced by the extinguisher rose to the top of the sealing and set off the smoke detector, forcing an evacuation of 10,000 people...

Needless to say, I was not amused.

Trying to be evacuated with that many people was a huge pain in my cosplay. We spent what felt like forever in the cold waiting to be let back inside. When we got in it was a disaster. People who had waited for hours in line to get to watch the contest had lost their seats, and staff struggled to gather up all the cosplay contestants. When it was all said and done, they were forced to cut the skit portion of masquerade; something we could all tell really upset the staff. That being said, Acen’s masquerade was by far the most well run Masquerade I have ever been a part of (which may not be that much) but seriously, they did fantastic. We were all really impressed by how kind and accommodating they were, and by how well they handled the bad situation.

The show (sorta) went on..

Here are a few photos of us on stage :)

Photo by Jolt Photography

 Tima as Black Rock Shooter
Tima's deviantART 

Photo by Jolt Photography

 Linda as Black Rock Strength
Linda's deviantART 

Photo by Jolt Photography

Myself as Black Gold Saw

 

Photo by Jolt Photography

 Lulu as Dead Master
Lulu's deviantART 

 Photo by Rachael Nadine

 All of us together! that is the best all in one group shot I could find. Our large props made us difficult to photograph. You can see us all in a video though..

 

Our walk starts at about 2:55

Linda won a judges choice in Masters! Go Linda!

The walk was a blast. I was so glad we did it. After that though, we were exhausted. We decided to call it a day shortly after that and went home to change, and apply bandages to our blisters..

Then guess who came out to play..

 HAHA yes that’s right Rainbow slut. Linda really wanted to do some Karaoke so we did

Karaoke time!! We may or may not have consumed some alcohol at this point.

 Okay, alcohol was involved..

The last day of the con, we actually didn’t spend any time at the convention itself. A few of us were tired (and a little hung over) so we decided to go see Chicago a little more. Everyone wanted to go to the Shed Aquarium which I was really excited for. I love fishies and aquatic life ^.^ 

Nam has a way with taking awesome pictures.

 After that we rode the subway back to the hotel, went and helped Jaz take down his artist table, and got some grub before we made our way home.

 KOREAN!! So much amazing food I don’t know what to do with myself..

After that it was time to go home. Which was really sad because we all had such an amzing time. I have such awesome friends, and they are so fun to travel with. I was a little bummed I didn’t spend more time at the con. We were all so excited to go to Chicago we ended up splitting the time there between tourism and going to the con. Next year, ( and there will be a next year) we are going to stay at the con the whole time. We want to take a separate trip to Chicago sometime though. I want to extend a big thanks to Nam for taking all the aesome pictures. Most of the ones in this post are taken by him. I don't know what we would do with him!! ^.^ I won’t all be traveling to any major con’s this summer. I think our next big group trip is Nebraskon 2012! We are all kinda hurting for time, money or resources right now. I can’t wait to do it again though. Next year we are going to hit it hard ACEN!!

 CHICAGO! I WILL BE BACK FOR YOU!!

-QK