Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Bonjour one last time in 2015, my friends. :)

This post has been a long while in coming, mostly because I decided to go hay-wire with the videos, but also because of Christmas (*happy sigh*), getting together with friends during my time back in TN, and working on moving to my family's new house in Virginia (which we just bought last week!!!).

But enough with the excuses, right?  You all know that Star Wars: VII finally released two weeks ago (I do hope you've seen it by now! It's suuuuuch a fun movie), and that I cosplayed as Rey for opening night.  Well, I've finally got the pictures and videos you are looking for, right here in this post. ;)  Nothing fancy or high quality, just having fun with media and dressing up for the premiere. :)

Now, before I say anything more, I just want to talk about THE MOVIE for a sec.  So, I saw it again yesterday, and it was even better the second time.  It's so much fun, so exciting, so visually enticing... I love the new characters so much, and it's so great to see the old ones again.  Yeah, it has a few issues, such as the fact that the story is somewhat of a re-hash of A New Hope, but I think that's only because Disney wanted to play it safe with a tried-and-true formula instead of branching off into really new creative territory.  I'm okay with this, because it made for a great re-entry into the Star Wars universe, and I'm sure that we'll see plenty of creative storytelling in future movies (both the next two in this trilogy, and the spin-offs).  With that in mind, I can enjoy The Force Awakens for what it is: the magical, lovingly crafted re-entry into a galaxy far, far away for a modern audience, paving the way for many movies to come. ^_^

And now, back to the business at hand. ;)  First off, a little video I filmed while making (quite literally) the final stitches on my Rey costume, the day before The Force Awakens premiered in theaters:

Then, one more sleep and it was premiere day! So I made a time-lapse of getting ready with makeup and hair for the cosplay (note that I decided to not do my hair exactly as Rey has hers in the movie, but rather did an "inspired by" style):

And lastly, I made a mini vlog of the rest of the night, featuring my two sisters and my dad (who, like the great father that he is, came to the premiere with us. ;D):

Aaaaand one last pic, in case you wanted a clearer shot of my costume.  I took this the day before the premiere, just for fun when I tried it on for the last time (which is why my hair isn't fixed).  I'm hoping to do a photoshoot with the costume at some point, but no promises. ;)

Well, I hope you enjoyed hearing about my Star Wars adventures as much as I enjoyed telling about them. Until next year, my friends! I can't wait to write up a "looking back on 2015" post... so you shall hear from me soon. :)

Sneak Peak: Rey and the Star Wars VII Premiere

I know I promised you all posts yesterday and tomorrow, but I've been so crazy busy with finishing up my costume, school, and moving into our new house (!!!) that I've just had no time.

But tonight was The Force Awakens premiere, and I'm just exploding from happiness.  The movie, wearing our costumes, the whole experience was just amazing.  I had SUCH a fun time.  It was a night I will remember for a long while. ^_^

And now, it is close to midnight, and I am exhausted - plus I have a whole day of packing and moving ahead of me tomorrow, and then driving back home to Tennessee on Saturday.  But I wanted to share with you just a little sneak peak picture from the premiere night of my Rey costume -- with a very epic Kylo Ren:

I'm so happy to finally be able to show you my full costume, and I absolutely CANNOT WAIT to share all the other pictures, videos, details, and thoughts from the night - but I shall have to wait until this weekend for that. ;)

For now, have you seen the movie yet???  Planning to???  Did you dress up???  What did you think of the movie??? (no spoilers!)  Can you hardly wait for the next one???? ;D

Week 16 - [Almost] Done

The 16th week of my college career has come and gone.  Classes for the four courses I have remaining wrapped up on Wednesday, and finals week officially began on Friday - which was also the day I had my first final exam.

As of Friday, at 12:30 pm, my "thorn in the flesh," Philosophy 201, was behind me, and I was free (for the weekend, at least).  I must admit, I will, in some ways, miss it.  I met some super cool people, had some fun times in class, and, though I hate to admit it, did learn quite a bit of practical philosophy.  So, though I am relieved it is over, I do appreciate the time I spent taking the course.

You know, that would be the second time God has put me in that type of situation...  I suppose I am just a reluctant learner. ;)

So, with Philosophy behind me, I feel like I can finally breathe easy (though the 59 definitions I had to memorize are still swimming around in my head...).  I still have three other finals to go, but they won't be anywhere near as trying as that one for philosophy.  Come to think of it, my schedule worked out rather well, actually, because I ended up having one exam every day of finals week... that makes my OCD self rather happy. ;D

Friday night was the big, final event of the semester, Christmas Coffeehouse.  Basically a sort of concert/talent show, featuring music, dancing, lip-sync battles, and videos made by students, all based on the theme "Falalalala."  It was a great night, lots of fun and super crazy loud.  This was one of my favorites of the night -- it's just too funny.  Oh, and don't forget to watch 'til the very end...

Now it's time for some cosplay updaaaaaates...

So.  Belt is taking shape, after spending an eon of time working on the pattern to be just right...

Tried my hand at dying with coffee for the first time, and it worked fabulously!!  Big fan of coffee dying.  It gave the perfect aged, distressed look -- exactly what I was going for.  I did this to the arm wraps, which are simply two rolls of cotton gauze bandage (which look exactly like what was used for the real costume), as well as to the shirt I made, to give it a bit of an aged look, as I wasn't entirely happy with the color.

arm wraps

shirt

I'll save the end results until the reveal of the final costume. ;D

One last thing I did for the costume this week, was do a makeup and hair test.  Both turned out quite well - even though I don't look exactly like Daisy Ridley, and I'm planning on doing my hair slightly different than Rey's (in three little buns rather than half ponytails, which I just think looks odd.. xD).  I'm planning on making a video of the hair/makeup process on premiere day, maybe, possibly, hopefully.  'Cause those kinds of videos are just fun. :D

Next week!  A change to the posting schedule:  You should expect another post on Wednesday (hopefully, at least - unless I'm hard at work finishing my costume ;D) detailing the official end of the semester and all the finishing touches on my Rey costume.  Then, I'll hopefully get another one up sometime after Thursday with all the events of the Star Wars premiere!

Now... how 'bout you?  Super stoked for The Force Awakens, riiiiight??? :D

The Fifteenth Week, College and Cosplay

There's only 1 and 1/2 weeks left in my first semester of college.  It's absolutely crazy, but I'm so excited to finally be nearing the end... and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. :D  Those are the two topics of interest for today... ;)

Classes are going quite well.  Two have finished already, so I've just got four classes remaining - and I don't have any big projects left, just finals.  Yay! :)

So, in PHIL201, we're almost done studying philosophy of religion; I finished making the apparel project (pajama pants) in FACS222 on Friday; we've just got one last class period for CRST290 (History of Life), which will just be a review of the semester; and we just finished watching the 1989 Batman in CINE101 (not a huuuge fan of it, but for an 80s film and the first serious superhero movie, it was fairly good).

Now, as for my Rey costume, things are going just swimmingly. :D

I got around to buying some faux leather at Joann for the belt earlier this week, and I'm super pleased with it.  Though it was described as suede on the label, it's actually got a half-leather half-suede finish, which I thought was a really neat look, and lent itself to looking nice and old and distressed.  Plus, it's the perfect color and weight, AND it was on clearance.  Basically a total win.

Thursday night, I made the leather cuff (when I should have been working on a paper for philosophy instead, and ended up staying up until 2am to finish that buuuut regardless...both got done... xD), and I'm super pleased with how it turned out:

Isn't it just the coolest design??  I'm obsessed with it.

I also started work on a template for the leather belt, but I'm only about half way done with that:

Welp guys, only 11 days until the end of my semester, and 12 days until The Force Awakens.  So hold tight.  This next week-and-a-half is going to be crazy.

See ya next Sunday. :)