The first half of the month seemed to be running pretty smooth - I was putting in work on Pepper and Mai and Hawkeye and Izabel and my AN back-up costume,  and I even finished up 2 lingering handmade Christmas gifts... but I seem to have hit a wall this week. BOO. 

A lot of my friends are going to be in Gatineau this weekend for G-Anime, but I'm stuck at home, so I decided that I will to go to a cosplay skate. Despite being into cosplay for over a decade, I have never managed to actually make it out to cosplay skating. There has been at least one every winter at various Toronto-and-area ice rinks, run by various groups, and this weekend it's the X-Men of Toronto who are organizing the meet-up. The "XMOT" is a X-Men cosplay group (wow, really, Mai??) that often does charity and outreach work, and so it makes sense that it's not just a cosplay skate event, but they are also collecting items of warm clothing for local homeless people. Check it out (and keep a chilly sloth company for a bit) if you have time on Saturday ^_^
Here's the Facebook event page.

I'm also going to be putting the finishing touches (I hope) on my Izabel costume this weekend, since I'm going to be wearing her for FrostCon on Jan 31. I've replaced the wig with a more accurate one, and now I need to make other small adjustments to the rest of the costume, like better makeup, minor repairs to the guts, alterations on the wrist bands, etc. Probably nothing that people will actually notice, of course XD. But since I'm shooting with Ailes Noir Photography (for the first time ever) and possibly doing a little project with The Video Ninja, I want to look my best. (Not that I don't always want to look my best when in costume, but... you know what I mean :P)

And because so many of my posts lately have been walls of text, have some photos of the styling progression on my replacement Izabel wig, until I get around to posting some new cosplay shots!

Last week I posed about cosplay plans, how about where I'm going to wear the stuff this week? 

I went "on hiatus" from conventions after ConBravo last year, going to only a couple small events since. The break has been good for me - but I miss conventions, and I miss having a reason to dress up (especially since going out for photo shoots doesn't work so well in Canada in the winter). What does that mean for 2015? Well, I have only a few confirmed conventions, but there's quite a few others which are "maybe" - depending on timing, other friends' attending, and cos-progress.

Just this week I decided to go back to FrostCon (I attempted to go last time but it was intensely crowded and so we only stayed long enough to take some photos in the only quiet corner in the venue). I'm apprehensive that I will be uncomfortable again this year, but I really want to cosplay and I just booked a shoot, so there's no backing out now! (planned cosplay: Izabel)

I'm also definitely going to Kitchener Comic Con in February. I haven't been to a small-scale "comic con" in almost a decade, so I hope I like this one better than the last! ^_^ I'm sure it will help that I'm much more interested in comics now than I was in 2006. It also helps that KCC is offering free admission this year, though you can make a small donation ahead of time to help bring in bigger guests, etc. (planned cosplay: ???)

C2E2 in Chicago will be next - I like to travel somewhere new at least once a year or so, and this year I picked C2E2. While I'm excited about some of their guests, I'm more looking forward to travelling, hanging out, and cosplaying with Ragz, Elemental, Chris & Carrie, Chibik3r0, and of course KW Iron Man. And whoever else I can meet! (planned cosplay: Izabel, Kate Bishop, ???)

Anime North is, as always, Anime North. Probably staffing the masquerade green room again. But maybe, just maybe, I'll enter instead. (planned cosplay: Midna, Mai, ???)

SouSho Sci-Fi Festival is another first year con, and another big travel convention for me, but for SouSho it looks like I will be attending as a cosplay guest! I don't have all the details yet since it's still a while away, but I will be there with KW Iron Man doing our Pepperony thing and experiencing Nova Scotia for the first time! I really hope it will be awesome since I'm going to SouSho instead of Colossal this year.(planned cosplay: Pepper Potts)

Right now there are a few other local cons on my radar, but which I'm not committed to yet, like Ad-Astra and ConBravo. And I also have a return to NYCC in mind, but budget is preventing me from making a decision this far ahead. I wish I could go to one of the Ottawa conventions too, but looks like timing and budget are in the way there as well, since they all seem to be shortly before or after other commitments. 

I was tagged by Ragz to post my 2015 cosplay plans... I posted something similar already in December, but this is a more... complete... list.

Top row is actual goals for 2015: "Modern Mai" from Avatar fan art for whenever (with KW Iron Man as Zuko), Extremis Pepper (have to get off my butt and finish the glove), cover-art Kate Bishop from Hawkguy with Chris & Carrie and friends' Hawkguy group and/or Brian's Wiccan aiming for C2E2, Twili Midna from Twilight Princess/Hyrule Warriors for Anime North (dream costume; WHY WON'T YOU MAKE YOURSELF???), and Nightingale from Atomic Robo to wear with Featherweight as Robo (pants and boots done, need to finish the jacket, wig, and hat).

Second row is stuff I don't even have hopes of finishing this year, but since I have stocked fabric/wigs/etc for all of them if I find myself with free time will be putting work into them. L-R: Lolita Thor, Journey protagonist, Ygritte, Espeon, Miz Mishtal. Realistic completion on second row is 2016-2017 - just in time for Costume Con to return to Toronto! lol

I think everyone I would have tagged already has been, but if you haven't: feel free to pile on (and leave a link in the comments ^_^ )