Project Castlevania SOTN: More photos!

Not much going on that is new in the life department. Been productive at work, but less so with my craft. In between figuring out my next large-scale project, I've been touching up photos from the SOTN July shoot. So here are a few more! If you enjoy what you see, please show your support by giving my facebook page a like. Thank you~  (‘∀’●)♡

Elysium Sans Cosplay (Facebook)

Elysium Sans (Deviant Art) 

I really appreciate anyone who gives me encouragement in this hobby. It means a lot to me. ❤ Ely

Project Castlevania SOTN: (Our photoshoot)

Hey everyone! Things have been fairly relaxed since my last post. Post Anime Expo, we're back to our regular lives. Well, mostly!

I really wanted to share some images from our Castlevania: Symphony of the Night shoot from early on in July. We're half considering another shoot (because there were plenty of shots that we didn't get, and we wished we had!) but it'll likely be later this year, once the Los Angeles weather is cooler.

If you like what you see, please check out my dA and my Facebook page below~

Elysium Sans Cosplay (Facebook)

Elysium Sans (Deviant Art)

 

My best to all of you, and stay tuned for our next major project! (I update more often on my Facebook fan page, so do follow me there if you feel so inclined!)

Feeling pretty amazing after another successful Anime Expo! Haven't seen a whole lot of pictures of us circulating, but, we had an intense two-hour photoshoot with a photographer that I hired for the event. From what I saw of the photos, they were amazing! We'll be unveiling those a little later in the week once we receive them.

In the meantime, please enjoy this lovely shot taken by David Ngo (http://www.dtjaaaam.com/), and also an amazing solo shot of Alucard taken by Somatic-Studios!  https://www.facebook.com/somaticstudios

Cheers and will be back with more photos of Maria & Alucard! 

❤ Ely

And after a long break...

Alucard is FINISHED. HOLY BALLS. D:!! I can barely recall this even happening, and basically took ever ounce of brain power to engineer, construct and finish.

✞ The poet shirt and cravat are 100% cotton batiste.

✞ The waistcoat is made from 100% dupioni silk, with hand-set nickle pyramid studs (A lot of patience with that on my part, lol), nickle buckles and vintage metallic lace circa 1940.

✞ The frock coat is 100% velveteen (outer), interlined with black linen, and lined with this amazing silk that has a beautiful paisley/filigree pattern. The frock coat collar is 100% silk textured brocade, and the bias trim down the front of the coat was made by hand from the same material. Finally the looping details are 100% cotton trim in antique gold, coupled with brass enameled buttons.

✞ The cloak is matte duchess satin, lined with a gunmetal crepe satin. The collar was a feat of engineering, and I managed to get the right stand without using any wire or boning -- just a very stiff camel hair interfacing! (*___* Amazing stuff!!) The cloak clips were hand-cast by yours truly, and the sword was purchased, and decorated with large crystals to mimic the 'jewel sword' from the game.

Note: I really wanted to avoid using anything actually metallic for the trims and accents for the frock coat, so this is why it's only on the waistcoat (vest). Didn't want it to become too shiny and distracting, or detract from the other details of the costume overall. ~(^o^)/

Soooo happy with this, you guys, and looking forward to sharing more photos of it on my model come July! Cheers, and be on the look-out for updates for Maria Renard!

❤ Ely

Alucard SOTN progress!

I'm in the process of making a Facebook fan page, so if you're looking to get more frequent updates on my progress, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/ElysiumSansCosplay and click "Like"!

I'm making steady progress with Alucard lately.  Not without some minor frustrations here and there, but that's to be expected with any new project.

For now, I'll post some updated pictures~ of course as I get closer to finishing, there will be many new updates (Both for Alucard and Maria) and photos to share! A lot of these are WIP, (Especially the frock coat, as it's still being tailored) but you get the idea! I feel like this will be completed pretty soon as everything is cut and sewn for the most part.  The cloak is not pictured, because it's collarless and still needs some work. Anyhoo, enjoying the journey so far, and really can't wait to see it worn!

♥ Ely

Yikes, where have I been?

Goodness, I've been so busy with life that I've had hardly any energy to keep up with my blog lately.  Lately being... well, a few months.  Yikes!

I've been hoarding all things needed for our Castlevania: SOTN cosplays, and have pretty well finished 95% off my shopping list.

Just a quick little post, I made some custom resin casts for Alucard's cloak, and they came out quite beautifully! Surprisingly only took a day or two to build the positive, make the silicone mold, and cast the resin.  I've also cast the buckles that run down the middle of his waistcoat (vest), but I'm still experimenting a bit with them yet.

Woo, silvery clasp-y goodness!

Anyways, I'll be tackling the vest once I've completed Alucard's undress (His poet shirt!) and then from there, the frock coat and cloak.  I haven't skimped on the quality of materials one bit.  I'm using cotton bastiste for his shirt, black silk dupioni for the vest, 100% black velveteen for his frock, and silk satin for his cloak.  I even made it a point to order fancy filigree lining for the inside of his frock coat, as well as a pretty amazing textured silk for the collar.  Needless to say, I'm beyond excited to see this through!

Cheers for now,

♥ Ely

August Ramblings~

Hello everyone!

Since July, I've been quite busy.  I picked up a part-time job, (To help curb my living expenses) and as soon my portfolio is ready I will be seeking out full-time, field-related work.  I am set on applying to various costume houses in the area, in the hopes they will pick me up for an entry-level position. Aside from the part-time work, I've just been taking it easy, trying to gather my bearings and be prepared to take my career into my own hands.  My amazing husband helped create a very simple online portfolio site for me, which is great since I would have no freaking clue how to do it myself!

As for job searching -- I'm not as scared about it as I thought I'd be.  Thankfully I'm in a stable enough financial situation where I'm not in some huge rush to get a job right away, or settle for something not to my liking.  Some final things I have left to do are write my resume, bio, and prepare some business cards.

In other (nerdy) news, I have new costumes already picked out for this 2012/2013!  After my personal success with Shanoa (I will have to go back and post the final tid-bits and construction notes on it), I've decided to run with Castlevania again -- but this time, from one of my all-time favourites from the series, if not one of my favourite games period.  Castlevania, Symphony of the Night!

Maria Renard -- SOTN

Back in 2004, I bought 70% of the materials I needed for Maria Renard.  I must have lost interest or felt intimidated by the costume.  Recently, I pulled all of the material out (Kept hanging on to it!) and needless to say, she's being put together right now! I have already completed her sash, as well as her 18th century shoes.  (Found a great pair on eBay, and paid only $15 for 'em!)  The shoes came out quite beautifully -- and I finally overcame my fears of covering shoes in fabric.  (I'm going to put together a tutorial of sorts for those who might want to try it.)  In my opinion, it looks much nicer than just painting shoes, plus, you don't have to worry about cracking or creasing paint, varnishing, etc.  I took some slight creative liberty with them, and added some extra trims.

Alucard -- SOTN

I am super fan-girling too, because my husband has agreed to be Alucard.  This means I can finally take on its construction (Always been a dream of mine) knowing that I can actually handle the difficulties it might cause me.  Honestly though, it won't be too difficult, but I really want to take my time with it and make it stunning.  For now though, I'll finish off Maria, and once it is completed, I will start on Alucard.

I know that two costumes doesn't seem like 'big plans' for the remainder of this year, but considering that I will likely be juggling a full-time job and my hobby, it'll be enough! Don't want to get too ahead of myself here.

Love and happy cosplaying,

♥ Ely