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kelldar.com

  • when i wore arwen to school
    a day at the races,  Blog,  costumes

    when i wore arwen to school

    November 1, 2002 /

    Yesterday was OK. I wore Arwen all day… it was ok to work in, the heels gave me a little trouble, and I kept stepping on my dress. I got to school and found out there had been a threat that morning – they have found a live ammo clip right outside the back of the school with a note…

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    kelldar
  • Halloween 2002 & Arwen thoughts
    Blog,  costumes

    Halloween 2002 & Arwen thoughts

    November 1, 2002 /

    I’m very happy with my Arwen costume!! 🙂 Some problems I had with it: 1) Hand sewing came undone again, this time on the belt buckle. It didn’t come all the way off but started slipping. Hand Sewing was starting to come undone on the sleeve. 2) Stepping on the skirt. No wonder women in the olden days didn’t do…

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    kelldar
  • Art Post: Happy Halloween!
    Blog,  my art,  sundowner

    Art Post: Happy Halloween!

    October 31, 2002 /

    I wasn’t going to do a halloween picture last year, but the night before I decided what the heck, and did this. Instead of just telling you to guess who everyone is, I’ll just tell you. Qudiar – Obi-Wan from Star Wars Kyte – Kero-chan from Card Captor Sakura Madison – King Arthur from Monty Python and the Holy Grail…

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    kelldar
  • sketchblog: harry, ron and hermione
    Blog,  fanart from magical wizard series,  my art

    sketchblog: harry, ron and hermione

    October 30, 2002 /

    rough doodle of the trio.

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    kelldar
  • when i was super bored
    a day at the races,  Blog,  costumes

    when i was super bored

    October 30, 2002 /

    I was this bored in class today: I’m so excited for Halloween! I’m going to wear Arwen all day, then wear Hermione that night ’cause I’m going to the trunk or treat thing for kids with my aunt. I figure I’ll go for the recognition instead of warmth… ha. I’ll take a pic of me in Hermione, ’cause you’ll really…

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    kelldar
  • Arwen is done, and Lum pic
    Blog,  costumes

    Arwen is done, and Lum pic

    October 29, 2002 /

    Hmm… Is it crossplaying when you’re cosplaying as a guy who crossdresses as a girl? Just wondering… On that note, I was rereading Ranma novels the other night… one day I might make an Ukyou costume. Ukyou is cool. Oh yeah Arwen is done. This weekend I am going to finish Sakura, too. Woo! Ooh look a new pic of…

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    kelldar
  • Arwen Necklace!
    Blog,  costumes

    Arwen Necklace!

    October 29, 2002 /

    Yeah my necklace came! It’s pretty good for a cheap little thing! Almost finished with thye sleeves… bottom of the dress is finished, buckle is finished, cords are finished but need to be trimmed up a bit. HEe I can’t wait for thursday!!

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    kelldar
  • when kevin had a million apologies
    a day at the races,  Blog,  my art

    when kevin had a million apologies

    October 28, 2002 /

    I *told* you guys to take care of things for me while I’m gone, and look what happens, Richard Harris dies. Anyway. I feel like I’ve been cut off from the world for the past three days. We were in the Ozarks, doing a lot of nothing. I didn’t think I’d have much of anything to write about, but I…

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    kelldar
  • when i was super bored
    a day at the races,  Blog

    when i had ya’ll watch the monkeys

    October 25, 2002 /

    I’ll be back Monday. Watch the monkeys for me while I’m gone. And: reminder to me to write about the weird black thing I got in the mail. And that poster I had to do.

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    kelldar
  • when i was super bored
    a day at the races,  Blog

    when i decided not to be an adult

    October 24, 2002 /

    I am not going to mess with finding that guy today. I went yesterday and bought Kodocha 3 and 4. That is the cutest comic. I got a free “Manga Sampler” with them… I want to read Marmalade Boy. I paid a bunch on my credit card yesterday. Go me! Oh and I got my first checks ever… they are…

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    kelldar
  • when i talked about school
    a day at the races,  Blog

    when i talked about school

    October 23, 2002 /

    Oh, and I made a 97 on my Anthropology midterm! go me! She started writing a chart of all the grades on the board… and it was like, 98, 97, 86, 79,78,77,76,75,74… and I’m sitting there, all like, “oh god, I hope I made a 77. I bet I made a 77. Oh please have let me made a 77…”…

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    kelldar
  • sketchblog: harry, ron and hermione
    anime fanart,  Blog,  my art

    sketchblog: super sailor jupiter

    October 23, 2002 /

    art reference for my upcoming Eternal Sailor Jupiter costume!

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    kelldar
  • Arwen still not finished
    Blog,  costumes

    Arwen still not finished

    October 23, 2002 /

    Didn’t finish Arwen yet. Still! I’m not happy with the sleeves, and that’s holding up progress. Plus my necklace hasn’t come. 🙁

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    kelldar
  • sketchblog: harry, ron and hermione
    Blog,  misc fanart,  my art

    sketchblog: amalthea

    October 22, 2002 /

    art reference for my amalthea costume I’m planning on doing!

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    kelldar
  • when i was super bored
    a day at the races,  Blog

    when i found Are You Being Served fanfic

    October 21, 2002 /

    I had to share. Trading Spaces fanfiction and Are You Being Served? fanfic. OMG Was watching BBC last night and caught part of Manchild with Anthony Stewart Head in it. I only got to see like, 5 minutes ’cause dad came in and kicked me out of the living room. Will have to watch for it later…

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    kelldar
  • when i was super bored
    a day at the races,  Blog

    when i spend too much time at the fabric store

    October 21, 2002 /

    went to the RAT Halloween carnival. Kristie’s nephew says I am “the coolest person in the world” because “Kell knows everything.” I won 2 cakes and a pie. Woo. Finally have a design for Bad Candy… hopefully can start on it tonight unless dad kicks me off the comp. Cath went to go see… Aida? Is that the name? She…

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    kelldar
  • Arwen mostly done
    Blog,  costumes

    Arwen mostly done

    October 21, 2002 /

    Arwen is mostly done. Haven’t done the underskirt or hemmed the bottom of the dress yet, and I still have to make the white sleeves, but that’s it. It’s so pretty! Next we’re going to get White Utena, Sakura and Amalthea done. Then concentrate on my two main costumes for Katsu.

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    kelldar
  • sketchblog: harry, ron and hermione
    anime fanart,  Blog,  my art

    sketchblog: asuka

    October 21, 2002 /

    art reference for my upcoming Asuka costume!

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    kelldar
  • sketchblog: harry, ron and hermione
    anime fanart,  Blog,  my art

    sketchblog: aluminum siren

    October 20, 2002 /

    Costume reference art, for my upcoming Aluminum Siren costume

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    kelldar
  • when we took Lina pics
    a day at the races,  Blog,  costumes

    when we took Lina pics

    October 19, 2002 /

    Haw Haw. The rest of the pics from thursday night are up! Here’s some favs!

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    kelldar
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My Costume History Day 84: Random costumes circa 2 My Costume History Day 84: Random costumes circa 2003-2010

This post is to talk about some pre and post 2006 costumes that are just silly little things that don’t warrant their own post.

Jubilee from X-Men, for Dcon 03. I put this together for my cousin to wear to Dcon, but of course I had to put it on too. Bought the yellow jacket on ebay, made boot covers out of blue knit, and spray painted a pair of sunglasses. Wig was my Yuffie wig.

Dazzler from X-Men, made in late 04. I had bought this bodysuit for a project that didn’t pan out, so I turned it into Dazzler. Made the collar out of marine vinyl covered in silver lame, and the belt out of the same lame. Made the mask out of scraps and spray painted my childhood skates silver. I realized if I tried to wear this at a con with those skates, I’d break a leg LOL So I never wore it anywhere and these pics are all I have to document it. A few years ago most of it got thrown away when I discovered the skate wheels were crumbling into dust.

Random Elf from late 04 - my parents gave me this purple velvet for Christmas, and at first I was going to do Arwen’s hope gown, but couldn’t figure out the sleeves, so I made a cape instead. I’ve worn this with soooo many costumes over the years, so I think that was a good decision!

Spider-man swimsuit from SDCC 05 - I wanted a nerdy swimsuit. That didn’t exist back then, so made it with a Kwiksew pattern, red and blue spandex, and painted the lines on with fabric paint. Sadly the stretch has died in the fabric now and it’s unwearable.

Village Belle version 1 from Dcon 06 - Quick change version intended for a skit that didn’t happen. The back was so ugly I never wore it. I think it eventually got thrown away.

Casual Jean Grey from Halloween 09 - threw this together for Halloween at work. Sewed an X-Men symbol onto a black knit top I made. Wasn’t even hemmed, everything else from my closet.

Kiss the Girl Ariel from Halloween 2010 - also for work Halloween, this was my Briar Rose bodice and shirt with my village Belle skirt and my Phoenix wig with my Britan. Entirely made of other costume pieces LOL Once day I’ll dig it out and take real photos of it.
My Costume History Day 83: Dorothy from the Wizard My Costume History Day 83: Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz, for Halloween 2006

We had a cairn terrier named Kes at the time, and for a while we were going to do a Wizard of Oz group around her, even though she was wheaten cairn and not black. It never really worked out, but I eventually did decide to do Dorothy for Halloween in 2006.

There’s not a lot to this — it is straight up the Simplicity Dorothy pattern with no mods. Got the blue checkered fabric at Hancock, used a white cotton for the blouse with blue rickrack. Bought the ruby slippers, basket and stuffed Toto at a costume store, and added more sequins to the slippers.

Wore this Halloween night and it was fun and comfy. Of course took some pics with Kes. And then I didn’t touch it again for over 10 years LOL

In 2017 I was like, I need to get this costume catalogued shot on the backdrop, so I got it out, gave it a really thorough ironing and steaming (it was sooo wrinkled). I also updated the socks - I bought some stockings at Spirit Halloween and dyed them blue. I also decided I wanted to do the braided look instead of the hair down I’d done in 2006, but I knew my own hair braided wouldn’t look thick enough, so I braided my Belle wig. I really love how the backdrop photos turned out! And it made me kinda fall in love with this costume. (It also FIT me way better in 2017 than it did in 2006.) After that it became a regular rotation for options to wear around Halloween. Most recently I wore it to visit my grandma at her nursing home - her birthday was in October, so I’d usually go in costume because she loved to see my costumes, and her birthday being close to Halloween made that a good excuse LOL. This one was a great option for that because it wasn’t large or unwieldy to wear in that enviroment, and it’s something everybody recognizes. Unfortunately after that excursion, as we were walking back to the car, one of my ruby slippers completely fell apart LOL. Guess you can’t count on 20 year old costume shoes to last...!
My Costume History Day 82: Leia’s Hoth uniform fro My Costume History Day 82: Leia’s Hoth uniform from Star Wars, for Nashville Comic Fest 2006

A few posts back I talked about my Cloud City Escape Leia costume - of course, that was the basis for my Hoth Leia costume, since they are the same suit. I had intended to have Hoth Leia done for a con in Jan 2006, but ran out of time - but I did have the suit done, so I wore it as Cloud City Escape for several months before finally circling back around to finish the Hoth elements.

The vest is made out of some lightweight lining taffeta lined in cotton, with batting for the quilting - modified a basic vest pattern, adding the quilting stitching and changed up the collar shape. Added the pocket in the front - Chase made my badge and it just slides into the pocket.

The boots I bought from Delia’s LOL and I made the upper part out of two different grey faux suedes. They velcro closed over the existing boots. The gloves were vintage I bought on ebay.

This is one of my fav Leia costumes - it was one I was wanting to get around to doing for a while. It’s also one of my fav hairstyles to do. I’d wear this way more often - if it was more comfortable! I debuted it at the Nashville con in October 2006, and wore it to several more cons over the next few years, and some various Star Wars events, but it was never comfortable because of the suit. (Did an event on my own one night that I had to drive to and had to unzip the suit and take it off to the waist to drive there, because I couldn’t sit and drive with the suit choking me LOL) I did also finally get to do a SNOW shoot with it in 2021 - I was worried about the snow messing up these old boots (they are starting to make concerning cracking sounds when I wear them now), but I figured if they get messed up, that’s more impetus for me to finally remake this!

And yes, one of these days I AM going to remake this from the ground up. It’s long overdue. But I have to get around to my rebel briefing room/Endor remake first, because it’s even older and in even worse shape. One thing at a time...
My Costume History Day 81: custom mandalorian from My Costume History Day 81: custom mandalorian from Star Wars, made for Dragoncon 2006

My 501st garrison (Southern Outpost at the time) had all started making their own custom mandalorian kits. Chase had one too, so I wanted one for myself.

I made the vest out of some heavy black twill, with black pleather trim on the bottom edge, red piping, and red suede panels in the front. The undershirt and I pants I made out of a grey stretch knit which I weathered pretty extensively - I also added a bantha skull to the sleeve, and some more of the red suede panels to the side of the pants. The capes were my fav part - there are 2 layers, one of my leftover red suede, one of black suede, and one of a really cool distressed black chiffon. They are all attached at the shoulder of the vest with a button.

Chase made all of the armor for me - the chest plates and shoulder pieces are all heat formed plastic and velcro on. I think the knee pieces he already had from something else. The “gauntlets” are repainted and weathered shinguards. The belt I bought - Chase made my belt buckle, and added a holster and some other little greeblies to it. The helmet we bought online - maybe from someone on the RPF? - can’t remember. Chase painted and weathered it for me, and also added some lights. Modified a blaster and added a blade to it and used some scrap fabric to add some wrapping to it.

Debuted this at Dragoncon 2006 for the big mandalorian group pic we did in the bottom of the Hyatt (and right after, I changed into Huttslayer in the public bathroom right there for the Leia shoot in the same area LOL). It was a lot of fun — at one point while I was wearing it, two little boys came up and asked for a pic with me. After the pic, they said thanks and I said “you’re welcome” and they both screamed “IT’S A GIRL!” and ran away LOL.

I wanted to do some upgrades to this after, but never got around to it. I did dig it up and clean up a few things in 2017 and did a photoshoot after a snow storm, but besides that and the white backdrop, that’s pretty much all I’ve done with this. The pleather parts are falling apart now, but maybe one day I’ll get it wearable again.
My Costume History Day 80: Corde from Star Wars, f My Costume History Day 80: Corde from Star Wars, for Dragoncon 2006

I loved that there were post-blast promo images of Corde from AOTC - & I thought it’d be fun to make THAT version.

As mentioned in my 2004 Leia costume post, I started making the robe, decided I didn’t like the fabric & started over. Well I still had that half-finished robe, and that became my Corde underdress. I got the sleeves added & finished it up.

For the outer robe, I got a white fabric at Hancock and white satin for the sleeve linings. Modified a robe pattern. The bulk of the work for the costume went into recreating the pattern all over it - I made 2 stamps, & then sat for days stamping the black and gold design all over the robe. It’s not 100% perfect but it’s the best I could do in 2006, and I’m still pretty proud of it. I made the appliques out of some black suede leftover from the mandalorian, and glued them on.

Once the robe was finished — then it was time to destroy it LOL This was really hard to do after all the time stamping it! I wrapped my dressform in plastic, put my robe on it and took it all outside and started throwing dye on it. Once I had a base “dirty” color I started going in with black and red paints for burns and blood.

The beaded neckpiece was actually a beaded shawl my grandmother had given me a while before - I added some onto it but it worked great as-is. The wig was a lot of fun - I built up the shape with foam, covered in fabric, and then heat-shaped the wig hair over the forms. The center was a cardboard tube I painted. The great thing was that if I messed up, that was fine, it was supposed to look messed up LOL

I debuted this at Dragoncon 06, and used black and brown eyeshadows to dirty up my face, along with my fake blood from my battle Padme. I was soo happy with how this turned out! My plan was to next take it to Celebration... but we got engaged and realized with a wedding to plan, Celebration 07 was out of the question. So I ended up not wearing this again for a long time. Finally did the backdrop shoot in 2012. It’s still here - I had it out for a video not too long ago! Maybe I’ll bring her back to Dcon this year for her 20th anniversary LOL
I put together a simplified Starlord outfit for Ke I put together a simplified Starlord outfit for Kevin to wear on our Disneyland trip last month, but it ended up being way too hot for the jacket. So he wore it at @hsvexpo instead. I wore my Scarlet Witch - so we kinda sorta matched? Same universe anyway 😹 meanwhile, Chase was wearing Beefsquatch from Bobs Burgers and didn’t match at all! 😹 (but definitely got the most attention!)
Chase and I wore Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati at @hs Chase and I wore Baylan Skoll and Shin Hati at @hsvexpo this weekend as well - it was a lot of fun, though I think I got my knee armor on the wrong knees and I now have a rubbed raw spot on both knees 😹
Had an absolutely fabulous time at @hsvexpo this p Had an absolutely fabulous time at @hsvexpo this past weekend. So much fun getting to hang out with friends and wear some costumes! Big thank you to @ashleyeckstein for being so cool & kind to Kevin!
My Costume History Day 79 - April O’Neil from the My Costume History Day 79 - April O’Neil from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon, made for Dragoncon 2006

So much of my costume content as an adult has roots in things I loved as a kid. I loved TMNT, and I had all the major action figures - except April. I could not find the April action figure anywhere. Well, my dad had to go on a business trip to LA, and my mom and I got to come along as a vacation. One day while we were on a bus tour, we stopped at a little shopping center and... there she was. It wasn’t even a toy store but they had a little display of TMNT action figures, and they had April. Mom got her for me! (even though I’d already gotten a lot of other stuff at a cool toy store I found earlier in the week - they had SOOO many Breyer horses!)

In summer 2006 when Chase said he wanted to do a Leonardo costume (because he’d come across the mask), the little-kid part of my brain went PING and I said OK and I’ll do April! Something about having or being the lifesize version of a beloved toy really scratches an itch.

I got on ebay and found a vintage 70s jumpsuit and bought it to modify - when it arrived, it was clear this was a homemade outfit, it was so cute. A bonus of that was that the pants had been hemmed but there was a LOT of fabric in the seam allowance - possibly to let out in case the owner grew more? LOL Whatever the reason was, it was enough that I could cut it out and use it to make the pockets on the chest, without even losing the length of the original pants. I made the belt out of some white marine vinyl, used boots I already had and bought the wig. I didn’t have a fantastic 80s camcorder to carry, but I did have a late 90s one, so I carried that as a prop. (And now I’m wondering, did I actually record anything? Do I have some lost Dragoncon 06 footage somewhere? Hmm.)

We had fun wearing these together at Dcon - in fact I wore it more than planned, and that’s why I never got around to wearing Kenner Leia that con. This was the only time I wore it though - pulled it out for a white backdrop shoot in 2012/2013, and then sold it to a new home.
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