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kelldar.com

  • when i thought about being aragorn
    a day at the races,  Blog,  costumes

    when i thought about being aragorn

    February 13, 2003 /

    OK ok ok last post for today I swear!! Mom wants me to make Arwen’s Blood Red Dress for Dragoncon/ROTK opening. But it’s just not interesting me. I mean, it’s very pretty, but making it would be just like making the Eowyn dress again, or my Chase outer dress. It’s pretty much the same. You know what I want to…

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    kelldar
  • when i thought about being aragorn
    a day at the races,  Blog

    when i got sucked into an infomercial

    February 13, 2003 /

    Happy Birthday Cath! Hope you’re having a nice one in Malta…! edit: OH! I forgot! I woke up at like, 2:30 this morning, and there was a Pink Floyd infomercial on. I laid there and watched it for like half an hour, until it started to repeat itself. At first I was like, ooh I might get this, because I…

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  • when i thought about being aragorn
    a day at the races,  Blog

    when it was time to fly

    February 13, 2003 /

    Did anyone notice I UPDATED yesterday? Isn’t that amazing?? Tomorrow morning I have to get up at 4:30 to go to the airport 🙁 But I only have on suitcase and my carry on bag! Does anybody know about DVD players and like, the x-ray machine and stuff? It won’t hurt it will it?

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  • when i shared my room
    a day at the races,  Blog

    when i shared my room

    February 12, 2003 /

    Did I ever post this? My room, sometime last year, when it was still clean Last night’s buffy was good! I like Principal Wood. He’s fun. Plus I always thought his mom was way cool so that just adds to his fun factor. Andrew= so funny! The microwave bit was funny. This was much, much better than last week.

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  • when i thought about being aragorn
    a day at the races,  Blog

    when i was numbed up

    February 11, 2003 /

    So I had a dentist appt this afternoon – to get the permanent crown put on in place of the temp one, and to get a little cavity filled. He said neither would take long, but he wanted to numb me up and give me the gas for the cavity. Well, neither was very bad, and it only took like…

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    kelldar
  • when i thought about being aragorn
    a day at the races,  Blog

    when dogs could fly

    February 11, 2003 /

    There is a commercial for some kind of floor cleaner, and at the end of the commercial, they say, “And why do dogs always walk across a clean floor?” Everytime I hear that commercial, I always just have to say, “Well what do you expect them to do, fly?!” EVERYTIME. Also, today was the third time in about a week…

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    kelldar
  • Chun-Li progress!
    Blog,  costumes

    Chun-Li progress!

    February 10, 2003 /

    Done, here’s a sneak peek!

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    kelldar
  • when i thought about being aragorn
    a day at the races,  Blog,  my art

    when the hp vday project went live

    February 10, 2003 /

    Harry potter valentines!!!!! A big HUZZAH for Tanja!!

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    kelldar
  • when i finished amalthea
    a day at the races,  Blog,  costumes

    when i finished amalthea

    February 9, 2003 /

    Preliminary Amalthea photos Holy mother of PERCY it is SO TIGHT. It’s like wearing a corset. Which I guess is a good thing cause I don’t need any straps to keep it up or anything!

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    kelldar
  • when i thought about being aragorn
    a day at the races,  Blog

    when kevin decided who i could beat

    February 8, 2003 /

    During the car ride to work this afternoon I kept asking my cousin Kevin who he thought I could beat up in an all out fist fight. Here’s a list of what he came up with… I could not beat: Buffy Spike Han Solo Aragorn Legolas Boromir Cloud Tidus Rambo Teen & Up Anakin I could beat: Willow Xander Luke…

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    kelldar
  • when i thought about being aragorn
    a day at the races,  Blog

    when i made a new bbs

    February 7, 2003 /

    Shh it’s not linked on the main page yet I just used the old test board I put up last summer after WOFS, instead of uploading a brand new one. I’m lazy, so shoot me. Need to come up with a name though.

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    kelldar
  • when i thought about being aragorn
    a day at the races,  Blog

    when i made a soundtrack

    February 6, 2003 /

    Life soundtrack… rules… 1. This movie of your life encompasses only the last two months, so the soundtrack should do the same. Therefore, if you went to Disney World back in June 2002, we shouldn’t be seeing the Mickey Mouse March on your soundtrack. 2. No bogarting existing soundtracks. Make your own up, dammit. 3. No more than three songs…

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    kelldar
  • when there was a snow day
    a day at the races,  Blog

    when there was a snow day

    February 6, 2003 /

    dood what’s wrong with my comments? Ash – gimme my hat back!! SNOW DAY!!!!!! BWAHAHAHAA

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    kelldar
  • when i thought about being aragorn
    a day at the races,  Blog

    when i was watching buffy again

    February 5, 2003 /

    Um…. oh yeah! Buffy last night was… hrm… eh, not so great. I dunno, it just seemed choppy and sort of useless to me. It just seemed weird. But I love Andrew, he is such a geek. You mean characters stop being mean to him! Anyway. Here’s hoping next week is better…

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    kelldar
  • when i thought about being aragorn
    a day at the races,  Blog

    when i needed to finish my valentine’s day cards

    February 5, 2003 /

    …must… finish… valentine… CARDS! I’m doing 3, although I haven’t decided on my one ‘normal’ one yet. baaaaaaah humbug! New Phone now has picture of Harry as the wallpaper, and plays Concerning Hobbits for a ring. Will switch to Utena theme song for katsucon next weekend. It also has tetris now, which is a bad, bad thing. Once my mind…

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    kelldar
  • Sketchblog: Piper and Britan
    Blog,  my art,  sundowner

    Sketchblog: Piper and Britan

    February 4, 2003 /

    Piper and Britan. I like how Piper turned out.

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    kelldar
  • when belldandy was expensive
    a day at the races,  Blog,  costumes

    when belldandy was expensive

    February 4, 2003 /

    It’s funny how making the costume of a such a kind, loving, patient character can turn me into such a foul mouthed witch. Belldandy is finished! This costume comes in as my most expensive to date. The wigs alone cost around $120 (there are two wigs there). The wigs were sewn together to make one, and it’s SO HEAVY. The…

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    kelldar
  • Belldandy sneak peek!
    Blog,  costumes

    Belldandy sneak peek!

    February 3, 2003 /

    All done!!

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  • when i thought about being aragorn
    a day at the races,  Blog,  costumes

    when i posted some cosplay progress percentages

    February 3, 2003 /

    Just a random update for those who don’t read my cosplay journal: Jupiter: 100% Utena: 100% Belldandy: 90% – everything done except finishing the wig (which is giving me a headache) and making her foot things. Chun-Li: 65% – still got to make the actual dress part, oops Amalthea: 90% – was 100% until a small problem emerged and it…

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    kelldar
  • Art Post: Tom and Ginny (Harry Potter)
    Blog,  fanart from magical wizard series,  my art

    Art Post: Tom and Ginny (Harry Potter)

    February 2, 2003 /

    For Tanja’s Annual Harry Potter Vday Project! This was totally last minute – I drew it out on the tablet real fast and then just started colouring. Look how lazy I was – you can still see my under drawing on Ginny’s hand. I’m ok with it, I wish I had done a bit more in Ginny’s sweater and skirt……

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    kelldar
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My Costume History, Day 130: Alyss from The Lookin My Costume History, Day 130: Alyss from The Looking Glass Wars, for Dragoncon 2010

I felt like my Dcon 2010 lineup was missing something. I was reading The Looking Glass Wars at the time, and got to the art in the middle and saw this dress - THAT was what I needed.

I started by making a base dress out of this peachy pink taffeta - modified a wedding dress pattern with an empire waist and a big skirt, adding the puffed sleeves. Once I had the base layer made, it was time to start adding ruffles. Bought a ton of poly chiffon, cut it into strips, and dyed it all. I cauterized the edges of the ruffles, then started sewing them onto the skirt. I did what I could on the machine, but as it got bigger, I had to start hand-sewing them on.

The collar area is a layer of chiffon and a fitted choker, and I added some red beading to all of that. Also added the draped panel of chiffon at the bust and at the end of each sleeve.

The standing collar I made by altering the Snow White pattern piece for that - it’s a layer of cotton and interfacing, and then the layer of gradient dyed cotton gauze over the top and hanging from it. It does all snap on - but I don’t think I’ve ever completely taken it off of the dress, I do unsnap it in a few places for storage purposes but otherwise it stays on! The “loops” over the collar are made of clear tubing with some scraps of chiffon stuffed inside, beads glued on, and hand-sewn onto the dress.

The wig is I guess an early form of helmet wig? LOL We took made a plaster cast of my head, painted it the collar of the hair, and then I glued the wig to it and styled it from there, so the head shape never collapses. The upper part I made out of foam and glued the hair around. I built the crown into the wig - it’s all made of craft wire, various beads and such, all hand-sewn into place into the foam base.

I debuted this at Dcon 2010 - and I had a particular pic I wanted, in this chair in front a red painting, and I got it. EXACTLY what I had in my head LOL. I haven’t worn it since, except for the white backdrop shoot not long after. I keep saying I’m going to take it out for a cool photoshoot somewhere, but still haven’t had the opportunity.
My Costume History, Day 129: Lady Gaga, for Dragon My Costume History, Day 129: Lady Gaga, for Dragoncon 2010

I wanted to do a Gaga costume! I had several on my “maybe” list, then saw her at the Grammys in this Armani Prive dress. The choice was made.

I started this by making a base corset out of cotton and canvas - I altered a stays pattern, raising the neckline. Once I had the base layer made, I covered it in layers of white & lavender organza, & added my eyelets to the back.

The skirt was fun. Chase helped me build a wire cage, & we engineered a panel that fits under the bodice that holds the whole thing up. I made a mockup out of scrap fabric around the frame, then used that to cut out my layers of the organza, & hand-sewed it around the frame.

The bodysuit is made of a nude mesh - cnce I had it made, I put it on myself and started hot-gluing sequins to it (I tried doing this on my mannequin, but it was sticking TO the mannequin). The shoes aren’t exact - but I could not find the same kind of shoes nor did I trust myself wearing those shoes with this, so I just picked something that would give a similar silhouette. Once they arrived I added sequins, then put them on with the suit to make sure the sequins on the suit “connected” to it.

The “hoops” were the most frustrating part. Initially I was going to use metal hooping, but it was too heavy. Switched to light plastic boning, and covered it in some silver holographic tape. The tape would not stick though, so in the hotel room at dragoncon I was still adding clear tape over the top of it all to keep it all together. The hoops all snap onto the bodice at 2 points. Bought the wigs.

Getting downstairs at Dragoncon in this was interesting. I went down the stairs with sandals on this switched to my real shoes! And as soon as we got downstairs, the snap broke off the hoops, so Chase had to tape them on me.

Despite that I did get to wear it for a few hours and I was overall really happy with it. It was a really neat project and I loved wearing it. I did the white backdrop shoot not long after, and I love how those photos turned out! A few years later I did sell it - because I just had nowhere to store the skirt anymore. (Should’ve made it collapsible!)
My Costume History, Day 128: Mara Jade/Arica from My Costume History, Day 128: Mara Jade/Arica from Star Wars, for Dragoncon 2010

I’d wanted to do Mara’s dancer disguise for ages. Having not done a Star Wars costume in 09, I decided to do this for 2010.

I found a blue stretch netting for this, but it was a little too light, so I painted it all into a darker blue and it ended up with a cool gradient effect I really liked. Assembled the leotard with a skintone spandex lining layer. The symbol on the front I made out of a layer of the chiffon from the skirts, backed in some lining fabric, then basted onto the front panel of the leotard. After I had it in place, I went back over it with some embroidery floss to give it some more texture.

I made the skirts using my Huttslayer skirts as a reference, just adding the side panels. They are made of a poly chiffon I picked up at Hancock - they are lightly stitched onto the leotard in a few places, and the left side closes with a snap. I made the cape sleeve things out of the same chiffon, attaching them to some silver bangles and black leather cording at the top, and the upper back is attached to the leotard. My tiara is a piece of silver thermoplastic cut into shape and it ties on under the wig.

Now the drama here was the boots. Some of the references showed her wearing thigh high black boots, so that’s what I went with, since I had these suede black boots from Yuuko I could use, and I thought the suede was a nice tie-in to Huttslayer. I put this on at Dcon and the second I got downstairs... one of my heels broke off. I was like... ok, I can power through this and hobble around for a bit. A few minutes later... the other heel broke. All of my pics of this are me in the hallway outside our room with broken heels LOL

After Dcon I took it to a cobbler that said it could not be fixed. They weren’t made right. So I glued them back together myself and wore it to GMX later that year, where they broke again of course. Glued again for the white backdrop shoot the next year - but you can see in the side photos one is already broken again LOL

So I haven’t worn it again since then. One of these days I will replace the boots and bring it back out. I swear.
My Costume History, Day 127: Ame-Comi Supergirl, f My Costume History, Day 127: Ame-Comi Supergirl, for Dragoncon 2010

I told yall I was obsessed with the Ame-Comi line of DC character statues - & the 2nd version of Supergirl I thought was SUPER cute & I had to make it.

I started out with my fav bodice pattern & made the base out of some blue cotton and spiral steel boning. The outer layer of the bodice is my blue spandex, and it laces up the back. I added the spandex circle skirt to the bottom. The tricky part here was the cut-outs on the side - I should’ve just done them with skintone material, but I really wanted them to be “real” cut-outs. They don’t sit exactly right, but they work.

For all of the yellow stripes on the suit, I made a pattern on the costume on the dressform using tape and transferred it to paper, then used that pattern to cut out some yellow marine vinyl I had. In previous projects, I would’ve hot glued this on, but instead I hand-sewed it all. I was really happy with the end result and was glad it wasn’t glued on.

The sleeves are separate and really just long gauntlets, but are made of the same blue spandex with yellow vinyl stripes. The collar piece is foam - Chase cut it and added all of the little details for me, as well as making the “S” symbol in the front. It all velcros onto the suit along the top edge. The cape is just a square of some red fabric I had in my stash, and it velcros to the underside of the collar.

I bought the boots at the second hand store and covered them in some red spandex, and added the yellow stripes to those too. I did change the shape of the boots from the figure - I did a high/low sort of thing instead of straight across, just felt like that would look better on me.

I debuted it at Dcon 2010 and loved it!... except the wig. I had bought the wig online but I did not like the look of it. So when I took it to GMX a couple of months later, I instead wore a different blonde wig from another costume (Gaga) and liked that so much more. I brought it back to Dcon 2011 with the new wig as well.

Need to reshoot this on the white backdrop one day - for some reason we only shot like 10 photos of this? It’s on my (very long) reshoot list...
My Costume History, Day 126: Donna Troy from Teen My Costume History, Day 126: Donna Troy from Teen Titans, for Dragoncon 2010

I was buying my fabric for another costume I was doing that summer, but the site had a minimum buy, and I hadn’t met it yet. So I dug around their site looking for something else I could use, and found a black stretch velvet with silver glitter. Bingo, I could easily put together this Donna Troy look I had on my wishlist.

Initially I planned to self-line it, so I bought enough to do that. Fabric arrived, and I altered a basic bodysuit pattern for it and got the pieces cut and assembled. But when I went to try it on with the lining added, I realized... velvet lining was not a good idea LMAO. So I removed it and just finished the edges. But that basically left me with 2 identical suits - so I finished the edges on the lining layer and sold it! Nice.

The boots I had already bought for another costume I was doing that summer, the wig and gauntlets were my Wonder Woman pieces. I made the collar from my velvet with a velcro closure and a star I got at the craft store. The belt was a piece of silver leather belting and it velcros closed in the front, under a metal “buckle” Chase made for me.

Easy project! I wore this to the Wonder Woman shoot at Dragoncon that year, and shot it on the white backdrop not long after. I did enjoy the costume, but didn’t see myself wearing it again, so I sold it a few years later.
My Costume History, Day 125: Black Widow from Marv My Costume History, Day 125: Black Widow from Marvel Comics, for Dragoncon 2010

So as I mentioned in my last costume history post, I’d bought this wet look black spandex suit to use for a Black Widow costume, and I also ended up using it for Julia from Cowboy Bebop. I also used it for my Selene (Underworld) suit as well - so I got a lot of use out of it!

This comic style Black Widow costume was easy to put together - bought the wig, had the boots. Chase made Widow’s Bite bracelets for me out of dowels around a piece of black elastic.

I made the belt out of a bunch of metal button cover kit panels painted gold - the center symbol panel is a wooden disc I painted. I attached them all to a thin gold cord which I tie on in the back. Not the best option for a belt but it worked fine for this quick easy costume.

I’ve worn this a few times over the years - and nearly every time I wear it I wear a different wig with it LOL Which I felt worked for this costume! The original wig was a long curly one that I used for Dcon 2010 and the white backdrop shoot, and later I switched to a straighter cut for an Avengers shoot when I brought her back to Dcon 2011. When I wore this to the Avengers midnight movie, I used my own hair curled.

I haven’t worn it since then, but I do still have it. Suit’s still in good shape - I just had it out to shoot Julia on the white backdrop a few months ago. So it’s around should I need it again.
Princess Leia art project part 7: Boushh disguise Princess Leia art project part 7: Boushh disguise
Princess Leia Art project - part 5 and 6 Decided Princess Leia Art project - part 5 and 6

Decided to lump Bespin Escape jumpsuit and End of ESB dress into one post since they’re both retreads of previous costumes.
Princess Leia project part 4 - Bespin Leia As a r Princess Leia project part 4 - Bespin Leia

As a recap to this project: 
 I was having so much fun redrawing and simplifying my older Padme project pieces that I decided to draw some Princess Leias to match. 

I did actually start trying to do a Leia version of my Padme project back in 2018. I got about six of them done before I got distracted and quit.  So it’s nice to finally revisit this idea. While these versions aren’t done to the same level as the original Padme pieces, I do now have all the line work if I ever want to go back and completely paint them.

These Leia pieces I’ll be posting over the next few weeks have been really fun to do - they’re much faster to draw than Padme, not only because they aren’t as complicated but also because I have all of my own costumes to reference 😹
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