Sewing sewing sewing larp more sewing

Ouff, you guys, what a week! I don't even know where to start... The title sums it up pretty accurately though!

Aside from an unusually heavy amount of work and studying, I was also doing my preperations for the larp I attended yesterday. After a few months of brainstorming it was not the time, to finalize my character concept and background story and oh, there was so much to decide on! Being me, means loads of ideas - more than a concept can even handle - it is not always easy to pick what you want to be part of the finished output and what to dismiss; but sometimes you cannot take all.
My sister was very patient with me, while I kept sending her messages like "I've made some changes, this is the finalized backgroundstory for my Elf" - followed by an at least 12minute voicemessage of me trying to sum up the life of my character. And trust me, when I said finalized, I think she already knew that in  day or two I would yet again change my mind. Thank you again, for being my victim...

My first character concept was very basic, my second one, very dramatic, the third one a mix of the both and the final end-result is ... well ... let us say there is a good amount of everything and most importantly, an explanation for each and every character trait, every skill, fear, hope and belief -- in one word: I am a terrible perfectionist, kids, don't try this at home.

 At least the pattern-transfer-of-doom is now done

I mean look at this... as someone, who is not used to sewing, I find this very confusing

Then of course my insane armour building, that I thought was a good idea to start with the day before. It was quite a long day with Mozart on repeat and later a wee movie marathon to keep myself entertained while punching endless holes into my leather in order to be able to sew it. I had just enough thread to sew the peices together, but I had to take the compromise of not attatching the shoulder-flaps and the collar just yet. I could live with that; and oh, the sweet joy when it was finally in a state where I was ok with actually wearing it! (And I promise, I am already working on the post of how I did it, I just want to finish it first :) )


I even managed to start some last minute projects the day of the actual larp, when I suddenly decided that my sword needed a new hilt-wrapping - now. Improvised together an outfit that would be fitting for a woodelven warrior and off I went.

The larp itself was wonderful, everybody from the group was so lovely and welcoming and I had a very good time. I really do enjoy small gatherings that leave some time for actual conversation and interactions between the characters - to me this is quite the important aspect as well. It was so much fun to finally bring this character to life and actually get a feel for what forces drive her and how she sees the people she met. All in all, I can only say, that I am very, very much looking forward to next week, when there will be the second meet-up. This time in my proper paladin clothes (if I manage to finish everything until then that is...!)

 And now, I will get back to some personal art project, because this, and a steaming cup of tea is one of the greatest way to spend a sunday evening~
 

What was up with medieval artists?

There are little things that can be so weird, entertaining and beautiful like medieval art.  I just love paying attention to the background of paintings (from all epoches) as there are quite interesting things and faces going on sometimes.
Medieval art however often is quite messed up and I admit that I sometimes randomly go to my search engine and scroll through pages of pages of medieval artworks on the hunt for weirdness.

 It all started with an art trip to Italy, years ago, when I discovered this in the grand cathedral of - I think - Firenze:

I stumbled upon this absolutely unprepared and just everything about it hit me so hard, I was crying whilst trying to suppress my laughter, as I did not mean to disrespect the place I was at.
Thus my interest in the randomness of medieval art grew.

I've put together a fine collection of my favourites, trying to keep it as non-NSFW as possible but those medieval aritst actually made that pretty hard...!
Have a look, I am sure you are not going to be disappointed (and yes, you may question my sense of humor, I am definitely having a good time putting this together)

The faces are gold - maks me wonder what is going on between those four

...it looks like it just snapped out of some form of trance again

Must be quite the good beat I guess

Me when holding a sword.

Sucks...

*holding back on Skyrim arrow jokes*

That is one complicated way to open a box

Please go see a doctor...

I'll let you figure out why HE wasn't invited...

 yum...

This is not how circular breathing works...

Strong the force with this one is...

None of these faces looks pleased....

Some literature from back when Sauron was around...

"Stay down! I have a mouse.....err....gun!"

"Can you help me itch my brain pls? Thanks...!"

Again, this is NOT hor circular breathing works....!

I used to be an adventurer just like you- Rica STOP.

Those slippers with that lipstick? Bold...

I definitely recommend this Tumblr blog, that has made it a mission to gather all the disturbingness and is also quite a fast way to make me laugh. Maybe it works for you too - laughing is one of the best things on earth.

If only I could travel back in time and interogate some of the artists in question. I'd be curious what they'd have to say *giggles*

Lots of time-jumps, things to be proud of and very elven food

 Acchievement number the first: it is raining, just as I forecasted the other day on social media. My knee has the gift of foresight - or fore-feeling... I just hope the snow will come back :(

I've also had quite the grand acchievement yesteday - doing my first ever correct push-up thehe. If you know me in real life and we have talked exercise, you will know that this has always been something I was struggling wtih. For most people it is probably not that much of a big deal but for me it is. Even when I was at my personal best, I wasn't able to do them properly and I got greatly frustratet, that people who were a whole lot less active or strong could do them while I could not. And although it felt humiliating for my pride, I would always do the "on-knees"-version, since I know that if you cannot do it correctly, then it is a whole lot more effective and better to perform the easier version and teach your muscles the whole set of movement, rather than always leaving out the last 10-20cm (or more). Most people do them wrong anyways. But, bye knee-version not anymooore~
So much joy over this! *dances around* In fact I was so crazily happy that I even ended up posting the posture-check-video (because our gym mirrors are pretty useless for everything floor-exercise) on facebook. This is one of  my most valued surprises and acchievements I've had in the past years! :D

Actually, the first thing I did this morning was checking if it was still working (it does.) *dances around*

Since I am writing this in a university break, there will be a wee bit of time-travel in this post, as I will finish this post later when I am back at home. I am planning to bake this, because it looks absolutely gorgeous (yet easy to make) and I should have everything at home:

http://cookingwithmanuela.blogspot.co.at/2015/03/apple-roses.html

*snaps to make a time-jump*
A couple of lectures, quite the epic grocery hunting, some cleaning, baking, sporting and studying later, I am happily nomsing on the very satisfying outcome!
And speaking of time-jumps, I have been surprisingly hooked with watching a playthrough of "Life is Strange" by Square Inx - I started, ebcause I have heard good things about it and wanted to see the interface and dynamics of the game, but the storyline (about a girl that can rewind time and gets involved into some creepy crime-mystery) is so incredibly captivating, that I could not stop watching. The voiceacting is amazing, everything feels so real and intense - a lot more intense than some movies....! It even made me cry once, which is, for a game, quite the acchievement! Dependign on one's decisions, the storyline progresses differently as even wee things can have a different effect on the future. I can only say, I was quite glad, that I was not the gamer who had to take some of those choices.....

But, I guess you guy want to see what my, by now eaten, bakings turned out like, so here you go:
*snaps again*

 

I am so going to bake this for the nect pen and paper night~

 

nomnom hot chocolate...

Next time I'll try it slightly different to see if I can have the apple-edges stay red - but these pies were delicious anyways!

I am also thinking that these could be great with tomatoes, courgette and potatoes, filled with cheese and herbs...I need to try this sometime!
Now there is only a little bit of studying left for today, maybe I will treat myself to some Skyrim afterwards....

The most beautiful winter day~

What a day! Waking up to a soft snowfall is one of my favourite things in the world and today's weather lasted all day long! I had to shovel the pavement twice, glared out of the window, dreaming away and went on nifty adventures two times!
(two blogposts today, because the one earlier was not planned)

Even my editing work was heavily inflenced by the lovely snowfall - there is still quite the decent amount of armour photos and some other things I want to get ready. I thought I would make a Templar-inspired set with some of my already existing pictures (Dragon Age templars - you know how obsessed I am) and since I haven't made up my mind about which of my three versions of a portrait I am goint to use, I will share all three, because I do like them all thehe. Consider it a sneakpeak with a wee bonus:

 

Snow...

... no snow

Tatoos of the Dalish

The last one is a little overpowering on details, but oh the Vallaslin are beyond beautiful and I think this would be one of the designs I would personally pick as a Dalish. The other one is this one *searches harddrive* - there it is!

I also turned a photo from an autumn shoot with my sister into something more appropriate for the season (which was something I actually had in mind for this particular pose back then already!) - always so odd to see myself in a dress, but I really do like the results of this.

This is the end of the face spam ;P

The amount of drawing done today was also quite impressive, but since my sewing plans for this weekend had to be postponed, I had plenty of time! And oh the snow...
Whilst the first hike through the snowy forest was very much planned, the second one happened spontaneously (just now) when I was taking care of our driveway (if you don't clear it and somebody trips, you have a problem) when I was suddenly and uncontrollably overwhelmed by nature's beauty. That just sounded an awful lot like something you could read in Twilight, ew.

I absolutely enjoy scooping the snow out of the way - the more the better. It is quite the good workout too, since I have to throw it over the fence as it is not allowed to just push it onto the road (and we have a fence taller than myself). I get to breathe the crisp winter air, listen to the soft noises the snow makes from under my boots and watch it fance in the air when I throw it about. That I play around as I go is a given. If I really want to take my time, I listen to some music and because my iPod's battery was dead, I went for the "personal monthly playlist" on Spotify to see what it had in store for me - I was not disappointed:

I enjoyed myself so much, pretending to build battlements (because I ended up pushing SOME of the snow onto a specific spot on the road - the place where the actual snow-clearance will load off their snow anyways), that I spontaneously decided to pay a wee night-visit to the forest once I was done. It was just too beautiful outside to stay indoors - fog rising everywhere and thick snowflakes falling from the skies. *fanelfing*

Once again I wished I had my proper camera already, but my phone, that takes ridicculously good pictures for a phone, actually gave quite the interesting effect to the few pictures I took - mind you, it was almost pitch black.

I spent about an hour (or more?) wandering amongst the trees, then gazing at the highways in the distance (I always think that the lights of cities and roads look like stars that have fallen from the skies, or like week fairylights woven into the ground). Something about the scents and surroundings made me remember fragments of a day from my childhood and for a brief moment I almost felt like I could taste the speculaas chocolate I had eaten back then, when I returned home to snuggle up in blankets.
I quite spontaneously decided to have some speculoos hot chocolate instead (which is hot chocolate with some gingerbread and speculaas spices). And I must say, it was delicious ^~^

Wishing you all a magical weekend with lots of snow, magic and imagination~

“No boy wants to be given a product with a female character on it.” -what?

Okay, I came here to write an entirely different blogpost, but then I found this:

http://www.hypable.com/star-wars-toymakers-specifically-directed-to-exclude-rey/

What on earth is this?

“No boy wants to be given a product with a female character on it.” 

At first, everybody is complaining about the lack of geek-girls and then, when there is kickass female characters in movies that young girls could identify with an that could inspire some of them to become the oh so desired geek-girls, somebody thinks it is a great idea to exclude these female characters from the merchandise.
I am getting the feeling that there is some form of conspirancy of some elite-nerd-club that does not want women to be a part of that society.

It makes young girls feel like they are not welcome in certain fandoms and I definitely know that feel: If anything, I have often felt very much like an unwanted intruder around fellow geeks.
I could tell numerous stories like how I was looked down upon or doubted for my interest in fantasy and gaming by probably the same men, who whine about the fact that women are never interested in their stuff, or how actual employees of tech stores made such rude remarks when I was trying to purchase an expensive gamer keyboard, that I decided not to buy it and make a customer complaint instead, or simply being excluded from certain activities because I was  a girl, which automatically meant that I sucked at any form of gaming and that my interest was just me trying to get attention.
Sure, nowadays there are also a lot of people being very appreciative, but sometimes I still meet those Orcs who feel the need for a random flashquiz on nerd-trivia to find out if you are a  true geek.

And no, I am not somebody who demands a powerful woman to be written into every movie script ever or even having all male chracters being displayed as weak and not able to function - I want authentic and individual characters of both genders, with their own talents and flaws - and most importantly: with a purpose.

Us geek girls grew up playing with male action figurines of our favourite heroes - maybe some of our parents did not want to buy them for us, but I don't think many girls actually said "I don't want it, there is a male character on the packaging." I could adapt, thousands of other girls could deal with it, why does anyone think boys could not? Somehow, and I think I've mentioned this before in another blogpost, it is ok for girls to look up to male characters, but boys are not allowed to idolize a female heroine.

The one, whose masculinity is being slain by just one female in a set of six figurines is a whimp. There, I said it.
And if you don't want Star Wars merchandise, because there is also a female character on the packaging, then you don't deserve Star Wars merch. Because then you are the one who is not a real geek.

Fabric hunting, armour crafting and why I never post costume-concept-art

 Yesterday, today and my weekend are going to be dedicated to quite the epic plans: creating the clothes for my Paladin character! After I decided to give my warrior a bit of an elven upgrade in the costume design, I successfully talked my mum into going to the fabric store with me again before the weekend - it took quite some time as well as bribes like doing extra housework and doing the driving, but it was sucessful and yesterday our quest began:
Dressed in the glorious outfit of my trusty Ravenclaw sweatpants,  my alliance hoodie (because I needed it's colour for reference) and some boots, I was ready for what would also double as my first practise drive in the snow.  

A ridicculous amount of roundabouts later, we arrived at the fabric market and the hunt began.
Now I had been trying to get the fabrics I was looking for since ... well, since a long time. There was always something in the way, somebody sick and the one time we did manage to go, they did not at all have, what I was hoping for.
Yesterday though I found everything - last chance if you will and oh gosh I am beyond pleased, although I did have to make some compromises, since not every kind of fabric could be found in the right colour.
My tunic for instance is going to be a whole lot lighter than I wanted to, and in general my blues are a little more dull than planned, but that is still better than some itchy, stiff fabric.
But to be be honest, there were some seriously ugly shades of blue and fanric tesxures to be found there...it was harder than expected to find four matching shades that didn't scream "cloth napkin!" or even worse: "middle-school rain-coat!".

I've been trying to photograph my fabrics, but their colours look so off ... so i put together a wee colour-palette below that kind of matches:

 

Also featured is an absolutely gorgeous silver fabric *flails*

Today's mission is to start tracing the sewing patterns, so that my mum (who has had a seamstress education that is regularly being abused for costume purposes) can alter them a wee bit, to make them fit and look how I want them to. I cam already imagine what amount of housework this will cost...
Maybe I will already sew my cloak, of which I (think to) know how to make it but it depends on my energy levels after the other work that needs to get done. Working with fabrics is not my most favourite thing ever *eyetwitch*

If you are wondering by the way, why I never share my concept art on my costumes, it is because I don't want to give people the opportunity to recreate my personal designs without my permission - I put more thought into my costumes than it might seem at first glance, make it fit the type of character who is wearing it - this is also the reason why I don't "cosplay" in the sense of recreating a character, because I love designing and fiddling with gear, that also fits the character's personality. I love inspiring people, it is one of the things that flatter me the most and I adore seeing the creative and nifty things that I or my work served as inspiration for; everytime somebody tells me that my work or myself inspired an artwork, some writing, or simply to embrace your inner weird more, I feel flattered beyond words! Up to a certain degree I don't even mind copying (it always depends on what is being copied), but especially when people don't ask or credit it can be quite the problem - and especially when the copying is not just for private entertainment. I have had some problems with art-theft in the past, up to the degree that someone won a contest with a composition that was taken from my sketchbook. There is a big difference between being inspired and copying - because copying, and especially of personal designs, is something, I would only allow to my friends.
But.....at least that way it's going to be more of a surprise - or those who have not seen my art already that is ;)

But today's time needs to be put to good use - let the quest begin - and the loot better be good.

The great labeling

There is something on my mind.  Random thoughts and questions, that I cannot answer, if you will.

What if, we would view things like sexual orientation as a scale, rather than individual boxes?

The internet (and tumblr in particular) is full of various terms for various ways of attraction and often I feel like it might be human nature to cathegorize things and then form groups of identity. Maybe, it is because I myself don't really see an importance in defining who and what I feel attracted to - I mean, after all, it is something that one cannot really help and that does not follow much logic - I know if I am attracted to someone or not; isn't that enough?
Nowadays we have loads of tiny boxes for everything: the definition of gender,  sexual orientation - even the different stages of asexuality. Why? Because people are realizing that not everyone fits what is thought to be the standard-type and therefore new terms are created - sometimes I feel the amount doubles by the year. I have gained the feeling that the actual terminus is not for oneself, but for the general public, to let them know what group your are part of, and for some maybe to feel part of a group.
And what hapens, when there is boxes? Everybody is fighting for the biggest and best one to sit in, talking about how X does not fit in at all, and how for Y it is just a phase. I just cannot stop asking myself, why it matters so much. I don't feel the need to label my eating patterns or my taste of music either.

Now imagine a line - left side is attraction to feminine aspects, right side is attraction to masculine aspects. Some are more on the left, some more on the right and some exactly in the middle. It is also ok to no be on the line at all and some people have multiple entries, depending on the circumstances and preferences.
It is not important where one is standing, there are infinite possibilities to place yourself. What ever you choose - it is you, it is who you are and what your personal preferences are. Why can't we just accept everybody's personal choice and preference?

And why does it need a label?

The quest for female armour

With every new larp character, it starts all over again: the quest to find armour. What might not sound that hard can actually be quite challenging if you are female, want something that looks like it can actually protect you and want a little variety to choose from.

Showy armour is fine too, if this is what you prefer, but why is it, that there are various versions of  quite showy chainmail with cleevage, but hardly any regular looking options for women? I have spent the past weeks to find chainmail, that could fit my proportions whilst also looking like it could also be actually protective. AND fit a budget. Why can't there be the same amount of variety as there is for the more skin-showing outfits and why is just the term female armour often already associated with something that looks hot rather than actually protective?

It is something, that also occurs in videogames a lot and whilst I do sometimes appreciate the look of super unrealistic fantasy armour, that looks like it cannot properly protect anyone (I always make up the headcanon that the character wearing it is just so great, that they cannot be hit anyways), when it comes down to it, my preference goes with the more knightly looking options:

 Honorable mention the my all-time favourite-number-one-want-to-have/make armour: the DAO Templar gear

Hmm, I wonder which one is mine...

Most of the time, I end up selecting a male character if I want to play a warrior, simply because I prefer the armour designs.

I know, that the selection of protective looking real-life leather armour for women has grown (which is great), but when it comes to heavy armour, I think it is still quite hard to find something that covers all the important parts, looks fierce and fits my not-so-bulky physique. However, there is a fine selection of chainmail that looks like nightgowns or underwear.
Just buying gear for men in size small is not always an option, because often size small (if it even exists) is still a tad too large and cannot always be adjusted - nothing is worse than feeling your armour move about too much.
Best example are my pauldrons, a man size S/M, that I had to line with fur and take many hours of hammering and bendig them into a somewhat tinier shape to make them somewhat fit my body.
Thank the larp gods there is etsy, where one can at least have unisex armour fit to one's own proportions (in some cases more precise than in others).

There is so much truth in this^^

But since I do want my characters armour to develop rather than already be in it's final state, I have time of course - time to make some things myself and time to maybe eventually find the chainmail of my dreams ;)

Two (three!!) absolutely lovely things that happened to me this weekend

Just two (three!!) occurances that I was not expecting to happen at all and that kind of made my weekend ^~^

The first one happened yesterday at Starbucks (where my father and I often go because we are quite hooked on their Matcha Green Tea latte - AND because they offer soymilk for me) where we ordered the usual, when suddenly the male co-worker of the lady who was taking our order jumped in:
"Did you already note soymilk? The soymilk-part is important, absolutely vital!" She was confused, as were my dad and I, when he answered my irritated glances:
"You have some mad allergies and you need soymilk, lactose-free doesn't do it for you, I remember you - one year ago you and your father were at the Starbucks in the inner city - you guys were sitting right by the window, I remember everything." I wan't even able to say anything, that's how dumbstruck I was. Glad I had my father with me as a whitness, otherwise I fear no one would even believe this actually happened - myself included. Actual Elf spotted you guys, how else is it possible that someone, who sees hundreds of customers daily, remembers a wee complaint from a year ago?  Still not over this guy's memory.

The second one happened just now on Tumblr, when a paladin-blog reposted the photos from my shoot, that I had put on tumblr yesterday, captioning it with:

"Guardian of Light II by ElverynelCreations

Posting this, and one more, because the previous one wasn’t linked to its creator."

What they didn't know, was that I was the actual original artist, because my Tumblr account's name is Elfenhain, not Elverynel, as I mainly use it to gather inspirational images and only share art and photoshoot pictures, that I really like.
I still felt quite touched by this, as I am very much used to having to hunt down people who spread my art without crediting at all or even claim it to be their own work - what  a nice twist to for once have it happen the other way round thehe. Quite the cliché to have a paladin make sure things go the way they are supposed to be: righteous.

(And wow, oh dear!! Somebody just asked me if they could use my pictures as inspiration for a female heroine in their novel that very moment! Now I am squealing and beyond speechless! Possibly the greatest compliment I have recieved on my pictures - and I was already blushing quite a bit over the incredibly nice things people had said on my instagram account or in the tags on Tumblr *screams*)

If you will excuse me, I have to go melt into a puddle of glitter, leaves and soymilk.
Such a happy Elf.

Some artists I currently fanelf about the most!

Because today's post was quite serious, I feel like I want to leave you with something inspirational and merry, with a dash of magic - images, that at least I love to feast my eyes on.

I will share with you the work of some absolutely unique artists - out of all the creations they have done so far, there is not a single one, that I was not completely in love with (and oh, I can be such a critic with artsy things!).
But I will not torment you with more waiting and instead lead you on to nifty craftings of insanely talented people!

As usual, some music to go with~

Poisonapple Printshop:
It was love at first sight - I have been haven been waiting for her to make a Tarot-deck from the moment I laid eyes upon her gorgeous art! This is beyond beautiful...

 

Giles Newman:

Behold this amazingly talented spoon-carver! I came across his art on Tumblr and have been hooked ever since! It really makes me want to try woodcarving myself *dreams away*

 

SkyRavenWolf:
Oooh the glory! This is by far some of the most beautifl leathercrafting I have ever seen... I sometimes find myself randomly browsind through the shop just to admire and squeal over these gorgeous creations! (Looting something from this shop is planned, but oh, it is so hard to decide!)

And with this, I wish you an inspiring and magical weekend!~