Shae Dress and variations

I'll be making variations on the Shae dress and collect them here. To check current stock, go to the Etsy-shop. You can also pick your fabric on my Facebook page and follow instructions there.

Shea green striped cotton short

SOLD

Shea Gold tiedye crashed satin

For Sale on Etsy, Yealie and the webshop

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Shea Pink tiedye crashed satin

SOLD

Dutch Comic Con - 2015

What: Dutch Comic Con
Where: Utrecht, Jaarbeurs
When: Saturday-Sunday, March 28-29, 2015
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For the first time ever there was going to be a Dutch Comic Con. We have our smaller cons with specific themes, but a full blown Comic Con never really happened. Most happen at our neighbour countries (Belgium, Germany). We had one go with EpiCon, which didn't turn out so good. With this news last year, people got very excited. This needed to happen and the support and need to go there grew like crazy.

Up until last week the growing pains started to show. There were some issues with guests not coming and the lack of communication. They had a very busy last week ahead to tie things together. I'm not going to point fingers on what could have been the cause (some things were just out of their control, like personal reasons, other offers and the power failure on Friday on the airport), but it was a first time for them to run an event on this scale. And with every event you make mistakes, you learn and fix that the next year.

Overall
Long lines and massive crowd when I walk in around noon. Strange way to handle a space like the Jaarbeurs. Some things were clogging up the crowd and then there were so many void spaces where nothing happened. Lots of murmur noise (can't be helped in those big halls). I went out around 14:00 and got back at 15:00 again. A lot of the crowd was gone and it was much better. I could finally find friends, stands, see the cars, buy a drink and that's when the fun really started. Good vibe, happy people and if something did go wrong somewhere, I never noticed.

Artist Alley
Actors had very nice booths for autograph line up, but they were a bit in the dark. There was a void space occupied by the lineup cords that could have been used better. Just a few tables with artists and no clear sign on who they were. It looked shabby and I found it an insult for the artists. They deserve a spot like the actors. From what goes around, the photo booth wasn't that spectacular. I was too broke for the photo booth, so I don't have a personal experience with that.

Stage
The hall in which they located the stage for Q&A, the COSplay competition and The Misfits was way too big. The stage was too low to actually see something. It would be nice to place some plateaus for people to stand on that don't need a front row view... but just a view. I couldn't see anything of the COSplay competition.

Commercial Stands
I don't like crowd hugging. The commercial stands were packed together and so was the crowd. If one person decided to halt in the flow, everybody had to halt. You just couldn't move towards the tables and check the merchandise. This got better after 15:00.

Highlights Stands
I picked 3 stands for a little spotlight.There was so much more, but I couldn't grab all the flyers and cards.

* * *

Found out they were there. This is where all my comics come from and they sometimes even know better what I do and don't have.
www.hetgeleteken.nl


* * *

Canvas Warriors have All Stars (I'm a big fan of Chucks) and make marvelous artwork on them (also on request). I fell in love. Asked them for Starscream and they want to do that. I just need to save up.
www.canvaswarriors.com




* * *


Grindhouse Horror tees from own design. Really loved the dark and gritty.
www.ultratrashstore.com









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Utility
Signs and notifications: The overall signs were clear and visible. The detailed signs (like which row you need to line up in for your ticket, which artist/actor is in the chair, the one floor map) were not. I doubted if I needed better glasses.
Access for disabled, wheelchairs and buggies: Till 15:00 it was a hell for them to stroll around in the dealers alley. There was no way that if they were there early to have a good time. Jaarbeurs did supply wheelchairs for those who need them.
Toilets: There were enough toilets with no lines. The Jaarbeurs keeps it clean and neat. Big plus.
Resting: The amount of places to sit was fairly low. In the void spaces people just sat on the ground to rest their feet, but you could expand some of the tables and chairs.

The Crowd
The concept of a Comic Con is unknown to the Dutch Public. Paying for an autograph or a picture sounds weird to them. They need to get used to it. The COSplay on such a big commercial event was not as huge as the US counterparts of comic cons.
.
Again next year?
Yes. I will go. I will now avoid the dealers alley till the crowd is gone and pull up a chair at all the Q&A's. Unless they make some improvements in dividing space. Already heard they will have more space next year, so that's a good sign.

Samalla Stand in the future?
It was, according to the stands I talked to, a very good day saturday. Their minds were blown. I don't think I could handle the crowd, unless I would have enough manpower to keep things up.

Signing off
Miss Ess
(Mary Jane Misfits)



More media
http://www.rtlnieuws.nl/nieuws/binnenland/dutch-comic-con-het-kind-komt-je-naar-boven [Dutch]

Benson

A decade or more ago I was on LiveJournal. It was the blogging place to be and I was very active. I met a designer named Benson. Benson was a cheerful, inspiring guy that made me push through into fashion. He always made me smile and we had the most silly and lovely conversations. I knew he was sick, but that never stopped him.

I lost track of him when I stopped at LiveJournal. Lately I've been thinking about him a lot due to the start of a sewing-competition here in the Netherlands. We used to talk about both joining up for Project Runway.

Today I read how things went for him the last 10 years. He fought, he won, but now has other battles. The worst battle is that he lost his gorgeous smile.

There is a fundraiser happening to get his smile back. Benson being Benson and not agreeing on charity for him lost this battle to his friends. We are getting your smile back! You, of all people, deserve that!

Sadly, GoFundMe asks me for a credit card. Which I don't have. So hereby I do what I can and share this fundraise.

Help Benson Smile Fundraising

There. Hate me all you like, Benson. I still love you.

Kisses from Sam.

Nala

About 4 weeks ago Nala had difficulty with walking properly. It looked like she had an infected toe and after a vet visit it was cleaned up. They gave me an antibiotics to clear out the infection and I hoped that was that. But a week later she still wasn't ok and the vet took a swap for the lab. Last week I heard she had cancer. To be sure if it was just her toe or not, we made one x-ray and found a tumor in her lungs. At this point she didn't eat, drink or wash herself anymore. Options to keep her alive were more like options to keep her suffering. On Monday I had to say goodbye to one of my kitty-children.

I saw Nala be born. I nursed her, because her own mommy didn't know what to do with her children. I took her and her brothers in when they were 2 years old, because it got too crowded with kitties at my friends house where they were staying. I know her for 16 years. She was a diva, ninja and my little ball of fluff. She snuck into my workshop without a sound to crawl on my chair or in a box, just to be near me. She never cared for catfights in the backyard, she just smacked the intruding cat right in the face to make them bugger off. She played with her nails out, making me have to take care of small wounds on her brothers. Everybody loved her at first sight, for she had this pretty long hair and adorable look. But she could be very mean and had the stare of death if a stranger was left alone in the room with her. And I loved every part of her.

I miss her a lot, but little kitties grow old. I'm still checking if she's in her chair and still see her sneaking around in the corner of my eye.

I'm getting a lot of support from friends and family, because they know how crazy I was about her. I'm very grateful. I'm glad I had the chance to say goodbye for a full weekend with cuddles and kisses. Slowly picking up my work again.

I'm running a bit behind with everything. I'm sorry, but I'll think you'll understand.

Costume review: Aquaman (2016 Concept art)

So this picture of Jason Momoa has hit the internet. It's a concept art for Aquaman and people are indifferent about it. It doesn't show a blond and blue eyes californian beach boy, but a gritty and rough Poseidon.

I'm loving it. I've never been a fan of that blonde twat. This is what a man of the sea looks like. But where did that blondie came from anyways? Why did they choose for that appearance in the first place?

I did some research on Aquaman. When was he introduced and what did he look like and cross referenced it with the meaning of certain looks of that age. He first appeared in Fun Comics #73 in 1941. This is an American comic. Americans held the blond hair and blue eyes high in standards of perfect beauty. Aquaman was a mysterious man from the sea, and no wonder he had to look just perfect. The haircut is a superman haircut in blond. This is what the girls dreamed about and the men wanted to be.

If that blond hero would rise from the sea in this time period, we would see him as a slick politician. Or a dweep in a funky leotard. No one would bat an eye. Think for a second what a man of the sea with such passion for it would feel like. We're polluting his home, we're killing his palls and after all this time having a chat about it is too late. I would be pissed. And taking in consideration that the old fashioned Californian beach boys hold no leverage anymore against the rough manly man about what is best for nature and sea life, here comes Jason Momoa. Bad ass, rough cut, Poseidon inspired motherfucker. If he would rise up on the beaches with that look in his eyes... people would think twice before taking a selfie with this dude and post it on instagram.

I absolutely see what Zack Snyder did there. I praise him for it. New era, new ideals. I'm a big fan of the gritty approach. If people still want that blond twat, go back to the comics or the cartoons.

Feth

the one and only Feth

A long time ago, A dear friend of mine had a familiar on a LARP event called Feth. It was a leprechaun with a big mouth and an annoying voice. He was feared and loved. He had two handdolls to play Feth (and sometimes more then one of the creepy leprechauns... one was usually enough, two made you run like hell). He once told me he wanted to change one into a drow-leprechaun (because we all need an annoying little guy with an even more evil twitch).

Sadly, he lost one of the dolls in the woods. We thought it was lost forever, but after a few years we found his head back. His hair and body (which was cloth) was all gone, but his head (wood) was intact.

Fet and his new Brother

Now the other doll already got a new outfit from me. A bit of a classy wizardly outfit for Feth to show off. How come I got the doll? Long story. I once played a character as backup from the same homeworld and asked if I could take Feth along. It was funny how people that knew him were semi happy to see him (and then held on to their gold-pouch and excused themselves to get away from him). I have the head too and I wanted to make my friends wish come true. I used it to make a Feth-drow.

Now Feth and his new brother are home. I'm glad he was so happy to have Feth back. Things will be a lot less chaotic without the two crazy leprechauns running around the house.

Happy Birthday Sebas.

Pictures made by Sebastiaan.

COSplay: The thin line between copyright abuse and fanart

As the title explains, there is a very thin line between copyright abuse and fan art when it comes down to selling my own handmade cosplay outfits. You can make everything for yourself or your friends and show it to the world, but selling it as a company can be very tricky. There are some licensing companies that have the 'dips' on creating and commercially selling costumes or parts of costumes. No license means your bootlegging and actually you are not helping the fandom. Licensed products means a part of the money you spend on them goes directly to the company that made your hero happen and feeds it so it can go on and on. Giving into bootleg means your money doesn't go to what you want to support.

But I really like to make cosplay!

Now truth be told I do twist and turn it into my own creation and mix it with periodic clothing. But what if I want to use logo's and such? I can't sell that, but I can recreate the outfit without logo's. Or I find the licensed versions to use in the clothing. I want to support the fandom and yes there are big and very rich companies behind them that probably already have enough money, but they also check the popularity by looking at their sales. They can't check bootleg. Next to that, bootleg can be punished severely. If I'd have to calculate a lawsuit into my items, it would become un-affordable.

So what should I do?

I, personally, am not going to stop making costumes for myself. I will go all the way. What I can sell from that costume as made to fit, will be the blank parts. Everything that does not immediately links to something that could be licensed. Next to that, with every character I create, I will sell licensed items.

I am a fan, I support the fans, I want to help the fandom grow.

Licensed Merchandise on Samalla.nl