Tsukinohime3's Commissions

Status Update

Tue, 20 Oct 2009 20:21:57 GMT

I'm a little behind on shipping things out, but if all goes according to plan, I should be at the post office tomorrow. (kotono, your box is HUGE. Unwrap the paper on top for a funny message. XD)

Why am I slow all of a sudden? Aside from the physical aspect of things (still healing from my knee surgery. GAH!!), my daugher is sick and I was planning on going yesterday and THEN today. Not happening. She's got a fever and she doesn't need to go outside when the Wisconsin winter is starting up. Also, work is keeping me (indirectly) exhausted, since I come home jazzed and can't get to sleep before 1am. O_o;

The other thing I need up make an update on is that I've been having a lot of inventory screw ups with my SM page, so I'll be doing inventory soon to make sure that thing is accurate. No more refunds or substitutions!! *head/desk*

Sooo...that's it. Bye!

kotono: step 23

Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:10:54 GMT

This is your last chance to seal up any pores with model magic. Don't be an idiot like me...;__;

You can pick whatever paints you wish, but for the sake of sanity, here are the paints I'll be using:

From left to right...
DecoArt Dazzling Metallics Splendid Gold
FolkArt 660 Metallic Pure Gold
FolkArt 667 Metallic Gunmetal Gray (hereafter referred to as "steel")
FolkArt Enamels 4034 Metallic Silver Sterling
FolkArt 652 Metallic Rose
FolkArt 659 Metallic Pearl White
FolkArt 670 Metallic Blue Pearl
FolkArt 653 Metallic Emerald Green (you'll see...)

I do not recommend using gold spraypaint for this prop because of the heart gems on the wings. If you spray, those will be covered up. If you discover a way to spraypaint this without coating the hearts, please share? :) Likewise, if you spray everything else but brush on the heart frames, the gold will not match. And I'm all about matching. ^___^

Your brush selection is up to you, but just for reference, these are the brushes I'll be using:

(from bottom to top)
large angular, medium round, small filbert, small flat, small round, extra small round, tiny spotter

Note: the edge of the blade isn't supposed to be gold...I messed up. ^^;
First, paint the gold details. I'm using two different shades of gold and here's why. The FolkArt gold (the darker, dull gold) has a tendency to tarnish and turn green. O_o Dunno why. But it sucks when it happens. The DecoArt gold (the lighter, brighter gold) takes a billion coats before it becomes opaque. However, when these two paints are layered, you get a brilliant gold finish that doesn't tarnish (as far as I know, anyway). So add coats of the FolkArt gold down first until it's opaque. Then, apply the DecoArt gold by using a drybrushing technique. This also gives it dimension, which is VERY cool, IMO. Also, by doing the gold first, any dry brush strokes that go beyond its intended borders will be covered up with its neighbor color and cuts down on the need for touch-ups.

Next is dark pink. Be sure to cover the inside of the foam pieces on the hand guard. Pretend that the dark pink part on the white hand guard pieces is painted all the way...because I forgot to seal the inside of it! *head desk* Stagnation = DO NOT WANT!

[I forgot to take a picture for this. Oh well...]
Now fill in the blade with blue. This is where your angular and flat brushes come in handy. You can actually paint this in at any time you choose. Painting it at this point was a mental strategy to make me think I was closer to being done than I really was. XD Happy thoughts, happy thoughts, happy thoughts...

Next is light pink. Add the pink paint to white to get a pale shade. Kinda like baby pink. My favorite! ^___^ Try not to pass the borders on the hand guard.

Then go over all the white areas with the white paint, including the handle. I had a lot of spots where pink or gold splattered or my brush touched by accident. Because this white paint is so thin, I used a thicker matte white paint as a base to cover the stray paint and then went over it again with the gloss. Much less work and I'm all for that!

After this dries, you can now attach the dark pink ruffly things to the core. After mulling over which kind to use, I decided on super glue.

Okay, by now you're probably wondering what's up with the steel and green paints. Well, now we're going to artificially age the gold and silver parts.

For gold, mix these paints together (in order of most to least):
DecoArt gold
Steel
Green (and this should be a VERY tiny bit!)

Mix it all up until it reminds you of the nooks and crannies you find in gold plated armor. Kinda like Twilight Princess Zelda! Plain gold with no depth or dimension is BOOOOOOOORING!

Now then! Shove this pukey mixture into the detailed nooks and crannies. Go kinda bonkers with it. However, before moving on to the next area, gently wipe away the excess with a soft towel you don't mind parting with or with one of those baby soft paper towels I keep seeing commercials for... >____>

Before:

After:

...okay so my flash killed it. but it's there. The lack of definition in this area made it super difficult to get this to work.

Now let's do the same thing for the large silver heart decoration. in order of most to least, here's what your mixture should look like:
Silver
Steel
Green (again, a TINY bit!)

Using one of your tiny brushes (preferably the small round), trace the dents in the puff paint design. Much like the gold details below the blade, there isn't much definition due to the paint settling. Wipe away very lightly so you don't get rid of everything you put on there.

Another thing I decided to do was apply a dry-brush technique over the blade. First, I did a layer of lighter blue but wasn't quite satisfied with it so I went over that with white for more depth. It makes it look more like a crystal with the added dimension.

I had some before/during/after pictures of this, but once again, my flash killed it. You'll see it on the next picture, though. MOVING ON!

Add a clear coat of spray paint, and voila! Super smooth, shiny and candy-liscious! This also keeps the paint from rubbing off on your gloves.

Out door picture...no flash...can you see it now? ;~~~;

For some reason, varnish makes craft foam curl, so that's why I didn't use it for this project. There's foam everywhere!!!

Next, glue the silver heart to the light pink circle. Used my super duper epoxy E-6000 stuff. ^_^
Note: If you have a clear plastic dome to attach to this part, do it now. I looked and looked and looked but couldn't find one.

It's looking great, but we're not quite done yet!

TIME FOR GEMS!!

And...we're done! By the way, please don't blow up the earth. It's where I keep all my cosplay stuff! :P

Little-known fact: I made two of these side by side...? XP

Feathered Pearls: Last Chance!

Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:23:05 GMT

I've finally finished my very last pairs of feathered hair pearls. The odds of you seeing these items again is very slim! Get 'em now or they're gone!

Other notes worthy of an update:
~ Resin gem pictures have been updated
~ PGSM sword tutorial update coming soon! Project kotono: 95% done! :D

post run tomorrow!!

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 02:27:28 GMT

WOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!! Influx of customers!! Advertising works, dude. XD

I've been slaving away on these orders since I advertised (wait...wasn't that like 6 hours ago? O____o) and now I'm calling it quits for tonight. I've got 4 packages to deliver tomorrow before I go to work. I'll check back again in the morning to see if anymore payments have gone through but for now, I've gotta chill because math totally kills my brain. I've been doing too much of it today. Not even cool.

Fukkatsu

Mon, 21 Sep 2009 16:59:28 GMT

I have returned! :D Everything went well, though I will need physical therapy again due to lack of muscle. I was in so much pain I couldn't move. Atrophy is a beast.

UPDATE TIME!!

1. My car is...kinda in the shop right now. Piece of junk. If it weren't 6 miles away, I'd kick it. >=O So going to the post office is kinda on hold at the moment. Shipment may be delayed.

2. New pictures have been added to my Past Work page. I've also condensed it a bit to make more sense. >__> It doesn't really matter anymore at this point...but I felt like doing it anyway. ^_^;

3. I did inventory on my resin gems and that page has been completely reconstructed. The pictures are now completely up to date and include every single gem I have. I will do better with this method from here on out. First off, each picture has a ruler included to better judge sizing. Also...I'll be photoshopping gems out of the picture once they've sold so I won't have to say "sorry, I'm out" anymore. :(

4. kotono: I did a little bit of work on your sword while I was out but still not enough for an official update. I'm still not done painting it yet. *sigh*

5. chumousie: I sent you an email before I vanished but haven't gotten a response. In case the email was accidentally sent to South Africa or something, the hair pearls are done and I will hold them for 10 days. Please send me a PM or email me at sales.tsukinohime3[at]hotmail.com with your email address for paypal and I'll just send you an invoice or something...

6. One of my personal projects is an Eternal Sailor Moon costume. Therefore, I had to cast some resin recently for an extra pair of feathered hair pearls. So...I'll be putting up two new pairs soon. Stay tuned for that. I will NOT be taking reservations for them.

I have a lot of emails and comments to answer which I will work on answering later this afternoon.

on the mend

Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:53:32 GMT

HIATUS

Be back in 2 weeks.

Impending doom

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:14:24 GMT

Exactly one week from now (September 9th), I will have my knee surgery. On the night before, I will post my official hiatus. Basic recovery time is two weeks so I don't plan on being around until after that time unless I'm feeling particularly spiffy. My goal will be to relax and recuperate so I want prop stuff to be the LAST thing on my mind.

Thus until that day arrives, here's what I'll be working on (in order of priority):

1) A pair of Sera Myu hair pearls, promised to chumousie. I have not forgotten!! I have been working on them a LOT and am having massive painting issues. I think I finally have it figured out now. I was actually outside a moment ago attacking them with paint thinner (something I've never even TOUCHED before) so I could start over. Once they're painted, I will let you know. Unless something HORRIBLY WRONG happens (and I really hope it won't because at this point, I'm sick of looking at them) I will DEFINITELY have them finished before I have my surgery so please have $12 ready so I can ship them out before the 8th.

2) kotono's PGSM sword. (86% complete) The odds of this thing being complete in one week's time is slim but I'll do all that I can.

3) Personal sewing projects which have become MUCH more of a stress reliever than props. I'm stressed. I'm scared out of my mind. But this is going on the back-burner because that's just the kind of person I am...

kotono

Tue, 25 Aug 2009 15:50:40 GMT

Painting has begun! 8D I did the base coat of gold last night and I'm hoping to start on the pink tonight, which is going to take a while...

...this is how I cope with my husband being on a week-long business trip. u__u I spend 3 hours working on cosplay stuff and watching Sera Myu. Starting at 9pm. *falls over*

kotono: step 22

Thu, 20 Aug 2009 21:53:18 GMT

Okie dokie! We're getting close to the end here. Can you feel it? :D

This SHOULD be the last post I make before we start whipping out the paints. Are you excited?? I know I am! ....and for all the wrong reasons, too. >__>

Okay first off, I can't for the life of me remember if I posted this first bit or not. I made this part way back when my computer nuked itself and I think at the time I thought, "Let's save this for later...like when we're doing puff paint on everything else." So, if this is a repeat, it's most likely just going to add just a tiny bit of information. If not, well, HERE WE GO!

This is the heart part for the center of the hand guard. After sealing it with modge podge (which I'm pretty sure I DID mention) add the 3-D details in puff paint. Then, spray paint it silver. Super glue the heart gem in place for now.

Now, MOVING ON!!

I figured it would be best to leave the hardest part for last. Lightly sketch some guidelines for the blade details in pencil. While you're at it, go ahead and draw guidelines along the blade itself for painting later. Do this on both sides. I've gone over my pencil lines with a fine sharpie so you can see it better.

The first thing I had to do - you might not need to, depending on the shape of yours - was to flatten out the curve on the larger piece. Before I did this, this part of the blade was so rounded that there was no way a large, intricate design like this would have dried properly. Puff paint MUST dry flat.

Now use your puff paint to round out the design. I suggest starting with the large segment first and then working your way downward once the previous segment has dried. Be sure there are no gaps between each section. Now, you've probably noticed that it looks rather lumpy at the moment. Try to get it as smooth as you can but remember, once it's dry, any excess can be carefully carved away with an exact-o knife. Either way, I started with the back for my first trial run of this, so it's not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things. ^^;

Now, work on that while I get caught up. :)

Proceed to step 23 - THE GRAND FINALE!

kotono

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:27:50 GMT

I'm planning on starting the final details tonight. Once I make the progress/tutorial post relevant to this part, the next one should be *drumroll please* PAINTING!!!

kotono: puff issues...

Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:35:14 GMT

I checked the "tiara" part of the sword this morning and it dried very strangely. It came out with some very pronounced bumps. So today I went over it again, which in a way is okay, because then the detail will be more pronounced after painting.

While I was at it, I also added the rim around the other piece and started the frame above the tiara's heart. It should look much better after the gem goes on.

I'm hoping that the reason it dried funny was because I kept having to move it yesterday for various reasons. Kinda like how you're not supposed to stomp around or slam doors while you're baking a cake? I think it may have just endured too much bouncing and movement...

So today, I've added the paint and I'm not going to allow it to be moved.

kotono: step 21

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:17:13 GMT

Okay, first order of business: I went back to the last post and corrected the puff paint issues. One picture had to be taken out and two needed some extra explanation. So! MOVING ON!!

Okay, here's the first order of business. More craft foam. Yeah, yeah, I said we were done with that but...things change. You need to learn when not to listen to me! >D First, draw a pencil line on the blade to determine how much foam you need and in what shape. Take your time with drafting these patterns...and make sure you have lots of paper to waste before you get it right. (Don't forget to recycle!) Once you have the four pieces of foam super glued in their proper place, apply caulk between the seams of foam/model magic and smooth with one of your clay tools from a few steps back.

And here's a recent discovery of mine. E-6000 epoxy glue. This stuff is GREAT. It's much stronger than hot glue and it has some flexibility, which works REALLY well for these kinds of things. If you've read this far and haven't started construction (good for you!!) consider using this instead. It has a longer set time than super glue or hot glue, but it's well worth it if you're attaching something that you can afford a longer set time.

My first use of this stuff for this particular piece is right here. String some small beads on clear thread and loop it all together in place. For reference, these are the same beads I used for the "crowns" on the hearts near the blade. I glued these in place with the E-6000 glue. I haven't gotten there yet, but I want to use this same method above the foam circles on the knob, but with smaller beads.

And now for some more puff paint. Go slow. That was difficult. Keep a paper towel on hand to wipe away any mistakes. I'm POSITIVE I'll also be using puff paint to go around the edge of the foam piece below (between the tiara and the small heart on the hand guard). I just want to let this stuff dry before I get there.)

Proceed to Step 22!

For Sale: Neo Queen Serenity cosplay

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:10:26 GMT

Hi, everyone! I'm going through my cosplay closet and will be selling quite a few of my costumes. The first one I've posted is my Neo Queen Serenity dress.

http://www.cosplay.com/photo/858194/

Measurements:
Top Hem: 35"
Bustline: 36"
Distance from Bustline to Top Hem: 3"
Underbust: 33"
Waist/Hips: free

Asking Price: $90
PAYPAL ONLY!

For full details, see my main journal here. I will only be monitoring comments over there.

Thanks for looking!

update

Tue, 21 Jul 2009 19:39:49 GMT

1) Due to many buyers ceasing communication for 2+ weeks, I've taken a lot of items off hold so please check out my sailor moon accessory page to see if there's anything you want to take off my hands.

2) kotono, I have made minor progress on your sword. Basically, I ripped off almost all of the puff paint I added because it's not working. I did a row of small beads along the bottom knob which looks TONS better, and I've put craft foam along the blade to replace that giant glob of puff paint, which did nothing beneficial.

3) As for my knees...the doctor has no idea what's up with that bruise. But my other knee definitely needs surgery, which hasn't been scheduled yet. It's a minor procedure (which does not mean minor nervousness! *quibble*) and recovery time is about 2-4 weeks. However, I'll have my mother in law here to mail packages for me if it's needed.

Thank you, everyone for your well-wishes. ♥♥♥ From here on out, this journal will serve as surgery fund-raiser. ^__^;

incapacitated...

Wed, 08 Jul 2009 01:38:22 GMT

I'm putting all work of any kind on hold right now. I've been trying to do PGSM sword stuff for kotono but I'm dealing with what could be a very serious knee injury.

My "bad" knee has really bad arthritis and bone spurs from a past injury. I have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon in a few weeks and if my general practitioner's hunch is correct, I may be looking at knee surgery.

Last Friday, my "good" knee suddenly produced a spontaneous, swollen bruise that is making mobility - and even sitting, at times - very difficult and very painful. There was no trauma. It just appeared out of the blue. I'm scheduled for an MRI on the 17th.

I'm sorry I haven't been around much. I'm just trying to rest up and get my "good" knee healed up so I can function at least a little bit.

Working on prop stuff while reclined doesn't really work all that well. >___>;;

Yup. Tried it.

angel00tears: finished!

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 22:03:38 GMT

All gold and pink areas have varnish on them, so nothing will rub off on your gloves. ;) All that's left is to let the glitter on the wings dry and it'll be all set!

angel00tears

Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:54:24 GMT

just a quick update and then I'm outta here...

The plan was to mail it out this morning. This picture was taken a few minutes ago. Obviously, it's not ready. It needs a few more coats of modge podge to seal the pores in the model magic, the pink and gold paint job for the handle, and glitter details on the wings. And because of the 4th, the post office is going to slow shipping even if I sent it tomorrow.

Therefore, to make sure I send you a wand that isn't rushed and sloppy, I will continue to work on this over the weekend and ship it Monday.

I'm very sorry for the delay. To make up for this, I will send it express so you'll have it on Tuesday.

Brief Hiatus

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:02:00 GMT

Okay, if you've been keeping up with this place (woot! if you have) you've seen my progress of a Super Sailor Jupiter henshin wand.

This thing is proving to be much more complicated than I anticipated and I want angel00tears to have that baby in her hands by July 3rd. Um...that's this Friday.

I still have a lot of work to do - I'm at about 45% - and I'm going to be doing the final push over the next few days to get it done and out the door. To ensure that this happens by Wednesday at the very latest, I'm going on hiatus. If all goes well, I should reappear next week (I have to work, Friday and Saturday ^^').

Upon my return, I will be answering emails, comments, and PMs in the order in which they were received.

LATER!

angel00tears

Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:54:22 GMT

no flash
Front view. Attached to PVC handle.

flash
There IS a seam on the sides. It was quite pokey and pronounced, so I had to grind it down with my rotary tool (something I have to do to brooches from time to time). A bunch of coats of varnish should disguise it pretty well.

flash
Here's a closeup of something that no one will probably notice. On the lower right side (next to where the lines on the 4 cross) there's a bubble. While it was fusing together, the bubble was much larger than that until I got creative with my daughter's toys and used them to apply pressure to the top piece overnight while it cured. Before I did that, the bubble was HUGE and hardly any fresh resin was touching the top piece.

And here's the beginnings of the wings. They need more modge podge, paint, and puffy glitter paint around the edges.

Everyone else:
I've been very busy around the house, at work, with family, etc. Hey! That's why I'm closing! O_o And so whenever I see tons of comments in my inbox, it's easy for me to get overwhelmed. I'm not saying stop commenting, just please be patient with me. I try to answer everything as I see it, but my stress levels are really high right now.

Another reason I've been busy lately...

Just kidding.

But I did put this together last night!

A RARE Gundam 0079 model (the same Gundam built in Japan above) with all movable joints. :D My husband won it at a Gundam panel at Acen this year. ^__^ It comes with the rifle, bazooka, shield, two beam sabers, and Core Fighter.

angel00tears

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:58:38 GMT

I was able to pour resin last night, which is good. I had hoped to put the metal symbol in the resin while it was still somewhat gooey but this morning, it had already hardened past that point. So I glued it in place.

In case you're confused, here's the plan:

I'm hoping to pour the rest of the resin Sunday afternoon. That means removing what's in there now, pouring some fresh resin, waiting a few hours and then placing the current piece on top of it so it fuses together. Because it'll still be goupy, it should allow the metal wire on the base (which sticks out a bit to reinforce the connection between the two halves) to sink into place and hold things steady. Over the course of that evening, I'll be around on stand-by to monitor things and make adjustments if needed. Though frankly, I'm really hoping I won't NEED to make adjustments.

Should this fail, I have a plan B. It's similar...just a lot less nifty sounding. XD

angel00tears and hotaru_suzuki

Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:26:53 GMT

angel00tears:

The mold came out just fine. I won't be able to start casting until tomorrow.

Here's what I'll be putting in between the two halves of resin. It's made of the thinner metal I used to use for tiaras (and promptly STOPPED using) and um...it was quite painful to cut out. ;~;

hotaru_suzuki:

Only thing left to do is attach the two halves together! :D

That being said, is your address still the same? I'll most likely have it finished by this evening.

angel00tears and hotaru_suzuki

Wed, 17 Jun 2009 20:48:42 GMT

angel:
I poured your mold this afternoon. I'll edit this entry tonight to tell you if it turned out okay. I'm REALLY hoping it'll be okay because...that was the last of my mold material! :S

hotaru:
I'm currently in the process of painting the gold pieces of your mirror. I promise I'll have it finished in a week. :)

angel00tears: mold prep

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 05:31:45 GMT

I just spent the last two hours doing this:

BLECK! I used to use sculpey for this particular job but it would half-bake from the heat of the mold material curing and be absolutely worthless afterward. So now I use something else that doesn't harden for any sort of resin work. But this stuff is soooooo unbelievably slimey! This is my least favorite part of this whole resin shebang.

I'm really hoping I can pour this mold tomorrow afternoon or evening. This is going to be a long drawn-out process. =_______=

New stuff...for some odd reason...

Fri, 12 Jun 2009 18:22:31 GMT

I recently had to cast some yellow resin for a personal project (I needed a brooch for my upcoming Sailor V cosplay ^_^) which led to the birth of a few new items. Plus, I've been finding a lot of odds and ends in my workshop that I've been trying to put to good use. So, I've got quite a few new items to announce.

First up are two Venus brooches: Classic ($4.05) and Eternal ($5.10).

Now I have a new pair of Classic moon earrings (manga style). I've had the stars made for quite a while and now I was finally able to add some moons to the end of them. These are the new medium-sized moons and pearls, which complements the original artwork a little better than the original version. These are about 2" long from stud to moon. If you want me to take off one or more of the pearls, I'm perfectly willing to do so. :)

And now for the second segment: leftover parts.

I've made three new princess necklaces: Mars, Pluto, and Chibi Moon. These are slightly different from the original version. The chain is a little bit longer and the gems are brought more to the front so it's easier to see them when worn. This marks the end of the manga princess necklaces. The mold is dead and gone and these are all the gems I've made.

I'm hoping some of you will be pleasantly surprised by this item. I bought a pack of small crystals when I was making my S Moon wand way back in 2006. I only used one of them and the rest have just sat in my box o' gems ever since. I have some blue ones, too, but I have no idea how to put them to good use. ^^; I've made two of these and if they sell well, I can make two more. Both of them were made in about 30 minutes. It would have gone faster if I wasn't watching DragonBall Z at the same time. XDDD

I'm going to be going to work this afternoon/evening so I will have to advertise tomorrow. That gives you plenty of time, doesn't it? ^_^

hotaru_suzuki: basic shaping - done

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 04:49:46 GMT

I've made some great progress today. All that remains is sanding, painting and gluing! :D

Here's the backing piece. It's the same size as the mirror itself. I'll definitely be smothering that mirror in Windex before I assemble this puppy.

Once assembled, however, DO NOT use any sort of chemical to clean the glass. I cannot guarantee the paint job in such a case. Just breathe on it and wipe it with a cloth or something. I dunno.

Here's the front of the frame.

Here's the back of the frame. The mirror and backing fit in this slot.

And here's your hair and "lady" for the face. They're in the oven right now.

I'd forgotten just how much of a pain it was to make the lady the last (and first!) time I made this particular prop. This is perhaps why I'm not planning to do a Neptune cosplay!! I can shape all the pieces in about 8 hours (Yeah, I know) but the details are just such a pain! I didn't even bother putting a face on the lady. I actually tried that this time around but she looked like a mutant or something...