rush

 We were contacted recently by a studio needing a special rush project, and once we heard what was in the cards we had to jump on the opportunity.

The last few weeks have been a blur of sculpting, mold making, casting, ordering supplies, prepping patterns, and so much hand-sewing... I've gone to bed with numb fingertips so many nights. But no pain, no glory!

We've gotten to play around with some pretty fun materials, like speciality fabric from nftech.com (super customer service and amazing product!), lots of casting rubbers and silicones, and less enjoyably about 10lbs of plaster (which got everywhere) and fiberglass (which also got everywhere once it came time to dremel it).

Can't say what it's for or when it gets published, but I'll be sure to share a link to the production once it hits the airwaves!

Defcon, Las Vegas - rockin' it at the Ninja Party!

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2012/07/26/a-phone-network-just-for-hackers/

After a month of long nights, my studio partner (and now husband, hee!) partied hard @ the Ninja Networks party in Las Vegas. We were definitely the cutest ones there...

And yes, we costumed in +97F temperatures. Because we're hardcore like that, and because, well... why not?

Califur 2012 - Kitty costume

Califur 2012 - Kitty costume, a photo by DragonSquared Studio on Flickr.

Quick update, and some pics of our most recently completed suit!

Just a generic cat I built for myself in the week before the convention. She is made from some really lovely mottled faux fur I picked up in the Fashion District of LA. It's always a delight to use some of the great fabrics I have in my inventory for my own costuming shenanigans. :)

Behind the scenes with The Guild

A little behind the scenes of my partner & I! The Bui brothers did a great job with the impossible task of getting decent material out of us during our 4am screen time.
Do you know how hard it is to not look at the camera when doing an interview? It is! :)

Reindeer - Delux Plush Doll

Reindeer - Delux Plush Doll, a photo by DragonSquared Studio on Flickr.

As an artist who likes to MAKE things, I find documenting things really challenging!

It's not as fun to set up a photoshoot, take a pile of pictures, weed through all the shots to find some good ones, edit the colours and framing, jumble together a collage... it's just not my cup of tea!

But it is necessary. So here's some (way overdue) pictures of my Christmas present to a very sweet boy.

Love this doll, I think it turned out so well. The little velvety antlers are my favorite.

Further Confusion 2012

Had a blast at Further Confusion 2012!

We've been working on LED components lately, and finished a 300+ LED hula hoop to film a bit of my hula routine in costume! The hula hoop is full of RGB LEDs, which means when we modify the controller inside the hoop, I should be able to obtain a spectrum of over 16.4 million different shades of colour, controllable to preset sequences or even reactive to inputs such as sound or oscillation or acceleration. Fantastic!

Can't wait to put together another hula video now that I've got a bunch of LED hoops to play with!

Sometimes I'm a dog

Thanks to a dear friend and a very quality DSLR, the Puppy officially has some fantastic headshots.

Some specs about this costume:

 - The bodysuit is built to fit unisex, so it's rather baggy. I built it with the thought that both my studio partner and I would be able to wear it. It fits anyone between 5'8-6'2". The body comfortably fits between 145lbs-200lbs, though it starts to get tight around the tummy any larger than that.
 - The materials used were for the most part unidentifiable. I haven't found similar fur to the body since! It's made of locally sourced 2" two-tone brown, 2" tipped beige (the kind that came with a faux suede backing), and some Monterey Mill's brand fox white.
 - It has 2 sets of feet; one built on size 11 mens shoes & one pair on size 7.5 womens shoes. The feet are soled with an additional .75" rubber matting so the traction is great and they're very comfortable for long uses.
 - The tail is carved foam with 2 belt loops, so it has a great wag and will always hold it's shape.
 - The hands are 3 fingered, the paw pads are textured pleather and the pads are lightly stuffed with polyfill for a little extra squish.
 - The nose is cast rubber, tinted with commercial rubber tint and a foam core. Solid and squishy yet very light! Read how I made it here.
 - The head is hand-carved foam lined with a lycra balaclava, the ears are semi-rigid cold foam, and the eyes are CNC machine cut plastic with plastic mesh for vision. The irises are painted with high quality acrylics so they won't bleed or fade. The vision is great out of this head; even in low-light/night settings it's fantastic! This head is so light, it barely weighs 1lb!

Definitely a lot of fun to wear!