FOE Finds: Baby Thrones, Bear Lamps, & CROWLEY SAYS HI!

I'm a perpetual lurker over in Fans of Epbot, because it gives me such joy to see 5,000+ geeks basically participating in the world's best Show & Tell. My Facebook feed is 70% photos of your pets and crafts and toys and outfits and really, REALLY bad jokes - and I wouldn't have it any other way.

As I lurk, I also sometimes screen-shot a few of my favorites. Then, because I'm terrible at this, I wait a good 4 months before asking John to go find all the people whose posts I saved and see if they'll let me share here on the blog. :D Which he - and they! - graciously did. So thanks for the team effort, gang!

Now here's a little sampling of things to make you smile, all from your friendly neighborhood FOE:

 This seems appropriate this week!

 I know what you're thinking. You're thinking, "Dangit, Jen, you can't show us a baby Iron Throne without a baby on it!!"

WELL YOU ARE IN LUCK, MY FRIENDS.

BEHOLD!

Allison, I think I speak for us all when I say, Bless you for bringing this into the world. 

(The cute kid, too! :p)

*****

Karen said she made the pot of petunias necklace - my favorite part! - from buttons. So clever!

Karen is actually one of my friends IRL, because a million years ago (or maybe 5-6) I tweeted to the world at large that John & I were at Disney, and did anyone want to meet up? And she did! Just hopped in her car and drove out to Epcot, by herself, to hang with us all night.

I don't know if I'd be that brave, but I'm glad she was.

*****

YASSS. This makes me so happy, and reminds me of all the little Star Trek conventions I went to growing up. Everyone was there to talk and laugh and sing Klingon Karaoke, and I'd never felt more welcome to be my nerdy, Bajoran-earring-wearing self. I hope it's still like that, Melanie. I bet it is. 

*****

You ever see a craft that makes you want to drop everything and go make one just like it?

Supernatural's Crowley Now Has TWO Pop! Vinyls

Funko announced it's releasing an official Crowley Pop! vinyl this January, which finally lets us ask the big question:

Who wore it better?

:D

Granted, I'm pretty biased, but I think our box number at least wins this round.

And John wants to know where Mark's eyebrows are, because, c'mon, EYEBROWS:

You can pre-order the new Funko one for about $10 over on Entertainment Earth. And if you missed our presentation to Mark Sheppard himself, you can see that here, or check out my tutorial to make your own here!

Supernatural Fun At CONjure Orlando

With Dragon Con starting tomorrow, I guess I better wrap up our last convention: a little local event called CONjure.

This was CONjure's first year of existence, and if I had to guess, I'd say also its last. Because despite having some great celebrity guests, a pleasant staff, and a hefty $1000 prize for the costume contest, almost no one showed up.

In fact, attendance was so dismal on Saturday that the con let everyone in for free on Sunday, hoping to draw more crowds. Even then, the vendor room was a ghost town for the few hours we were there, and it looked like some sellers didn't even bother coming back after Saturday's disappointing turnout.

A look at the vendor room from the main entrance.

I can't say for sure WHY no one was there, but I'd mostly blame timing; both Leaky Con *and* Tampa Comic Con were going on that weekend. 

The main reason John and I were there, of course, was to see Mark Sheppard's panel and give him his custom figure, since we're big Supernatural fans. We wandered the vendor room twice working up the nerve to approach his table, and I stopped to take pics of this replica of Supernatural's own Impala:

The Impala's guardian invited me behind the caution tape for more pics, and I'm so glad she did. Check out the awesome details inside!

On the floor is a box of old classic rock cassettes, and on the seat, Dean's knife and their dad's notebook: 

Beside the car in the back was a cooler topped with the boys' favorite brew and rock salt shotgun cartridges:

And the trunk... Ohhh, the trunk:

Propped on the side is a cigar box filled with Sam & Dean's fake IDs, burner phones, and other miscellanea:

Looks like they even ended up with Charlie's driving license. Ha!

But the best detail of all? Let's see if you can spot it:

Yes, it's the green army man wedged in the ash tray, made famous by the emotional season 5 finale. [sniffle]

After we gave Sheppard his figure and took a few pics together - at his suggestion - it was off to his panel.

Now, keep in mind, Sheppard had just come from San Diego Comic Con the previous weekend, packing out massive convention halls with thousands upon thousands of screaming fans. So when he walked out onto the stage of a big ballroom and saw maybe 50 of us scattered among the first few rows of chairs, you can forgive him for saying, "Is this it? You're joking."

There was no heat to it, though, just surprise. And I've gotta hand it to Sheppard; he recovered like a champ. He gave a mild "what're ya gonna do?" shrug, hopped off the stage, and strolled down to us to take questions face-to-face.

And when I say "Take questions," I mean Sheppard would listen to a question, and then talk about whatever the heck he wanted, related or not. It was kind of hilarious. I'm not exaggerating when I say he spent the first 35+ minutes of his hour panel talking about Doctor Who - what a great show it is, where newbies should start watching and why (with #11, if you're curious), the motivation and intricacies behind certain characters - the works.

When someone tried to derail him by asking about Supernatural, Sheppard blinked twice... and then resumed his Who fanboying. Like I said: kind of hilarious.

 

 (Yes, that's a real bird in the background. It belonged to some of the attendees.)

Sheppard also had a way of reverse-heckling the audience. You want to know about on-set pranks? Do you KNOW how many times a day he's asked that question? Now, as he was saying about Doctor Who...

He personally greeted anyone who arrived late to the panel, inviting them in, asking how they were, where they'd been, that kind of thing. On the flip side, if you tried to leave early you got the same treatment. o.0

This lady asked the very first question, and as she was speaking Sheppard strolled over to her, getting closer and closer and kind of looming over her seat. She responded by standing up to face him, and guess who was taller then?

That got a good laugh out of the audience. :)

Sheppard is extremely soft-spoken, so everyone really had to lean in and hush up to hear him. I've never been in a panel quite like it: you could hear a pin drop when he paused for thought. I quickly had to stop taking pictures with my camera, too; the shutter click sounded like a gunshot in there.

I've had someone remark since this that Sheppard isn't very talkative in person, but I think - like most of us - you just have to get him started on something he's interested in. He's quick, extremely intelligent, and not terribly interested in faking enthusiasm. On the one hand that makes him a bit intimidating, but on the other, at least you know what you're getting is genuine.

For example, after the panel, when this group of Moulin Rouge/Supernatural inspired Can Can dancers lined up for Sheppard and lifted their skirts, he didn't so much as quirk an eyebrow:

Instead he looked them over, gave a grave nod, and said, "Very nice."

:D

Another celeb there - Chad Rook - was more enthusiastic, diving in for a picture:

I can't tell which characters all the dancers are supposed to be, but the last two on the right are dressed as Bobby and Crowley:

Check out "Bobby's" little trucker hat fascinator - complete with small angel wings! [sob] BOBBYYY!!!

Ahem.

And Crowley's dress has a beautiful Devil's Trap on top of the circle skirt in red sequins - plus note she's wearing a red flame tiara. Appropriate for the king/queen of hell, no?

They told me they worked on these dresses for months, and with all those ruffles, I can see why!


A few days after CONjure I watched the Supernatural Nerd HQ panel, and it was quite a difference, seeing Mark have so much fun with the fans. Give it a watch here, if you haven't already; it's always great seeing the four guys tease each other nonstop. Heh.

And now that I'm caught up on convention coverage: Off to Dragon Con! See some of you soon!

DIY Pop! Crowley Tutorial

I'm still feeling a bit under the weather, so before I go on to my Tampa Comic-Con roundup, lemme walk you guys through making your own Supernatural Crowley doll!

(This is ONLY for making Crowley as you see him here; if you want to make a different character, I'd advise starting with one of Funko's blank DIY figures.)

Now, this is dead simple stuff, but if you'll pardon the expression, the devil is in the details.

(OH YES I DID.)

Ahem. So.

You Will Need:

- A Vincent Vega Pop! doll:

- and a Peter Venkman doll:

They'll cost you about $10 each online.

(It's all coming together now, right? Told you it was simple!)

You will also need:

- craft or model paints

- a pointed craft blade

- Epoxy and/or E-6000 adhesive

- Paper clay or Sculpey

- sandpaper

And for the box:

- gloss photo paper

- spray adhesive (or other paper glue)

- white posterboard

Start by carefully cutting the heads off both dolls:

Use the seam as a guide, & take your time.

Next paint Venkman's hair, since it's a little dark for Crowley:

Thin your acrylic craft paint with several drops of water, and use the softest brush you can find to prevent brush strokes. Also use flat paint; anything else will be too shiny.

Your watered down paint may take several coats to cover - mine took about four or five. In between coats, use a scrap of paper towel to buff out any bumps or brush strokes.

The eyebrow were the hardest, since I didn't want to chance painting them on directly, & figured cutting them out of paper would be too thick. So instead, John painted a thick swatch of paint on a plastic bowl...

 ... and I used my craft blade to cut them out.

Peeling the tiny eyebrows up is SUPER tedious (the paint wants to stretch), and will likely take you several tries. (See how many I did?) However, if you can do it, you'll have tissue-thin eyebrows that you can position as you like before gluing.

Or do it the easy way, and just paint the eyebrows directly on his face. (Or cut them out of paper.)

For the beard scruff I used an art marker, but be warned: the marker will rub off if you get it wet. This was great for getting the shape right, since I could "erase," but not very durable. So if you plan to handle your figure, go with paint instead.

Now the body:

Paint the shirt black and the tie dark gray. If you don't mind Crowley holding a gun (which you could always sculpt longer to look like the Colt - eh?), then you're done! If you want him to hold a blade, though, keep reading.

 Use a sharp craft knife to jab into the shoulder seam of the gun arm all the way around. The plastic should cut relatively easily.

Next shave off the gun:

And use sandpaper to smooth out the top of the hand.

Mix up a a little paint to match the face, and re-paint both hands to cover the scuffed plastic. 

(Another option, if you're not up for color-matching: when you're done with the figure just splatter the blade & hand with red to look like blood.)

Now sculpt your angel blade. I like paper clay because it's light & doesn't require baking. Roll a thin tube of clay, tapered at one end, and use a toothpick to make the hilt and blade grooves:

The angel blade has an extra long hilt, so cut off a small section to stick under the hand, too.

Let the clay dry completely, sand gently, paint with silver liquid leaf, and carefully glue both pieces in place with E-6000:

Use epoxy to re-attach the arm at a lower angle (don't want Crowley stabbing himself in the eye!) and then carefully attach the Venkman head to the Vega body. This part is tricky, but the fit *should* be tight enough that you won't need any glue.

And you're done! With the figure, that is.

For the box, John's done most of the work for you. So, just print out the two sheets I'll provide below on gloss photo paper, and glue them securely to a sheet of poster board with spray adhesive:

Use a craft blade to cut everything out, score your folds, and glue in the clear plastic window from one of the original Pop! boxes. Fold your box together, and secure with more glue.

To make your new Crowley fit in the old interior plastic holder, use your thumb to pop the right arm section of the plastic back, making room for the new arm angle. The fit will be tight on the head & feet, but it *should* work without any other adjustments.

And you're done! Now bring your new Crowley to Mark Sheppard the next time he's at a local convention, and ask him to sign it. Be sure to tell him John & I said hello again. ;)

******* 

Here are the box graphic files. Click each to embiggen, then right click and save.

You should be able to print both at actual size for a perfect fit, each on a standard 8.5X11 sheet of paper. Remember to glue them to your posterboard side-by-side, though, so the front & side windows line up!

Happy Crowley Crafting, everyone! 

*****

Come see ALL of my craft projects on one page, right here!

Our Custom Funko Pop! for Mark Sheppard

 During San-Diego Comic Con this year the cast of Supernatural had a bit of fun with Mark Sheppard (aka Crowley, the king of Hell) over his not having his own Funko Pop! doll yet. They even made him a sad little version out of a paper cup, which Twitter had a field day with.

 I'm sure you'll recognize Sheppard, since he's also the king of guest-starring roles.

Since John and I planned to see Sheppard here at a local Orlando con the very next weekend, I got the crazy idea to make Mark his own "official" Pop! figure.

Please keep in mind I'm not an artist at all - just a bit crafty - and this is the first time either John or I have ever attempted to customize a vinyl figure. 

We also had to do it in three days.

BEHOLD!

Crowley doesn't exactly need weapons on the show, but I wanted to have him holding something, so I gave him an angel blade - which he does use on the show once or twice.

Of course, just making the figure in 3 days wasn't NEARLY difficult enough, so I also tasked John with making a completely custom box for it.

 

Since I had nothing to do with the box, I can honestly say holy Staypuft it is so cool. 

(I did come up with the number, though. Heheheh.)

Mere words cannot describe how tedious and time-consuming this box was, because, oh yes, John customized every side to match the other Supernatural boxes in the series:

 

 

If you're a Pop! vinyl modder yourself I'm sure you can tell how I hacked two other figures to make this one. (That eye smudge? NOT MY FAULT. I only re-painted the bits I had to.) That said, I'd be happy to post instructions & even John's files to print your own box, if enough of you would like them. Just let me know in the comments.

All boxed up:

And then, two days ago, this happened:

(The first thing Mark did was insult John's t-shirt, in case you're wondering. :D)

Mark has since posted a couple of photos on both Twitter & Facebook, and it's been fun watching fans go nuts for it.

So many people thought it was official that Mark had to follow up on Twitter emphasizing it was fan made - which is a huge compliment. I also love how some think the number wasn't intentional - just "ironic"?

So there's our little secret project! Stay tuned for more on John's & my big triple-convention weekend - including Mark's panel at CONjure - just as soon as I've recovered enough from the con crud to post it all. [groan]

[UPDATE: The tutorial is up! Click here to see, and for the custom box files!]