Miami SuperCon!

As promised, my photo report of our weekend at Miami's SuperCon!

 C'mon. What's not to love?

If you know who this is, you're gonna FLIP:

It's Lydia from the Beetlejuice cartoon! Isn't she great?!

The best steampunk ensemble of the weekend:

 That jet pack is sooo cool - and I love the fins on his helmet and the arm bracer design. Not to mention it's kind of refreshing to see a non-distressed steampunk costume - so shiny and crisp!

Speaking of steampunk, reader Shellie tracked me down at the con and surprised me with this adorable sculpted Mini Me in my steampunk costume:

She even included my ray gun and feather hair clip! HOW COOL IS THAT?
(This is only two inches tall, btw. It's a MINI mini me!)

The Ghostbusters booth had this containment unit out front:

I managed to score a sufficiently creepy shot of Slimer:

 With a bonus Ghostbuster and StayPuft reflection!

Speaking of Ghostbusters, this guy had the slime pack from the second movie (and the video game):

You don't see this pack too often, and it's really well made. Major props! (Pun intended.)

One tricky thing about group shots...

It's hard to get everyone to look at you (and not blink) at the same time!

For once I find myself actually wishing there were other people in this shot, just for scale reference:

 These kids were actually quite tiny, so I took the shot while down on one knee. Aren't they cute? (And I'm guessing...Pokemon?)

Of course I couldn't resist Artist's Alley, which is where all my con money gets spent. Here's artist Chris Hamer of UrbnPop holding up my fabulous new Big Daddy sketch:

Perhaps I should explain.

I asked Chris to color the Big Daddy in crazy, technicolor rainbows and such. "Girl it up," I told him. He was more than happy to oblige, and I LOVE the result. Also, Chris is Super Cool - John and I had a lot of fun chatting with him both days we were there.

Speaking of fun people, our friends Chris and Christy introduced us to Dana Snyder, the voice of Master Shake on Aqua Teen Hunger Force. I think I've watched maybe one episode of Hunger Force, and Dana didn't know us from a hole in the wall, but that didn't stop him from hanging out with us all for a bit talking iPhones and Disney stuff. (He besmirched the name of Voices of Liberty, you guys. BESMIRCHED it, I say! But it was funny, so all is forgiven.) Anyhoo, my point being: if you're a fan and you get the chance, go meet him. He's good people.

[Update: Chris made a short video featuring several of the voice actors at the con, including a lot of Dana. You can see it here - and watch 'til the end for the bloopers; they're the best part. :)]

Ok, back to the costumes!

Pretty Lady Loki:

Her makeup was gorgeous - I wish my photo showed it better.

 Green Goblin:

This little Harley Quinn shook her head when someone asked if she wanted her picture taken, but the second I raised my camera she immediately popped her little hip out and posed like a pro. Ha!

This Chell/Aperture Test Subject made her Portal gun out of foam, but wow does it look good for foam!

 She also made the long-fall boots. So great!

A fabulous Storm from X-Men - and check out those eyes!

 More kid cuteness:

And here's Daphne Lage working on an ACEO I commissioned. She's cracking up because John is growling and saying something about her being a tiger, and to "work it." You know, usual John stuff.

I'm officially in love with Lage's style, and I wish I'd found her sooner to commission a bunch more cards! Here's the finished piece:

Mr. Stay Puft!

And while I'm at it, here's the rest of my art haul from the weekend:

TMNT watercolors by Scott Vollmar (who painted the last two turtles for me overnight so I could have the whole set) and a cutie-style Edward Scissorhands sketch by Micheal "Locoduck" Duron. (Duron also did my Beaker & Dr. Honeydew sketch, so you might recognize his style from my MegaCon post.)

These were just a few of my favorite costumes from the con, btw, so to see the rest just head over to my Flickr account. (It saves me the trouble of posting 50+ photos here.)

Hope you guys enjoyed! Next up is more crafty stuff, so stay tuned!

"Sew Nerdy!"

On the way down to Miami this weekend we stopped off at Tate's Comics for the opening night of the "Sew Nerdy" show at the Bear and Bird gallery (located inside Tate's.)



 I expected there to be major crowds, so I was both delighted and a bit baffled by how few people were there when the gallery opened at 6.


The gallery is a small-but-charming space, and while I've never considered myself a huge textile art fan, I had to resist the urge to take about half the pieces home with me. Here are a few of my favorites:

"Stag Patronus" 

 The threads actually seemed to glow from a distance. Gorgeous!

I was THIS CLOSE to buying this little Yoda:

 It's terrible having to prioritize my art buying these days, let me tell ya. I need more wall space!

Quite possibly my favorite piece from the entire show:

 "Lil' Bo Skeletor has Lost His Sheep"

It made me laugh. WHAT.

These next pieces were framed high up on the wall, and the spotlight reflections made them kinda hard to photograph:

 

It's Lydia from Beetlejuice!

Here's a close-up:

 Love this SO MUCH.

Next to her was this beeYOOtiful felt Uhura:

What a cool mod design! And check out the detail in the stitching:

Sew perfect! :D

If you've seen other blog posts about the show then you probably recognize this Pee Wee:

So cute! AAAAA! [Pee Wee flail]

A marvelous embroidered Mario set:

That Chomper chain is so clever.

And every geeky craft show needs a needle-felted Snarf, right?

And a Cheetara doll?

And finally, here's a TARDIS in denim-blue - literally:

I like that the doors can open and close - very cool! (In a terrifying kind of way, of course.)

There were lots more amazing goodies at the show, so head over to my Flickr account to see the rest. From Oompa Loompa pillows to geeky aprons to the embroidered Picard/Riker facepalm, I guarantee you'll see plenty more to make you smile.

In addition to the art, we had fun exploring Tate's itself, which is huge and a veritable geek's paradise:

Plus there are giant gears on the wall. Which is awesome.

So if you're in the Fort Lauderdale or Miami area anytime soon, definitely go see the Sew Nerdy show - it's going on now through August 11th. Oh, and while you're there, pick up some "Cream Collons" from the Japanese food section of Tate's. Trust me; they're delish. :D