Okay, so I know it’s been a while since I last posted. I’ve been quite busy living a nomadic life, but I’ve finally settled back down in Tampa, FL.
One benefit to moving all over the place is taking in all the sights. It’s sort of like an extended vacation where you get to be a tourist in your own city. Last year, I was living in Midtown Atlanta, GA for a few months and was ecstatic to see that The Center for Puppetry Arts was throwing a Dark Crystal Ball. Of course, I had to go in celebration of my favorite film of all time. I only had two days to put together a costume, but I was able to commit myself entirely to it.
A few trips to the local Goodwill, costume stores, and craft store provided me with ample materials for my costume. The biggest score was a pair of Tinkerbell wings for 99 cents and a bag of mixed fabrics for stupid cheap. I was able to reshape the wings and cover them with the fabric so they looked more like Kira’s. My boyfriend, Jared, even helped me with the spray adhesive when it got down to the wire. I then doctored-up a Doctor Doom costume with some scissors, safety pins, fabric glue, and a some embroidery from a thrift store pillow. Of course, I already had some elf ears. Add to that some old hippie clothes and makeshift arm and leg gauntlets (made out of a bubble shirt! remember those?), and I was a bona fied Gelfling.
I cut my bangs the day before to look more like the lovely Kira.
Going to the event the first time was such a last-minute decision. My dad suggested I get business cards for Fanciful Quill and pass them around, so that’s what I did. Unfortunately, picking them up made me unfashionably late for the ball, so I missed the costume contest and the raising of the crystal; but I don’t think I would have had a chance anyway, as the other costumes were out-of-this-world fantastic. If you see yourself in any of these pictures and want to be credited, please let me know! They aren’t all the best quality, but it’s my mom who’s the photographer of my family.
I met Jareth , the Goblin King!
I finally got to meet the missus.
This is a next-level Podling cosplay.
I loved this whole look. Gorgeous!
What a lovely Ornamentalist-inspired headdress!
I was most impressed by the mechanization of this piece.
I didn’t think it was possible to make Kira more fabulous, but this lady did just that.
Brian Henson hanging with an urSkek and a Garthim.
If I recall correctly, this couple costume won in 2018.
The original landstrider costumes were complicated, and the gal in this one replicated two of them.
Kendall Bailey, Ritual Master and goddess of cosplay. She had a cool mask as part of the costume, but the photo I took came out too blurry.
I’ve been meaning to put this design on everything.
It’s Aughra!
This costume was my favorite for its simplicity.
“We are lords of the crystal.”
This one is from 2019. Rebekah Cox and John McDonald are cosplay couple goals.
I was also astounded by the opulence of the decor as well as the array of refreshments. There were several Dark Crystal replicas at the event, and they were all great for photo opportunities. The Center For Puppetry Arts really outdid themselves.
I snapped this photograph as a first impression when I walked into the event.
A feast fit for a skeksis.
The woman who makes these cakes is insanely talented.
The Baker with her breathtaking creation. That Aughra is a cake if you can believe it.
I’m skeksi, and I know it. I’ll see myself out now…
My favorite thing about the event is getting to meet like-minded people who enjoy the Hensons and Frouds’ work as much as I do. I have made some lasting friendships while attending The Dark Crystal Ball.
Here’s my friend, Theresa. We met while looking at the Dark Crystal exhibit they have at The Center.
Theresa and I have gone together to the past two Dragon Cons and Center for Puppetry Arts Balls. I’m a bit of an introvert, and I’m not sure I would’ve done all this cool stuff if it weren’t for her encouragement.
Theresa and I at Dragon Con 2019
This year, I was also able to meet a fellow member of one of my Dark Crystal Facebook fan groups. Jen Eversole took lots of pictures; which was so nice, because I overestimated the number of free hands I’d have once the flower puppet and the beverages came into play.
Jen and I after meeting for the first time. She looks more like a Kira than a Jen.
Good Morning, Jimmy!
The exhibit itself is worth the trip to The Center for Puppetry Arts. I believe it is going to remain there until January 2020, so definitely go see it if you get the chance. Unfortunately, this year, I was so invested in ensuring that my costume did not fall apart (more on that later), that I did not take many pictures of it.
“Another world, another time, in the age of wonder.”
The Garthim Master, skekUng, with his epic sword and some podlings.
Our Hero, Jen.
Oh my Thra, would you look at this neat stuff.
A wise and gentle Mystic.
How many opportunities do you have to share a beer with a podling?
The Dark Crystal is lit! Published titles include the winner of the Author Quest that I also entered.
Pieces from the winners of The Dark Crystal Fan Film Challenge that happened when I was living under a rock, a.k.a., Rochester, NY.
She’s a thing of beauty.
Podlings are quite stylish.
This landstrider must’ve been decapitated by a garthim.
This piece is adorable.
He’s right behind me, isn’t he?
Another perk of The Dark Crystal Ball is getting to meet some of my heroes and also learning about other talented people to admire and hopefully someday emulate.
Theresa was kind enough to introduce me to the legendary Kirk Thatcher.
And Kirk was cordial enough to introduce me to Brian Henson. This is after the Dinosaurs Panel at Dragon Con 2018.
I got to meet the ultra-skilled Alice Dinnean at this year’s ball. She’s such a treasure and a wonderful artist as well as person.
And Alice was generous enough to introduce me to Peter Linz of Tutter, Walter, and Ernie fame.
YouTube-famous Dabchick introduced himself to me.
Barnaby Dixon said he wouldn’t change a thing about the flower hand puppet I made, a huge compliment for this novice puppet builder.
And of course there’s Bob and Carl of The Late Night Puppet Slam.
I’m so glad I worked up the courage to speak with Peter Brooke, because he is such a delight.
Which brings me to the piece de resistance: my costume for this year. I spent one month conceptualizing it and one month building it. I knew I wanted to look like a Gelfling going to a ball, because I was so inspired by all the gowns from 2018. I also was inspired by the aesthetic in the trailers that were coming out for the much-anticipated new show The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Anyone who knows me, knows that I’ve been waiting to return to Thra for most of my life. All that anticipation made me pretty grumpy, and I’m afraid I came across as whiny when I wrote about it five years ago. I really need to learn not to bite the hand that feeds, especially after now knowing about how difficult the creative process can be in this corporate world.
Anyway, after pausing each trailers half a million times my costume needed to have some elements of the Caves of Grot, and I had to have that gorgeous Sanctuary Tree flower. I asked myself if I could personify Deet and the Sanctuary tree becoming one, as it was in her vision scenes that were giving me Game of Thrones/A Song of Ice and Fire weirwood vibes.
A very rough sketch of my Sanctuary Tree concept design.
I bought a sewing machine thinking I could quickly learn to sew a ball gown from scratch (ha!), but someone wiser than me said I’d be better off just altering an old dress from the thrift store. The hardest part was finding all the materials on the cheap while still keeping with my original design. Another struggle was having no idea what I was doing and just winging it. I probably spent too much time on things that would never be seen like painting and detailing my heels as well as hand-dying the secondhand wedding petticoat. Sponge-painting the skirt to the dress was necessary; because it had a huge stain, and I wanted it to look like the walls of a Grottan cave. Adversely, safety-pinning the LED lights onto the inside of one of the layers of the skirt turned out to be the easiest thing ever.
Just a trunk, twinkly cave walls, and a sparse flashing flower at this point.
For the supersized Grottan flower, I purchased a pair of turquoise gloves to adhere the petals to, but I found it would not look elegant enough with my sewing skills or lack thereof. I ditched that idea and just threaded each flower layer through the squishy flashing LED ring I had bought for the center of the flower. I then glued fishing line loops to the back of the petals closest to my thumb and pinky finger. Like the original, feathers added some nice sympathetic movement.
A Goodwill Outlet bin pillow can be lovely petals once layered with several sheets of thick aluminum foil and spray adhesive.
I tried to detangle and restyle an old Daenarys Targaryen wig that I had lent out to friends, but she was unsalvageable. Running out of time and money, I was distraught that my vision may not become fully-realized. Luckily, my mom pointed out that I did not have to be both Deet and the Sanctuary Tree, I could just use the K.I.S.S. method and be the tree. Then, there was a eureka moment when a fellow fan pointed out to me that the tree has pink leaves once out of the caves. I had an old Nurse Joy wig from a previous costume that was salvageable after some fabric softener. I curled the wig with dollar store foam curlers and set it in boiling water. I brushed it out, and voila! Mr. Brightside video girl realness. It ended up being the most talked-about piece in my costume, so never underestimate the power of a well-styled wig.
“Open up my eager eyes.” Anyone else remember that iconic music video?
I bought a fake vine plant from Goodwill for $4, cut, and painted it for my branches.
I hand-strung these flowers and feathers and then painted them to look more cohesive. They were added to the bodice and wig.
That wise person I was talking about suggested I make the roots for the cage skirt out of pool noodles. Lo and behold, that’s a thing. I found a very useful YouTube tutorial on making pool noodle roots, albeit for Halloween decor. I did not think about how they would attach to the dress nor how they’d hold up whilst wearing them. Still, I now know how to “corpse” using foam, shrink wrap, and a heat gun.
Roots like puzzle pieces. Please don’t judge my messy work space.
It looks like I killed a Kraken.
The top coat of paint and the fake moss was applied the morning of the ball.
Unfortunately, this is the only picture I have of the dress before my butt uprooted it.
It took me like two days to make the roots and figure out how to adhere them, and it took two minutes of sitting in my taxi on the way to the ball for all but the front root to rip off the dress completely. It didn’t help that I never use Uber or Lyft, so I had to chase down my taxi in the Georgia heat. Shout out to the kind stranger, Beth of Roswell, whose daughter cosplays, so she had the heart to pick up a dismayed weirdo dressed like Marie Antoinette in August. She helped me find another taxi and kept me from ruining my makeup with a nervous breakdown. Had I known then what I know now, I would have changed into the dress once I got to the venue.
Me placing third in the costume contest. Photo Credit: Chris Hunt
All the finalists in the costume contest. Photo Credit: Chris Hunt
Look at all that charisma, uniqueness, nerve, and talent.
Going to the event, I was worried no one would know what I was, seeing as the trailers for the new show had just come out, and my character was a new introduction to the world of The Dark Crystal. It turned out that was the judges’ favorite aspect. Artists who worked on the show knew who I was right away and were also skeptical as to how I could have pulled out an elaborate costume from a few seconds on a total of three short trailers. I guess being somewhat obsessive can pay off sometimes. Attached pool noodle tree roots or no, I did still manage to miraculously nab third place and get a sweet swag bag full of Dark Crystal stuff. I’d say the blood, sweat, tears, and couple months’-worth of concerned looks from friends and family were all worth it.
Some of my Dark Crystal Swag. The signed Brian Froud piece made me happy cry a little.
I appreciate all the talent I met who so graciously signed my playing cards. That J.M. Lee book is also signed!
Sorry if combining both events into one post is confusing, but I have been putting off posting this for too long while I try to figure out what I’m doing with my life. For now, I’m going to try my hand at puppetry. I’m still also flirting with the idea of a YouTube channel, so stay posted you patient readers.
I’m just so honored to have been a part of The Center for Puppetry Arts Dark Crystal Ball both years. These people and events made me realize how I need to start nurturing my creative side. I mean, how often do you get to do The Time Warp with members of The Jim Henson Company? I can’t wait to do it again when I return to Dragon Con next year to see what the Beau Brown and the rest of the Dragon Con Puppetry Track has in store. I already have my weekend pass and hotel room booked. What are you waiting for?