I’m not dead, yet…

November 6, 2008 | Filed Under The Heartless Bitch Way | 1 Comment

I’ve been rather quiet on the HBI front for the last month due to a bunch of factors, not the least of which was a heavy workload at the office, travel to visit family out west, doing my corporate tax returns, and preparation for Hallowe’en.  The tax return was critical because my affordable accountant (and dear friend) was about to leave for 6 months on a round of world travel, so I had to crunch down and get all the paperwork done.

Then there was Hallowe’en.   

Hallowe’en is my favorite time of year.  More so than even Christmas.  I love to decorate the yard, carve pumpkins and of course dress up in costume and go out dancing and partying.  For years I’ve attended an annual pagan Hallowe’en party hosted at a local night club.  The crowd is great, the judges tend to lean towards home-made vs store bought costumes, and it’s not populated by a bunch of kids who probably get into bars using fake IDs…  I look forward to it with anticipation every year.

This year, I went nuts (more than usual) and decided to go as a Dragon Halfling Warrior.  This involved no less that 15 different sets of props and pieces, including latex wings (which I painted), scaled leg and arm armour, a spear, a headpiece with horns, contact lenses, and face appliances.  It also involved painting scales on leggings and arm socks.  And of course the requisite bodypainting that is a part of the whole “look”.

I started making pieces and learning to use the airbrush ( a birthday gift from the bf )  back in August.  I documented in photographs as I made/completed each piece.  But with work and other demands, I fell behind. By the Sunday before Hallowe’en,  I had not yet started on painting the bodysuit (and there was the whole unresolved issue of how I go PEE in a full bodysuit), so I started in on that, only to find that the airbrush technique I was trying to use just didn’t work on that fabric. 

Shit… I had less than a week and no idea how I was going to do my legs and arms because I just can’t body paint scales with my left hand, nor can I paint the BACKS of my arms and legs very well.  I slept on it, and the next day came up with an idea. 

I went to a local discount store, got a pair of white long underwear and white knee socks.  I bought some makeup sponges and cut them in tear-drop shapes. I sponge-painted scales on the socks and the underwear. The socks I then  cut the toes out of, then cut a small snip for a thumb hole and another for a pinky-finger, and VOILA!  arm scales….  Much of the costume pieces and props were made with crayola model magic, which dries super light-weight and can even be used to make face appliances.  The only downside is it is very fragile when dry.  I managed to spray a single coat of Kryolan Clear Coat on some pieces and that afforded an extra degree of protection, but the claws on my gloves pretty much all got broken before the night was over.

In any case, I left work early on Friday, (but not as early as I would have liked) to get home and work on getting into my costume. I still had one minor bit to “make” – I was going to wear a leather zip-up bodice and I needed to cover up the zipper with fabric after I put  it on.  A little stretch fabric and some two-way tape took care of  that.   Unfortunately, my hair took 2 hours to do – putting strips of fabric in using flower stem tape. They looked like fabric dreadlocks… Then there was the makeup and the face appliances – that took another 1.5 hours since I had NO idea what I was going to do. I usually do at least one or two practice runs to find the right “look” but this time I didn’t get a chance. I had to restart twice when my techniques didn’t work out.

my faceTo be considered for a prize at the Hallowe’en party you had to be there no later than 9pm, so we managed to get out with all my bits and pieces by 8:30.  Fortunately, my oldest spawn and his gf were here to hand out candies to the kids coming by. They had a lot of fun with the fog machine and the 6ft tall mummy – our front yard became a graveyard for a week.  There must have been over 150 kids come by.

The bf went as Waldo – we used a red long-sleeved mock turtleneck (Thank-you, Value Village) and white duct tape, and a red toque with white duct tape.  We picked up some Harry Potter glasses and a cane and he looked amazing.  He even got selected for the “funniest costume” competition, and though he didn’t win, this was the first year he received a nomination.Full costume

At the club, a bunch of people who KNOW me, didn’t recognize me.  [wry grin].  I also won the prize for Best Women’s Costume, and received a ton of compliments including some from people who asked if I had gone as a “fire sprite” two years ago (which I did).  I danced the night away, and lost most of the “dragon toes” from my feet and did some damage to one of the arm pieces, but it was all worth it.   

The bf seems to embrace my insanity, and laughs and says ”yeah, right.” when I say I’m never going to do anything this complex again.

In any case, my house is once again navigable (it went to hell in a handbasket over the last month), my yard is back to normal, and I’m back on the website again. I’ll be working through membership apps and rant submissions (and a DOOZY of an Auntie Dote with Instigatrix- because Auntie’s a bit busy herself these days) this weekend, with the intent of pushing out an update on Monday. 

Stay with me folks, I’m in the process of getting caught up…

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1 comment so far
  1. BW November 10, 2008 11:23 pm

    Congrats on the win! You look wonderful. Any pictures of the body of the costume?

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