Halloween Shopping Tips

HALLOWEEN IS COMING: ARE YOU READY FOR THE FUN?
By Toni Weri

Halloween is just weeks away! Do you know what you are dressing up as?

IN PERSON SHOPPING

For those of you that are looking for local stores, in Ottawa, Audrey’s Costume Castle is my go-to for everything. They have various kinds of make-up, wigs, costumes and accessories all year round. They can even order pieces in for you as long as you give about 1-3 weeks for the order to come in. 

For you do-it-yourself folks, Value Village is a great place to find pieces of clothing or fabric you can sew and alter. For example, I once used a vintage looking curtain to make a fun steampunk skirt. No one could tell it was once a curtain AND it only cost me $5.00 for the curtain panel.

Malabar is another costume store in Ottawa (and Toronto). A bit pricey, but another stop to add to the list. I normally venture there to grab my makeup supplies and various accessories. The staff there are friendly and know their products well. 

ONLINE SHOPPING

For those of you that shop for wigs or corsets on eBay, my go-to stores are:

Cosplay Anime Wigs

Wedding Checklist (Please Note: These corsets will probably last about 5-6 wears, hence the price.)

In my experience, ordering a costume from Spirit Halloween has been troublesome. The site offers quite a few neat “online only” costumes, but I would be weary of the quality of the costume. Make sure you read the customer reviews and give about a month for the order to come in unless you pay the expedited shipping fee.

For some fun makeup tips and ideas, I found this link helpful and entertaining.

Have a fun and geek-tacular Halloween!

Toni Weri is a freelance artist and a proud member of the Rebel Legion. She is a geek of all trades, but her forte lies with anime, costuming, video games and Sci-Fi


You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram @ TONIGEEKGIRL

Cosplay No-No's: Three Big Tips for Con Season and Beyond

COSPLAY ADVICE: HELPFUL TIPS FOR MAKING YOUR COSPLAY EXPERIENCE MAGICAL

By Toni Weri

As a cosplayer, it’s a fun challenge trying to be as accurate to the character you are portraying as possible.  There are different things that can enhance your costume, like contact lenses or makeup for example, but there are also things that can take away from it as well.  Here are three cosplay no-no's to keep in mind.

NO-NO #1: WIGGING OUT

Your sewn or store bought costume can look amazing, but I find that details, such as the wig/hair can make a difference. To truly capture the essence of a character, you have to go that one extra step further. Either finding a great wig or style your hair to match your costume will increase your transformation into your favourite character. Try to avoid buying cheap wigs from big-box stores. If you have puffy or thick hair, taking the time to put on a wig cap to keep your hair under the wig will keep it from peeking out of your wig.

Photo taken by Megan Leduc 

               Cosplayer: Kudrel (https://www.facebook.com/KudrelCosplayer)

NO-NO #2: UNPLANNED POSING

As silly as this may sound, practice posing in front of a mirror. You’re going to get pictures taken of you in costume by event goers because, hey, you are totally rocking your costume! The depiction of your costumed character might have been captured well in-person, but a picture is worth a thousand words. Take 5 minutes to search for reference pictures of your character. Try to mimic a pose, a facial expression or a combo of both! Cosplayers need to avoid the “deer in the headlights” look. If your character is supposed be gallant warrior, then puff out that chest, lift up that head and give that camera a confident smirk.  

Photo taken by Corey Graham

             Cosplayer:  ÁLI (https://www.facebook.com/UniverseofALI)

NO-NO #3: CONTINUITY OVER SECURITY

If you are going to cosplay, do not put your wallet or anything important in the pocket of your costume, unless it is secured in some manner. Time and time again I have heard sad tales of cosplayers losing their badges, wallets, hotel key cards etc… because they stuffed it into their costume pockets. These items are lost while posing for pictures, going to the bathroom or by just getting into character and running around. Keep a bag with you, or have a trusted sidekick carry a secure bag while you are at an event.  Cosplaying is fun, but losing spending money you saved up for your convention weekend can ruin the experience for you.

Toni Weri is a freelance artist and a proud member of the Rebel Legion. She is a geek of all trades, but her forte lies with anime, costuming, video games and Sci-Fi.

You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram @ TONIGEEKGIRL

Toronto Comiccon 2014: Stars Wars in TO

by Toni Weri

THE GALACTIC MISSION: Trooping with the 501^st/Rebel Legion at Toronto Comiccon 2014

On March 7^th-9th, I had the pleasure of Trooping with my fellow members of the 501^st and Rebel Legion at Toronto Comiccon, in Toronto, Ontario. It was, as always, an enjoyable event. Legion members from Ottawa, Toronto and the U.S.A attended this geeky event.

Photo taken by Toni Weri

I'll summarize what we, the 501^st/Rebel Legion, do. We are a volunteer, international costuming organization that raises funds for various charity organizations. We do this by setting up various booths at events, such as comic conventions or at local fundraising events. What do we costume as? As STAR WARS characters! All costumes are made by Legion members.

The good guys and the bad guys, banding together for the same goal, to make a difference while doing what we love.

Trooping for charity, that’s what we do. All funds raised during Toronto Comiccon 2014 will go towards a children’s charity.

How did we raise funds? Well, that’s one of the fun parts of Trooping. At major events, such as comic conventions, an elaborate and interactive booth is normally put together. At the beginning of the booth, the Canadian Garrison put together an info/recruit desk. Here, Legion members happily answered questions about our group as well as informed convention goers on how they can become a 501^st/Rebel Legion member. Normally raffle tickets are available at this part of the booth.

Photo taken by Toni Weri

The next section of the Legion booth was a “Blast-a-Trooper” for charity. Participants shot at Stormtroopers and Clone Troopers with awesome Nerf guns. It was actually quite a blast. Troopers underwent hours of being bombarded by foam blaster bullets, all in the name of charity.

Photo taken by Toni Weri

Moving along down the Legion booth, we reach the photo booth. Here, fans of all ages took pictures with their favourite Star Wars characters, for a small donation of course.

Photo taken by Toni Weri

The 501^st/Rebel Legion Canadian Base raised a total of $6170.65 during Toronto Comiccon 2014 for a children’s charity. Awesome job Troopers!

Photo taken by Phil Gotfried at Toronto Comiccon 2014

The Legion is active on five continents, with Garrisons and Outposts in over fifty countries around the globe. Making a difference while being geeky. Sounds about right to me.

For more information about the 501^st and Rebel Legion, please visit the links below.

http://www.501st.com/

http://www.rebellegion.com/

May the Force Be with You!

Toni Weri is a freelance artist. She is a geek of all trades, but her forte lies with anime, costuming, video games and Sci-Fi. 

You can follow her on Twitter or Instagram @ TONIGEEKGIRL

WoW the Online Card Game: Five Star Fun

 by Toni Weri

A WORLD OF WARCRAFT ONLINE CARD GAME: 

YES, IT EXISTS!

Pictures courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment/Battle.net

I would like to share my joy of an online PC game called “HearthStone: Heroes of Warcraft”.

It recently became open beta, so anybody can sign up and play it.

For those of you familiar with “World of Warcraft” lore, it features the characters, fun sounds effects and all the WOW-isms you know and love. That’s right, there are even Murlocs in this game.

OK, let’s talk about the game. The game is a 2 player online card game which can be played with a friend or a random player online. Both players start with 30 life points and the goal is to get your opponent’s life points to zero, or force them concede.     

Picture courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment/Battle.net

It is an easy game to learn and quite entertaining!  You begin in “Practice Mode” by unlocking all the Heroes. You are given a character to begin with. Once you’ve unlocked all nine classes, by defeating them, you can keep practicing or move on to “Play Mode”. In this mode, you are matched with someone online closer to your level. I highly recommend honing your skills in “Practice Mode” until you feel comfortable.

Picture courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment/Battle.net

In “Play Mode”, you earn gold by doing daily quests and level up your class. As you level, you gain cards that are either specialized for your class or cards that are playable for all classes. Once you’ve earned enough gold, you can enter “Arena Mode”… that’s where all the experienced players go.

In “Arena Mode”, your first PVP arena match (best two out of three) is free.  While in the arena you can win rare or secret cards and even a shiny prize! I have to admit, the arena is pretty intense but fun regardless.

Picture courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment/Battle.net

  

You can also customize your own card decks. How awesome is that?

The maximum amount of cards a player can have in their deck is thirty cards. Once you get the hang of the game, you’ll start getting a good feel of what style of card battling you are into.

  

All-in-all, I give this game a 5-star rating. It’s fun, it’s easy to learn and anyone can play it.

Click on this link to sign up today!  http://us.battle.net/en/int?r=hearthstone

  

This game has been Toni Approved!

Toni Weri is a freelance artist.  She is a geek of all trades, but her forte lies with anime, costuming, video games and Sci-Fi.  She loves to eat and bake delicious desserts.