Life is a Dream Somehow
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Makin' Merch

29/4/2014

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I spent pretty much all today finishing up merchandise for my stall this Sunday at DevCon! I've made a real effort just sorting everything out this year. I've never sold necklaces before, and I usually just put pins and badges on loose on my table with a price tag nearby. Not anymore!
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These are my necklaces, all bagged up and ready to go! I simply cut some slits in my business cards to thread the chains through, which work perfectly for a visual and obviously all my details are printed on the back! I'll be hanging a few necklaces loose on a stand and then pin the rest in their baggies to a cork board above them.
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Here are my newly packaged badge packs! They'll be hanging on the cork board too, all individually priced.
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Some specially cut and laminated pony bookmarks, complete with sparkly tassels!
I literally spent all day doing these things! And tomorrow I need to sit down and print actual artwork to sell, package it all up and get everything packed. I have to work all day tomorrow and Friday morning so I won't get much more time now to work on convention supplies. Eep! I'm exhausted and DevCon isn't even a huge convention.

I always joke, if it weren't for the eleventh hour, I'd get nothing done.

Days like today, though, I think the joke's on me!
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Convention Table Evolution!

29/4/2014

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Alternatively titled "Meet My Booth-babes, Luke, Moose & DC" haha.

While I'm in the middle of con-prep for DevCon this weekend, I thought it might be fun to show off some of my old table displays! This isn't all the cons I've attended by far, but it's a pretty good representation of how my table's grown! This year will be my first selling jewellery and crafts as well as art, so I can't wait to evolve my table even further.

My first ever convention was MCM London in October, I threw myself in the deep end! I took mainly old furry prints I'd made for Athrocon a million years ago, and just made back my table and transport. Fortunately for me, I've learned a lot since then :)

I LOVE looking at people's convention table photos, so I hope this post is inspiring to anyone thinking about setting up a table at a convention!
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My first ever table! MCM London Oct 2010
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MCM London May 2011
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MCM London October 2011 - the time I forgot a table cover! Also tried out a clothes dryer to hang prints. It didn't end well.
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Bristol Comic Expo 2012 - how tiny is this table? :o
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MCM London May 2012
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MCM London October 2012 - the dawning of the WIRE FRAMES!
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Cardiff Comic Expo 2013
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London MCM May 2013
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London MCM October 2013, looking messy :P
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Convention Planning

28/4/2014

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I made a conscious effort the past few days to not make blog posts for BEDA unless something really worth writing about came up. I know that kind of goes against the idea of BEDA, but this month I've gained readers and followers and I kind of want to lean towards quality rather than quantity. I'd rather post when I have something interesting to share (even if it's just new keychains I've made or a game review or something), and lately I've been so busy with con prep that I've not had a whole lot to report.

In May I have three conventions, one of which is the largest in the UK. The first con is this weekend - May 4th is DevCon, a pretty new convention (second year running) in Plymouth, followed by Bristol Comic Expo on the 10th-11th and MCM Expo - the biggie - on the 23rd-25th. I'm also sending a couple of pieces to Confuzzled's art show on the same weekend as MCM....
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Con prep to-do list go go go!

  • Create new art (kind of the important one and also proving the most difficult right now! Cursed art block ;_;)Draw some more marker cards so my new display stand doesn't look empty and dumb.
  • Work out a way of packaging my necklaces safely, eep.
  • Order badges from AwesomeMerchandise.
  • Print ALL of the things.
  • Carefully package my necklaces in baggies with business cards.
  • Print display copies of art, backed in cardboard, with price tags on (because people don't like asking).
  • Assemble more keychains. Ugh!
  • Package ALL of the prints.
  • Print, cut, laminate and tassel my bookmarks!
  • Get Confuzzled Art Show pieces mounted, wrapped and sent off.
On top of that, I've got it into my head that I want to make two (admittedly simple, I hope!) cosplays for MCM - a pink Aurin Spellslinger from Wildstar and Vandal Twitch from League of Legends!

And now, to stop procrastinating...
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Keyrings!

24/4/2014

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I've been thinking of new things to sell at cons and via Etsy that are a little more tangible than just plain prints and artwork. I've already started making nerdy jewellery, something I've wanted to get into for ages, and I thought another fun way to go would be keyrings! So, the other day, this arrived at my door:
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50 keyrings, ready to assemble once I put some pretty art inside! But, the trouble with selling actual stuff at conventions (as opposed to prints) is that you actually have to make it. In this case, make art, crop it, resize it perfectly, cut it exactly, put it in the keyring and put the back on, before putting it back in its little baggie. Ugh!

But...
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...it's so worth it, because they look so cool!
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Dreamer Blogger, Future Adventurer! 

23/4/2014

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I love to travel! I don't travel abroad all that much at the moment but I do travel around the country attending various conventions and things! I've actually visited a lot of my 'must see' places (New York City last year being the most recent) but when the lovely Usagi from Usagi in Wonderland tagged me in this travel tag from the blogger Kerry over at Nerdy Habitat, I just had to do it!

Rules:
  • 4 places you'd love to visit
  • Why you want to visit them
  • Favorite thing about that place
  • Tag 4 fellow bloggers, and add the badge to your blog if you'd like
Japan
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Specifically, Tokyo, but I'd love ideally to do a railroad holiday and make use of Japan's exceptional public transport. Japan is such a mystery to me, it seems so alien and different to anything I've experienced. The culture and history is nothing like here, and of course the shopping would be phenomenal. It would also mean I could tick Disneyland Tokyo off my Bucket List! :)
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North Korea
Unsurprisingly, I couldn't find a great picture of North Korea, so have some flags instead. It's a bit of an odd one, this one. North Korea is a horrible, terrifying place, but I am absolutely beyond captivated by entire countries hidden behind closed doors. If I could travel safely in time, as well as space, I would love to just experience life in Soviet Russia before the curtain fell. Just the idea of this closed off country, oblivious to the world outside, and all the false propaganda that goes along with that to support its ideal. The culture that grows in such a place would be so interesting to see unspoilt. Kind of like a terrifying propaganda driven Madagascar. The closest we have these days is North Korea, so yeah, I'd love to visit someday, but of course I never will (properly, at least. I guess there are tours you can do now).
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Chernobyl
Haha, another odd one here. Going on the same line as North Korea, Prypiat in Chernobyl in is a time capsule that you actually can visit now (after signing a million forms declaring own responsibility for radiation poisoning and being examined before and after with your very own Geiger meter). I just want to explore the place, see how it was left when disaster hit. Apparently there are schools with books still open on pages teaching English to the children as they evacuated. There are still some families now who live there, refusing to leave despite the danger that still exists. You're not allowed to eat or drink anything from within the danger zone. It's creepy and amazing and sad and fascinating all at once. Apparently there's a limited window for visiting because some places are deteriorating with time and neglect, so I'm sad I'll probably miss it. :(
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Thailand
Anyone who knows me wouldn't necessarily put Thailand in a top list of places I'd like to visit, but I've always wanted to go somewhere that has a proper tropical beach vibe, white sand clear sparkling oceans. I want to relax in the sun and drink exotic drinks and explore the local markets. However, I can't stand the idea of just relaxing all day every day on holiday - seems like such a waste when there's so much out there in the world to explore - which why Thailand has such appeal to me. Bangkok seems like an amazing city to visit, full of life and, of course, fabulous shopping.
That was fun! Thanks for the tag! It'd be nice to actually talk about visiting these places someday.

Tagged!:
  • Sarah from Paddy's Journal
  • Kelsey from April Sprinkles
  • Molly Skywalker from The Princess & The Geek
  • Joie from Confessions of a Book Pimp
  • Kerry from Kerry's Nerdy Habitat
Image sources: Japan | North Korea | Chernobyl | Thailand
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What's in a name?

22/4/2014

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After agonizing over it for ages, I've finally officially given this blog an actual name! Since www.reaperfox.com started out as an online portfolio rather than a blog, I always just called it, well, Reaperfox.com. My online handle everywhere is Reaperfox, so it kind of made sense and made the 'branding' simple. However, since I've started actually getting involved in the blogging community, I've found that folks are starting to tag me in things! I love being tagged, so thank you for including me, but 'Selena at Reaperfox' just sounds weird!

So, Dream Somehow is reborn! It's the name my old Livejournal had, so I figure I'll use it here, too. It's the title of an Oingo Boingo song. Can't say I ever really understood what the song was on about, but I've always found the lyric 'life is a dream, somehow' very pretty. I'd link to the song but I can't find it anywhere online. It wasn't one of their best anyway, but I always liked the title.

Come to the rescue now
Come to the rescue and stay for a little while
Come to the burning house
All of the ladybug's children are screaming fire
Come to the rescue now

Tomorrow may change--tomorrow may change
Or it may never come
Tomorrow may change--tomorrow may change
But it may never come
Turn around--turn around--turn around--what do you see

Come to the rescue now
Come to the rescue before all our worlds collide
Life is a dream somehow
LIfe is speck of dust lodged in God's eye
Life is a dream somehow

Come to the rescue now
Come with a mission and come with a broken heart
Life is a dream somehow
Life is a dream and our lives are a world apart
Come to the rescue now

Come to the rescue

Life is a dream somehow
Life is a nightmare and life is a bitter pill
(Life is a dream somehow)
Life is a Disneyland ride which is better still
Come to the rescue now

Life is a drowning pool
Life is a circus for fools just like you and me
Life is a mortal coil
Wrapped in cheap tin foil on a kitchen sink
Come to the rescue now
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Eep, missed a day again! Happy Easter!

21/4/2014

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I swear, Moose is a bad influence on BEDA! I was doing just fine until he came to visit last night. We ended up vegging out watching Youtube together and fell asleep at 9:30pm like the amazing go-getters we are.

Anyway! Happy Easter! I hope everyone had/is having a wonderful Bank Holiday Weekend! I'm actually not a huge fan of Easter - I don't have much of a sweet tooth so all the chocolate is usually wasted on me, and as someone who works both freelance (no such thing as a day off) and in catering (I do Sundays in a cafe on a tourist-heavy road), the concept of a Bank Holiday has always been utterly lost on me!

Still, I was given a Lindt bunny and an Aero egg and Moose gave me an adorable My Little Pony egg he found in Tesco. :)


To make up for my complete lack of sweet tooth, Mum showered me with Lush bath bomb eggs instead! She gave me this gorgeous Golden Egg melt and a bathbomb called the
Immaculate Eggception which apparently has a little chick or Easter Bunny inside! So cute!

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Golden Eggs!
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Immaculate Eggception!
Today has been largely spent catching up on last week's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D and making the most of the sunshine by playing Magic The Gathering outside in the garden. It's now only 3:00 and I feel like I should be doing some artwork for my upcoming conventions, but I think I might spend the day reading blogs instead. Tonight, I'm going to have a long hot bath with one of these bad boys and finally watch last week's episode of Mad Men.

Man. Life's just too hard.
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Wildstar, anyone?

19/4/2014

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I spent so long being in the closed beta for Wildstar, under a heavy NDA that I've attuned myself to not talking about it even though the NDA's been lifted! Wildstar's a game I've been interested in since I saw the very first trailers and teasers years ago. It's an MMO, which is a game genre I'm not actually a huge fan of, but I wanted to give it a go because the humour and art style was just so great!

Moose actually received a beta code on Christmas Eve, so by Christmas Day we were playing around on it. The two factions are Exiles ('good' guys) and Dominion ('bad' guys) - and as soon as I saw the Dominion videos, I was sold. They're classy, cultured and sophisticated. Which is, of course, why I play a Chua.

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Image source - GamesRadar
Chua are the Dominion's 'animal race'. They're sort of crazy chipmunk-hamster-chinchillas, with a penchant for explosions and murder. They're the shame of the Dominion, who keep them around for their engineering prowess, but I think they're just adorable and swell.

As I said, Wildstar is an MMO, but it has something I've not found in other MMOs; actual combat. This is the main reason I'm sold on it, to be honest, and why I'm giving it a real go despite having never enjoyed an MMO before. You don't just click a bad guy, apply a type of attack and wait. The combat is action-based. You dodge, double jump, sidestep and run around the enemies, apply stuns and knock-ups and skillshots while dancing around them. It's crazily mobile.

Sure, there are some grindy aspects to it. There's a lot of tasks that are 'collect 20 these' and 'kill 20 that's, but the graphic style, humour and additional gameplay aspects save it, I think. I've not played any high level stuff yet (my highest character is a level 25 Chua) but what I've seen so far, I love a lot. Also, you can have your own house. That you decorate yourself in any way you like, right down to the wallpaper and carpets. It's like The Sims, but with extra explosions.

Anyone else playing, or thinking of picking it up? The game's got a couple more closed beta days left, and then it's released officially on June 3rd! Can't wait!
www.wildstar-online.com/
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Soapasaurus - Get your nerdy soap on!

18/4/2014

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A while ago I had the privilege of working for a company called Soapasaurus, who produce gorgeous, often nerdy themed soaps that smell so good. Like me, they attend a lot of conventions around the country, and they've created a My Little Pony character called Bubble Bright to feature on some of their labels! This 'Spring' themed soap is wonderful, featuring an adorable Easter Egg design (seriously, how cute is that??) and they describe the scent as "A fresh and green floral fragrance with cucumber skin and watery notes of refreshing melon on the top. Supported by a rich floral accord of rose, lily and cyclamen enhanced by fruity, peach musk accents". So good!

Soapasaurus have many other wonderful products, including Doctor Who, Game of Thrones, World of Warcraft and Pokemon inspired soaps! The Doctor Who soaps are Rose scented for crying out loud! These guys rock, and I seriously suggest you all try 'em out and give Lush a run for their money!
All of their soaps are 100% Vegetarian too!

http://www.soapasaurus.com
This post is not sponsored! I've created work for Soapasaurus (and will hopefully have the pleasure of doing so again!) but all opinions are my own. And in my opinion, they rock. So there. Buy soap! Be clean! Smell great!
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My very own Liebster Award!

16/4/2014

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Yay! Oh my gosh, I am loving being a part of the blogging world! Actually throwing yourself into communities and events to get to know other bloggers is pretty great! It especially helps that I've found some really cool communities out there full of people into the same dorky stuff as me. You guys are all great! It's awesome getting to know ya'll!

So in light of all that, the lovely
Kelsey from April Sprinkles nominated me for a Liebster Award! Thank you!

1.) If you could dye your hair any color/colors without any negative affects (physical or society wise) what color(s) would you choose? If you're not interested in any particular color, what style would you try?

I have said for the longest time I'm going to bite the bullet and go pink! Specifically either a gorgeous full on baby pink or a rich dark pink on top (kind of like the background for the Liebster logo above!) and light baby pink ombré on the bottom! I already have red/blonde ombré which is kind of cool but I really do need to just go pink someday, I think! Just to satisfy the urge!

2.) What's your favorite one-liner from a movie or quote from a book?

"I move the stars for no one" - the Labyrinth <3

3.) Light side or the dark side? Jedi or Sith? (Or any other good vs. evil references you care to use.) Which side would you be on?

See, I'd love to say the dark side, because they have the coolest characters and baddies are generally so much more interesting than the good guys, but I'm so bad at being bad! Whenever I try to do an evil role in a game, for example, I end up feeling guilty and turning into a good guy! I can't rob and murder old ladies in Skyrim or Fallout, I just can't! So even though it means I can't hang out with Loki anytime soon, as much as I'd like to, I think I'm gonna have to side with the good guys. For shame!

4.) If you could have an unlimited supply of something, other than money, gold, or anything that can be traded for goods, what would it be?

Art supplies! Markers, pencils, pens, paper, printer ink! I spend so much money on replacing my art supplies (or just buying shiny new ones) that it'd be nice to have an unlimited stock.

5.) Favorite snack you probably shouldn't eat but do anyway because it's so delicious?

Oh man, I shouldn't eat half the junk I eat! I don't actually have a very active sweet tooth, I prefer savoury these days, but even so, the occassional lust for chocolate creeps in.
The one thing I love though that everyone can't get their head around? That gross hot dog stuffed crust pizza Dominos does! I could easily order a whole pizza just to nom on the crust! I know it sounds utterly gross but seriously, it's the yummiest thing ever and so danged expensive but I don't care. It's delicious!

My nominations!
  • Sarah from Paddy's Journal
  • Usagi from Usagi In Wonderland
  • Molly Skywalker from The Princess & The Geek
  • Joie from Confessions of a Book Pimp
  • Kerry from Kerry's Nerdy Habitat

And now, my questions!

1) If you could visit any setting or place from any video game, movie, TV show or book, where would you visit and why?

2)
With Easter just coming around the corner, what is your favourite holiday?

3) If you could have any other skill that you don't already have, what would it be?

4) What one celebrity would you most like to meet? And how do you think that meeting would go?

5) What's your favourite cartoon? (or cartoons, if you can't narrow it down!
)
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    Hi! I'm Selena an artist, blogger and gamer!

    Dream Somehow is my little corner of the internet where I talk about life, the universe and everything! Here, you'll find travel, adventures, vintage style, life in the South West of England, a little bit of Disney dreaming  and a whole lot of geeky nonsense. If you'd like to learn a little more about me, click here!

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  • Home
  • About Me
  • Travel
    • Cornwall 2014
    • New York 2014
    • Yorkshire 2016
    • Krakow 2016
    • Amsterdam 2018
  • Conventions
  • Adventures
  • Disney
    • Disneyland Paris July 2012
    • Disneyland Paris January 2015
    • Disneyland Paris January 2016
  • Creative
    • Art
    • Pyrography
    • Other Crafts & Merch
    • Scrapbooking
  • Gaming
  • Life & Everything Else
  • Contact