Jennifer Awesome

Skyrim Imperial Nerf Sword

August 21, 2012 Jen Ný Cosplay No comments

I was originally going to make a Dawnbreaker sword (actually, two of them, so I could dual wield like I had my character do after exploiting a glitch in the Break of Dawn quest), but I’m running out of time to finish my costume and couldn’t find anything to use as the light for the top of the hilt. Instead, I just made a generic sword painted in a similar fashion to the Imperial sword.

I simply used acrylic paint on a Nerf sword to make it a similar color to the Imperial sword in Skyrim. (Anything is better than the original blue color). I may eventually make a couple Dawnbreakers for a future cosplay. Eventually, I may attempt to remove the horrible “Nerf” logo from this sword and mod the hilt to more closely resemble the Imperial sword using foam or air-dry clay.

Also, fun fact: I keep accidentally typing “nerd” instead of “Nerf.”

Skyrim Hide Armor Progress

August 16, 2012 Jen Ný Cosplay, Sewing 2 comments

I have the top part of my Hide Armor for my Skyrim cosplay finished. It is made from a brown soft kind of leathery/velvety material.

The shirt is double layered, lined with the same material that I used for the outside. I MacGyvered the pattern by taping together several sheets of paper and tracing a tanktop, then simply altering the outline to match the outfit worn by my Skyrim character. I put a zipper on the side to make it easier to get on and off.

After I finished sewing together the top, I sewed little x’s around all of the edges to give it more . That took a lot longer that I thought it would, but I think it makes it look better than if I had just left the edges unfinished.

I then used leather lacing for the lacing on the front. The top of the lacing is sewn on, but the rest is just going through loops I made with thread to allow the lacing to be tightened as needed.

The pauldron or whatever it’s called (I like to call them “shoulder armor thingies”) is made from rubber foam with the same fabric I used for the top covering it. It is held on with a plus-sized belt I found at Goodwill.

I have the skirt about halfway done. I’m hoping to finish it tomorrow. My Iron Helmet and sword are both also about halfway finished. I haven’t even started on my Hide Bracers or Tavern Clothes yet, but I think I can get everything finished in time for the con (which is in 1 week!). If I still have any time left over, I may also make a Hide Helmet so I can take advantage of the Custom Fit and Matching Set perks! Eventually I may make a matching Hide Shield, for future cons, though I never use a shield in the game and don’t really feel like carrying one around in real life.

Amulet of Talos

August 13, 2012 Jen Ný Cosplay No comments

I finished my Amulet of Talos for my Skyrim cosplay (aside from putting it on a necklace).

The amulet is made from green Sculpey III Granitex clay that I’ve had sitting around my parents house for probably the better part of a decade. I haven’t actually worked with polymer clay since I was a teenager, which is probably why it came out looking a little odd.

When the clay cooled after baking, it noticed that the amulet seemed kind of brittle. I assume since Sculpey III is marketed to children, it might not be the best quality clay on the market. To attempt to strengthen it, I coated it with super glue.

Even with the stone effect from the granitex clay, it didn’t have the right look I was going for, so I used various shades of eyeshadow (greens, black, and a little blue) to give it a more aged/worn look before coating it with super glue. After the super glue was dried, I coated it with Sculpey Gloss Glaze. It did end up shinier than I intended because of the glaze.

If there is any interest, I may make a few more of these for my Etsy shop, once I get it set up. I will probably start adding items on Etsy (mostly video game inspired pieces) after Matsuricon. I already have some ideas on how I can improve the Amulet of Talos for Etsy customers.

The rest of my Skyrim cosplay is coming along nicely. I have the top part of the hide armor finished, and my helmet and sword are coming along nicely. Stay tuned for pictures!

Zu’u Nahlaas!

August 9, 2012 Jen Ný Cosplay No comments

Though I’ve barely posted in this blog, I have decided to take it in a whole new direction. From now on, I will use it to showcase my creative endeavors. Aside from writing (if I ever actually get around to finishing any more short stories or novels) I will post about cosplay, other craft projects, etc.

Lately I’ve been busy working on costumes for Matsuricon, which is coming up in only two weeks. I plan on finishing two different Skyrim costumes in time for the con.

Stay tuned to see my:

Hide Armor
Hide Bracers
Iron Helmet
Amulet of Talos
Dawnbreaker
Tavern Clothes

In my overly ambitious state, I also plan on becoming more fluent in the language of the Dovah in time to yell random dragony things at people who have no idea what I’m saying at the con, as well as perfect my in-progress Dovah translation of The Dragonborn Comes

A redesign may also be coming to this blog, when I get around to it. The current layout doesn’t contain enough dragons.

Camp NaNoWriMo!

May 17, 2012 Jen Ný Writing 2 comments

I haven’t done NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month for the uninitiated) in several years, but I’ve been thinking about trying to edit and publish my 2005, 2006, and 2008 NaNoWriMo novels, as well as getting back into writing on a regular basis. As though the universe heard my thoughts, I got an email yesterday about Camp NaNoWriMo.

NaNoWriMo is a month-long writing challenge in which participants attempt to write the first draft of a 50,000 word novel in one month. The event is held every year in November. Camp NaNoWriMo is the same thing, but in June and August this year.

I “won” in 2005, 2006, and 2008. I attempted it in 2007 and 2009, but didn’t actually finished. After 2009, I just kinda forgot about it. The three years I won, I wrote sci fi, whereas the 2 years I didn’t, I attempted fantasy. Needless to say, though I don’t have any ideas for a plot yet, I’m probably going to go with science fiction. I’m going to be super crazy and try the June and August Camp NaNoWriMo challenge. That’s two full novels by the end of summer!

Who else wants to join me for Camp NaNoWriMo? Post in the comments.

Even if you are too intimidated by the idea of writing a novel in only a month, give it a try anyway!

Also, if you have an idea for a plot you’d like me to write, post it here! I may mention you in the acknowledgments if I end up using it!

Our New Apartment

May 6, 2012 Jen Ný Cool Story Bro, Photos One comment

Here's my awesome desk. I believe you have my stapler...

We’ve had our new apartment for over a month. I promised I’d show off the place in my blog, even though anyone who actually cares about it has already seen it in person by now. Anyway, Here’s some photos of our awesome new apartment.

Here's my awesome desk. I believe you have my stapler...

Here's our built-in bookshelves. This is were we keep our action figures and other nerdy crap.

Hans let me hang my Sailor Moon wall scroll in the living room!

I decorated our air conditioner with Sailor Moon dolls and a dinosaur lamp.

I’ve done some other stuff that was actually somewhat interesting over the the past month, such as go to an anime convention. (Read about it at 8BitBites!)

I will also be publishing short stories and novels in ebook form. My first one is just about ready to be published. Check back for my next post to find out how you can get them!

Moving!

March 31, 2012 Jen Ný Cool Story Bro 2 comments

Great news: Hans and I are moving to our new apartment this Sunday! Okay, if you are someone we actually care about you already know by now, and are probably getting sick of hearing about it. If you are just some random internet stalker, you now know a new cool story.

After looking at a few places, we found a great one bedroom apartment that we both really liked in an undisclosed location. We viewed the apartment for the second time and got the application Monday, applied Tuesday, were approved Wednesday, and signed the lease Thursday. It has been a busy week. We are now enjoying 2 days of rest (AKA packing) before moving in on Sunday.

Our apartment is in a nice, quiet community of mostly 40-50 year olds, so it won’t be infested with small children or drunk college kids. We won’t be bothered by annoying people our age, unless we decided to invite our friends over! We also hit the neighbor jackpot, as the landlady said that all of our nextdoor neighbors are rarely there during times we’ll be home. The walls are also thick enough that we probably won’t hear them (and vice versa) anyway. Yay not having paper thin walls in our bedroom!

We have all of our furniture covered too! Through the wonders of FaceBook and actually having real-life friends, we’re getting an awesome couch and chair set and a lamp from a good friend. We also got a not-so-awesome, but functional, computer desk from a friend of a friend. Between the two of us, we already had everything else we need.

I can’t wait to finally have our own place! We’re going to have so much fun building couch forts and playing awesome board games like Hungry Hungry Hippos, Candyland, and Pokemon Monopoly all night. (That’s what couples who live together do, right? Build forts and play children’s board games? This is the first time either of us has lived with someone, so we’re new to this!). Since Hans just turned 8 on February 29th, I figured he’d like to have some fun games to play. I need to keep him entertained while I’m kitchening. (Who am I kidding? After a week or two, he probably won’t let me kitchen any more).

Maybe I’ll post pictures of our new place in a future post. Or maybe they’ll just go on FaceBook if I even bother to take photos. We probably won’t get internets until the middle of next week sometime, so I probably won’t post right away unless I go to the college to borrow some internets.

Yay! 🙂

Happy Chinese New Year!

January 23, 2012 Jen Ný Photos 2 comments

On Saturday, Hans and I celebrated Chinese New Year (or as Hans calls it, “New Year”) in Cleveland’s AsiaTown to ring in the Year of the Water Dragon. Being extremely white, this was my first time seeing a lion dance.

After driving around the parking lot a few times until someone left, we first saw the Kwan Family Lion Dance as Asia Plaza. Here are some photos:

The lion kept moving around (imagine that!), so I couldn’t get very many good photos.

I also wanted to see the Hip Hop Lion Dance at Asia Town Center, because who wouldn’t want to see that? Not wanting to lose our parking space, we chose to walk several blocks in the snow to a place that neither of us had ever been to and weren’t sure exactly where it was in the middle of Cleveland. Luckily, since the festivities took place in the middle of the day and it was too cold for normal people to be outside, we didn’t get raped or murdered and managed to find the place in time for the second lion dance of the day. Though still photos don’t do it justice, here are some photos from the Hip Hop Lion Dance:

After using the 10% off coupon for Asia Food Co at Asia Town Center that was included in the Chinese New Year brochure (I like Park to Shop at Asia Plaza better, but I also really like coupons), we went up stairs to see what other awesome Asian cultural experiences awaited us. What we found wasn’t exactly what you would expect to find in AsiaTown.

On the second floor of Asia Town Center, you will find several art galleries containing some very… interesting… pieces of um… art. Like the kind of thing you’d expect to find in Oberlin rather than in AsiaTown. Most of the art that I found interesting enough to photograph is probably too inappropriate to post here (though I guess as long as you claim something is “art,” you can get away with just about anything), but here is a sample of the art we saw:

The above is a wood-burned piece by artist Gadi Zamir, who’s work can be seen in the Negative Space gallery on the second floor of Asia Town Center. The artist was even there to explain to us the complex meanings behind his… unique… artwork. I’m not sure what this one means…

This art is a sculpture of a giraffe that was in the least strange of the art galleries. Who doesn’t like giraffes? It serves as a reminder of the African homeland. Wait…

Here we see a hip hop Buddha from the Ubud East gallery. This piece of art represents the fusion of African American and Asian culture that seems to be so prevalent in our society these days. Or at least in Cleveland. Who knew? (I may have interpreted the meaning of this art incorrectly. Please feel free to correct me in the comments!)

After looking at weird art, we stopped at a Korean restaurant and then headed back to Asia Plaza to see some more demonstrations and to do some shopping. I needed to get some more Koala March cookies at the Asian supermarket, since they don’t sell them at white people stores anymore. I also wanted to get a tai chi sword, and figured I might as well see if I could find one I liked while we were there.

At the first gift shop I checked, they wouldn’t let me try out any of the swords, so I went to the next store. That’s a good way to lose a customer, since the whole point of going to a local shop instead of the interwebs is so I can make an informed purchasing decision know what I’m buying. I ended up buying one from Flower City Gift Shop. The guy working there was really nice and helped me to pick out a sword that suited my needs. He even gave me a 10% discount. Giving me a 10% discount is a sure way to get repeat business.

We missed most of the martial arts demonstrations while I was sword shopping, but we got back to the demonstration/performance area just in time to see some Asian hip hop dancing. There seems to be a trend. As I told Hans once, Asians and white people are basically the same. We both really just want to be black.

Anyway, here’s a link about the Year of the Water Dragon, for those of you who actually believe in astrology. Hey, it’s still probably more credible than western astrology…

Our New Home

January 12, 2012 Jen Ný Photos One comment

While looking at apartments and houses to rent, I realized that it would make more sense to just build a new home. Most rentals in my price range are in the ghetto or infested with small children and drunk college kids. Since my boyfriend didn’t seem to like my suggestion that we build our house out of dirt and stuff, I had to find an alternate building material. I think it turned out pretty good. Take a look at our photos and let me know what you think!

Here Hans and I are standing outside of our beautiful new home. It’s a cozy ranch style home built from the highest quality red bricks. It even features an iconic white picket fence, representative of the American dream (no, there will not be 2.5 kids or minivans any time soon):

A new house isn’t complete without a new car! Since we don’t need a minivan, we opted to get a more fun, sportier vehicle. Here we are in our brand-new sports car sitting in our driveway:

Let’s go inside now, shall we? In this next photo, you can see Hans and I enjoying a meal in our modern, minimalist new kitchen. It was my turn to cook dinner today. I decided to make an Ethiopian recipe that I’ve been wanting to try out:

Now let’s head on over to the bedroom. Here Hans and I are testing out our super comfortable new queen-size Tempur-Pedic mattress:

I hope you enjoyed your photo tour of our new home!

Nýr Ár

January 2, 2012 Jen Ný Cool Story Bro No comments

Looking back at 2011, I can’t believe how much I’ve done and how much my life has changed in one short year. In 2011 I finished my Associate Degree, competed in two tai chi tournaments (3rd and 1st!), finally got the courage to end a horrible abusive relationship, and met a man who actually makes me happy. I’d say it has been a good year! Hopefully 2012 will be even better! And now you get to experience my life with me as you follow my brand new blog! (You are going to read it, aren’t you?)

With the new year, I thought that it would be a good time to completely rework JenniferAwesome.com. Rather than wasting my web hosting on a static portfolio site that no one cares about, I’m starting a new blog (that no one cares about – but at least a frequently updated blog will rank higher in Google). Out with the old, in with the new.

I was going to turn this site into a general social media marketing blog, but I decided it would be more fun to write a more personal blog. You know, interesting things that happen to me, weird things I think of, etc. Like everyone else who has ever decided their boring lives were interesting enough to blog about. Don’t worry, I’ll try to only blog things that might actually be interesting to a few people, rather than blogging about what I had for breakfast. Mostly because I usually don’t eat breakfast (cool story, bro).

Anyway, check back later this week for more awesome posts! It’s sure to be full of cool stories for all of you bros!