IGGPPC Camp: The Great Closet Cosplay Challenge 2018

I have found that I enjoy theming out my clothes. It doesn't mean I want to dress up in full cosplay, but I like giving nods to things. That's Closet Cosplay. It's giving those nods to what you love without going full face paint. IGGPPCamp does a theme each day and I decided to try. Don't laugh. I worked really hard to get to a place where I could do this.

Thursday, August 16, 2018
Total Guardian overload!

Friday, August 17, 2018
My daughter and I did WALL-E and EVE.

Saturday, August 18, 2018
I had to do Fry and Leela! Love it! I know I was excited the wig showed up, but it wasn't for this activity. I felt really bad about it later. I had just intended to be Leela (hello... purple hair).

Sunday, August 19, 2018
I love this shirt and it was all about the troop.

HURRAY! My nerdy clothing challenge is complete. That wasn't too hard. 

Room Escape - Harry Potter Style

This year I really went out on a limb and reached out to a few women I really felt would create a super happy positive outting with lots of laughs. I knew that the local escape room group was having a Harry Potter themed escape room in December and the last escape room I attended was really awesome. Plus, in reality, I wanted to finally plan something permanent that I couldn't back out on.

In preparation I wanted to make it a super geeky outting with my ladies. So I made little gift bags. First, I made felt house ties for everyone to wear! I took a poll of which houses they were part of so that I could make them a tie. I also got Harry Potter lens-less glasses for everyone to wear, for fun.

Next, I made chocolate frogs in little frog molds and I bought some Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Bean. The slugs were way too expensive. I also purchased a Mischief Managed pin for each of us, as well as some Harry Potter temporary tattoos and a cheap, plastic wand for the wandless.

Why would I go all out like a crazy woman? Because I had finally planned a ladies night adventure for my birthday! I was determined to have an amazing time, because I was desperately in need of a little fun.

We all met up and had arrived at Escape Rooms in Appleton. They started by giving us a rundown of the rules of how the room works and some of the safety information. Then it was time to be locked in the room. Inside the room was a screen that showed the timer and would occasionally give us hints to get us moving in the right direction if we were lost. There was no physical person in the room with us.

The five of us worked together to solve all the puzzles and finding all the keys and codes and things we needed to get out. We were able to escape with only 1:46 left on the clock out of 45 minutes! I'm not sure what 5 out of 10 means for difficulty, but we saw a lot of pictures of people who did not win the Snape room. We were proud and women represented their awesome! Take that men (mostly my husband who said we probably wouldn't make it).

Happy 35th Birthday to Me!!!

Join Me at GenCon 2015

Apparently I'm out and about at GenCon this year! It didn't dawn on me until, well. . . right now, just how much I am going to be seriously out and about. I've usually been a wallflower, but something has pushed me into a more interactive role this year.

Not that I want to support people stalking me, but I figured I'd post some of my events so if you wanted to come play some games or whatever, you could find me. I know I have like, 2 or 3 fans, but maybe there are more of you. Is fans even the right term for my following based on hodge-podgeness?

First, I'm running some board games for ConTessa. They're a site that focuses primarily on RPG for women. They posted a while back that they were looking for people to run events (even board games), so that made me happy. I don't feel completely comfortable yet with RPG, but I'm growing in confidence every day, so being able to run a game or two for them was pretty great.

I tried to pick two games that would be kind of fun to add on RPG personas to; one Sci-Fi and one Medieval. I really love playing them, so we'll see how it goes! The room locations and registering can be found through the links! Hope to see you at the events!

Here are the events I'm running for ConTessa:

The Captain is Dead - Thursday, July 30 at 6PM
A cooperative game published by Game Crafter (it's seriously awesome) and was a Kickstarter designed by Joe Pierce and JT Smith. It's Sci-Fi, duh! Essentially, the captain is dead and you and the crew, that are left, have to try to get the Jump Core back online! Work together to keep the other systems up and running, while fighting aliens, blasting attacking ships, and collecting the resources to get the core going. Will you make it!



Sheriff of Nottingham - Thursday, July 30 at 8PM
I love this game. I thought it would be a great tabletop game for an RPG group, because you can really become your character. To learn more about this game, check out my review through International Geek Girl Pen Pals Club.




The opening ceremony for ConTessa is also going to be awesome, with guest speaker Margaret Weis (um... Dragonlace books... SQUEA!). So make sure you check that out if you haven't already signed up.

So those are the events I'm running. I've already made known that I will be participating in some Cosplay again this year. Last year I tried my hand at a Steampunk Nun. I loved it. This year I went with something a little different and went for a game character. I intend to be Felicia Day from Dead of Winter. Not only because, well. . . it's Felicia Day, Dead of Winter, and zombies, but I'm trying to become comfortable with Cosplay and while I am probably like 3 Felicia Days, it shouldn't really matter in the end. Why my body looks the way it does is seriously none of your concern and I am merely expressing my love of a game and a geek icon.

If you see someone looking kind of like that character, I will gladly stop for a picture with you. My husband has a funny addition to my costume that I can't wait to unveil. OMG LOVING IT! Sparky the Stunt Dog might also be making an appearance.

Besides all that, I do also have my educational seminars on creating a Middle School Tabletop Club and how to develop a game creation unit using Lucy Calkins. If you don't know. . . um. . . they charge a LOT of money for you just to have a plug, Wi-Fi, or even any kind of electricity. . . so I'm going old school with this. Probably a handout with some posters or something. I really am at a loss for how to approach it now that I have NO resources without dropping a couple hundred dollars. Broke teacher over here. . . lucky I have enough to even get to GenCon. Hopefully I can "borrow" a projector through my district, as there is a working plug in the room (thank goodness).

If you're a Trade Day badge holder, feel free to hunt me down. I've already gotten several e-mails from people wanting my stuff or attending another seminar and just wanting to know more about my stuff. I'll be honest. . . it's a bit conflicting for me. I mean. . . you told me you were more interested in other panels over mine, so please just send me your stuff. I would love to help, but at the same time, would kind of prefer to share what I'm doing in person.

I'm learning and growing, so whatever. Here are my events and eventually I'll get back to the people e-mailing me about my stuff. As of right now. . . I'm still creating the presentations.

Here are my Trade Day Educational Seminars:

How to Start a Tabletop Gaming Club for Middle Schoolers - Wednesday, July 29 at 10AM
OMG my baby project. Talk about something near and dear to my heart that I am excited to share. A serious success for me outside of curriculum and I'm going to have some good information to share, including how to really take your club beyond just a group that meets to play games, because in reality, that's what a district wants. . . a club that does something!

Developing a Tabletop Gaming Unit Using Calkins - Wednesday, July 29 at 1PM
 I referenced Calkins in the title, because I can't hand out materials from her unit and I didn't want people to come and expect to get tons of rubrics and things. BUT I do have original materials that accompanies Calkins and I have some really great tips and strategies for implementing a game unit using the framework of Calkins.

There it is! If you're wanting to touch base with me for any reason during GenCon. . . to talk about things or just meet, please let me know and hopefully we'll be able to bump into each other. I'm really looking forward to this year!

Confession: My anxiety this year purely stems from the way the buses are running. We chose a hotel we loved, which we knew was on the bus route. We really loved the bus last year, but this year there have been some very major and upsetting changes to the way things work.

Hopefully we'll actually be able to make it to GenCon, but you'll know if I did if you check out the above events!

When Karma Strikes - Dead of Winter

I love Dead of Winter. If you have a chance to get a hold of this game and play with friends (or family), it is so much fun. We finally got to play it with Friend Jim over our trip to visit this past June.

One of the reasons I was so excited to play this particular time, was that it was the first time I would get to play since getting the Tabletop Day 2015 promotional Felicia Day card. Sure, we pick random, dole out the cards, blah blah blah. . . breaking the rules here. . . I demand to have Felicia in my crew. I don't usually do things like that, but, um. . . it's Felicia Day.

So we're playing and things are going well. Very interesting activities and strategies, etc. Then it's my turn. My husband draws my Crossroads card and I'm starting my search.

STOP!

Awe crap. . . what happened?  *SPOILER - CARD TEXT BELOW!* Um. . . this whole bit is a spoiler to this particular card. Please forgive me.

Ok. . . so. . . um. . . right. Kill the horse. Keep the horse. First and foremost, I did the honorable thing and said, "What would Felicia do?" DUH! KEEP THE HORSE! When I announced I wanted to keep the horse, knowing we would lose an additional food each turn (our goal was to have X-amount of food at the end), but also knowing that I couldn't kill a horse. . . I received contradictory opinions from my companions.

Now. . . we'd get 3 food for killing the horse. We really needed that food. We'd lose 1 additional food each turn if we kept the horse, but I wouldn't have to roll for exposure. I battled this. . . I know it's just a game, but these moral choices are played in the game for a reason. What does it really say about you when you make that choice?

I was really battling with this decision. Finally, I said. . . kill the horse. . . add three food. . . it will help us all. I apologized to the horse.

As we were tying up the Crossroads card, I said this game is all about Karma! It is so going to come back to hurt me. . .

I still had to roll for exposure. . . and as I rolled. . . having made that clandestine statement. . . I died.

Karma. . .

I couldn't help it. . . I actually cried. Tears. . . so many tears. Not big, whiny baby crying. . . just. . . the tears poured out my eyes and I clammed up. Devastated. Karma.

The trauma of the moment is still with me. My husband mocks my tears. Our friend inwardly giggles (I KNOW IT). But seriously. . . Dead of Winter is a karmic game. . . do not choose wrong, for it will come back to bite you. . . literally!

So if you see me at GenCon. . . you'll know the story behind my Felicia Day Dead of Winter Cosplay. In honor of. . . the horse.

5 Fandom Friday: 5 Nerdiest Things I've Ever Done

5 Nerdiest Things I've Ever Done

1. Dressing Up Like a Nun to Play Nuns on the Run at GenCon

2. Designed a Tabletop Game Unit for my Classroom
If you've been following me at all, you know I'm really into my tabletop game unit. I created it last year as a first time shot to go with my argumentative writing unit. I learned a lot trying it and was eager to try it again. Then we started a new writing program in our district; the Lucy Calkins writing program. I had no clue how this was going to affect me creating a tabletop unit for this year. Honestly, it's also part of my PDP that I'm working towards, so it's a big deal for me. But I was able to blend tabletop gaming with literacy perfectly and that, for me, was such a geeky thing to do. . . was bring my geeky passion into the classroom.

3. Participated in a Jane Austen Tea Time in Bath, UK

4. Dressed up like an Aviator to introduce my Aviation Unit
I got a bomber jacket and goggles and a leather cap and I told the kids I had to get something out of the back room and then I jumped out with my hands on my hips and declared that I am "AVIATOR BONILLA!" Then I pointed to the sky as I described our awesome adventure into aviation that we'll be on. My co-workers said I looked like Carl from Up. It was pretty epic and awesome! My school is by the EAA in Oshkosh, so it was a "duh" for me to use aviation as the theme for our informative writing unit.

5. Dueled with Lightsaber Popsicles

Happy MLP Halloween

My daughter and I decided over the summer that we were going to be Rainbow Dash and Applejack for Halloween. We had the knit hats and matching scarves and my mother-in-law would maybe my daughter's costume. I would wear jeans with boots and a cutie-mark t-shirt. All was right with the world.

Then I became greedy and wanted my sixth grade co-workers to dress up like ponies, too. There was some minor resistance (ponies or Milwaukee Brewers Racing Sausages), but we made it through. One of my co-workers made the ears on the headbands. The same co-worker ended up having to print the t-shirt transfers (which I felt so bad about. . . but my printer didn't work and I couldn't find a place to print them).

Bottom line, we all tried to fit the personalities of our characters and I did a lot of coaching and prepping for most of these, but it worked out. We even made our only guy teacher Big Mac AND got make-up on him. It was super perfect.

Here are the costumes, which worked out perfectly.

Then I had two different costumes... the one with the hat and the one with the knit hat.

My daughter's costume is so gorgeous! It's a full body suit made of that really plush, soft fabric that they make comfy pants out of. My mother-in-law followed a pattern she found for the suit proportions. There's a detachable tail made with colored feather boas. She also made a matching hat, gloves and shoe covers, but we already had knitted gloves and a knitted hat. So we went with that, as per my daughter's request. She looks adorable!

She was thrilled and I was happy to have a real costume. Thank goodness I had co-workers who knew how to do makeup for the ponies to really add to the awesome. It was a great My Little Pony Halloween!

I'll leave you, this Halloween, with a Geek & Sundry video spoof of my Tabletop Game Club's favorite game, Werewolf!

My First Cosplay - For GenCon

This is my first year going to GenCon. I don't really do a lot of costumes or dressing up. I'll be honest. . . it's insecurity over my body-type. How I want to dress, just wouldn't work out for my body and instead of it being a super positive experience, I feel it would become negative and could potentially be self-destructive to my psyche.

BUT. . . I've found some modicum of confidence and I've had fun in my classroom dressing up as an aviator, a Bard, a yoga instructor, and even dressed up with my co-workers as a Taco Sauce Packet for our Let's Make a Deal assembly.

As we were registering for some events a GenCon, I was able to get my husband to sign up to play Nuns on the Run with me. I have a severe addiction to all things nun (ask me about my Masters and PhD. . . I dare you). Once we had registered, I knew I needed to dress up like a nun to play Nuns on the Run.

I also really LOVE Steampunk fashion. Once again, something I let my weight hinder my love of. But I made my first valiant attempt to create a unique looking nun that I can build on throughout the year, instead of with a limited budget and with only four months to get it all together. With some tips from some twitter friends and family friends, I put this together and I will be wearing it at GenCon on Friday, August 15 to Nuns on the Run at 10:00AM.

Items that are part of the outfit:
Perfect V-Neck Tee - Black
Black eVogues Sheer Crochet Lace Poncho Top
White HDE Womens Jersey Long Infinity Loop Scarf
White Roll-Waist Linen Pants
Brown Faux Leather Floral Interlock Buckle Belt
Dirty Laundry Women's Showstopper Motorcycle Boot
Octopus under sea ocean long chain sweater necklace
Brass Cross Ring
Cthulu Ring
Ladies Steampunk Bracers
Vintage Oversized Cross
Long Cross Necklace
Wrought Iron Jailers Keys