MCM Memories, Moments, Meetings and Madness!
Monday after October comic con is always a bit of a strange feeling. I drive for four hours, then collapse on the sofa with Toast (our golden retriever) and my brain is both spinning and noisy with ideas and plans for the following year, and zoning out due to the sudden change in surroundings and atmosphere!
It is Wednesday now and I have dutifully completed my post con brain dump into our business discord, ordered some tools for next May for a new workshop I'm developing (keep reading!) and given the dog almighty snuggle wuggles, snuffles and kisses!
So let us think back over the weekend and jot down some thoughts, feelings and general notes!
The biggest feeling I have right now is gratitude. To Emma, Soph, and the whole team at these events who have embraced our particular brand of chaos into their Cosplay Central Hub, with not only open arms, but encouragement, support and a kind of friendship that is rare for me to accept ( I have trust issues haha)
If you swung by the booth, you will have met Rob. Rob is a close friend who without any kind of obligation or leverage, offers his unconditional support and personal time to make sure Cosmic Workshop runs smoothly while I concentrate on the physical workshops. I cannot express enough, how much love and appreciation I have for him, and as many of you commented to me, he really is the sweetest, welcoming presence <3
Attendees in the workshops may have also spotted Jaz, my son, my world, my biggest cheerleader and workshop set up minion! Trust me, the way my brain works, things would not be as organised as they are if not for him! Also, didn't he look the cutest! The single person I will con crunch for, never let me agree to sew furry fabric ever again, how the hell do you cosplayers not throw it out of a window?! hahahaha
Lastly, a new person to grovel my thanks to...my huge, bearded, hunk of husband, Pod, who you may have spotted hiding in the booth with Jaz. Due to my continuing health decline, he volunteered to help with all the setup and breakdown part of this weekend, and I love him so much for that support. He also gives the best hugs, which is really nice to have on tap over a tiring weekend of work!
Now you gorgeous, adorable and lovely attendees! WOWZERS! I mean, what the hell?! You came, You saw, You conquered! I couldn't have asked for better groups and enthusiasm and I am just so happy that you enjoyed yourself as much as I did!
The feedback I got from everyone was brilliant, but if you wouldn't mind, could you possibly take a few minutes to fill out our official feedback form? It would be very much appreciated, mainly because it both helps me continue the positive vibes going forward, but also helps us fix anything that needs fixing. For example, I had some great tips from folks who have Dyslexia (thank you!) so I can help future attendees with their accessibility needs more.
HERE is the Google form link, and thank you again for being your amazing selves! and HERE are the pictures of anyone who was willing to be subjected to the camera lens!
I saw so many amazing cosplayers and I am only sorry that there was not a spare Cosmic Crew to get photographs of you all this year, but worry not, I'm thinking of setting up a little selfie area so you can immortalise yourself!
It was also a joy to finally chat to some of the attendees of the mysterious industry event that runs alongside Cosplay Central each year! The wonderful Kish was a bounty of inside chit chat and stories and I hope you all as good a time as we did.
Check out the photos that were taken HERE
PLANNING AHEAD!
I have so many ideas going forward from this year. Firstly is the Intermediate Tooling workshop. Thank you to my BETA testers who came along and tried out some more techniques going on from your introductory courses over the past few years at MCM. I now know what I need more of, less of and how to both push you forwards while refreshing your skills already experienced.
In May I will also be running a brand new workshop called FABULOUS FASTENINGS! Where I will be showing you how to join leather in a variety of techniques, starting with the traditional sewing technique of saddle stitching. I have the stitching ponies ordered already!
The bookmark drop in session needs addressing due to the down size in room available to us for this bit of content. Running it from the workshop room (holds 30) from the Hangout Zone area that held about 120 was tricky as hell to co-ordinate and I thank you all for your patience and understanding at me kicking you out in an orderly fashion so that you all had a chance to have a go!
Rob is going to have had extra training on types of leather and other things based off the kinds of questions folks have when visiting the booth, so he can be even more spectacular and helpful.
We will also have a couple of new booth babes in attendance who will be able to chat all things cosplay and help guide you around the process of getting quotes etc.
SHOWPIECES!
Tired...that is the visual vibes I get when looking at our booth in 2026. To be fair, it has been a hot minute since serious attention went into our aesthetics rather than content, so I am really looking forwards to upgrading and giving us a little VA VA VOOM!.
Part of this will be our showpieces and display work. I know you all love Cassian, so he will be staying, and the Night Court inspired corset dress. But we also have made Feyre! She can be seen all over our Instagram currently, because she was designed for the beautiful Aria over in France to wear for many, many professional shoots. However, you will have the opportunity to see her in up close and personal next year, as well as a host of new builds that you will be able to follow along with on our Patreon because I am going to be working on getting that particular avenue up to scratch over the New Year.
Other showpieces in the pipeline are my own He-Man design, which I have been working on for a while, more excessively complicated God Of War Ragnarok characters designs and a special Pirate mash up in collaboration with Letters of Marque.
Anyway, that is enough babbling from me, I need more fluids and volterol!
See you in 2027, MCM!