Month: February 2015

Sympathy Card – The Last Lily to Bloom

After sharing this art with my family and friends, I had some requests for prints and cards. And after checking with my family, I decided to share the ordering links more broadly (see below).

This all came about recently when I wanted to send a sympathy card to a grieving friend, but I just wanted to send a card that was simple and sincere. After reading many sympathy cards after my mother’s passing, I noticed that a lot of the pre-printed messages were either very religious or excessively poetic. So I painted this lily and a simple message of love on a card. I later I painted the lily over and over again and realized it was exactly the kind of card I would have wanted to receive. This lily holds special meaning for me as it was the last flower to bloom in a bouquet by my mother’s bedside, right before her passing. It continues to remind me of her love and I hope you can share love with it too.

The original was created with watercolors and colored pencils.

Sympathy Card:

Breanna Cooke | The Last Lily to Bloom
Order prints here: http://www.redbubble.com/people/breannacooke/works/14103321-the-last-lily-to-bloom-with-text

Lily:

Breanna Cooke | The Last Lily to Bloom watercolor
Order prints here: http://www.redbubble.com/people/breannacooke/works/14003145-the-last-lily-to-bloom

Making a Maleficent Collar and Cloak

Breanna Cooke Maleficent costume - Photo by Alan Tijerina Photography
Photo by Alan Tijerina Photography

Last Friday I won the Saturday ticket giveaway from the Irving Convention Center for Dallas Comic Con Fan Days! I was so excited, but I didn’t have a new costume finished…and how could I go to Fan Days without dressing up?!  I already had Maleficent horns from a previous project, so I took on the challenge of making a Maleficent collar and cloak in one night. Below are some of my behind-the-scenes photos of my late night crafting.

Collar

Breanna Cooke Maleficent costume collar DIY I got some great ideas from this DIY Maleficent tutorial by Pins and Things. She used cardboard and wire to hold the collar upright. I opted for craft foam, hot glue and wire as the core for my collar. I sandwiched the wire between a layer of craft foam. Then I sewed fabric sleeves for each section, pulled it over the craft foam, and sewed up the open end.

Attaching the Collar

Breanna Cooke Maleficent costume collar DIYThe robe for my costume wasn’t going to support the weight of the collar, so I made a base from EVA foam (you can use those interlocking anti-fatigue floor mats, visit my Resources page for where to buy it). Now the whole collar would be a solid, removable piece from the robe. I shaped the EVA foam with a heat gun and made a fabric sleeve for it in the same way I made the collar sleeves. I hot glued and sewed the individual collar pieces to this foam/fabric base, then loosely stitched it to the robe.

Enhancing the Collar

Breanna Cooke Maleficent costume collar DIYIn the recent Maleficent movie, she has a cloak with the iconic pointy collar and a cloak with a feather collar. I took the best of both and added the feathers to mine. I used a section of black hackle feather trim (check Michael’s or Hobby Lobby) and glued it to the collar base with hot glue.

Cloak

Breanna Cooke Maleficent costume cloak DIYI never thought I’d find a use for my graduation gown, but tada! It provided a great base for the Maleficent robe. I purchased 4 yards of black polyester, cut a hole in the middle, and draped it over the robe like a poncho. I sewed the sides of the fabric “poncho” and left room for armholes, then cut open the front and stitched the fabric to the collar of the gown. If I’d had more time, I would have loved to make a really elegant cloak from scratch. Maybe next time!

Horns

Breanna Cooke Maleficent horns DIY with craft foam and electrical tapeAnd don’t forget the horns! Check out my other post with details about how I made my Maleficent horns. They’re made with reticulated foam, craft foam and electrical tape!  

Face

Breanna Cooke Maleficent makeupI used a variety of products to create the Maleficent face. I love the purple accents in the cartoon version of Maleficent, so my makeup was a mashup of both Maleficent looks.

  • Eyes: light and dark purple eye shadow (shown on my hand in the photo)
  • Eyebrows: Wolfe FX Hydrocolor cake in black
  • Face: Airbrushed with European Body Art Endura airbrush paint in white and black. Contours with grey eye shadow.
  • Lips: Vincent Longo lipstick in “Lust” (not shown)


Dragon Costume Photoshoot with Ken Pearson

 

Last year, I did a photoshoot in my green dragon costume with Ken Pearson Photography. Needless to say, he made me look amazing! Below are some of the photos from the shoot.

Connect with Ken and see more of his work here:
http://kenpearson.zenfolio.com/
https://www.facebook.com/kenpearsonphotography
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kenpearson/

Green dragon costume inspired by Ysera - by Breanna Cooke - Photo by Ken Pearson

Green dragon costume inspired by Ysera - by Breanna Cooke - Photo by Ken Pearson

Green dragon costume inspired by Ysera - by Breanna Cooke - Photo by Ken Pearson

Interested in seeing how this costume was created? Check out my blog post: Green Dragon Costume

The Wicked Witch and Flying Monkey Team Up

 

When I made my Flying Monkey costume, I never dreamed that I would meet a Wicked Witch of the West! Chelphie Cosplay is the creator and wearer of this fantastic witch costume and she has a pretty spectacular cackle too — just ask! Our dynamic duo has been spotted at a few events and we even placed 2nd in the 2013 Dallas SciFi Expo Costume Contest. Check out some of the photos:

Wicked Witch of the West and Flying Monkey by Ken Pearson
Photo by Ken Pearson Photography

 

Wicked Witch of the West and Flying Monkey costumes
Photo by Vodka Photos

 

Wicked Witch and Flying Monkey at Dallas Fan Days 2013 - Photo by Last Ryghtz
Photo by Last Ryghtz

 

Wicked Witch and Flying Monkey at Dallas Fan Days 2013
Photo by Alan Tijerina

Read my Flying Monkey Costume blog post to see more behind-the-scenes photos for my monkey costume.