s13konel

I can't say enough about my first experience at an anime convention. Other artists I met, (an incredible bunch of people), were seasoned pros and they filled me in on the ins and outs of the con, what to expect and tips on other conventions as well as suggestions about what I could do next.



first pic of the weekend

( Thursday & Friday )

( Saturday )

( Sunday )

It's sad that I haven't posted on here in almost two months. For the last few weeks, I've been working every night on designs for AnimeNEXT. From new bags, new prints, new products, it's so involving but most definitely worth it.






Oh yeah...



( Here are a few of the new things I made for the show. )

I'm live! Please check it out at http://muz.com.ph and/or forward to anyone you know who may be interested :D

Thanks so much in advance......

I've been working all week on stuff for my Japan fundraiser between new designs, bags and offerings. This weekend, I'll be assembling the prototypes of the new things and I hope to have them up by the start of next week. It feels like I'm not working fast enough but I don't want to do things half ass. I have donated to a couple charities for disaster relief with what I've sold in the last few weeks. If anyone out there just so happens to be a tax expert, please enlighten me as to what I might have to pay concerning a charity drive using self-made products.

I was considering putting up the Japan relief site up with my existing designs and add as new products become available with the opportunity to change the order if someone sees something new they want instead. Any ideas?

One of the new patterns/designs I shall be offering is the chibi step and repeat. I've ALWAYS wanted to do an anime/manga style project and this is my first true attempt at it. I'll be coming up with at least one more anime design and this has been super fun so far.



This is gonna take up the entire bag and I might even alter it so it'll look good as a hoodie. I'm also attempting duotone variations of these chibis but need to come up with HOT two-color combos. What're your favorite color pairings? I'll be posting other variations and the good thing is, I can make as many combinations as they're wanted since they don't cost any more :D

I've been very wary about making a public fundraiser for Japan using my stuff as I got many haters coming out of their caves when I did one for Typhoon Ondoy but fuck 'em. I have friends scared shitless from aftershocks and others evacuating their homes because of potential radiation poisoning.

I've already donated what I sold in muz bags over the last two weeks to the Save the Children Fund and Red Cross but now, I'm going public with it. Within the next two days, I'm gonna be posting another muz fundraiser but this time with bags in different price points. What I learned last time was the limited price offerings did not allow those who were financially strapped to help. So this time around, I'll be offering a $30 tote bag as well as the standard muz bags going anywhere from $75-100. I have more t-shirts in production so I hope I can add that to the fundraising roster.

For my new friends out there, here are some of the things I may be offering but nothing is set in stone. I have new designs I haven't posted about so I will include some of those. The official list will be released in the coming days.

Thanks, everyone :)

They finally came in and they look hot. I'm pretty stoked about them but I think the reaction of the girls who have seen just the blanks makes me look forward to putting my designs on them. They are very, very light and unnaturally soft. Definitely not something I would wear but 100% of the women who've seen it love the cut and style.

Of course, I have to make a logo shirt and I think the other variation of this is going to have the logo type and the bubble tea switch spots between the variations. I really like the positioning of the bubble tea in the corner, almost as if it's just sitting there.

My previous prototype of .m. had her entire head in the safety area of the shirt. That was a little too contained and boring so I made her face take up the entire front with her head cutting through the V. It's in your face and bold, which is how I think .m. comes across. I'm starting to sound like J. Peterman.





JADE and akane are going to be the other two designs but with variations as well. The softness and translucency of the shirts lends itself to a softer image. I lightened .m. a lot and even moreso for JADE and akane. As seen below, I have a solid version of each girl which stands as more of a traditional shirt print as well as a ghost version. The ghost version is lighter and more subdued. These came as both suggestions by friends/fans and a by-product of getting the image onto the shirt. Fortunately, I'll be able to offer the bold and ghost versions.






Here's how it fits. Very feminine.









Finally, they all have the muz tag on them. Makes it feel legit and gives me a huge smile on my face when I look at it. I can't wait to take a photo of the lot I'll be taking with me to Asia. It's going to be a lot of work to get even 50 of these done but right now, I'm riding the high of imagining the possibilities.

Exciting times...

I've been working like a madman for the last few weeks on the bags and other designs I'll be rolling to Asia with. I make everything now in a kind of assembly line where I make the different parts like the pockets, zippers, shells, etc. all in a row. It seems like I'm getting more done this way. Here's about a quarter of what I will be bringing with me on my trip:





Unfortunately lost in the wake over the last few weeks was my Halloween costume :( I was greatly looking forward to it but with a little more than a month left until I leave, I had to sacrifice something. Sucks too 'cause I really wanted to wear those ninja forearm spikes out in public.

But in keeping my promise, I made my goddaughter the various parts of her Hit Girl costume so I was at least able to help make a costume even though it wasn't for me. The cape, skirt and belt were sewn on Sunday with a couple more little details still to be added to complete it by Halloween. And if you think she's trying to act bad ass with that facial expression, she was sweating under that wig and all those layers of clothes while we all had to bribe her in different ways to get her to pose for this photo. The kick ass attitude comes automatically with the costume...

I opened up the mahal white I thought was good to go earlier and I'm not feeling it at all. Going back in to do some more edits. This might be one of the girls who doesn't pull off the white treatment like .m. and akane did.

EDIT: Fixed her. Maybe. I'll take a look at her in the morning to see if I'm feeling it.

Finished red-violet and torquoise/aqua-midnight color sets of akane and a pink and magenta-violet variation of mahal in the tyler cut. I'm not sure if I'm going to use the mahal art for a bag yet as I'm not totally crazy about it. Also, I've been pondering on whether to use the muz stripes as the standard interior lining for consistency and branding. I think it's because I'm beat and thinking of the simplest way to get these done.

I just finished three variations of the sakura snow lulo and decided to mix up the lining by applying three variations of my plaid design. I also created a master print template so I can send the whole bag to print in one shot instead of piece by piece like I have been.

That's 7 designs down so far.