It's been a while...

So, it's a been a bit since I posted on this blog (Sorry guys, uni life and that) but my word has things changed since last year. To say it was eventful would be an understatement.

We got a new committee. We got a whole new society. We got new crafts (not just Hama Beads anymore lads). We even managed to get some new costumes done! It has been nothing less of roller coaster.

Being someone who has been a committee member from the start, I can this year was the hardest one of all. It was almost like starting the society up all over again. All the other committee members left, all but two of the society members left, and we had barely any equipment. However as soon as the first semester started up everything seemed to fall into place. We got a whole new society, a new and enthusiastic committee, a whole load of new equipment and we had hope that this year would be good. And it went that way. Although we had a committee member change over half way through, it did not stop us running sessions and keeping things going. It just meant that the current society and committee had to work together to keep things running smoothly until we found a suitable replacement. The way everyone banded together made me so proud of them.

Aside from committee changes, the society also changed up what they did this year. So last year was a lot of Hama Beads. We will admit it, we know it was. It was again until we had the change up. And then the change up really set in. We went from hama beads to doing shrink plastic badges, sewing sessions, pillows, and even christmas decorations for a Christmas dinner for the elderly. And that’s just in sessions. We had pizza socials, games socials, ice cream, movies; even a Maccies social! It was a big change from what we usually do, and the society seemed to really enjoy it! I think the best one was the costume social with Alumni Members.

We decided that we all needed a little reunion with the old members, so we invited them back for a little costume session where we showed off our newest outfits. It was a surprising success! We had people who have never cosplayed before going all out and it was impressive. It's the first time in a long time where we had a full society cosplay session so it was good to bring the old guys back and all have fun with our hobby.

This society has dealt with so much through out this year, both good and bad, however we've made it to the last semester and we're going to still be a society next year. Not a lot of societies can say that they have dealt with the amount of things we've dealt with and can still be a surviving society. I'm proud of this society and I can't wait to see what happens next year (When I remember to update this again)


See you next year!

Megan.

Stop. Hama Time (I'm sorry. I had to.)

Hey readers! Megan again! And my word... This society and their Hama beads...

This society. They love Hama beads. And to be honest with you? So do I. Hama beads are great. They're relaxing. They're fun. Anyone can do them. This is why they are something that everyone, young and old, can enjoy together.

As you probably guessed, we as a society are pretty skilled with Hama beads now. So, to help you become as skilled as we are now, we're going to give you our Top 5 Tips to Hama Beads.

#5: Sort Your Colours!

Okay, hear us out. We know this sounds like common sense but trust us, sorting your beads will help you in the long run. Just take a day out of your schedule, stick a podcast or a show you're currently watching and just sort. You'll need a few pots to separate the colours into but you can get them cheap. Once everything is sorted into their colours, everything from the this point on will be a lot easier. You won't be needing to search for colours as you go, you can just focus on what you want to make and have fun!

#4: Greaseproof! Greaseproof! Greaseproof!

When you're planning to iron the beads down, make sure to use Greaseproof Paper. I've seen people say that regular paper and tin foil work just as well but it's not. The beads will melt to the paper and make them stuck, rendering them unusable and the same will happen with the tin foil with the added danger of the heat being conducted through it. Greaseproof is the safest, and easiest route. You don't need to worry about buying the Hama official Ironing paper,  it's literally just overpriced small squares of greaseproof. You can get a 10m roll of greaseproof for £1 and that'll last you ages. Not only that, but you're able to see your progress with the ironing of the beads! 

#3: Don't apply too much pressure!

Okay this one is a difficult one. The pressure on the iron is KEY. If you press down too hard, the beads will melt too much and can also potentially melt the peg board too. If you don't put enough pressure on, the beads won't melt and the picture could get ruin. You need to slowly apply pressure and keep moving the iron ensure that the heat is spread evenly across all the beads. That way no beads will be over melted, and all the beads will be connected.

#2: Watch the Heat!

The heat of your iron is extremely important. If the iron is too hot, the paper will burn and the beads will burn and over melt. If the iron is too cold, it will have minimal to no effect on the beads. To start off, make sure to put you iron on a medium heat and iron over the beads. If the beads melt too quickly, reduce the heat. If the beads do not change state, increase the heat slowly until it has an effect. If you feel that beads are melting at a good rate and are melting evenly, keep at that heat. It takes a while to work out what the best heat for your iron is however, once you work it out, the rest of you Hama beads projects are going to be perfect!

#1: Just enjoy it!

The whole point of Hama beads is to have fun and be creative with simple designs! Just start with the basics and work up to more complicated designs. Don't get frustrated that you may not be able to do the amazing, fancy designs straight away. Just enjoy making pretty patterns. Even your practice pieces can be useful. They can be used as coasters or decorations. No creation is a failure! 

PHEW! We got there in the end! However, I can guarantee that these tips will help you become a so much better Hama bead artist! These have all helped out members, and we're sure they'll help you too!

Until next time, Readers!!
-Megan

Busy! Busy! Busy!

Hi Readers! Megan here! Cosplay and Craft have been super busy this week! Our Wednesday meeting was jam packed!

This week, our society took on the challenge of trying to repair our own clothes or costumes. For a lot of our members, this is the first time they have picked up a sewing needle or touched a sewing machine. However, they showed determination and perseverance and we ended up with some pretty great results! Well done, Guys!

Along side sewing our own things, we helped out the SU with the Wiggly Bags for Great Ormand Street Hospital!
If you don't know what Wiggly Bags are, Wiggly Bags are small bags which are distributed out to children who have a Hickmen Line (a central venous catheter most often used for the administration of chemotherapy or other medications, as well as for withdrawal of blood for analysis.) We helped out by re-sewing some bags that have come slightly undone and strengthened others. Our aim for this is that when the SU hands over those bags, we get to give them a best we possibly could! Everyone in the society loved helping with these bags and can't wait to do more!

To keep up with the pace of the session, the committee got the society involved with VPSI Jimi Adeyinka's campaign "Buck's Proud"!
If you don't know what "Buck's Proud" is, it's a campaign that allows the students of Buck's SU to show how proud they are to be part of  Bucks! It's a great way to show the SU our appreciation and also help us get geared up for Varsity!

The last thing we did while we were a busy bunch was that we held our Annual General Meeting and asked the society a few questions. These were the responses we got:

• The society really enjoyed hosting and being part of our Globetrotters Italian Takeover.
• The other things that the society enjoyed were: 
• Hama beads sessions- Everyone said that they loved the ability to relax, have some fun, and chill out!
• Poster session- Members said that they thought it was really fun to be able to design something that would benefit the society and let other people know what kinds of things we do as a group!
• Blades Collaboration- Members also agreed that the RAG Pajama collab with Blades was really fun and it allowed us to hang out and get to know the members of  Bucks Blades and try something new.
• The society also said that they wanted to do some weapon crafting sessions.
• Other things they asked that we could do are:
• Resin sessions- Make charms and jewellery for costumes all while learning a new skill and techniques
• Hama beads! This society can't  get enough of those Hama beads! Lucky for them we're just waiting for some to be delivered and they can Hama bead to their hearts content!
• Actual Costume Sessions- Because we're a new and start up society, we haven't had the chance to do a costume session so they want to do a session ACTUALLY based on
  costuming. Mostly planning and designing and they doing the odd creation session.
• We also asked what they thought that committee was doing well and the answer that they gave us were that we were really friendly and welcoming and that we get across any info and news well.  They also said that we always meet the needs of the society and never leave them hanging.
• Although we liked hearing all the good things we do, we also asked what we could do better and they said that they wanted to do more recruitment events to try and get more members. They also asked that we could do concourse activities. They want to do more things to show they uni the fun stuff that we can do at the uni.
• One  last thing that they thought we could do more as a committee is UXB activities. They thought that it would be really good for the nurses studying at Uxbridge to just take an evening off to do some Hama beads and crafts and just get a chance to relax and have some fun.
• The committee also asked everyone what they thought would be a good idea for RAG ideas for the society and they thought up some fun and wacky ideas!
• Charity Week
• Lazer Tag Water Gun
• Human Chess
• Globetrotters
• Hama Bead Charms sale
• Craft Sale
• Paint Fight
• Carnival/ Funfair games
• Dick and Dom charity night
• Tutor Water Bombing
• One last thing we talked about as a society was about socials! We wanted to make sure that when we arranged socials, everyone felt welcomed and included. The ideas that they had were:
• Games Tournament
• Movie Social
• Movie Social with dressing up
• Disco Social
• Roller rink 
• Rush
• American Diner
• Food Social
• Toast Social (Toast-ial)
• Bread Social
• Garlic Social
• Cooking Social
• Jelly Social (Jell-o-cial)
• Water Social (H2O-cial)
• Dark Social
• Glow-in-the-Dark Social (Glow-cial)

See? I told you guys that we've been busy this week! See you next time! :D
-Megan

Cosplay and Craft- Who? What? Where? When? Why?

Cosplay and Craft Society is a friendly society where we meet on a regular basis to do Cosplay related activities like costuming and skills workshops, and small little craft projects like Hama beads and resin jewellery, all while chilling eating sweets! (Trust us, the sweets eating part is VERY important to the session… honestly…)

This post will give you a little insight of the who, what, when, where, and why of the society so you know what you need before you join!

Who?: 

The society is made up of a mix bunch of students that come from all different backgrounds and courses that meet up have fun. The committee of the society is composed of the three founding members:

*Chair: Katie Bannock- Katie is an animation student currently studying in her 3rd year of the course. She is the founder of the society. This group was her whole idea. She took it to the SU. She got people interested. She made it a thing. She now sits as chair of the society and oversees everything that's happening and keeps track of things.

*Secretary: Angel Di-capite- Angel is an illustration student also currently studying in her 3rd year of the course. Along side Katie, Angel helped to bring the society off the ground and make it official. She is now in the role of secretary.She is the one in charge of all the paperwork, minutes and is Katie's right hand man with assisting the smooth running of the societies and consistency of the of meetings.

*Treasurer: Megan Staples- Megan is also an illustration student however she is studying in her 2nd year of the course; making her the youngest of the committee. Megan assisted with getting things started with the society as well and advertised it around. Once everything was off of the ground, she took the role of society Treasurer and took care of the finances of the society, meaning that she made sure that the money that the society receives benefits them as much as possible. 

All three now keep the society running and making sure that everyone in the society are happy and feel welcomed, and so far no complaints!

What?: 

What we tend to do in workshops is we aim to cover as many skills as we can so that we can cater to everyone’s needs! Some workshops included:

*Make Up! We can teach you the basics from simple face painting to latex work! Although this is something that can seem daunting at first, with a little help from our committee and members your confidence will build.
*Wig Care and Styling! Wigs can be tricky things but don’t worry! We’ll be able to help you out! We can teach you the basics of wig care and styling, so you won’t get tangled! (That Pun was completely intended)
*Pattern Making! If you fancy yourself as an inspiring seamstress or tailor or even that you just want to make your own costumes, we can teach you the foundations of pattern making and how to piece it all together!
*Prop Making! Ever wanted to make that Batman utility belt from your childhood? Or Link’s Ocarina from the games? With the help of our members, we’ll be able to help you develop the skills to build and craft the props that will make your costumes complete!
*Sewing! Whether you’re a whizz at the machines or a hand sewing novice, we’ll help you develop the techniques to safety practice both!

Along with these, there’s so many more! If there’s something you want to try or there’s something you’ve always wondered about cosplay or crafts, come chat to us and we’ll happily see what we can do!

Where?: 
We meet every week in N3.01. However in the odd chance that things change, we'll let you all know!

When?: 

Every Wednesday, 5pm-7pm.

Why?: 

We do it because we love it! We felt like everyone who was interested in costume making or crafting deserved to get a definite couple of hours a week to relax, costume, craft, or even just to chill out! We wanted to create a calm and relaxed atmosphere for students to hang out and have some fun.

As a society, we love new members! We’re always welcoming fresh faces into our group as we love getting a new look on what we love! We’re always taking ideas for sessions, we’re always welcome to suggestions, this society is for you and interests! Just let us know! 

You can find out more about the society, contact the committee, and join here!
And you can also join our Facebook group here!
We can't wait to see you there!