... *thud*

So, that con season was CRAZYPANTS. Crazy. In the pants. But, we all lived, so there's that!

For those just tuning in, here is a quick breakdown of all the places that Hooked on Chibis! appeared in 2011.

The Doctors were, of course, at all of the cons concurrently.

In January, Matt and Jenn went to Arisia in Boston, MA. We're planning to return in 2012 and this time we'll be there all weekend, because it was way too awesome to only be there for one day.

In February, Matt, Jenn, and the 8-bits went to two cons: Genericon in Troy, NY and Queen City Kamikaze in Manchester, NH. We're already signed up for Genericon 2012 and as soon as we're able, we'll be signing up for QC Kamikaze again (it'll be our third year there, and their third year as a con!!).

The Black Mage had been practicing his Blizzaga, so you can thank him for all that snow this winter.

Then in March, we took most of the month off to build up for the coming con storm, but we did pay a visit to Conbust in Northampton, MA. Because this con is only a few minutes from home, the table was staffed at various times by Jenn, Casey, Liz the Random Encounter, and Matt (Biz was up at school in NH, so we couldn't complete the set). We also met our new friends and fellow-artists Sean of NickelPUNK, Matt of Mattman: Dinosaur Hunter, and Auston, game developer and the guy who brought us Bosses Forever.

April saw CHIBIS EVERYWHERE. We did four yes four cons in April. First, Jenn and Casey went to UBCon in Buffalo, NY, where we met the incomparable Nigel Sade, experienced Tim Horton's for the first time, and practiced salsa dancing in our hotel room while eating potato salad and drinking wine. Because that's how we roll. Then a week later, Jenn and Matt went to Tora-Con in Rochester, NY, which is only 30 minutes away from Buffalo and made all that driving feel very silly. Yes, we drove home from Buffalo, only to drive back out to Rochester 4 days later. Trust us, it had to be done.

Then on Easter weekend, Jenn and Casey flew to Seattle for Sakura-Con while Matt held down the fort at Anime Boston (our fourth year at AB!). We learned some valuable lessons that weekend about how to split the party, how to get all the dolls to faraway cons, and how to set up in only 4 feet of space O_o

We all needed healing by the time April was over.

May was pretty quiet while we all collapsed from April's adventures, but it got crazy again at the end, when we went to Anime Central in Chicago. Jenn took the train out, Casey flew there, and they both rode the train home again; Casey fell in love with jetBlue and Jenn spent the whole train ride (both ways) going OMG IM ON A TRAIN THIS WINS. (Also, the day they returned was Jenn's birthday, which she got to spend almost all of on the train!!) The girls debuted their Plusle and Minun gijinka at this con as well - and since Biz was visiting her brother who lives nearby, she paid us a visit as well.

Two sassy vintage stewardesses. This pic was actually taken at Otakon, by Adorkable Photography.

 Then, only two days after getting home from ACen, Jenn got on a plane and flew to California for Fanime, in San Jose. She stayed with her aunt (Jenn's from everyplace, remember?), met up with old friends, saw plenty of familiar faces among the artists - and got to meet Colette, one of our first fans ever!

Wait, we have fans?!

June was almost quiet. We knew that AX was looming on the horizon, so we tried to keep things to a minimum while we frantically made every doll ever, but over Father's Day weekend, there were two cons we just couldn't pass up - so we split the party again, sending Matt and Biz to Tampa, FL for MetroCon, and Casey with her friend Merissa to Anime Mid-Atlantic in Chesapeake, VA. (Jenn had to work, and the 8-bits were still in school, so they held down the fort at home.)

JULY WAS INSANE YOU GUYS. First, Matt and Jenn went to Anime Expo in Los Angeles, which was huge and we had such a good time that we're already booked to be there in 2012! Then after we got back from AX, we had 3 days to get everything down to Hartford for ConnectiCon, which was the only con of 2011 to feature all four of us at one point or another! Even the 8-bits were there, and they had a great time in the game room and seeing all the cosplays. Then we had two weeks to find more chibis, and then Jenn and Casey drove down to Baltimore for Otakon, where we met more fellow-artists, saw a bunch of old friends, and sweated our wigs off from the heat. (Casey actually looked, at one point, like such a tuckered-out little Plusle that I wanted to put her in a Pokeball and get her to Nurse Joy!)

Jenn got pictures of her Darkrai gijinka, by the same awesome photographer who took that Plusle and Minun picture up there.

For our last hurrah, in August we went to RamenCon, a first-year con in northwest Indiana that Jenn just couldn't miss. We stayed with family, visited with even more family, made awesome friends with the artists and con staff, and had a great time chasing the 8-bits around while they did the scavenger hunt. Jenn and her younger 8-bit played in the Chopstick Challenge, where they had to build structures using only chopsticks (Matthew had to build a Duplo pyramid; Jenn had to assemble a Bionicle), and that was a crazy time indeed. The best news was, RamenCon's first-year attendance was 1083. You read that right, ONE THOUSAND EIGHTY THREE. This is one hot, tasty con, people.

Sixteen cons later, Jenn's still alive. And she still has hands.

We're home now, putting the chibis into their homes for the winter, which is not as easy as it sounds. The black mage keeps heading to the freezer for more practice, Dr. McCoy won't stop raiding the medicine cabinets, and the electric pokemon recently found where we keep the batteries O_o But we're winding down from traveling, winding up for the holidays - and best of all, we're almost unpacked!!

And finally, if you're keeping count, that's sixteen cons we did this year, thirteen of which Jenn was personally at. Whew!

 -- Jenn

Con Calendar Updated

As promised, the Con Calendar page is updated!  And don't forget, we're going to be at Anime Central in 10 days!

-Matt

Go To ALL THE CONS!!!

What a crazy time it has been.  So, I think I'm finally ready to announce a few plans.  We will be going to the following conventions:

Fanime, May 27-30 in San Jose, CA

MetroCon, June 17-19 in Tampa, FL

Anime Mid-Atlantic, June 17-19 in Chesapeake, VA

AnimeExpo, July 1-4 in Los Angeles, CA

ConnectiCon, July 8-10 in Hartford, CT

Otakon, July 29-31 in Baltimore, MD

Phew, that's a lot.  But, it is critical to our mission of dolls all over the USA!  So come by, say hi, buy dolls.  The Con Calendar Page will be updated very soon to reflect all these conventions, plus who will be staffing them.

-Matt

Where Does The Time Go?

I tell you, that's what I want to know.  We've been super busy lately, going to conventions (ConBust, UBCon, and Tora-Con) while prepping for others (AnimeCentral, AnimeBoston, SakuraCon) and trying to get into still others (shhh, not tellin!).

So this has meant that none of us has been posting here!  But this doesn't mean that we aren't thinking about stuff to say, or are giving up on communicating with our fans (and trying to get even more people to follow us once we figure out something to say!).

We'll be looking to change that going forward, because we do (usually) enjoy each convention, and we would love to share our thoughts and experiences with everyone.

I will say that next week I hope to have some big news for our fans about where we'll be this summer, and I hope to have Jenn and Casey posting more about their travels.  While I love conventions (and I had a blast at Tora-Con), those two are by far much more experienced with cosplay and anime and everything else.  Poor Elizabeth is still stuck up at college (and so busy she has to pass on AnimeBoston which she loves going to), but she'll be with us a whole lot more come June, and we're looking forward to that (more hands to make dolls!)

So anyway, this weekend I'm going to AnimeBoston, Casey and Jenn are going to SakuraCon (a bit of a homecoming for Jenn, she lived in Seattle for years), and then afterwards, if we're not dead, more coming here!

As always, we love hearing from folks either here, on Facebook, through Etsy, on LiveJournal, or whatever.  If you have ideas for blog topics, let us know!

-Matt

Now You're Adorable, April Fools!

Hey all! Thanks for entering the "It's Not Easy Being Green" contest. We'd like to congratulate DevilDuckie831! She's won an Elphaba plushie. We must admit, it's a very very appropriate winner. XD

Our next contest will be centered around April Fool's Day, and who better to prank than the biggest baddies we know? For the next contest we want to chibi-tize evil villains, ugly mutants and characters who never smile. Comment on this blog entry and challenge us to find the cute in someone vile, menacing, or super-serious.

Some designs we've already conquered: Gendo, Sephiroth, Khan, Orochimaru, Rorschach
 
-CaseyChu

Con Schedule Update 2!

Okay, so I just updated out Con Schedule page quite a bit!  I removed everything that has already occurred, and then added: ConBust, UBCon, Tora-Con, Anime Boston, and AnimeNEXT.  We're still working on attending even more conventions so stay tuned!

-Matt

Ode to Magic Wings: Best "Company" Trip Ever

Right between where Jenn lives and where I (Casey) live is a butterfly conservatory called Magic Wings. They put the word Magic in the title and somehow I still wasn't ready for the experience I was about to have. It was ignorant of me to think that these people didn't know their own power well enough to just lay it out on the sign.

This place is like, what it must feel like to... man I can't even think of a metaphor. Here, look at this butterfly.

Don't you feel better already? I do

We went to Magic Wings to take pictures of dolls that had a nature theme to them. There are multiple rooms, each of them beautiful, and they allow us to let the chibis go on "adventures."

Link went to save the princess Zelda

Totoro and I waited for a bus.

When the bus never showed I decided to lie down and let Totoro chill on my stomach. From that bench I could see hundred of butterflies fluttering around above me. The greenhouse was in the 80's, so it was warm enough to help all my muscles relax. I was at peace with the universe.

When I finally got back up again, I walked around a bit more. When you're walking you have to watch your feet because there very well might be a butterfly right on the floor. While I was ooking down there, I found this guy.

Internet, meet Randy

I decided this guy's name was Randy and he was going to be my friend. I knelt down to take a picture, but I was using Jenn's iPhone and I had to get really close. He got spooked and fluttered and landed on my hand!

Randy is the chillest butterfly in all of existence. He just hung out on anything we put him near.

Appa got to wake up and smell the butterflies

He even tried to get Jenn to take a break and enjoy his company.

Randy... not too aware of personal bubbles

In addition to butterflies, there are little quails running around. The Chocoborg attempted to assimilate them.

You blend poorly, Chocoborg

And there are clear butterflies there are well. I didn't even know nature DID that.

Damn nature, you crazy. Doctor Manhattan, however, finds your molecules to be beautiful.

I wish I could have taken all of you with me. If you ever find yourself in western Massachusetts, go experience this place. It'll melt every possible bad, uncomfortable or negative thing out of you.

Even Tonberry went light on the POINKS that day

The check out our other picture from our visits, visit our Deviant Art