Happy 2015! If you were ever
wondering where my initial desire to “dress up” came from –wonder no more! Here
is the Wong Family’s annual Holiday Picture/Card, honoring the movie “Maleficent”!
Can you make out who is what character in the card? :)
My Mom: Maleficent / My Dad: King Stefan / Lani, Sean, Lil Sean: Blue, Red, Green Fairies / Valentina (lil Sister): Aurora
/ Andrea (Val's longtime GF): Prince Phillip
Every year since I was little
my parents began taking movies or current events of that year and using them as
themes for our holiday/Xmas card shoots. From Dick Tracy, to Addams Family, to
Pokemon, & more (all with a holiday spin). Originally all sets were PHYSICAL SETS where we built our
backgrounds and drew additional characters into our scenes. Now, with us all
living in separate locations & my basic skills/knowledge of photoshop,
the holiday cards have moved in a new artistic direction.
Over the many years of having these annual shoots I’ve learned quite a few things that have helped/fueled my cosplay
hobby/obsession. The main lesson being: “It just has to look good in the picture!”
Meaning, don’t worry about the “functionality” of a costume or prop, nor worry
if the materials make sense. If that costume/prop can be created with a broom
stick, tape, glitter ribbon, and ingenuity – SO BE IT.
The topic of my family’s
holiday cards is one I’m proud of & I look forward to diving into later
(going to build a flickr photostream of all our cards), but for now I want you
all to think about those you love – TRULY LOVE – and give them a call or a
visit. This is the reason my family chose “Maleficent” as the theme for our 2014 card,
because 2014 (even with its ups and downs) was the year of BEAUTIFUL MAGNIFICENT LOVE. For me...it began with the wedding of my life, marrying the love of my life. <3
Thank you all for your love,
friendship, & support,
Lani Carissa Wong-Bassett
P.S. Yes, even though I
married Sean, my family adopted him & Lil Sean as honorary “Wongs”. Lol
P.P.S. To those who have had
moments of sadness during this holiday season, there’s only one thing to do –
stay positive & love even harder than before. We have had our share of loss
this holiday time, but are relying on the thought that with our love & the
love of others we can make it through these sad times. If you need support we're here for you. Thank you to those who
have been there for us, especially my awesome family.
Lani/Sean,
ReplyDeleteWhen we first started our tradition of the annual card 28 years ago we had just started a 5 year work assignment in Singapore. After one year the Xmas card morphed into theme cards....and after a couple more years were accompanied by themed annual letters.
The original idea was to let people know that we were still our "batty" selves with the Batman themed card in 1988. We wanted to connect with all our F&F regardless of time or distance. After all it would be a shame to let relationships and affinities lapse for a reason as insignificant as not to be in close proximity. Today we send out 100s of cards and letters to F&F around the world.
And here we are in 2015 still expressing our kooky brand of uniqueness! Who knew that we would be a precursor to cosplay? Hahaha!!
You have done a wonderful job of carrying on the tradition....and your Mom and I congratulate and applaud you and Sean on starting this blog! Nothing is nobler than to try and bring the world closer by communicating, inspiring, reciprocating, reaching out, resonating, sharing, supporting and touching one another's hearts, minds and souls.
With Love and Pride,
Dan & Norma Wong (aka Dad & Mom)