Today we’d like to introduce you to Jazmine Leija.
Hi Jazmine, so excited to have you on the platform. So, before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today.
My name is Jazmine Leija! I am a 24-year-old artist and proud owner of my small business Crafts and All That Jaz! I was awarded with my MS degree in Biochemistry & Molecular Biology the year 2021 and a BS in Biology with a minor in Psychology in 2018. I am also an award-winning and published cosplayer & model from McAllen, Tx. I have also been featured as a cosplay guest/ judge at many Texas conventions. Some of my specialties include makeup, wig styling, sewing, and other crafting. I have become very well known for my ability to fully embody different characters from appearance to physicality. My art is heavily influenced by all of my interests, such as anime, video games, movies, shows, and other fantasy genres.
In 2016, I crafted my very first cosplay to attend my first local convention. I immediately fell in love with everything about the hobby, such as creating the costume and interacting with so many people. I also love seeing their reactions when they see me dressed as their favorite characters, and since then, I have continued to hand-make, tailor, and model a wide variety of costumes while attending as many conventions as I can schedule. Before I attended my first convention, I was always very drawn to the arts. I was in a competitive drama team in school, in which we had to create our own costumes, but I also always liked doing some random face painting on myself and my younger siblings with some cheap Halloween paints. If I wasn’t doing that or playing sports, I was always busy making little accessories like bracelets and keychains, etc. So, it was inevitable that I would eventually find cosplay and everything that goes with it.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall, and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Personally, I feel like everyone will eventually hit a few obstacles along their journeys. I myself started out not knowing how to create a full costume completely from scratch even with the prior minor experience from my competitive drama team. My first cosplay was a Harley Quinn outfit that I had someone make for me, and I put together the rest of it with random things I could find, and at the time, I thought I looked cool haha. Looking back, I realize that there were so many things I could’ve done differently to make it look better. Present day, I still find myself struggling every now and then. I tend to do a lot of research on the character I’m cosplaying, and I plan out everything like the materials I need and how to even make the outfit. Tutorials are not always available for certain characters, so I have to get creative and make them myself somehow. My advice for starting cosplayers would be not to get discouraged if they are struggling while creating a cosplay because the reality is that most of what you see on social media is typically the final product. Most people won’t always share the entire process that goes on behind their creations, such as all the struggles, mistakes, and more, which is why we make ourselves believe that the final product was super easy to make or that it was an absolutely flawless process.
Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I am also an award-winning and published cosplayer & model from McAllen, Tx. I have also been featured as a cosplay guest/ judge at many Texas conventions. Some of my specialties include makeup, wig styling, sewing, and other crafting. I have become very well known for my ability to fully embody different characters from appearance to physicality. My art is heavily influenced by all of my interests, such as anime, video games, movies, shows, and other fantasy genres.
I am most proud of my cosplays in which I step out of my comfort zone to test my abilities even further. I recently cosplayed a female version of Darth Maul from Star Wars, so I made the entire outfit from scratch, sculpted the horns myself, learned how to apply a bald cap, and took about 7 hours to get into full body paint for the photoshoot. It was such a hassle to do, but I loved the final product, and the images from the photoshoot looked amazing too!
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
To view a portfolio of my work, check out my website at www.craftsandallthatjaz.com
Contact Info:
- Website: www.craftsandallthatjaz.com
- Instagram: Jazmine_Leija
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/jazcosplay29
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/leijajazmine
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/craftsandallthatjaz/c
- Other: https://patreon.com/jazmine_leija
Image Credits
Photography By Raul
