Survived the sickies

Okay, that last cold I got was evil. I actually was out of work for a week, and I now have gunk in my lungs again. I do have some exciting things to share though. My Patriot came in the mail, and so did my dapple grey foal. In the midst of having a fever over 102 for two days I thought cleaning my desk was a good idea, took me this last week of feeling better to remember where I put everything but it is nice having my workspace back. Clumsy Gizmo knocked horses off my desk so I had to touch up the works in progress and finish them up to keep them safe. Believe it or not that includes Stonewall Lee!

I still can't decide what to call his color, but I think I know what my next experiment will be. I see this one being a possible black with a brown base coat.

 

Bengals Find Me Tasty is coming along well with her layers of white. She's almost done before I move on to the details and mohair.

Feline shenanigans and a scary little machine

Last few days have been a hit and miss with my health, and the antibiotic was wreaking more havoc than the sickness, but I am still alive! And let's just say there were a couple kitties that kept sticking close to me, so I caught them in their "natural habitat." Please forgive the horrendous photo placement.

   




Gizmo was "helping" me braid...

    

I was also front row to a Bengal battle! DeEtta was having a good time lounging back, even while slapping Gizmo's paw.

I love this shot, it shows how close in size they are. Gizmo still has more muscle tone than DeEtta.

I also started working on my pony pouches again, and with a new method. It is definitely one that I'm still trying to figure out, and it has bite. So far it has pricked my innocent thumb and nearly mangled a piece of material. Who knew a handheld sewing machine could be so scary....it took me an hour to make one pouch for one stablemate. One. Hour. I would be better off hand sewing them unless I can get better at not getting attacked by the machine and making giant snarled messes somehow. It would be nice to get the pouches made for at least the stablemates so that they can quit chafing against each other in their storage tote. One step at a time, or else I will trip and fall.

 

So cute, but also intimidating...

And don't forget, tomorrow is pi(e) day!!

Sick day and ramblings

Just my luck lately. Get crushed in a door over the summer, have my left lung forget how to function, catch a respiratory infection in January, and get a nasty cold once I'm healed up from the infection. The most annoying part is when it keeps me from going to work....how am I supposed to add to my collection if I'm not making money?! At least the cats are happy that there's a human to pick on all day, three of the five commandeered my bed when I got up to get a drink. The other two were playing, but it got suddenly quiet. Knowing Gizmo and DeEtta that can mean anything from nap time to plotting on how to climb the walls in a different fashion.
In other news, I got a girlfriend for Tamarisk (I'm keeping it a secret from him) and I'm perfecting my braids for Arabian tack. I found a four strand method that works nicely as long as I have a way to hold it down, and it has a smooth symmetrical result to it. I think a bit more practice and I can create some lovely pieces for my growing Arabian collection (I wonder what color will go well with the wood grains). The joys of a berserk nervous system makes me contemplate working on my stablemate sized customs, but there's one I would love to finish and another that I believe I have found a good color for. There was a time a couple years ago when the only blockade from finishing a model in one sitting is my tendency of having to put it down before I get annoyed, now that happens faster depending on what kind of day it is with my twitches and shakes. I also found another flaw of mine is being impatient and not wanting to clean the brush or water down the paint to make more smooth brushstroke-less layers.
One fine example of this is my custom Epona, who I completed in a record two hours (not recommended). She did turn out as I wanted but also atrociously. If you look closer you can see little balls of dried acrylic paint that stuck to my brush that I decided to not have the time to clean.

 

Bad Ali, no pretty ponies or potato salad for such impatience! 

Here is my work in progress whose color turned into a whoops. Stonewall Lee was supposed to be a dapple grey, but I went wrong somewhere in the beginning and didn't notice until I was too far along to want to retry. He is almost done, just waiting on a good day to not twitch everywhere while detailing his mane. My major mess up was not thinning the paint, so there are a few brush strokes on him, especially his black stockings, and I'm theorizing that is another reason his grey came out far darker than expected.

 

Points to whoever can think of a name for his coloring!

Working on him will be for another time when I won't potentially cough up gunk on him. These two definitely aren't my first customs, but the others are packed away. I am thinking of sewing together some pony pouches to better pack everyone in, and I'll take pictures as I find them. And to end today's random entry, I shall display a photo of what all the cats are possibly doing! Starring DeEtta, who is keeping an eye/ear on me.

 

Zzzzzzzzzz...