Project Updates

Dollhouse - On hold, temporarily. I need a stand for the house, so that I can build a yard, primarily a side yard, and a greenhouse. This all falls under *“long term projects”, of which I can really only focus on one at a time.

Sea Holly Impasto Painting - the textures are built up, so progress.

Furbinator - Untouched*, see above note about “long term projects”

the writing project - Untouched*

the shrimp - Untouched*

the window book - Untouched*

Temperature Quilt - Untouched*, sort of. I’m tracking the temperatures still, and now that Annatar is complete I have emotional space for this other sewing project.

my Voynich Manuscript - 15% complete. I’ve also created a digital layout with the intention of creating a print version of my manuscript once it’s completed - with 7 foldout tipins it will probably require a Kickstarter to fund, which works out anyway because what else will I do with all of those copies?

With Annatar finished and PCCKC over, I have a lot more time to work on things, and clean up after myself, and go to the gym. Speaking of which…

With the “Witch-Queen” of Angmar, aka the Witch Kings wife

…and the Witch King, who needs to go find his wife.

I had a great time giving out rings, seeing my friends, and going to panels. Of course now I want to grab my favorite local photographer, Russ Matthews, and get some foresty glamour shots of all of that hard work.

Looking Forward, Looking Back

I think it’s pretty typical to use the end of a year to look back and reflect on what happened, what didn’t happen, accomplishments, failures, and what-if’s. 2024 has been a rollercoaster, an evolution, and a year of discovery - and 2025 is going to be even worse! (Or better? Maybe both. Probably both.)

Project Updates

Dollhouse - I fixed some fallen shelves, hung some interior art, worked on the exterior (finished windows, flower window boxes) but otherwise haven’t really touched it. I ought to take some really good progress photos/videos for a post.

Beetle Impasto Painting - I did finish that beetle painting!

Sea Holly Impasto Painting - Untouched

Tattoo design for a friend - Finished!

Furbinator - Untouched

the writing project - Progress has been made.

the shrimp - Untouched

the window book - Untouched

Temperature Quilt - Untouched

Annatar

The robe is sewn, lined, and trimmed. So trimmed: custome embellished piping and beading on the sleeves, foil stamped trim on the hem which is now being embroidered. The shirt is sewn, ruched sleeves and all with some fuck-ass button holes which are fortunately covered up by black glass buttons. I’m thinking about embroidering snakes along the cuffs but haven’t quite worked out the technique between the ruching and the fact that they’re already sewn. The belt is essentially finished aside from adding grommets to the back which I’m waiting on for fit (there’s been a weightloss journey this year which has plateau’d recently but I still have four months until March) - but also I’m still thinking about making a leather version - not that I’ve ever done any leather tooling before.

Which leaves the collar. The leather I initially ordered was thicker than I want for the “feathers”, I ordered more different hopefully thinner leather; and I have yet to decide on the shape/I have to commit to cutting leather and I’m procrastinating as much as possible so I and think through it longer.

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2025

Bingo Card - I made one. And I probably already have to change is because the day I finished inking it - because I decided to illustrate it this year - the husband revealed to me the Flat Earth WAS ALREADY going to Antarctica, because some guy offered to pay for them to go to “prove” the earth is flat. Except they’ve almost all backed out because they’re all actually grifters preying on humanity; and now the bar has shifted and I’m sure it will be Firmament or Bust.

2025 Reading List

My reading list, documented here, because accountability. One of the podcasts I have loved in the past was the British History Podcast. I don’t know enough about British History to listen with a critical ear, but it seems balanced? And also left me searching for something similiar with American History - which this recent election and a pointed question from my mother earlier this year left me wanting to explore further and really deep dive into. The History of the American's podcast was a surface level answer to this - but ultimately I found the personality/attitude of the host Jack Henneman to be overly obnoxious and weirdly dismissive of a lot of points that were important to me, and I found myself cranky every time I listened and had to stop.

In short, I’ve put together my own reading list/curriculum to enable me to participate in conversations with facts behind ideas, and because facts sit in my brain more permanently when I take note and write about them after - that will be happening here. Ideally I’d like to finish a book a week, but with everything else in my life… well we’ll see how that goes.

Silversmithing

By hook or by crook, I’m starting my silversmithing learning journey in 2025. I have a plan. I have a bunch of books. I have the emotional support of the husband, although he’s going to be very busy working on his thesis.

Fix it Before it gets Worse

Back in November, having seen too many social media posts of the very fun and tedious temperature blankets that people were knittings, or crocheting (yes there’s a difference, no I will not remember what it is), I got it in my head to make a temperature quilt - because I can’t knit (or crochet or whatever) but I can sew. And I have a mother who quilts to give me advice (who tried to teach me to knit but we both agreed that was a horrible experience). I finally started the monstrosity in December after wreaking havoc on my brain trying to nail down a color scheme and design, and all was going well if slowly until two weeks ago when i decided that the green were flip flopped and needed to be switched.

Which would mean deconstructing everything I’d done, including most of the embroidery I’d finished the previous evening, and piece-mealing the entire thing back together. Or the other option, do nothing, continue one, and let it make my brian itch for the rest of my life.

And so I spent four hours with a seam ripper, and another 12 hours putting all of the pieces back together…. and then the last 2 weeks fixing the embroidery.

Was it tedious and irritating to rework something I’d done once already - something noone but me would know was wrong (wrong in the most subjective of terms) - and yet, it looks better, and having done it I’m so glad I did it. You can still see the leftover lime green surrounding the center hearts where I simply cut them out of the old center square and plpped them onto the new one, and adding more vines and leave around them should help that blend in a bit once my fingertips have stopped hurting from the previous round of embroidery. Or a thimble, I could learn to use a thimble.

The other tiny overdue monstrosity I’ve been working on, and fixing, is a small painting of a beetle I probably started during covid and left off of because it was off center and bothering me. Similarly two weeks ago I relaized I could pull the canvas off the tiny stretchers, reposition it, and then finally finish it in my long term goal of maximalism art in my hall and living room. Coincidentally, the back of the canvas is so much less bulky that I’m a little irritated i didn’t do that ages ago. Unfortunately I don’t have before pictures, but also that’s fine because it was awful and maybe we don’t always need to document awfulness.

This little piece also won’t be done for ages because the whole idea of it is to create a 3-D painting that will hopefully look more like a mounted insect than art, and I’m using the Stuart Semple Lovetone paint which is beautifully and horribly transparent which may, if I’m lucky, lend itself to fun trapped light qualities as I slowly layer it up with heavy gel medium.

And that’s it, that’s the lesson - fix it when you notice it because it will only get worse, and building on a shoddy foundation causes building collapse and brain itchyness.

Also, save your drafts because your computer may be connected to a wireless keyboard in the next room that may get turned on by a cat causing your space bar to freak out - causing you to restart your computer hoping to fix whatever has gone horribly wrong before you remember there’s a keyboard int he next room you probably forgot to turn off the other day… and then you get to rewrite everything you wrote once already.

But it’s fine. Everything is fine.