Mushy the Mushroom

How lovely! And especially scrumptious color combos on the water swirls!

His story is so sweet, I am so sorry. Sending thoughts and prayers.

And wrappings, wildlife, & celebrating life! Yes, yay, hello, some yellow! I missed May , June’s come so soon! I absolutely forgot to bright/lighting edit lots of these photos, oh no! Speedy little something for my 95(?) year old *granny’s birthday - *She rented a house to my parents in prehistoric times, and pseudo-adopted my mom, bro and I. Odd to think we haven’t seen her in-person in centuries due to moves and medical crises on behalf of both parties. Like magic, mail and modern communications! *mortified by my exposed stitching on its back* 4hrs on the first try. Felt Baby duck drafted, buoy bubbles, envelope content hint! Bigger bunch of babies! Because it’s uncanny how many times a small gift seems needed, so stashed some up for their season. 2.5 hrs each Bonnet baby, a brain-vacation creation. Hummel figurine & “what style would my mom fancy” inspired. Stashed for Christmas, currently. 6.5hr doll, 7hr outfit. All handsewn. Scribble edits for dear decency! *the downfalls of dollmaking* Now feeling so silly for realizing center-folding pencil drawn half patterns and running my fingernails along it results in perfectly easy symmetry. If people knew that I cut up zip lock bags for the plastic on these, would it be frowned upon? Homeschool at Harvest- 8x10” -122hrs total, drawing hrs: ? (written down somewhere and I’ve forgotten). Acrylic, colored pencil, pencil, workable fixatif on watercolor paper. For my mom, her 51st birthday. And her first-in-ages birthday of being free! Inspired by her art style…and her giving up her whole entire being to do everything for the family. I learned lapdesk painting! I don’t think I can ever be satisfied with any of my art-always could use just a few more details and I never know when to end! Only spilled my paint jug once and had one weird one-week episode of hyper swollen index finger. Baby fruits & wrappings sponsored by Stuff I Scavenged. Original very rough/scary sketch because planned to paint: And a little flower child for her, too. 4x6(?)” 12hrs. In truth I was quite ashamed of my slow, rough work here, I was having a severe episode of spine pain and was barely able to sit upright to do this. Propped the lapdesk on pillows because I couldn’t look down. Because of those tears and begging my mom to call a doctor, fortunately neurology saw me unplanned the next day, and I got the right referrals at last . Appointments allabout, a bit of a burnout from exhaustion and writing a 60+ page long medical timeline (More specialists at this point than my memory cells!). I actually found a forgotten, very important note from my allergist (who I owe my life to, as he diagnosed me with Alpha-Gal initially) last year about steps after the Celiac disease debacle was ruled out! Which means back to endocrinology again for Carcinoid/Neuroendocrine tumor evaluation/hunt… just like nearly 3 years ago when I asked for that referral myself for that highly suspect/fitting thing, after turning scientific papers and DDXs inside out trying to survive. It’s the only thing I’ve found that could explain the idiopathic anaphylaxis that worsens and is actually triggered by epinephrine. Even the new dental Epi reactions. Countless matches. That’s why endocrine did the PET scan in 2021, because they did later find high pancreatic polypeptide in my blood. But then the tTG/celiac elevation threw the Duke doctors into the clear error of Celiac. So close now, narrowing it down at least! And the doctors are listening at last. Grateful to say I also had a surprise genetics cancellation last Wednesday! It was initially in late August and I questioned if I could make it. Apparently this clinic orders their tests through the Invitae site which surprised me. Wonder if we’ll ever figure out why my blood type is “impossible”/wrong based on my parent’s types? (Yes, my exdad is sadly my true biological father. B+ plus O+ equals me, the A+ mutant. Bro is afraid of the needlestab so doesn’t know his type.) . First experience with sample collection from mouth swab instead of blood draw. Duke draws dozens of vials. I tried to eat a few days ago after nothing for four extra nausea weeks. Ow. Brain badly wants food but the body rejects. I’m quite bad at this Human thing, I’m afraid. My vitamin B12 is now skyrocketing without any supplements & inadequate nutrition, so yay for more clues. And the cardiac MRI the other day saw that my GI arteries were “crimped”. Surprising that it even visualized so low. I now need a repeat ultrasound of that situation apparently the next appointment slot is next month. Always pleasantly surprised when unexpected answers arrive! And glad that repeatedly falling asleep (while headphone hearing PTX Christmas songs) in the MRI tunnel (when I was supposed to be holding my breath) didn’t ruin the imaging! Wish I could post the other mombirthday gifts and cake, but waiting as it reveals the renovated/decorated room, and I am unsure of whether the parent legal stuff is fully signed yet, so staying on the safe side (..and the restraining order + law enforcement custody of the weapons runs out tomorrow as well.) Meanwhile, baby walnut waffs: And a neighbor from our old life visited, I got very much excited and made a little party feast. Flaky pastry cheddar drenched baby quiches, roasted sweet potatoes, flatbread chips and cream cheese Italian dip, and a colony of cookies! Lemon oatmeal + ginger crisps. my enthusiasm always outweighs my judgment…crash, cripple, crawl up, continue! Very grateful my mom has for many years let me cook all the things. So therapeutic. Trying to learn better wheelchair setup methods & recipes now. I don’t really know what typical North Americans enjoy eating due to my hectic health and food allergy history. I need to study the eating habits of humans further. *Run-on sentence timeline* Gluten & dairy free (non celiac, my mom thought it may help) for 2 years, then peanut free also (with negative peanut bloodwork, skin prick & assurances from allergist… then I almost suffocated in a six hour long anaphylactic reaction.. 30 minutes post- peanut ingestion) we resumed dairy, 1 more year passed then my mom started gluten again but only fermented/sourdough, 2.5 years passed and then I got Alpha-Gal tick bite mammalian product allergy-and as a biproduct I alone became gluten free again due to cross contamination (and only could eat around 10-15 raw ingredients. Made myself coconut milk from hull-on raw coconuts, ground raw rice for “flour” through a coffee grinder. ) 2.5 years passed then I had outgrown both peanut and Alpha-Gal allergy and had negative labs, then about 2.5-3 years of getting to eat anything, then 2020 brought worsening illness with the whole “body rejecting all food, inability to digest, GI telescoping, bleeding intestines , SIBO, transient gastroparesis, idiopathic anaphylaxis and no hunger” era that I’m still in. So grateful I can touch/cook all the foods safely now! Oh my gosh, glutenous flour is baking dream. Also so nice to not need to basically bolt mid-recipe when an angry/hungry person terrifyingly invades the personal space. A lot of years of that. And having the foods I was severely (even airborne) allergic to grabbed/waved over my head and the allergen-free foods/kitchen space. Trying not to be terrified of being in the kitchen with others. Or apologize excessively for being in the room. Or being afraid of cooking for others because of a very…selective? eater. I’m not as scared to bake for people as sugary stuffs were never rejected so much. Progress! It’s unimaginably peaceful and safefeeling to exist now. Freshly learned a more comfy foot free sewing setup. My lapdesk has adjusty legs. Now I can use the wall as a back support and stretch out the legs and sew with nearly zero body movement! (Photo 2 is leather patcher feeling aptly neglected.) I’d been longing to make a leather bag and wallet for my mom for ages now. The opportunity arrived at the acquisition of a generous octogenarian’s leather jacket + some old blue swatches I had from a local market. Lining doesn’t match so well but it’s my mom’s favorite color and what I had. Kind of dubbing this a “flop” because imperfections, some of which were from limited materials. Wow, these photos are dark, apologies Leather patcher was too difficult for me to operate when this tired, and the leather was just thin enough to machine sew with an 18 needle. Basting because slippy. Hammerable leather tape to stick together prior to sewing. Used to press open seams on bag as well. Tis a bit challenging as the needle will gum up and jam if it punctures the tape. No energy to tangle with leather patcher and crying from spine pain, so I fashioned a makeshift mini awl from exacto knife & needle for pre punching hand sewing holes. Hands were too weak to saddlestitch so I ran two lines of running stitches along it, and sewed decor embroidery to hide any messy stitches. Hand punched and sewn blanket stitching on bag top as it was too thick for regular machine there. Fun thing about leather is getting to hammer it instead of ironing as you would with fabric. Very blessed to be surrounded by people who do not hear or care if I’m hammering at 1-4 am. 18hrs on wallet, 13hrs on bag. Slow..but I get there! Grandchild of the lapdesk giver. No online image is 100% safe from my reference craving clutches…if either public domain or justified theft for art gifts… 8x10”, 8.5hrs. Pencil, mechanical pencil + workable fixative. Same size and supplies, 23hrs this time. My bro! Slow + scratchy, done post-party cooking crash. Loved a good leafpile. forgot to crop this, oops! Fauna frolics at the forest fairy farmhouse: (May contain fragments of broken English FB broadcast-bother to a brother) • 13+ baby bears ruling the kingdom, many about about the leaning green barn: My mom is officially car chauffeuring caught groundhogs. And perhaps future-abandoning that method as they’ve figured out how to unlock the cage. Seducing them with strawberries! And cantaloupe rinds, wholesome fare for the adorable masterminds. Many mountainfolk here call them "whistle pigs” and eat their meat..we’ve opted to instead set ours free. The only form of whole animal cleaning I’ve done is baby octopus (for Takoyaki). •Danger noodles are in no short supply: A mirthful neighbor even stopped to observe the dark character’s inexplicable reserve during its bath. •Something was chirping melodiously in our chimney. •The wacky window woodpecker: I hit the bay window 12 ft from me, screaming and beating its wings on it again ….and I might have screamed too. Love these children. Need to make more fashions for them. Made a big ridiculous thing for them a few days ago. Soon to picture that happymess. Bandana bibs may have once been made for doggy stroller walk wear. Better backlog the new, never know how many or few. May your day be easy peasy, if you so please! Thanks again for dropping in! (Also, sorry for nonsensical notes as is my normal now!) ( & for some reason it's throwing dupe images down here and I don't know how I managed to break my blog...my apologies..)

Adore the bright colors, and the gun/arm design panels are fascinating!

Thank you all an inexpressible lot! 💙

"Carnival of the Animals: The Swan" by the Kanneh Mason family 🦢

I was not mentally prepared for such a sentence. 🙈

Yay! “The Great Wave off Ga-Metru” https://flic.kr/p/2oBoE5r Made in Pixlr E, using transparent layers, pen + paint tool and shape tool over a pasted together mess of Hahli Mahri’s delimbed hovering torso, Ga-Metru’s symbol: https://biosector01.com/wiki/File:Symbol_Ga-Metru.png …and….well…initially a generic wave swirl…that got happy-accidentally replaced with a vector of The Great Wave off Kanagawa …thanks to bumping into this Pixabay image and chasing it like a butterfly: https://pixabay.com/illustrations/great-wave-kanagawa-sea-6321898/ Also, not clear on why it resembles a Caduceus. ~27 Hrs total -the internet and brain undeniably lagged after layer #484. My color ideas: Shirt base & printing similar to any paint colors in the original painting: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/Tsunami_by_hokusai_19th_century.jpg White HEX #FFFFFF , Black HEX #000000 Big PXZ file saved if needed. Sorry if the Bionicle bits are inaccurate, dark reference photos & no physical set for reference. Or it there is some gigantic error in this I’ve neglected to detect… Thanks so very much for hosting these!!!

May 8th, time to celebrate @confused piraka! Cheers to your cakeday! 🎂

Randomized assortment of indie folk YT playlists, Nemo's dreamscapes oldies ASMR, and David Suchet NT readings.

Good Dawning, dear comrades! And by golly, the months melt by. I must so apologize for lack of coherence to reply well to such goodheartedness received here, unimaginable appreciation and thanksgiving to each of you! I owe so much to this site, the little, so-loved Lego city! A little homelife hurricane-eye era gallery I forgot about. Started sketch March 2022. I was shedding raretears after a dead-end doctor visit while drawing it, if I’m honest. But I lived through a lot more than I ever would have believed, thankfully! Picked up and completed this year. Cards printed from my zebra drawing-I think these were thanks cards for birthday gifts? Fixatif-ing old art because eventually I find out how to do things…sometimes... . A flooring scrap and thin cutting board travel artpad that I never anticipated using in the situations that swiftly followed. I can confirm it’s rather worn out now. I somehow had my scanner resolution so rough it’s barely discernible, but maybe it’s for the best given the story here. I decided to draw my distant aunt’s Anatolian shepherd, Tippy, as a thanks gift, as out of the ocean blue(?) she sent a gift. Then another gift, which was very generous… and looking back this was uncanny given what wrongs were going on at home, then I was blocked on social media, though no interaction was ever exchanged, only mailed christmas cards and felt ornaments and occasional like posts from family I didn’t see. I guess I don’t have an aunt anymore, or anyone on that side?. Sadly, strangely, sorry-ingly. I guess I’m grateful to never have been allowed to attach or interact prior, the separation would hurt more? It’s an odd thing, to become aware of mourning something you never genuinely had. So nice to say “Aunt, uncle and cousins!”- Like beloved characters in a book. You hear about them, know their happenings at length, but can’t quite access their world. I liked believing it, the belonging that goes along with it. So I’ll appreciate that time of that pretend. (PS Cannot recommend hammock-lapdesk art, poor posture choices on my part and promptly abandoned, haha. ) I am unsure if this was instinct, or if it was a blessing before its time. For around four years we’d stored some very filthy inherited possessions in attic totes. Platters, china, statues and odd trinkets brought back from my mom’s family home for safekeeping, in light of the place sitting in an abandoned state of disrepair half a day’s drive away. I decided it was time my mom got to enjoy them! Funny metal fluff to get off the tar. Do you play Cinderella when you scrub stuff? Or perhaps a Bohrok? A great gear to turn the wheel of cheer! 🎶 Ah, those good old days when we were useful... Suddenly those good old days are gone Ten years we've been rusting Needing so much more than dusting Needing exercise, a chance to use our skills! 🎶 For mother’s day decor, 2022. No idea if I posted this prior! 🎶 She's our guest! Be our guest! Be our guest! Be our guest! 🎶 Ivory ponies, polished for bro’s home (apartment, in actuality)! And statuary with dust undeniably scary. My grandmother’s whole house was once engulfed in this. I do think there must have been some kind of inkling of impending doom driving a lot of trying to invent special, for-mom happiness. My efforts seemed to further ignite an explosion from another element, upsettingly. Right there in the lower rooms, the heirlooms sat ready as the tumultuous, unexpected trek took place. When family lacks, but grandfather’s monkeybank with a snack has your back! 🎶 With your meal, with your ease Yes, indeed, we aim to please While the candlelight's still glowing Let us help you, We'll keep going 🎶 Fast forward to October, as such scenes seem better in-order. A barn box, caulked and reclaimed-painted. We found a big branch to put up my human swing here! Over the past couple years at our old house, I started swinging daily by the duckpond for some form of physical activity/fun/pain distraction because of weakness and joint pain/not being able to walk or stand much at all. Of course the baby couldn’t just sit on the ground here, wouldn’t be prudent! And a read-tree for dear Mum, where she may sun her silken coat, so pretty plum. Red shirt/dress may or may not be my Winnie the Pooh dress from when I was a human child. Still more than just a bear, btw. It was soon discovered that my swing was in fact to be Mum’s also, though. I fast found out I couldn’t propel it anymore. I hadn’t noticed I was shallow-shuffling instead of stepping. I was so busy pretending to be well, not able to use the wheelchair in the condition of this house, absent-mindedly on plaquenil and painpills, in knee braces because I had a home to build and clean! I was just sitting there on the swing after a few kicks and my legs sat immovable. I couldn’t get my feet off the ground or slide them into shoes all for days. That ability returned but not the full lifting of lower legs/stepping. (In brackets due to medical/disease content, my apologies if disturbing, not sure if I should/how to use spoiler tags anymore) [ Five days from swing setup, neurology did the EMG and skin punch biopsy to evaluate the pre-fleeing ambiguous disease progression numbness. Also, they noticed my toe-lifting paralysis that seemed to upset them, a progression which had escaped me.The tests involved probing the leg nerves with a zapper tool and measuring the reaction. It appeared similar to an ultrasound. Then they took two BB-sized skin biopsy samples from my leg with a hole punch. They said the results took a few weeks. And I was prescribed Gabapentin for sleep and pain. That had the reverse effect and made me rather lobotomized, unable to feel my body and terribly sad. Also, hello hives! Very much a personal-refuser of the mind altering medications, this is the closest encounter I’ve had to one. The medical daytrip/appointment/procedures done late last are a blur. Casually showing up there like a normal, civilized chronically ill human when in reality refusing to take a single day off renovation attempts with reckless inspiration. There are some things they need not know, haha I lost count of the amount of diagnostic GI procedures I’ve had at this point, the last one was in late August and I think it must have been the 6th one in 14 months? Two full years now since the really high tTg IgA test. I told them at the time Celiac certainly did not add up and no change was happening even with dietary omission. Two and a half years have passed in a state of extreme undernutrition due to the sickness. We have no idea how I'm still living like this. Tests, baffled doctors, more baffled doctors, ERs, other specialists, blood draws, scans, referrals, genetics waitlist, being *diagnosed with hypermobile EDS and UCTD, Retests, problems being found but still not Celiac. So thankful for Duke financial aid. The auto-released biopsy on this most recent EGD again confirmed that this wasn’t Celiac disease, so I am grateful to say I was able to stop force feeding myself 4 slices of bread a day, as it is always followed by fevers, face flushing and writhing. In January I finally had a follow up. Apparently I was correct that this is not Celiac disease, not a return of Alpha-gal or another allergy and it is actually something neurologically-related. A mystery systemic disease. The two year-ago genetics referral at UNC hospital is now canceled because they are overfilled with Ehlers-Danlos patients and rejecting the people who were waitlisted two years ago. My tonsils & adenoids are gone for good, thankfully no tonsil stones/infections now, however, the extremely thick mucus that causes the throat soreness did not go away as hoped. In January I contacted neurology about the forgotten biopsy results and got diagnosed with small fiber neuropathy. There aren't enough nerves in my legs. Systemic autonomic dysfunction is suspected. But SFN seems more of a secondary disease, and they are not definitively sure what the root disease(s?) is. And this shouldn’t be causing bilateral foot drop. *In light of the overall progression, the diseases I was diagnosed with last year are now being reconsidered as rarer/different/more serious things than anyone thought. Not that they told me, I stalk the visit notes. Now there are tons of specialist tests coming up like cardiology, GI, rheumatology, possible ASD testing (that I personally requested because of the realization that I was weird/have some cognitive/social/learning quirks, its genetic significance, having a sibling with it, etc.) this year. The January 15th stroke-like neurological blood vessel paralysis emergency thing was like no other ER visit I’ve had before. The 7ish other trips in my life were acute, life threatening, temporary things. This did lasting damage and I was discharged as no one at the local or Duke hospital was sure of the cause. That day has split my existence in half. We were advised after a 3 am phonecall to drive to Duke ER for hyperswollen left foot, I collapsed paralyzed in the passenger seat on the way and local ER paramedics had to remove me and evaluate the situation there. I could hear everything, but my whole body was like a corpse and I couldn't move or speak. Awkward when your mom is signing paperwork and the doctors are like "Who is this? No idea what her name is" They CT'ed my head, and immovable hours later, I heard them saying I was discharged without diganosis, they were scared to do a spinal tap, and to follow up with Duke. I still couldn't open my eyes or move most of my body and my mom had to shovel me into a wheelchair and checkout. They forgot to evaluate my gigantic foot. We went home, I slept for a few hours then, still being very numb/semi paralyzed and swollen, we made the daytrip to Duke ER, who did imaging of the foot and dischargeded me with permission to add more OTC painkillers to my life, lidocane patches for my giant limp foot, and to follow up with my specialists as they had no idea what was wrong with me. My left foot is still bluish and swelling, and both legs go randomly limp, icy cold and blotchy on and off now. My whole body lost feeling, I cannot feel thirst, and getting in over 16 oz a day is a painful and rare accomplishment. Eating has been reduced to a few small bites daily to try to keep myself alive somehow. Sleep is in random couple hour intervals, which makes it surprising when I hear what day of the week it is. I am so glad the total paraylisis wasn't permanent-I cannot imagine having paralyzed hands or eyes. Take the legs, take the feet, they can't create, just not the hands please, haha! The spine involvement is new, I had to unexpectedly see neurology again a couple weeks ago for it. They forgot about weighing me prior, as a (non-paraylzed/short-distance ambulatory) wheelchair user and did not realize how bad this was getting. Instead of unexplainably maintaining and frequently gaining weight, I’m losing again-20lbs down from one year ago when I was already at the edge of underweight-all in the past few months. Not ideal when eating and drinking cause extreme illness and idiopathic anaphylaxis that worsens with epinephrine. So this trip thankfully led to getting me new genetics referrals to different clinics and a neuromuscular doctor. Guessing this is good because the autumn ENT doctor was concerned about ALS due to the throat strings and neurological abnormality. At the time I was happily unaware of what that disease was. So now is the time to “survive to the next appointment, hopefully” and spend the days/nights creating things, as always. Abundant audiobooks, and comforting and cheery Christmas music. Sometimes I feel a little like how the orchestra band kept playing on the night of the Titanic, but then I remember an encouraging ex-doctor patient in a power chair at Duke whose diagnostic path of Myasthenia Gravis took ten years. I’ve only been a full time lab rat for the past two and a half, ambiguous sick/disabled (without much early investigation) for over half my life now. In late 2019 when I began crashing again, I was crazed for a cure. Those prior two years post-PICU of trying to be normal and healthy and getting to eat all the fabulous foods was such a treat! I ponder how it must feel to possess a prognosis, or the power to plan. If I merely live to get an answer, I would feel rich. And I will proudly proclaim that a major life goal of mine is eating, hahaha. I do so wish my mom had a family- It's just my faraway bro and I...and, unfortunately that one past-many-years-incarcerated uncle who we hope won't get out of prison this fall...y i k e s. She's had to deal with all my medical drama alone... But life is still lovely, there are little things of beauty in all if you look close enough. I do think happiness is an inside job. ] Some small efforts put forth in order to retrain my art amnesia-brain! Done in December 2022 to a cozy comfort audiobook and Cladrite radio. I do adore pretend time traveling and brain roleplaying, such fun to be a magazine illustration fine artist in the 1930s-1950s when the fancy strikes. Painting these, in truth, felt as an internal battle because of the practical-or-nothing-at-all predicament that 2022 sent. Painting seemed..improper so soon after, almost pointless-but thank goodness for the motivation of doing it for someone else. Maybe that’s the secret joy in doing any and every thing? Who is it done for, and the love behind it? Tis for me, that feels like truly living. Mini scenes, 3x3” cardboard canvases. Sneak peak of barnchair, woven with care. First try on this, had the canvas squares sitting idly for years. My grandmother’s generous gifts of art supplies live on. Pencil sketch covered in acrylic paint and gloss glazing medium. I “should” probably watermark some of these, but oh well. And maybe blur my signature but eh, doesn't really matter. Going to blissfully believe in the morality of humankind instead, I haven’t the energy to worry. Low res-resized version of scan, it appears. Painting times: Baby: 6.5 hrs Girl: 13 hrs Deer: 6.5 hrs Reindeer (if I recollect correctly)?: 7.5 hrs Chipmunk: 7 hrs Birdy: 7 hrs For my mom’s Christmas gift. I credit her completely with forming my art obsession, I wonder if she knows that…I’m afraid I never thanked her prior, oh my. All those splendid art history books and children's drawing books, that dearest impressionism book of unrivaled beauty and dashing colors, the craft-centric homeschool curriculums that danced across my child kingdom- all at the kitchen table in that sacred morning sun. She covered its wallpapered wild ivy walls with my paint splattered scrolls and sketched scrawls. Something odd began happening recently, in light of meeting a few individuals for art transfer. They wondered when I started drawing.. I felt a fool because it never consciously occurred to me that people ever stopped drawing. All children I’ve seen are creators. Maybe artists don’t grow up? Hope they don’t have to, I’m quite afraid of such heights. So soon, If all is well, I can freely photodocument and publish my professionless-and proper-product-less projects that paperwork presently prohibits!I am glad to further discover how the less one has, the more unconventional uses for other objects appear. ‘Till then: Drawings! Gratitude echoes over my very being over the luxury of getting to do art again. Lapdesk Land doodles. Some of these were unrequested ones for BZPers, and other random victims of my art endeavours, so I feel odd/guilty about posting them.... My apologies if unacceptable… Please let me know if any would want them taken down and I shall gladly do so! Graphite sights: Anatolian puppy, one of the first tiny attempts to remember how to draw. (September) 12hrs, 8x10 as I actually began googling standard art sizes. My brother’s Japan research trip. How was that half a decade ago? (September/October?) Car art of a family photo for my mom. Started in September when summoned to show up for a scary Social Security “prove you are sick, please” interrogation because of the new need of insurance and never having had income. I never noticed I was considered disabled until recent years. My mom never made me feel like I was, being homeschooled since forever helped this, I guess! Standard small photograph size, whatever that is. Public domain peoples! 8x10”, 8hrs. A memorial of a Facebook church acquaintance’s pet, pit bull Boo Boo. 8x10” Anatolian, another attempt! 10hrs? 8x10”. We found this poster on our front door once getting back from the ERs on January 15th. Impressive determination considering our yard is gated and farm-fenced! I collapsed on the couch treasuring this task. The dog owner did find their furry friend again! And introduced us to a local children’s charity runner friend. It was initially started by her rare-disease daughter. So I tried to draw her, 13hrs, 8x10”. Then it occurred to me I knew of one other similar children’s cancer charity, so drew the girl who founded that one, for fun. 17.5hrs, 8x10” Shoutout to my mom’s art delivery services! And a bit of a rough one as my accuracy and speed is absolutely unpredictable and pain-dependent. 8x10”, 16hrs. Quadriplegia violinist from IG, I need to muster the brain power to ask about mailing this one. (Property of BZPers below) 8x10” , 8.5 hrs 6x8”, 5.5 hrs 9x7” , 13.5 hrs 8x6”, 13.5hrs. Trying to improve at people's portraits, proportions I do struggle with. My method is to do a light sketch focusing on the angles, then going back over that, erasing and mechanical pencil detailing down from the upper left side so I don’t smudge it. Then fixatif spraying and cutting to-size. I seriously need to thank the pastor who supplied this orphaned tilting lapdesk from their church gym, the hours of joy and purpose it has provided are inexpressible. Moving back to one’s hometown is funny. The one family I was fortunate enough to call my (only) childhood friends is still around. Drawn for her mom while she was gone on a missionary trip. 8x10”, 20hrs. My mom adores old-fashioned paper calendars (only the finest ones from Dollar General, haha), and I’m quite fond of their picturesque vignettes. I fell for this feathered friend and had to fashion an embroidery lookalike. Plumped it up a little. It’s a pleasure to stitch rainbow plumage and other colorful crafts in between the graphite-gray sketching. Keeps the immobile insomnia hours vibrant events. 38 hrs total, framed it (Yay for spray paint and barn-find frame) instead of making it a pillow. Initially for my mom’s Christmas gift, but upcoming mother’s day makes more sense for her new-old home’s wall art needs. An uncanny color match to my grandmother’s lamp. It fit in our scanner! Wrapped and sticky leather taped it onto heavy cardboard. Craft collection! Truth be told, I’m torn on what to post, project-wise. I want to wait on posting the home decor stuff as it makes more sense to show it with the whole room, so we wait. My mom loves heartleaf philodendron plants. Historically her houseplants ended up getting suspiciously knocked off the surfaces where they sat, and she gave up. With funds for foliage now as the only barrier, I decided a few pseudo plants would make the shelves merrier. For Valentine’s day, since they are conveniently heart-leaves I didn't have the proper supplies or a way to get them, so the base was a wood-cutting ripped old shirt I’d remade from an old shirt. Used a similar method as last year: fusing two cotton layers together with spray adhesive, ironing and cutting out. Sewed leaf creases down each one and smothered them in glazing medium for stiffness. Cut around the edges again for a smooth finish. Scalp massager (???) and pipe cleaner base. Tied on with green yarn. Ginormous cardboard tubes, old shoe foam and laces, and upholstery swatches for “planters”. The superglue I used to attach the fabric to the cardboard started smoking when I pressed it together. No spontaneous combustion has occurred so far. Definitely not one of my greatest creations, but passable from a distance. *real ladybug lounging on leaf* And gratitude greetings from owl arts, little laminated prints.. Recycled partially from gift bags. Going to pretend that the printer ink wasn’t too red on some, and this was intentional. Scrunchies for my mom. Octo-O’s, balloons windblown, done into donut bundles because why not? And assembled the pants for my mom I’d cut out in the basement last year and abandoned. Maybe these will be for a Christmas gift, stashed and waiting for now. Basic bakes and birthday bakebox gifts. Butter, beautiful butter! In other news, I’ve just last week figured out how to organize the kitchen to be much more wheelchair accessible! It's worlds less exhausting with appliances on lower surfaces and a folding card table for a low countertop. Figuring out wheelchair life is new in itself. I started using part-time at the former home in January 2022 as the mobility/pain/weakness issues worsened. That house wasn’t very easy to drive it in, with the rooms being much smaller and closer. Once we were given no choice but to leave in May, so began the season of painful staggering. This new-old home is perfect for rolling with all its hallway loops and long rooms now! I love it here, endearingly old and unusual. Handkerchief head scarf bandanas for my mom’s coworker, as she kindly sent one to me as the color wasn’t her preferred. I think that wraps up the majority of neglected knick-knacks and novelties and my endlessly talking about my mom being awesome, haha. Looks like I’ll be making a collection of current yellow-thing-projecting for next time. My mom made my whole life with a birthday gift of this baby. One with feet, what a treat! Wishing everyone a happy week! Also, I've patched this thing together in Google Docs again and haven't a grasp of if the images upload too largely as a result, apologies and will try to remedy if so! Or if my brain can form sensible entries anymore 🙈

Here to send cheer to @Taka Nuvia! May your birthday be magical & thanks for the kindness here through all the years! ✨✨🌌✨✨ A small artgift scan in your honor, a Nightjar. (blind guess at a "pointy-eared creature".) https://flic.kr/p/2oesyYD

👏 I would vote to open, as tis hugely hard to cherish them in a cardboard carbonite cell. And as Takua's hiding from the box front photo! ;_;

The tiny plant! Congratulations on adopting so fine a friend!

Happy homecoming to this antiquated empire! Oh my, feared I’d been the cause of this blog’s demise with a comment of bumbling greetings…What genuine relief! Welcome back!

Ooooh, congratulations! This means GIF gifts of flowercrown coronations, digital gingersnaps, and bandwidth bonfires for Bambi grandpa! Thanks for your forest fellowship!

"The Story of Joan of Arc" audiobook by Andrew Lang.

Oh my goodness, thank you endlessly benevolent brother Bambi!!! What a beautiful fungi fest! Bahahhaha, your timing is actually perfection! I forgot my own birthday until people reminded me a week prior, and was too tired to open a gift until a few days ago! Thank you again, this made my day!

March, oh my, almost flown by, I feel like the March Hare shouting "I’m late!" for my pretend post-date! Present proceedings: -Traumatic almost ends to a toxic situation. Thankful that the terriblest times typically cannot precisely recur in a particular person’s story. -Unrelated double ER day did damages that aren't bandaged, too drained to explain, brain & body badly bumbling since. Eating, drinking, moving, sleeping, thinking, I’m brilliantly bad at all that. But breathing, and I have usable hands! Drowning in Duke doctors doing their best to diagnose some suspected ultra rare “root disease” of the speedily sprouting idiopathic secondaries. (Fr e e s o c k s + six(?) hours of waiting room weave while watching other patients leave + CannotSeeAThingInThisDarkCarDoodle and the “Ran out of yarn, paper cranes to amuse that toddlerpatient” to keep hands busy & mind sane! Inexpressibly obliged to have a mom, always there, uncontainable care. I wish everyone had a mom, what gift could be more golden?) -Life is a lovely thing to live around people positive! -I haven't touched a dead rat or nest all year! I’ve been very good. Rarely doing limpy late night ladder leaps these days, you see. Only minor chairclimbing for curtains! -Our windowside wildflowers are blooming. Springs seem sunnier here, I wonder if it’s the mountainous elevation or pure imagination. -Chronic midproject making madness missions marching forth! Even a couch can be a creative chariot *lapdesk lightning bolt power* with essentially endless enchanted art endeavours to edit! Significantly surprising when ~half I've made I simply forget exists at this point, haha. -Phone of my own for photos! Thankfully a retired one that will never, ever ring (meaning hauling me into a hermit-hiding fit from it at home. Guessing that the former years of ~7 daily pointless phone calls from one individual could have contributed to the recoiling? ) It wasn’t difficult to phoneless document projects prior, as 24/7 access was warmwelcomed as my mom was always around. Inexpressible appreciation! Miss her lots. Sorry for fuzzy Fire-tablet photos in the mix here. And shadowy shots. And if these possibly oversized images are harming the site? Specks to show, but back to sewing small. A game of “Can I sew this fast and beat the neuropathic fire, lefty foot limpness & edema fluid before it fills my feet? ” Wonder if supine machine sewing is achievable. The adventures of adaptation! *EDIT: Just yesterday I figured out a floorflop footless footpedal function to be used from now on. Relief! Power! A tale of Tatooine twins. To begin! Once upon a not far away time...a noble lady noted a night of Star Wars watching amongst the nice folk of the workplace. An uncanny correlation of conversation! For the leader of the league had of late procured a pair of undesired plastic persons in a collection lot, bought from an "extra" actress in the Star wars films. Once upon ages ago in a home far, far away...a little human became absurdly obsessed with Star Wars. This was thanks to a Lego Xbox game from a grandfather, the fisherman one. She so longed for a certain little Leia doll, but no luck did fall, due to the tag on that specifically splendid ‘70s doll. This is that 1978 doll. Sent to me without being sought out at all. Hysterical happiness! I daresay- miraculous! Not that material things matter much, but such meaning and memories the plastic molds can hold! Little video of my dear death star duo: \ Referred permanently for robe rehab. I reminisced over my days of doll doovers inspired by the Tree Change Dolls and then did the daring thing-repainting! A catastrophe in the collector's eyes? But done with love, and so far, no lighting has punished me from above. The generous giver wanted to see the makeover, and remarkably- wasn't angry! Actually pleased!? * Untimed project due to being out of practice+physical flops/post ERs project pause for weeks. Absenteeism of old faces by acetone. Repainted the faces, bodies and limbs with acrylic craft paint. Used various PC pictures as a skin color guide for overriding the orange aura. I fear their complexions are not perfect, but bumbled as best I could, and their kind natures are quite good. Sealed with Jo Sonja's matte brush on varnish. Sewed and gelled Leia's cinnamon buns back. Drafted their clothes from paper towel + tape test garments. Leather scrap accessories, mostly handsewn. Shoes also paper-towel drafted and held on with baby rubber bands…because it's a supply I storage-scavenged. And a drive link with WIP pics: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1xROTDk3lRt0JFEGLurrp2h1ZKrECQtvS asI had this already to send to the giver and was too tired to properly post all pictures. The Skywalker family is uncanny in its relatability to me. Siblings with the same first letter of names, one fancy, one a family-farm-dweller, the dangerous dad, the moral mom made miserable for it, and the abnormal lack of other family members to stop the tragedy. So, sew, totoro! The story of how this spirit sprouted: I naturally was making a preliminary pattern for Agnes’ Fluffy Unicorn in the form of a costume suit for The Baby, as you do. This was a post-paper bean, old t-shirt-first test subject I’d already mentally trashed. Video because overabundant pictures: But then by some miraculous twist, it looked okay and was Totoro-tone. So, ears, faux fur and leather, and braided embroidery thread whiskers (hooked on sewing machine needle during braid for neatness). And the tiny, hand beaded, machine-veined tree toupee! Dear knowledgeable ones, is it truly an Akita leaf as this one article says https://www.laitimes.com/en/article/vioe_w7d3.html ? . Was the wandering wheelchairless weirdo for these photos, thus not at all pro. Wish I weren’t too weak for a serious stop motion production. Late January. A fine feeling to breathe the arbor-aroma after days of complete crippled couch confinement! Never understood why adults don't climb trees typically, I’d live in one if my legs would allow it! Russian yew tree twigs, Alaskan blown glass buoy orbs brought from my grandparents’ + mom’s major move, many moons ago. @Bambi has first-rate create recommendations. “June 19, 2022: Now you just need a Mimikyu to go with that Pikachu. ” Thanks for 3hrs of thread therapy! Bit-sized butterflies! And feather from dear Brownie, my once-duck-baby we had to leave behind. Cannot remember the contents. Two months was a terribly long time ago! Did I already share this shot? …hmm, art was in this! *subtracts points from senility score with laughable satisfaction* Mermaid-ish mom top made from a precut back in the basement residence. French seams and such. Bakes thanks to new backbrace need (and wheelchariot, so weird to remember cooking without it.) Caramel crumb cookies and yeastroll feast, not properly planned in the least but for a birthday of our benevolent once-basement-hosts! Sprinkley spontaneity party from September! And bake box for momcoworkers. Three am tablet photos being triumphant, of course. So spine shattering and shortness of breath inducing, sadly. Shouldn’t be doing extra stuff, but suffering for special occasions-other people treats is a pretty sweet pretend occupation to me! Used to want to be a pastry chef prior to the allergic to everything adventures. But thankfully also a costume designer, a toy maker, Jedi, and an artist of course, so no sadness stayed once that idea strayed. At this point I’m thinking being a fairy godmother or a grandma-minus-the-family would be the most wondrous and well-suited dream career. #1 has the wings for optimum mobility, and how nice it would be to be invisible, unknown, free, far-away, in a forest fairy village making tiny gifts for all ze humans at all hours, and dropping them at doorsteps on phantom runs. #2 matches my mobility and eccentric octogenarian interests. Unremitting time & things to invent when repelled by traditional entertainment/television! Oh yes! Some tutorials tied up, hoping they aren’t too topsy-turvy for typical translation: *Still silently with Greg on this and esteem them as best friends* Wow, this is wackily harder to organize words. Sorry for the near-nonsense. Art assemblages wait until next time, I go crumble like an overcrisp crippled cookie now. Care, cheerfulness and imaginary confectioneries to all! Wishing you a superb start of spring! *adoring that magic wand duster far more than I should* Probably going to regret not proofreading this later.

Greetings! My second attempt at Hewkii and Macku has been made. A very happy time I had with this one, but now, after 90 assembly hours post-drafting for this sixsome, there are a million canonical-copycat changes I crave to carry out! Oh well, time will tell! Tutorial and pattern for this version at least, with more project info & pictures that I fear is redundant if also typed here! https://www.instructables.com/Hewkii-Macku-Dolls-BIONICLE-MNOG-Inspired-Plush-To/ Best wishes for you and your stitches! Update: V3 patterns in progress, scans: https://flic.kr/s/aHBqjAQV6L

A little LEGO dress tutorial, at last-though 17 months have passed! https://www.instructables.com/LEGO-Minifigure-Fabric-Gown/ Hoping to make less simplistic version in the future (dreaming of doing a bridal gown with extravagant layers!), but as nothing is guaranteed, thought I might as well set this simple one free! Thanks for the read!

Imagine using it as a Jello mold.