Friday Dogs: Rufus

Evan and Rufus relaxing in the park after a long, long, LONG walk all the way across town:

I really love this photo for some reason. Hard to believe I only took it 2 months ago; the landscape undergoes such an extreme metamorphosis so quickly when winter comes up here.

Recuperating

I'm exhausted. I had surgery last Friday (nothing even remotely life-threatening — no worries) and have barely left the house since. Well, Evan and I did take a day trip to Minneapolis on Wednesday, but it was strictly business — we're going to be moving there at the end of the month and needed to meet with some folks about an apartment. Eight hours round trip. Evan drove, and I languished in the passenger seat and tried not to scratch at my healing sutures.

I don't have a new job lined up as of yet, but our finances are in good enough condition that we can make rent all the way through April just on savings and Evan's allowance. His parents are very generous, which is awesome for us.

I'm going to take my unemployment and work on making more blank books for the Etsy shop — more posts as I finish new products. I'm also going to run some art experiments I've been meaning to do, and bang out a full rough draft for that novel I started last month.

In the meantime, please enjoy this kitschy little tiger I made with Copic marker, Micron, and colored pencil. The original is only about 3x4".

Darwin the Piecemeal Pony

I made this freaky little guy using scraps recycled from a useless bedsheet, a ruined pair of pajama pants, and some bits of fake fur. He's sewn by hand (and wouldn't have been, if I only had a sewing machine) with cotton floss of various bright colors.

He features mismatched embroidered eyes (one of which is merely a red X), a red spiral on his bum, asymmetrical legs, inside-out ears, and one fluffy hoof. What's not to love?

I named him Darwin because evolution favors freaks and mutants.

The pattern I used (and slightly altered) was courtesy of Nocturnal Equine and his final design was somewhat inspired by Uglydolls.

Camera is broken

Yes, it's true. I was running a test with it, playing with all the settings and such, when it froze in the middle of taking a picture and turned off. And won't turn on again. I put in a fresh set of batteries just in case, but no dice.

The wicked old witch, she is dead.

Technically it was Evan's camera, but he almost never used it, so he's not overly concerned about finding the original packaging to see about a warranty. It was a gift from his mother; I'm hoping she still has the original receipt.

I'll try to make do with the built-in camera on my laptop, but the quality is so low, and — as lightweight and portable as my laptop is — it makes a much better computer than camera.