Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Happy Days Are Here Again

After spending a grueling few days without a laptop, I am happy to say that she fixed and I'm back in business.  :D  I felt so cut off from everything without her.

I have probably thanked my friends about a half a million times, but I really cant thank them enough.  I don't know what I would have done without them.  They spent a lot of their free time to fix her, and it means the world to me.  Thank-you so so much.  :)

Also, it looks like I'm not alone.  I've been perusing the internet and found that many more people have fallen to the same virus as me.  Multiple times even.  I don't know how long it will be before the issue has been taken care of, but I'm certainly not hitting dA anytime soon.  What an incredible pain that was.

Until then, I am thinking of bringing back my flickr account for my "portfolio".  I'm not sure it will get as much traffic or exposure as dA does sometimes.  I just feel like I should have somewhere to display all my various creations.  Kicking it around.  If anyone has any suggestions for a better place as a "portfolio" let me know :)

 I recently sewed some sweet little snuggly sacks for my friend for her guinea pigs. 

Snuggly sack with rad racing stripe.

Snuggly sack with lime green and funky red fabric.

Snuggly sack with adorable owls and colorful mushrooms.
 And so far they seem to like them :)

Miss Shadow staying snuggly.

Mr. Gus keeping an eye out and Mr. Chester resting his head.

I've been working on a new mala for the shop.  It features gray wood, nuts, and green lace stone beads.  It has earthy calm feeling to it.  I will be finishing up the tassel in dark & medium green colors.  I should have it photographed and listed in the shop soon.

Until then, :)

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Fun Times with Annoying Viruses

So, lets see.  A little over a week ago, my old laptop somehow got hit with an annoying virus.  It shut down my firefox, and started loading some sort of spyware antivirus program.  Which I immediately figured was a fake program because it was asking for money.  I've never had any of my antivirus software ask me for money.
This horrible virus loaded in, and took over my internet and killed my avira.  I couldn't do anything.  As if my decrepit laptop wasn't destroyed enough with its busted hinges, hit or miss fans, slow processor, and laundry list of other issues, now I have this virus to contend with.  So my friend was kind enough to offer to help me reinstall XP on my craptop.  When we sat down to back up some files, the power kept shorting out.  This was new to me.  Turns out, the wires connecting to the power source had been exposed and started to fray.  Pinching the cord helped keep the power flowing, but the exposed wires were getting too hot to touch.  I tried using one of the clamps I use to prop up my screen, but I could smell burning plastic, and that's when we noticed that the wires were glowing.  Hooray for fire hazards.  :P  Apparently it was too much stress for it to travel. 
I decided that it was finally time to take old blue off life support and let her go.  Now she is sitting over in the corner in her old bag collecting dust.

Now, because it was finally over with I decided to replace her with a previously owned laptop.  She is pretty silver and white.  A billion times faster. A nice new wide screen compared to blues square screen.  Way more hard drive space.  Windows 7.  She's incredible.  I love her.

Everything was going so well.  I was on a cloud.  Until I got hit with the same horrible virus (with a new name).  For the last week now I have been struggling to get this thing under control.  I wasn't sure where it came from or how I got it.  After some research though, I have decided that it might be linked to DeviantArt.  I'm not blaming them... yet, because I don't understand the intricacies of horrible annoying viruses, and how they can just suddenly upload to my HD, disable my internet and antivirus, rendering me to an angry raging blob on my couch.  I still think the two are connected though.  I've also been reading claims that if I had a premium paid for account with DA that I wouldn't be susceptible to these virus invasions.  Which kind of makes me think, "Why would they say that?  Is it a ploy to get me to pay for their account?",  and then I put on my conspiracy theorist hat and think "Did DA have something to do with this virus?"  My mind goes on and on from there, but as I keep reading posts and blogs, it turns out I'm not alone on this thought path.

I've scanned and safe moded and recovered and restored and rebooted and cryed and screamed and swore and cursed.  None of it is working.  Tonight, I wipe and reinstall Win7, and start all over.  My plan of action after that, is I am going to be abandoning DA for a while.  It breaks my heart because I love checking my favorite artists updates, but it has to be done for now.  Maybe I'll be able to do back some day.

I hope this fresh start works.  I hope it hasn't affected my external HD.  *fingers crossed*

Sunday, April 17, 2011

Kitty Charm

I recently finished a custom kitty charm.  I've had a couple inquiries about doing other animal charms, so I decided to give it a shot.

I wasn't sure how to approach a kitty charm at first.  If I were to try and sculpt the entire cat, it could lose detail if I tried to keep it the same size as my other charms.  I didn't want to make it too big, then it might look awkward or uncomfortable to wear.  So, I decided to go with a bust.
Cuddles is a dark black kitty with hints of dark brown in her fur.  Her eyes are a lime green and she has a big furry mane.

I wanted to show a little of the process of this charm.  Unfortunately, I cannot find my photos of the charm unpainted.  I will show you the photos of her painted and then after varnishing though.  :)

before varnishing

before varnishing
after varnish


after varnish

after varnish

after varnish

In the end, she turned out pretty well.  :)  If anyone is interested in ordering a custom kitty charm, just send me a message at bluedesertrose1@yahoo.com.  I haven't started officially offering them in the shop yet, but they will be the same cost as a custom guinea pig charm.
I should have a post coming up about the latest custom orders I've been working on.  Until then, :)