Art projects

I've been feeling extra creative lately. A couple more reliquaries, and a weird little creepy picture thing (above).




And more pictures of my custom Blythe. I loves her!

Back to Blythes

I finally started working on my custom Blythe doll again, after having problems with the eyes and getting frustrated. They still don't work perfectly, but it's my first custom job so overall I'm fairly happy with the result. She's wearing a wig right now which looks pretty cool, but my next project is to make some permanent hair for her. It doesn't seem to be a trivial task so we'll see how that turns out.




The doll to the far right in the top pic will be my next custom job. The others are too pretty as they are to cut up.

Two sides of a predator

This cat:


Can also be this cat:

This spider is far less charismatic

Obviously I have an unhealthy affinity for invertebrates, but even I get creeped out by some of them. Giant spiders like this give me the heebeejeebies, I just can't help it. One of the office staff at work brought this in to me, already dead, so I'm going to try to make something cool out of it.


Jasper has moved on to slightly easier prey this evening, snatching this still-steaming french fry from my dinner plate and quickly beheading it. I thought it looked like a good Lolcats opportunity.

Cryptic jumping spider

Not so cryptic on the screen door, unfortunately.

Home to Morgantown

Summer is here, everything's in bloom and the bugs are out.


I came home from France just in time to catch a water lily blooming in my neglected koi pond. Now that there are no more fish to knock them around and uproot them, the lilies are doing much better. I think this is the first time that one has bloomed.



My butterfly weed is also in full bloom, attracting honey bees and monarch butterflies.


Jasper is happy to be back outside killing small helpless mammals. Here she's toying with a mouse (that I ended up having to finish off, ugh), and this afternoon I found a dead chipmunk in the basement. Ah, the joys of cat ownership.

Twenty-four-odd hours in Paris

I stayed at a hotel in the northern part of Paris, close to the Montmarte, which is the highest point in Paris. As you walk up to the top of the Montmarte, you can look back down the street for some beautiful views of the city.


View from the top of the Montmarte.


Sacre Coeur cathedral at the top of the Montmarte.


There was a little square by the cathedral where several artists had set up their easels, painting and selling their wares.


A cheese store on the way back down from the Montmarte.


My hotel was also close to the Moulin Rouge.


For my last stop I took the Metro down to see Notre Dame cathedral. The last time I was in Paris the front face of the building was being restored, so this time I was able to get some better pictures.


Close up of the spire at Notre Dame, bristling with gargoyles.

All in all a nice trip, but still kind of nice to be back home. I'll post some pictures of that later on.