With all the work that I'm putting into building my company, I think the biggest factor in whether I succeed or fail is how well I listen to my customers. So with that in mind, I'd really like to know how you guys and gals choose a fursuit maker. What makes a fursuit maker stand out? Is it looks or practicality? Does how much a maker charge effect who you commission? Is popularity a factor? Do you prefer a maker who has a "look" or style to their work, or one that is unique? Do you research your options, or jump right in?

Please tell me know what you think, or what your own experiences are.

So I've been seeing a lot of makers making a lot of indoor feet paws lately, and it has me wondering if that's what you guys really prefer in a foot paw. I'm in the process of redesigning the feet paws that I make and I'd like to hear from you guys, about what you want in a foot paw. Do you prefer indoor or outdoor? Do you like having a paw pad design on the bottom of the foot? Do you find silicon paw pads uncomfortable? Do you want your feet paws built on shoes or socks, and if shoes would you like them to be removable?

Please let me know your opinions.

So I finally got some time to run the new hyena head through the washer and dryer, and it worked! He came out smelling fresh as a daisy and with no damage at all. Its been a long process coming up with a way to make a machine-washable head that didn't compromise on realistic details. The new heads can even still have fans in them, which I make so you can easily remove them for washing.

In other news, https://www.citymuttfursuits.com is now live. It still needs some work and I have the store shut down for now, but feel free to look around if you want. I'd also be very grateful if you guys would let me know what you think and if you spot any errors.

Check it out:

http://www.citymuttfursuits.com/

And I reserved a room for Anthrocon at the Double Tree (I expect two complementary trees in my room!). I'll be there thursday through sunday

So yeah, I just reserved a room at the Marriot for Furry Weekend Atlanta. I'll be there Friday through Sunday. :)

So I'll be making my toony sergal Blurby into a fullsuit sometime in the future, but I'm having trouble finding a good short pile white fur. I'm looking for something plush/soft not course and with a pile length around a half inch. I did order some fur I thought would be perfect from fabric empire, but it turned out to be pelted D:

So I'd be greatful for some help, otherwise I'll be stuck shaving down some DF shag fur.

Since I will be moving away from resin heads and working almost completely with foam, I have a lot of resin that I need to use up, so I'll be offering sergal or big cat resin blanks for a limited time. These blanks will be uncut and will be sold for $50 each plus shipping. If you request it I'll also include some straight hinges.

So anyone interested? Please private message me if you are.



Examples using the sergal blank:

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/12182768/

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13337174/

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13333261/

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/12824039/


Examples using the big cat blank:

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/12358237/

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13211423/

http://www.furaffinity.net/view/13539977/

Seems I'll finally be attending the picnic at pullen park on Saturday. I'll be in my goofy wolf fursuit. Hope to see some of you guys there! ^.^


Note: "picnic at pullen" is a local furmeet in north carolina.

I use monster maker's clay for sculpting and I love it, but I'm having a ridiculously hard time getting the surface smooth. Does anyone also use this clay and know how to smooth it out? I've looked around on the internet and most people say to use rubbing alcohol, but I haven't been able to get it to work for me. T.T

You can find the original post here: http://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6173150/

I thought I'd share this journal, not to vent, but to just help spread it around for educational purposes. I did not write this article it is a repost.

________________________________________________________________________________________________
We *all* make this shit up as we go along, even the pros. Over time, we streamline that process, but we're still making shit up.

We don't get things like raises/promotions. We have to fight and justify raising prices every time we realize we're not actually machines capable of working at peak efficiency 100% of the time, but tend to quote for the best case scenario. When we do raise prices so we're making what we would if we worked a regular job instead, we're met with scorn and backlash.

We don't get a HR department to deal with harassment, and we don't get a PR agent to handle our public face. We (well most of us, some of us have gotten so overwhelmed we've taken on some help) have to answer every email with the utmost professionalism, even when people are being pushy, inconsiderate, or just plain rude, lest we irk the furry drama mill and become labeled as difficult to work with. We are public figures, and there are people looking for any reason to tear us down.

Also, we don't get to blame delays on other people's mistakes in most cases. We don't get to take sick days, we don't get paid OT, and we have almost no recompense for any mistakes, recasts, or underestimated time to build. Health insurance? That's funny! We are expected to function like a company of one person, without the benefits.

We are distant and not the most eager to open up to people, because that usually ends in someone schmoozing for discounts or people trying to steal our 'trademark techniques' (see above about making shit up). This attitude doesn't come from feeling elitist, it comes from feeling like we have a motherfucking target on our backs. But we're labeled as 'popufur bitches' and treated like we think we're better than everyone else. If only people knew how isolated most of us feel.

WE ARE REGULAR PEOPLE TOO. We have bills to pay, and pets to feed, and sometimes medical expenses and *gasp* a lot of us would like to buy houses/cars/retire eventually. When we are stiffed a payment because someone can't prioritize their own finances, we often are left scrambling to make our own ends meet. Some of us have help from a partner/spouse, and we're lucky to have it. Some of us don't, and rely solely on this income to survive. A missed payment on the part of a customer could mean waiting to buy groceries for an artist. That whole 'starving artist' allegory is a thing for a reason.

Your email about your totally amazing costume idea might actually be interesting, but for us answering emails is work we don't get paid to do! Most of us are not going to want to read through walls of text and be expected to reply regularly, especially before we've received any money from you. As much as we love costumes (honestly, would we put up with all this shit if we didn't?), it's still work. You think an accountant wants to sit and talk about your finances on their free time? Maybe if you pay them... it's called 'consultation', and we should be fucking charging for it.

Did I mention we make this shit up as we go along, and that we're not machines? We handmake virtually every component, and most are custom to the individual project we're working on (particularly bodysuit patterns). We may have a formula we follow, but your individual patterns with your colors and markings, and your weirdly specific tail and ear shapes, those we built just for you.

Often we're working from physically incompatible reference art (I don't know how many times I've gotten terribly misleading concept art with a portly DTD), and we have to make your meat puppet fit inside these costumes. Sometimes we may need to edit the fit for you! Or adjust/add markings that aren't quite right. We are not machines, and we're making this shit up as we go along for you.

Oh, and we're making these costumes to fit someone who we've never seen in person's DTD in most occasions, or at least to the measurements the customer provides. If the measurements are improperly taken, or the DTD is made poorly or improperly, and the fit isn't perfect, it reflects on us in a negative way. People ALWAYS assume it's the artist's fault, and very rarely stop to wonder if perhaps the commissioner's poor ability to follow instructions is to blame. Mistakes/errors are easy to make on both sides, but generally what happens first is public bitching about our incompetence/lack of ability and THEN maybe, if we're lucky, we will get the opportunity to fix an error. IF we even hear about it ourselves at all.

Handmade things are inherently on the fragile side! Most of us put a lot of thought into choosing materials that are as durable as reasonably possible, while also maintaining your materials budget. This does NOT mean these costumes are indestructible! Paint will chip and fade with abuse and time, seams WILL pop or wear out occasionally, or thread ends will come unknotted. Fur requires proper maintenance, or it will crimp/mat. Claws can come off, foam can fail, resin can warp. These costumes will not transform you into a different being, and they will make you hot and sweaty because you're essentially wearing a couch, complete with cushions for a lot of them.

Through all of this, we're condescended to often by family, friends, or the like for 'not having a real job'. Some of us have a better support circle than others, but a lot of us aren't taken seriously because we choose to do this, rather than sit in a cubicle crunching numbers for some corporation. It's demoralizing having someone who works an entry level job ask you if you found a 'real job' yet. I think we have a much more real job than most.

[Edit: You don't have to have a fursuit from me to participate. I'd like to hear about everyone's experiences ]

This year is dedicated to redesigning my fursuits to be as comfortable as possible. So to help me out, could all you fursuiters tell me below what you find most uncomfortable about your fursuit or fursuits in general? To keep things polite, please try not to mention the fursuit maker by name, just please tell me about the actual comfort issue(s).



What makes fursuiting uncomfortable for me:

I find that as a short person that the weight of a digigrade fullsuit will get me down before the heat will. Once I start to get fatigued, that head begins to feel like a hundred pounds. Another comfort-issue I have is when the arms on the bodysuit don't have enough give to let me stretch my arms above my head without pulling on the rest of the bodysuit.

Woot! Woot! As of today this account has 1000 watches!

Only one more day left to bid on the toony canine head.

https://www.furbuy.com/auctions/1061042.html

I've always thought it'd be fun to do an auction starting at $1, and now that I've finally gotten around to selling my Puppy Head I'm actually doing it. I've got to say that I do like the instant bidding war. In a normal auction it takes days before the first bid rolls in and I'm on pins and needles till it does. No such anxiety now, just excitement. If you haven't tried it before I recommend it, its therapeutic.

I usually don't sell my blanks, but I have too many projects going at once and I want to free up some shelf space.


The sergal blank is a flex-foam cast that is not finished. It has had it's jaw separated from the top half and has some designs sketched out on it from when I was planning the character. Other than that nothing else has been done to it, and I WILL NOT be doing any finishing work (hinging, eyes, jawsets, etc.) The blank will be sold as is. It is the same one used in both my blue toony sergal and zabuza's red and black sergal.


I'm looking to sell it for $50, buyer pays shipping. Please contact me through notes if you're interested.

[Base was sold, please no other offers]

Hey guys! Have any of you ever used Smooth-on's Soama Foama? I've been exploring the possibility of making a machine washable fursuit head and Soama Foama is described as water resistant. So my curiosity is piqued. What would your guys opinion be on using it for fursuit head bases?



Some things I'm worried about:

Is it significantly heavier than flex foam it?

Would it hold form well enough to make a good base?



Just thought I'd ask if anyone has any experience with it before I buy any, since it's almost twice the price of Flex Foam.

Just wanted to let you guys know that the commissioner has gotten back to me and will be going through with the commission. We just let things go a little too long, but its great that I won't have to re-auction the owl.

In Other News:

I will be auctioning a toony canine head and a realsitic fox head/tail combo shortly, hopefully today, so...Yay!

Do you guys remember the barn owl head that I auctioned off back in February? Well the person who bought it also commissioned wings and a tail to go with it. They paid their 50% down payment, and told me they'd be sending their arm DTD in the mail, and then . . . nothing . . .

Once they had told they were going to send the DTD I put the commission on the back burner until the DTD arrived. This was happening during commission season so I had quite a few other commissions and eager commissioners distracting me. Then once all the other commissions were done I started to notice just how long it'd been since I'd heard from the owl buyer. It'd been months and I hadn't received any DTDs from them nor any correspondence.

So I reached way, way back into my email history and sent them an email asking if they were still proceeding with commission. I haven't gotten a response yet and I don't know if I will, but I pretty much gave them 72 hours to respond before I consider the commission abandoned.

Crossing my fingers, but I don't know if they'll respond, but I really don't want to have to re-auction it. I tried to leave it as long as I can, but I want to clear out my inventory before school starts otherwise the head will have to go into storage, which I want to avoid at all costs.

Again, feel free to ignore this. I'm about to rant a bit about something you probably couldn't give two shits about.




Okay, so aquascaping (the art of planting freshwater fishtanks in an artistic and natural way) is a huge hobby of mine and I've been looking to get some driftwood for my new tank layout. I've been looking for a very specific kind of driftwood so when I found it at Petco this morning I was pretty excited, didn't even notice that the piece didn't have a tag on it.

So, happy as can be, I beat it up the the cashier to buy the driftwood and not even a second after I plunked it down on the counter does the cashier (an older woman) pick it up between her finger and thumb and give me the most disgusted look I've had directed at me in recent history. She says in the snottiest voice you can imagine:

"You just had to get one without tag, didn't you?"

Right now I'm pretty taken aback by her tone even more than her words.

"Uh, this is the one I wanted," said I. Which is true. All driftwood is different and this was piece I needed, even if I had noticed the lack of a tag I wouldn't have done anything different.

"Well I can't check you out without a tag. It won't scan," She carries on with the nasty tone and then pick up her scanner and waves it over the wood. "See?"

It doesn't even occur to me to be outraged by the blatant disrespect at this point, as I'm still stunned by her behavior. Who the hell treats a customer like that? At Petco! I'd been to so many sketchy stores with employees that looked like ex-cons that very same day that treated me with much more respect than this bitch.

I offer to go get another piece of wood to scan, seeing as she didn't seem to want to do anything other than glare at me.

"Yeah that's what I mean. You gotta get me another one."

Now I'm starting to get pissed. I go back to the shelf and grab another piece from the same bin that I'd gotten the other one. I bring it back, only to have her tell me it wasn't the same thing. In my head I'm screaming, "OF COURSE THEY DON'T LOOK THE SAME YOU STUPID BINT, ITS DRIFTWOOD NOT A TOASTER OVEN!!!" Out loud I just told her that it is the same thing, which she huffs at before fiddling with her computer and admitting under her breath that I was right. No apology or anything.

She rings me up and I couldn't get out of that store fast enough. I almost considered never going to Petco again, before I remembered all the other Petco employees that were happy to help me and chat with me that morning. No sense letting a rotten bitch!apple spoil the whole experience. Still, I probably will be shopping at PetsMart for the foreseeable future.



Silver Lining: I found my perfect driftwood :)

Con Crud


Con crud, con crud, go away
Give me the sniffles some other day
I have too many commissions to be laid so low
I have eyes to paint and fur to sew

Con crud, con crud go away
Make me congested some other day
I have too many fursuits to complete
I also want to go to a local furmeet

Con crud, con crud leave me soon
I don't want to be stuck in my room
I don't want sniff, snuffle, or weeze
Just because some other furry sneezed

So will any of you furs be wearing one of my suits to anthrocon?


I don't think I'll be doing a legit photo shoot this year, but I'd still love to meet up with my commissioners and buy them a drink ;)

I'll be listing the green saber on furbuy sometime tomorrow. It will be listed with a buy now price of $700. I will be offering my standard payment plan for the auction (50% up front, the rest within 30 days).

If you, however, want to get the saber for an astonishing $500, then you must contact me immediately and be ready to pay the full amount upfront.

Where are you staying?
DoubleTree Hotel (I will be expecting two trees in my room!)

What day are you getting there?
Arriving July 3rd and leaving July 7th.

How are you traveling?
Should be riding with a friend

Who will you be rooming with?
You know who you are ;)

How is the best way to find you?
If you really want to meet me, you can send me a message to set up a time, otherwise just keep a look out for my fursuits.

Are there any panels you might be attending?
I'll probably go where my friends go.

What do you look like?
Human: Short, Caucasian, glasses, short black hair.
Blurby: Fluffy, blue and white, sergal, wears a hoodie, big bouncy tail.
Citti: Floppy ear, pink nose, lots of teeth, grey black and white, akita mix.

Will you be suiting?
I doubt I'll be doing anything but. I'll probably be one of those people rolled out of the lobby in an ambulance, because I don't know my limits.

Do you do free art?
You do sketch for me and I'll do a sketch for you ^.^

Do you do trades?
Probably not.

Do you do badges?
No.

What is your gender?
Female.

How tall are you?
5 ft 3 inches on a good day.

Can I talk to you?
Please do! I may or may not talk back if I'm in suit.

Can I touch you?
Sure, just not in a creepy way.

How can I find you?
Look for my fursuits.

Can I visit your room?
Probably not.

Can I buy you drinks?
As long as it's not an alcoholic beverage. Sprites are much appreciated!

Can I give you stuff?
No bombs or STDs, anything other than that and we're good.

Can I hug or snuggle with you?
Sure, just don't get grope-y

Are you nice?
Depends on what suit I'm in. Blurby is pretty nice, but Citti is an unconscionable hell-raiser.

How long are you going?
Thursday through Sunday

Do you have an artist table?
Not this time.

Will you be going to parties?
Sure, if I know someone there.

Will you be performing?
Nope

If I see you, how should I get your attention?
Get in my line of vision, otherwise I might miss you.

Where will you be most of the time during the day/s?
I'll see where the wind takes me.

What/where will you be eating?
I'm bring some food with me, but I'll also be eating at local restaurants.

Can I come with you for food/fun/etc?
Sure.

Can I take your picture?
Of course you can! :D

What's your goal(s) for the con this year?
Meet some new people and fursuit to my hearts content!


Drop a comment if you're coming to Anthrocon too!

I've decided to add all of the hyenas to the Species Discount. So if you commission at least a hyena head you will receive a $50 discount.

Realistic/Semi-Realistic/Toony:

-Spotted Hyena
-Striped Hyena
-Brown Hyena
-Aardwolf


*See the "Fursuit Discount" post for further details

Please watch my new account  citymuttfursuits

Over the next few months I will be phasing all my business stuff to the new account. I'll still operate this account and post some fursuits, but I'll be trying to do most of my fursuit stuff on the new account, including taking quotes.


In other news--Summer commissions are almost here people! Just a couple more days before I'm ready to start filling slots. The new price chart is posted on the new FA so check it out if you're interested. I'm offering new standard features and more upgrades. By popular demand I'm now offering singles commissions like hand paws and tails. I'm also working on a special deal for you guys, so I hope you're as excited as I am.