To help my beloved  phosphorous_tick pay of his school debts and to help us save up to move in together I am going to be doing $3 line art commisions. Standard 1000x1000 canvas size, unless requested otherwise. $5 for 2-5 characters, $7 for 6-10 characters.
I am not always online(my access to internet is restricted) so please email orders and ref. art to funeralofhearts@bell.blackberry.net, or send to Tick. Payment goes directly to my lovie Tick, who's paypal link can be found on his profile page.

Also!!!
On the occassions where I do have internet access for more than an hour or two I'll be doing art streams. $2 line art, $4 colour art. Again, payments will go directly to my lovie.

All completed art will be posted immediately after completion, (with permission of the purchaser). I can either email back completed art, have Tick send it, or just post it, whichever the purchaser would prefer.

I am getting a huge bag of scrap leather from a clothing designer so that I can make some new things. I'm going to start uploading pictures of previous work, as well as anything new I make. All new items I post will be available for sale, best offer+s&h for each piece. Since I got all the supplies free, I don't care what I make on each piece. I know what the pieces should be worth(assuming I bought the supplies), but I'm not going to bother even trying to calculate my labour time into these. They will simply be experiments that I am selling off to save up for a few things.

I am trying to find a place to live while I get a place of my own. I'm applying for social assistance and disability benefits to help me with my medication, food and housing costs. I just can't take being the outlet for Cliff's anger. He has never hurt me physically, but he certainly likes to treat me like shit and bring me down emotionally.

Situation at work; 2 employees are till-monkeys. meaning they never come out from behind the counter and never talk to customers unless forced to. They are told to do so repeatedly, and we are trying very hard to train them. With my recent knee complications I have been having a hard time walking, which my boss was aware of. But suddenly she was reminded of this fact and decided that she had no use for someone who can't move from behind the counter. Um, what? Since when? So after a week of very successful days during which I worked, and stayed seated behind the counter, suddenly I can't do my job? At least I still greet and offer advice to customers in the store, despite not being able to offer physical assistance. But that is why there is at least one other person working, so that I don't always have to. So where is the problem with me working? I certainly don't see it, and my boss just gives the same stupid excuses about me not being capable of helping customers, even though I have been like this all week, and still helping out just fine.

I have bad days sometimes. Actually, I have bad days most of the time. I can't think straight, I can't remember much of anything. I am lazy and unmotivated most of the time. I have kidney problems, and my tendons are all either too loose or too tight, so invariably I will have problems walking, or working, or various other things. I get migraines every time the weather changes too suddenly. I have struggled with anorexia for the past six years. I have a lot of self confidence issues. And I am not 'normal' be any means. But I don't care about all that. I like myself right now, and anyone who can't deal with me and accept my downsides can unsubscribe and get out of my life. I have enough troubles on my own accepting myself, I don't need anyone else to tell me what they think is wrong with me.
I woke up to 28 private messages from different people on various social networking sites, all telling me they hate me and the choices I've made. I had a further 4 wall posts from people telling me how stupid, ugly and worthless I am.
I feel like I am sometimes. But I know that I'm not. I am worth something, and I won't give up fighting for my right to live the way I want to.
I am worth something!
And so are all of you!
Don't let a couple of jerk-offs convince you otherwise.
Listen to this song, I live by its lyrics;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0O2tU5db20U

I just got a new pet. She is a co-op student at the store I work at, her name is Jay. I am rather amused by the fact that she basically a new puppy, who needs to be trained and cared for. Her school is actually paying me now to have me work the same shifts she is, to give her the structure and support she needs. The way things are going, I might end up actually having her come live with me so that I can care for her. She is so cute! And she is a smaller and slightly younger version of me.

I have been getting a lot of people questioning my prices when I give them quotes on chainmail items they are considering having me make, or on items I sell in stores or at shows. This occurs everywhere, I can never go a single day or discussing chainmail without hearing it from, possible customers.
I don't mind when someone asks why something costs so much, but when they tell me it *shouldn't* cost that much, they are just being rude and ignorant. So to make myself feel better I am going to write this out, so that if anyone wants to say anything about what I make being 'expensive', they can read this(or similar rants posted elsewhere), and try to understand.


First of all, if you have a job, consider how much you are making per hour. Then look at my item and figure out how many hours you'd have to work, at your current salary, to make the price I have listed. Got that? Good.
Now then, if you are making minimum wage, double the hourly estimate, and you are looking at something closer to the reality of my labour/time on the project.
Now, remember that there is a material cost involved. So that gets removed from my profits.
And of course there are those pesky taxes, which I was kind enough to include in the price you see, which I still have to pay. Those get deducted from my profit as well.
Are you buying at a show? Then there is the cost of the booth and my transportation there and back that I have to make back before I even begin to make a profit anyways. Average booth costs are $50-60/show, transportation usually costs me about $10 for the day locally, more if I am going out of town. So I have to sell about $70 worth of items before I break even. At that point I am actually making a profit, yay me!
Are you buying in a store I sell at? Then immidiately deduct 45-50% from the cost, that I have to pay as a consignment fee to the store, because they are letting me sell there. Then go back to the top and do the rest of the calculations as listed.
Now look at your paystub, and tell me if you think you could accept getting that little money for doing as much work as I do. I'm not saying you don't deserve your money, or that you don't work hard(thought some of you don't), but realize that each little ring in that project has to be de-burred so that you don't tear your skin. Then it has to be opened, closed, and weaved into a pattern. Every single one. Count the rings, and realize how much work that is. Could you sit down and do that for hours on end?
I do this because I love chainmail, it is my art and my passion. In the grand scheme of things, I'm not asking for much for the item. The cheap but skilled artisans(of which I know of three besides myself) charge $10/hour(roughly, we all still lower our costs a lot more than that to try and make things more reasonable), and the rest charge upwards of $25/hour. So please, the next time you look at something I make, don't tell me it shouldn't cost that much, or that it isn't worth that much. I can only hear that so often before I snap and tell you to go fuck yourself.


P.S.- one of the other artists who does the same, if not better quality work as I do who charges far less than she should is  SerenFey so if you are looking for amazing quality at low prices, go check her out(if you haven't already =P)

I am changing occasional appearance traits with my fur-sona. Nothing too drastic, just things like adding eyes(because of the spider blood, and realizing I wanted her to have more eyes), and making her spider legs shorter, and her tail a bit longer. I have been doodling with my loverly new tablet, and have a line-art sketch of her face done, that I am rather proud of. I also got a couple of pencils and drew a full-bodies picture of her. I think I am really enjoying drawing my fur-sona, a lot.

So as a trade for the collar and necklace I made for them a while back, the loverly  phosphorous_tick has given me their old tablet. I was randomly doodling a lot last night with it, but today I am actually trying to draw my fur-sona. Because I am not smart enough to start with anything easier. I will probably post it when I am done, and when the site starts working again. I ♥ this tablet.