It's been almost a year since I posted last?? Yikes!

Lots has happened, I worked at a call center for most of the winter and spring, replaced most of my car's suspension, and then went on a fun summer camping adventure with a couple of friends.

I'm currently holed up in Seattle for the winter with a number of projects on my plate, looks like I'll be kept pretty busy!

I tend to post more on Twitter than my art sites lately, I'll continue posting to FA/Wzl/DA/FN when I have something worth sharing, but if you'd like more updates, you can find me at

https://twitter.com/FeyalaCat

Through October 18th I am having a sale! Use the code SPOOKY to get 50% off everything in my store!

http://mkt.com/wildwhisker

I am tired of carrying this stuff around and could use the extra gas money!

If you hate square and refuse to do anything other than Paypal, send me a note, but beware, most of the items in the store are unique and you may get sniped. I am currently traveling and do not have constant access to the internet!

As the subject says! Grab 'em while you can! http://mkt.com/wildwhisker

I can also take payment via Paypal if necessary.

I will be having a MOVING SALE after the 15th, stay tuned!

Sorry for the spam guys, it will be over soon. :)

Thanks everybody! Pendant commissions are closed, but paint your own blanks and premade pendants are still available in my web store until the 15th!

I will be taking other commission types eventually, but they will be drawn, painted, or digital. Much easier to pack on my journey!

I'm excited to be on the road again at the end of this month, I've missed travel quite a lot, but I also have a fair amount of anxiety about the uncertainty that lies before me. Worrying about it won't help anything though, so I try to stay mindful of where I am currently and focus on putting one foot in front of the other.

Living on the road has its ups and downs. I can camp out, photograph nature, stare at all the stars. There are endless wild blackberries up here in the summer, and I can't wait to go swimming! If something bothers me I can just leave. I don't need to deal with anybody's expectations of me except my own, and I don't have to have expectations for anyone else either.

It does get lonely sometimes, and I can sometimes feel like I don't belong anywhere, or lose faith in myself. I am very grateful to have good friends. The financial insecurity is definitely a hurdle I still struggle with, but I believe as I spend more time focusing on creating things, that will change.

I don't know what shape my future is going to take, but I would like to road trip to various conventions! We'll see!

Per my last journal, I am closing pendant commissions indefinitely on July 1st! This is to give me time to get everything completed before I leave. I have no idea when I will be doing pendant commissions next, but it won't be any time soon.

So, I am having a last chance sale!

Pendants custom painted like your character: $50 (regularly $60). This includes revisions, US shipping and a silk cord necklace. I am also willing to add "hair" to these out of faux fur, if I have the color (I have a lot of colors).

I can do generic foxes, wolves, otters, etc where there are no defined markings and you pick the eye color for $30. I might be willing to do other generic critters for this price, note me if you're interested and we'll talk! These are cheaper because I don't have to worry as much about staying "on model", and there are no revisions.

Grab one while you can!

So, our lease is up at the end of July, after which I am going to be traveling & living out of my car for a while. I've missed traveling so very much, and while I appreciate having had some degree of stability living in Portland for almost 2 years, it's time for me to move on.

WHAT THIS MEANS is that I will be focusing more on 2d art again moving forward, I may still do the odd pendant for convention stock, but it's not very practical to do commissions for these while on the road, even with a car. The varnish is very finicky, the plastic resin and silicone are heat sensitive for storage, I don't want to have a bunch of weird chemicals in my car or have to worry about getting pine needles and bugs in the paint, etc.

July 1st I will be closing pendant commissions for the foreseeable future.

July 15th I will be removing Paint Your Own Blanks from my store.

I will still have the molds, but they will be in storage. It's not unlikely that I may offer these again some time in the future, but I have no idea when that will be, and it's not likely to be any time soon.

So, if you want one and have been sitting on the fence, now's the time!

PS: If I owe you art, this does not effect you. I am almost through my queue and I will be leaving here with a clean slate.

Thanks to everyone who made it out to BLFC! I had a slow start due to my lack of preparation but a great con overall. This was my first BLFC and I think it's now become my favorite hotel convention. The dealer's den and marketplace were spacious - no more worrying about fursuiters blocking the aisles! The dances go until 6 or 7 am, it's easy to find food or drinks if you're up that late, and even though the con space is HUGE, everything's fairly centralized and it's easy to run into people. This is also the first convention that I've really cared much about the theme, they put a lot of work into making it an interactive experience and not just a bunch of party decorations.

I ran into old friends and made some new ones, sold some art, and learned new things for next time. :)

The last two days I spent camping with friends on my way back up to Portland from Reno, and now... it's time for another convention!

Thanks to a last-minute offer to share a table, I will be vending at Furlandia this weekend! I have a dentist appointment on Friday afternoon, but I should definitely be there Saturday and Sunday! Look for me as Wild Whisker next to  oce and I'll see you there! :D

I've done some serious thinking over the past few weeks, and after calculating how much time and materials I actually spend on pendants, I've decided that my current prices are unsustainable.

Starting at BLFC, my new prices will be as follows:

Including shipping -
Premades: $30
Customs: $60+

Paint your own: $15 + shipping with discounts for bulk orders.

Necklaces: +$2

If you've been wanting one of my pendants, save some cash by ordering before May 14th!

If you're waiting on a piece from me, this does not effect you.

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!

For those of you who have wanted to buy blanks, customs, or any of the pre-made pendants I've been posting, you are in luck! I've opened up a Square Marketplace store, check it out!

https://mkt.com/wildwhisker

To celebrate my grand opening, I've discounted all of my pre-made pendants by $5, so they're all $20. Super cheap! I've also got a discount of $5 off purchases of $50 or more with coupon code FIVE that you can also take advantage of!

Additionally, I'm offering an experimental new commission type - On Demand Pendants. For the price of a normal pre-made you can get a fox or wolf with an eye color and pendant length that you specify! These are for people who just want a generic coloration and don't need specific markings. If there is interest I can expand this to other animals (coyotes? otters?) later on.

All of the prices listed include free domestic shipping. International customers, please make sure you add "First Class International Shipping" to your cart, and make sure you read my shipping policies first!

Why Square Market? At 2.75% flat charge per sale and no up front fees, it's the most economical option for me as an artist who sells a lot of unique, individual items. The seller fees on Etsy were eating me alive for my items with a slow turnover, they charge a higher percentage on sales and a per-listing recurring fee, with Paypal fees as the icing on top. I might add some things back to Etsy eventually, and if you cannot use anything but Paypal, contact me and we'll work something out! :)

Any feedback is welcome! I'm totally new to Square Market. I'll be adding more stuff to the store over time (including all my blanks and commission types!). Is there anything you'd like to see? Questions? Concerns? Please let me know!

Are you following me on Twitter yet? I post WIPs and daily life stuff there, and update much more frequently than I do anywhere else. It's not everybody's cup of tea but I'm liking it so far!

If you missed the last few things I've uploaded, I'll be at FC starting on Thursday and checking out Monday morning. Yay! I won't have a table but you can find some of my pendants for sale with  meirro in the artist alley, check 'em out!

Other big news is that I have two new blanks up as bases for commissions! Follow-me otters are based on a modified follow-me canine blank, and can be used to make skunks, weasels, ferrets, and more! Examples are coming soon.

I also finally posted the raccoon blank that I made months ago! I may modify it to make a red panda or bear, we'll see!

On the horizon I plan on modifying the follow-me base to make cats, hyenas and bears. I also have a lot of LED lights and would like to make flickering eye and/or sound reactive versions of these, but I need to do some R&D first.

Once I get back from FC I'll be adding stuff to Etsy (or possibly testing out Square Market, I haven't decided), including blank casts of everything I offer for you to paint your own if you want! I'll have an option to include pendant disk blanks with the relief-style badges, and all casts will be sanded with the flashing removed and all pinholes patched with apoxie. I haven't decided on a price point, but I am thinking around $15 shipped in the continental US.

If you are waiting on a commission from me: I'm sorry it's taken so long! I've finally got my health stuff mostly worked out and will be plowing through my backlog over the coming weeks now that I feel like I can actually be functional and productive again! My commissions from RF are about half-done. I also have another pendant, a sculpture, a large mosaic, and a fursuit(!) that I need to finish, as well as some digital art. The pendants should be done (hopefully!) before February, and I am looking to have my queue fully empty by the time I head to BLFC at the latest.

2015 is shaping up to be a very busy year for me, and I'm glad that '14 has been kicked to the curb. My last year felt like the part of a caterpillar's life cycle where they form a cocoon and turn into goo, I'm hoping that means that this year I'll get to be a butterfly.

Hope everything's been going well for you guys! :)

Hey guys! Especially those of you who are waiting on stuff from me from Rainfurrest!

I've been dealing with some medical issues recently, and I'm sorry I have not noted you individually yet. Rest assured that I have not forgotten about the things I owe you all, and now that I am getting treatment for problems that have plagued me my whole life, your stuff will get done much more quickly. I will be noting you sometime this week just to touch base and request further references if necessary.

I feel better than I have since I can remember, and I'm very positive about the direction my life is going, even as an uncertain housing situation looms in the distance. I feel like I can actually manage my shit for once. Things are going to be OK. :)

For a limited time, I'm running a $10 off all premade pendants sale on my Etsy store! That's $25 shipped! I want to get that stuff out of here to make room for new items. :)

If there's something you've wanted to pick up, now would be a great time!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/WildWhisker

I had a pretty great con! Hi new watchers!

The week before I left was pretty stressful, with multiple days of no sleep, and kicking myself for not finishing all of the items I wanted to have up for sale. But, it all worked out okay, and I'll be posting a ton of brand new stuff here in the next few days, and restocking my Etsy store as well. Someday I'll learn to stress out less about these things!

I met a lot of great people, and got a ton of heartwarming compliments on my art. Thanks you guys! It really helps me maintain the drive to keep on this path, which can oftentimes be challenging.

I didn't have much time to party or socialize, but I'm starting to realize that this is often the trade off with selling things. I managed to cover my expenses and made a small profit, and I worked less hard for more money than I did last year, so it's definitely an improvement. I feel like I reached more people than last year.

I learned a lot from this experience:
* Square reader is flipping awesome. Easier than paypal, takes less time to deposit automatically into my bank account, and is at least somewhat less evil.
* Increased process efficiency when doing batches of items - things like using the airbrush for flats, and using the dremel to do most of the sanding.
* BUSINESS CARDS! I felt like an actual adult this time! $5 at Kinkos to make them too. Why did I not do this before?
* I need a UV lamp so I can see what I'm doing with the UV paints.
* 5 minute epoxy works well to make necklaces. Rattail cord looks NICE.
* Variety would probably have been better - maybe next time I will also do traditional badges.
* I need a damn costume! COSTUME!

Hopefully the next con I go to will be even bigger and brighter, but even when I stumble, at least I'm moving forward!

Super late announcement, but I'll be at Rainfurrest starting tonight! Yay!

I'll be splitting a table in the dealer's den with  oce near the door, as "Wild Whisker". I've even got business cards this time! And a square reader!

I should have a few things for sale, including a number of things that haven't been posted online, so stop by and say hello!

Just wanted to give a heads-up that my email address fey[at]feyala.net had a configuration issue which has prevented me from receiving email recently. I contacted support and the issue was corrected. Yay DreamHost support!

So, if you've sent anything to that address since the beginning of April, I simply didn't receive it. Sorry! Re-send it again.

In other news, I might be getting an FA ad soon!

Why have I been so quiet? I was going to keep this under wraps a bit longer, but I'm itching to post the corgis I've been working on, so it can't wait!

I have an Etsy store now! I'll be putting pre-made corgis and water dragons up there as I make them, as well as whatever else I've got kicking around. It's a bit sparse and rough around the edges right now, but it should fill out over time. :)

You can order custom corgis!

http://wildwhisker.etsy.com/

Also features the new logo that I made! Check it out!

Anything you'd like to see that isn't there? I'm open to suggestions!

Hey everybody! I'm trying to get my feet back under me with digital art commissions, so I'm going to be offering up some FREE SKETCHES for a limited time to warm up. First come, first served.

After the freebies are gone, I am also opening for $10 sketch commissions, with the option of upgrading for extra $ afterwards if you love what I've done and want color/background/whatever.

Limitations: these sketches will be one-character and rated G to PG-13, the most adult I will do here is pinup style. Note me if you're interested in adult work, I may reconsider if there's enough interest.

Extras:
* Bonus character +$5
* Simple coloring +$5
* Simple background +$5

Further upgrades can be discussed as necessary. I'm pretty flexible!

To claim a spot, I need reference links for your character and, if possible, a one-word personality type (ex: surly, cheerful, bouncy) and/or an activity they enjoy. Please keep these simple.

For the paid slots, payment is required up front once I've confirmed your slot - fey[at]feyala.net

FREE LIKE THE WIND:
1) heirofiend
2) CalciferTheFruitBat
3) shebawolf145
4) ArcanaFox
5) Centaurlord

TEN DOLLA:
1) Wox
2)
3)
4)
5)

I took the opportunity to set myself up a shiny new Weasyl account during the recent hardware failure but it seems I never bothered to announce it or anything.

So hey! Here, have a thing.

Currently I am crossposting everything to FA and Weasyl and anything under PG-13 to Tumblr.

Nobody really needs to hear my thoughts on the current drama, but I will say that I love Weasyl's interface (and folders! how novel!) so I am biased in that direction. :)

Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays!

I finally got on the social media bandwagon in an attempt to broaden my audience! These will pretty much just be places that I crosspost art stuff, but if you'd like to follow me, the more the merrier. :)

http://feyala.tumblr.com/
http://www.facebook.com/feyala.cat

To keep myself from going insane, I am only going to be taking three different types of commissions currently. Hopefully something will catch your fancy. If you REAAALLY want something done which you know I can do/have done before but it isn't listed, send me a note - I am trying to make art my full-time job. Eventually I will do customs again, but I need to charge appropriately for the weeks of work it takes to make those, so I don't really want to do them until I have an accurate gauge of how long they take. Anything else is fair game.

All prices are BEFORE SHIPPING. Depending on how big/fragile/heavy things are and where I am shipping things to, prices vary quite a bit!

1) Mosaic commissions - starting at $50 for something at the size/complexity of this eastern dragon. That is a one-of-a-kind 5x10 or so (dimensions can vary) custom glass mosaic. I am willing to work larger, and if you are in the Portland area, I am willing to work quite large. I want to get a bunch of examples of these, so I am going to keep those prices low for a while, but I know how much I am undercharging myself, so eventually they will go up. Get them while they're cheap! Turn around for these, if I have nothing else in queue, is a few weeks.

* What I can do: cut some custom shapes out of the glass with a glass cutter, add things which aren't glass as accents (fish beads, seashells, tiles) use different colored grout, apply the glass to something like a patio tile for an outdoor installation. Please LET ME KNOW if you expect this to have to deal with moisture (outside/bathroom wall) because I need to use slightly different materials to adhere the glass, and I'd probably want to use a moisture-resistant backing. If I have to buy additional materials that aren't glass, their cost will be added to the final quote.

* What I can't do: standard boring mosaics out of regular square tiles. I mean, I could, but it'd be obnoxious to cut the glass into a million similar squares, and why. Just no.

2) Custom-painted plastic cast badges. - Starting at $20. These can either be on a pinback button or a more pendant-like setting. You choose the character and background color. If you want glow in the dark paint or something shiny and metallic, I can do it. If you'd like a more complicated background, I'd probably bump it up a couple of bucks.

Here are the molds I have so far:

The Fox, which I can paint like any canid - I have made a husky, maned wolf, wolf, and fox so far.

The My Little Pony - it has Fluttershy's hair, but I can paint it like your OC or one of the ponies from the show if you prefer. More hair styles are in the works. Here's an example.

The Cat. Example forthcoming...

* How it's made: I have a super sculpey original which I make a mold out of using a product called Oomoo 30. Six hours later, I have a mold ready to go. I use a two-part plastic resin called Smooth-Cast 300 which cures in 20 minutes. I sand off the rough edges and flashing, glue the cast to the backing using E6000, and paint it. I finish it with a UV-protectant, water-resistant varnish.

* Why plastic? I've never been fully comfortable doing badges or wearables in sculpey, because of how fragile it is. If you drop them, chances are they will shatter. I have thrown reject casts on the floor to try to see if they will break, and so far none of them have. I would not recommend this behavior for your finished piece, but if you happen to dance too hard and your shirt with the button on it flies off somewhere, chances are when you find your shirt again your button will be intact.

* IMPORTANT: I am willing to make NEW molds. Are you a rabbit? A deer? Some kind of snake? If I feel there are enough of you out there to warrant making a mold, I will happily sculpt your species and make a cast for the same price as the molds I have currently, and will not charge you for the additional time/materials. The understanding is that once the mold is made, I will be offering that same design to anybody else who may be interested. I have a corgi in the works, and interest has been voiced in a corvid, deer, rat, and maned lion. My goal is to have molds of most of the common species. If you have a completely unique species but would still like a plastic badge, I can do it for $50 for the first one and $20 for each subsequent painted one.

* I will also sell you a blank cast of anything I have a mold for, $10 and you can paint them yourself. You can even resell them! This is a great option if you and your buddies invented a species and you want to paint your own characters.

* I am also able to do SMALL PRODUCTION RUNS so if you need a set (under 100) of a flat-backed/relief style sculptural piece for an event (wedding, convention), etc, let me know and we can come up with a price. I am not able to do figurative/double-sided/full 3d casting at this time.

3) Custom Sculptures - Made in Super Sculpey. These can be any size, but price will scale with complexity. Starting at $40 for a small sculpture such as Talathia. These are stand-alone 3d sculptures, but they will be fragile, so are best for household decoration (paperweights, desk guardians, etc).

I take Paypal, cash if you are local to Portland, and possibly other forms of payment if it comes down to it, but I'd really prefer Paypal.

Thanks for looking! :)

Arrival and Departure:
Thursday to Sunday

Staying at:
That crappy motel across the street from the con.

How are you traveling?
Motorcycle! :D (it will probably rain the entire time)

Where will you be? How best to find me?
During the days I will be in the Artist Alley with  rain420 (hopefully!) selling sculpture and painted badge commissions. At night, who knows!

Who will you be with?
I have no idea.

Do you do free art?
Depends on how slow it is, but probably not.

What is your gender?
F

How old are you?
29

How tall are you?
5'5

Can I talk to you?
I don't see why not!

Can I hug and/or snuggle you?
I'm not much of a touchy-feely person, but it can't hurt to ask.

Are you nice?
Most of the time!

Are you cliquey?
Nah

If I see you, how should I get your attention?
Say hi? You could loom menacingly from a corner I guess but I'm not that observant...

Are you fursuiting?
Sadly, no costume for me. Yet.

Can I buy you drinks?
Sure!

Do you attend parties?
Sometimes! I am pretty introverted though.

Can I take your picture?
Please ask.

What's your goal(s) for the con this year?
This is the first time I've tried to sell things at a convention! I hope I succeed! It would be nice if I could pay my $200 rent this way...

I am kicking everything into high gear for this con. Hopefully I'll learn some stuff I can use at Further Confusion...

Seems like it was just a few journals ago but uh. It's that time again!

This year I will be hopefully having an Artist Alley table with my lovely  rain420! This will be the first time I have actually attempted to sell things at a convention! Hopefully it will be worth my time.

I will be doing custom-painted sculpted badges and 2d painted badges on fancy scrapbooking cardstock at the convention. I will be also doing take-home commissions for custom mosaics. Holy crap, what?! Yeah. I've got like 100 lbs of very pretty glass that I've been turning into cool things.

Price list will be forthcoming, probably after the con when I've got a chance to chill out and have a better idea what things will actually sell for. Right now I am in ATTACK MODE. Art all the things!

I still need to figure out accommodations, but hopefully something will pop up. ;.;

I will be opening up for commissions soon (not for ponies though, sorry!).

Things are still a bit up in the air, but I am moving into a new space, hanging up my helmet for a while, and doing art full time. Big things are in the works. Stay tuned!

Hi! I am not dead. In fact, I have been on some pretty grand adventures, including an 85-mph motorcycle crash, riding through Death Valley, staying for a week in New Orleans, etc. I am still on the road, in fact, though I've paused for a few weeks to get some paperwork done. Details on all of this stuff is over at my website, though I still have a bunch of catching up to do there too.

In my quest to try to figure out some way to still be creative while on the road, I am planning on sticking my toe into the vast field of embroidery. The materials pack down small, so I can carry them easily, and the only significant investment is time. Which I have a lot of.

I would like to start making patches. Obviously they would take a while, because I'd be hand-sewing them, but I think I could make some pretty neat stuff. Most of the embroidery I've seen looking through FA is machine-printed, which doesn't have the same 'soul' as hand-stitched art, to me at least.

I am curious if there is any sort of demand for custom embroidery. Seems like it'd be neat to have a patch of your character that you could sew onto your favorite jacket or whatever, but I have no idea if people would actually want to do this.

Thoughts?

I will be there apparently, most likely starting on Friday.

See you there! Or, you know, not, as the case may be.

I am very excited to finally be getting on the road soon!