fancytrasharcade

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They live up near my ceiling now.

Goonies are my favourite

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One of two ruffles made!

Clip has been languishing on the side of my couch for months because trying to make his ruffs has not been going well.

So i decided to get and layer up some tulle to try to get the glitchy look, cause he'd been running around naked for long enough. Kind of successful?

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Whoops, didn't mean to reblog the pants here instead of my main but y'know what? I'm gonna leave it as a reminder to do whatever when it comes to art.

More power to people making weird shit!

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Jeans by Alexandra Armata.

Created as a part of their ‘30 Jeans in 30 Days’ Project.

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I had fun doing the random designs so I'm glad you like them! I figured you had a plan and that it wouldn't be a calm 'wait and see' like the doodles. Too many antagonists running about and nothing any eclipse is connected to goes off without a hitch!

Loving the idea of firefly as earth's living scarf. He needs the soft touch so badly.

@emhm you mentioned in a comment that firefly has *no idea* what earth normally looks like, and a (weird kind of) comic happened

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@emhm you mentioned in a comment that firefly has *no idea* what earth normally looks like, and a (weird kind of) comic happened

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Updates on the potion project-

'Lost' a few that started to look funky. I know that using everclear as the spirit would keep most anything bad from growing but when stuff looks like this:

I don't want to try it! (That *was* cacao nib)

So, the lost are:

Walnut, cacao nib, blueberry, strawberry, gentian root.

The blueberry and strawberry were both sweetened, so I wonder if that's what made them go funny. I guess this is is why you're supposed to check on them every day (which I don't). Will this teach me to do so?

Probably not tbh - too scatterbrained.

I have decanted some of them, using a *very* scientific method (aka 'does it smell more like the thing than alcohol')

So far we've got thyme, green cardamom, anise, b&w peppercorn, and orange peel. So uh, not really anything I want to be mixing together yet.

We've got a messload still working.

From the first group:

Dried cranberry, juniper, rosemary, (and technically) apricot.

From the second batch: wild cherry bark, marshmallow root, cherry, licorice root, burdock root, dandelion root, dandelion leaf, basil, fennel, wormword, angelica root, bay leaf, black walnut leaf, ginger. (I think that's it?)

And a third batch started today: (rinsed) cacao nib, prune, gentian root attempt #2, earl grey tea (2 tea bags).

I want to try basil and black pepper with cucumber water, and I'm hoping the earl grey turns out so I can attempt a lemon & earl grey cake again.

Idk maybe I should try making a cucumber one too! I'll try blueberry again with fresh cause I'm not sure how frozen would do. Not sure what other inspiration will hit - I've been resisting mushroom since the beginning and been wondering about celery. I know I should probably dial in some flavours to go with what I already have, but idk what half of them taste like yet cause they're still brewing.

Idk, I'm just having fun playing wizard. :) its like when I was a kid playing in the yard except I'm using *edible* ingredients this time instead of like, rain water and whatever mushrooms i found growing by the bird feeders 🤣

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Since my herbs cae in, I got some more jars (one can never really have 'too many' mason jars) so I can get started on the actual 'bitters' part. I didn’t have enough everclear to dose them all, so I was only able to do some. Here's what I've got for pt.2

Dandelion root

Burdock root

Licorice root

Wormwood

Angelica root

Gentian root

Each has about 2 oz of ec (licorice has a tad more), but I don't have exact measurements for the roots. I believe that most have about 1/4 oz, except for the licorice and wormwood. They were both shredded/cut fluffier than the rest, so measuring them was difficult. (I just guessed, lol)

All the different roots had interesting smells so I'm really looking forward to seeing how they turn out.

I probably should have used 1 oz in each for this entire project, but I supposed it's better to have too much of something than not enough.

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My other herbs came in today, so I went to check on my bitters.

The orange smells quite nice, which makes sense cause its a pretty common one.

Most of the dried herbs are doing ok - getting stronger. Spilled some rosemary on my hand and its quite nice! Lol

I somehow tightened the lids on the strawberry and cranberry too much and will need assistance getting them open orz

The walnut is cloudy and i am suspicious of it. I might have to dump it.

The cacao nib has gone weird. Its thick, sludgey and grey. I feel like that's not right. Idk what happened but its getting dumped because EW

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Gave the bitters a bit of a test last night to see where they were at. I didn't try all of them, just a mix of what I thought was the strongest and weakest ones. I got some pipettes so I'm all sciency about it.

The green cardamom is STRONG, like overpowering the smell of the alcohol strong. I might pull it soon just because holy shit. The juniper and anise are ok. Orange peel is peely. The cocao nibs look...weird. I'll have to investigate those soon.

The dried apricot had a very light taste to it - it was very pleasant so I decided to turn it into a bigger batch. (I fuckin' love apricots)

I added maybe 2 more tablespoons of my 'regular' apricots, (this timeI split them before I chopped them to increase contact with all that tasty interior apricot goo) and maybe another ounce of everclear to be sure it was all covered. It's gonna need a hell of a lot more time so I figured I might as well upgrade it now while it's still in the early stages, instead of getting done and having to start a brand new batch for more.

Waiting (im)patiently for the other herbs I ordered to arrive!

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A repaired Firefly and his comfort/therapy goose Earth

@theinfamousdoctorf @emhm distraction sketches for you!

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I have started on my homemade bitters/flavourings/tincture adventure!

Into quarter pint mason jars I put approximately 1 tablespoon of:

Dried cranberry

Walnut

Dried strawberry (sweetened)

Green cardamom

Thyme

Dried apricot (the weird coloured ones I have a hard time eating straight because my brain insists they're spoiled)

Cacoa nibs

Rosemary

Black and white peppercorn mix

Dried/fresh orange peel

Juniper

Anise

The walnuts and all of the dried fruits except the cranberries got a rough chop (the cranberries were already the right size and squashed open). The strawberries were sweetened cause that's how they came out of the packet.

The larger/harder dried herbs (cardamom, anise, peppercorns, juniper) got a quick visit to the mortar to crack at least some of them open.

To those I added about 2 oz of everclear and gave them all a good shake.

Gonna call this the 'potion project'.

Why am I trying to make my own bitters instead of just buying them?

Well, I learned that you can add a few drops of bitters to water or soda water and have a nice little non-soda without a shitload of sugar. I happily purchased a bottle of angostura bitters only to discover that it contains cinnamon, which I can't have.

Yes I know, I should have done more research but to be fair most EVERYTHING I read just said 'spices' and 'proprietary mix' without any flavour notes, just that it was good on its own in tiny doses and could also really elevate cocktails/cocktails and it sounded so good, and it was but I can't risk the allergic reaction *cries*.

So! Making my own. So then I know for sure what's in it and can make whatever my little mechanical heart desires. Including perhaps something approximating the flavours of gin and perhaps jager without the proof for my beloved.

Some flavours I can try for later batches include hops (I don't think I threw them away?), coffee, and dandelion leaf. I know i need more 'bitter' for my bitters! Lol.

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I think he's done!

Additional pictures under the cut

Back view with elbow patches

Top-ish view so you can see both hoods (the green one is moveable) and the back of his hat

Grisps him

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Finally ended up with an ok face:

Still trying to decide if I want to add different colours/textures to him for his glitchyness or to leave it be.

Also ruffles are hard, especially when that's ALL a character has for clothes.

Hrm...not sure I'm liking this face either

I tried to add glitchy lines in his teeth with different yellows and some of the orange but idk if I'm feelin' it.

It's hard to turn a glitchy guy into something static.

Maybe I need to mix the appliqué with the paint instead of embroidery

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Me: 'The clip project is being difficult, I'll make a real quick pocket-sized mr.sandman. It'll take like two, three days tops"

Approx. 1 month later: (finally) almost done!

T-posing to assert dominance

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Hrm...not sure I'm liking this face either

I tried to add glitchy lines in his teeth with different yellows and some of the orange but idk if I'm feelin' it.

It's hard to turn a glitchy guy into something static.

Maybe I need to mix the appliqué with the paint instead of embroidery

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I had to evict Solace from his cardboard box, (because I need it to hold other in-progress bits) so he needed something else to sit on.

Did I spend like $15 on a secondhand doll couch from the interwebs? Of course not! That would be expensive.

Instead I spent like a week on a 'one day project' using things I already had in my stash.

Started with foam core (yay for dollar store board!). Reminded my self over and OVER that it doesn't have to be super structurally sound because doll!Solace doesn't weigh much.

Covered that with scrap batting and felt to get:

Well...that's ok but it's a bit shorter than I expected. Oh! Maybe I can make a pattern and make a 100% stuffed couch that I can un-stuff when I don't need it out.

I spent a full day and a half or so on that. It didn't work. :( Maybe I'll try again later or modify it for a bean bag chair.

So I decided to alter the original - I should have taken pics after I chainsawed (i.e cut with a craft knife) it in half

Like another two days and Solace has a more comfortable couch to loaf on:

You'll never guess what it's made out of :B