Diamonds in the Sea

Allison | she/her | 21↑ | Romance VNs, joseimuke, RPGs | ENG/日本語 OK

[xiaq]

I’ve been patiently waiting for a nice second-hand wood dresser to appear on fb marketplace or at Goodwill for months. Finally, I grabbed this one yesterday for $50.

My inspiration for this project are some dressers I saw at Anthropology that have gorgeous carved details. But I want my dresser to cost $200 or less rather than $2,000.

Of course I can’t add actual hand-carved wood, but I’ve got clay and some silicon molds + epoxy and a potential overconfidence in my DIY abilities.

First up, I removed the existing hardware and sanded this pretty lady down. She is now looking MUCH better without all those terrible stains (and the drawer pulls weren’t doing it for her, tbh).

Up next, I’ll give her a paint wash or three and start trying my hand at faking some carvings!

[xiaq]

She’s paint-washed and looking dandy. I’ll give her a light sand tomorrow and get to work on some fake carvings!

[xiaq]

So I actually ended up glazing her first to bring the wood grain back out a bit and add some depth to the color. The glaze was very finicky to work with, but did exactly what I wanted it to (a comparison of glazed vs unglazed drawers in the first pic). I have several silicon molds filled with drying resin and I will begin experimenting with “carvings” tomorrow!

[xiaq]

Oh yeah. This is gunna work just fine. BRB. Making and then painting c. 100 flowers and vines.

[xiaq]

She's coming along great! I’m going to wrap the foliage around the side up top and then start working on the bottom right bit.

[xiaq]

Alas, I ran out of flowers/vines so I will need to get more epoxy this weekend to finish the bottom corner. Shes so close to being done, though! The next update will be the last once I seal her and get the new hardware added. :)

[xiaq]

She’s DONE. Cost breakdown: $50 dresser, $30 molds, $35 epoxy, $6 paint, $8 glaze, and $4 drawer pulls. Total: $133.

I surprised even myself with this one and am so delighted by the outcome. I’ve been using her for a week and dusted her once (with the amount of seal I used, a fluffy swifter duster glides along all the finicky crevices just fine) and she seems sturdy. Time will tell! Thanks for all the kind words on this fun little journey.

[cinnamon-for-synonym-talks]

@hellenhighwater dunno if you've seen this, but this looks right up your alley!

[hellenhighwater]

Incredibly well executed!!

[an-ruraiocht]

how it feels to be online these days

[fluorescentbrains]

empathy gets treated as this universally positive thing but we forget that empathy often equals pain, and pain often activates fight or flight behaviors. a lot of my most asshole moments as a person were motivated by a twinge of empathy that was too painful to engage with in that moment, so i became aggressive and mean, NOT compassionate and helpful

[fluorescentbrains]

“knowing someone else is in pain, is painful. therefore, the person who is in pain is hurting me. i have to defend myself against the person who is in pain” <- a more common line of emotional reasoning than you might think

[dinchenix]

If you had the chance to join the journey through space, would you do it?

This artwork is also availabe as a wallpaper on my ko-fi here!💙

[hoppips]

some guys

[canitity]

“Why’d you do that?” Please remember that I am using what I’ve seen in humans to mimic them

[asterparfait]

the other two stooges

[millethe-deactivated20241106]

I had this conversation with a friend about how funny it would be if the LI's face didn't match their personality at all

So now please have this... Soft anime girl Cirrus

[theesteppenwolf]

If it be your will

So i made this playlist tying DA2 companions to my favorite songs, the criteria being ''I dunno feels like it'' and for Anders it was:

Want to Be Free by Sea Power or

If It Be Your Will by Leonard Cohen (the Antony version)

EDIT: Ok so originally i wanted all the hands to be effed up a little but then saw that i only did it on one so it just looked like a mistake, so i had to fix that hand to look normal (i wish i was making this up i feel like an idiot i only saw it after someone hashtagged it on a reblog, someone bury me please)

[thestuffedalligator]

Isekai just seems like a profoundly sad genre of fantasy by design. Yes you have rad JRPG powers now and you get to hang out with big tiddy elves who love you but do you not have like. Friends that you mourn. Family that you miss. Habits that you can’t practice now without tripping. Familiar sounds and smells you’ll never know again

Either you did and you don’t care in the face of JRPG powers and elf tiddies, or you didn’t, and both options are profoundly sad in their own ways

[kirkwallsquad]

everyone follow me on bluesky

[urban-hieroglyphs]

[unpretty]

self-recognition through the other (concerned)

[unpretty]

damn. that guy needs help. yes i'm sure. no i'm not telling you why.

[shake001]

avdol

[solpoogaa]

My beautiful wizard ~

[idyllisk]

Didgori Battle Memorial is located on top of the Didgori mountain, Georgia. It was designed in the 90s by sculptor Merab Berdzenishvili and architect Tamaz Gabunia to commemorate the battle of Didgori fought in 1121. The monument consists of a number of massive sculptures of swords embedded in the ground, which can be interpreted as cemetery crosses.

[guessillalwaysbethisway]

The discovery of the statue of Antinous in Delphi, Greece in 1894

[fuckblast]

Really obsessed with this one like how old cameras worked making everyone blurry against the statue and just makes you realize how long the statue has been right. There.