#highlynerdy makes

[highlynerdy]

I have been working on this ouroboros block for an actual eternity and it's still nowhere near done. It's legit the hardest block I've ever carved.

Sadly, I really think I need the smallest size tool Pfeil makes to get some of these lines done...

But even though I'm not remotely close to done, I still wanted to do a test print anyway just to see how it was looking. It is looking pretty dope,I think?? That's motivating at least.

It's based on an illustration (from an old book as far as I can tell) that I found on Pinterest.

Seriously and truly I think I started this when @swanfloatieknight was visiting me last October! ETA: I've been told that Swan visited me in September. So I'm doing great.

Am I doing this for any particular reason other than a challenge? No, of course not.

[highlynerdy]

Tried out some sgraffito (ish) designs with some speedball underglaze on my latest batch of pots and they should hopefully be out of the bisque kiln today! I hope they turned out well 🙏

[highlynerdy]

finally back making a mess in the pottery studio after 2+ months dealing with arm injuries

[highlynerdy]

Watercolor lettering of this post by @drops-of-universe because if this ain't the Tumblr/Fandom Experience™️ then I don't know what is

[highlynerdy]

The final (I think) result of all the dyeing I've been doing for The Bestie Art Retreat

I may do a few more pale shades for contrast, but oof, it's probably been a decade+ since I've dyed this much fiber at once. Wools used: Rambouillet, Targhee, New Zealand Romney, Domestic Wool Blend, Falkland, Shetland, and Merino/Silk.

[highlynerdy]

My bestie will be here next week for our annual (sometimes biannual, but not in many years) art retreat and she requested that we do some dyeing for needle felting. I ordered ~15 lbs of various wool tops and have been slowly dyeing up a rainbow of colors for us to play with. But! The magic of art retreat is we never know what we're going to spend the week making and I can't wait to see the nonsense that unfolds.

Our art retreat in February of 2020 was my first exploration of the stained glass painting series. (This video cracks me up every time...)

As well as playing around with merthur-inspired poetry (though she didn't know it was fandom-y lol)

I taught her to watercolor in 2019, she made fabric intestines in 2020, I painted in my handmade fanARTifact leather journal when I went to see her in 2022, we carved stamps and embossed in 2023.

Having creative friends is the best thing. ~5 days until chaos!

[highlynerdy]

The hubris of completing a single full print block and designing something this complicated and thinking I can do all these teeny tiny details...

Sooooo many hours of careful carving...

First test print just to see how much noise I still need to remove and where I need to keep trimming. And it wasn't until this moment, four hours later, that I realized I should have made it "the soft heartS club"...sigh. Maybe I can finish up the heart details and just cut it off and redo the text separately.

[highlynerdy]

handcarved stamp & my handmade paper