Munny customizing

Here’s how my customized mini Munny figure came out! HOW adorable is that cotton candy??

The deadline to vote is passed. I’m kind of miffed about it though. I feel like the voting portion wasn’t well thought out. People were allowed to submit their designs to be immediately cast in the pool of voting pretty much as soon as they received their LootCrate with the Munny figurine included (for the contest). So essentially, if you already had a customized Munny that fit the theme, or were very fast at customizing one, you could get a good head start on everyone and gather a lot more votes just due to the extra exposure you got.
I’m not trying to be a sore loser. I was just hoping the voting portion of the contest would be a little more fair to everyone. Why not accept entries until a certain point, and THEN open it to voting once everyone is accounted for?
But I won’t dwell. I’m really happy with how my little circus kitty came out and I might not have pushed myself to give it a try if it weren’t for this contest. Not to mention I still have a shot to win the “Judge’s Pick”, which isn’t based on most votes. So that would still be awesome. Fingers crossed!

I’m also working on another custom wedding cake topper. This will be my last cake topper commission for a little while. I have so many projects that I need to catch up on! But look how cute these guys are. They’re modeled after the Android robot mascot dude.

Here’s a little sneak peak of another custom Amiibo I’m working on.

I also picked up a new sketchbook. It’s like a new pair of socks. Nice and cozy. I can’t wait to do some more two-dimensional pieces!

Last week I made some steamed pork dumplings. They were pretty awesome. But I forgot how time consuming it is to make them! Next time I’ll take the recipe writer’s advice and make a whole bunch to freeze too. Then I’ll have mountains of dumplings for later! I also made some kimchi fried rice with an egg on top.

And finally…an Eevee pic. Just a typical “I’m trying to work” day  being ruined by the “slow blink” cuteness.

Customizing vinyls and other crafty bits

I have all kinds of projects going on at the same time. Here’s a few of what I’ve been working on.

This was a Trikky vinyl figurine that I’ve literally had sitting on my desk for three years blank. I had performance anxiety or something. I just couldn’t decide what to make! I finally forced myself to make a move. Naturally, I went with two of my favorite subjects. Cats and food. I’m still pondering if I want to add a nose. I think he looks so cute without one. But also kind of strange.

I tried to loosely base the figurine’s coloring on my cat Spike. This is an older pic of when I caught him in my light box. NOW I know why there’s always cat hair all over my desk.

I also started another custom Munny figurine. LootCrate is running a design competition, so I thought I’d give it a try. There’s less than two weeks left before the deadline, so I’m scrambling. I couldn’t help making another Spike replica too. I know…I have a problem. Still working out how I want the face to look.

I just finished a little custom family set as well. I have to take some proper pics and then I can mail them off to the recipient! I hope they like them!

As if I don’t have enough going on, Lou convinced me to start customizing Amiibo figures too. I’ll save that for another post though!

DIY Cat Scratcher

Oh surprise surprise, another post about cats.  Real cats this time!

We’ve acquired A LOT of cardboard boxes since our last move.  We have boxes in the hallway closet, in the bedroom closet, in the other bedroom closet, on top of shelves, under the bed, under the couch, behind the dresser.  I just can’t bring myself to throw them out because I know EVENTUALLY we’ll be moving and it’s so much easier to have the boxes on hand than go dumpster diving….again.  That’s apartment life for ya.  But the longer we live here, the MORE boxes we get.  I think they’re secretly multiplying.

I saw a cute DIY for a cat scratching pad and I kept it in the back of my head until I had some free time.

The thing about projects that you do on the floor is the cats always want to “help”.

Eevee was all about this project. The part that took the longest was cutting all of the strips. I used an x-acto knife and made my strips 4 inches wide. The only difference I made from the instructions was to hot glue the strips at each end instead of using tape. I feel like that made it more sturdy and secure. Oh, and I also didn’t add any paper to the bottom of the circle. I was just too pooped at that point and glad it was finished.

A helpful tip – after you cut your strips, roll them a little, bending at each corrugated line that way they more naturally curve in a circle. Or else you’ll have kinks and all of the cardboard won’t sit flush against itself like the photo in the DIY instructions. Does that make any sense? Sort of like this: http://www.rootsimple.com/2011/08/homemade-cat-scratcher/ There’s nothing wrong with this kitty scratcher. Just something to consider, if you’re expecting yours to come out looking exactly like the DIY photo.

Adding the cardboard strips started getting a little tedious after a while for us both.

Keep in mind the cardboard you want to use for the final outside layer. I had a bunch of LootCrate boxes to use up, and I think they made it look really cool! If you don’t know what LootCrate is, it’s basically a themed-monthly subscription of geeky goodies. I’ve received some really cool collectible figurines and t-shirts. It’s a lot of fun getting it in the mail!