[[0056]] Day 37 of Self-Isolation

Radio silence keeps creeping in. I am so sorry friends, but its okay, I am still here, just had nothing to really write home about haha!

Day 37 {And we are in to week 6... I think... I am kinda loosing count).

Afternoon!

I will first say, as stated in the above mini thing, I am so sorry for the radio silence! But honestly, I have not done a huge amount since Sunday other than arting, Animal Crossing and loafing around in my PJs whilst ignoring my mental health. Oh well, shit happens. I am taking it one step at a time slowly to get through the mental health jargon (I talk about mental health on this diary post, be sure to check it out!) 

So, today, I had a bath (in the middle of the day no less, oh my!) and I have actually put clothes on, and I intend on trying to do this the next few days, more specifically, after I have had my breakfast (which means I also plan on making sure I am up no later than 9am). I was going to make more of an effort today and do some kind of goth Slytherin pride aesthetic, but I forgot I chucked loads of  black shirts and I am too fat for the other half's shirts so Miyavi merch it is. Either way, I am glad the red is holding in my hair at least! And it still looks vibrant considering I redyed it before my birthday a couple of weeks ago. Gonna try and style or at least look after my hair as one of my mental health baby steps, but also make sure I remember to clean my teeth as soon as I remember too as well as remember to take my tablets in the morning, cos I keep forgetting. And if I ain't in the mood for nice clothes, big hoodies and gig merch is also okay. 

I've also been super busy arting whilst I have been off, but this time, I have been doing some traditional work!

I am going to be sliding back into some digital work now this piece is done (check these links to view previous arts Rillaboom and Espeon, Lugia and Marshadow). But, I don't ever want digital art to take away from traditional, I just want it to be a new skills I have acquired which will be beneficial for graphics and quick commissions; traditional art is always going to be my home, no matter how expensive the materials are or how much the pressure from shading makes my hand and wrist hurt. This Eeveelution piece has taken me WAY too long, but I am glad it is finally complete. And for once, I like more things about it than hate, such as cute derpy Eevee and Sylveon's colouration, as well as Umbreon and Vaporeon... all in all, it was a damn fun piece to do! It has actually given me an idea for a rainbow piece I want to do with Eeveelutions, cos I wanted to stick this in the window so people could see it and be happy but I don't want the sunlight to ruin it. Before I round off this art post, be sure to check out my art page on facebook, Aluria Arts).  

OH YEAH, I have seen my friends... don't worry, we social distanced! They have a wall and we stand on one side and talk to them in their doorway and we have a chilled smoke together and a chat, and you know what, I kinda live for those days... cos it means I get out and I see people and it... it just makes everything feel better. That being said, said friends are honestly absolute LIFE SAVERS. Not only did they help me out with unsalted butter for baking blondies last week, but they dropped me some rizla yesterday as the other half took the box he bought to work and after I rescued their parcel from porch bandits, I asked if they could grab me some zero sugar energy drink cos the other half forgot, and they got me a sexy bottle and FINALLY, the other half didn't leave me enough bacci for today (which could have made me enter the now aptly named hell zone) but it's okay, cos friends saved the day! And just... this would all be so much harder if we didn't know such amazing people. Love you guys ❤️❤️❤️

Speaking of friends, my cat has left me for trash pile in the sun. I don't blame her, the weather is lovely, but seriously... cat... why? That is rubbish for the skip you silly moose and it will not be there forever (even though it feels like it at the moment!) At least I can guarantee she will have her happy tower of crap for another couple of weeks, if not longer haha. It's the fact she also has her own tunnel to get to the bottom of the garden as well as a climbing tower and a bloody box to sleep in at the top. She is honestly living the trash queen dream. Silly kitty. 

But yeah, she now ignores me cos she has the new love in her life. Until it gets cold at night, then she will come in and not leave me alone. 

Lastly, the Harry Potter advent calendar for mental health. Again, I cannot stress enough how much I love opening this in the mornings when things seem gloomy. We are reaching the end now though, well, about just over a week left, so I need to look into buying a new one for the remainder of time I am stuck indoors, maybe the pop figure one... hmmm...

Anyway, I have loved the little gifts for each day recently! Some cute lil pencils and a pencil sharpener and I already have a pencil case waiting for them, but also this cute Gryffindor pin (for when I am not feeling all Slytherin pride as I do atm) and a deathly hallows keyring which is going straight onto one of my bags cos I am a sucker for keyrings of any kind... and my Harry Potter bag has quite the collection. I wonder what tomorrow will bring?

Well, that is it. Like I said, not much is going on. I am just taking each day as it comes and I try to do some kind of activity each day. I think dance exercise might be next... need to speak to the other half about getting Just Dance for the Switch, so we shall see what happens.

Stay safe friends, stay healthy, stay happy!

Over and out, mes amigos!

[[0055]] Day 33 of Self Isolation

Oops, I missed a day. This is what I get for arting my ass off but OMG I have missed it!!! Oh and no idea what is going on in the world right now either. No fucks give, totally.

Day 33 (I can't believe I broke the chain at the one month mark!)

Okay, hey friends. 

I must apologise for not doing my day-to-day blog yesterday... I was arting till about 2:30am in the morning and I just did not have the energy to look at the screen any longer so figured I would do a two for one today instead.

Where to start... where to start...

I guess I'll start with the advent calendar doors, especially yesterdays because ho damn I am gonna use it so much! 

SO, yesterdays door was this cute deathly hallows necklace and I am honestly gonna wear the heck out of it. I am such a sucker for geeky jewellery so this pleases me on so many levels. Today's door 12 had the other half of the temp house tattoos which I now think I might blu tac to the office wall because I love the designs so much!!!

I noticed merchoid have pre-orders up for this years calendar and I am rather tempted to get it for myself for Christmas this year as I absolutely LOVE this one!!! Cannot wait to see what I get tomorrow!

TBH tomorrow is a better day already anyway, as I am only in the house all day on my own for four days and not five, as the other half managed to book an annual leave day for tomorrow so we can has long weekend together. No idea what we are gonna do, prob play games and drink energy drink, but I am totally cool with that!!! 

If I am honest, today and yesterday have kinda blurred into one as I have essentially done the same stuff today as yesterday, although today had some improvements by the wonderful form of LEGO! AHhhhh I love lego so much and I have been saying for ages that I wanted some lego to play with, so the other half picker me up some Harry Potter lego which was selling cheap at B&M yesterday and I made it this morning. It's also the scene from Goblet of Fire when Voldy comes back and it is honestly just the best thing. Might have to go back to B&M after this is all over or whilst it still has stock, and pick up some more when paid... cos seriously, geeky Lego is best Lego and just, I love Lego so much. Although now that I think about it, I didn't have cookies, a juice box or wear a onesie whilst I made it... I need to rectify this and get some more, obvs.

Besides that, all I have really been doing, bar finally putting our washing away this morning and putting fresh bedding on, is arting on the tablet. I love it, and can honestly just spend hours amusing and distracting myself on there while I use it. 

Here is what I made:

The top one I made for my friend Stu at work, and it's his fave Pokemon, Rillaboom. OMG I think 60 layers went into that beasty boy but it was worth it. The Espeon on did for day for my friend at work and Stu's wife, Nicola, who loves Espeon and it seemed only fair they both got one each! That piece is a little smaller hence quicker to do and although my background skills are still meh, I love it a lot... prob cos I had to look at a bunch of cat references to make sure I got the pose right haha

I am back to traditional art again tomorrow/Tuesday as I need to finish my friends Eeveelution commission which I have been putting off for ages. It'll be good for me to do though, so it reminds me of what I am capable of with traditional materials.

I have also been debating potentially doing little cheap digital commissions to help raise pennies to go towards the monthly pay back of the laptop, and it'll keep me busy and earning whilst I am home as well. I might think on this some more next week and see what happens.

Anyway, I am pooped and wanna play me some games cos I have kinda been neglecting games lately. Plus I have an adorable new animal coming to my Animal Crossing game, so I need to spend some more time shifting things about and so on... get that island up to 5 stars!

So, stay safe everyone, love you all!

Over and out, mes amigos.

[[0054]] Day 31 of Self-Isolation

I nearly forgot to write this because I was too busy doing an art again. I want to say sorry, but I am not. 

Day 31 (Okay... turns out I do have some mental health shit going on, I've just been ignoring it).

Okay so I am so sorry this is late, I really am, but I may have been arting on the Chromebook again and... I just... I just lost myself haha

I drew a Lugia!!! Haha one of my faves and turns out, one of my bosses all time faves too so I had to  give it a go!!! I also decided that if any of my friends or work mates like Pokemon and to practice and get used to stuff, I am going to just rando draw people pretties! Figured, life is hard atm so sometimes something happy can't go wrong in the grand scheme of things... and means I can learn skills and all that jazz.

I have a long way to go but at least my work is not terrible. I might watch some tutorials tomorrow to learn some more about shading and blending and stuff but... for now, I am happy with what I have been making on the Chromebook! I hope you all like it too (AND totally check out my art page, Aluria Arts).

I'd like to think this arting is helping my mental health but I am beginning to wonder if it is just a distraction so I don't deal with said mental health. I have a thing that I do when things are not great, and it is always that one thing I never notice I am doing, until it has gone on for a while and then I realise and it's not that it is too late, more just, why could I not realise this sooner and deal with it. Long story short, I just get really bad at showering or having a bath and washing my hair and stuff when my depression is just being well, annoying. I also tend to obsess over things a bit, for example, the artwork. Don't worry, I have finally had a bath but it has been a week. I just need to figure out what is going on in my head. I have ideas, such as not going out, not having structure, diabetes going a bit weird the last couple of days... it could be anything. My assumption is the biggest problem is staying at home and not seeing people. But I also accept that this is how it is because the last thing I want is another trip to hospital cos my kidney has decided to give up cos I have developed corona virus.

I think I'll come to terms with the fact I can't do anything about it... but, I do wish I could.

Tomorrow is another day and I at least have Jake home this weekend so that is something.

I was actually meant to be in Wales now with my besties and the other half after an amazing trip to London. I have counted my loses, shit does happen, but... it does make me sad. I miss so many people. I miss work. I miss friends. I miss my family... bleh.

In happier and less depressing news, my adorable mini hype unicorn bag came today... it is actually bigger than I thought it would be but it is cute as heck and I can't wait to use it out and about once this is all over.I have also realised that I have erm... bought a lot of things I would erm... wear out the house, but can't at the moment. It's fine, I can wear it all in the house and pretend I am a pastel goth princess but... it kinda is not really the same!!! Oh well, docs and cute bag tomorrow in my pjs it is. LMAO

Well, last but not least... whats behind door number 10!!!

Washi tape!!! I am sooooo gonna use this in the office. I think I might like stick up some cute Harry Potter pictures and use this to like decorate the corners, I don't know. Either way, it is adorable! Roll on door number 11!!!

Okay, I need to go to bed... and again I am so sorry this is a late one!!

Over and out, mes amigos.

[[0053]] Day 30 of Self-Isolation

Today has been A-MA-ZING! And if you did not read that in Craig Revel Horwood's voice, you suck, darling.

Day 30 (... it's been a month since I properly left the house like a normal person would...)

Actually, I have been out twice since being in iso and both of those were for medical appointment's so it doesn't count.

ANYWAY, hellooooo!

Today, I am actually writing this from my new chromebook, a sexy lil 2-in-1 laptop that I shouldn't not have got finance for (even though it ups my credit rating when I pay back like a good human) but I did get and it is honestly a massive game changer for me creatively! It is honestly the smoothest and most seamless machine I have ever used, bar learning how to do things a lil differently like saving photos and so on but like, I'll get there. I absolutely love this thing to the moon and back and it is honestly the best thing I have ever done for myself.

Bar a good HbA1C. But those come and go. This will stick for a couple of years.

So yeah, got confirmation when I got up this morning that a lovely gentleman, named Steve would be dealing this bad boy and ho damn, I was stalking his deliveries until he got here. I was both so anxious and so excited all at once. Thankfully, my bloods remained good regardless, so that is something at least. 

I guess you want some pictures of this bad boy then?

So there it is, my Acer Spin 13 with built in Wacom pen. This beasty boy is 13.5" as well so it's a decent sized screen for me to deal with what with my dodgy eyesight and son on.

And I think that is why I love this thing so damn much. Like, I love drawing and stuff, I do, but I don't do it a lot any more, and when I do, I can't draw for extended periods of time because my eyes go blurry and sometimes to the point my glasses won't work, like, if I could zoom in on my work for my lineart, it'd be fine. And this is one of the reasons why this is a game changer for me art wise and that is because I can zoom in, get rid of the rubbish, work on detail like I used to and it is honestly the best bloody thing.

Oh, its tanky battery life is nice as well.

AND I can upload straight to insta now too, bonus wooooo!!!

But yes, this sexy boy now sits pride of place on my desk in the office, looking snazzy amongst my pens and shizzle which may gain some dust now, but at least they're pretty to look at!

So yeah, there it is opened out in laptop glory. Obvs, I use the stand to prop it up when I draw (I got the stand from uni and it is perfect for turning the lappy into a drawing machine!) 

You probably want to see what I arted haha! I figured I would go with Pokemon because that is what I post most on my art page, Aluria Arts! I used to love drawing artist trading cards so figured this was the best place to start... and bear in mind I don't normally, and have never, drawn digitally before, I actually did something decent and I can't believe it!!!

So this is the original piece...

So I doodled this earlier and scanned it in on the Lenovo and this is what I came up with!!!

So this is what I made haha! Not too bad for my first go arting online. And it was so easy to do once I figured out how to deal with layers and colour stuff in with the Wacom pen and then blend and stuff too and OMG backgrounds are so much easier to do now!!! This is like honestly one of the best things I have ever done, like, seriously. I am so happy!

And I think the reason I can use this stuff is because I can use the Wacom pen... that thing is amazing. It's not far off arting properly anyway, and I think this is why this stuff works for me. I def made the right choice in art laptop... I need to figure out what else to draw now!!! Might look at some of these "Do this in your own style" stuff... but, I should probably get a little bit more used to layers and orders of layers first!!

I thought my unicorn birthday Hype bag would arrive togday but it didn't so I have a feeling that will probably come tomorrow. Also, MUCC released their EU vinyl so I may perhaps order that cos we have some pennies left before payday for once. Either way, I am in a good place, everything is amazing, nothing could ruin this...

... oh, maybe the three more weeks of lockdown. But hey, this is week 5 of being in the house for me so it's not the end of the world in that respect.

We had to have some essential maintenance done on the house today as well... and I think this is another reason why my day has been awesome, I got to see my dad! He had to come and unblock a rather dodgy sink blockage that if Magnus did what he did before and knocked a tap, would have caused a flood. We social distanced properly though, stood in different rooms and stuff but honestly, it was just nice to see my Dad, it's been five weeks after all!! Oh, and the bathroom sink works now too, wooooo!

Best get to rounding off this blog and sharing new artwork everywhere as I am a tiny weeny bit sad like that plus my art page has been dead for so long that it is gonna need a kick up the ass to get people viewing again!

Obviously, we can't forget the morning door of this wonderful mental health advent calendar!! It was a damn good one today, a cute pin!!! I'm gonna save it for my work lanyard next Christmas, cos like, it'd be weird to wear Christmas in July (or May, whenever I get to go back).

Anyway, I have to go, need to sleep and finish up touching up bits and bobs round the house so I can whip the hoover through finally (yes, I did do some tidying today, the living room looks much better now!!!)

So, until tomorrow, stay safe everyone, don't kill each other, make love not war... I dunno.

Over and out, mes amigos.