Two Cats and a headache

[merimask]

The two cats are below, see?

A new Maneki Neko (Lucky Cat)...I shaded the orange this time instead of leaving a hard line...looks more like the porcelain "lucky cats" you see in Japan.

And here is the "aged bronze" Bast mask I was talking about making.  Notice how I did the two masks differently, even though they are both cats?  The Bast has a longer, narrower face with larger ears like a Siamese cat (Egyptian cat mummies show a cat with a body type very much like a modern Siamese).  The lucky cats all have big round cartoony-faces with cute silly ears, so I did that pattern in that vein.  Details!  These two are up in Etsy already.

More Bast.

The next thing I try with this color treatment will be a Green Man.  Haven't made one of those in a long time anyway, so it should be fun.

I also made another little gift dragon...

Isn't she cute?  There's a story behind it but it has to wait, as I am nearly incoherent from tired.

I was up late working, and then experienced teen drama because  someone in this house was on her cell phone at 1AM!!  Yeah, that dog won't hunt, as they say.   So I was up all night fuming and working and now I am an exceedingly tired headachey grumpy me.   The only person more sullen and grumpy than me is Char.  Honestly, I love the kid but there still have to be rules, you know?  On no planet is it okay for a kid to be up until 1AM on the phone on a school night. 

She's not used to me yelling at her.  I'm not used to yelling.  It's stressfull all around.  Plus, she plays "defense lawyer" with me whenever I catch her doing anything she shouldn't be doing (which admittedly is rare) and that just makes me go nuts.  If you DO something wrong and you get caught, just confess and apologize and assure me it won't happen again...that's all I want!  Not some half-assed debate about how you didn't know & therefore no crime was committed & blah blah temporary insanity blah hate you blah blah woof woof.... 

SO much easier for both of us when she just refrains from doing stupid shit, you know? 
 
*sigh*  Anyway.  Head hurts.  Good morning.  Going to bed now. 

Comments

[golden-meliades.livejournal.com]

Thank god Char is smart and rarely DOES stupid shit. :) But I know what you mean about the 'defence lawyer' thing. On occasion I'd catch one of my two younger sisters doing something they weren't supposed to (actually, this still happens, and my babyest sis is 26) and they act all innocent and dumb, or innocent because they're too stupid to know anything, like the 'but I didn't KNOW because no one SPELLED IT OUT EXACTLY and I don't have even half an atom of common sense in my dazed little head anywhere!'

Both my sisters are quite smart. And I'm mean and not at all afraid to be turbo bitch (it doesn't even make me feel guilty, lol) so they usually shut that crap up as soon as my 'I am SO annoyed that I'm not sure I can stop myself from running you through with the BBQ fork, right now' look appears.

But sisters can get away with that, as I well know. Especially older sisters. Parents can't be quite that...er...intense. That's why a lot of my one sister's behaviours never got corrected, because mom and dad wouldn't come down on her as hard as would be necessary to make her shape up permanently, so she kept doing it...except when *I* would find out, because I'd land on her like a ton of bricks and though I have only older-sister authority, I AM very unpleasant in these circumstances and life is temporarily miserable. :D Not that my sisters would admit any of this.

Oh, I do like being me. There's some bad stuff, but a lot of it works for me. I'm so glad I'm just a sister, not a parent.

I like the gold and teal dragon, it looks a little softer. Most of your dragons look extremely masculine, and I like a slightly 'prettier' look to my dragons, to take them further out of the lizard realm. (I hate reptiles.)

I think dragons would have very long eyelashes, y'know? :) I like the idea of a fairly feminine wyvern-style dragon.

[(Anonymous)]

Your masks are absolutely stunning and the golden dragon is breathtaking...you make up for those of us who have no artistic talent whatsoever...thanks for sharing your gift with the world!

Love em

[(Anonymous)]

The masks are so beautful, as is usual with your masks. :)

On the phone at 1AM!!! I'm biting my tongue. Teens can sometimes be "difficult" can't they? My son is an intense "debater". And when he is convinced he is right he just won't let it go. And he has never gotten the concept that even if he is right, if Dad isn't in the mood to admit it, he isn't going to... Life gets hard at that point.

[wildwose.livejournal.com]

Masks. Very cool. Sometimes it drives me nuts seeing your stuff. Then, if I ever do any thing similar...well, you see.

Teens..Blah. I have one. He might live to see 17. But that is two months away...so there is always a chance he won't. What sucks is when they suck at the whole "defense lawyer" thing, which he does, and it so infuriating because their half assed and lousy. I have been having my own problems lately, can ya tell?

To compound this, I am about to go out of town, taking my teen and 7 others, to a Unitarian Universalist Con. This is what our church does, what other churches might call a lock in. Since we're UUs then the teens run the event and go a bit crazy for the weekend. Basically no sleep and little control for the weekend. But UU kids tend to be good ones, who are determined to do something with themselves, so I enjoy it, but when it's over, I am done with teens for a while. There will be well over a 100 kids there. Wish me luck.

[ramblinsuze.livejournal.com]

*giggle* That reminds me of when my mom used to bawl me out for watching TV in the wee hours of the morning (hey, there was no TiVo then, what was I supposed to do???? lol). Even the good kids have their moments. ;)

I just love all of these verdigris masks. I left a comment on dA, but I'll repeat it here: Would it be possible to do a keychain version of the verdigris lion mask? I think that would make a really great roomie gift this summer (I'd need 8-10). Possible?

[zannachan.livejournal.com]

You know, you said on another post that you sometimes are unsure about posting pictures of you work on your journal--but I love it. I love seeing the new designs and the new things you're making--even if it does make my checkbook whimper and make me wish that I could win the lottery :)

Both of this cat masks are great--and so different personalities! Awesome.

Stories like yours make me glad (sometimes, anyway--Char mostly sounds like a great kid) that I don't have kids--and boy am I glad that I'm not a teenager myself any more!

[kls-eloise.livejournal.com]

Very nice. I really like the detail work on the tiny dragon - are you blind with cramped hands yet? SO pretty.

I can't wait to see the green man. Of course, I couldn't wait to see the green man before you said you were making him. ;-)

[(Anonymous)]

Oh dear, so much can change in half a day!! LOL I was expecting to read all about Charlotte's recent achievement... which I can't wait to read. Then I get this!

I have a story to top you. Once we caught Rio in the toilet past midnight on a school night reading his manga!! He's smart enough to know he couldn't get away with it in his room, so he has to "go." Pathetic to have a house rule "No pooing after bedtime unless you have diarrhea or illnesses!!! Yes, I freaked out at him, yelled. but in retrospect, it's really quite funny and we joke about it now. Discipline is never fun, but you did the right thing and that's why Charlotte is GREAT.

BTW, LOVE how everyone has honed in on the feminine attributes of the golden dragon. Told you it's strong but very beautiful too!

Talk on the playground about dragon keyholders. Rio's hasn't elicit that many comments. Maybe because people just expect a boy with one. One girl mentioned "The eyes make it look so real, it's creepy!" I think he took it as a compliment. (Kids, whatever)

But Reina's has drawn comments from both little girls and boys wanting to know more about it, where she got it, etc.... She's really proud of it.

[angeljapan.livejournal.com]

My kid won't have a TV in their room. And if they did, there would be no cable and only a DVD player allowed. And as for a computer, the only internet access would be available downstairs in the living room and they can take their laptop or whatever down there to use it where I can monitor it. And if I decided to network the house I would have that software that lets me see what other compies are doing on their compie and I would randomly monitor them. Hee.....

As for the cell phone... I would take their charger and put it in my bedroom and collect the cell at night and charge it in my bedroom so they wouldn't be able to use it improperly at 1am. Also turn off the internet at bedtime if the house was networked.

Heh.... I'd be a strict momma. Of course if my kid acted right I'd slowly give them more and more privileges, and if they didn't act right it'd stay minimalist for them.

LOVE the masks! Love seeing them here! ^_^ I don't check DA very often anymore.

It's SNOWING! YIPPEE! Doesn't look like it's sticking though. Awwww....

[(Anonymous)]

I am 100% behind you in getting Charlotte to keep her grade point average up. I had part-time jobs in junior high but never worked during the school year in high school and spent my time studying. The scholarship money I received was far greater than doing time at flipping burgers at Wendy's.

Making Charlotte continue to get good grades instead of giving into distractions ultimately is about teaching her the importance of focussing on bigger goals and achieving what is important. So it's more than just about GPA.

Even though I know all your frustations with her, I am totally envious. That you've raised her so far, to be such a super person. Rio and Reina are just too little to tell right now. I know I am on the right track but there just seems to be so much work ahead before I even get to the kind of problems you face with Charlotte!! ***Cuddles***

[kelkyag]

The wee golden dragon is so cute! I look forward to hearing it's story.

Golden Dragon

[(Anonymous)]

Wow! I know there are all kinds of Dragons and I'm not well versed on which type is which, but the little golden one is so beautiful...so ornate, like a golden Chinese dragon...is it for the Chinese New Year? The eyes are so cool looking too...I'll have to stop by more often.