Last Sunday was the Solstice and since my friend Wendy was appearing at the Greensboro Solstice Celebration I toddled along and got myself a tattoo.  A henna one, that is.  Wendy made me a lovely fae creature to wear for a couple of weeks and glittered it up for me:

When I scraped the paste off, it was a very light pumpkin orange, almost too light to make out, but henna darkens over time.  Here is how it looked the next morning:

I have been working on the Mistress of the Key digitally coloured version some more - here's a progress shot.  The blobs at the top are my palette for her hair colour:

I have since begun working on the flowers in her hair, so will hopefully finish her this week.  Yes, I know a web site update is due - I'm on it! :P

Passing this along from Neil himself's journal because it's Amanda Palmer, who is amongst the oberist of the ober-cool, and someone out there reading this may BE someone or may know someone, or know someone who knows someone, or know someone who knows....well, you get the idea (apologies in advance to those who follow me at my various haunts and will therefore see this multiple times):


AMANDA & DANGER ENSEMBLE SEEKING LONDON CRASH SPACE/REHEARSAL SPACE
15-26th SEPTEMBER

we (me and 5 crazy Australians, AKA the danger ensemble, who will be with me all year performing on stage) are coming to London to prepare for our European tour and are looking for somewhere to crash close to central London!
ideally you live in an amazing place with several vacant boudoirs atop a rehearsal studio (or a big garage) that you would like to give over to us from the 15th - 26th of September.

we need a relatively comfy space - sharing beds is fine but we do need them.

wireless internet is pretty essential. heating and being close to the tube would be a huge plus. it doesn't have to be a palace - we can improvise - if you know anyone on summer vacation or that has a space that can be made livable for a couple of weeks LET US KNOW!

if you JUST have a rehearsal space idea or JUST a place to stay, indicate that. we may end up commuting if we don't find both in one place.

in addition, if you can recommend/know of any cheap rehearsal studios please let us know, anything big enough to accommodate 7 people and a few string players moving around. bigger than a bedroom, smaller than a train station.

in exchange?

um. we'll make you dinner. buy you drinks, love you, we can hook you up with tix for the ICA show, any other european shows, free merch, and if you're into it, the whole ensemble will possibly also make out with you.

steven from The Danger Ensemble is salivating in anticipation of your email so hit him up: tour@dangerensemble.com

(From Amanda Palmer)

Death of the Endless and a Spring flower faery sit on my art table calling to me to come back from the computer and visit with them, meanwhile there's a whole half sim in Second Life that needs completing - a chateau inspired by Biltmore House (here in NC), but with an art nouveau flavour sits in the Skybox awating completion so it can be moved to it's permanant home on the sim below - furnishings and home decor to be created, clothing construction to be learned, more jewellery to create....Second Life is a world just as demanding as the real one lately! I have such high hopes of accomplishing much, but it seems that little is getting done, although I've got quite a lot done in SL. Unfortunately, that's only apparent to others in SL, while I'm sure my husband wonders what I do with my time during the day since 'Death' and 'Flora' still languish, half-finished, on the art table in the corner. I'm coming ladies! I'll be with you soon...I just need to finish this mansion...oh, and that Elven skywalk thingy...and these lamps...and so on and so on.....

I'm not dead or anything of the sort, just very bad at blogging!  To be fair, I've been very busy lately (and staying out of trouble).  Since it's a new year, that  means sorting out the books for the past year in preparation for tax season.  I've also been planning to switch over to Mals shopping cart for a while - I shall try it out with the stationery site (which is my 'day-job' so to speak) and will change my art site over later...once I've got enough artwork done to do a proper update.  I've not done any art since before the Yuletide and I'm getting itchy!  I bought myself John Howe's book as a pressie, and am even more inspired to get back to arting.  First things first though, must get the business books sorted out - then, I need to sculpt something so I can try out the new craft oven I got from my husband.  February will be sculpt and paint month.  I'd like to try and sneak in a Mardi Gras themed painting this week though...I might be caught up enough with the book-keeping to manage it!  Wish me luck!

Thursday's going to be a long day. We're leaving on our (usually) annual holiday to the UK so it'll be about 17 hours squashed into a plane or sat sitting in uncomfortable airport seats until we eventually arrive at Teeside Airport (oops - sorry, that should be Durham Tees Valley Airport now) to be collected by my brother-in-law once removed (that is, my sister-in-law's husband)*. Then, it's an hour's nap, just to reset the internal clocks a bit and we're officially on holiday!

We'll be in Yarm for several days (including Bonfire Night) and then Whitby for several days, and back to Yarm for a few days, returning to the states late Monday night. Very excited!

Lots to do before Thursday - I have a book cover commission to finish, I'll be getting into my Professor McGonagall gear for the trick-or-treaters tomorrow night, and then de constructing the hallowe'en decorations before we leave, and packing, packing, and more packing!

*Graham says he's not really MY brother-in-law, since he's married to Graham's sister, but I still refer to him as my brother-in-law, anyway. :P