Hespera Descending

Mostly boring house stuff...

Wed, 18 Oct 2006 18:38:25 GMT

So i havent updated in forever... I havent been online much in general the last month and a half - September wasnt exactly a good month, I was sort of hit with a huge marital crisis that I really didnt see coming and it pretty much brought everything here to a halt while we spent a month dealing with it. Things are a lot better now - in a lot of ways the best they have ever been. But it was pretty painful nonetheless and there were a lot of emotions that didnt just go away overnight when we "worked it out" as it was. Its finally starting to fade though, and I am again finding energy to deal with things here, to work on dolls, and to join life again in general.

The house is coming along, very slowly. I still havent touched the dining room or living room, and Chloe's room is unfinished. But the kitchen i nearing completion at least. I am so sick of living in this empty house, I need start working my ass off to get done by Thanksgiving at least. I cant imagine not having everything together for Christmas, that would be horrid.

The kitchen still needs some things... some of the cabinet doors had to be changed and the new ones arent here yet, one sheetrocked corner needs to be mudded again, sanded, primed and painted. The faucet, garbage disposal, diswasher, range and pendant lights over the sink need to be installed. The windows have to be removed, restored, and painted (off white like the upper cabinets) and their trim put back up and painted, the floor needs to some love, the doors need to be stripped and painted, and the door trims and baseboard trim need to be stained and put back up. oh and i need to trim out the edges of the ceiling with tin moulding. sheesh, now that i write it all out, it sounds like a lot to do >:-| And then, when I have funds again, I am supposed to do a tile backsplash in cool custom made art nouveau tiles, and undercabinet lighting. *when* I have funds again... and judging by the dismal state of ebay sales lately, that may be a long way off. I am much more worried about getting the bills paid right now.

oh, and one other *minor* thing... we have no electricity in the kitchen lol. we rewired, but the wires are all hanging down in the basement by the circuit box. we need 2 dedicated circuits and 2 other circuits to hook the kitchen up, and we have no free circuits at all. and some dumb fuck installed the circuit box in the bathroom in the basement, which is illegal, so the city is breathing down our necks to move it. it looks like to free up circuits for the kitchen (well to do it to code anyway), we had best just move the circuit box, replace it with one with more circuits, and take care of both problems together. thats probably a fairly big project, and of course we cant afford to hire an electrician, so its up to Dan to get it done. And around his 60+ hour work week and his 45 minute commute to and from work, I am sure he will get right on that... *sigh*

So... kitchen pics. I am proud to say I completely fucked up the design for the upper glass cabinets. I made decisions about the mullion widths and outside edge widths from a mental image in my head, instead of drafting working drawings to refine my design. so i didnt really take into account what sizes the doors were actually going to end up being, and consequently the mullions are way too wide for the scale of the doors. they look like they came from ikea, instead of looking similar to my 1915 arts and crafts dining room windows that they were supposed to mimic. I should so know better than that... I spent two years as an interior design major, I have done shit like this before. I am dying over this *sigh*

the dishwasher is going to have a cabinet door installed on the front so you wont really know its a dishwasher. (that is a kick ass, top-of-the-line $1600 bosch dishwasher, btw. its never been used, its still under warranty and i paid $475 for it on craigslist. craigslist is the shit i say!) the sink base and the lower corner cabinet are waiting for their doors as well... ignore the nasty green color of the windows... they will be the same color as the upper cabinets when i get them pulled and restored. the kitchen doors will be stained, as soon as i get them stripped.

the hole for the drop in range (found my dual fuel, Jennair downdraft slide-in range, with convection oven & grill insert, on craigslist for $250. its not perfect, its black and a little worn looking... i want the new stainless one eventually, but its $2200 and that just isnt happening right now. so the $250 stand in is cool with me... ). waiting for a lower cabinet door over here too, and for hinges to put up that last upper cabinet door

the fridge cabinet... we dont have a fridge though. thats the corner i need to finish mudding and painting...

da pantry...

my pretty light

Fri, 15 Sep 2006 21:51:26 GMT

Stolen from celticgeekess:

1. Your Middle Name (it's a friendslocked post, but you can skip this one if you want to):
2. Age:
3. Single or Taken:
4. Favorite Movie:
5. Favorite Song:
6. Favorite Band/Artist:
7. Dirty or Clean:
8. Tattoos and/or Piercings:
9. Favorite food:
10. Favorite doll:

HERE COMES THE FUN ... ... ...

1. Do we know each other outside of LJ?
2. What's your philosophy on life?
3. Would you have my back in a fight?
4. Would you keep a secret from me if you thought it was in my best interest?
5. What is your favorite memory of us?
6. Would you give me a kidney?
7. Tell me one odd/interesting fact about you:
8. Would you take care of me when I'm sick?
9. Can we get together and make a cake?
10. Have you heard any rumors of me lately?
11. Do you/have you talk(ed) shit about me?
12. Do you think I'm a good person?
13. Would you drive across country with me?
14. Do you think I'm attractive?
15. If you could change anything about me, would you?
16. What do you wear to sleep?
17. Would you come over for no reason just to hang out?
18. Would you go on a date with me if i asked you?
19. If I only had one day to live, what would we do together?
20. Will you repost this so i can fill it out for you?

House stuffs...

Tue, 22 Aug 2006 19:04:24 GMT

The weekend was long and dirty, and the main floor and basement have finally succumbed completely to chaos...

Dan and friends finished removing the old oil furnace venting chimney from the main floor and the basement. The chimney was placed in the most inconveniant place possible - it ran through the entrance of our bedrrom in the attic so you had to stoop to get past it under the eaves, through the already tiny kithchen, and in the middle of my future studio space in the basement. So having it out is really nice, everything seems more opened up. And the open hole in the attic roof has made the attic so cool and comfortable - and I can lie in bed and watch the stars, or possibly, feel the rain on my face (if the weather changes). Got to get that fixed soon I suppose...

Demo pics (and cute kitty pic too!)

The kitchen chimney and its framing exposed:

sans framing:

chimney gone!

you got to miss the thick cloud of dust containing god-knows-what-old-fashioned-asbestos-lead-arsenic-cocktail, and the dozens of garbage bags of mortar, dust and soot that had to be hauled out.

check out dan's black arms - it was pretty cool, his skin was entirely black and covered in bright red hair. Like a new super race evolved from the fjords to thrive in asbestos-laden environments.

Finn checking me out through the hole in the attic floor.

the last part of the chimney to go:

So... with the kitchen demo'd and cleaned up, Chloe can come back home from her grandma's. Chloe has become completely accustomed to chaos... I moved my espresso machine into the bathroom cause it was one intact room with water and a clean surface. So chloe was in there taking a bath (she hadnt noticed that I moved the coffee maker) and i walked in and made myself a mocha. And she DIDNT EVEN ACKNOWLEDGE me in the bathroom grinding coffee beans and brewing espresso. So I was like "uhm, isnt that weird that I am making coffee in the bathroom, baby?" and she just sort of shrugs... like "WTF dude, we eat dinner on a couch on the front porch, i sleep on a bed in the living room, and I have to play with bits of trash I find, since you DIDNT EVEN BRING MY TOYS when we moved. So, no, coffee in the bathroom doesnt seem weird"

Then, R3 (My brother Zach's girlfriend, Rachel. Not to be confused with his ex-wife Rachel, or his sister Rachel. Refered to as R3) and Dan's tires got slashed on Saturday night, along with like 10 other people cars over the last week. (The cops said that is not at all normal for our neighborhood, just some shithead kids no doubt). So now, amidst the old kitchen cabinets, appliances, bags of debris, old bricks, and piles of broken lumber, there are also three cars parked in our backyard to protect them from bored shitheads. We are truly living the white trash dream i say...

A Sneak Peek...

Tue, 22 Aug 2006 18:15:30 GMT

Bella Auden that I have been working on for way too long. But she is finally done, woot!

I wasnt sure if I was going to like Bella Auden, cause I really didnt like her in pics with her default face up. But she looked to have a bit of a Margo-esque sculpt, and I love Margo, but I hate how undrefined her sculpt is...so I though I would see if Bella Auden was a better alternative. I LOVE the way she turned out... I think personality-wise, she is my favorite I have ever done. She was loosely based on this really bitchy waitress at the Delta that I am sort of fascinated with. And I took that heinous default wig of hers and chopped the shit out of it until it was cool - that was satisfying.

So... she is going up on eBay tomorrow night, and tradition dictates that because I like her so well, she WILL tank. If i wasnt so broke, I would keep her, but i just cant right now - I am still trying to avoid having to give up any of my other dolls, so everything I bought to sell definitely has to go as planned.

Finally...

Sun, 06 Aug 2006 02:37:24 GMT

I finished Elf Lishe... she is a totally modified Sleeping Elf Lishe head. And she is blue :-) and she was a royal bitch to photograph. For some reason both my camera and photoshop were conspiring against me to automatically adjust her skintone back to a more "normal" color. Since I am largely Photoshop retarded, my efforts to bring the blue tones back to her skin also resulted in the background becoming very blue. But still, on my monitor at least, her skintone looks pretty accurate, but a little bit more subtle than in real life, but close nonetheless. i really need to learn how to use photoshop properly...

Anywayz.. here she is. I really wanted her to look mischievious, a little bit evil.. and i pretty much think she does.

I am one bad MF

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 18:50:18 GMT

Sher is 16% evil?? Mia is 24% evil? Posers you are. I am TRUE evil. And the fact that I am taking online quizzes instead of working on Elf Lishe proves it.. or it proves that I am just lazy *shrug*

You Are 62% Evil

You are very evil. And you're too evil to care.
Those who love you probably also fear you. A lot.

How Evil Are You?

These things are addictive...

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 18:42:26 GMT

Taken from pumabaerchen

You Are a Pegasus

You are a perfectionist, with an eye for beauty.
You know how to live a good life - and you rarely deviate from your good taste.
While you aren't outgoing, you have excellent social skills.
People both admire you - and feel very comfortable around you.

What Mythological Creature Are You?

Thu, 03 Aug 2006 17:04:28 GMT

Stolen from everyone else:

What Sanrio Character Are You?
Hosted by theOtaku.com: Anime. Done right.

I am still trying to largely avoid my computer so i can actually get something done. We got the oil chimney torn out down to the attic floor last weekend, so just two more levels to go this weekend. The next room it goes through is the kitchen, so the next step is to gut the kitchen. Woot! At least it feels like we are making progress finally.

Dan tearing the chimey down from the roof:

My future bedroom, sans obnoxious chimney placed squarely in the walkway:

the worker drones (my brother zach and his girlfriend rachel):

and from behind:

This is the study thats adjacent to our bedroom - this is the only room i have painted so far. It is serving as my studio for now, since it is the only pristine room in the house. its future plan is to be our reading room done in a sort of sunwashed morrocan thing (our bedroom will be too)...

This is where the magic happens people... just picture me, unshowered, banana latte in hand, cat screaming in my ear (sher knows what i am talking about, dont you?) in my pajamas, MAKING DREAMS COME TRUE

Today i am finally going to finish Blue Elf Lishe and list her, I swear to god... I have been stalling on her for a year, I dont get why, but its time to get her done. All she needs is to be glossed, have her lashes applied and have her backside blushed...

Boob sweat. Thats what I've got going on

Sat, 22 Jul 2006 01:27:57 GMT

its like 102 degrees... when does this ever happen here? And it has to be like 120 in the attic where my studio is. I was putting the eyes in a head and the eye putty was all hot and sticky and wouldnt come off. Yuck

I finished the 4 Sisters head... she is all dark and sexy, I like her! I like 4 sisters in general, so versatile... but I especially like the slutty little evil ones, like Sher's Elijah - Alisha does a wicked 4 Sisters.

Ebay is sucking ass right now I noticed, so i dont know how she will do, but I have to try... bills to pay *sigh*

Dan just called to let me know he went out after work and is now too drunk to drive home for awhile... lol, guess the weekend just started. Gives me time to take a shower anyway...

Did you miss me?

Thu, 20 Jul 2006 18:13:16 GMT

I have been so offline for weeks.. I would like to say its cause I have been so productive working on the new house... but... well, whatever. Really I have just been enjoying being here and having cool stuff within walking distance (yeah, having anything within walking distance is a totally novelty for farm girl here)... cool stuffs like the Delta, Bubble Bubble Milk Tea, Papaccino's, and Woodstock Park (and yeah, parks are still exciting for the farm girl too... grass and trees without dust, shit, bugs and cows - WOW. and there is a homeless guy, and he plays guitar in the park with other homeless guys every night. its like a homeless guy tailgate party, except with bicycles with elaborate trailers made of junk and filled with cans)

Pretty much the only thing I have accomplished with the house since moving is to furnish the front porch, which is the ONLY place we have furniture besides the bedroom. We basically live on the front porch, and uhm yeah, 4:20 seems to be coming more often these days (more often for some people than others it appears). Which is what happens when you hang out on the porch too much (my brother didnt even bother to go inside last night apparently)...

I *have* been working on dolls however... I have had some good (well, that remains to be seen i suppose) ideas after taking a few weeks off... I did some major mods to a Unoa O face that I think were a good idea, but I am not sure yet if it is all going to come together sucessfully. I am just finishing a dark 4 sisters, and I am starting to work on a Bella Auden for ebay. Bella Auden is freaking huge, and so are her nipples XD... my only complaint with her so far is the scale of the lace on her lingerie is way too big, that is a huge pet peeve of mine. She is a bit like a better sculpted Margo (I love the general idea of Happy Doll's sculpts, but the finish work on their sculpting leaves a LOT to be desired - they leave so much unresolved around the eyes and in the mouth that makes them a bitch to paint). I still have my blue skinned Elf Lishe mod in progress too... I am going to have to post some interim pictures of her in the next few days, cause I honestly cannot decide if she is successful or not.

I tried to put background music on my journal, did it work? My speakers arent working apparently so I cant tell. I am so clueless about this CSS shit...

New email address!!

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 18:00:04 GMT

Send all emails to rachel@evenstardesign.com ... in a couple of days I wont be able to recieve anything at graves@web-ster.com.

Chloe shakes her stuff

Tue, 27 Jun 2006 04:04:07 GMT

We went to my cousin's wedding on Saturday... Chloe so got DOWN.

Mon, 05 Jun 2006 16:06:07 GMT

So... I am going to try and be consistent about writing in this thing, although I have to warn you, it is quickly going to digress into a very boring account of the renovation of our new house. We want to do a website for the house eventually, but for now, this is all I have time to for.

Today I am finishing up a commission, getting ready for this weekend's massive garage sale, and my sister-in-law Anna is going to be back tonight on a 2 week break from her job on the dinner train, so I'm going to pick her up at the airport. Ugh, I have so much to do right now...

On a very depressing note... a doll friend, Jane (Rhinestonej on DoA), had her husband pass away yesterday after only being diagnosed with lung cancer two months ago. just.... ugh. I think Karin Bussman is organizing a donation to an animal shelter in Tim's name, I will post details about it when they settle on one. My thoughts are definitly with you Jane :-(

Sun, 04 Jun 2006 23:20:21 GMT

totl.net/Religion

Apparently, I am a hedonist... not as exhausting as being a nihilist, but close.

Amy is killing me....

Sun, 04 Jun 2006 22:57:59 GMT

want want WANT... Amy is such an amazing designer, who else can make a dead sexy cool BJD *wedding* gown, of all things?

I bid, was promptly outbid, but I am going to try one more time I think. Very bad timing right now with the house and all, or else I would probably sell my soul to try and get it.

Sat, 03 Jun 2006 21:47:23 GMT

A test to see if I get how to add pics...

one bad ass pussy here

Well... now I just need to come up with something to say

Sat, 03 Jun 2006 18:38:53 GMT

Still trying to figure out how to get it to look the way I want