u/FeralHarmony

Made with Sculpey and sealed with UV resin. The skull had an acrylic wash before sealing to give it a dirtier, aged look. The flowers have chrome paint in the centers, but it's hard to see. These will be pendants.

Lessons learned... with the wreath, I should have attached hardware before baking. When I baked it, I had something different in mind for how it would be used, so didn't do the hardware. It was difficult to wrap the eyelet post around the top of the wreath after baking and the flowers stick out more than I would like. With the skull and hat, if I do a similar charm, next time I would bake the skull first before creating the hat so that I could get a better fit. These were made on different days and meant for a different plan... but when I held them together, the combo was too cute to resist putting together permanently.

Overall I'm pretty happy with them. I find jump rings very annoying to set up, though. It's almost impossible for me to get them perfectly lined up and closed. I might try making my own hardware from wire that won't require a jump ring.... does anyone else do that?

I found this in a creek in Upstate NY, but I would probably assume it washed down the creek from somewhere upstream... and the actual origin is unknown if that is the case. I want to use it in an art piece, but only if I can get an ID on it first. It's thick and heavy for the size, feels pretty well worn (no sharp edges). There's a hole that looks like it might be natural. I've cleaned it up as much as possible, but it is stained on the inside. Please let me know if you can tell what animal this is from.

Upstate NY along Sandy Creek. In previous years, this patch of "land" was flooded or water logged at least half of the year, as part of the creek. The "soil" is mostly sand and shale. I've never seen anything quite like this plant out in the wild here. I was afraid to touch it with my bare hands because it *looks* very spiny/prickly. It is very showy with the blooms starting out pink before they open, then turning purple to blue as they open and fade. I need to know what this is!

Is there an external feature I can look for to definitively sex this beetle? (Found in Upstate NY in case anyone is curious.)

This carpet beetle larvae somehow survived the entire wash cycle with the towels in my washing machine! Anyone else swapping the laundry never would have even noticed him in the bottom of the washer basin, so he's lucky. I know most people don't like them, but I think they are super adordable. Look at his cute little punk spikes and chubby little face.