u/Idkmyname2079048

I think I came out pretty alright for my first try. This is the first time oin the few months I've been working with glass that I think there's hope for me. Unfortunately, it developed a hairline crack to the right of the yolk. The dark spot on the middle is the remains of what I thought would be a darker yellow. I guess I hadn't removed it as well as I thought. 😅 Anyway, I'm still feeling pretty encouraged after my glass session today. I'll be trying the egg again next week with some color and thickness adjustments.

I've been trying to steer away from realism and focus more on capturing the vibe of my subjects. I'm kind of enjoying a more illustrative style. These are all a watercolor/gouache base layer with soft pastel on top.

I have done a lot of realistic watercolors, and that's what I tend to gravitate towards, but I alyways LOVE this sort of style done by other artists. I've been feeling kind of burned out of realistic painting lately, so while I was on vacation, I tried to capture the summery vibe and focus less on realism. Honestly, these drawings grow on me more evey time I look at them. 😄 (Watercolor, gouache, soft pastel)

My husband and I started running again for our anniversary present to each other this year. We were running regularly 4 years ago but kind of fizzled out from also having really physical jobs at the time. We started running again a month ago, and I was so excited that I signed us up for a 5k, probably a bit early. 😅

I ended up a little TOO excited about running again and gave myself tendonitis. I had to stop running over a week ago. We almost switched to the virtual run so we could do it later, but then I decided I'd just walk one loop (2.5k). The day of, my ankles felt fine, and the energy at the start was just too much, so I said I might jog a little.

I ran the whole thing. Huge props to my husband who ran it with me in his everyday shorts, had to hold his phone, wallet, keys, and had to use the bathroom the whole time because he thought we'd only be walking. I'm so happy I ran it, even though I know I probably shouldn't have. Now it's time to allow myself to actually recover and build up my running more gradually. 😅

They're still looking weird, but I think I'm improving! Hoping to make it over to make a few more this week before I leave for vacation.

I'm just getting back into running after a few years' break. I used to run a few 5k distances in a week in very minimal shoes, and now I struggle to complete a third of that. I bought myself some more supportive shoes for getting back into running, and they feel fine so far, but I choose them based on fit and I just realized they're technically walking shoes.

Will these truly be bad to run in? I've been reading that walking shoes don't have the right shock absorbtion for running, but I land forefoot first and have never felt like I needed a lot of shock absorbtion. Has anybody made the same mistake as me? I can't return them at this point.

I used to run regularly, including a couple of 5k distances per week. Then I got covid and couldn't run for awhile, and then I just lost my motivation. I think I ran like once or twice 3 years ago. Other than that, I've just started running again after 4 years.

I feel kind of silly for signing up for a 5k so soon. I have just under 4 weeks to do what I can to prepare, and right now 1.5 miles is pretty difficult. Does it seem like it will be possible? I'm not even sure how I'll go about training with such a small window. I am really excited to get out there and push myself a little, but I used to be in the top 3 of my age group, and I think that's highly unlikely so I'm trying to keep my expectations realistic. 🫠

Either way, I'm SO happy to be running again! I wish I could do more, but I'm also not as durable as I used to be so I'm trying not to do too much too soon!

Sorry for the noob question, but I turn quite thin spindles for spinning yarn with. I've only ever worked with dry wood. I ordered a few blanks of some Lake Volta Ebony that was on sale (mostly just to have for later when I'm better at sharpening my tools), and I didn't know it would arrive waxed.

Is it safe to assume that it is not dry, and is there something I should do to get it to dry? Is there a way to turn it first and then dry it without warping? I kind of have a feeling it would be better if I could dry it first, but I'm really not familiar with turning wood that isn't kiln dried.

Thanks to the people who suggested I make marbles as a beginner! My marbles are ugly and not all round, but I went from feeling like I had no interesting ideas to being completely reinspired. If money weren't a limiting factor, I could've sat there making ugly marbles all day. I absolutely can't wait to go make more next week! I feel drawn to these like I am drawn to smooth pebbles at the beach. 😆

I'm pretty new to flameworking. I've been doing it for about 2.5 months, and I only get to go for a couple of hours a week. The person who runs the place has been away every other week lately, so I've been going even less often. The last couple of times I went, I really struggled to feel creative, and I felt more frustrated that I couldn't do things that I wanted to.

Does anybody have some beginner friendly ideas that aren't beads? (I don't face the supplies to make beads. Every time I look up ideas, it all either seems too difficult, I don't have the tools, or it's beads. I was hooked on earrings for a bit, but that's kind of fizzled out, and I really want to have a bunch of ideas next time I go. The supplies/tools I have access to are very basic: a minor torch, graphite marver, big tweezers, and borosilicate glass rods.

(The picture is a giraffe I made a couple of weeks ago. I couldn't get his legs right, so I made him laying down, and I'm actually quite proud of how that worked out. 🤣)

I hopw this is ok to post. I read the rules, and it seemed like it would be. I have been including snail stickers of my own paintings that I had already had as a small extra with orders. As I'm running out of those, I'm debating what to order to replace them.

This snail is my shop logo, and I thought it would be easy and make sense to just order a bunch of these, but I'm not sure how to include the text, or if I should keep the text at all.

Picture 1 is exactly how my shop logo looks. In picture 2, I just added my shop name in smaller text in a spot where I think someone could cut it off if they wanted to. I want the sticker to be connected to my shop and not just a random looking snail, but I mostly want it to be a cute extra that someone would want to use. I usually use stickers from shops I like, but not everyone wants shop names all over their water bottle (or wherever they put stickers).

I'd love to hear some opinions on which sticker seems like a better choice.

My mom has worked at libraries for the majority of her career. She is now retired and still working at a local university library, and she finally found money in a book. I asked her to see if she could find the second clue, but it seems like the scavenger hunt is no longer set up.

(AI auto-mod thinks I know who wrote the note, but I want to be clear that this was found randomly. There are names in it, but nobody involved knows who the people are.)