visitors can't see pics , please register or login


I was practicing some new 3D skills (hair, glitter) and decided to test them out with Sky Rocket. The model is the one I made a while back for Peachy, but with different materials.

I've been working on this 3D Spike model for ages and finally got it far enough along that it's presentable, though I can still see a lot of things I want to fix. This really pushed the limit of what I know about modeling, but I like it.

Here's Spike!

visitors can't see pics , please register or login
 

Here's a link to my model on sketchfab if you want to rotate it and see the whole thing:
visitors can't see pics , please register or login

https://skfb.ly/oNCVQ

This is the main reference photo I used:
visitors can't see pics , please register or login

My sister and her husband are starting a new Facebook shop selling handmade rustic crafts, and they want to set up PayPal so they can accept payments from people using credit cards and such.

I'm trying to help them get things set up since neither of them is very web savvy, but I only use my PayPal for buying so my knowledge is limited on the selling side of things.  Can anyone help me understand this better?

How do they set up their account so that they can have a payment page for people to use?  Do they need a business account instead of a regular PayPal account?  What fees will they need to worry about?

One thing I know is that they don't have a bank account.  They set up their PayPal account using a pay card from work.  I think this means that they can't verify their account.  Will this affect whether they can take payments from people not using paypal?

Thanks for any information you guys can give me.   

I feel chatty, so feel free to just scroll to the pictures if you don't want to know a lot of extra information.  Otherwise...

Story time!

So the other day a few weeks ago, I stopped by Goodwill.  After checking the toy section for ponies (no score) I looked through the electronics section just for fun, and spied an old Polaroid Colorpack II camera. 

I've never had a Polaroid camera before in my life, and at the time was blissfully unaware that film for these things is hard to come by.  I vaguely recalled that at some point Polaroid had stopped making film, but that Fujifilm had picked up where they left off.  With my head full of nostalgia and a mistily recalled memory of the fun of instant photos, I thought, why not?

I snatched up my new camera ($3.99) and eagerly searched the web for available film.  Holy crap that stuff is pricey.  Although Amazon did in fact have film for my new toy, it was more than $1 per shot.    I decided to put the film buying on hold for a while to see if it went on sale.

A few days later, I find ANOTHER Polaroid camera at Goodwill.  This one was newer, and said it takes 600 film.  Perhaps this will be easier to find!  I optimistically tell myself.

Ha ha ha.

There's only one source left for 600 film, and it's the Impossible Project.  It's $25 for an 8 pack, and the film is notoriously temperamental.  Pass.

So I bought the FP-100C for my Colorpack II, take a few photos, and I LOVE it.  It is so much fun!  I took it to Fall Creek Falls with me, and I took it to the coffee shop with me to take photos of my friends:

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


My friend in the picture is as enamored of this novelty (if you can call technology invented 50 years ago a novelty) as I am, and we had a lot of fun playing with it.

So... fast forward to this past weekend.  I'm searching Craigslist for yard sales, and what do you know!  Someone is selling antique and vintage photo equipment.  How can I resist?

I picked up THREE new Polaroid cameras, plus several flashbars and bags.  (At this point I had to admit to myself that I've become addicted to Polaroids.  The only thing I've collected more of is ponies.)

All of my new cameras take SX-70 film.  One is a white rigid bodied One Step with the classic Polaroid rainbow, and the other two are folding SX-70s, a Model 2 and a Model 3.

Both of the folding cameras looked awful, with artificial leather skins cracked and crumbling into absolutely disgusting dust.  I wish I'd gotten a picture.  The Model 3 looked a bit like this:

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Luckily, it only cost me $0.50.   

I pulled all that crap off (yuck yuck yuck), and after checking out available skin replacements online and being thoroughly unimpressed with the bland choices, decided to make my own!

I replaced the skins with some black pleather I had lying around, and then I painted that with acrylics.  It looks really cool now.  I'm happy.  This one is for my friend in the picture; I haven't decided what I'm going to paint on my other one.

The bottom, folded -
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


The top, folded -
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


The back, open -
visitors can't see pics , please register or login

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


The front, open -
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Oh, and as far as my Colorpack II goes, I finally found a use for a vinyl decal I've been saving:

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Instant photos are pretty magical, so it seemed very appropriate.   

I made these for a convention at my university.  They are ID tags with hand engraved cutie marks and tied ribbon chains.  They wound up being more popular than I expected! 

Is there any interest here at the arena for something like this?  Customs would be easy enough if I can find ribbon to match the specified pony's colors. 

visitors can't see pics , please register or login

If you enjoy YA fiction and haven't read The Archived yet, remedy that.  It's fantastic and original, and just came out last week.  Check out the cover for some of my inspiration for these customs - visitors can't see pics , please register or login


There's a launch party for the book this Friday, and as a gift for the author, I've made two blind bag customs based off of characters from her book!   

I used a glittery Minuette and a Royal Riff as bait.  I took two tiny key charms and some thin leather lace to make the necklaces, and a pair of old earrings to make the bracelets.
visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Then I broke out the paint.  I gave Mac (Minuette) a thunderstorm for a cutie mark, and tinted her eyes gray like the character in the book.  Wes (Royal Riff) had fracture lines painted onto his existing music symbols, since they were almost perfect already, lol.  He also has a bit of eyeliner added to match his character.

visitors can't see pics , please register or login



They were a fun afternoon's diversion from homework.  I hope the author enjoys them!

 

For my Electrical Engineering lab today, we had to put together an electrical hobby kit.  I chose to put together an FM transmitter (you can plug various devices into it and broadcast the sound as a short distance radio station - awesome).

visitors can't see pics , please register or login


Of course, once I had it built and took it home to test it (and spent like an hour trying to FIND a freaking radio in my house) I had to choose some audio to test it out with.

So, if any of my neighbors are scanning the radio waves tonight, they might find themselves intrigued or confused when they find, around station 103.whatever, the sounds of Twilight Sparkle and Spike the dragon trying to find a crystal heart.

You're welcome, neighbors.