They look gorgeous! Good luck with your project 

Hey all...


Just popped over to my neighbours garage sale (her girls were having a clear out of toys and things were looking a bit quiet so thought we'd lend our support... our girls came away with a mountain of necklaces to dress up in!). Anyhoo, Romper was sitting there, looking at me.


Well, of course I couldn't resist!


Can I get a PC on her? She's going to clean up a treat (I think with no permanent marks) and her hair is still very pink! Her tail still works and no rubbing to her symbols. Just a scratch to her eye.


Anyone able to throw some info my way? 

Do you know of this species? Yep
Are you aware that it is endangered? No, but I'm not surprised!
How do you feel about the species? Well, I wouldn't like to be bitten by one! To my knowledge, they are notorious as NZ's most venomous spider. I think most kids get grilled at some point during their education not to get too curious with driftwood at certain beaches. Which beaches, I can't really recall!
Do you think it's worth saving? I think any indigenous species is worth saving - even a tiny, nipper of a spider! Once they're gone, they can't be replaced, something I think so many people are grossly ignorant of.
Do you feel that the state is committed to the cause of preserving this species? I'm sure some government dept. is, though I can't say I have seen any obvious information about the spider like you do the kiwi or kakapo for example.
Have you ever seen a Katipo in person? Yes, they are common in Museum/wildlife exhibits. They are teeny little things.
anything else you'd like to add? Good luck with your research. Maybe see if you can visit any DOC (department of conservation) websites from NZ; they're bound to have some info on conservation projects concerning Katipos. I'd be very surprised if they didn't!

Oh! I'm loving these photos and techniques! Keep 'em coming 


I haven't had trouble with staining (using food colour). Obviously I'm pretty careful about it, and a bit like other dye I suppose the whole process is so brief that provided you wash the pony quickly there shouldn't be any trouble    I do wonder when I'll make my first cock-up though! 


Here's my other two re-pinks, both of whom had white hair before:


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Childhood Little Flitter


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Wind Whistler

Lovely ponies!  And what a beautiful commission you did.  Congrats! 

Thank you Getting back into illustration has just been a recent thing, and ponies have been awesome motivators!!

And yeah, Diamond, the mini-mes don't mean any harm They adore the ponies, and visit the cabinet frequently during the day. Every now and then I'll let a pony out for a quick kiss and cuddle. If I had a dollar for every kiss CocoBerry has had.....

Thanks for the compliments, guys     Sourdough - at the time I did Baby Cotton Candy, I also very lightly touched up my Curly Lock's streak - came up great, not excessively vibrant; just looks slightly faded as opposed to white! I found a tooth pick useful in separating out the hairs from the streak I wanted to colour from the others 


And now preparing myself for hate mail.... I don't have any dye (and am too lazy to find the right one....) so, I experimented with pink food colouring, with great success. I've used it ever since. I don't feel too bad about it - I've heard some people use red fizzy drink!! And I do only colour ponies I intend to keep.


I'm careful with how much I put in, and I use hot water (I found it seems to fix better). Rinse and repeat several times till I have the desired darkness. I then condition, and the colour holds nicely.


If you guys do find photos, even 'after' shots - stick 'em up! 

oh, pretty! Nice job 

My ponies are out on display for the first time now    I just bought a second hand display cabinet to put them in (just did a brag post about it and some new ponies I got to put in it actually! If you'd like to see it, check it out  ).


It's not to everyone's taste, but I wanted my ponies contained together... partly to be displayed proudly, partly to keep them protected (I have two young and very pony enthused girls!) and partly out of respect for my hubby too (I think he'd have a fit if ponies were spread throughout the house LOL).  The shelves were nice and deep, so I could fit two rows of ponies on each. We have been conveniently re-doing our deck, so I was able to raid decking off-cuts to create a little back shelf in order to see the back row of ponies. I was thrilled with out it turned out 


I think possibly however, the best part of any display, is actually making it! (which pony goes where... tidying her hair.... a little to the left... a little to the right.... THERE!)