Lily and Jasper - Our Kittens!

Around a month ago, our family adopted two lovely little kittens. They were around ten weeks old when we met them - and they are VERY CUTE!

Our kittens!

Our little boy kitten is named Jasper, and is black with silvery grey. He has almost tiger-like stripes on his face and back - but his belly has black spots - almost like a leopard! He loves to cuddle, and to roll around on his back. He is a sweetie pie!

Jasper kitten!

Jasper asleep on my dad!

Jasper's spotty belly!

Jasper's silvery grey and black head! 

Our little girl kitten is named Lily, and is white with black and tan markings. She has a white diamond-like shape among the black spots on her back! Lily is lightening fast, and likes to steal paper and wrappers! She is a princess!

Lily kitten!

Lily on my lap!

The cute Lily face!

Lily with her diamond on her back!

Both of our kittens have lovely personalities! They are so purry, and they love cuddles and attention. They also love cardboard boxes, plastic lids and ripping up paper, and they are so cute when they play together! Below is a video of Lily and Jasper playing iPad games for cats!

 It is amazing how fast they are growing! We love them!

~Ad =)

Purple Glitter Nails

A few weeks ago, I tried a purple glitter nail design. I wanted each nail to fade from lots of glitter at one end, to less glitter at the other. I started with plain nails...

Then I did a coat of my favourite glittery nail polish (Revlon in Whimsical)...

Next, I added a line of purple glitter at the end of each nail (Sally Hansen Gem Crush in Bejeweled)...

I then alternated layers of the Sally Hansen Gem Crush and Extreme Wear purple glitter, making the stripe a little thicker with each layer - to make it look like it sort of faded down the nails...

I ended up making a bit of a mess...

But after I tidied up the edges and added a clear shiny top coat, it didn't look too bad =D

~Ad =)

Showcasing My Art!

For a while now, I've been meaning to put together something of a portfolio - to showcase my digital artwork. This week, I finally bit the bullet and put one together! (You can find it here =D). I love to make art as a volunteer, as it helps me to learn things, to challenge myself and to practice my skills. I  also am hoping that the showcase I've put together will show that I have enough potential to get into an online art course, as I would love to study more in this area. If nothing else, it was fun to make =).

~Adrielle =)

A New Portrait Background!

So, I have been getting frustrated lately, and wanting to draw more, so I went back to where I started digital drawing (nine years ago) - Puzzle Pirates. I made my first portrait background entry in two years. (I used an alias to enter - this has to do with my recent confidence issues - and a change is as good as a holiday, right?) 

Anyway, I started, as I always do, with a scrappy sketch. I then tidied it up, using Illustrator and Photoshop. 

I added some layer effects (gradients, colors and patterns), and started to fine tune the sail.

I wasn't happy with the way that the sail was sitting against the... whatever that crossbar thing is called, so I pulled it down a little bit, and thinned the outline. I drew the little lines on the ropes, added, fixed up, then recolored the patches on the sail, and lightened the cloud outline (not sure if it is a bit too stylized for the game, but I like it =D). Lastly, I had fun shading the sail quickly, using little dots.

Lastly, I added some more shading and adjusted the ship rail. The final entry looked like this:

The image is based on the times when you're doing badly at the sailing puzzle, and the sail kind of hangs off its little stick on the indicator thing. Making the sail dark blue (like it is on the little indicator thing) looked too... dark/mingled in too much with the sky, so the sail is bluey-grey.

I was really stoked to win with this portrait background entry! (I think I was actually happier to win this time than I have been any other! =D) It definitely gave me the confidence boost I needed!

~Ad =)

Snowy and Petri!

Last year, Ellenya and I adopted two baby budgies. Their names are Snowy and Petri! They are great company, and they are always happy and dancing. Here are some pictures of them :)

Fluffy Snowy!

Snowy and Petri love having a bath each day! Afterwards, they sit on their stick perch to dry off :)

Snowy and Petri love eating cucumber, and they also love playing with strings. One day Ellenya decided to make them a cucumber string kebab! They loved it!!! 

We love our birds!

~AmazinAdrielle :D

Highs and Lows

Most of the time, I believe that I can bend the rules so that I can achieve my dreams and reach my goals. I have always been determined to prove myself - and to prove I'm just as able to do many things as other people are. Before I got too sick, I was a volunteer, and filled my every waking minute with fun extra-curricular stuff. I loved being involved with things, being part of a team, and being creative. Unfortunately, my world got smaller once my illness set in. I became mostly stuck in my house, with too many of my own thoughts in my head.

However isolated I can feel from the outside world, I'm extremely grateful to have access to the internet. It has given me access to study, and has allowed me to shop, see the outside world through photos and videos, chat with people, volunteer and make friends! It also allows me to meet and chat to other people who feel the way that I do, which is fantastic!

I have dreams of becoming an artist one day. I'm proud to have people feature my work anywhere, and I love to win contests. I want to learn everything I can - because with so much time on my hands - imagine the things I could end up knowing in my lifetime!

I love my family and my pets, and I am very grateful to live in my house. My life is pretty awesome, and I'm very happy most of the time.

However, sometimes living with my illness and disability can get me down. There are times when my optimism completely fails, and reality hits me like a sledgehammer. At times like this, I remember that I'm approaching 30 years old. I have certificates and a degree that I will probably never be able to use. I have run out of courses to study that are affordable and fully online. I can't attend classes, complete supervised placement hours, do an internship, or hands-on training. I can't find work, as I can't leave the house most of the time, and have bad patches with my illness where I might end up in bed for months at a time.

My sadness quickly snowballs. I wonder if I've reached the end of the line and learned all that I ever will learn, and achieved all that I will ever achieve. Knowing that my condition is degenerative frightens me, and the fact that I will probably never marry or have children makes me worry about the loneliness that the years to come may bring. I become terribly aware of the fact that it is unlikely I will ever have enough money to pay for the care I will need as I get older - and my future scares me!

At these times, it feels like my illness and disability have stolen all of my hopes and dreams for the future. It seems like I'm always watching life from the sidelines, powerless to do any of the things that I desperately want to do.

Luckily, my low points generally don't last too long. I have a fantastic support network of friends, family, doctors, and the other medical and healthcare people in my life, and I also have the support of my beautiful pets :). Difficult as it can sometimes be, I keep looking for ways to bend the rules of how things are, and I keep hoping :).

~Ad =)

Messy Flower Nail Art!

Ever since I was about 11 or 12 years old, I have been experimenting with nail polishes and drawing little pictures and patterns on my nails. Sometimes my experiments succeed - and sometimes they don't, but I always learn things from what does and doesn't work out - and I always have lots of fun painting! (Some of my other nail art experiments can be seen on my DeviantArt). 

A couple of weeks ago, I tried a floral nail art experiment =D. I started with plain filed nails:

Then applied a pale glittery background colour:

Next, I used pink and blue polishes to create sort of messy blobby flower shapes on each nail:

Then, I added two green leaves - in diagonally opposite corners - on each nail:

To finish off my blobby flowers, I added a dot of yellow nail polish to the centre of each flower:

Then, I added a clear top coat to seal the design:

Some of the flowers turned out better than others - but I was happy with the overall result =D.

It makes me really happy that nail art has become such a big trend lately! There are so many tools and paints available now! It's fantastic! 

~AmazinAdrielle =)