Just to let everyone know who is not already on my friend's list to comment if you want to be added. I don't check up on who has friended me or not so I have no idea who or who has not has friended this journal. And I'm not going to automatically assume you even want to be added.

So, the stuff I normally make public is my finished fursuit work and other business related things or public announcements (conventions I'm going to, if I'm going to be away, website updates, etc)

I friends-lock my WIPs, doodles, rants, general conversation, and pretty much anything I'd consider more personal (without moving into really personal stuff or TMI). It is pretty random and I tend to use my LJ friends as a sounding board when I'm considering something new or just need advice on a project (or on life in general).

So just comment here if you're interested.

As long as your journal is active and you seem to be a real person (not a suspiciously empty journal with no contact information or apparent life) and you are not someone I personally object to (though I really can't think of any offhand) then I'll add you.

Though if I notice you've not friended me/unfriended me before I add you (I check only every few weeks) then I may not reciprocate. Why enable a person see my random stuff if they're not even watching at all?

My AIM is Beetlefursuits@aol.com (though don't use that an an email address, because I won't check it. Email via my website instead)

Feel free to AIM me when I'm online, but keep in mind that I probably won't be receptive to 'small talk'. Do not contact me if all you want to say is "Hi. How are you?". I DESPISE that. But if you want to discuss fursuits and fursuit business - then I'll be all over that.

I occasionally go through and remove friends who have not friend me back/unfriended me. So if I friend you upon request and then later unfriend you with no explanation, that's a likely reason why.

All Emails/Comments/Notes/PMs to which the answer is contained in here (or to which the appropriate answer is "Go Google it.") will henceforth be cheerfully ignored ^^

My FAQ: http://www.beetlecatoriginals.com/faq.html

WHERE TO BUY FUR (which is IN the FAQ but lets be clear because I get this A LOT):

www.crscraft.com (international) – Realistic furs. Ignore the short pile and fun fur as it is not good for anything except small accents. I use a lot of their furs in my suits.

www.imstuffedfur.com (international) – High quality random assortment of furs. Pricy but worth it if you need something unusual

www.distinctivefabrics (USA) www.interiormall.com(search for 'promo shag') (Canada) – solid colors of fluffy fur for toonier characters.

AIRBRUSHING INFORMATION:

I use Createx airbrush paints. My airbrush is a Badger 155 Anthem. My compressor is an IWATA Smart Jet.

No I can not tell you what airbrush/compressor to buy. The above is what I have and it works for me. Createx (transparent or opaque does not matter) has proven to be one of the longest lasting paints, but you can airbrush with any material that you can get to come out the nozzle. In a pinch I'll use basic artist's acrylics.

No you do not NEED an airbrush to paint fursuits. I used a paintbrush and watered down acrylic paints for a long time. An airbrush is extremely useful if you make a lot of costumes, but it is not a requirement.

COSTUME MAKING RESOURCES:

My tutorial page (has links to other people's interesting tutorials as well)

The fursuit LJ community

http://fursuit.org/

PERSONAL:

- I do not know anything about, or even particularly like, anime. I have never even MADE an anime fursuit! I do not go to anime conventions. Red XIII and Amaterasu are not anime - they are video game characters (from Final Fantasy and Ōkami​ respectively). My Targ is from Star Trek.

- I will not make a copyrighted character. Not because it's illegal but because it would get very boring very fast making the complete cast of Wolf's Rain over and over again.

- A list of conventions I will be going to in 2011:
http://www.furtherconfusion.org/fc2011/
http://www.califur.com/2011/
https://www.rainfurrest.org/2011/

- A list of conventions that I will NOT be going to:
Assume everything except seen above. I go to FC every year, the rest can vary but rarely venture away from the west coast.

- A complete list of journals/galleries that I update:

http://beetlecat.livejournal.com/
http://www.furaffinity.net/user/beetlecat/
http://beetlecat.deviantart.com/
http://twitter.com/Beetlefursuits

- My online store:

http://www.artfire.com/users/Beetlecat

I update as I am able but it's a fulltime job so I can only manage a good restocking every couple months or I would never have time to make fursuits :p


*** If all of my commission status updates say that I am 'closed' then I am NOT giving out price quotes, NOT contacting you when I reopen, or putting you 'first on the list for when I open'. You'll just have to be patient as I work on my current commissions ***

Current Commission Status: Closed until 2012
--

Feel free to leave comments/questions, but I will delete the irrelevant/off topic/out-dated to keep this page clean.

If anyone knows anyone who wants to offload a couple of TNG EXPOsed tickets between now and the start of The Calgary Expo this April, I'm interested :)

The auction for my unicorn partial ends in less than a day!



http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7286457
http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7286457


As well, I have just uploaded a new video! The FC 2012 fursuit parade from the viewpoint of a fursuiter :3

Selling my unicornish fursuit! Auction is being held over FA and will last 6 days

Head over here: http://www.furaffinity.net/view/7286457 for all the auction info!


( Read more... )

I have my tee shirt design more or less finished ^_^ The colours are off-white, tan, and chocolate. And will be on brown or dark olive or some such colour shirts. (maybe order some women's in lavender?)

But now I need to know an approximation of the range of shirt sizes that I need to order.

Poll #1813418
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 95

Shirt Size in Men's or Women's Fitted Shirts

When 2011 started, I was in California visiting my boyfriend after he flew up to Canada to visit my family for Christmas.

When 2012 started, I was in California living with my husband after we flew up to Canada to visit my (our) family for Christmas.

It has been a long year XD

---
Personal life:

There was a lot of happiness and a lot of pain but there is no growth possible without either of those. And I can say that right now that despite or because of it all I am the happiest that I have ever been in a way that is impossible to describe to folks that have not experienced it for themselves so I will not belabor the attempt.

This year has been one of change. More than perhaps any other in my adult life.

--
Furry:

Furry has also come into question in my life this past year. I was never very ingrained in the community (coming in via costumes rather than any inborn need) but, like many of my friends in the community, I feel like I'm growing away from it of late. Not a bad thing, but something of note. Life just.. goes on.

--
Work:

The business goes strong. I think I have learned an incredible amount this past year about my art even despite all the other trials in my life. The biggest boon that marriage brings is that I do not feel so hemmed in by requirements of quotas or not spending money on all the cool new shit that may or may not pan out immediately. I have also finally decided not to let other artists (or other people) affect my art. I refuse anymore to chase any ideas of what my art *should* be vs what it is. They can do what they do and I will do what I do.

--

That is it in a nutshell. I can't say where 2012 where go but I expect it will be a much more stable year for me ^_^ Just living and working and a little bit of traveling here and there. Should be fun!

Well no not my journal entries :p But Almost all public WIP photos will be sent to Tumblr now instead of my LJ or FA.

I feed most pics to my Twitter so if you are already watching then then you're good to go ^_^

https://twitter.com/#!/Beetlefursuits

But if you have a Tumblr (or just want to check in once in a while on mine) then here is the link to that

http://beetlefursuits.tumblr.com/

I post finished works and maybe one or two sneak peeks if I'm really proud of something to my FA (as well as other arts I draw or have drawn for me)

http://www.furaffinity.net/user/beetlecat/

Oh baby I already have a pretty bloody fantastic job ^_^

All the days

sitting in galleries as people go "oh how cute" walk past and doing calculations and redoing calculations and dropping products that don't work and trying something else and taking summer job to make ends meet as everyone tells me to just "maybe get a real job.. you can still do art as a hobby!" But I don't want a real job because all my bosses are jerks who tell me what to do all the time and I don't respect them and don't want to be a clock watcher with something I don't really like/pays too little/is too dangerous/involves too much bureaucracy and refusing to give up on the idea even though time was passing and I often seemed to be standing in place

actually paid off. Who knew.

Still super cheap, no reserve! All information at this auction link:

http://www.furbuy.com/auctions/1027824.html

Midori made an awesome suit/character here and I'm sincerely sad to see him go.