Knittingmommy's Laboratory

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  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191

    Like we would ever forget you!  (by the way people, she is actually a very good writer an I've enjoyed every bit of what I've read).

    Thanks, @IceDragonArt

    So, I'm still dealing with a sick dog. I don't think she's going to make it so I'm basically just spending time with her until the end. She's old so it isn't really that unexpected. I'm sad to be losing a part of my family. She's had a great life with the boys though.

    Not getting too much else done right now. I did finally set up a quick render using Floyd 8. I mixed in a few other characters in my arsenal and a few other morphs. I think he turned out fairly good. Not bad for a first try at using this character and I made him a little more unique while I was at it.

    Old Man

    Gallery Link

  • MollytabbyMollytabby Posts: 1,163

    @Knittingmommy, sending you huge ((hugs)). 

  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191
    edited June 2018

    @MollyTabby Thanks. I'll take any hugs I can get. I'm slowly trying to get back into the swing of things. As much as I'd like, I can't keep putting my life on hold. I'm spending as much time as I can with my dog, but I also have things I need to do. I'm already way behind on releasing my newest book. I haven't even finished the edits for it. I need to sit down and do that. Two of my sons are getting ready for camp and we haven't even gone shopping for last minute stuff yet. Things are just crazy at my house right now.

    I did spend a few minutes setting up a simple render with VYK Midge from the Girl 8 Pro Bundle. I couldn't resist that deal and I have always loved the Girl characters. The Girl 8 really hit a few like buttons for me and all of the extra deals were especially nice. I managed to get a lot of things that were on my wishlist as well as some things that weren't, but I liked from among all the extra bonus stuff.

    So, here is my first render using a Girl 8 character. This is VYK Midge. I absolutely love Viktohria's characters. She always does a fantastic job so, of course, Midge was the first character I had to try out. Not the best image, but it was a quick render set up and even quicker go at post work in Gimp 2.10.

    I also managed to pick up Viktohria's VYK Black & White Textures. I'm looking forward to using that and seeing what I can do with it.

    A Little Midge Attitude


    Gallery Link

    Post edited by Knittingmommy on
  • MollytabbyMollytabby Posts: 1,163

    @Knittingmommy, you can have as many ((hugs)) as you want. I know just how sad this time is. 

    I spotted your render when you first posted in the gallery and thought 'Wow' that's a different look to her. I think I gave you your first 'like' smiley. I love the lighting and everything about that image. It's good to take a little time out of a busy schedule to do something creative and recharge the old batteries.

     

     

  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191

    @Knittingmommy, you can have as many ((hugs)) as you want. I know just how sad this time is. 

    I spotted your render when you first posted in the gallery and thought 'Wow' that's a different look to her. I think I gave you your first 'like' smiley. I love the lighting and everything about that image. It's good to take a little time out of a busy schedule to do something creative and recharge the old batteries.

    @MollyTabby  Thanks. You're very sweet. As for my image, yeah, that actually wasn't a look I was intentionally going for. It was kind of a happy accident and I went with it. I like how it turned out. I don't know if my mood had anything kind of influence or not. I've got a close up of the same model going. We'll see what happens when she finishes. I might go in a totally different direction. :)

  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191

    Oh, and P.S. Thanks for the like @MollyTabby! :)

  • TabascoJackTabascoJack Posts: 865

    So sorry to hear about your dog's health.  It's always difficult when your pets enter that final stage of their lives.  Sending positive thoughts your way.

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    My dog is 13 and already past her normal lifetime.  She is doing okay for now but every time I look at her I know that we are on borrowed time.  So I am trying to make sure she gets to do all the things that she enjoys while she still can because I can see it coming.  I"m so sorry, I know its really hard.  They are such a gift and losing them is so painful.

     

    I really like how that last one turned out as well, its very moody but in a good way if that makes sense.

  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191
    edited June 2018

    @TabascoJack

    @IceDragonArt

    Thanks to both of you. Yes, it is difficult at this stage of a pet life. She's had a great life. I wish she could be with us for a little longer, but she has had a long healthy life up until this point. Age does that and it's one of the risks a person runs when giving a pet a home. I don't regret having adopted her. I don't think we will get another dog for a good long while though. We do still have her brother and he still seems to be going strong. I think her passing will be harder on him because they have never been separated before. It is always hard taking only one out to the vet or groomer. We will have to make sure to give him extra love once his sister is gone.

    Sonja - Thank you for the kind words on my image. Moody is a good way to describe it. I'd agree with that and it probably fit my mood when I was doing the post on it.

    So, I mentioned I had a close up in the works. I just finished the post on it. Same set up of the girl, VYK Midge. The post work is totally different. I tried out a couple of different techniques I hadn't tried before.

    VYK Midge Close Up

    Gallery Link

    NIK Collection News

    So, does anyone use the NIK Collection? I know @IceDragonArt does and a few others. I rely on it a lot for a lot of my post work. I recently saw that Google sold the whole suite to DXO. When the first did it, there was some kind of update which I downloaded but never used because my setup was working fine for me. I think I'm glad I still have all of my original zipfiles because I now see that DXO is selling the collection. I don't know what changes they made, but that really kind of sucks. It was free for so long and now people have to pay for it. I'm also wondering if those of us who got it for free won't be able to get any future updates to the Collection. It is something I will have to investigate because if I recall, there was no registering of the free version. Which means if those of us who got it for free lose our original copies, we are kind of out of luck in getting it replaces. So, you guys better back up those files if you got the NIK Collection for free and still use it. I don't think you'll be able to get it replaced without buying it now.

    Post edited by Knittingmommy on
  • FishtalesFishtales Posts: 6,131

    @Knittingmommy

    She looks a bit like a young Martine McCutcheon :)

  • WandererWanderer Posts: 957

    I've been busy with a sick dog so not around the forum as much as I'd hoped the past week. Here is an image I did for @TabascoJack's Contemporary Living Room. I had the honor of playing with it during the testing stage. This is a very cool set and I'm looking forward to playing with it some more. TJ did a fantastic job with the set. He's done a few things with it that some PAs don't do, like having the ceiling lights moveable, and I think that makes it even more special.

    Think this image is great. I'm trying to catch up after being out dealing with life. Sorry. Great job.

  • WandererWanderer Posts: 957
    Linwelly said:

    Must be a great feeling to see the story you made being best selling, I envie you a bit for that but mostly I'm very happy ( and now very nosy to know what you wrote :D) Good work on the CampNaNo as well. That is quite a lot you juggle there at the same time!

    I know, right? The curiosity eats me up.

  • WandererWanderer Posts: 957

    @Knittingmommy - All of these are wonderful. I'm sorry about your dog and the craziness of life right now. My dog died a couple years ago, and it's still hard sometimes. He was ten, and passed after being really, really sick for a few hours. At the time, all we could do was watch and wait and hold him. His favorite hole in the backyard became his resting place, and now there's a garden planted there to remind us of the ten years we had with him. Hang in there.

  • MollytabbyMollytabby Posts: 1,163

    @Knittingmommy, I love the portrait shot of Midge. It’s stunning!

    I have the Nik Collection from when it was free from Google. I did wonder if it would turn back into a ‘paid for’ set when Google sold it.

  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191
    edited June 2018

    @Knittingmommy, I love the portrait shot of Midge. It’s stunning!

    I have the Nik Collection from when it was free from Google. I did wonder if it would turn back into a ‘paid for’ set when Google sold it.

    @Mollytabby

    Thanks. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out.

    As for the NIK Collection, the updates haven't been worth it to me to think about buying it. From what I read, the updates took care of issues some people had with running the software. I haven't had any problems with my install of it which is why I never ran the update that I downloaded after they first bought it. Apparently, they offered that one update for those who already had it before they switched to a paid model of the software. If and when they actually have an update that makes sweeping changes, I might consider buying it. For the moment, though, I'm happy with what I have installed and I haven't had any issues with it crashing or not working. I'm just making sure I have all of my original zip files well backed up so I don't lose anything.

    Post edited by Knittingmommy on
  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    I will not be paying to upgrade.  I wonder how well they will do, I'm always curious how well things go from free to paid.  I'm one of those people who won't do it  I just don't need anything that badly.  the worst thing that will happen is I will have to figure out how to make my own filters.  Nik is a fantastic time saver but not something I HAVE to have.

    And my back up exterior drive just arrived yesterday so at some point this coming week, I will have all the essentials backed up

    I like the close up as well, I've always liked your fondness for the bolder colors and contrasts.

  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191

    I will not be paying to upgrade.  I wonder how well they will do, I'm always curious how well things go from free to paid.  I'm one of those people who won't do it  I just don't need anything that badly.  the worst thing that will happen is I will have to figure out how to make my own filters.  Nik is a fantastic time saver but not something I HAVE to have.

    And my back up exterior drive just arrived yesterday so at some point this coming week, I will have all the essentials backed up

    I like the close up as well, I've always liked your fondness for the bolder colors and contrasts.

    @IceDragonArt Yeah, it will be interesting to see if they manage to make any money from it. I love the filters since I can use them in Gimp, but I don't absolutely need them. As you say, they are a time saver.

    I think my love of playing with bolder colors might be from all the years I've spent as a quilter and a knitter. I love playing with colors and seeing how they interact. When in doubt, I always consult the color wheel to make sure I'm not going too far off with them. Black, red, and purple has always been one of my favorite color combinations.

     

    Fishtales said:

    @Knittingmommy

    She looks a bit like a young Martine McCutcheon :)

    @Fishtales She does kind of, doesn't she? I didn't recognize the name, but I recognize that song on her website, Say I'm Not Alone. It's on one of my playlists. Great song.

     

    Linwelly said:

    Must be a great feeling to see the story you made being best selling, I envie you a bit for that but mostly I'm very happy ( and now very nosy to know what you wrote :D) Good work on the CampNaNo as well. That is quite a lot you juggle there at the same time!

     

    @Linwelly  The book that did so well was actually a little protest piece I wrote and published in response to cockygate.  I never expected it to explode to the top of the charts in my category the way it did. I write under a pen name that only a few people know, mostly because telling people messes up the algorhythims on Amazon when family and friends read books and it isn't what they normally read. So for now, it remains a secret. @IceDragonArt knows because she is my beta reader for most of my books. A couple of others on the forum know, but not many and I'm afraid it will have to stay that way for now. Sorry. I can tell you that I write paranormal romances and science fiction romances and this particular book in question is a science fiction erotica short.

     

    Wanderer said:
    Linwelly said:

    Must be a great feeling to see the story you made being best selling, I envie you a bit for that but mostly I'm very happy ( and now very nosy to know what you wrote :D) Good work on the CampNaNo as well. That is quite a lot you juggle there at the same time!

    I know, right? The curiosity eats me up.

    @Wanderer Sorry. ;)

     

    Wanderer said:

    @Knittingmommy - All of these are wonderful. I'm sorry about your dog and the craziness of life right now. My dog died a couple years ago, and it's still hard sometimes. He was ten, and passed after being really, really sick for a few hours. At the time, all we could do was watch and wait and hold him. His favorite hole in the backyard became his resting place, and now there's a garden planted there to remind us of the ten years we had with him. Hang in there.

    Thanks for all of the kind words about my Slumber Party image and about my dog. It's hard but we'll get through it. We've always done the cremation thing for most of our pets and kept their ashes. We left two behind that we ended up burying in the backyard of our old house in NY and now I wish we had cremated them as well. It feels kind of wrong that we have memorials all of our pets except those two now that we no longer live there. As a kid, we buried our pets on the family farm which my mom still owns. We have our own little pet cemetary to honor the furry friends I had growing up. Losing a pet is hard, but I have a lot of fond memories of all of them.

    I'm just still catching up, too, so I hope I didn't miss any comments. I ended up having to write this whole post twice as I managed to lose part of it and I have no idea how I did that. Hopefully, it isn't a jumbled mess when I hit post.

  • dracorndracorn Posts: 2,345

    Hey KM - 

    Yeah, I know how hard it is to wait for the end of your pet's life when you know it's coming.  It's amazing how losing an animal can tear you up inside.  I still miss my bird.  

    I love your Old Man render - he's such a great character and your render is such a friendly old grandpa.  

  • SaphirewildSaphirewild Posts: 6,669

    My prayers are going to you and you pet KM!!

    I do hope he/she is feeling better soon!!

    Congrads on your best sellers listing!!!!

  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191

    Hi, everyone. Sorry, I just kind of took some time away from the forums this week. My sweet Bingo passed away in her sleep last Sunday night. She was already gone when we got up on Monday morning. I took time to grieve for a bit. I tried remembering all of the good times we had. We still have her brother from the same litter. Luckily, I think he has transitioned well. I was a little worried as they hadn't been separated much since we got them. Whichever one left at home would whine and complain if one of them had to go to the vet or the groomer. So far, I think he has realized Bingo isn't coming home. Animals always seem to know these things. He has seemed a little sad and I know he is missing his sister, but he hasn't whined once since that first day when he seemed to be always looking for his sister.

    I'm trying to get back on track with all of my projects that I put on hold since Bingo got sick. I'm waaaaay behind in several projects, not least of which is my book launch that was supposed to happen on the first. I'm working on that so I can get the book out in the next few days. After that, I should be around more and I'll have pictures of a new project I've been working on while I was grieving. Art has an interesting way of getting a person through some of the worst circumstances. Since I couldn't quite get in the mood to write and edit a romance during all of this, I have been working on a project in DS. So, pictures coming soon.

    I promise I haven't gone away. Things are starting to get back to normal.

    @dracorn and @Saphirewild Thanks. Sorry I didn't respond sooner. I just needed a little breathing time.

    I'm off to go get some work done. I have a book to get out. :)

  • WandererWanderer Posts: 957

    @Knittingmommy - I'm so sorry for your loss. These animals stay with us even after they've gone on. Here's hope for a brighter tomorrow and happiness for your other cat's adjustment. Hang in there.

  • NoswenNoswen Posts: 358

    So sorry to hear about Bingo, all you can do is try to remember the good times.

  • IceDragonArtIceDragonArt Posts: 12,548

    So sorry.  Its never easy and it hurts just as much if we know its coming as it does when its sudden.  I know when I took Libby to the vet the last time (she died while we were waiting for the xrays to process) my other two dogs howled for 10 minutes.  I think they knew she wasn't coming home...

  • TabascoJackTabascoJack Posts: 865

    So sorry for your loss.  Sending positive thoughts your way.

  • dracorndracorn Posts: 2,345

    Yeah - I'm sorry you lost your dog.  They're members of your family.  It will take some time for your other dog to get over it as well.  My surviving bird, Sunny, is finally starting to play again - it's been six months since Shayne died.  It's very understandable that you need time to grieve, so take your time.  

  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191
    edited June 2018

    Thank you to all of you for those sweet words. I really appreciate them. Each day gets a little better. I have managed to actually get some work done. I actually wrote some yesterday and I plan to put some more words down today. Not as many as I was writing before, but I'll get there.

    I couldn't resist getting the new Dog 8 and a few extras to make a nice bundle. So, I've been playing with digital dogs the last couple of days, too. I couldn't resist Benji for a variety of reasons. Mostly, I just love what @Deepsea did with that puppy. Unbelievably cute. I was pleasantly surprised to find the fur that comes with Benji also works on other dogs.

    Anyway, here is my first render with any of the new dogs. I kept it super simple, just Benji and the Boss Pro Lights by @ThePhilosopher. Very minimal post in Gimp 2.10.

    Benji Wants to Play

    Gallery Link

    Post edited by Knittingmommy on
  • LinwellyLinwelly Posts: 5,956

    Nice render, seems the topic dog won't leave you so soon. Losing a pet is tough and I can understand you taking a bit time for greiving. Take care, we won't go anywhere until you are fully up to deal with us again

  • KnittingmommyKnittingmommy Posts: 8,191

    Oh geez! Guess who's back? I'm like a bad penny. Can you believe I was buried on page four of the Art Studio. So, I went on vacation, had a book launch, and have NOT done any renders lately. That will have to change because I have a ton of ideas for future rendering projects. I have some 3D projects on the back burner that are way overdue and I need to finish those up, too. So, just popping in to say hi and that no, I haven't dropped off that face of the earth yet.

    I have a lot to catch up on the forums and I'm going to be in the New Users Challenge a lot for the month of August because I need to spread my little bit of dubious wisdom on the unsuspecting next month. 

    So yeah, guess who's back?

  • L'AdairL'Adair Posts: 9,479

    I'm happy to see you survived all those real world challenges. laugh Now for the fun part… catching up on all your favorite theads! We've all been busy while you were gone, some, (not me,) more than others.

    I hope you had a wonderful vacation. How's the new book doing?

  • MollytabbyMollytabby Posts: 1,163

    @Knittingmommy, I missed these posts and am only now seeing that you lost your beloved dog. I'm so sorry for your loss. I hope now you are able to smile at all the lovely memories of her and know that she had a brilliant life in your home.

    I'm looking forward to seeing your new renders smiley

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