Meli

Idk which one to make my pinned post so here is a collection of ~art~

Furby Dump - New family members!

Just rearranged the Furby Shelf™ but I'm running out of space for them.

My dad's friend, an older gentleman, sadly passed away recently. Dad has been helping clear out his belongings. For some reason he had some furbies. They were destined for the dump and dad saw them and said NO!! GIMME!! And now I have two more 90s furbies AND a furby baby. I remember aged 9 or 10 and desperately wanting a furby and my parents got me a furby baby instead. I was a little devastated 🤣 Now this is my first 90s baby furby in...26 years or so?

The new additions are a bit dirty (the guy was a smoker), not sure how to clean them when I'm allergic to everything. Maybe baking soda? I'll figure it out. I named the green one Groucho but then my youngest changed his name to Fern. The others are yet to be named. The green one miraculously works(ish). The other two sadly do not. But I will still cherish them like all my other broken down furbies. If you have any name suggestions please share!

Never thought I would ship a straight couple. Disgusting. [affectionate]

Hey everyone! I'm alive!

The past year has been a crazy ride for me. After catching Covid in 2024 my health went downhill in a big way. A lot of underlying conditions I didn't even know I had - EDS, MCAS (or similar mast cell disease) and POTS/Dysautonomia suddenly worsened considerably to the point I am now disabled and need a cane to get around. During my final uni placement I developed chronic costochondritis and that took my health down a step further. I was also diagnosed with widespread arthritis in my spine, rib joints and neck, as well as nerve impingement in my neck. Then around 4 months ago I started suffering from regular anaphylaxis. This was probably the most life-changing event. I already knew by that time I had a mast cell disease but this really brought it to the forefront. I am now essentially allergic to most foods and need to follow a strict low histamine diet. I am also triggered by scents (essential oils are a big one), aerosols, grass/pollen, sunlight/heat, cooking aromas, chemicals and most soaps/shampoos/toothpastes etc. I've been collecting triggers like Pokemon. My friends and I often joke that I need to live in a sterile bubble with a stable climate! My own little bubble world! Also I need to carry around 2 EpiPens at all times but I got some free swag for my troubles.

In December last year I finally graduated with my Master of Social Work (made it onto the honour roll too!). This was a huge achievement for me especially after battling so much illness. Unfortunately now I am too disabled to work, but I am hoping to find treatments that will at least improve my mast cell disease. In the meantime, I'm not sure what to do with myself, so I've been dabbling in art again, mostly traditional art. But a dear friend recently bought me a new tablet in exchange for book cover work - a Huion screen tablet - which I'm very excited to test out!

On top of all this I've got three kids with connective tissue disorders - I mean they always have had those, it's just that their problems actually MAKE SENSE now. My youngest especially is having issues with EDS and now is developing symptoms of MCAS. She's the only one of the kids who caught Covid too, sooooo. Fuck that virus, essentially.

Anyway because of new life and art/fanart directions I'm making a new Tumblr account. I was thinking of just deleting everything off this one and starting fresh, but I figured new account would be better so that people can still access my old art. For now I just wanted to drop in and say hi! <3

TOP PHOTOS: A coloured pencil portrait I did for my supervisor on placement as a thank you, of her dog. A coloured pencil ACEO sized drawing of an AFW. I got right into resin work last year and made a bunch of stuff without knowing at all what I was doing. The ones shown were for my final social work unit where we had to create something to symbolise our journey.

Phew, haven't posted here in a while. On Christmas day my teenage son suffered a heart attack and since then it's been a whirlwind of diagnostic tests and scans (signs are pointing to Marfan syndrome). It's been difficult because he has level 2 autism and is mostly nonverbal and extremely anxious in medical settings, but we're doing ok! We had to go away recently to get him an echocardiogram and managed to have some fun at the Launceston museum. I've also finally started learning to drive at the ripe old age of 35.

Aside from all that I've been doing some doodling when I can. The eye is coloured pencil, markers, ballpoint pen and white posca pen. Quasi the Great (the adorable short neck german shepherd) was pastel on velour paper.

Below the cut is the silliest thylacine taxidermy you will ever see. I love to visit him when we go to Launceston. He's just a lil guy <3