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Skills - Blog Posts
This is a big, giant list of Youtube tutorials that will teach you all the basic life skills you need to know in order to be a functional adult. There are a lot of important skills that aren’t included in this list, but this should be enough of a basic guide to get you started and prevent you from making a total mess of yourself. Happy adulting! Household Skills:
How to unclog a toilet without a plunger
How to fix a blown fuse
How to fix a leaky faucet
How to clean soap scum from your tub and shower
How to escape from a house fire
How to make a budget and stick to it
How to sharpen a knife
How to clean a self-cleaning oven
How to clean red wine stains from carpet
How to clean blood stains from fabric
How to clean grease stains from fabric
How to do a load of laundry
How to iron your clothes
How to test your smoke detectors
Cooking Skills:
How to tell if produce is ripe
How to know if food is expired
How to properly sanitize a kitchen
How to cook an egg
How to make rice
How to make pasta
How to put out a kitchen grease fire safely
How to use a gas stove
How to use a convection oven
How to cook meat safely
How to use a stand mixer
How to use kitchen knives properly
How to make mashed potatoes
How to make grilled cheese sandwiches
Health Skills:
How to stop bleeding
How to treat a burn
How to do CPR (on an adult)
How to do CPR (on a child)
How to do CPR (on a baby)
How to help someone who is choking
How to save yourself if you are choking alone
How to read a nutrition label
How to treat frostbite
How to recognize when someone is having a stroke
How to maintain a healthy sleep schedule
Mental Health Skills:
How to calm down during a panic attack
How to help someone who is suicidal
How to meditate
How to stop self-harming
How to recognize problem drinking
How to choose a therapist
How to deal with disappointment
How to cope with grief
How to raise your self-esteem
Relationship and Social Skills:
How to apologize
How to cope with a breakup
How to accept criticism
How to deal with bullying
How to argue in a healthy way
How to ask someone out
How to break up with someone
How to recognize an abusive relationship
How to rekindle a damaged friendship
How to speak in public
Job Hunting Skills:
How to tie a tie
How to write a resume
How to write a cover letter
How to dress for a job interview (for women/femmes)
How to dress for a job interview (for men/masculines)
How to properly shake hands
How to nail a job interview
Other Skills:
How to sew on a button
How to hammer a nail
How to change your oil
How to put gas in your car
How to jump-start a car
How to pick a good password
How to back up your files
How to write a cheque
I've been sitting on this pattern and tutorial for a while now! so time to finally share it with you! I was lamenting that the jellycat pip and sugar mice were long retired and difficult to get your hands on unless you are willing to pay much more than they retailed for each mouse, so i decided to try and eyeball a pattern and make some myself! they're not exact as i only used constructed visual references but they're close! please note that this pattern set is intended for personal use only. Rough tutorial under the cut!
This pattern is for printing onto A4 but you can check your scale with the measurements I've provided or just play around with how big or small you want to try and make them! i didn't really get any wip photos of pip mouse but it's method is largely the same with the nose being the major change, which i will detail in text in the instructions below.
for sugar mouse i would recommend using polar fleece as it will act the right way for the ears to do their squishy marshmallow looking thing. but minky should also work or other similar fabrics! for pip mouse if you can find a similar curly looking fabric with a thin backing that'll be ideal but fleece will also work well, you just wont get the furry texture, you want a fabric with a little bit of stretch to it. i however would not recommend fabrics like felt or non stretch cotton for these guys as it's likely to not take shape the same as there's no give to the fabric.
once you have printed out the pattern and cut the pieces in your fabric, you'll want to sew the ears up and turn them inside out, then put them aside for later. just leave them as is for now but here you can see i was playing around with pinching the turned through ear into shape.
Then moving on, sew the back pieces together along the spine and front of face. you then want pull the bottom open ends apart gently and place the open sides flat up against the base piece so that they're aligned, it can be good to pin this in place so it doesn't shift.
then, get your tail rope, and tie a knot at either end, placing the base of it inbetween the seam at the butt so that it'll sit in the right place, then sew the seam up directly with the tail in place, make sure you sew through the rope to secure it and make sure it doesnt shift. Sew around the bases seam leaving a hole in one side so that you can then turn your mouse through.
once turned through you will want to stuff your mouse with polyfill quite a bit so it takes shape! i like to put weighted beans in mine for extra effect, you can use dried rice or wheat too, just sew a little circle pouch a bit smaller that the mouses base with scrap fabric and fill and seal! then insert into the turning hole while you stuff. once stuffing is done you can sew the hole up with a ladder stitch. the weight from the beads will allow your mouse to sit up quite well.
next you will want to get those ears you put aside, take each corner and bring the ends together in the middle. then sew them gently together at the ends with one or two stitches in about the same spot. you want them to look 3d so dont sew the ends to the back of the ear, just end to end so they meet in the center.
Then pin the ears in place on the head
then you need to ladder stitch the ears in place while they're pinned so they dont shift around, go all the way around the outside edge of each.
now you're almost done! next they just need a face! sugar mouse only needs embroidery by way of a french knot for both the eyes and nose (you can find good video tutorials on how to sew a french knot online), pip mouse will also need a french knot for the eyes but has a separate process for it's nose. (for the pip mouses nose you will need to leave the marked nose hole open and then stitch the nose fabric to the square nose backing in line with the dotted direction on the pattern, (it should look kind of baggy when it's unstuffed) sew it up completley with no hole, then cut a tiny slit in the backing and add polyfill there before closing with a basic stitch, then you ladder stitch the nose directly to the marked nose hole)
in order to hide the embroidery anchor knots i find the best way is to start by going down through the middle of the ears and then coming back up where you want the eye to be, and then going back down and up through the ear for the finishing knot, as it creates a very easy cover for them and looks nice and clean!
then you have yourself a little buddy!
haha they're great to squish! if you use this pattern i'd love to see your results!
hot artists don't gatekeep
I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard
Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.
Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.
Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.
Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.
SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.
SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.
Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.
Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.
Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.
Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.
Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.
dawn dreaming 💕✨ buy a wallpaper or leave a tip / twitter / instagram / shop
Artist Problems
Having a ton of ideas for things you want to make but not being able to use any of them.
Because:
- You don’t have time to make them because of school, work, personal problems or other stuff.
- You forgot to write it down and now it’s lost in void of your thoughts (probably) forever.
- Either you have no motivation enough to make it. Or you realise it won’t ever come out the way you had in mind because your not at the skill level needed for the making that kind of piece.
- You have an artblock or procrastinate for any other possible reason whatsoever.
- You get demotivated because someone already made something similar looking and you’re under the assumption they’re way better anyway.
- People critisize your ideas to the point where you don’t even believe in them anymore.
- You get distracted by social media, tv, events or other stuff.
- Your ideas include way to much work to do all alone. But you don’t know not enough people who would possibly want to help you create even one idea without getting payed.
- Someone steals your ideas and keeps using them without permission.
- You started a project but the people who you worked with you on it throw you out of the group, mistreat you or leave the project themselves.
- You get sick, injured or don’t feel good for another reason. And are practicly unable to work.
- Your art teacher laughs at your ideas and way of making them.
- Your inspiration runs out and you get stuck.
@thinthle
Reblog if this is is relatable. And feel free to send me solutions to these problems if you have any.
Had a friend show up to swordfighting last week and when I went up to face her and some of her allies she pointed her spear at me. I had never seen this spear and it had a pink end with... Kirby's face on it? So I double blink and go "Kirby?" and then she stabs me