My current painting project is the Holy Family Nativity set from Thunderbolt Mountain.  My parents gave it to me for Christmas last year, but I waited until I felt my skill had improved sufficiently to do a nice job before I started painting it.  These figures are at a larger scale than I usually paint: 54mm, as opposed to 28mm. That means they are about 1/32 of lifesize. St. Joseph is finished, and Mary is almost done.  I'm going to work on her skin tones some more.  I want to smooth them out, and make her a little less pale, and maybe a bit flushed.

( Here are photos )

Red Lizardman Archer on Lava Base
Dragonblood Miniatures #DBM028: Lizardman Stalker by Lu Lee
Painting red is incredibly challenging.  After my first try, I was unsatisfied, stripped the figure completely, and repainted him from scratch.  It took many, many hours, with many, many thin layers of paint to get it looking the way I liked.  I'm afraid some of the non-red details were a bit neglected, but I think he turned out alright.

Click image to enlarge.

Rebecca graduated from St. Patrick preschool on Friday, May 29th.  She and her classmates all looked so cute!  See more photos here.

I recently participated in my first mini painting contest, held at our local gaming store.  I placed third.   I put fourteen hours of painting time into my figure, and paid $2 to enter.  This is the miniature I entered in the contest, Reaper Figure #03364, Isabeau Laroche by Werner Klocke:



Voting for the winners was held online, and open to anyone.  If the judging is changed next time, so that it's in the store, by people who actually look at the entries in person, and don't know which one is painted by whom, I'll consider entering again sometime.  Otherwise, I'll pass.

I am putting my mini up for sale.  If no one makes an offer, I'll finally bite the bullet and reset my PayPal account, so I can auction her off on eBay.

( Here are the entries that won first and second place )
 

I also created a new site to showcase my minis. You can visit it here.

And He led them out as far as Bethany, and He lifted up His hands and blessed them. While He was blessing them, He parted from them and was carried up into heaven. And they, after worshiping Him, returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and were continually in the temple praising God. (Luke 24: 50-53)

I took advantage of the tooth situation to snap a photo of Rebecca and I together, minus one front tooth each.

One of my two front teeth had serious resorption, and had to be extracted. It was removed on April 23rd. I have a dental flipper now as a temporary replacement. Once my jaw heals for a few months, I'll get a permanent implant. The flipper looks pretty good, but eating with it is uncomfortable. Hard, crunchy foods, like raw vegetables or nuts, are out. I can bite into a hot dog or watermelon, but a sub sandwich is a challenge.

This is the best CMON rating I've gotten on a mini, yet. Woo-hoo!

Lysette, Elven Mage
The figure came with a sword, which I swapped for a mace.

Hope is reborn with the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Who has opened the gates of Heaven, so that we, though mired in sin, may be forgiven.

Alleluia! Alleluia! Let the Holy Anthems Rise!

Oh Blood and Water, which gushed forth from the Heart of Jesus as a fountain of Mercy for us, I trust in You!

Well, yesterday Rebecca seemed to have a change of heart with regards to her parents. She told us at dinner that she wanted to play Candy Land with Daddy that night, and that John and I couldn't play. She said Daddy was her best friend, and she wanted to play with just him. Naturally, Dave obliged, while John pitched me baseballs in the living room. (Yes, we play baseball in the house - what? what?)

Rebecca: I wish Mommy was a stay-home Mom. I like Mommy.
Dave: Don't you like me?
Rebecca: Well, John likes you.

My kids crack me up. :)

Please pray for my Mom, who is undergoing thyroid surgery this morning.

Thanks.

UPDATE: Mom's out of surgery now and doing well. Thanks for the prayers!

UPDATE2: Suspicious cells were found. We'll find out more this week. Fortunately, the survival rate for thyroid cancer is around 95%, so we're very hopeful.

UPDATE3: Test was negative for cancer! Praise God! (I got this news on my birthday - best gift I got.)

I tried to give them tanned skin, like peasant farmers who spend all their time in the fields. The skin tone turned out looking more ethnic than tan, and the dress was meant to be more faded, too. I'm finding that mixing just the right combination of colors is pretty challenging. I only own about a dozen different paints, and that includes three metallics, plus black and white. I mix all the various tones and shades of color myself. Hopefully with practice, I'll get better at working out the right "recipes."

I finally managed to get a 6 rating for one of my minis on CoolMiniOrNot. 5 is supposed to be table-top quality, which is about where I'd been hovering, until I submitted my buxom barmaid. I hope that's a sign that I'm gradually improving. I'd like to get a 7 or 8 someday, but I don't know if I'm that talented, or if I'll stick with the hobby long enough to gain the necessary experience. Here's the link to the entry to CMON.

And here's the lovely lady herself:


For an idea of what qualifies as a 10 on CMON, check out these INCREDIBLE figures:
Demon with Painted Religious Imagery
Indian Elephant with Rider
Sad Pirate Bust
Persian Assassin
Sir Malcolm, Knight

Happy Birthday, big boy!

My little girl is 5 years old today. I can't believe it! She wanted me make Rice Krispie Treats with sprinkles on top to bring to preschool. They're way easier than cupcakes, so I was happy to oblige. Tonight we're going out to eat with our family. We looked for a Bluray of Sleeping Beauty for her present, but we'll have to order it online. We told her about it this morning.

Hail, Full of Grace, Theotokos!

It amazes me this year how many people I know who celebrate Christmas, whether as a secular or religious holiday, and who know that I celebrate Christmas, still tell me "Happy Holidays."  Now, my officemate pointed out that some of them may be wishing me a happy holiday season, including both Christmas and New Years.  I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, so I'll assume her interpretation over an overzealous attempt at political correctness, but I still miss hearing "Merry Christmas!"

On a related note, I thought I'd share with you our family's Advent Prayer that my kids love to kneel down and pray in front of our family's nativity set:

Dear Baby Jesus,
In this season of Advent, we eagerly await your coming on Christmas day.
We love you so much, and we can't wait for you to get here.
Amen.

When I first brought the set up from our basement, the kids spent a while touching all the figures, and pointing out all the principal roles to one another.  "Here's Joseph, and there's a Wise Man."  They searched under the straw for King Herod, who, as any of you familiar with your Bible know, didn't actually go to worship the newborn king as he'd promised.  Finally, the two of them came running to me, shouting, "Mommy!  Mommy!  Baby Jesus has a belly button!"

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