I've been gone, but hopefully not forgotten?

Oh wow... It's been a long long time.

I can't believe I've left this for such a long time. Waaaay longer than intended.

I've actually realised that my last post (OMG in November 2014!) was never actually posted and was still sitting in drafts. Doh!

So I guess it's about time to pick up and continue. Let's see how many of you lovely people are still out there shall we ;)

Ok so in my last (unpublished) post, I mentioned holidays and theme parks and an incident with a squirral... We'll get to that... But so much more has happened since then, so I'll try to cover as much as I can xD.
 

I had actually intended to write the now so called 'missing post' while I was away on holiday in Florida in the September of 2014... One thing led to another and it was yet another two months before I continued but never published... And again life took over and sadly I have left my lovely blog at the wayside awaiting my return. But I digress...

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So, holiday in Florida... Woohoo!! But of course I had to come back eventually... Boo!!

Now, I've been to Orlando before, done the Disney, Universal, SeaWorld parks etc as a kid, but this last time it was pretty relaxing just staying in the villa most of the time. I'm quite thankful for that calm really as I was going back to University the week following my return so as you can guess from the absence, I've not be relaxed for a very very long time lol ;)

That isn't to say that I never went to the parks... Come on there's no way I wouldn't go to at least one. So of course it had to be Universal. Comic book characters, beloved childrens books, blockbuster movies... These parks bring so much to life. And of course the two areas dedicated to the ever popular Harry Potter. I even got myself a wand from Ollivanders™ that interacted with attractions. So fun, just a pity that I loaned it to the daughter of my mothers friend for a book day at her school last month. It came back damaged *sigh* 

I got to ride the new Escape From Gringotts™ in Diagon Alley™ (it looks so real, totally fabulous) and although I thought it was great, my dad wasn't so impressed. That may have to do with the hour wait whilst the right broke down lol. We also tried the Minion Mayhem 3D ride which is hilarious and the Transformers 3D ride, both of which weren't there not there on previous visits. I totally recommend a visit to Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, so fun. I hope to go back again someday.

In the first week away my mum took part in the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge that was all the rage at the time (I do hope everyone was donating to this worthy cause at ALSA.org 💋) despite being abroad, after being nominated by her boss. Her face was priceless as she sat by the pool and had the ice water poured over her head haha xD 

It was all the more hilarious a few days later in the start of our second week to wake up to her once again drenched. Thinking she had again participated in the challenge, I couldn't stop laughing when I found that she had actually fallen into the villa's pool while trying to take a photo of a squirrel for my Nan who is obsessed with them lol xD

She wasn't badly injured, just received a stubbed toe, but her phone didn't fare as well as she did. It sat in rice for the rest of the holiday. It no longer works, but it did turn on long enough to email one last photo... The Squirrel that had caused the dunking ;P

Since returning from our marvellous trip, my last for the foreseeable future, it has been my turn to be a klutz. Slipping on the stairs once is bad enough, however in the two months since my return from Florida I'd done it twice, falling on my behind in a very unflattering manner lol. And then over the past year and a half, I've tripped, walked into walls and slipped on ice on a near monthly basis. If I keep this up, I'm gonna be permanently bruised. Maybe my family and I are just born to be clumsy haha.

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Extremely late, but still very exciting news, as of the 06/11/2014 I have a new baby niece. Penny is absolutely gorgeous!

*gushing auntie love*

I would love to share photos or vids, but I have a very paranoid brother and sister-in-law. Oh well, maybe when she is a little older ;)

She shares her birthday with our dog Stu, who everyone has called my brothers daughter since the day we got her lol, so now she has a sister haha. It's kinda cute. Can't wait to see how they get on when Penny is a little older. Stu adores babies so I'm sure she'll follow her everywhere once she's walking without assistance from us. Trust me it won't be long, she practically runs already :D

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University... Well it got so busy and extremely hard that I feared I'd wash out and fail my classes completely at one point. The unfortunate truth was that I wound up so ill near the end of the academic year, actually around this time last year to be exact, that I failed two of my modules by handing in project work both late and in one case an earlier incorrect version to what I should have. To say I was devastated was an understatement, but I was given a means to redeem myself so that I wouldn't have to repeat the year. Phew!

The make up projects were essentially research and essays, with the addition of one particularly embarrassing recording of myself reading a haiku with arranged sounds that match the 'feeling' of the words... Ugh I hate my voice!

All of this and working full time too... Yeah, during what should have been my holidays, I sadly was working full time to make up my hours at work. The only downside of my working pattern, no real break. Thankfully I passed this time and since this past September I've been on 'placement' in a self employed role with another student. So no classes, just me, my four walls, a computer and sketchpad... 

No I haven't gone stir crazy yet, but I've done a lot of designs and computer models for our product. Unfortunately our orignal idea, that actually started last June, has been put on the backnurner until we can work out some issues. Our 'superhero' model just won't print as intended. But luckily our little mascot has come to the rescue and given us ideas for a replacement product that is easier to make and will hopefully be just as popular as our original idea was.

It's strange creating a company from scratch for educational purposes, but I'm still having fun even if I've made no money yet... -_- Ummm... Yeah maybe not always quite so enthusiastic every day about it, but I think it'll eventually get there and we'll make a profit. 

If you want to check us out, head over to LlamaArmourStudios.com and give us your support. We'll be uploading an update on our change of plans in the next few weeks, with new product details and pictures of the new designs.

Lance is looking forward to your visit

 

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Additions of the dolly kind... If anyone has access to my Flickr, you'll probably already have seen my original grail girls Asa, Lisa and Freya from around the time I received my very first BJD, Iplehouse's Leonard from the Carved Heritage series. They are all Iplehouse dolls like Leonard and I love them. Since then I've went on to also get *ahem* several others. I seem to have become Iplewhelmed... Which is apparently a thing in the doll collecting world (who knew haha)... I have become so enamoured by Iplehouse's sculpts that I've already went well over doll buying budget for not only this year but next year too. So ashamed that I have spent so much in so little time, but they are all beautiful. Totally worth it!

These guys are totally my happy place when I'm feeling low. So much to play with. I'm actually writing stories related to each of my guys. Someday I hope to share them, but for now they're my little getaway ;)
  
I'll upload some box opening posts and character pages over the coming weeks for you guys who can't see my Flickr, so watch this space...

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I had wanted to update more, but I think I've left it a little too long, so I promise here and now to make up for that in the future :)

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