I had way too much fun with this.

Hillary at Equestrian at Hart has partnered with Spreadshirt to do a giveaway on a custom t-shirt.  This appeals to my need to a) customize everything and b) create.

But let's go backwards for a second.  Last week, Hill shared this photo for her TBT.  I immediately told L that I wanted to make it into a group t-shirt.  I mean, tooooo adorable.  Hillary teases herself for her excitement, but it's that enthusiasm that makes me love it.

I feel like it needs something.  Like, "Happiness is a Pony."

Ladies, you might be getting a Christmas preview.

 And then I had to make one for Archie:

Archie had his six-month vet visit on Friday.  The vet offered to couple it in with one of the other two visits, but I wanted to get that hoofer rechecked.

And pony is sound.

Abscess has blown.

The Kid will get his shoes put back on next week (hopefully early) and we will resume work.

As this is only (knock on some fucking wood for me) the second abscess that I've dealt with on Archie, I wanted to tabulate how this affected me.  Especially when I had to make decisions like, do I go to the gym and then go boot and wrap the Kid, getting home at about 9 pm or do I skip the gym?

(I skipped the gym.)

1. NyQuil D - one of those things that the husband magically procures, though the process is supposed to be something like gathering unicorn tears in its complexity.  I woke up at midnight the night before last and I felt like I was swallowing razorblades.  Legit.  I went to work for a half day, went home and piddled around the house (um, the Veronica Mars Movie just got released on dvd, fyi.  I've only watched it twice since Tuesday) (and still didn't manage to complete start any of the projects that I plan to have done by tonight).  After dinner, I took a swallow of this crap and slept for eleven hours.

   I didn't draw this.  Pleated Jeans, I think?

2. Pixelmator.  This prolly means shit to y'all that a) don't use Macs and b) aren't into photography/graphic design/making "pretty" art.  All of the cartoons that I've done (except for my year end recap) were done with this program.  Archie's birthday banner was done with this.  All of my photos get run through it to clean up blemishes and enhance.  I used Photoshop for three years prior to switching to Pixelmator and the motivating factor was cost.  D upgraded my laptop for Christmas (um, 13 inch Macbook Pro with retina display, thank you) and I lost my access to Photoshop.  That $30ish/month Cloud access crap?  Whatever.  I paid $30 for Pixelmator.  Once.

   This squinty-eyed beast is Davey Jones.  Davey Jones was wearing an obnoxious orange leash, the removal of which wasn't perfect (my eyes can still see it, but I also know where it was), but was super duper easy thanks to Pixelmator.

3. This tag.  No secret that I love all things Etsy.  I can't even remember how I found this tag, but I did and it's a brilliant idea.  You should buy one.  I'm not going to, because I can make it, but I'm also not going to sell them because that's ripping off someone else's creativity.  Also, the snark in me wants to put "911", but my husband's number or the BM's number would be a little smarter.  I guess.
   
4. Consignment tack stores.  I didn't even know this was a thing until I moved to Savannah and ventured to Charleston.  D and I had a date day last weekend and spent the day in Charleston, wandering an old plantation.  I'll share photos eventually.  But there was a requisite tack store stop.  I purchased two saddle pads and more Elite Equine Evolution stuff.  I googled one of the pads because I'd never seen it before.  Mine is pretty beat up and I had to remove a monogram, but I only paid $10 for it.  It's a Tolkat Classic III, but has this weird soft-rubber mesh thingy on the area around the spine.  Bonus points to anyone who has any idea what I'm talking about.
5. Shop vacs.  Hey, you know what's fun?  When you spend some time removing a monogram and the cats lay on the saddle pads while you work and you think, I should really wash this before I put it on my pony. So you toss your relatively clean "new" saddle pads and a couple towels in the washing machine, because the husband can't object because there is no horse hair, right?  And then you forget about it until the dogs ask to go outside.  And you open the laundry room door to find that the unbalanced machine has walked across the room and disconnected the drain hose and drained all over the floor, flooding the entire room, pantry included.  So you spend the next hour or so (while Veronica Mars continues to play in the background, without you) vacuuming up water with the little shop vac the in-laws gave you, under your husband's eagle eye.  Fun times, guys.

Dude.  So many photos.  So many things to type about with our little vacation.  The concert (last night?!) was phenomenal.  But that's another post for a day when I'm slightly less bored.  Today, I wanted to share the second logo I got from the Etsy seller.  (Who, by the way, isn't endorsing this and probably wouldn't endorse my potty-mouth self.)

I love Etsy.  Like, a whole lot.  I get that it's been taken over by Chinese manufacturers, but when you can find a genuine artist, you've struck gold.

Before I left work yesterday, I was looking at a search I'd done on Etsy for "custom logo".  I just wanted to get price quotes.  I knew roughly what I wanted, but I also knew that it would take me FOR EVER to do it myself in photoshop.  And, you know, sometimes it's best to leave stuff to people who actually know what they're doing.

I found this shop!

The premise:  for $5, this guy will spend about five minutes making a logo for you.  You tell him what you want it to say and any particulars (which he may or may not use).  I bought two logos (a whopping $10).  I ask for the one for this site to say "The Owls Approve."  I told him that I liked blue and purple and that it was for a horse blog, in case that sparked any creativity.  Twenty-four hours later, I had this:
Tell me that's not stinking awesome.  If you're looking for a logo and you're flexible, go show this guy some love.  My second logo is a bit more complex and I'm still waiting on it to be emailed, but I'll certainly share it.  I told the guy I was hoping to use it as a watermark for my photography, particularly with the Humane Society.

Other stuff?  We're all set to leave for Orlando in all of.. eight and a half hours.  Since then, it's rained nonstop, I've taken photos at the Humane Society, worked out at the gym, successfully sold my old Canon (for asking price, again!) (I tried to make friends.  May have been creepier than I meant to be.), dropped the dogs off at boarding (Savannah is BACK ON ANTIBIOTICS, DAMMIT!), and came home to a limping kitten.  It's weight bearing, so we're not worrying about it unless he's still limping when we get back.  I think he just landed poorly.

With the sale of the Canon, this trip will be a lot more enjoyable.  I now have a budget for the tack store in Jacksonville. Woo!