Hello, I’ve got a big update to share! As you can see from the title, I am rebranding! I’m swapping my art studio usernames everywhere from Fuzzy Forecast to Hadal Works!
I've swapped some usernames but will simply remake my The Dealer's Den account (because you're supposed to email them to change usernames, but they apparently take months to get around doing it, so...). Also, I'm making an Instagram, whose handle is hadalworks`
Fuzzy Forecast is a cute whimsical name but… That’s just it! It’s way too cute and silly for my vibes! Hadal Works is fun because it’s named after the hadalpelagic zone, which is the deepest part of the ocean. My new logo features a snailfish that can be found living in that zone. I have a weird relationship with the ocean and deep sea. I have thalassophobia and it’s deeply terrifying to me, but that terror circles into morbid fascination. I just think it’s a fun unique ominous name.
Because this is a pretty casual side business of mine, I haven’t been particularly active. But I’m returning to it again with new ideas and inspiration. I joined an active fursuit makers discord which has been really fun and motivating!
Here’s some updates on what I’ve been up to and will be up to:
I’ve been working on fursuit sprays! None available for sale yet, but they are actively in the works and being tested. I’m still figuring out exact ratios for scent strength and longevity. It’s a hard balance to strike because I want the scents to be subtle, but they still need to be strong enough to last awhile. I’ve been using my test batches on my own suit so I’m confident in their quality but still want something more palatable and consistent if I am to sell them.
I’ve actually been wondering if I should do a run of test batches that are super cheap with the deal being like “Here, take these, they might be imperfect, and if they are then please tell me what exactly isn’t ideal about them so I can make the real thing better.”
In regards to fursuit parts, I have several things in the works right now. First off, the original Ambergris paws are going up for sale as-is. I’ve replaced them with a new pattern that works more for me, but the old paws are still perfectly usable so I’ll be selling them off.
Secondly, I have a pair of thylacine paws that I set aside because I wasn’t completely happy with them, but they, too, are completely fine and will be listed as well.
Finally, an actual work in progress rather than something I scrapped out of perfectionism, I have a big thick shark tail that I’m working on. I flew too close to the sun and ran into quite a few issues due to its size, so I need to go back and change its belt loops, base, and stuffing because it’s just so heavy it pulls down and strains the base way too much. After my fixes it should stand a lot better.
Hello there, here is the first journal on this persona of mine. I've taken a long break from it but I am now returning to this little side gig of mine.
What is Fuzzy Forecast?
My online shop, currently hosted on The Dealers Den! It was originally on Etsy but I have decided to move to The Dealers Den to avoid fees and also be on a more furry fandom-oriented site rather than something so corporate as Etsy.
What do I make?
Currently, fursuit parts! In the past I've prided myself in being a "baby's first fursuit" shop. I make small, simple things that are not as fancy as professional work, meaning that my prices are lower and more accessible. Combining that with simple designs that could apply to a wide variety of characters, I like to imagine that I've been the introduction or a decent stepping stone into several people's IRL furry presentations.
Will that change?
I'll only be adding more. I will always be proud to be the low- to mid-quality maker that anyone can afford that makes parts that could fit any characters, but I'd love to do more than that as well. My main ideas are to expand to:
- More complex parts such as hand-paws and long tails.
- Partial fursuits.
- Fursuit sprays.
My ideal would be making more generic parts and then making more specific parts and partials with the idea of simply making a suit that I would want to own. Which sounds silly, but I spend a lot of time wondering if anyone would want the parts I make or if they're too specific, so 2024 is the year of throwing that to the wind and doing what I wanna do.
I also really want to expand into fursuit sprays! I got the idea of making fancier blends of more complex and nuanced scents. Not that they'd be better or more expensive than the usual lavender or peppermint scented sprays, but simply something different! I'll have to do a lot of testing, though. By fancy I'm thinking of woods, herbs, amber, bourbon, coffee, that sort of thing! Either on their own or combining to create a unique impression.
Closing Notes
I've done quite a bit of digging and have collected and now archived all of the fursuit work I've done through the past 5 or so years that I've been doing this. I believe I have literally all but 2 pieces, both of which very old and no longer appear to have photographs saved and no longer physically exist due to being scrapped. So I think I've done a more than decent job at collecting all my past work and getting it all saved to a hard drive and soon to be publicly sorted.
I'm excited to return to online selling after taking a long break from it, ready to return with a much more relaxed vibe now that I have another job. My relationship to art is much healthier when I don't rely on it monetarily.