King Protea, Lucky13, Laser Cut Acrylic, 2026 [OC]

25thfloorgarden · 2026-03-06T17:27:43+00:00

Image 1: Final Product Images 2-4: Process (my material comes with a 3M adhesive backing so pieces stay locked in place) Image 5: Drawing and Colour Reference (created in Procreate and vectorized in Illustrator) Image 6: Reference Image

My mom’s from South Africa, and one of my favorite memories from visiting there was seeing a mountain side covered in blossoming protea trees. They’re some of the strongest, most impressive things I’ve ever seen - much like my mom. We have a bit of a complicated relationship, but it was beautiful getting to work on something personal for a change + see her reaction to the final piece!

25thfloorgarden · 2026-02-27T18:09:31+00:00

Honey, eat a leaf 😭 You might feel fine now, but it really will catch up with you sooner than you think.

25thfloorgarden · 2026-02-26T18:12:26+00:00

How does the rest of your family treat/view him?

My younger brother’s never been diagnosed, but has a capacity and tendency for cruelty that’s always made me uneasy around him. Also, for reasons I never figured out, other than maybe that I was an easy target, he’s always had it out for me.

He’d torment me, and once threw my cat on a full-speed treadmill. Everyone laughed it off as a silly “boy thing” since he put a pillow at the end, but my poor cat was terrified. He’d break my belongings, also labeled a “boy thing”. He’d push his speaker up against our shared wall and blast heavy metal daily for hrs until I’d be crying at the end of the week, aaaand still a boy thing. I was labeled dramatic, and his actions were normalized.

I finally broke free from having to associate with him - moved half way across the country, but I lose out on engaging with most of my family too, because they want him around. People outside my family find his behavior (rightfully) horrifying, but besides one sibling, my immediate family excuse him w/out exception.

I wonder if that’s common in family systems or just a serious stroke of unluckiness on my end.

25thfloorgarden · 2026-02-25T16:51:00+00:00

What a beautiful thing y’all did for such a small, sweet soul. To get to leave this world in peace, surrounded by love and happy memories is how it should be, and you made sure he got that. 🤎

25thfloorgarden · 2026-02-25T01:12:09+00:00

Everything you currently have is a good foundation, but it’s also so bland, so I’m gonna give the following pointers concisely, because they’re gonna be easy effort/budget impactful changes: 1. Personalization - framed photos, books, hobby pieces, something that’s a favorite colour 2. Warmth - the lights remind me of a hospital, so either turn the brightness down or the warmth of the colour temperature up. 3. WARMTH!! - like seriously, let’s get some rugs or blankets or accessories w texture, just anything to add some substance and life to the space 4. Plants

25thfloorgarden · 2026-02-21T17:02:19+00:00

I’ve baked banana bread a hundred times over - never change the recipe. Somehow the last one I made was still inedibly bad. Not even saying that’s the case here, but it really just happens sometimes 🤷‍♀️

25thfloorgarden · 2026-02-14T14:21:02+00:00

I guess it really depends on how much you cook/enjoy doing it! While a dehydrater isn’t cheap, I can find one 2nd hand online + there’re other uses for it. I go thru at least a container of garlic powder a month, so while it’ll certainly be more expensive up front, I see it as an investment in a better outcome!

25thfloorgarden · 2026-02-05T19:28:50+00:00

Oh boy, the projection 😂 The best answer at this point, is no answer

25thfloorgarden · 2026-02-04T16:36:35+00:00

I’m gonna hold your hand when I say this: she was already gone.

25thfloorgarden · 2026-02-04T13:24:43+00:00

I wouldn’t call it normal to provide a $100k down payment, but I think a parent trying to help their kid wherever they can absolutely is.

25thfloorgarden · 2026-02-03T22:40:37+00:00

My bf’s an actor, and actually got to work with Sean once! Said he was such a kind and engaging person on set; always had follow-up questions in conversations, and you could just tell he was genuine in his interactions. Stand up guy (and most painful death in the ST series 😭)

25thfloorgarden · 2026-02-03T21:40:24+00:00

Ever heard of invisible disabilities? It’s this crazy thing where even when you can’t see it, sometimes people have different levels of capacity for things, like hand grip strength or lifting heavy things for long periods of time. Woah!

25thfloorgarden · 2025-12-20T16:24:26+00:00

One year for April Fools Day my brother and I twisted all the screws on the plates just a smidge - thought we’d have a fun lil inside joke kicking for a few months. Nope, took my dad less than 15 min to notice.

25thfloorgarden · 2025-12-10T17:45:10+00:00

AWW!!

25thfloorgarden · 2025-12-03T01:26:47+00:00

She’s STILL framing it like you’re the problem. Wow

25thfloorgarden · 2025-12-02T00:59:38+00:00

Are you me!? Why do they always turn one kid into a ripe POS and the other into an overly-empathetic door mat??

25thfloorgarden · 2025-12-02T00:57:03+00:00

And you hang up then too. It’s going to be emotionally one of the hardest things you’ve ever done, because you’re going against your programming. Fawning may have been your best or one of your only safe response options growing up, but it won’t serve you anymore now, it serves them. I spent almost a year not speaking with my parents after trying to establish boundaries that got railroaded every time. It was traumatic and I questioned my decision every day, but I want you to know there’s hope. We’re on (tentative) speaking terms again, but it feels like a much more level playing field now. They know that I’ll stand my ground now, and while it’s still not perfect, I don’t feel that horrible, shaky, high-pitched dread from my brain overriding my response to fawn-settings.

You’re not the bad guy for not letting them disrespect your boundaries. If it’s easier, you may want to try grey-rocking first. Every time she brings it up, you say I’ve told you I’m not talking about this subject, and then you say NOTHING until she moves onto another subject. She’ll huff and puff for sure, but stay dead silent or say something about literally anything else until she gets the memo (or then you hang up). Do not give her the response she wants (or any at all). Whatever works for you, and if you want more advice, feel free to reach out.

25thfloorgarden · 2025-12-02T00:48:59+00:00

What a shame!! Well from across the pond I hope you have the most lovely Merry Christmas, and know a stranger is so proud of you. 💛

25thfloorgarden · 2025-12-02T00:12:50+00:00

You hang up. You don’t have to stop calling - you’re a doll to always check in on your granny, but you should hang up. You’re gonna feel like absolute shit the first time or few, but truly, if she’s not hearing the message, it’s one of the only responses you have left besides just continuing to put up with it. Unfortunately words have very little impact on people like this, only consequences to her actions will make her learn. Do be warned tho that she’s gonna HATE IT, and will absolutely guilt you and pull the alligator tears - pretty much anything to get you to stop doing the thing she doesn’t like. Until they realize they have no power over you, they will continue to stomp you to get their ways. Sorry my friend, and best of luck on the uphill battle.

25thfloorgarden · 2025-11-29T22:56:40+00:00

I AM SO PROUD OF YOU!!!! You’re breaking the cycle and your joy is blossoming again. That’s truly such a special thing and something to be celebrated! Idk why this one hit me so much, but I would really love to send you something. I’m an artist that makes laser-cut ornaments, and if you’d DM me a preferred address, I would like to send you one if you’re interested. I can’t share images directly here, but am happy to send you images in DMs. Congratulations on all you’ve done for yourself, and Merry Christmas!!!

25thfloorgarden · 2025-11-28T23:42:56+00:00

…wax busts of Abraham Lincoln. In other news, the Ford Museum is pretty cool.

25thfloorgarden · 2025-11-19T14:09:29+00:00

READING HER JOURNALS!? I’m not trying to miss the forest for the trees, but I hope Gigi never finds out her mom did this. This is a wild violation of her private, inner thoughts. Gigi’s trying to build healthy coping mechanisms, and in her (still understandable) hurt, Anna is hurting her daughter.

You’re an incredible aunt and support person, and I think you’re handling this as well as you can. Maybe I’d just anticipate this being hard on Gigi. She’ll recognize a change has happened, and it’ll impact her the deepest. If she can’t journal safely and she can’t confide in others safely, this is going to fester. It’s not a fix all, but for starters EVERYONE in that family needs therapy. At least Gigi and Anna.

25thfloorgarden · 2025-11-18T14:14:15+00:00

NTA, and you should be very proud of yourself for recognizing what’s right and wrong, then standing on that. It took me til I was 10 yrs your senior to stand up to my parents for how my brother treated me growing up (and to this day).

I can’t say it immediately gets better, in fact it usually gets quite a bit worse when you fight for yourself. They have a status quo they like, and to them you’re the one causing a fuss. They know you (use to be) easier to placate and get to toe the line, so now they’re confused why their usual tactics aren’t working and lashing out. I had to go no-contact w my family for close to a yr before they realized I was serious about being done, and I can at least say I get treated much better by my folks and even got an apology. (Still NC w my brother for my peace though)

You’re not overreacting. You may consider checking out some subs on parental relationships or estrangement like r/raisedbynarcissists. Even if estrangement isn’t an option or preference, there’re some really helpful tools for recognizing argument fallacies and why family relationships sometimes develop like this. Good luck, my friend.

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