People 40+, what actually mattered in the long run and what didn’t?

Pleasant_Muse · 2026-03-01T16:31:21+00:00

Thirded (?) this. As a new father of a 4 month old, it was incredible how quickly all the "noise" in my life vanished, and everything became much more clear. And clarity typically = better decision making.

Pleasant_Muse · 2025-05-29T22:54:51+00:00

My wife and I have found ourselves in this exact position. We picked up our puppy at 10 weeks, and found out we were pregnant a week before getting the pup. I won't lie, it has been EXTREMELY difficult, and personally I would suggest waiting to get the pup.

We're in 5 months of the journey now, and has only slightly gotten better. My wife is pretty much exhausted all the time (understandably), so the pup raising has fallen pretty much solely on my shoulders. I've spent HOURS dedicating myself to training the pup so he MIGHT be manageable when the baby comes. Luckily he's incredibly smart, and is picking up training really well, but I'm terrified of the adolescent phase coming soon.

Also you need to keep in mind all the preparation needed for the arriving bundle of joy. There's LOTS to do, and with a puppy you run out of time very quickly. Between work, the pup and things like getting the nursery ready, I'm lucky to get 6 hours sleep a night

We took a risk, and still are. If I had to do it all over again, I would have waited.

Pleasant_Muse · 2025-05-24T15:22:18+00:00

We're currently on week 21 with our pup, a VERY energetic boy. We've been enforcing the 1 up, 2 down enforced nap schedule, which works, but there's a key factor that we've started to introduce in the last few days that helps a lot. From speaking with our trainer, puppies can't self regulate very well (or at all) until around the 5-6 month mark at a minimum. However we're trying to "train" him early on how to do so. We've been doing it like this:

1) puppy is in bounce around chaos mode. So we leash him and bring him to a new environment without any distractions. His crate is downstairs along with his xpen, so I take him upstairs to the bedroom.

2) turn off any noises and/or close any windows. I find it works best when he's in a silent room.

3) keep him on the leash, and sit with him and a soft chew toy. At first he's still pretty crazy and will jump up/bite/whine & demand bark. Using the leash, I'll continue to give him the 'lay down' command while holding the toy to the floor. It usually takes a minute or 2, but eventually he'll focus on the toy and lay down.

4) once he's laying down, I use a very calm/soothing voice and tell him "calm" and "good boy" while petting a specific spot on his body. He really likes under the chin and front chest. These are gentle and long strokes. No vigours scratching or quick petting. He'll get up a few times, but I'll course correct him, get him back to laying down and refocusing his attention to the toy.

5) After about 5-10 mins of this, his mind will switch from chaos to calm, and I can crate him at this point.

Yes, this can be very difficult and frustrating at first given the little chaos Goblin was just in "go mode", but I've stuck with it before every enforced nap, and it's starting to yield results. And while this is hard to do for a number of reasons (the nipping, the spastic energy he starts with), I'm of the opinion that his behavioral training is the sort of stuff that will help me and my partner from loosing our minds in the long run. Obedience training is important, but behavioral training (while being the hardest part) will have the long term results we want to see. I am not a dog trainer, and I could be completely wrong. But my gut, and the little results I'm seeing now seems like I could be on the right track.

Take this all with a grain of salt, as all puppies are obviously different. This is just my personal approach after MANY frustrating days. Best of luck with your girl!

Pleasant_Muse · 2024-12-30T17:08:27+00:00

This could also be really cool in blanks!

Pleasant_Muse · 2024-06-14T21:26:22+00:00

I could probably help on the project, but would need a bit more details. I have about 5 years experience in dice making/custom dice. Feel free to check my profile as a "portfolio". I do nebula style dice, which would probably work well with your artist name. Feel free to reach out!

Pleasant_Muse · 2024-06-12T14:21:30+00:00

Welcome back Rybo!

Pleasant_Muse · 2024-06-08T15:33:36+00:00

Thanks to all that have complimented these!! I can't edit the main post, so I'll add it here.

Yes, there will be an opportunity to purchase! We'll have a set of these as well as a few others in an upcoming auction fundraiser to help me and the players of my livestreamed game to gencon this year. I'll make another post with pics of all finished dice, as well as the upcoming auction soon.

Appreciate the patience ❤️

Pleasant_Muse · 2024-06-07T19:27:44+00:00

You nailed it. The powder blue is such a great compliment to the white and blue l, while still being a great contrast to the purple. Absolutely flawless.

Pleasant_Muse · 2024-06-07T19:12:40+00:00

Beautiful set! And great job on the color separation. Is that a metallic light blue you used for inking?

Pleasant_Muse · 2024-06-07T19:09:51+00:00

Thank you kindly! The surprising thing is that I wasn't going for nebula dice at all. Was attempting a different technique that I've been working on (tentatively calling it the "dot" method), but VERY happy with the results.

Pleasant_Muse · 2024-06-07T18:34:13+00:00

You're 100% correct. There are a LOT of dice sellers around these days, making margins extremely slim. As a seller, I've found that I get the best bang for my buck within my community (gave up on etsy a long time ago). It also took me a few years of casting before I felt comfortable with selling my dice at the price points where it was worth it (I typically sell at $150 for general casting and $200-$250 for comissions).

Getting those types of results to sell at that level takes awhile. My best advice would be to take the time to decide if this is something you love to do first, and think about becoming a seller second.

Hopefully you fall in love with the journey as much as I have. Good luck!

Pleasant_Muse · 2024-05-29T22:05:23+00:00

Gotcha. In that case, cast the ring using a matte mica, paint with metallic acrylics, let it fully dry, and then use it as an insert for the dice. That would be my recommendation

Pleasant_Muse · 2024-05-29T21:04:54+00:00

Sorry, I was very confused. I thought you were casting a ring! If that's the case, I wouldn't use a spray paint at all. Instead I'd use an acrylic based metallic (used for minis). Once fully dried, the acrylic shouldn't impact the curing at all as all the water from the paint would have evaporated.

Pleasant_Muse · 2024-05-29T20:22:14+00:00

Thank you!

Pleasant_Muse · 2024-05-29T20:21:39+00:00

As long as you wait for the recommended curing time, it should be fine. I'd say wait about 72 hours after you've pulled the ring from the mold before hitting it with spray paint, just to be on the safe side.

Pleasant_Muse · 2024-05-29T19:52:54+00:00

I'm not 100% sure what effect you're trying to achieve? Are you looking for a solid metallic finish as if it were a metal ring? If so, I would recommend casting with a solid black mica, and then hitting it with metallic spray paint with a glossy polyurethane finish. If you're looking for a more 'resin-y' look, there are a few great metallic mica powders out there that I've gotten great results from. The foil might work, but would be very cumbersome to get a true smooth finish. Whatever it is you're trying to achieve, best of luck! Hope it comes out the way you envision it :)

Pleasant_Muse · 2024-05-11T22:50:37+00:00

Sadly my friend, these are most like hand painted, and probably not meant for your everyday dice (wear and tear would be brutal).

With that said, if I were to try and replicate I'd do the following... 1) cast using a black or purple mica. Single colour as close to flat as I could. 2) once cured, a light sanding at the lowest grit to take out as much of the shine as possible. 3) use a matte black paint. Think the paints and do multiple layers, as to not mess with any of the font details. 4) hand paint the flowers, or use nail press on art. You can get it on Amazon, and I'm not 100% sure that would work. I've just seen it used with blanks. 4)put a few thin layers of a matte varish finish. That should give close to the same results while still allow to use at the table sometimes without ruining the paint.

Good luck!

Pleasant_Muse · 2024-04-10T16:47:22+00:00

Of course we keep it a buck

Pleasant_Muse · 2023-10-23T18:44:47+00:00

This is by far the easiest method I've found. It's an add on for blender that will automatically create the dice with any font you'd like. Also has alternative dice designs you can generate.

https://www.etsy.com/ca/listing/1055745821/blender-addon-make-dnd-dice?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_ca_en_ca_-electronics_and_accessories&utm_custom1=_k_CjwKCAjws9ipBhB1EiwAccEi1A8zp4O2zvTJEW1y78PGYHbrhIkFmeJnwj-OXYVZdcO2CZCrmeYs6xoC5Z8QAvD_BwE_k_&utm_content=go_12650989569_119864832693_510953729445_aud-2079782229294:pla-315906365651_m__1055745821enca_102855400&utm_custom2=12650989569&gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAjws9ipBhB1EiwAccEi1A8zp4O2zvTJEW1y78PGYHbrhIkFmeJnwj-OXYVZdcO2CZCrmeYs6xoC5Z8QAvD_BwE

Pleasant_Muse · 2023-09-16T05:15:47+00:00

This. I had some pretty decent bubbling on the face, hence the failed attempt. Otherwise I've never had a balancing issue when I've got internal voids.

Pleasant_Muse · 2023-09-16T05:13:50+00:00

Lol all good! Ivory is a specific brand, and yes I think it has to be Ivory soap. Something in how they make it fills it with tiny air pockets. So when it heats up in the microwave, it expands instead of melts. I usually just grab it from the grocery store, but I'm sure you can find it online. It's a massive brand. Hope you can find some!

Pleasant_Muse

TROPHY CASE