iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 04/10/2026

The inevitable result of the constant "answer our survey, you could win" emails. (Good job catching these, Fastmail.)

A spam folder full of "take a survey and win" phishing scams, purportedly from big name companies that many people already get emails from.

Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 03/10/2026

Cage walls and lid are the only things left on this one, which is functional except for occasionally sending one of the balls rolling away.

The lower half of a light blue GachaPop Lite capsule vending machine. The upper cage is just the corner posts.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 03/10/2026

Ordered some small mochi (not water bead) squishes to put in the Halloween gachapon but they're completely unlabeled and kids are absolutely gonna eat them, this is not gonna work.

Tiny squishy toys in clear plastic. They're problematically bite sized. Like 100-calorie snack packs.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 27/09/2026

Janky but persistent roses the seller put in to market the house: "is it spring yet?"

A fresh rosebud, backed by all the season's previous blooms which are now full grown rose hips.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 27/09/2026

I have two working coin mechanisms (the other two will be in different colors) and it is very satisfying.

3d printed coin-op mechanisms (insert a coin, turn the handle) in gray plastic. A token printed in the same color blends in with one of the mechanisms (the actual tokens we use will be more colorful).

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 26/09/2026

It's going quite well, the mechanism printed cleanly and it's now doing the last of the ones I can print before disabling the AMS (the four that cover the lower-left exclusion marker). Still gotta choose cage panels (or get acrylic).

A display of eleven 3d printer plate graphics. It's printing the sixth (#8 because I'm not doing them sequentially).

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 26/09/2026

I do try to keep the "tiny plastic gewgaws" printing to a minimum but Halloween gachapon is a valid excuse to print some tiny articulated animals. The beast is busy printing the first machine now, though.

A tiny 3d-printed raccoon, gecko, dragon, and duck, along with the halves of a vending capsule.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 25/09/2026

embroidery machines). BK is making a rubber-duck themed one, which will contain glow-in-the-dark mini ducks (and candy), I am contemplating another batch of tiny toadstool folk (and candy) in my Traditional Red/White/Silver Gumball Machine Colors one. Not sure what's going in the other one or two.

Tiny plush toadstool folks, with machine embroidered faces and nub arms and legs. Their caps are printed plush fabric, so they're colored like yellow cupcakes with chocolate frosting and sprinkles.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 24/09/2026

Ah yes, the two genders: girl and "you know, just normal."

"Girl skeleton" pillow (with lipstick, eyelashes on the eyeholes, and a hair bow but no hair).

Skeleton pillow, just a plain (cartoonish) skeleton.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 24/09/2026

IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE! Ford is going to replace the bad batteries (though there's no compensation for the most-of-a-year they told us not to plug in our plug-in hybrid, and only Ford gets to decide whether our battery is one of the bad ones) (I mean if it catches fire we can guess).

A letter from Ford offering to replace the high voltage battery if it's one of the kind that catches fire. No idea if the battery maker is doing it or Ford, so the Jeeps with the same battery may or may not get the deal.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 22/09/2026

The fact that it's sometimes useful (not here, really, but still) to call out separate restrooms is actually a pretty good argument to not have separate restrooms.

Google Maps layout of a Best Buy store showing all the departments but also calling out "Female Bathroom" and "Male Bathroom" separately.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 21/09/2026

When I did typesetting for a church, I also took "pubic" out of spellcheck. It probably wouldn't have helped with graphics/animated stuff, as some organization/department in Boston discovered.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 21/09/2026

I didn't quite take the picture at the right angle (and I am not gonna attempt to rotate it on the tablet rn) but, well. You know: in case someone wants a cake topper of two slugs fornicating.

The slug, mirrored, so it's now two slugs forming an approximate heart shape (on scrapbook paper of a bed of white roses, I should have said earlier).

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 21/09/2026

I remembered I stitched out another slug when I made Alexander Mason, so I cut it out and stuffed it. Is there a reason for the shape, and for the background? Yeah. 🧶

A plush banana slug, this time curled in more of a C shape.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 19/09/2026

Dibbler would have been proud of the meat pies, which actually kind of were the non-meat option.

Spouse's meat pie, mostly empty. Which, sometimes you don't want that much questionable meat.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 19/09/2026

I am usually a "choose the non-meat option if it's available" but sometimes you just have a lil GNU Terry moment and get SAUSAGE ONNA STICK

Sausage. On a stick. (At a Renaissance Faire.)

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 17/09/2026

We have discovered that a flat for eight one-liter bottles is precisely Olivia-sized.

A fluffy cat curled up in a box that is, based on her constant use of it, exactly the right size.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 16/09/2026

Now they're just trolling.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 16/09/2026

My Shop-Rite did the thing!

A shelf sign that reads "LOL White American" above the Land O Lakes cheese.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 16/09/2026

The light box is fine for most things but it kills any holo effects in fabric.

The slug under a ring light, where the foil surface is shiny but not very colorful.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 16/09/2026

Hope my neighbors are entertained by their Ring footage of my holding a slug photoshoot on my stoop.

A large (7-8") stuffed slug in sunlight, showing off its iridescence.

A close-up of its little sluggy eyes (faux anodized glass beads).

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 16/09/2026

Foremost in the Pile of Stuff to Deal With: gotta find a new home for a spinning wheel. Not in the pile but also needs a home: a treadle Singer sewing machine. (I'd say there's a theme but the spinning wheel is spouse's, it gives him shin pain; sewing machine is mine and I simply have too many)

A PVC spinning wheel (and a pile of miscellaneous other junk)

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 16/09/2026

It's a slip/slide fidget which seems kinda lame but I printed a poker-chip one early in the machine's career and it's surprisingly satisfying. This one is fun to twirl.

The mustache, folded in half with one side spun around.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 16/09/2026

Printed this one in the right color (though there really is no wrong one in the machine right now) and am happy to report it'll fit in the gacha capsule.

A chunky plastic mustache with a hinge in the middle.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 16/09/2026

Today's ADHD tax: walked ten feet away from the printer and in that distance forgot which color I had just replaced, and printed this from the slot I thought still held orange. I guess it's better than accidentally printing bright yellow possum flexis, but still.

A half dozen spiral fidgets printed in gray plastic so they look like some kind of conduit fitting instead of toys.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 15/09/2026

My current work setup is not respecting my reduced-animation settings.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 14/09/2026

I resisted for a long time but finally printed one.

A tiny version of the ubiquitous black tote with yellow lid.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 12/09/2026

Just like with the current administration, there was a definite point before which some stuff was unthinkable and after which we either accept it or sigh and pick our battles.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 12/09/2026

Went to see if I got one of the iLands spams (not yet) but I did find a great opportunity in my spam folder, brb gonna fill up my swimming pool with cheap gasoline (subject line is actually "Crude Oil Supplier" but I'm sure that discrepancy is not a red flag)

Dear Sir/Madam,

I hope this message finds you well.

We are pleased to present our current supply availability of refined oil products at competitive global market pricing, with flexible lifting options available from our facilities in Houston and Rotterdam. Our supply operations are designed to deliver consistency, reliability, and efficiency in meeting the demands of our valued partners and clients.

We place a strong emphasis on transparency, professionalism, and operational excellence throughout every stage of the transaction process, ensuring secure and seamless business engagements.

Should your company be interested in reviewing this opportunity further, we would be pleased to share our Soft Corporate Offer (SCO), outlining the full product specifications, commercial procedures, and pricing terms for your evaluation.

We look forward to the opportunity to discuss potential collaboration and establish a successful, long-term business relationship with your esteemed organization.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 10/09/2026

It is no shock, given that all their craft signs are poor-quality slop now, and it just never stops surprising me just how closely one's politics are linked to one's tolerance for weird uncanny-valley images. Someone should do a lot of MRI's and study this.

A wreath base, strategically photographed on top of a ULINE thing (not even sure what... plastic shipping wrap of some kind? It's not a flattering image of the product, so it's gotta be deliberate.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 09/09/2026

(for those unfamiliar: they aren't rails per se, the sheet metal of the truck bed is just rolled over to the outside instead of the inside, to form the perfect attachment for ratchet hooks if you don't care about keeping your truck pristine but actually using it)

A Kei truck with this style of rails, with rubber bumpers on top to prevent the truck from scratching whatever you're hauling. And vice versa, but that's incidental.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 07/09/2026

I mean at this point the installers will just go "oh they're moving in and getting a new appliance" so we can just leave it this way as long as there's a dishwasher-wide path into the kitchen, right? (we actually are moving a third of the house, just... all within the house. 😩)

Forced perspective so it looks like there are moving boxes to the ceiling, though they're only (ha) halfway there.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 07/09/2026

Went out to water the sunflowers, found and relocated a friend.

A view of the house foundation next to the stoop. There's not much vegetation there (a shrub died and the landscaper hasn't replaced it) but something is climbing the foundation blocks.

Enhance: it's a great big monarch caterpillar!

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 06/09/2026

There's a lot of cultural appropriation happening here (including a whole spread of generic Native American glop I will not inflict on the timeline) but I am unfamiliar with which culture has the stars placed in the sky by the sneezes of a mystical maiden.

A mystical maiden with her hand on an orb looks up at the crescent moon and stars, one of which has lines radiating from her nose. I will never look at a shooting star the same again.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 06/09/2026

I wonder if you can still get a tie with pink elephants that plays the Star-Spangled Banner? I'd like to buy one for the Secretary of Defense.

A flag tie, donkey tie, and elephant tie, except the elephant one is pink. It's probably only the flag one that plays music though, on closer inspection.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 06/09/2026

Found a 1992 jewelry catalog in a stack of books and it sure is something.

A pewter wolf that, thanks to foreshortening, weird angle, and poor craftsmanship, looks like an aggrieved Chihuahua/Pomeranian/pug mix.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 06/09/2026

I'm doing it, I'm doing non-candy this year. First thing to print is The Cylinder.

A 3d-printed cylinder with an angled floor that is a copy of the Small Parts Cylinder used to test for choking hazards (anything that can fit fully in The Cylinder can fit entirely in an under-three child's throat such that it can't easily be pulled out by, if not the child itself, the supervising adult).

Now you know.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 06/09/2026

honestly if I were new to this world I would have exactly that expression

A fledgling bird (pigeon/dove of some sort) sitting on the windshield/wiper of a parked car. Its head is pulled back into its fluffed feathers as though it is part turtle, and it's eyes are enormous.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 04/09/2026

Pretty sure the TV is too large for these to work but thanks anyway Sam Walmart

A listing for "Rainbocorns Sequin Surprise Puppycorn Plush in Giant Mystery Egg by ZURU" but the picture is of an 80-pack of OEM Nerf darts, not that it matters because it's out of stock, and also I was searching for TV stands.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 04/09/2026

My dialect is a mess. I have lived in the second-from-yellow zone until a decade ago, when I moved to the third from yellow zone on the blue side. A ton of them were "well I used to say pop but now I say soda" kinds of things, how do you even answer those?

My dialect map, showing that I should be from Colorado, where I have never lived.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 03/09/2026

Game night. The other players are taking too long.

A giant grid paper tablet with scribbled diagrams, and role-playing minis and tokens here and there.

And a chain of almost a hundred tiny 3d printed snails wandering in a serpentine path in front of me.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 02/09/2026

Made some ripe-banana-slug fabric but it's storming so I'm not going to run the machine yet. Stuffed the fire snail shell instead. Remembered why I rarely use black velvet: we have a mostly-light-colored cat. 😩

A black velvet snail shell, next to the small banana slug charm. There is cat hair on the velvet.

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Karen C @silver.phoenyx.net · 02/09/2026

This is a neat print but it's notorious for having adhesion problems. I tried it anyway and welp now I have a shrimp that looks like it's wading knee-deep.

A 3d printed shrimp that looks like it's sink to the lower edge of its shell in the placemat.

The shrimp on its back, the orientation it printed in. The point at which it detached from the bed and the filament just started making spaghetti is visible, though I stopped it pretty quickly.

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