Blog| Fresh Start

I've gone through a lot of blogs. I was part of the Xanga craze, Livejournals, Tumblr, even the journal section of DeviantArt. Blogs aren't new to me. I've always needed some form of written release, being an introvert and all, and blogs are ways I can word vomit and get it all out. Raicodoll is my art, my videos, my events, but most of all it's me. So let's get to know each other a bit better. Blog I shall. If you just like seeing my art and or going to the things around town I host, that's fine. The News section has my non-personal stuff. That's cool. But if you don't mind a bit of word vomit and venting, then read on!

In October, after the weekend from hell (that is, the three event weekend where I attempted to kill me and fellow artists with exhaustion), me and Rony spent a week in Seattle for a conference he was attending. Seattle had been on our list to visit for a long time. Companies we loved were located there, it rained all the time, it's a very artsy town and it wasn't a desert.

Visiting Seattle was magical and we fell in love instantly.

Cut to this year. You can only grumble that you miss a place so much before finally just saying, we should move there. Before, moving to Seattle was kinda a lofty dream we would say when the weather was too hot and the wind threatened to take the fence down the block. But after a few google searches and some research, it wasn't impossible.

We made a plan. Two years max we'd move. After some re-budgeting, it was cut down to one year. We'd move in one year.

And that's the plan. We're going to get rid of all our non-essential things, save a ton of money, and pack up all five animals and a trailer and move everything up north! Which is wonderful and exciting but also terrifying.

I've lived in Lubbock my whole life. My whole family is in Texas, at most 5-8 hours away. Moving across the country is a brand new experience. Plus I'm a natural worrier so yes, I am already preparing for this move over a year in advance. Everything feels final. Final birthdays and holidays and events. Things I have created I now have to figure out what the future holds for them.

It's a bit daunting. In the end, I think it's a good decision for us. Sometimes you just hit the limits of your growth and have to move to a bigger sandbox. It's scary and uncomfortable but it'll make you better.

This weekend we're having a garage sale to start getting rid of the junk we've hoarded over the years. I'm purging what I can and deciding what makes the cut to stay. It's refreshing, like de-cluttering your life. Everything will be a new start and I think I'm excited for that. As much as I love what I do, it'll be so nice to start over back at zero and not have any pressures.

For now, I'm going to enjoy life here, doing what I love, and making memories. There's a lot planned for this year and if I'm gonna leave, I want to leave while things are good.

-Sam <3

New Website! New Directions!

In case you haven't noticed, the website got a new look! I'd been meaning to redo the site for the longest time and finally sat down and worked on it all day. It's been a while since it first launched and my limited knowledge showed, but I think now it's fresh and reflects my current tastes a lot more.

Growth! It's a thing!

The business has been going through a lot of growth lately as I move everything more towards what I want it to be now that I've got experience. So what does that mean?

• I will be phasing out certain jewelry and product. 
• Switching from 11x17 prints to 8x10
• Not as many conventions
• More galleries
• More sketchbook art
• Splitting the blog into two categories: News and personal blogs. 

I loved making jewelry but the effort to make everything was exhausting and I was starting to feel like I had too much product all over the place. So I'm cutting it down to just the ones that do well or that I really like (If there's a certain piece you like, let me know!)

It's more of a cost thing with the prints. 11x17 prints are expensive to buy unless you buy a bunch in bulk and I have too many designs to do that. It's cheaper and easier for me to do 8x10 which means more will be available and I can actually sell them online!

With conventions, I happened to start at a weird time. Suddenly everyone was getting flooded with conventions so I had a lot of options but now it's too saturated and I'm realizing that I'm not getting the return I want to for the stress that I'm experiencing. I love them, but I think I like attending them more. So I'm sticking to only a few I know I can do well at and isn't out of the way for me.

Galleries were always my main goal and with the art scene growing in town, I got very lucky. I get to do exhibits and galleries with Lubbock-Con and now I'm organizing Star Comics galleries. I even have a few other group exhibits I am participating in outside of that. That's also what pushed me away from conventions. I have to be focusing on all the galleries I'm in!

Sketchbook art is kinda a given. I need to practice more and I like experimenting at a smaller size than I'm use to. The more I do it, the better I'm getting.

And last, the blog. I stopped doing as many Vlogs on Youtube because of the time it took to edit, but I still want to share my personal life and experiences and thoughts. I also left Tumblr because I got tired of the format and the fight for Likes and Reblogs. So since this is my website and in part, what I'm selling is myself, I decided to host my own blog here. Posts that are just news and events and updates of that sort will be on the News page and personal posts will be on the Blog page.

We're planning on moving to Seattle next year so I wanted to log our time prepping for that, some of my personal struggles and thoughts, rants, and things I love, but didn't want to bog down the actual business news so this works best!

Lots of changes but I think this will be good. I need a routine and this helps my art and business further.

Thanks again everyone for sticking around and supporting me!

-Sam <3

When no one knows you're a writer

...because you haven't updated your story in two years. So buckle in, here's a story about how I wrote an online book series and what that has to do with anything.

April 15th, 2017 will be exactly 10 years since I started posting my first original story online. I was sixteen years old and had transitioned from being a fan fiction writer (ho ho, bet you didn't know that except the one person that did. Looking at you, Marisa) to an original story writer. I had stories of my own, had tried to write them ten thousand times, but hadn't ever gotten further than a few chapters. They always die off and get regulated to sit in some folder on my desktop. And then one didn't die off. Then one continued.

Before I was an artist, I wanted to be a writer. My family was full of artists so I figured that field was covered and since my plan to be a chef failed miserably when I realized I couldn't cook worth a crap, I moved to writing. I always did good with short stories in school and had even been granted permission from some of my English teachers to work on my stories instead of writing prompt practice.

Finally years later I made the decision that I'd write my very own original stories and I'd put them on Fictionpress.com as you do. I loved monsters and action and romance and gore and horror and already had a world building in my head, I just needed characters to start.

And so I made Viola Huntington.

Because I was sixteen years old, I thought twenty-two was grown up enough for her (ugggggggggggggggggggggggggh) and started writing a story full of people imploding, the standard were-animals, vampires, witches, and then threw in some Greek mythology because, of course, it's me, lots of fighting, a carnivorous forest. You know, standard stuff.

5 years later, 32 chapters, and 166,436 words later, I finished it. And though it does not age well now as an adult, it's still there.

Then I decided to make it into a series because the stories and characters and world wasn't done yet. And because I'm stupid and don't know when to quit.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) I got back seriously into art as I was starting the story. And....that took off too. I started doing art shows at school and then people contacted my art teacher to buy them and I discovered people might actually like my weird art.

Time passes and I try to keep up with writing and art and having a life and (briefly) college and having a full time job. Mind you, this was before all the stuff I'm doing now. If only I knew. There was a precarious balance but it was there, kinda.

But writing takes time and I got stuck. The updates to the sequel started taking longer and were further apart. I'd write something and months later want to hit my head because I had a new idea about the mythos but had already stated it was something else. Writing and publishing chapter by chapter is a hard and risky method. Once it's out there for people to read, it's out there. You can only change so much.

I wrote myself into a hole.

And then life happens in unexpected ways and personal crises popped up. I got involved in the art/geek/comic community and my ideas took off. I started doing conventions and galleries and putting my art more out there and thought "Hey, what if I made a tiny business out of my art" and that blew up.

Writing became this thing I only thought about. And I did. All the time. Just because you stop physically writing, you don't get to turn off your brain and shove that part of it aside. I live with these characters every day. I know them inside and out and how they'll react to pretty much every scenario. They're there constantly.

April 2014 was the last day I updated the sequel. Two years ago. And I hate that it's been that long because I have an amazing writing community. It's a community that even though it's been two long freaking years with radio silence still message or email or review or contact me to let me know what the stories mean to them, how they feel about it, but most of all hoping that I'm okay.

I get so so many messages and if anything, those are the reason why I haven't let the story die. Because people want to read what I write and care about the characters like I do.

So to all those people, thanks. I love you. You mean the world and planets and universe to me. Because you were there first and are still there.

Even though I am probably also going to rewrite the entire first book privately, I'm going to continue the sequel online. Soon. Eventually. I'll make time. I have big art plans but I'm adding big writing plans too. I have to earn that writer title on my banner after all.

If you want to, you can find my stories on Fictionpress.com under Raico. As much as I love my first book, Sweet Miseria, in a "wow you completed a thing" way, it didn't age well. The first 10 or so chapters are very cringe-y. I'm sorry. But you can read them, not gonna stop you.

But until next time

-Sam <3

Staple! Independent Media Expo 2016

And we're back from another convention! It's been a crazy month. Doing two cons within two weeks of each other was crazy. Now that I'm back home, I still have the jitters like I'm suppose to be working on something all the time. But Staple is over and our next convention isn't until May so for a few days, I am relaxing. Just for a few days though. Ladies Night prepping begins soon, after all!

(More on that later)

Last year we went to Staple since a few of my favorite comic book people were going to be guests there. We only went one day but it was an amazing show and oh dear god did we buy so much stuff. Like 4 car trips worth of stuff. It was awesome and we pledged to come back every year because Staple isn't a comic con, it's an artist show. No movie star celebrity guests or big box office name, just artists and writers and creators.

My people, more or less.

Then we started the business and started doing cons and somehow, we managed to get into Staple before they sold out. So we got to experience the other side of the show, as vendors this time.

Though we still bought a bunch of stuff. I don't know where we're going to put all the prints we got but my supply boxes are sufficiently covered in cool stickers.

We took off Friday and made it to Austin at about 8pm, going straight to the pre-show mixer Austin Books and Comics was hosting for the show. We bought comics, because of course we did, and got to chat to a few people also tabling. I also learned that the comic/art world is small and I will always run into people that also know people I know. Everyone knows everyone, I guess, especially in the con scene.

After that, we went to the hotel and I worked until 2am because of course I did.

Set up started at 9am and we managed to get our half table to look pretty good. The new displays we got for Lubbock-con were working out nicely and the new 11x17 prints came out really good and looked nice.

Show started at 11am and we were off. I think Rony spent most of the time getting up, buying things, and talking to every vendor in the room. Time flew by so fast I didn't even get a chance to look around our room until a few hours into the show. Everyone was so nice and chill and it was great to just talk to other artists about their business and mine and all sorts of things we love.

Another cool thing is we have two of our designs on t-shirts in the lobby available to buy! Both my Pokemon flash art and Murder of Crows sketch could be bought! I got one of each just to have. Don't judge me.

The day passed so quickly and before I knew it, the show was over at 6 and I had only seen one room of the two rooms filled with vendors.

Afterwards, we got a free BBQ dinner provided for us at Dragon's Lair comics and I had never been so happy for free food. There had been taco trucks outside the venue but I had only had time to scarf one down all day.

We shopped a bit there and I bough Sunstone vol. 2 and an ADORABLE No-Face from Spirited Away, knitting in a basket. It was so cute and I brought him the next day to put on my table. And then we ended the day with ice cream from Lick Honest Ice Cream which made homemade ice cream with odd flavors. I got grapefruit with champagne marshmallows and man, it was so good.

Day two was much more relaxed. We had breakfast with friends at Omelettry and then went to the mixer before the show for LGBTQA and Women artists. Did I mention how cool this show was?

I finally got to make it to the other room to shop and got my Through the Woods signed by Emily Caroll and Bitch Planet #3 by Robert Wilson IV. Both were super super nice. And then I shopped a bunch. Some artists I had seen last year so I went to their tables and some were new. I chatted with some that I had talked to at the mixers and geeked out over some witchy art.

I think the coolest thing was just how the artists at the show supported each other. I would go to their table and talk to them and they would come by later and talk some more. A vendor had had her money stolen from after the first day and everyone chipped in the next to try and help out. It was just the coolest experience.

Day two ended and we packed up, saying bye to everyone we had met and exchanging cards and Instagrams and things like that. We ate a celebratory Chinese food buffet and then started the long drive back to Lubbock.

Since I'm trying to get back into the swing of vlogging, we filmed a bit all weekend the the video is up if you'd rather go watch and see everything. We've had a pretty awesome start to our con season and I'm excited to see how YC3 will turn out. Thanks to everyone that came and saw us, all the new people, and all the rad artists! Hopefully I'll see you next year!

Now it's time for Ladies Night prepping. I'll have a blog up about that soon! See ya!

-Sam <3

Lubbock-Con 2016

So my plan for yesterday was to sleep and sleep and sleep and not leave my house because I was exhausted. Instead, I slept really late, ordered Chinese food, figured out my budget to restock my entire inventory, and started organizing the merch I had left for Staple. Lubbock-Con wiped me out, which is a good thing. Because it was pretty damn amazing.

Lubbock-Con was this past Saturday on the 20th at the Civic Center and happened to run not only during the pancake festival (which draws in an enormous crowd all day) but also the Little Mermaid musical. So think a crap ton of families wanting food and another crap ton of families with little kids dressed as mermaids and then an unholy amount of nerds and cosplayers all mixed together.

I was busy all day.

Set up was Friday night after I got off work and after that, my plan was to pull an all nighter to make sure I was prepared for Saturday. Mine and Rony's friend, Erica (Koolaid Girl Art), shared my table with me since it was her first con and first time selling. She's done our Ladies Nights at Star Comics before but hadn't ever made prints and sold those. She had far less stuff to get together than me since she doesn't try to make 10000 different things like I do (because I'm an overachiever) so she mostly helped me set up.

I didn't go to bed until 4am and that's because I was too delirious to see what I was doing and almost cried when I realized I needed to cut out Jolteon charms and oh god why did I make the design so spiky??? Woke up at 7am, panicked because I didn't finish, got dressed, and booked it to the Civic Center at 8am for pre-show finishing touches.

The line for the pancake festival which started at 7am was already long as hell and there was a line forming for the con. I scratched my display since a last minute trip to Michael's ended up with me buying new jewelry displays and quickly redid everything!

And from the time doors opened at 9am, I didn't have time to even breath. Instantly, we were busy. We got wiped out of dollar bills early, panicked, got some dollars back, and then almost cried when Rony showed up with a few more because why do people always pay for small stuff in 20's???

The entire day I only got to get up and walk and go to the bathroom once and it was during the Miss Lubbock-Con pageant when everyone was too busy watching to come by. Said hi to people, bought some Sailor Moon merch and a cupcake, ran back so I could prepare for Round Two.

I didn't even have the chance to take pictures of all the cool cosplayers. It was pretty awesome. Erica was busy all day doing sketch commissions and selling prints and every time I would finish one Eevee Necklace, another would sell out and I'd have to make more.

Everyone was super nice and excited and even though I was dead tired, it was a ton of fun. Everyone seemed to having a blast at the con and it was crazy how well organized everything was considering this was a con debut. (And we got free lunch which I was super grateful for because I was going to starve if I couldn't leave the table)

Overall, this has been the best con I've been to and a great start to the year. I'm sold out of almost everything which is mind blowing. I'm very excited to have been a part of it and can't wait until next year. Everyone was happy, business was good, and I had a lot of fun. Thank you to DeNae and the whole team that put this on and have been so welcoming and supportive of this little business of mine! You guys are great!

Now onto the big one, Staple.

After I sleep a bit more though.

-Sam <3

Happy New Year's Eve!

2016 is soon upon us and I have been stuck inside my house for five days straight due to a blizzard. Yep. But it was a nice little break even if me and the pup did go a little stir crazy not being able to leave. So with a new year, new projects and new things to work towards! I'm hopefully going to be working on a few new illustrations and paintings (I miss painting a lot) and new jewelry designs as well as packaging and redoing my banner for conventions.

Maybe even some polymer pieces too :)

But for now, I'm enjoying the holidays and will be visiting family this weekend and soon enough, my birthday!

I just wanted to give yall a little update. I'm working on the next Feature Friday and will try to have that one out for next week!

Stay warm!

-Sam <3

Feature Friday (the 13th)!

Hello all welcome to my first Feature Friday, where I showcase five artists/shops/people/whatever for being awesome! And it's Friday the 13th, one of my favorite days, because I'm a big ol goth baby. Anyways, here's some pretty awesome people you should check out!

1. Shawna Jeree- Hello Quirky

I’ve had the lovely pleasure of meeting Shawna at our very first Ladies Night here in Lubbock and at our Geek Girl Brunch get-togethers! She donated her Doctor Who stickers for our very first brunch. She’s a local and has been super awesome and supportive of my shop! (Also, I’m jealous of how cute she is) Her art is adorable and she watercolors everything which is amazing because when I tried to watercolor my designs they look like a mess once they’re done. She sales original art and stickers and brooches (you may have seen her Harry Potter art before) and is just a wonderful lady overall.

Go check out her things on her website! Tell her I said hi!

Instagram @helloquirky Twitter @hello_quirky

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2. Mrs. Fortune’s Millinery

Alex is another local lady I’ve had the pleasure of knowing! Have you seen her hats? Holy crap, they’re amazing. I got to know Alex through Ladies Night as well, then through both of us becoming officers for Geek Girl Brunch Lubbock! And now she has her own shop! Her specialty is in geeky fascinators for your everyday needs or for cosplaying! She has a wide range from Poison Ivy to the Poison Apple from Snow White to Rainbow Dash! She hand makes everything and they are gorgeous! The Batman one comes with 3 different symbols so you can change them out. And they are super affordable and very geek chic (yeah I said it). So please go check out her shop and give her some support!

You can visit her Etsy page and she also takes custom orders!

Instagram @mrsfortunesmillinery Facebook @mrsfortunesmillinery

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3. Cat Coven

I found this shop just the other day in my search for cute, witchy things I need in my life and came across them on Instagram. Yep, found another shop to pour my money into. It has pretty much everything I love. Cats, Bats, passive aggressive messages. Check. They have shirts, patches and pins, dresses, and some art prints! On their Instagram, I’m pretty sure she’s working on pillows too. The art is an amazing mix of tattoo style/black and white sketches and the designs are to die for and again, everything is reasonably priced. I need all the patches and I know Rony would love the little cat butt designs. So grab something for the witchy cat lady in your life or if you just really like cat butts and bats.

For your one stop shop, go visit their website! 

They also have an Etsy! Instagrma @Cat_Coven

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4. Too Crewel

I wouldn’t say I’m on an embroidery kick, but more like Holy-Crap-How-Do-They-Do-That kick. I’m also deep into passive aggressive feminist décor and witchy stuff (as if you couldn’t tell) so this shop is no surprise. This shop has all of these! I found her on Instagram (because that's where you find a lot of shops these days) and fell in love with all the designs she had done. She has crystal balls and skeleton hands and space themed art. I’m very sad I missed out on this awesome moon phase embroidery she had posted on her IG. She also does custom work so you can have something done for the holidays!

I’m seriously very close to just starting a Witch Girl Gang and inviting everyone. Wait, I’m pretty sure that’s just a coven. Hm.

Anyways, follow her IG for updates and coupons and check out her shop! Instagram @toocrewel Wordpress @toocrewel

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5. Tuesday Bassen

One of the bigger names out of all these, Tuesday is an LA based illustrator whose art I want to wrap myself in. I came across her Ugly Girl Gang beanies and I’ve been drooling ever since (they come in patches and hats too). Her art style is kinda rough pop arty (I’m good at this, can you tell?) and she sells everything from Zines to art to clothing to patches and pins. It’s all adorable while still being deliciously passive aggressive and top notch quality. I would definitely pick up Ugly Girl Gang #1 just for the awesome art!

Go to her website for all your Ugly Girl Gang needs!

Instagram @tuesdaybassen Twitter @tuesdaybassen

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And that's it for my first Feature Friday! Go and check out all these lovely ladies shops! When you buy from independent artists, you're helping to, y'know, feed people and stuff. Directly. Without people higher up taking a cut. So do that this holiday season and #shopsmall!

-Sam <3

Lubbock-Con presents Nerd Prom 2015!

Fun fact, the entirety of my Junior and Senior Prom was spent mostly at the table with my friends, eating from the chocolate fountain. Chocolate fountains are my weakness. But besides that, prom was pretty uneventful since I didn't really like the music or theme or most of the people. So now, as an adult, it's kind of exciting to get to go to prom again because it's going to be a Nerd Prom!

(And most of my friends will be there)

The other exciting part is I will be a vendor at it! I'll be there with some of my jewelry and prints along with an exclusive print I'm doing only for the event so quantity will be limited if you wanna snag one of these!

I'll even have a few new designs to sell if you wanna see some new stuff first *winkwink*

Tickets are only $5 and going fast. You can pick them up at Star Comics 2014 34th st Lubbock, TX and the event is 21+ because there will be all the alcohols. Check out Lubbock-Con's facebook for more details!

Dig out your old prom attire or cosplay it up and come as your favorite geek couple. Maybe you'll win Prom King and Queen and get some cool goodies.

Prom is this Friday so go get your tickets and stop by!

See everyone there -Sam <3

Hub City Comic Con!

After a month of prepping getting both ready for my first convention and redoing my online shop, the big weekend finally came. Hub City Comic Con was luckily being held where I lived so the stress of packing everything up and going to a different town was absent, but there was still stress. I ran out of chain and lobster clasps like three times and had the hardest time just getting change. I can't imagine having to do that in a different town. But after very little sleep but pretty easy set up, we were ready for preview night on Friday.

Now since this was the first year they have had this convention and the first one in Lubbock, no one was really able to measure expectations. Friday was for VIPs only, but I kinda figured the people that came would mostly be there for the Dragon Ball Z and Power Ranger signings. Which I was correct on. Also, we were the weird booth apparently. Go figure.

But Friday gave me time to organize and finish anything I hadn't. And it was a chance for the vendors to browse around since it was going to be close to impossible on Saturday. I got to network a bit and kinda made friends with the lovely ladies at another booth over our love of comics and Steven Universe. It was nice.

Day 2 was the big big day. General Public was allowed in at 1030 and by noon we heard there were lines. Big lines. Mind you, the convention center is like a wall-less pit. No outside light comes in so I didn't even know what time it was or how big the line was or what it was like for the crowd out there but I heard it was pretty crazy how long it was. Saturday I sold mostly stickers and charms.

I think I only ate like half a burrito throughout just because I was too busy. I did get a chance to make phone charms though which seemed to do well.

There were a ton of cosplayers though! This made me happy because you hardly see any in town but there were tons and tons! (And our booth seemed to have the most traffic so that was nice to get pictures of them)

I made back my booth and supplies cost and had an overall good time. I did pretty good for my first convention though I would probably tweak some stuff for next time. I ended up clipping displays of my charm necklace to grid and I would have liked to have a jewelry display holder. I was only able to get postcard sizes of my prints done and didn't get to finish them all or my portrait style ones. But I did good and I'm proud of myself for that.

I had Geek Girl Brunch cards out and got to promote the chapter a bit along with one of our other Officers Alex who had a booth selling her custom hats (you can check her out on Instagram and her Etsy will be opening soon!) so we had a few girls interested. We also had a Ladies Night poster hanging up so I got to let more people know about that! (Too many hats on my head but all well)

At the end of Day 1, we were all kinda exhausted. I ended up passing out on my couch before going to hang out with friends. I didn't even get to work because I passed out again as soon as I got back home. We were dead tired on Sunday morning but were much more prepared.

The crowds weren't as big as Saturday, but Lubbock is a church town so we didn't expect to get crowds until after noon. Last minute buyers were grabbing prints that day so i sold more prints and stickers and a few charms. I was even able to go and grab some prints and stickers myself from other vendors. But by 4:00 the crowd had pretty much disappeared.

Lubbock on Sundays closes down very early. Most retail stores are shut down by 6 and everyone knows that. So it was kinda not surprising. We stayed a couple more hours and sold a few things, but after a long weekend, mostly we just walked around the place, checked in with our friends at the other booths (I bugged Star Comics a bit), and packed up.

Like I said, overall my experience was good. Things could be better but it was a first time convention and I was a first time tabler so there are things to be learned. The hard part is over though. Today we are getting everything ready for the shop to open up tomorrow and I'm very excited. All my prints will be available, #Workcomics, my sketchbook, charm necklaces and phone charms, stickers, buttons, everything. One more push and then I will be able to relax for the rest of the week.

At least until we start getting ready for Ladies Night.

Thank you to everyone that came to see me and buy stuff! It was great meeting everyone! And until next time!

-Sam <3

#Workcomics Vol.1!

I believe it was almost a month and a half ago when we got the harebrained idea to turn my daily work doodling into an actual thing. A book! A comic book?An art book? Well, all of those combined. We looked at different printers and figured out how we wanted it to look, how much it would cost, what size was it going to be? Well, I'm proud to see, it worked out. #Workcomics Vol.1 is here and in my hands and I'm so so happy

Isn't it cute?! (And the paper is so nice, like omg) And its the color of the actual post-it notes! Not only that, we kept all the creases and folds and tiny cat teeth mark the originals had to authenticate that yes, these were really post-it notes and yes, my cats really like to steal them.

These may be the only run of Vol.1 so they are limited in quantity and over all, just limited edition. Vol. 1 covers from April to June from when I first started it to about when we started getting the book ready for print.

The front cover is actually the very first #Workcomic I ever did and the back is brought to you by Lubbock's very own Star Comics who were gracious enough to sponsor the book so we could get it made. They've been so so so supportive of all my weird ideas and projects (like wanting to start a Ladies Night then wanting to make a baby comic book) so I'm incredibly grateful to them. Thanks, guys!

The books will be available to purchase online September 1st on my Etsy shop when it goes live again and they'll be $10. If you are in Lubbock this weekend, I will have copies at my booth for Hub City Comic Con so you can get them in person! And first! We are limited to roughly 45 copies so get them while you can!

And to celebrate the release, on September 1st I want you to do your own #Workcomic. Doodle at work (don't get in trouble though) either on some paper or a post-it note and hashtag it #Workcomics so I can see. You can tag me on Twitter @Raico13 or Instagram @ Raicodoll. It's like an art day!

Thank you so much to everyone who has supported me and this book! And now, back to prepping for the convention!

-Sam <3

4 Days! Ahhhhh!

I don't know how I did it in high school. Staying up until late in the morning then getting up early. I do it now and I feel like an extra on the Walking Dead. Since the end of July as I get more and more stuff prepped for Hub City, I've slowly been moving my bed time back. Midnight, 1230, 1am, 2am, ?????what is sleep??? Even more surprisingly, I haven't even been drinking coffee. Or soda. Just water. What is happening to me?

Anyways, here's a map of where I will be at Hub City Comic Con

But I just have 4 more days of prep work and it'll be here! And in one week, the Etsy shop will be live again! With all new stuffs! All the charm necklaces will be listed with some new additions like:

(They'll also be available in stickers)

And also new stickers with my face on them:

and then this little guy:

because why the heck not. Donuts and cats are cute.

Stickers sheets, individual stickers, Charm Necklaces, Keychains, buttons, sketchbooks, #Workcomics, all the stuffs! And still more to come because I'm an over achiever and can't stop working. I will update you all with more info later, along with a recap of how our launch brunch went this Saturday at Geek Girl Brunch Lubbock and with #Workcomics info when we get the book back from the printer.

SO MUCH STUFF. IT IS FILLING THE HOLE WHERE SLEEP WAS.

-Sam <3