2017.

Holiday season was a whirlwind that I'm barely coming down from. I completely overextended myself in October and paid the price for that (mental exhaustion is a thing, folks) and then the holiday season finished me off. This was followed by birthdays and Valentine's Day and dog sitting (plus we got a new puppy and Almond joined Obedience School) and I'm essentially drained but mending. Long story short: sorry for the absence.

But I haven't completely been out of the game. I've been working on things.

So one of my goals for this year was to focus more on galleries. I love cons but they're hit and miss right now as the industry goes through a shift and I'm still kinda trying to figure out what's best for my business before I do a bunch. I will be at Lubbock-Con this year though, but that'll probably be my only one. I pretty much barely broke even on Hub City Comic Con and figured I'd lay off cons a bit after that.

We will be at Staple 2017 but only as attendees! I love that show so no matter what, we're going.

With that said, galleries give me a lot of freedom to paint what I want and let me shake my wrists out, so to speak. I don't have to worry about what sales and if anything is cost effective or how many I can reproduce. It's a one and done and I can spend a lot of time on something and not feel bad.

We started the year off with a Bad Luck Gallery at Star Books & Comics for my birthday (January Friday the 13th. Lucky me!) and for it not being on the First Friday Art Trail, the house was packed! I'm so happy so many people were able to come out for it and it shows that as long as you have something interesting, people will come.

That gallery actually got extended to the end of February so if you haven't checked it out, go!

March I may be speaking at the Lubbock-Con Artist Workshop covering the business aspect of art. So conventions, galleries, online stores, etc. It's the side that rarely gets discussed but is extremely helpful for anyone who ever wants to get into art professionally or even just on the First Friday Art Trail. So if you want to get the details, go to Lubbock-Con's Facebook page and find the event there.

April! Ladies Night 3rd Anniversary! Can you believe we've gotten to do 3 years of Ladies Nights? That's nuts. We're finalizing the date now but we have a neat artist lined up that I've featured before so I'm excited to see what she can bring to Ladies Night! Keep an eye out on my Facebook for the official date announcement and event!

Also, big shout out to Star Comics for always letting me run crazy events and being super supportive. Best people ever. Seriously, I could not do any of the stuff I do without them being willing to partner up with me.

May is Lubbock-Con! Feel free to refer back to said Facebook page for details!

And then June 2nd, there's a little movie you might have heard coming out. Wonder Woman? Yeah, we're doing an artist collective gallery for that! We'll have about 20 different artists all submitting pieces dedicated to the Amazonian herself. It'll be on the First Friday Art Trail so go see it! I promise it'll be cool as hell.

There's a few more things in the works, but that's all for now. If you have commissions with me, Sorry!! I'm getting back into the swing of things and am working on getting them sorted. My projector that I use to blow up my sketches also went on the fritz but I'm working on it!

I'm also looking into getting my Inktober works in a sketchbook and as soon as all my inventory is replenished, the Etsy store will be back up with all those.

Thank you again to everyone that's stuck by me and liked my work and just been completely supportive.

-Sam <3

Community to the Max

Con season for me has wrapped but things haven't slowed in the least. I'm currently staring at my To Do list and there's at least 10 paintings on there that need to be done within the next month. But I'd rather be busy with my art than not have anything to do at all.

There's a lot going on in town!

First off, Lubbock-Con's Geek Garage Sale is next weekend if you want to check that out. It'll be at Tornado Gallery from 5pm to 10pm September 24th! So go by and raid through all the geek treasures that have been donated.

Next is something I'm super excited to be a part of. September 28th at 50th Street Caboose at 6pm, Lubbock-Con and I will be hosting an Artist Dinner! We're looking for local artists that are wanting a platform to get their art out, opportunities to show, and ways to get their name out! We'll talk about becoming a Lubbock-con featured artists and getting new talent in for our events! So check out the event link and come by!

October 1st is Ladies Night! We'll be featuring artist Indri Himawan! She'll be there selling prints and will have free limited Ladies Night posters. Lubbock-con will be hosting a costume contest, Jo De's will be selling comic book flowers, and Kayla Crow Photography will be taking pictures of the event! It's our last Ladies Night of the year so come out and celebrate with some geeky ladies!

The following week (told you there's a lot going on) is the First Friday Art Trail and on October 7th Star Books & Comics Downtown will be having a Halloween Artist Collective! Me and a bunch of other artists will have Halloween themed pieces up for display and sell! It'll be a spooky good time so make sure it's a stop during the First Friday Art Trail!

If you happen to be in San Jose, California (YEP) on October 7th, Anno Domini gallery will be part of the South First Fridays Artwalk and will be hosting an Art of Zine exhibit! I'll have both my sketchbooks and #Workcomics there on display and for sell! Neat, huh? If it's in your neighborhood, go and see (and maybe take pictures for me pleeeeeeeeeeease).

The next day October 8th, Lubbock-con is hosting Nerd Prom 2.0! Tickets are $5 and can be purchased at Star Comics and the event will be at Backstage. Me and the other featured artists will have special prom art for sell and you can also purchased limited prints! Get dressed up and party your nerd heart out!

Take a breath.

The NEXT day October 9th (can you see now why my To-Do list is so long?) is my Fall Pokestop Art Drop event! Everyone demanded it so we're doing another one before the year is out. We have even more artists this time and all the art will be Halloween themed because October, duh. Check out the event link and make sure to follow so you can get updated when the art starts to drop and get sneak peeks at the art ;)

Aaaaaaaaaaaand that's it. For now. After that, me and Rony are taking a big trip to Seattle for a week to relax as a mini-vacation, followed by a wedding, and then I'm working on a bunch more personal art and jewelry and writing! I can relax in time for the holidays.

Thanks so much for everyone support and following along! We've really grown in these past few months and I'm starting to make goals for next year. More paintings, more writing, more community events, and maybe a patreon? Who knows. Gotta work work work...

See you around town!

-Sam <3

YC3 & Live Art Event!

Hello, lovelies! Lots going on this month! Free Comic Book Day just wrapped up and now it's on to the next thing. This weekend we will be at Yellow City Comic Con with the wonderful Mrs. Fortune's Millinery at table B2! Come out and say hi!

Between moving the house, getting the office unpacked, and trying to con prep, there's a lot happening but I'm excited to come out and see everyone! After this convention, I'm hoping to get a lot of new product and art out so some designs may go away. Get them while you can!

We're also excited to be pairing up with Lubbock-Con again and doing a Live Art event! May 21st we're kicking off a series of Artist Workshops put together by them to let people know what goes on behind the process of putting our art together and to allow people the chance to learn. To start it all off, we'll be holding a live demonstration at Star Comics' second new location in the downtown area! So come out to 916 16th st! It's part of Mad Hatter's House of Games!

Facebook event and info here.

Keep an eye out for more events and things we're participating in. Lots and lots happening in town!

Until then, I'm going back to unpacking and prepping for this weekend!

-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

And it begins!

The busy season has started. Birthdays are wrapping up and con prepping has begun. Plus it's Valentine's Day season! (Hint hint: my flash art makes for a good present. Get them while they're fresh)

In case you didn't know, I'll be having some of my art up at Tornado Gallery as part of Lubbock-Con's exhibit for the First Friday Art Trail. You can find more info here on Lubbock-Con's event page so come by and see me! I'll try to bring some prints to grab but I'm hoping to have some new stuff to showcase. Cross your fingers!

Lubbock-Con is fast approaching on the 20th and there's still plenty to get done, in addition to Staple being only 2 weeks after that. Lots and lots of prepping to do. Business cards have been order, we're working on a new banner, and maybe some 11x17s???? Maybe. Depending on my budget, I would like to have some made.

So much to do. Overwhelmed? A bit. Not as much as I thought, but mostly because I've been putting a lot of my stress into working out so I'm surprisingly chill.

Cross your fingers this goes well.

-Sam <3

Tis the Seasons

Hello everyone! Anyone else kinda enjoying the chilly weather because I know I am! (My utilities bill is so low right now I want to cry.)

This is kinda an update to let everyone know what's happening!

As the holiday season approaches (my very first one as a shop), things are going to get crazy. Already there's been a slight influx in orders so as we get closer to Christmas, be patient with me. I'm only one person (plus a boyfriend). I'll try to list a cut off date for orders to get to you in time for Xmas once I figure it all out.

The good part is that new product is coming! New art! If you missed out on a Ladies Night poster, we'll have the print version up soon! I've already listed our new Batarang Bat Symbol Necklaces for the Batgirl in you and soon will be putting up some Sailor Moon crescent moon circlets in Silver, Gold, and Black. We're in the prototype stage for those, a Steven Universe Cookie Cat necklace, a new version of Witch Bitch and some other spooky necklaces, and Sailor Moon Compact Necklaces in 4 different versions. Rony has been very very very helpful in getting those designed so thank him when they're done.

I have like 3 events coming up soon. If you live in the Lubbock area, Lubbock-Con and Star Comics are partnering to bring you Nerdsgiving! It's a potluck! I'll be there selling stuffs! Maybe even new stuffs! And then after that, we're off to McKinney,TX for G33K3! We'll be there Friday, Saturday, and Sunday so there's your chance to save on shipping costs. And then we're back in Lubbock for Lubbock-Con's A Very Merry NERDsmas!

And then I'm going to sleep the sleep of queens until my birthday and the next round of conventions.

Also, there may be a few changes to the website. EVENTUALLY, I would like to change the design but that's on my Good-Luck-Getting-To-That list. But we're going to start a Feature Friday post where I share my favorite independent shops/artists/people/stores for you to check out because there's a lot of wonderful ladies, local and online, that I've had the chance to meet and want to give a shout out to. Look for that this upcoming Friday!

Before I leave you, thank you to everyone that has supported and purchased and shared my things since we've started up! It's kinda been a whirlwind since we launched (shout out to Kelly Sue Deconnick and Wil Wheaton for sharing my Be Terrifying necklace and giving me a small aneurysm with how much traffic they sent my first week) but I couldn't have asked for a better start. Yall help feed me and keep me going and help get me to my goal of doing this full time. So thank you very much <3

See you Friday xoxo Sam