Even if i don’t blog much otherwise, i committed to a monthly update. I’d rather do this to keep in touch with you than use most social media platforms. If you like, you may have this infrequent missive delivered via email (which also enters you into a monthly giveaway!) or the ancient art of RSS.
Art
My favorite item was actually a collage of sketches that i made for a header:
I think i might try and make that into a more finished, cohesive piece. Here are some other scribbles, including some composition exercises and, of course, my yearly “devil christmas” themed sketches, lol:
* Devil christmas isn’t meant as some kind of religious commentary, it’s just me playing with aesthetics. Someone likened it to “death metal + holidays” and i think that’s more accurate, but just doesn’t sound as snappy.
News
- Where did this month go–i missed my streaming date. Oops!
- We had a tiny bit of snow twice, but otherwise this winter has been a disappointment (how can i build a snow dinosaur without any snow)
- I took so many product photos. New site is almost up, it’ll probably go live the first week of January! Then someone will maybe finally see this (yes, it will be my mom. Hi, Mom!)
- I’m now officially the Marketing Team Co-Lead at Artisans Coop and if you’re not careful i will recruit you 😉
- I did a dev edit on a really cool novel this month, for a maker who wanted lore to go with their products. It reminded me of my Secret Project site, which will not be up when this one goes live, but sooooon…
Pet Tax
My sister’s family got Cedar a pineapple treat dispenser that he immediately fell in love with; Watson spends most of our walks in his palanquin these days, but he got out for a bit to claim some trees; Luci was unamused when i made fun of his kitty muffintop; and Juniper can fly if it snows–it’s science.
Anecdote
In 2004, i flew to Sweden and spent Christmas with my friend Liselotte (who is a fabulous artist and human, check out her site). In the U.S., black licorice candy is one of those things people either like or hate–but in Europe, it’s like the people who love it got feisty about it. “Oh you don’t like it now? Wait until we FILL IT WITH SALT.”
I happen to like the salty licorice, but even i was disgusted when i bought some hard candy skulls flavored like black licorice. They were dusted in what i expected was powdered sugar–nope, powdered salt–and after you sucked on it long enough to get to the center, your mouth was assaulted with a small explosion of viscous, liquid brine. (These are similar, though not the exact ones, if you felt adventurous.)
I brought a big bagful back and kept bowl of them on the living room table for months afterward. Unsuspecting friends would pop one in their mouths and be disgusted at the powdered salt, power through, and then be revolted at the salty finish.
Fun fact: pranks are my love language.
Get Goods
Newsletter Giveaway
This site still isn’t live, so there’s no one signed up to my newsletter yet, and therefore, no one to win the giveaway.
Merch
I feel fantastic when i get mail that isn’t bills or junk. By signing up to get some from me, you can feel fantastic, and you can also pay it forward.
I’ll send you my art printed onto postcards and stickers, and you can choose loved ones (or if you live on the edge, hated ones!) who deserve a surprise in the mail. It’ll take you thirty seconds and a stamp to make somebody’s day (or be confronted with a no contact order, depending what you write).
Here’s what some of the December postcards looked like, including the back:
The Reef Rover or Daring Diver tiers are available at Comradery, Patreon, Ko-fi, and Buy Me A Coffee, if you have a favorite among those.
If you only want one month’s worth to try it out, you can use PayPal.me (well, and Ko-fi or Buy Me A Coffee) to just send $11 (3 postcards, 3 stickers) or $7 (2 postcards, 1 sticker) and use the note to tell me what it’s for. Don’t forget to give me a mailing address!
