The 1st Pokestop Art Drop

Very simply, yesterday was a good day. Woke up, made sure all the art pieces I had made were packaged and ready to go, and then laid on the couch for a few hours with the dog and cats watching the Overwatch Atlantic tournament. After a while, Rony joined me and it was good. All morning I did PR for the Pokestop Art Drop event, sharing and commenting to people and making sure everything was set to go. And then at 1, we headed out to Texas Tech to start leaving art pieces all over town.

Can I mention how crazy of a response I got to this little idea of mine?

In the beginning, I figured it would just be me leaving around 15 pieces around town for the Pokemon community to find. Nothing big, just a "hey if you're out hunting today you might find some art". Then, because I can't stop trying to help other people get exposure as well, I decided I would just see if any other artists wanted to donate some pieces for fun.

We had probably 15 artists? That's a lot that donated their time and efforts for free just to get art to new homes and participate in this little game. That's crazy.

And even better, we had people want to find them. Actively find them. As in I spotted multiple cars pull up to certain spots and people running out to find art. It was great. We even dropped some at some local businesses to get people to go there too.

Rony and I spent probably 3 and a half hours, driving and dropping art all over town and looking for some ourselves. By the time I got home, my phone was almost dead from moderating the event page all day, I was tired, but gosh I was so happy.

We will be doing another art drop event. Not sure when. Between the art business, shows, conventions, Ladies Night, and Geek Girl Brunch, my plate always seems full. But Hub City Comic Con is my last convention of the year, I have 1 Ladies Night left and it's pretty much planned out already, and my lovely fellow officers are helping with GGB. So I'll have time eventually.

Thanks again to everyone that donated their time and art and to all that thought a crazy art scavenger hunt across town was a good idea. Couldn't have pulled this off around you. Keep an eye on the events tab to the right for future stuff or subscribe to my events on the Facecbook page.

I'm going back to ducking my head in my office and getting things ready for Hub City.

Until next time

-Sam <3

Free Art and Pokemon

So I've been playing around the idea for an art drop for a while, but mostly didn't go through with it because I kept getting stuck at "what would I be promoting with it?" The answer is me. I'm promoting myself. I forget to do that sometimes.

So because I'm a masochist, I'm holding an art drop event this Saturday. And because I can't do anything small, I got a bunch of other artists to participate too.

Since Pokemon Go is all the rage (is that what the kids say?) we're going to be hiding free art at various Pokestops from 1-6! The artists will post in the Facebook event hints to where they hid it and hopefully people will find it!

If you'd like to get updates on what's dropping and where or just follow the madness, RSVP to the event page! Hopefully this goes well and lots of people get some free art and we can support local artists!

In other news, I lost a lot of my sketches so guess whose drawing like crazy to try and get together a new sketchbook for Hub City Comic Con.

The answer is me. Of couse.

-Sam <3

The Slow End

...of my convention season. Not of me but I mean, you never know. Ama-Con is done and the prep for Hub City Comic Con begins. HC3 will be the last convention for me for the year, but not the last thing I do. Between two different gallery showings, Ladies Night (see Event calendar for details), conventions, and Geek Girl Brunch, my plate has been very full.

Better to be busy than to have no work, right? Right? Somebody?

First up, GGB had a Book swap brunch and then the following a Pokemon Go meet up. Both were awesome and had a great turnout. We've even started getting a tiny bit of press about our events and ended up with a crap load of sign ups.

Ama-Con was a wonderful experience this past weekend and it was great to have people come up and say they had previously met me at "insert convention" and loved my stuff. It feels like I'm starting to get a bit of traction after almost a year of entering the convention circuit.

Hub City will be my one year con-iversary actually so maybe it's time I add some new stuff. I'm working on a second sketchbook since I started getting requests for another one. Debating if I should make it of my fan art sketches, originals, or both so feedback would be nice.

And because Overwatch is a black hole that keeps sucking me in, expect some stuff from that.

I'm working on getting the Eevee set as a keychain version for those who either don't have their ears pierced to wear the earrings or boys. Boys, you can wear the necklace set. I promise you'll still look cool. I'm also finally getting the Starter Pokemon drawn out and done to add to the Pokemon set.

Also debating on doing some Pokemon Go Team flash art but don't quote me on that. They take a while.

Besides that, I have a lot of paintings to work on for the Suicide Squad Exhibit and for the FFAT at Star Comics Downtown. Ladies Night is this Saturday and we're starting to move to having a featured artist for each one. This one we're featuring Kyanne Birley who has previously helped out at the event! So come out if you can!

Gotta wrap everything up everything before family vacation (so much traveling. So so much. What is life)

If you have a request for something you'd like to see at Hub City Comic Con or just in general, let me know! I'll see what I can do!

Until next time

-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

Ladies Night! One Year Anniversary!

Ladies Night 2016. You ready?

It's been a whole year since we started Ladies Night at Star Comics. It's been a crazy ride. I remember when we first started. I had emailed Robert, the owner of Star, asking if they'd ever done anything like it before or if they would ever do one. A few comic shops I'd known of in other towns had done Ladies Night so why not ours?

He wrote back that he was interested and we set up a meeting to talk about it.

Then we went to Staple, were dazzled by everything there, and then on Sunday, the day we were supposed to head back to town, Austin Books & Comics were hosting their own Ladies Night. Rony graciously sacrificed his sleep so I could go, offering to drive the 6 hour trip afterwards. A friend of mine and I went, met some of her friends, we all shared recommendations and talked with people there. Some of the guests from Staple were there too so it was a magical time. And I knew what I wanted for our Ladies Night.

We had no clue how big it was going to be. At the time, it was hard to gauge the nerd community. This was before the Lubbock-Con events started or our first con and everyone was still scattered. I just wanted some people to show up. We planned stuff for the kids, snacks, I made stickers and buttons. I stressed out a lot.

And then the day came, we figured out our first set up and low and behold, the place was filled with people! Like could barely move filled with people. We gave things away, sold out of little tote bags, the line to buy comics was to the door. It was crazy.

We built it and they came.

Our 4th Ladies Night is coming up on April 2nd. We've gotten a rhythm down. Make a place girls can talk and read and meet other girls, give the kids some activities. Give girls the space to talk without judgement and have fun. That's all I wanted.

So if you haven't come to one of our events before, come check it out and meet some other geeky ladies. We promise we're nice. Ask each other what comics are your favorite or recommend titles if they're new.

Thanks for supporting this little thing of ours. Hopefully we can keep doing it in the future :)

-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

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

Black Friday Sale!

It's the final countdown until the official Black Friday, but we're starting early so we can get everything prepped and shipped in time for the holidays. If you head over to the Etsy shop and use coupon code BLACKWEEKEND, you'll get 25% off your entire order! Code expires December 1st! And we'll be adding more stuff over the week so don't miss out!

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

Ladies Night is getting Spooooky

Ladies Night is back at Star Comics Saturday, October 24th! And we're having a costume contest! Because why, not. It's Halloween. I've been extremely lucky to have been able to do these events and have met a ton of awesome geek ladies through this. So please, support this so it can keep happening and we can keep making sure our geeky ladies have a fun, non-judgey, safe place to hang out with other geeky ladies and meet new friends!

(Also, this flyer came out really rad thanks to my boyfriend, Rony Dixon, and his awesome graphic design skills so pat him on the back)

Mark your calendars and we'll see you there!

-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

Get Excited!

That's me telling myself to get excited. The Events section has been updated! We're going to Staple in March and are currently registering for Yellow City Comic Con in May! That's like a con every 2 months?? (well, Staple is like 2 weeks after Lubbock-Con because I'm a glutton for punishment) Anyways! We'll be adding more as conventions pop up!

The store is up and running! If you missed he Labor Day sale, don't worry. I'll do different sales for different things as stuff comes up or as I feel like it. The rush of orders has died down so I can breathe and work on new stuff. Expect a few more banner necklaces to go up tonight or tomorrow. I'll be working on some Halloween styled stuff too :)

This weekend we're headed to Oklahoma City for another Magic the Gathering Grand Prix. Boyfriend will be playing all weekend so that means it'll be a work weekend for me to work on some designs and art and the Ladies Night flyer.

Also, on September 20th I will be participating in AFSP's Lubbock Walk Out of the Darkness Community Walk to raise money for Suicide Awareness. It's a matter that's extremely close to me so if you would like to donate to our team you can do that here and find out more information for the Lubbock Walk here.

And then the following weekend we'll be in Austin for more Magic stuff!

It's a busy month and next month is going to be even busier (send me good thoughts)

-Sam <3