#i think it's just as productive (if not more) for their etsy shop to see a boost in traffic anyway

[it-waswritten]

Deirdre Sokolowska

etsy shop (bc fuck instagram)

[ID: a little pink piggy with blue flowers decorating their body and blue eys with long eyelashes, has words written on their side that read "your fat friends don't want to hear how you are afraid to look like them." END ID]

[justsomehazbin]

Holy SHIT am I proud of this. It took a day and a HALF to work on it. I really just wanted to draw a cool badass picture of Charlie in a cute dress, and somehow I ended up with my best piece I think I've ever done!!

To see the process, click the 'read more' below!

Otherwise:

Main blog over here

My Etsy Shop!

Originally, I wanted it to look more like a royal portrait, a good excuse to draw a pretty dress.

I adored the dress design, but it was an extremely flat image, so despite taking like. 5 hours to design it and work on it, I rethought my plan, switching to a far more dynamic pose.

I also made sure to add tons of flow lines, both from her hair, to her tail, to help bring the eye all around the canvas.

I did a billion sketches, but this is what I ended up on! Originally I had her right arm holding the pitch fork behind her back, but it just never looked right. I also took a risk and did a facial angle that has always been extremely hard to get right, and somehow I managed to make it look nice!

After adding the lineart, colors and all of that, I knew quickly I didn't want the angel to stick out as much as she did. I wanted her to fall into the background instead, since she was just on the border and I didn't want any attention really taken from Charlie. So I changed her shade to red, and from there I added more of the background details!

Okay I did leave some inbetween screenshots out but it's past my bedtime. I hope this was fun to look at, at least!

Final product once more!

[ourflagmeansgayrights]

so part of me wants to blame this entirely on wbd, right? bloys said he was cool with the show getting shopped around, so assuming he was telling the truth (not that im abt to start blindly trusting anything a CEO says lol), that means it’s not an hbo problem. and we already know wbd has an awful track record with refusing to sell their properties—altho unlike coyote v acme, s3 of ofmd isn’t a completed work and therefore there isn’t the same tax writeoff incentive to bury the thing. i just can’t see any reason to hold on to ofmd except for worrying about image, bc it would be embarrassing if they let this show go with such a devoted fanbase and recognizable celebrities and it went somewhere else and did really well (which it would undoubtedly do really well, we’ve long since proven that). it feels kinda tinfoil hat of me to making assumptions abt what’s going on in wbd behind the scenes, but i also feel like there are hints that i’m onto something w my suspicions: suddenly cracking down on fan merch on etsy doesn’t seem like something a studio looking to sell their property would bother with, and we know someone was paying to track the viewing stats on ofmd’s bbc airing, which isn’t finished yet, so i’d expect whoever is monitoring that to not make a decision abt buying ofmd until the s2 finale dropped.

but also i think part of me just wants there to be a clear villain in the situation. it’s kinda comforting to have a face to blame, a clear target to shake my fist at. but the truth is that the entire streaming industry is in the shitter. streaming is not pulling in the kind of profit that investors were promised, and we’re seeing the bubble that was propped up w investor money finally start to pop. studios aren’t leaving much room in their budgets for acquiring new properties, and they’re whittling down what they already have. especially w the strikes last year, they’re all penny pinching like hell. and that’s much a much harder thing to rage against than just one studio or one CEO being shitty. that’s disheartening in a way that’s much bigger and more frightening than if there was just one guy to blame.

my guess is that the truth of the situation is probably somewhere in the middle. wbd is following the same shitty pattern they’ve been following since the merger, and it’s just a hard time for anyone trying to get their story picked up by any studio. ofmd is just one of many shows that are unlucky enough to exist at this very unstable time for the tv/streaming industry.

when i think abt it that way, tho, i’m struck by how lucky we are that ofmd even got to exist at all. if the wbd merger had happened a year earlier, or if djenks and tw tried to pitch this show a year later, there’s no way this show would’ve been made. s1 was given the runtime and the creative freedom needed to tell the story the way the showrunners wanted to, and the final product benefited from it so much that it became a huge hit from sheer gay word of mouth. and for all the imperfections with s2—the shorter episode order, the hard 30 minute per episode limit, the last-minute script changes, the finale a butchered mess of the intended creative vision—the team behind ofmd managed to tell a beautiful story despite the uphill battle they undoubtedly were up against. they ended the season with the main characters in a happy place. ed and stede are together, and our last shot of ed isn’t of him sobbing uncontrollably (like i rlly can’t stress enough how much i would have never been able to acknowledge the existence of this show again if s1 was all we got)

like. y’all. we were this close to a world where ofmd never got to exist. for me, at least, the pain of an undue cancellation is worth getting to have this story at all. so rather than taking my comfort in the form of righteous anger at david zaslav or at wbd or at the entire streaming industry as a whole, i’m trying to focus on how lucky i am to get to have the show in the first place.

bc really, even as i’m reeling in grief to know this is the end of the road for ofmd, a part of me still can’t quite wrap my head around that this show is real. a queer romcom about middle-aged men, a rejection of washboard abs and facetuned beauty standards, a masterful deconstruction and criticism of toxic masculinity, well-written female characters who get to shine despite being in a show that is primarily about manhood and masculinity, diverse characters whose stories never center around oppression and bigotry, a casually nonbinary character, violent revenge fantasies against oppressors that are cathartic but at the same time are not what brings the characters healing and joy, a queer found family, a strong theme of anti colonialism throughout the entire show. a diverse writers room that got to use their perspectives and experiences to inform the story. the fact that above all else, this show is about the love story between ed and stede, which means the character arcs, the thoughts, the feelings, the motivations, the backstories, and everything else that make up the characters of ed and stede are given the most focus and the most care.

bc there rlly aren’t a lot of shows where a character like stede—a flamboyant and overtly gay middle-aged man who abandoned his family to live his life authentically—gets to be the main character of a romcom, gets to be the hero who the show is rooting for.

and god, there definitely aren’t a lot of shows where a character like ed—a queer indigenous man who is famous, successful, hyper-competent, who feels trapped by rigid standards of toxic hypermasculinity, who yearns for softness and gentleness and genuine interpersonal connection and vulnerability, whose mental health struggles and suicidal intentions are given such a huge degree of attention and delicate care in their depiction, who messes up and hurts people when he’s in pain but who the show is still endlessly sympathetic towards—gets to exist at all, much less as the romantic lead and the second protagonist of the show.

so fuck the studios, fuck capitalism, fuck everything that brought the show to an end before the story was told all the way through. because the forces that are keeping s3 from being made are the same forces that would’ve seen the entire show canceled before it even began. s3 is canceled, and s2 suffered from studio meddling, but we still won. we got to have this show. we got to have these characters. there’s been so much working against this show from the very beginning but here we are, two years later, lives changed bc despite all odds, ofmd exists. they can’t take that away from us. they can’t make us stop talking abt or stop caring abt this show. i’m gonna be a fan of this show til the day i die, and the studios hate that. they hate that we care about things that don’t fit into their business strategy, they hate that not everyone will blindly consume endless IP reboots and spin-offs and cheap reality tv.

anyway i dont rlly have a neat way to end this post. sorta just rambling abt my feelings. idk, i know this sucks but im not rlly feeling like wallowing in it. i think my gratitude for the show is outweighing my grief and anger, at least for right now. most important thing tho is im not going anywhere. and my love for this show is certainly not fucking going anywhere.

[jolaunay]

A Farewell to Unicorns...

If you have been following me long enough, you probably know that about a year ago I have started a crazy cross-stitch project, see post here . I have posted updates here n there throughout 2023 with the tag #ladyandtheunicornproject . As every crafter & artist would know, when you embark on such a journey, it keeps lingering in the back of your mind every damn day that you don't work on it. I didn't touch it in months, then I finally found the energy to get back to it. This is the progress I made in a year, a little shy of 1.5 pages out of a 60-page pattern:

It just felt hopeless, the amount of confetti in this pattern is insane. And most of the time, it didn't even look like it made much difference. Then it kinda dawned on me; is this pattern the product of a pattern mill?

What it is a "pattern mill" you might ask... Some cross-stitch pattern shops on etsy simply use photos of artwork and convert them to cross-stitch patterns using free websites. They don't credit the artist, they don't pay a dime for the software, yet they profit from their work. The end result usually does not translate well to cross-stitch; lots of confetti, the project is unmanageable, kills the joy of crafting and when you're finished, it looks like a pixelated photo taken with an early 2000s phone camera.

After further research, I was convinced that my pattern is also from a pattern mill - considering the amount of money I spent on this project, it felt like a punch in the gut. My family will never have generational wealth & afford a vacation home on Rhode Island coast because of this fucking project! But hey, c'est la vie! You live and you learn... See related posts here & here

Sometimes, you just gotta know when to say "enough of this bullshit", cut your losses and walk away from a situation. For that reason, there's no point in working on this project anymore and making it my "Sagrada de Familia". So, I came up with an idea to finish it in an alternative way:

"Unfinished paintings are more admired than the finished because the artist's actual thoughts are left visible." This is a quote from Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, some important guy who lived during the Ancient Roman times. I think it is a fitting quote because it represents my vision of saying "fuck this" and not having the fallacy of the sunk costs. Finished it, framed it and now displaying it in my library room in front of another tapestry from the Unicorn series.

It gives me closure rather than disappointment for a project that I started with such high hopes & excitement. If I just put it in a bag and threw it to the bottom of a closet, it'd make me feel guilty. But this still makes me feel accomplished, because it honors the hours of effort I put into it. It turned into a nice little conversation piece with a story. I still love cross-stitching and will work on better patterns in the future. There's already enough to dread about in life. Unfortunate experiences shouldn't take the joy out of pleasant activities!

[intomusings]

﹒﹒  occupations   masterlist   pt.   2   !

i’ve gotten a lot of requests for another random occupations masterlist so here we go ! i personally adore these and think they could be used more in the community instead of the ones we see all the time . click the source link to be taken to my first occupation masterlist . this is not categorized in anyway and is just a massive jumble of my thoughts but if you found this useful , feel free to like or reblog to spread this !

martial arts instructor

tour manager

social media intern

figure skater

olympic gold medalist

beekeeper

energy drink creator

concert promoter

*specific brand* intern / worker (rare beauty, netflix, alani nu, create your own, etc)

butterfly garden attendant

bookstore owner

cooking show host

surf shop attendant

mobile app developer

yoga instructor

etsy shop owner

glass blower

playboy bunny

professional mermaid

thrifter / reseller

private chef

treasure hunter

swimsuit designer

product reviewer

celebrity makeup artist

egot (emmy, grammy, oscar, tony) holder

former child star

romance novelist

country club worker (lifeguard, owner, manager, etc)

pageant queen

landscape designer

public relations manager

professional shopper

ice cream tester

chocolatier

fruit farmer

[rawvnoisevcruster]

(I'm finally doing the thing I said I'd do)

How to be punk

Distros! Distros! Distro!

What are they, why are they integral to punk, and why I love them

1. What is a "distro"? A in the punk scene (although not exclusive to punk) is a store/seller that distributes merch and or jewelry whether official or bootleg. They can be both done my a physical shop/seller or more now a days a online store front. Often time a distro makes there own products but some will sell office merch or will act as a hub for the artists items or sell general items ie, studs, laces, non band shirts, etc

2. Why I think there good, first it's good to support non music artists in the scene. They make are gear, shirt, tapes, and big bags of studs, they are a big help to people who can't diy certain items, bands to sell merch, and artists to make a life of there art, and its just a great way to get shit you like. Diy or die and all that but we'd all be hypocrites if we said we'd never bought a band shirt, or a bag of studs or a pin. Plus the quality and craftsmanship ship of these item is much more professional as these people specialize and have heavy duty equipment for there products

3. But where do I look? First (if you live near a major city) look around your scene and see if there are ones near you, support your local scene first if you can.

If not there look online as there are many online. I find it best to look on ig/Facebook/Twitter as many have a social media, then look through recommends, mentions in there posts, other shops they follow, and the such.

Next try etsy, there's a large amount of them on etsy as it's a great hub for distros, look up for specific band or items like "black flag patch" or "cone stud belt" and look for one you like a check out the shop for stuff you might also like.

It just a thing you need to set aside some time and you will learn some

But I'm going to tell you some now (note you might need to add distro or etsy at the end of these to find them) I'll be making more of these up the note distro list

Black squeegee

Maggot death

Flip the record

Pin up 77

Celtic rockers

Insult to injury

Grindfather

Machine cuisine

Drunk with a press

Pogo shop

Portland distro

Crust punk dot com

Punk tribe

Pin head

Iron lung

Cash 4 chaos

Tank crimes

Head noise

Black crow

Gay Halloween

Criminal medals

Chaos tribes

(Tw for sh reference in the name but this distro is super cool)

Slit wrist distro

Please like and reblog

I hope you have a nice time with this and stay punk you fuck

[bleach-your-panties]

Sincember Event❄️❄️

🔴Post Info: UA is an HBCU. Reader is black. The boys are Alphas and Reader is a Delta. Katsuki is frat prez, because we all know he's mixed🤣

🔴I had to do a lot of research on reindeer for this, lmao.

Rating: Suggestive🍭

"Baby! Oh my God! You look so pretty and dainty. Just like a deer!"

You couldn't help but laugh at Eiiji; he always got so enthusiastic watching you get dolled up for parties.

Tonight, Alpha Phi Alpha is hosting their annual Naughty vs Nice Christmas party. It's a costume party, so all frat members and pledges are required to dress up.

Eiji is pledging along with some of his classmates: Denki, Mashairo, Izuku, and Mineta.

The junior and senior members (Katsuki, Hanta, Shoji, and Shoto) had specifically instructed the pledges to dress up as Santa's reindeer while all of them would dress as elves. Katsuki, would of course be dressed as Santa.

With you being Eiijiro's girlfriend of a year now, of course he'd be bringing you along with him to this event. 

Everyone who was anyone would be there, and lots of girls from your sorority, Delta Sigma Theta, would be there as well.

“Thank you, Eiiji! You’re such a cutie. Hey sweetie pie, will you please pass me my lip gloss on the desk over there?” 

Your sweet, redheaded boyfriend nodded happily and got up from his seat on your bed to grab the makeup product for you. “Uh, baby, which one is it? There’s like fifty of them.”

His red eyes stared down at your makeup table which contained various products for primping. 

The lip gloss you were speaking of was contained in a small jar. You had ordered it from one of your favorite Etsy shops.

With a small giggle, you walked over to help him out. 

“This one, pumpkin. The lip creams. Thank you for trying, boo.” He blushed when you pecked him on the temple with your soft, plump lips.

Eiijiro, like the gentleman that he was, pulled out your vanity chair so you could sit down and apply the gloss, called Red Hot, to your pouty lips. After adding some lipliner and blending, your ensemble for the evening was finally complete.

“Okay, I’m ready, Eiiji.”

“Awesome! Well, let’s get to prancing then, my lovely little ungulate lady!” 

“Ooo, big word! I see you’ve been studying your vocabulary lists!” He nodded profusely, making the antler headband atop his head bounce around.

Most of your peers think that Eiijiro is just a big, dumb jock but that couldn’t be further from the truth.

The two of you often have study dates in the campus coffee shop or either of your dorm rooms. 

He knows that if he wants to stay on the football team and keep his scholarship that he’ll have to study extremely hard and you’re more than glad to help him out with his goals.

Your roommate, Mina, who just so happens to be a childhood friend of Eiiji’s, is almost never in the room so that gives the two of you a lot of alone time.

—-

The Party

“Hey! The golden couple has finally arrived, now shit can finally start getting interesting!” Denki bounded over to the two of you, his own set of antlers bobbing on his messy blonde bedhead. He threw an arm around Kirishima’s shoulders. 

“Who are you supposed to be? Dasher?” You giggled as Eiijiro put Denki in a headlock with his elbow. 

“Hey, did you guys know that Santa’s reindeer are actually all females? Because, you know, male reindeer actually shed their antlers and Santa’s are always depicted with their antlers.” Eiiji piped up, happy to share his knowledge.

“Wow, dude…that was uh, very thorough. Never would have pegged you for a biology major.” Denki snickered, along with Mineta who’d just strolled up.

“Don’t try to play my baby. He’s a biology and exercise science double major, so don’t do him.” You gave Eiijiro a peck on the lips, your gloss not even smearing. 

“Yeah, yeah. Whatever. Beefcake’s got brains and brawn, blah blah. Let’s get fucked up!” 

Denki and Mineta high-fived before disappearing into the crowd.

That’s when you heard the music start up: 

Unh, how you do that?

I’m trying to pursue that

“Oh shit, Eiiji, they’re playing our songs! You ready?!” 

Eiijiro’s grin grew wide across his face and he licked over his sharp canines. One had a ruby red gem implanted in it.

“Ready when you are, babe!”

The two of you strutted to the middle of the dance floor, the party-goers immediately parted the sea and made room for the both of you.

This was the norm for you and Eiijiro whenever you attended Greek parties: your dancing always made you both the center of attention.

Drop it down on a nigga, do damage

Booty moving left to right, it’s panoramic

You bent down in front of Eiiji and touched your toes before sliding your hands up your legs. He grabbed you by your ‘reigns’ and made your ass collide hard with his crotch.

Panoramic, it’s panoramic

Panoramic, it’s panoramic

Drop it down on a nigga, panoramic

Drop it down on a nigga, panoramic

Thanks to you and Mina, he’d become a fantastic dancer. It probably also helps that you're on the dance team while Mina is a cheerleader.

That song hadn’t been playing long when the DJ suddenly switched it up:

All this money on me

All she tryna do is get naked

Naked naked naked

Like a red nose

Like like like like like a red nose

“Oh shit, babe; this one is my fav!” Eiiji hyped and you just laughed. You straightened your back and turned around to face him.

He grabbed your hips and you rested your hands on his forearms while moving your hips side to side with his.

The other patrons had cleared a space for the two of you in the middle of the floor.

All this money on me

Now come take it from a G

All she tryna do is get naked

Naked naked

And she gone shake it

Like a red nose

Like like like like a red nose

And she gone shake it

Like a red nose

Like a like a like a red nose

Eiiji then swiveled you back around and you pressed your ass back up against him. You rubbed it against him seductively then he used his thighs to bounce it from side to side. 

Once again, Eiijiro grabbed your reigns and lifted you up slightly to slam his hips into your ass before letting you drop back down.

And she gone shake it

Like a red nose

Like a like a like a red nose

You twerked your ass from side to side while Eiiji held his arms at his sides then he dipped low and moved side to side with you.

And she gone shake it

Like a red nose

Like like like like a red nose

Eiiji patted your ass cheeks like a drum then grabbed your reigns and lifted his left leg up on the side of you with your ass pressed to his crotch.

And she gone shake it

Like a red nose

Like a like a like a red nose

He continued holding onto them while the two of you yiked faster and faster. The crowd broke out into cheers and applause, even hollering out your names.

After hearing all of the commotion, Katsuki came out, dressed like a cross between Santa and a bodybuilder while Shoto, Shoji, and Hanta trailed after him in red and green elf outfits.

“Brothers!” Eiiji smiled toothily and went in to give Katsuki a bro hug. 

“The oldest and the coldest.” Shoto said in his monotone voice. Hanta snickered.

Katsuki rolled his vermillion eyes and shrugged Kirishima off of him.

"Okay, Rudolph, the Red-Haired Dipshit. Are you two almost done fucking on the dance floor so we can start the damn games?” Eiiji whined as Katsuki didn’t bother waiting for an answer and just walked away.

“Nice dancing!” Hanta gave him a grin and thumbs up before disappearing back through the crowd after Katsuki and the others.

“Come on Eiiji, let’s go show our faces and play stupid beer pong so we can ditch this and get some double-decker nachos.”

“Ooo, nachos! Come on, baby!” With a surprised squeal turned to giggle, you wrapped your arms around your boyfriend’s muscular neck as he scooped you up bridal-style.

—-

After The Party

“Baby,  -hic- they're -hic- being mean to me again~” Eiiji whined into your plush thighs as you sat criss-cross applesauce on your dorm bed. 

You’d taken off your tight leather pants and now only had on your brown bodysuit. It was so cute how clingy and whiny your handsome boyfriend got when he was drunk. Your acrylic nails stroked his thick, spiked-up locks, making him hum into your lap then nip your thigh with his teeth. One of his big hands gripped the opposite thigh and smacked it.

He also got even more touchy-feely when he was shitfaced like this.

Denki and the others had to help carry him up to your room to keep him from making a complete idiot of himself and ending up getting them arrested for public intoxication.

"Aww, baby, what’s the matter? They wouldn’t let you join in their reindeer games?"

He shook his head sadly and hiccupped again, followed up by a loud belch.

“They said…baby, they said that my nose was too bright…and, and Katsuki said that I couldn’t guide his sleigh tonight!” He lamented, completely distraught. You had to bite down on the back of your hand to keep from laughing at him.

“Yeah baby, I’m pretty sure that Katsuki wouldn’t let you drive his truck in the condition that you’re in right now.” You patted his head.

“It’s not fair!”

With a gentle nudge, you removed his head from your thighs and cupped his cheeks. Leaning down to face him, you kissed both of his reddened cheeks.

Your soft, innocent actions had Eiijiro’s dick standing at full attention in about 2.5 seconds.

He suddenly sat up and grabbed your thighs again, tossing you up towards the headboard. The bounce of your body made him giggle as he hovered over you now.

“Ok, Rudolph, what are you planning?”

"I’m sorry, you just make me so horny, baby. These are horns, right?" He slurred drunkenly. The headband on his head flopped forward and then slid off, landing on your chest.

"Antlers, baby"

"Same thing, right?" He hiccupped again.

You chuckled with a shrug of your shoulders. Eiijiro didn’t seem perturbed though as he reached down to unbutton your bodysuit.

“Can I, baby? I want to make you moan,” He paused, fingers wobbling slightly, “like a wildebeest. Hey, what sound does a reindeer make?"

You were perplexed. "I-I don't know. It's like a moose, right?" 

He shrugged. “Well, whatever it sounds like, I’m about to make you sound like that.”

“Oh, Eiiji, I think you need some water and some Tylenol-” You were cut off as he’d now unsnapped all the buttons and was rubbing your clit through your panties.

"Mmm, baby, let's play some naughty reindeer games of our own, yeah?”

----

ʳᵉᵇˡᵒᵍˢ ᵃʳᵉ ᵃᵖᵖʳᵉᶜⁱᵃᵗᵉᵈ ᵃⁿᵈ ⁱ ˡᵒᵛᵉ ᶜᵒᵐᵐᵉⁿᵗˢ🫶🏽

[the-blind-assassin-12]

questions tag game

*Some time ago* I was tagged by the lovely @oonajaeadira - thanks, friend! - to play along, so here goes:

Do you make your own bed? Always when I change the sheets. Sometimes when I’m in an overly productive mood/ I’m procrastinating something else. Never when I simply don’t feel like it.

Favorite number? 12

What is your job? I run an Etsy shop. It’s mostly geared towards weddings and other events. I have a laser engraver, and I use it to make engraved wooden bookmarks (they’re usually used as party favors but they’ve also been used as fundraiser items & book launch giveaways), photo engravings and replica event invitations. I also drive for Uber eats on the side. Which can be interesting and weird in similar ways that any food service job can be interesting and weird.

If you could go back to school, would you? Are we talking about college? I’m assuming we’re talking about college, in which case I would. I genuinely liked being in school and doing research and writing analysis papers. 🤓

Can you parallel park? Sure. Can I parallel park well? Haha. No. Luckily where I live I don’t really have to very often, and on the off chance that I do have to I either A) find a spot I can just pull right into, or B) take a really long time to get kinda sorta close enough to run into whatever store I need to and run back out.

Do you think aliens are real? Absolutely. The universe is too big to conceptualize and Earth simply cannot be the only planet with life.

Can you drive a manual car? I cannot. I’ve always wanted to learn but it never came to fruition and now I doubt it will because fewer cars are being made with manual transmission. Oh well.

What’s your guilty pleasure? None. Life is short and difficult so I’m going to enjoy my little treats without guilt.

Any phobias? Idk if it’s a phobia per se, but clowns freak me out in a way that makes me want to punch them and run.

Favorite childhood sport? Track. And cross country. I was a runner from the time I could run (my dad was a marathon runner in his younger years and so he would put me in kid races starting at age 4) up until about 10 years ago. In high school I ran the 400m, 800m, 1600m and 5k. Since then I’ve done every road race distance from 5k to a full marathon. I had to stop because of injuries- a stress fracture in my knee that never really healed correctly (my knees sound like a bag of scrabble tiles when I descend a staircase) and a total reconstruction surgery on my foot - but I miss it very much. If I could have new knees and feet I’d be running again in nothing flat.

Do you talk to yourself? Oh heck yeah. All the time. Usually in my head but sometimes out loud. It’s a lot of “what are you doing?” @ me.

Tattoos? Just one little itty bitty one - the number 26.2 (the length of a marathon) with a heart as the decimal point on the outside of my right foot. I dedicated my marathon to my mom, so the heart is for her. I want so goddamn many more though.

Favorite color? Leafy green. 🌱

Do you like puzzles? I do! I love codes and logic problems and word puzzles and even corn mazes. I’ve never done an escape room but I have a feeling I’d ace it.

Idk who may have done this recently or ever or five times already or never, so this is an entirely OPEN TAG - so go crazy, kids. Just tag me so I can see your answers. 💚

[hexfloog]

Hello! I came across your old Zoids bumper sticker designs and I was curious if there was a way for me to order one from you since you're the artist. I noticed you have an Etsy shop and I would happily pay extra for a custom decal, but if that isn't something you're able to do that's also okay. Since you were the one who designed them, I figured I'd see if there was a way I could support the artist before just running off and making my own. 🐌

Hi there!

It's soooo funny this ask landed in my inbox when it did, because I may or may not have a second run of bumper stickers in production… shifty eyes

Enough people have come forward in the last few years wanting to know if I would ever re-run them that I think I can justify producing a few more at this time. My problem has always been equal parts funding and… surprisingly… how "meh" I feel about most of the designs these days. The Fury design (below) is the original and still happens to be the only one I still really like, so that's the design that's getting re-run. Something about the others haven't aged well to me and I feel compelled to redo them before/if I ever sold them again.

The stickers probably won't be listed in time for the holiday season, but should be up before the end of the year. Of course, you're also welcome to reach out to me directly for something custom, but I will caution you that [1] I'm not willing to create any new graphics from scratch at this time (so if you're looking for a bumper sticker with a specific Zoid, I'm only able to pick from the ones I've already vectored) and [2] the price will likely be a bit steep for a single sticker - producing individually is just always more costly than making them in bulk.

I appreciate you reaching out first though! My ko.fi is always open as a tip jar, too, if you're just looking to support me that way :)

[zytes]

Question from someone just starting with creating and then posting art to Tumblr, do you think I should be watermarking my pieces?

I’ve always disliked watermarks as they naturally tend to dissuade people from interacting with art in a natural manner; it depends very heavily on the size and placement of the mark, obviously. BUT, often times an artist will overzealously obscure their work with identification and it has a somewhat repulsive effect on the average viewer - a wall has been erected between the viewer and the art, in a sense. Watermarks, to me, exist to prevent very specific situations from unfolding with your work - almost all of those reasons seem to be financially motivated, like preventing strangers from printing your art out at home or reposting without attribution. Situations that could affect your ability to profit off of your work.

Admittedly, much of my perception about this issue was inspired by an article included in the book “Context�� by Cory Doctorow, wherein he writes about how he’s benefitted from “thinking like a dandelion”, which is an idea that was inspired by conversation the author had with Neil Gaiman — I’ll try and summarize the parts of the point that are more relevant to visual arts; since portions of the allegory refer more specifically to certain qualities of written media.

He begins with, “Mammals worry about what happens to each and every one of their offspring, but dandelions only care that every crack in every sidewalk has dandelions growing out of it. The former is a good strategy for situations in which reproduction is expensive, but the latter works best when reproduction is practically free — as on the Internet.”

So how do you “think like a dandelion” then?

“Your work needs to be easily copied, to anywhere whence it might find its way into the right hands. That means that the nimble text-file, HTML file, and PDF (the preferred triumvirate of formats) should be distributed without formality — no logins, no e-mail address collections, and with a license that allows your fans to reproduce the work on their own in order to share it with more potential fans. Remember, copying is a cost-center — insisting that all copies must be downloaded from your site and only your site is insisting that you — and only you — will bear the cost of making those copies. Sure, having a single, central repository for your works makes it easier to count copies and figure out where they’re going, but remember: dandelions don’t keep track of their seeds. Once you get past the vanity of knowing exactly how many copies have been made, and find the zen of knowing that the copying will take care of itself, you’ll attain dandelionesque contentment.”

The rest of the allegory more specifically applies to written work, but I’ll link it here for the sake of posterity. Essentially: every wall or pre-requisite that you establish before allowing a fresh set of eyes to fall upon your work actually may deter people from engaging with the work and sharing it with others. Signatures, subtle watermarks that are “baked” into the work, or maybe like.. a well-placed QR code that links people back to you — all of those would be my suggestion for someone who wants to leave a lasting, linking thread between a given work and it’s artist. If the right person sees your art and connects with it, there SHOULD be a way for them to follow that thread back to you and discover more; but if you over-prioritize demonstrating ownership over your work, you’re likely to drive those coveted genuine connections away.

On the other hand, if your primary goal is to sell prints or other products, brazenly watermarking your work will protect your bottom line from the kind of low-level art-scraping that drives all those shady redbubble shops and etsy stores that sell stolen works on cheap t-shirts and hankies. For me, art is a primarily social interest in which I prioritize the sharing of culture and ideas. I don’t want financial factors to take precedence and alter how/why I created something; it feels like I’d have to take much of myself out of my art in order to make it palatable for consumer spaces.

You should determine your priorities and then strive to make art that fulfills those priorities without compromise. I think you’ll find that self-satisfaction manifests readily at different points in the midst of that process.

[wickedsnack-art]

Can I ask about your online selling experience? I know you're moving away from Etsy (and I don't blame you!) but just curious about what's worked/what hasn't. Trying to help my mom sell her art but like. She's older and I have never sold art online and can't give her any advice.

Please feel free to tag other artists selling their work as well! Thank you 🙏

Oh I have to be honest I am probably not the best person to ask about this as it's something I've definitely struggled with myself! I will say for what it's worth that I've been seeing a lot of artists struggling lately; no matter how "popular" an artist is, many seem to be reporting sales that are lower than expected even if market research/interest checks/preorders were done.

Everyone is struggling financially right now---it's been this way for YEARS---and art is one of the first luxuries to go.

That said, Etsy worked well for me for a long time. If your mom isn't doing fanart, she should be fine, because my biggest issue with them arose about the fact that I was selling fanart. Some tips I have;

USE EVERY TAG. Etsy has, if I recall correctly, 13 tags you can put on an individual item. Use all 13. Use them for alternative words for what you're selling (if it's a sticker, tag it as a decal, if it's a print, tag it as a poster). Think about who you think would buy this and what weird search terms they may use to try to find it, and think about alternative uses for the item (a trinket dish might also be an ashtray).

HAVE DESCRIPTIVE TITLES. Put the most important words first so people can see what they're getting right away, but don't be afraid of slightly longer titles. Honestly my titles could've and should've been longer, like Sailor Moon Art Nouveau Digital Art Poster Print Multiple Sizes or something.

RUN SALES OFTEN. Even if it's just 10-15% off people will buy something they've been eying for a while when there's a sale, or they'll feel more eager to buy something they've just found if it's on sale.

USE ETSY'S AUTOMATED DISCOUNT OFFERS. Etsy can automatically send a discount code to people who have interacted with your shop, use it. I made more sales from the automated 10% off code sent to people who favorited items than my monthly Patreon discount.

USE ETSY FREE SHIPPING. Shipping via Etsy is pretty cheap, and activating the "free shipping on orders over $35" will boost your spot in the algorithm, will boost the likelihood that people will order from you, and will boost the average cart size of people that order from you.

I RECOMMEND PRINTFUL. I used Printful for selling my larger prints, but they also offer other items if you want to branch out. If you don't want to get in trouble with Etsy, make sure you register it as a manufacturing partner and assign every item that Printful makes for you. Dropshipping on Etsy is a problem, but the problem is people who steal art or use AI to generate images to sell. I don't personally see a problem with someone who makes their art themselves going through a print shop to sell products they don't have the means to create at home. If you don't want to do that, you can check out inprnt. I haven't used them, but many other people have and seem to like it well enough.

SHIP THROUGH ETSY. It doesn't take very long to set up a shipping profile for your items, and it makes shipping easier and cheaper. As long as you get your items out on time, you'll get their shipping star or whatever very quickly and easily and maintain it without problem. It also has the benefit that if a buyer ever has an issue with the shipping, Etsy is more likely to have your back. If for any reason you can't ship through Etsy, I recommend pirateship. Also!! Be more careful about international shipping than you think you should be. There are a lot of confusing international laws regarding sending items as a corporation to those countries that you may not expect, so before you agree to selling something to a foreign country, make sure you check their laws.

I have also tried having an Instagram shop and I'll be fully honest I don't do what I should do with my Instagram. Maybe other people have more successful Instagram shops, but the process it took for me to get it started compared to how many sales I've made as a result of it (literally ZERO), I would not recommend it.

Shopify is good if you have a following somewhere, because you have to bring all the traffic there yourself. That's the benefit of Etsy and Instagram; they are able to make traffic for you. I've never had a following large enough anywhere to feel like I could run a Shopify of my art. Maybe one day.

I don't personally know a lot of artists who sell online successfully, so if you see this and you fall under that category PLEASE SHARE TIPS!!

[stinkybrowndogs]

Ok so

I purchased a silhouette portrait 3 last week. It worked fine out of the box, but ultimately would not center the cuts it was making. Ive spent an absurd amount if time this week attempting to calibrate and fix the problem, but nothing seems to work. I attempted to return the product and was told i could not because it was opened (never mind that it just straight up never worked)

I am, hopefully, going to be getting a siser juliette, but i am trying to get my money back on the silhouette (the company does not have a customer service number? Only an email which i contacted last week with no response yet)

My cricut is cooked. It was already a used product before i got it and ive been consistently using it for 3+ years..... i tried a factory reset and still not working :( im not wanting another cricut due to the list of glitches and problems that ive been dealing with, and causing me to lose a significant amount of money in supplies over the years.

Until i recieve some sort of communication either from the silhouette company, im kind of fucked. I spent about 6-8 hours each day last week attempting to make the damn thing work, and i think that the digital program just is not compatible with Mac computers (supported by the complaints i see on reddit and youtube)

I am a little worried about the Siser, bc i have read that it is also not great with macs, but almost every review ive read says its faster, quieter and more accurate than the cricut or sillhouette. It is about 400$, which is more than both the cricut and the silouette machines depending on size. And ultimately, im running out of reasonable options.

Anyway. I have closed my etsy shop for the time being and am just. Truly having a hard time. I feel very stressed. These machines are going to be the death of me. Oh start a sticker shop they said it will be easy and fun they said i am going to rip these machines apart with my teeth

[creaturecomfortsva]

some old things i made.

i used to call my crochet shop "sadgirlcrochet". i started posting and selling my crochet stuff in late 2020, was dealing with some serious depression, and had only come to terms with being NB a few months earlier. calling myself a girl still felt right back then, or at least not painful. i put frowny faces on everything.

this was the flagship product, the depressed daisy bikini. I'm thinking about re-designing these because they were always my best-selling product. honestly, as someone who works in marketing, "sad girl crochet" was branding gold. I could make any design that was popular with the tiktok crochet girlies but trade a smiley face for a frown and BOOM. iconic piece. hundreds of instagram likes. for example, my 420 creations in 2021:

these are some of my favorite creations from that year. and while they're adorable, they're also simple. i wasn't exactly challenging myself on a technical level - more of my energy was going towards figuring out how to market via the instagram algorithm. because sadgirlcrochet was, above all else, marketable. the clothes weren't for crocheters. they were for followers.

i redesigned the depressed daisy bikinis in 2021. i sold close to a hundred of these, maybe more. i didn't track inventory too closely (but i DID track my instagram followers, obsessively, at the time)

i also had a really shitty phone camera, so i edited the fuck out of my photos to make the blurriness and low resolution into a feature instead of a bug. it worked for a little while. also, my living situation was hellish at the time, but we had a giant yard with this 70-year-old dogwood tree, and it made for an excellent backdrop.

a commissioned witch hat i made for a friend. one of my favorite things i have ever made. after a while, i realized i liked doing commissions more than just creating products to sell to the masses because it let me push myself on a technical level.

this was my most-liked photo of 2021. partly because of my boobs. that's fine. they look great. i created this top because of a commission that went viral, and it spawned so many copycats and fake etsy listings.

my feelings toward the top itself are mild. it's cute. i made it so that people would like and share this photo. there's not much heart in it, if i'm honest. i look back at this top and know that it was made almost algorithmically. granny square bralettes + halter straps + strawberries were all Very In right then so my hands produced this.

the picture above is one of the first photos i took of myself and felt like i looked like my gender. gender euphoria, i suppose, though the stress of my life at the time dampened the joy. it was then that i started really questioning how i felt about having my online image so tied up in my girlhood. in my feminine body shape. i was 24 and recently estranged from my relatives and working through childhood trauma, including all my preconceptions about gender, and whether or not i owed girlhood to anyone.

i owed girlhood to my followers, though.

when i announced that i would be killing the sad girl crochet brand, a lot of people were genuinely upset. i lost over a thousand followers in three months. people didn't care what i, tabby, was creating. they cared about seeing Content under the Sad Girl Brand. that's okay.

when creating for sad girl crochet i felt beholden to both sadness and girlhood. my primary mode of expression and self-understanding, my crochet, started to be incongruous with what i actually needed to express. instead of contending with my sadness and seeking to understand it, i exploited it. instead of finding my own version of girlhood, i recreated the girlhood that was shown to me online. it led to a pretty significant creative drought from mid-2022 till about three months ago, in late 2023.

when you make the art people expect of you rather than the art that is true, you kill a part of your soul. i know this now.

i did my first craft fair in summer 2022 and immediately after, i was creatively bereft. what little bits of creative energy i had left were spent. a few months later my husband and i moved across the state, away from the hellish house with the beautiful yard, a fresh start. once we moved, i told myself, i would feel at home with sad girl again. and i kept waiting to feel the way i did in 2020 and 2021. but the more time went by, the less sadgirl felt like a creative outlet, and more an albatross round my neck.

and weirdly...i started to feel guilty about ever marketing my sadness in the first place. to grapple with the fact that i was making money off of other women and femmes with depression - and marketing to them on the basis that they were as depressed as me. the more i thought about it, the squickier it felt.

i barely posted anything in 2022 and 2023. i signed up for pattern tests and immediately dropped out of them. i made promises i didn't deliver on. eventually, i just stopped logging on.

a lot of life went by. i crocheted for my family, my loved ones, myself. journaled. got back on tumblr. deleted twitter. started trading screen time for books. got outside more. made friends in the new town. and the longer i ignored sadgirlcrochet, the less i wanted to go back.

see, the thing was, i was actually healing and growing, finally. our living situation was stable. my family found our own little village. i came to terms with being trans-er than i'd let myself admit. sad girl was dead. i'd killed her. and that was healthy for me.

creature comforts was born of a desire to be truer to myself and to live with more love. to craft instead of sell. to share instead of market. to be online without wearing a mask. to be active on tumblr instead of instagram. to be a creator and an artist. to let these desires be misunderstood by others. to love, unabashedly.

i'm excited to see where this takes me in 2024.

[mathysphere]

I started an etsy shop a couple of weeks ago for my watercolour embroidery patterns. I'm really happy and comfortable with my sewing and patterns, but knew I'd have a bit more difficulty with a couple of other aspects like branding/ marketing/ photos/ etc just because of not having much experience. I've learned loads the last few weeks and I'm really excited to re-take a bunch of photos this weekend with what I've learned. But mainly I wanted to say that doing this has really made me appreciate just how lovely your photos are! I've always loved your patterns- I've sewn a bunch of them myself and have bought a few as gifts for my friends. But just lately I've really noticed how skilled your photos are and how much time and thought you must put into taking them. They’re lovely :)

oh my goodness, thank you so much! And congratulations on opening up a shop! This is the nicest message ever-- I love to try and take cool photos of my cross-stitches, maybe nearly as much as I like to stitch them!

When I was a kid I read a book of anecdotes by a product photographer, and thought he had basically the coolest job ever: once he said he sorted through three whole boxes of cereal (it might've been Chex) for a shoot, picking out only the best pieces to photograph, and then used a bottle of white shoe polish to pour in as 'milk'. I'm not nearly that involved, but I think I'd like to be, someday!

If you're comfortable, I'd love to see some of your pieces! I'm a big fan of watercolor-style patterns, I think it's such a gorgeous style 💛

[cottoncandythetrashpanda]

The Wonderful World of Dollies and Crafting, Chpt 1

Words: ~1k

notes: this au is inspired by my friend @aslitheryprinx's old Ragdoll AU, as well as Toy Story, and my own eclectic doll collection. Also note that there will eventually be shipping (haven't decided which ships yet) and all hermits will be present with no particular "main character" across later chapters. Asks are always welcome if you're curious about the characters or world! Enjoy!

Cleo hummed to herself, putting the last few stitches on the little doll-sized suit jacket she'd been working on. Making the clothes was the final step in the weeks-long project, and she was glad to be near finished.

Not that she didn't enjoy her work, of course, but it had taken a while, longer than she'd expected- what started as a simple test of her skills with epoxy clay, to see how well she could add a bit of muscle mass and tone to a doll, turned into a full customization project complete with repainting and accessories, starting when she accidentally sanded the chest down a bit more than she intended and, rather than try and re-enhance the bust with the epoxy sculpt, decided she was changing directions and making it into a male doll now, too. It spiraled from there.

But here she was now, finally finished- she put the jacket on the doll, and grinned at her finished product. A well-muscled doll, wearing a nice suit- with missing, "torn" sleeves, like he'd flexed them off-, a red tie, painted with scars (to make him look tougher), and a halo affixed to his head with a wire (because why not). She picked him up.

"Hmmm." Most of her customs were quickly listed and sold on Etsy, but this one... She liked him too much. She didn't think he'd sell, anyways- he didn't scream "mass appeal" and she wasn't the most popular doll customizer- not that she really wanted to be. Her Etsy shop was titled "Hermit's Crafts" for a reason. "I think I'll hold on to you."

She looked around the room, her workshop/study/display room, for a place to put him. She spotted an empty place on a shelf, in between an action figure she'd bought at a dollar store and a Heath Burns from Monster High- both items bought with the intent to give them a 'glow-up' at some point, both projects never quite started. Maybe someday.

"I guess I need to settle on a name now, if I'm keeping you." She muttered to herself- well, to the doll. But it's not like he was going to talk back, it was the same as talking to herself. She had been thinking about names while working on him, and she had a shortlist- they ranged from silly to plain, and you know what? She was feeling a bit silly today. "Alright, I christen you... Skizzleman." She smiled and set him down on the shelf. "I'll take photos to post later, working on you tired me out."

She took another look at Skizzleman, admiring her own work just one more time, before stepping out of the room.

The door shut behind her and her footsteps faded down the hall.

"... Okay, looks like she's gone, I think we're good for now." a large action figure standing across the room said in a posh British accent that didn't quite match his armored appearance. He wasn't quite life-sized, but he was tall enough that he was stood on his own on the floor, and definitely wouldn't fit on any of the shelves.

Skizzleman looked around, turning his head for the first time in a while. He'd hardly had time to move at all while Cleo was working on him. All across the room, he could see more toys, more dolls, doing the same as him- looking around, stretching, starting to chat with their friends.

"Hey! Hey, dude, you okay?" He jumped a little and turned to see the action figure he was stood next to, looking at him with mild concern.

"Uh?" Skizz responded.

"Oh, sorry, didn't mean to scare you." The action figure adjusted his position- which Skizz could tell was no easy task, he didn't have much articulation- to face Skizz. "Just wanted to check on you, that was a pretty intense custom job she did on you."

"Oh, yeah, it was." Skizz shook his head. "It didn't hurt or anything, though. Felt a little weird when she wiped my face off, but she painted the new one on pretty quickly, so it wasn't that bad."

He heard a sigh of relief from behind him- he turned to see, of course, that Monster High doll. "Everyone always says that, but it's so nice to hear. The idea of being worked on like that still makes me so nervous."

The action figure laughed. "You worry too much about that, Tango. It's been years since we got here, she's never going to do anything with us."

"Tango?" Skizz said, a bit confused- he'd seen dolls like that across the aisles at the store, he hadn't gotten to talk to one, but he was pretty sure the name on the box was "Heath".

"Yep, that's me!" The Monster High doll, Tango apparently, replied, "The name I came with didn't really, fit, I think? So I just picked my own." He raised his arms in something like a shrug.

The action figure nodded. "Yeah, Cleo still calls him Heath, but we all know he's Tango. It's the same with me, Cleo never really gave me a name and my box didn't say anything either, so I go by Impulse now."

"No, the box said something, it just said, what was it? "Super Cool Hero Man"?" Tango was clearly barely keeping himself from laughing.

"Oh, shut up," Impulse waved him off, trying to keep his tone lighthearted, but clearly a bit embarrassed. "Anyways, yeah! Nice to meet you! Cleo called you, uh, Skizzleman? Think you'll stick with that?"

Skizz thought for a second, then nodded. "Yeah, I think I will. It suits me."

Impulse put his hand out and patted Skizz on the back. "Alright, well hello, Skizzleman! Welcome to the Hermit's Crafts family! Remember your spot on the shelf, because Cleo will. You can move around wherever, just make sure you're where you're supposed to be when she gets back. She seems really nice, but, you know-"

"Yeah, I know, you can't let humans see you move."

Impulse nodded. "Yeah. Just seems like a bad idea. So, be careful, I'm sure you can figure out the rest. How about I show you around and introduce you to everyone?"

Skizz smiled. "That sounds good."

Impulse smiled back.

Skizz got the feeling he was going to like it here.

[bittersweetblasphemy]

what made you decide to have a go at making zines, and how did you find the process? fun? frustrating? new hobby unlocked?

it's been a lot of fun and is super satisfying to hold a finished booklet in my hand. new hobby unlocked for sure.

in fact i'm going to ramble about it under the cut.

i'd been looking into on and off for over a year, and, frankly, i've been going slowly mad at having normal levels of focus and productivity dangled in front of me, only to be snatched away AND put on bed rest without even jacking off as an outlet.

i did a bunch of painting, but i've run out of canvases and focus. and while i really wanna sculpt, 1) i just haven't gotten my brain to switch to that track, 2) i've only just recently been able to tolerate standing at my usual work counter again, 3) having a small child who wants to mirror everything i do is fun when i'm physically able to handle it, but i am not physically able to handle it. i can do a craft myself OR i can set them up with supervised craft time. not both.

that leaves my writing, but i haven't been able to focus enough to write. so what to do with all my old stuff? may as well take that last leap into making zines! it's also an excuse for me to break out my drawing tablet to make cover art (i'm not good but they're small and it adds to the charm i think).

overall it's been shockingly easy. the hardest part was making a format template, but once i had that figured out i was set. i conveniently already had a laser printer, and considering i can't go anywhere (like a place with a public printer) i wouldn't have been able to do this otherwise.

the most expensive thing i had to buy for this was a nice paper cutter, which was $24. it honestly wasn't necessary. i could have just folded the paper or cut them with scissors, but imo it really goes a long way in making them look nice. i also have a long reach stapler that's made for making booklets and magazines coming in that will be really nice for putting them together neatly and consistently.

i still dont know what i'm going to do with them tbh. i have some friends that are gonna get free copies of their favs, and at least the poetry one i'm going to have out if i'm able to do the craft fairs this year (fuck me i hope i'm better by then), but i need to see what kind of stuff they allow. even if they allow sexually explicit material, i'll probably still leave stories like Red Hot at home.

i could do an online shop for the rest, but i'm not sure where. i already have a kofi account for commissions, and they have a shop feature, but at the same time they say in their TOS they don't allow any form of sexually explicit material. and last i heard about etsy they were being shitty about charging for advertising you didn't opt into. so i'd need to do more research into that.

say what you want about whether or not i should be able to make a profit off of little homemade porn booklets, but i'd at least need enough money to buy the toner for my printer by the time i ran out, which is hella expensive. i think back when i got this thing it was like $70 a pop. it lasts a lot longer than ink but it's more expensive up front.