Posion & Antidote

My First Ever...Speed Paint? Time Lapse? ...What are these called?

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Tue, 01 Sep 2020 12:52:00 +0000

I took something from my sketchbook into Photoshop and played around with the Windows 10 Gamer Bar to record the process.
I wasn't 100% happy with the pot of ivy in the background, trying to think of something else I should swap it out for. Maybe a pitcher of pomegranate juice or something? A human rib cage full of ivy?
When finished, I'll be adding it to Redbubble, and printing up a large copy to hang in my spooky themed bathroom.

Keep Up with My Adventures on Social Media!

Temp Tattoo Follow Up: Never Again

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Sat, 24 Feb 2018 23:48:00 +0000

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Short Button Maker Tips - Storage & Rust Prevention

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Sun, 04 Feb 2018 21:03:00 +0000

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JPEG, PNG, and EPS - What to Use & Why

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Wed, 28 Dec 2016 17:15:00 +0000

When you are designing a logo for someone, or are having a logo designed by someone, you should always ask that you get it in the following formats: JPEG, PNG, EPS/AI. Each one serves a different purpose, and it's handy to have them all at your fingertips.

Recently I had a client contact me because they were confused which format to use, so I put together this brief post to clear things up.

Here's a breakdown of 3 different file types

and what they're used for:

JPEG / JPG - Joint Photographic Experts Group

JPEG: Web-friendly image, easy to use on social media and send through emails. This type of file can't be transparent, your image will always have a background. These can't be blown up larger, or they lose quality, but they can be shrunk down without pixelating the image.

This is a graphic I recently made for work. See how this one has a white background if you drag it around?

JPEGS are often used for: Social Media (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, etc.) and unless you have a very fancy phone, most phone cameras only take images in JPEG form. JPEGS are often used in Microsoft Word, or Powerpoint, and high quality JPEGS can even be used for print, but they need to be large and high quality.

PNG - Portable Network Graphics

PNG: Web-friendly and transparent. Often used for web-design, websites, and online documents where you need your logo to be transparent. Also commonly used in Powerpoint presentations. PNGS can also be used for small print items, like business cards, but it's not ideal since PNGS are usually web quality, which is much lower quality than print files.

Look at me! My background is transparent!

PNGs are often used for: Web design, Powerpoint presentations, and blogging. This way your logo can be against a background and it won't have a box around it. It's transparent. These are also used as watermarks on YouTube and commonly used to create graphics in digital videos. These can occasionally be used for print if absolutely necessary, but they are more often than not, web quality, and should only really be used for web purposes.

VECTOR / AI / EPS

Vector (EPS or AI): These are high quality graphics that are shape-based and not pixel based. These can be blown up to billboard size, or shrunk down to a postage stamp, and they won't lose any quality. These are only used for printing, like shirts, paper-based-printing, and other print-like services because you need a special program to open, view, and edit them.

Vector images are made of shapes, so they can be as big or small as you want with no quality loss.

Vector images are often used for: Print. Vector files are not supported on social media, and are almost exclusively used for print work. The general person may not need a vector file, but it is a MUST for business owners. This is a valuable marketing tool and you should make sure you have a vector version of your logo handy for any and all marketing or printing needs.

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Photo-Kiosk Designers - An Epidemic (But there's a cure!)

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Thu, 08 Dec 2016 18:05:00 +0000

I've noticed a new type of graphic designer emerging from the depths of the internet the last two years. They're hard to spot at first, since they talk-the-talk, but when you see their files, you immediately know what they are... they're a Photo-Kiosk designer.

Etsy is FILLED with them. The Photo-Kiosk designer is someone with a computer and access to an image editing program (usually Photoshop), who decided to strike out and make a little side business for themselves designing invitations and party favors for people online. (It's ALWAYS invitations and party favors.)

As a graphic designer and digital printer who also sells on Etsy, I appreciate their work ethic and their effort to pull in extra income, and I'm all for people pursuing art and design, but...to put it simply...YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING!

So I made this post to help and educate Photo-Kiosk printers on why commercial printers (like me) hate your files and how you can fix them.

Pros to photo-kiosk printing:

Your image goes all the way to the edge (no need for a bleed)
It's cheap
It's fast
It's easily found at any drug or convenience store (like Walmart, Target etc.)

Cons to photo-kiosk printing:

You're limited in the type of paper you can choose (Photo only in most cases)
The paper is glossy and thin (again, photo-only)
It looks cheap
Most kiosks print logos on the back of your print
You're image gets stretched, and warped, to fit a certain paper size you've selected

Photo kiosk printing is like the fast food version of real printing. It's fast, and cheap, and easy, but it isn't going to look as good as a meal prepared by a chef.

If you are going to go the photo-printing route, here are the issues preventing your files from working for a print shop:

Link to my post about BLEEDS explaining what one is

Your Files Do Not BLEED

(And you likely don't know what a bleed is)

When the Photo-Kiosk designer sets up their file, they usually set it up thinking it will be printed at a photo kiosk, like at the drug store, or Walmart. Places where people dump JPEG files off phones or USB drives and have them printed on 4"x6" photo paper with the ink automatically going all the way to the edge.

This is not an industry standard.

When your clients take these files to a REAL print shop, your design isn't going to work. Which leads to frustration for all parties, and more work for you with the back and forth emails on how to fix it with your irritated client.

YOU CAN FIX IT! Read THIS POST I created teaching you what a BLEED really is, and then simply Google the name of whatever program you are using and "How to add a bleed."
.
.
.
You didn't do it, did you? I've sent tons of links, walk throughs and tutorials over the years...and for whatever reason they never help. It's a constant source of frustration for me, but I get it. You're tired too, and you're overwhelmed. You just want to make a quick buck with your work.

Even though it KILLS ME as a designer to say this...here's a simple cheat: keep all your text and images at LEAST .25" away from all edges!

When we cut your stuff. It is too close to the edges. That's why we wanted the bleed. Keep your important stuff away from the edge (at least .25") and we can enlarge your artwork slightly to make a bleed for you. It's not ideal, and your print shop may charge a fee to do it, but it works.

This image came from a FREE stock image site called Pixabay!

Don't Just Take Images from Google

(Woo, Woo, Here come the Copyright Police! )

Simply put, Google isn't a free stock image site. Some print shops will turn you away because of this.

Most of the work I get from the Kiosk-Printer involves licensed characters (Disney 9 times out of 10) that are obviously not yours that came from somewhere online. Personal use is usually fine, but when you're using those characters to sell something...things get messy. The owners of those images aren't going to be happy to see you using it, without their permission, to profit.

Best case scenario, you'll get an email or a C&D, aka a Cease and Desist order, telling you to just plain stop what you're doing.

Worst case? You get sued, and possibly the original creator puts you on blast on their social media causing a flood of fans to tear apart your side business calling you a thief. (Which you kind of are.)

Print shops, like mine, don't want to get tied up in a legal battle, so we turn down obviously stolen work, so that is something you should keep in mind.

I know, I know, Etsy is filled with images that are straight-up stolen off the net, why should you be the one to stop? Slowly, those sellers are getting C&D letters, and some of them are getting shops reported, shut-down, and banned. Better to be on the up-and-up than to have your hobby turn into a court case.

Need images? Use PIXABAY! It's an awesome FREE stock image site.

Those are the two major reasons why we reject Photo-Kiosk jobs in my shop, and how you can avoid or fix those issues. I could get into preferred file format, crop marks, color modes and everything else a print ready file should have...but if you manage to fix these two issues, you'll save me and many other printers from having an aneurysm.

I wish you luck on your journey, and for the love of all that is CMYK, please keep your text and images away from the edges of your work!

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What is a BLEED - Printing Terminology for Non-Printers

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Tue, 06 Dec 2016 20:56:00 +0000

"Your file needs a BLEED."

Not a day goes by where I don't have to explain this concept. I mean it. Every. Single. Day.

To be fair, it's not a term that's really used out in there the "real world." It's an art and creation specific concept, so the average person doesn't need to know. But, with more and more people attempting to be their own graphic and print designer (in an attempt to cut costs even though it usually ends up being a complete nightmare) it's something I thought I would tackle here on the blog.

This way you guys can learn a little something, and I'll have a place to copy and paste responses instead of ripping my hair out.

So, what is a BLEED?

A "BLEED" is simply a term that means that your design's colors/images go all the way to the edge of your paper.

Commercial printers WON'T print all the way to the edge of your paper. It's not cost effective. Instead, they take your design and place it multiple times on larger sheets of paper and cut it out in piles with massive machines to the size you need.

In the case of my business card above, they would cut it out to be 2" tall and 3.5" wide.

The BLEED's job is to give the cutter a little wiggle room to ensure that your images and artwork go all the way to the edge. Which ensures that there are NO gross white edges and NO CUT OFF TEXT!

For the card above the BLEED SIZE is 2.25" tall and 3.75" wide. An extra .125 on each side has been added.

Now, this is where people get confused...You don't just make your normal design BIGGER.
That doesn't solve the problem of safe cutting, because your text and important elements are still the same amount of space away from the edge as they were before.

What you need is more SAFE SPACE between the important parts of your design (usually text) and the background color/image/pattern.

Take a look at my little mock-up above. If I just made the card bigger, the text would be close to the edge and it would be in danger of being CUT OFF! (Nooooo)

The top example is ideal, we have safe text AND a bleed. Your design is destined for greatness! No way is that getting messed up on the cutter.

The middle one isn't great, you'll likely get white edges on your printed design, and if the cutter is a millimeter or two off, you'll get cut off text.

The last example is what you might get. Completely cut off information!

Hopefully this basic break down can help you out. My next post will be how to add a bleed in various programs, but for now, this'll have to do.

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1" Button Press Demo & Review

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Fri, 18 Nov 2016 16:22:00 +0000

Not as in-depth as I wanted it to be, but I'll be doing more follow-up videos on my machines very soon. (Plus people always complain that I talk too much so I guess shorter might be better.)

All of my machines and parts came from Button Boy Inc.
-1.25" Machine: https://goo.gl/o9V81B
-1" Machine: https://goo.gl/B97bW5
-Pendants: https://goo.gl/v0Y68Z

They have an Etsy shop too, but their main website has lower prices.

Save 10% off with the code SPOOKTOBER on Etsy! - EXP 11/02/16

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Mon, 24 Oct 2016 18:43:00 +0000

Use the coupon code 🎃SPOOKTOBER🎃 to save 10% off orders of $10 or more in my etsy shop! ➡ Link is in my profile !👀 #enamelpins #spiders #pumpkin

A photo posted by M. Smith (@poison_and_antidote) on Oct 17, 2016 at 11:10am PDT

Offer is good from now until November 2nd, after that the offer and and Pom-kins go into hibernation until next October.
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Let There Be Critics : A Review of Fox's Rocky Horror Event

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Fri, 21 Oct 2016 16:38:00 +0000

It's my mouth! I used these for my college screening. People had to follow my lips to find the theater.

Tiny bit of backstory before the review. I've been watching Rocky Horror, the film version, since I was a child. My parents used to dress up and go to midnight showings, my family has the the original vinyl LP & a re-release and the CDs, we have the original red VHS cassette, the fan books, the trivia books, the action figures... We're HUGE fans, especially of the masterful Tim Curry and his performance in the 1975 film version. I even dressed up and hosted a Rocky Horror screening at my college campus. So to us, this production was kind of a big deal.

Since the get-go I was against the idea of a made-for-TV remake, but when it was announced that Tim Curry was going to be the Criminologist, making a rare on-screen appearance since his stroke, we had to tune in just to see him. Don't get us wrong, we love seeing productions of Rocky Horror done locally, and we love Laverne Cox, but can a big budget, shiny, Fox-produced version airing at 8PM on a weeknight really capture the essence of Rocky Horror?

No. It didn't. I live tweeted the event over on Twitter if you want to see my reactions as it happened, but long story short, it wasn't as bad as I was expecting, but the whole thing fell flat.

Image ©2016 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Steve Wilkie/FOX

Before I get into the negatives, I want to start with the positives.

This new version featured the Usherette, who was not in the original film version but has been in the stage productions. I thought the casting choice, her costume, her red lipstick, and her voice were definitely on point. The intro features her walking through the theater preparing for the show singing Richard O'Brien's "Science Fiction/Double Feature." Typically that's her job in the stage production, and the original film production replaced her with the iconic signing red lips we all know today. Her performance was fun and campy, but also passionate. It felt l like she was having a lot of fun performing, and the audience members had all kinds of fun little Easter eggs hidden in them for fans. I really wish we had seen more of the Usherette used when audience participation scenes were included later on in the production. She was a strong and underutilized asset.

When it came to make-up, the department responsible did an absolutely amazing job. I really liked their take on the Usherette, Frank, Riff Raff and Columbia in particular. No complaints there.

The singing voices were, for the most part, wonderful and I was really impressed with the Usherette's performance as well as Lambert.

Tim Curry. It was great to see him on the screen again after his stoke and having him deliver a few lines as the criminologist nearly brought me to tears. It's been a difficult time for him, and he's been working hard doing interviews about Rocky Horror and preparing for this role. They had to limit his speaking parts and movements, due to his health, but what little of him I saw I appreciated and I hope he is doing well. (Although seeing him also made me sad. He is an amazing actor with an amazing voice who's played such iconic roles and to see his health causing him so much pain is brutal. But he's a fighter and I wish him all the best!)

I also really liked the ending credits with both sets of singing lips.

A re-working of my event poster, now called Unconventional Conventionists, available on Red Bubble

Okay, so there was most of the good. Now here's the bad.

The biggest issue I had was the acting. Campy is good, and fun, but everything was too inconsistent. It kept shifting tones from semi-serious acting to over the top parody films like Scary Movie. If they had picked one path and stuck with it I would have enjoyed this a lot more. Every time there was a tonal shift I was taken out of the experience, like wait, how am I supposed to feel right now? Especially with Columbia. Normally she's my favorite, but with her ultra dry delivery, over the top comedic lollipop gags, and super campy screaming, her acting left me feeling just as blasė about her all-over-the-place performance as her apathetic character felt in her scenes. There were times when Brad breaks the 4th wall and looks at the camera confused, which I found really funny and very Scary Movie-esque, but then there were more serious times like when Janet was getting shoved around like a rag doll which felt more aggressive than I would have liked. I don't get why Fox is okay with aggression, but positive sexuality? NOPE.

Speaking of sexuality...ROCKY'S FREAKING SHORTS! What the @#$@ was that? Baggy Rocky Balboa boxer shorts? Really? I get that it's made for TV, and it's airing during a prime-time slot, but why do we get baggy shorts when Victoria Justice is running around in a bra and mini-skirt-slip getting slammed into walls and dragged by her hair? So lady bodies getting beaten up are okay, but gold booty shorts on men is a no-no? Not buying it.

Since I'm on the subject, let's talk a little about wardrobe and hair. I felt like they weren't as strong as the make-up team. For the most part I liked the updated changes they made, but some choices seemed really bizarre. What was that Don King looking mess on Dr. Scott's head? The actor playing Dr. Scott had some great comedic timing and physical comedy, he didn't need the clownish looking hair to push him over the edge into ridiculousness. Columbia's rainbow Cyndi Lauper hair and her punk-rock look were a lot of fun, but the one tutu was far too long. I get what they were going for, but it made her appear so much shorter than she was and the bold blue color distracted me from the rest of her wardrobe. Then there's Laverne Cox, who could normally wear a trash bag and make it look amazing. I felt like the emphasis on red for her wardrobe really hurt the character. Normally Frank n' Furter's red lips and make-up really stand out, but here Laverne's lips were drowned out by all the red wardrobe. Red garments, red hair, red make-up and accessories. I would have preferred seeing her as a blonde, similar to the original production, or pretty much anything but red. I want those lips to POP! Towards the end her wardrobe changes to darker shades and contrasting colors, and she dons a swimming cap which helped amp up her facial features, but initially she was lost in a sea of bright color and red. It takes a lot to drown such an iconic character.

In this image Laverne barely stands out! Her height and raised arms help, but with all this color she's overwhelmed.
Image ©2016 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Steve Wilkie/FOX

Rather than write a novel, here are a few more points

Whole opening was pretty strong, up until the flat tire I was somewhat impressed
Music was too pop-rock, not as gritty
Janet tearing her glove off with her teeth was really cute
Eddie had all his brains & No Freezer Eddie, boo
Laverne's lips and exaggerated annunciations were captivating, very nice
Frank didn't love Eddie or seem to really love or obsess over Rocky either
I want Columbia's Rocky Horror Warhol PJ's
Columbia's Meatloaf comment was a great snarky nod!
Danger Sign and the Transylvanian Party Banner were both sights for sore eyes
It didn't feel like Columbia loved Eddie, or Frank, or anybody really
Janet seemed to like Rocky and mourn him more than anyone's cared about anyone else
Overall I feel like this performance just lacked feeling and passion
If you had never seen the original you'd never understand the complex relationships and feelings between characters occurring on screen.

I know I tore it apart for a minute there, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be. I went in with SUPER low expectations, and was slightly impressed by certain aspects while others just reinforced my initial gut feelings.

I felt like the floor show let Laverne really shine, until I'm Going Home, which felt hollow
Image © 2016 Fox Broadcasting Co. Cr: Steve Wilkie/FOX

It's not awful, and I feel like the actors did a decent job with what they were given, the true issue lies in the network that aired it. Fox cleaned Rocky Horror up and made it less LGBTQIA and misfit friendly because...IT'S FOX! This free expression, liberal, sexually-explorative and well beloved production should have been done elsewhere. If it were an FX production (like my friend Brian suggested) and not mainstream Fox it could have been a little more true to the original as far as acceptance and pushing the envelope was concerned. If Fox wanted to make a BIG family friendly and toned-down Halloween event, why not go with something more like Hocus Pocus?

As is, this is a squeaky clean version that lacks the misfit-nature and emotional connection of the original and the typical stage productions. This is not a remake, but a companion-piece, more like Harry Potter Puppet Pals is to the real Films and books...but with a HUGE shiny budget and stage. I can't say I truly hated it, and I can't say I loved it, but I can say that I don't hate that it exists. So that's something.

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SaveSave

Pom-Kins are here! - Venturing into Enamel Pins?

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Thu, 06 Oct 2016 19:29:00 +0000

Grab a pom-kin of your own on Etsy

Oh man, it's been a long time since I updated. My life is always busy, but this past month it's been more intense than usual because....I'm bidding on a HOUSE! OMG! I've been going to showings, talking to mortgage companies, and researching all this adult-business online and now I'm finally in a place where home ownership is a possibility! And today is my birthday!

So it's been a pretty intense month of adulting, but I still managed to have a little fun designing my first ever enamel pin!

Enamel pins made by smaller indie artists have been popular in the music scene for a long time, but recently artists and artist alley veterans have gotten in on the fun as well. To be honest, the custom pin-market is a little oversaturated now due to the large influx of artists trying this out...so sales are tougher and tougher to get with all the new competition, but I just couldn't resist making one of my own to test the waters.

Step 1: Making my Design

Thanks to my commercial printing and graphic design background, making a clean, vector-based, pin design was really easy, and I already had a Pantone color book to use as reference (since these pins use PMS colors for their filled in areas). I made my design, tweaked things here or there on it for 2-3 days until I was completely happy, and made little color blocks on the side featuring my design's Pantone colors.

I toyed with "happy" eyes, different snouts, different Jack O' Lantern faces...ultimately I liked the slightly wicked looking Pom-face, which reminded me of my favorite Sanrio character, Kuromi. I mean, it's Halloween! I was a sassy snarky looking Pom, not a super smiley one!

Step 2: Contacting a Manufacturer

Pinmakers on Facebook pointed me in the direction of a few different manufacturers, and I picked the one that got back to me the quickest. We got the order in, my artwork was approved, and a few weeks later I got a photo of my finished pins and a note that they were already shipped and on their way. Now, it would have been nice to see the proof photo and be able to give approval after that for production to start, but it didn't work out that way. Thankfully my finished pins looked great and that wasn't an issue, but if you wanted to change anything..that'd really suck.

Step 3: Finished Pins! & Backer Cards

Once I got notice that they were on their way I whipped up a spooky backer card to go with them. I was kind of going for a watercolor-texture, similar to the backgrounds used in the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown special, tried a few different fonts, and finalized my design. The finished cards fit inside the same plastic sleeves that I used for my finback buttons, so other than the card itself I didn't have to buy any other packaging. Which is super awesome!

That's pretty much it! They look super cute and out of 100 pins only 8 were messed up enough that I didn't feel right selling them. If this run goes well I might make more, but for now, I'm really happy with my little Pom-Kin pins and looking at them in their little packages makes me really happy.

Right now I am selling them in my Etsy shop with either a black-nickel or gold-nickel finish, and each purchase comes with Halloween candy! Please check them out and grab one for yourself. They'll only be available until Day of the Dead, which is Tuesday November 1st. After that they go in the crypt until next year.

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CamdenJam 2016 - Button Making Event

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Mon, 12 Sep 2016 15:52:00 +0000

I partnered up with Connect The Lots in Camden again this weekend, this time instead of painting, I brought my trusty pinback button press to the city to teach kids how to make their own buttons at Camden Jam! It was a HUGE hit.

First the children colored their designs, then we punched them out,
and they used the press (supervised) to create their finished button!

Since the event was at city hall, which is a Poke-stop, my contact requested that I make some Pokemon-themed designs. I took my Pokemon Go team buttons and turned them into simple black and white outlines, this way kids could color them in, as well as a generic Pokeball and a Pikachu design. (You can't leave out Pikachu!) Surprisingly, the biggest hit of the day was the paper I left blank!

I made a TON of blank designs and encouraged kids to create their own work, and they did! (Plenty of parents and other adults did too.) They made everything from basketballs, to pins with their names on them, to "CamJam'16"! It was awesome that people taking the more creative route and I loved seeing what they came up with. At the end of the day I was super sweaty and tired, just like everyone else, but is was a lot of fun. I think we made nearly 500 buttons that day!

Despite the intense weather we had a great turn out, and I loved getting to work with all the children. Thank you again to Connect The Lots for letting me be involved in such an awesome event and I hope to come back again next year!

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How I Package My Pinback Buttons

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Sat, 10 Sep 2016 13:50:00 +0000

New art-related video is up!

This is how I've been packaging my button order lately,
both in person in the Artist Alleys and online for my Etsy shop.

It's been a while since I've made one of these,
but I'm figuring things out filming-wise so that I should be able to make one or two videos a month.

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Upcycle Japanese Candy Wrappers into Pinback Buttons!

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Sat, 03 Sep 2016 23:20:00 +0000

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Free Painting Party Event in Camden NJ TONIGHT! 5:30-7:30PM

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Fri, 26 Aug 2016 14:36:00 +0000

Tonight I'm hosting another FREE paint party event outside Camden City Hall!

5:30-7:30PM in Roosevelt Plaza Park (in front of City Hall)!

We'll be painting a little something like this as we enjoy the sunset, be sure to join us! Visit Connect the Lots - Camden for more info!

There will also be a video game truck, and the unveiling of the community art project in the Camden ArtBox, 'A Real Page Turner'! Hope to see you there!

(If you're unable to attend be sure to spread the word! It's FREE!)

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Last Minute Paint Party SUCCESS - & PAINT PARTY TIPS

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Mon, 22 Aug 2016 15:45:00 +0000

Not your average paint party fodder. This isn't a wine glass, or high heel, it's city hall!

It was a last minute event, with about 48 hours notice to gather supplies and make a painting with Camden City Hall theme, but I pulled it off! We had 14 painters create their own masterpieces and even with a few hiccups, like no running water, wind, and sun...it turned out great!

We had a really good turnout and all of the participants were very serious and invested in their paintings. My example piece was a bit more challenging than your usual paint party example, but they all did a fantastic job without missing a beat!

Tip #1 : Add a Decoupage Element for added interest

With such short notice I decided to add in a decoupage element to create more depth and visual interest, which is something I feel a lot of paint party pieces lack. I went with a vintage map of New Jersey, since Camden and city hall were the overall theme, and it worked out really nicely! Lots of painters commented on the image provided and even asked me for extras to take home and display on it's own. I had the painters create their backgrounds and then we tore up the edges of the paper to give it a more rustic look before adding it to the background with simple white school glue. I had spare print outs available, and since there were no table cloths provided, I MacGyver'd one out of the print outs and some clear tape. (You can see it on the table in these photographs.) Not only did those copies save the tables, but they also made for a killer photo background!

Tip #2 : Oops Paint

As I said, this was a last minute event and I needed materials. I didn't have time to shop for deals online so I went to the craft store and 1 pint of student grade acrylic paint was $10!! No thank you. Instead, I went over to the nearest hardware store, which was Lowe's, and bought 2 gallons of oops paint to use as the base instead! Now this is a bit tricky, since you never know what colors you'll find in the oops section, but you can't argue with the savings. I got a gallon of oops paint for the same $10! It was more pigmented, made a better base to hide the naked canvas, and it made the paintings look more interesting because the colors didn't look "right out of the tube." Or, "tubey" as my painting professors called it. At Lowe's I got a gallon of very pale blue and a gallon of a vintage goldenrod yellow. I used these two colors for the majority of our painting, and instead of white, we used the pale blue to create cohesiveness between the colors. It saved me TONS in paint costs and no one was the wiser.

Tip #3 : DOLLAR STORE FINDS

I'm all about saving money, and with only 48 hours, I had to work with what I could get, and so a lot of my materials came from the dollar store. At the dollar store I bought:

Tall reusable plastic cups (came in packs of 4-for $1) for the water cups
Clear Plastic Party Plates (came in packs of 8-for $1) for my mini paint palettes
Clear Plastic Bowls (came in packs of 12-for $1) to hold the larger amounts of paint

These dollar store finds worked out fantastically! Once everyone was done I could either toss them, or wash them out and reuse them again. Since we didn't have any running water at the paint party location (we used gallon jugs) I tossed the palettes and paint cups, but held onto the water cups to use them again next time. To be honest, if I had access to a sink I most likely would have washed and tried to reuse the plates and paint cups, because you could get at least 3 uses out of them, but without running water everything dried up and caked on so they had to go. No big loss, those materials cost me less than $10!

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I'm Hosting a FREE Paint Party Night in Camden NJ - TONIGHT 8/19/16

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Fri, 19 Aug 2016 14:59:00 +0000

FYI, the quote is Camden's motto and it comes from Walt Witman's "I Dream'd in a Dream"

This week has been even crazier than usual. I'm teaching a last minute painting class in Camden, NJ tonight from 5:30-7:30PM, which is awesome, but I've been running around the last 48 hours gathering supplies and making a city hall themed painting for the event. It's like those popular painting and wine parties, but without the wine. This is what I came up with. I tried to keep it abstract and simple, and I added a decoupage element to it for added interest (and Jersey pride).

Between this, my day job, my blogs, and Etsy...it's been an extremely busy week. So instead of my usual quart-sized mason jar of water...I'm drinking a quart of home made cookies & cream iced coffee.

Half way gone already!!

These day I rarely drink coffee, so the caffeine hits me HARD! Look out world! I'm caffeinated and armed with art supplies! If you're in the NJ area and want to come to the painting event (which is FREE) here's a LINK with info.

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WIP Wednesday

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Wed, 17 Aug 2016 19:32:00 +0000

Not sure about these "stories"... so here's my first ever attempt in post-form. 🌙 #thermalreactive #sailormoon #space #pins #buttons #etsy #wipwednesday #wip

A video posted by M. Smith (@poison_and_antidote) on Aug 17, 2016 at 8:18am PDT

I got this neat thermal reactive paint and I'm trying to figure out how to use it on button designs. Here's one of last night's experiments.

Right now it seems like 2 layers makes things milky and foggy looking, but maybe I just need to wait longer between coats.

On Wearing Many Hats, Money & Working Solo

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Wed, 10 Aug 2016 16:59:00 +0000

As a artist/crafter/small business owner/blogger, I work alone. It sounds kinds of nice, not answering to anyone, but overall, being an island is extremely exhausting.

Everything I need, from product concept, to design, to production/printing, to finishing, to packaging, to marketing...it's all just me. I'm lucky because internet access makes all of that a LOT easier than it was 20 some-odd years ago, but it's still a lot for one person to handle.

Social media is a wonderful tool. We can save money on advertising by being our own advertising! Saving money sounds great and all, but what you don't realize is how much harder your have to work to get people to notice you while keeping your own production up and costs low. Free time is pretty much non-exsistant when you're a one-person production and yet, I always feel like I should be doing more!

When someone does a lot of things the old saying is they "wear a lot of hats." I have a face for sunglasses, but hats? They never look right on me.

Silliness aside, I wear a LOT of hats. This is a little sample of my weekday schedule, it's been intense, but it's been paying off. I'm seeing a lot more page views and sales!

Current Big Project At Work

First there is my main job, which is an hour away from home, where I am the only employee, and I work 9-5 Mon-Fri (9-4 on Fridays right now in the summer with our new summer hours. Thank goodness.) I am a graphic designer and digital printing consultant, but being the only employee in the facility, I do everything from filing, to answering phones, to production, to being tech support and personal assistant handling their messages and stuff not pertaining to business. When we're slow it's manageable, but when we're busy it's exhausting in and of itself.

Then I have...
My Etsy shop, Poison & Antidote - updates with a new product maybe once a month, and gets about 10-20 orders per month to be filled and shipped off across the globe. I'm trying to add new items more frequently to keep my inventory interesting, but right now I can only manage it a few times a month.

I'm filled with nostalgia & sugar. #ectocooler review is now up on the blog!! ▪ 🚫👻 ▪ #sometimesfoodie #ghostbusters #90s #80s #hic #drink #foodreview #foodblog #slime #hicectocooler

My food blog, Sometimes Foodie - updates once daily, sometimes twice if I can find the time. For this blog I take photos, edit the photos, and write up the reviews. It only takes me, maybe, an hour to get a new review up each day, but finding time to sit down and do that every single day alongside everything else is also tricky. Right now I try to sit down on the weekends and write up a week's worth to try and keep up.
There's THIS blog and my art Tumblr Page, Poison-and-Antidote-Shop - updates...sporadically. For a while I was doing great with daily updates here too, but that quickly fell to the wayside. I don't make much money with the Tumblr or this blog so I tend to drop it and focus on other things. Instead, this has kind of become my venting place. I like to post here when I've overwhelmed by everything else.
I have 2 Instagram Accounts, Poison_and _Antidote and Sometimes Foodie which I try to update a few times a day.
I have my YouTube Page, which ideally gets two new videos a week, but it wasn't until last month that I really started sticking to that upload schedule, and now it's fallen by the wayside. (Again.)
Art Shows and Cons - which are few and far between due to lack of time, limited tables, lottery, and inability to take days off work. I really want to do this more because I make a lot of money and get a lot more exposure, but being the only employee at my job means very VERY limited time off. My bosses are in and out all day and I am often running this place completely alone. So if I call out, there's no one here.
Commissioned Work, Client Work, favors for Friends and Family outside of my normal job. Right now I am printing and doing stuff for my Step-Dad, my sister, my Boyfriend...while it all makes me really happy to do it for them, none of them know how to set their files up for print, so I end up having to rework them a lot to get the jobs done.
Red Bubble, Teachers Pay Teachers & Spoonflower, which I update randomly here and there and give me a few dollars every month

Even with all of those things, I'm barely making a living wage with my side-income, and I still have a lot of things that fall to the wayside that I wish I could keep up with as well.

Like my personal website, which desperately needs to be updated and is almost always getting hacked by lame 3rd party ad pages, my Behance page needs to be updated more and advertised to hopefully get more client work, my LinkedIn which is also neglected and work related, my Deviant Art page, my Store Envy, my society6....

I'm spread thin, and I should give some things up to focus more on others, but I feel like a failure letting things go. Plus, I'm planning on putting a down payment on my first home very soon, so I need all the income I can get to make that work. I just...I get overwhelmed and feel like a failure if I can't do what I want to do. That's something I need to tackle, but I need to do that while keeping all this going or else my plan for getting a house all falls apart.

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300 BUTTONS DONE!

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Thu, 28 Jul 2016 15:09:00 +0000

Finished 300 Pokemon Go buttons last night for a custom order!! I'm counting this as my workout for the day. 👍 ▪ ▪ ▪ #pokemongo #etsy #customorder #buttons #teamvalor #teaminstinct #teammystic #mystic #valor #instinct

A photo posted by M. Smith (@poison_and_antidote) on Jul 28, 2016 at 7:51am PDT

Man, that was the biggest order I've ever filled and it only took me 2 days to finish it! (One for printing & cutting, and another for punching/production.) Not bad, not bad at all. Plus I'm counting it as an arm workout. Win-win!

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Pokemon GO - Awesome For Small Businesses

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Wed, 27 Jul 2016 16:31:00 +0000

The game is here and it's having a much stronger effect than I had ever imagined. People are going outside, they're walking and exploring their neighborhoods, they're meeting new people, and small businesses are getting more foot traffic and sales thanks to being gyms and Pokestops. This is just...all around awesome. Sure there are a few naysayers and killjoys sprinkled in the mix with their negative articles, but overall, I think the positive benefits outweigh the few negative click-bait headlines.

I've only played up until Silver and Gold on the GameBoy Color (Silver was my last "new" Pokemon game), but my younger sister still plays and she keeps me hip to all the new Poke-happenings out there in the world. I know a lot of online shop owners JUMPED at the opportunity to make a buck off the trend, but with the market being so saturated...I figured I'd skip this one...but then the custom requests started rolling in....

200 total, 50 of each design.

My first request was a friend who needed 200 pinback buttons to hand out at his church event. Since all churches are Pokestops, his church wanted to give out pins to all the Sunday school kids and set up lures for them to catch Pokemon after class. Which, even though I am not religious, sounded like a really nice and thoughtful event, so I went into Adobe Illustrator, whipped up some logos, made some sky-inspired backgrounds to match the space-y BG of the pokeball pin, and made him 200 buttons.

This time they wanted a more graphic design, it's my same vectors, just against a black BG.

Then I got another order for 300 more pins from an awesome guy looking to hand pins out to people he meets while he and his s/o are out Poke-hunting.

That's 500 BUTTONS in the past 7 DAYS!

This craze isn't just getting people outside socializing, it's helping small businesses, like myself, make connections to people, get some orders, and reach new audiences.

The funniest thing is...I'm not even playing the game (yet)!

All this positivity created by this game is wonderful, so much so that me, a current non-player, is thinking about signing up to play too.

I went out to dinner this weekend with my b/f, his teenage daughter, and a bunch of his work friends (age range from late 20's-60's). After dinner we went outside and half the group whipped out their phones and we went for an after dinner poke-hunting walk! It was so much fun and there were TONS of people outside even though it was nearly 10 at night.

It was so fun that I am about to make my account and join in the game...

So long story short, Pokemon Go is awesome, and if you're a small business owner, you should find a way to make it work for you.

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Media Kit MADNESS

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Fri, 24 Jun 2016 03:54:00 +0000

Lookin' all kinds of professional! Not like a food crazed sleepless zombie at all!

Look at me being all professional looking and junk!

So my numbers aren't super impressive, yet, but they're not bad considering I started the official blog in January of 2014. For roughly 2 years of hustling, this isn't too shabby.

Check out the backside after the cut!

BACKSIDE!

Oddly enough, I'm pulling in some decent monthly numbers from Singapore, which is awesome, but something I never expected.

Creating this thing was a walk down memory lane when it comes to my food photos and posts, but when it came to self promo images...I'm a hot freaking mess.

Once I figure out what I am doing with my hair (if I'm going to cut and re-dye it auburn or not) I'm tapping some of my photo savvy friends for some playful foodie editorials and professional head shots. Digging through my "selfie" photo folder for this YouTube shot was...brutal. Never again.

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Fancy Backgrounds & Life Update/Rambling

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Thu, 23 Jun 2016 15:40:00 +0000

Bye bye stark white, hello FULL color backgrounds!

Yesterday was a really productive day for me! I was able to list my new Louise and TWEWY stickers on Etsy but instead of my usual stark white backdrop, I made fancy ones!

Well "made" isn't quite accurate. All I did was go to Pixabay and print out some free stock images of graffiti and cheeseburgers on some tabloid paper, but it made my stuff look so awesome!

This one really makes me want to doodle some burgers of my own!

If I had more time I would have made my own, but with everything else I have going on...

Packing for the Summer Fancy Food Show in NY this weekend (I leave Sat., return Wed.)
Writing Food Reviews to queue up for the blog so it isn't stagnant while I'm away
Making and shipping out Etsy orders
Listing NEW Etsy and Redbubble items
Filming, editing and queueing up YouTube videos (2 a week! Gotta keep that up)
Washing, drying and folding 2 (long overdue) loads of laundry
Doing minor PR work for all the stuff I do online to generate interest and get views/sales
AND I have a few really big deals going on behind the scenes with some companies that I can't quite tell you guys about yet for both my art and my food blogging ventures.
All that, PLUS my 9-5 day job that is a 40+ min drive there and another 40+ min back every day...

So yeah, I did NOT have the time to doodle any burgers or DIY my own graffiti wall for backdrops last night, but that is what stock images are for!!

The end results look awesome, and I even printed out a couple to enhance my latest Sometimes Foodie post!

My life feels pretty hectic at the moment, but everything's coming' up ~~Milhouse~~ awesome! This is really great and a few doors are opening for me thanks to all the stuff I do after-hours online, and I need to give it my all to keep this up!

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Cool Down Tablet Drawing - Geez Louise, you're the best!

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Sun, 19 Jun 2016 16:27:00 +0000

I might hold the Guinness record for most hours spent watching Bob's Burgers. It is my go-to show on Netflix and I've watched the series, in it's entirety,...I don't know how many times, but if I totaled it up I'm sure it'd be embarrassing.

Last night I finished up a Miyazaki piece I had been working on for a themed art show, and to cool down I doodled this little Louise. It feels good to doodle again and since I put more effort into this than I originally intended, I'll be turning her into a sticker and button for my Etsy. Maybe I should doodle the rest of the Belcher clan...

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Custom Sticker Order (300 Stickers!)

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 00:27:00 +0000

Just finished up a custom vinyl sticker order (300 stickers total) for the awesome Kastraz of Deviant Art and YouTube.

They’re printed on durable white vinyl so they’re waterproof, weather proof, and tear resistant! I even included an extra fabulous holographic-finish Mettaton. I honestly know next to nothing about Undertale, but I think these stickers are awesome! (I'm totally not biased at all.)

I included a special Holo sticker as a gift to Kastraz for placing the order. See it under the cut!

These are Kastraz’s Undertale designs, I just printed them up and cut them for her artist alley table. If your interested in grabbing some of these for yourself, CLICK HERE for her DA and YouTube, but if you want custom stickers off your own art, I’m your girl!

Just send me a message over on etsy with how many stickers you'd be interested in, how soon you need them, and their general size. These are all roughly 2" wide and 3" tall. (Give or take a few weapons, tails, and limbs.)

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Selfie - My First Self Portrait (WIP)

noreply@blogger.com (Sometimes Foodie) — Tue, 24 May 2016 05:58:00 +0000

All these years and I've never done a self portrait. That's like skipping How to Be An Artist 101!

To be honest, figure work isn't one of my strong points. I have a very poor sense of anatomy, and even though my college was great conceptually, they didn't teach the fundamentals of drawing, portraiture, or figure work in any medium. I just drew what I saw, which has worked for me until now, but I wanted to step out of my comfort zone and do something kind of therapeutic and self-exploring.

A year and a half ago I left a very harmful, unhealthy, and emotionally abusive long term relationship. Things were never happy and stable for long and the way it finally ended was...traumatic to say the least. When I left him I was free, but I had also become a shell of myself and spent nearly a full year just coming to terms with what I had gone through and experienced. I've never been all that vain, or boastful about my appearance, and I was lucky to have never suffered from low self esteem, but after what had happened, the way I viewed myself changed dramatically.

This is the current state of my portrait with 2 days of work, but it's only an hour or two at night before bed.

I felt dull, lifeless, and fell into an intense depression. I would cry all the time and started hiding my body in pull over sweatshirts and long sleeve hoodies when I used to proudly wear tank tops 10/12 months of the year. Tank tops used to be a staple for me and practically a trademark when I was in school.

I buried myself in work and projects to ignore the problem and keep everything I had worked so hard for going, and I succeeded, while slowly finding pieces of myself again. It'll be two years this November. I'm in a relatively new, but emotionally healthy, trusting and happy relationship, which has been very healing, but I'm not entirely back yet.

Staring at photos of myself and looking in the mirror for long periods of time has been helping me with self reflection. I look at myself and I think about all I've been through the last few years. It's nice to take this time to really process it all, as well as attempting my first ever self portrait to sharpen my (pretty much non-existent) portrait skills.

This is no where near done, but I think it's a pretty good start. I showed it to a few people and they've said that I look sad in this, or that I made myself a lot less pretty than I really am, and I wonder how much of that is true. Am I doing that on purpose? Or are people just being nice because it's not a very good portrait? Am I not looking at myself properly? The more I work on it, the happier I think my eyes look...so I guess I'll just have to see what it'll look like when it's finished.

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Posion & Antidote

My First Ever...Speed Paint? Time Lapse? ...What are these called?

~ XOXO Maria

Temp Tattoo Follow Up: Never Again

~ XOXO Maria

Short Button Maker Tips - Storage & Rust Prevention

~ XOXO Maria

JPEG, PNG, and EPS - What to Use & Why

~ XOXO Maria

Photo-Kiosk Designers - An Epidemic (But there's a cure!)

~ XOXO Maria

What is a BLEED - Printing Terminology for Non-Printers

~ XOXO Maria

1" Button Press Demo & Review

~ XOXO Maria

Save 10% off with the code SPOOKTOBER on Etsy! - EXP 11/02/16

~ XOXO Maria

Let There Be Critics : A Review of Fox's Rocky Horror Event

~ XOXO Maria

Pom-Kins are here! - Venturing into Enamel Pins?

~ XOXO Maria

CamdenJam 2016 - Button Making Event

~ XOXO Maria

How I Package My Pinback Buttons

~ XOXO Maria

Upcycle Japanese Candy Wrappers into Pinback Buttons!

~ XOXO Maria

Free Painting Party Event in Camden NJ TONIGHT! 5:30-7:30PM

~ XOXO Maria

Last Minute Paint Party SUCCESS - & PAINT PARTY TIPS

~ XOXO Maria

I'm Hosting a FREE Paint Party Night in Camden NJ - TONIGHT 8/19/16

~ XOXO Maria

WIP Wednesday

~ XOXO Maria

On Wearing Many Hats, Money & Working Solo

~ XOXO Maria

300 BUTTONS DONE!

~ XOXO Maria

Pokemon GO - Awesome For Small Businesses

~ XOXO Maria

Media Kit MADNESS

~ XOXO Maria

Fancy Backgrounds & Life Update/Rambling

~ XOXO Maria

Cool Down Tablet Drawing - Geez Louise, you're the best!

~ XOXO Maria

Custom Sticker Order (300 Stickers!)

~ XOXO Maria

Selfie - My First Self Portrait (WIP)

~ XOXO Maria