Engagement Photos with Atomic Cheesecake Studios!

As you may or may not know, I am due to be getting hitched to my longtime boyfriend Phil 'Ballsy' Balsman in Las Vegas by an Elvis impersonator on Dia de los Muertos, which is November 2nd. Less than two months away. @__@;;

I've started calling it: WEDD-AGEDDON.

And as is tradition, the couple has to take some professionally shot engagement pictures together to use for the wedding announcements and the like and to give an idea of what kind of couple they are to the family and friends and shit. So Phil came up with the awesome idea of using my friend Stacey Barich, of Atomic Cheesecake Studios in my hometown of Baltimore, Md. I've done pinup shoots with Stacey before and it's always a treat to get shot by her. I've even brought groups of girlfriends from NYC down to get their cheeky shots taken and after seeing the amazing and hilarious engagement shoot she did for my friend Kevin and Ida Slaughter we *knew* Stacey was the perfect fit.

Once we knew we wanted Stacey to take our pictures, I figured out the what kinds of themes would best work with us as a couple. I knew I wanted 3 different shoots, one a bright and sunny picnic type scene that would be appropriate for the family and subsequent 'Thank You' cards after our engagement parties, one that was swank with Phil wearing a fez and incorporating Stacey's giant awesome pimp chair for the actual wedding invitation and the final being completely selfish and goofy of us as Frankenstein's monster and his Bride.

This shoot started out G-rated enough, as we were feeding each other hamburgers and hot dogs with intertwined arms, aka 'Long Island Wedding'-style.

But then it started slipping into the gutter as I started salaciously mustarding Phil's hotdog.

We couldn't help ourselves. We're just filthy-minded individuals.

Classy. We used this one for our actual wedding invitations.

I really like my smile in this one, it's super genuine. Also: Phil's EPIC FEZ!!! (Which is actually Stacey's awesome husband Frank's fez. As is the super cool cocktail jacket that we're actually gonna borrow for the wedding!)

I ADORE Phil's face here. You can really see the love and the 'OMG I'm actually marrying this crazy broad!' Or it might be him thinking 'Please don't break the nice lady's chair, honey.'

With the crazy makeup involved, we did these last. Frank did Phil's makeup and it looks AMAZING.

This was also the shoot Phil was the most into. He got to really cut loose and be himself.

My face in this pic is also one of my most favorite pictures of myself ever. I look like I drew me.

So yeah! If you're in the Maryland area and you wanna have an awesome time getting your pictures done, you should schedule an appointment with Stacey!!

GOOD NEWS EVERYONE!! :D

First off let me just say:
WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! XD



SO IT'S OFFICIALLY OFFICIAL: As of Friday, September 2nd 2011- I have put my two weeks in at Freeze (aka the Tshirt Mines, aka Art Jail, aka my hellish tshirt design job I've been at for 4 1/2 years that was going nowhere), because I will be officially working for Kodansha manga as a freelance letterer! That's right, all- I can *finally* say it.
I *OFFICIALLY* work in comics! XD

This is a HUGE step in the right direction. It will also give me the opportunity to do more stuff for myself once my schedule regulates- more commissions, more projects. I'm hoping to actually start getting my comic together actually DOING the damn thing down the road. What's the old saying? Freelancers work 16 hours a day for themselves instead of 8 hours a day for someone else? But this is sooo much more satisfying of work. Plus I get to have my name on my work and I've got way more control over my incoming money. More work equals more pay! What a concept!
So EXCITED to no longer work in the fashion industry, even if I was in the lower rungs. The entire industry is rotten from the top and full of the worst people. No trends, no buyers, no style guides, no whims, no 'I don't liiiike purple!', no 'that isn't funny enough', no verbage, no Walmart, no cubicles, no snotty fashion bitches in the elevators, no $12 Midtown lunches....
It's just me and the letters.


'Like a fart in the wind.'

I'm not supposed to disclose exactly what I'm working on yet, but it's pretty high profile. My mom actually knows what it is, if that says anything. As of tonight I've finished 40 pages of a 276 paged book that's due at the end of September. Slowly building up my sound effect library. Only 1 approved sound effect font for this particular comic so I've gotta stretch and squash it a bajillion different ways. Once I'm done my final two weeks at Freeze and I'm free to work my full freelance schedule getting the pages done will be a snap. Plus I get to work alongside my most favorite person in the world, my future husband Ballsy. Speaking of which, these next two months leading up to the wedding are gonna be crazy!! And afterwards? Things are gonna be awesome. ^__^