Gearing up for ALL-CON in Dallas!!

Holy crap you guys! My 2015 convention schedule is starting up even earlier than usual: next month (March 12-15) I will be in Dallas, Texas for All-Con! This marks my first convention outside of the east coast as well as my first time visiting the state of Texas! How exciting! Thanks to my pal Taffeta Darling for hosting me during this show. I'm pumped to meet all my new friends and fans- and how lucky you guys are that are attending- you've got the first pick of all my new merch, including new prints, jewelry and accessories! I'm still trying to figure out what to wear as well, considering this is a new state and a new convention- most of the folks attending haven't been keen to my antics, so what's old is new again! I'm thinking definitely my Wonder Woman and The Baroness outfits are coming out to play (especially with my awesome new foundation garments) and I seriously can't wait to take a break from this craptastic North East weather.

Here's some of the 5x7" print sets I'll have, $5 each!

A video posted by Paige Pumphrey (@paigey_pumphrey) on Feb 7, 2015 at 2:21pm PST

6"x11" Sailor Mermaid print sets!

SO MANY BRACELETS YOU GUYS. And new pendants!

Even MORE bracelets!

NEW 8.5x11" prints- Pee-Wee, Heathers and The Marbles!

Baltimore Comic Con 2014 prep!

Baltimore Comic Con 2014 is steadily approaching!! September 5th-7th at the Baltimore Convention Center! This is the first year it's a 3 day convention! How exciting! This marks my *8th* year attending conventions on a professional level!! Me and my BFF Fenny of Little Asian Sweatshop will be at Artist Alley tables 205-206! I hope to see you there! ^_^

Here's a preview of some of the *NEW STUFF* I'll have available!!

Wondy & Supey-G magnet sets! $10 for the pair!

Wondy & Supey-G mini print sets! $5!

NEW STICKERS! $5 each or 2 for $8!

Sailor Moon cameo bracelets! $15!

UTZ hearts BOH prints! $5!

GOLDMINE shopping party! 5/19/13

The Gemini & Scorpio loft!

Heads up New York people! I'll be vending at Gemini & Scorpio's GOLDMINE shopping party in Brooklyn this Sunday, May 19th from 1-8pm! I'll have a bunch of fresh merch and some Little Asian Sweatshop hairflowers available for purchase!

Here's a sneak peek of some of the goodies I'll have!

New prints!

Bracelets!

SO MANY MAGNETS!

And a fresh new banner!

Here's the info from the Facebook invite! The address is not public so you HAVE TO RSVP on the Gemini & Scorpio event page. Click here to do so!

Sun May 19, 1pm-8pm, FREE / VIP preview 12-1pm, $10Kickstarter backers get in FREE to VIP preview: http://bit.ly/GS_loftAt the G&S loft in Gowanus, BKAddress with RSVP: http://www.geminiandscorpio.com/events.htmlFB: https://www.facebook.com/events/447177058690897
Have you ever wanted to shop (or at least rifle through) Miss Scorpio's closet? This is your chance. She's teaming up with burlesque bombshell Veronica Varlow, a fellow dress-up addict, for some spring cleaning and fundraising for their respective homes. You already know about the Gemini & Scorpio Loft, our art space project. Veronica's upstate home burned down, and she's rebuilding from scratch.
In addition, some of the most fabulous ladies of the burlesque, cabaret, and design world will be opening their closets and displaying their magnificent contents for your purchase -- and sharing their fierce handmade items with you. Think one-of-a-kind vintage, corsets and crinolines, feathers and fascinators, elbow-length fingerless leather gloves, and lots and lots of sparkles. Of course even divas have days off, so there will be plenty of casual wear alongside costume and vintage pieces. Mimosas and music, too; plus lounging on our giant roof. All G&S Loft Kickstarter backers get access to the VIP preview.
Featuring the handmade designs of:6362 Metaforce - hip utility belts for festivals and beyond -http://6362metaforce.com/Anne Arden McDonald - lace, sea creatures and natural elements in hand-cast silver - http://www.etsy.com/shop/ardent1Electric Candy - laser-cut blacklight-reactive fierce acrylic party wear -http://www.electriccandycouture.com/Kita St. Cyr - evening gowns, jewelry and rhinestone encrusted shoesLamia Gloves - the fingerless leather gloves of choice for NYC party people - http://www.lamiadesign.com/Liberace Nation - drapey slinky luxe handmade unisex clothing -http://www.etsy.com/shop/LiberaceNationMake Fun Studio - when you need the perfect circus leotard or stilt pants -http://www.makefunstudio.com/Paigey Pumphrey - delightful pinup illustrations enjoyed by ladies and gents alike - http://www.theartofpaigey.com/Pinkitrix - whimsical costumery and colorful headpieces -http://www.facebook.com/PartywearByPinkitrixSarah Sparkles - hand-crafted stone & crystal jewelry - http://www.sarahsparkles.com/Wheylan Dean Ford - Gothic-Victorian gogo couture and leather accessories - http://www.etsy.com/shop/WheylanDesignsPlus Ali Luminescent - representing a handful of international designers whose work you can only get through her directly -http://aliluminescent.com/
===================To get event invites from us on FB, join the group:https://www.facebook.com/groups/41331183538To get invites directly, get on our mailing list: http://bit.ly/GS_list===================Support the arts in Brooklyn! We're running a Kickstarter fundraising campaign until 5/30 to support major renovations to our events loft:http://bit.ly/GS_loft===================

Hope to see you there!!! 

Roller Girls and X-Men

Last weekend Fenny of Little Asian Sweatshop and I officially started our 2012 Season of selling with our first vending event of the year: The Charm City Roller Girls Double Header Bout in my hometown of Baltimore! It was a rousing success and it was great to see some of my Maryland friends at the show! This was also another show where we were able to accept credit cards via our Square readers- it makes a HUGE difference in sales. People are more likely to buy higher ticketed/multiple items if they don't have to part with their cash. Especially at stuff like this where there's other businesses like food stands that prefer cash.

Speaking of which- I also hadn't been to a CCRG bout in about 3 years- and as someone who went to their inaugural bout back in 2005(?) I'm super proud to see how far they've come! No more roller rink bouts! It was at night in an arena! And there were FOOD stands! With PIT BEEF AND BRATS!! :d YUM! And beer! And a guy selling gourmet marshmallows! Crazy! So I'm super proud of my home league of roller girls! And what an awesome bout to watch as well!

Fenny and our table (with sparkle table cloth upgrade)!
Right in the main foyer as you walked in-
we could even watch the whole bout from our seats!

Me! Yay!

The spread! I forgot my display fixtures so I
couldn't put out as many necklaces as I would have liked.
We still had a great-looking table regardless.

We also did specially-designed Little Asian Sweatshop flowers for the four CCRG teams: 

Night Terrors flower! Royal blue & black!

Mobtown Mod's target flower!

Speed Regime camo!

Junkyard Dolls hot pink zebra print!

Also! I dunno if you saw my last entry (see below), but I've started drawing for myself a little bit to allow some no-pressure 'practice time' between commissions ands major assignments so my skills stay sharp. So I've been drawing these X-Men redesigns of basically what the team members would look like if I was handed the title and told to go to town and remake the comic with my own little spin on the characters. Which if we TRULY want to indulge in the fantasy of for a second- I would co-write with one of my favorite comic writers ever, the awesome, awesome Adam Warren. ::wistful sigh:: GOD THAT WOULD BE AWESOME.

I already drew Rogue and Dazzler, who had one of my favorite rivalries in the 80's over who would end up 'dating' Longshot. (The Wolvie/Cyclops over Jean drama is pretty damn played, IMHO.) But anyways! Here's the designs for both Jean Grey and Gambit.

Jean Grey!
“You and I are quits now, X-men. Our paths will cross no more. My destiny lies in the stars.”
For Jean I wanted her to be what I envision to be like the hottest redheaded sexpot ever (seriously, like who DOESN'T want to do her in the X-Universe?), which I concocted as a combination of Dolly Read in Beyond The Valley of the Dolls, Daphne from Scooby Doo and a pinch of Marsha Brady. I also loved all her 60's outfits and I've been interested in the Mod style for a bit. I even worked in a subtle 'X' pattern on the dress.A lot of folks say she could easily be Mary Jane from Spider-Man, which while true- I'd actually make MJ taller, skinnier and her hair darker/flatter. More high fashion model-y. 

Gambit!
“Everyone can relax! Gambit has returned...”
I have a confession: I cannot STAND Gambit. He's just a gimmicky douchebag who's supposed to come off as this slick ladies man but it really just comes off as sleazy. Like you'd contract VD standing within 3 feet of him. I *tried* making Gambit cool and psychobilly, which I think would lend itself to the card suit theme I tried working into his look. It's hard to see but I have card suits on one set of knuckles and  'NOLA' on the other. If I had cared more I would have had a jacket/shirtless version that shows all his tattoos, cuz I imagine him covered with lots of old school tats having themes like playing cards, NOLA, being a thief/criminal, etc. Gambit's basically that skuzzily attractive guy who never bothered working on a personality because he got away with being so gosh darn handsome all the time. But if you stand within 3 feet of him you run the risk of contracting some form of VD. So yeah. 

I'm going to open up a gallery on the top menu of the blog here soon for all of these redesigns so you can see them together. I've been getting some nice little bits of exposure for these on Tumblr and the like thanks to blogs like Fashion Tips From Comic Strips, which focuses on the fashion found in the comic world. One of my faves, always cool stuff on there! Highly suggest it!

Next up I'm gonna try and draw up Cyclops, whom I have a pretty fun idea for (think 60s Michael Caine).

Call me Mrs. Ballsy! ;D

Woo! Holy cow!! What an amazing week in Las Vegas!!

In case you missed the big news- my boyfriend of 6 years and dearest friend and fellow Kubert School Alum for 12, Phil 'Ballsy' Balsman and I tied the knot on Dia de los Muertos- Wednesday Nov 2nd, 2011 at 4:30pm by Elvis at the Viva Las Vegas Chapel in Las Vegas, NV.

Check out the full ceremony!

We were joined by family and friends for an amazing week of merriment and debauchery, including my BFF Fenny (of Little Asian Sweatshop) as Matron of Honor and Phil's BFF Ben Dale (of Ben Dale Done That/Little Knight) as Best Man.

Our wedding was a mixture of everything we love: Rockabilly music, retro lounge culture, Dia de los Muertos imagery, fancy cocktails, Elvis, all under the lights and spectacle of Las Vegas. We had a total of 44 guests, which is a sizable crowd for a destination wedding who all dressed in the theme I had suggested of 'retro spooky cocktail' or 'what you'd wear to Vincent Price's funeral'. The ceremony (as you can see above) was quick, fun, sweet and never took itself too seriously. The Elvis was fantastic and everyone working at the chapel was so excited to see such a turnout. The ceremony was followed by a lovely reception dinner at Nob Hill Tavern at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino. Everyone had a great time.

Phil's suit was pieced together with basic separates from JC Penneys, but then dressed up with a black skinny tie, black and white creepers from TUK Shoes and a vintage red brocade Palm Beach dinner jacket we borrowed from our friend Stacey of Atomic Cheesecake Studios, who also took our fantastic engagement photos. His boutonnière was made by Little Asian Sweatshop out of Red Dead Redemption playing cards.

My dress was the Ivory Duchess halter silk sundress purchased from Vivienne of Holloway, with a skeleton cameo corset in white by Louise Black, from Project Runway over top of the bodice. I added more black lace to the dress hem and neckline to give the illusion that it was all one unified piece and hand applied over 350 black diamond Swarovski rhinestone crystals to the dress and corset myself to give it extra dazzle. I also rhinestoned my Little Asian Sweatshop hairflower and bouquet, which like Phil's boutonnière was also made from Red Dead Redemption playing cards. I also wore black John Fluevog mini-heeled maryjanes with black fishnets, black lace gloves and a black chiffon petticoat.

 

Our cake topper was a set of Dia de los Muertos skeleton bride and groom figurines (from MexicanSugarSkull.com) I had given to my grandmother after we had gotten engaged. She let me borrow them and my mom painted them to resemble our wedding ensembles. The cake was vanilla ganache with chocolate cake inside. Super yum! Fenny and I had prepared the favors ourselves and my mom meticulously packaged them- for the female guests I had made resin brooches with skeleton artwork that I hand rhinestoned and Fenny had made her infamous poker card hair flowers, but with an added twist of them having skull beads in the middle to be on-theme. They were a definite hit. For the fellas we gave Elvis sunglasses and a Jose Pulido Elvis Calavera sticker.

Phil's big splurge for the wedding was the hiring of videographer Michael Gebben of Gebbs Wedding Films to film the whole day for us and edit it down into a 5-10 minute sweeping, hi-def, widescreen, emotionally manipulative movie. He basically ninja'd around us all day with his fancy camera and got lots of cool shots of us. The movie hasn't been finished yet- but from what little I saw of the shots it looks gorgeous. Here's a quickie behind-the-scenes shot of us after the reception at New York, New York.

Seriously can't wait to see it. 
Our Best Man Ben was saying how after it's done 
we should record a DVD commentary track for it.

Our biggest concerns with the wedding were mostly that we had to plan alot of things sight unseen, since we live in NYC and the wedding was in Vegas. Fortunately my brother had been married 3 years prior in Las Vegas at the same chapel by Elvis but on April Fools Day (yeah my family is awesome). I had gone to FIVE WEDDINGS that year and his was by far the most fun, also I cried like a baby. My mother had even pulled Phil and I aside after the ceremony and told us that if we wanted to have a wedding like that she was all about it. So we at least had SOME idea of what we were going to do for the wedding. Also from a logistical standpoint Vegas made the most sense. My family is from Maryland and Phil's family is from Missouri, yet we both live in New York City. Rather than have the organizational and financial nightmare of having family and friends come to NYC, we figured we'd make it fair to everyone and have our wedding in Las Vegas, therefore not giving any preferential treatment to anyone and it being a sort of vacation for everyone. One of the big things about Vegas however, is how much each casino does NOT want you to leave it's enclosed gambling geosphere. Which is crazy considering how frigging GORGEOUS it was out in the desert in early November (especially when NYC had seen the seasons first slush hit the day before we left). Something else that really drove me nuts in Vegas was the sheer lack of any sense of urgency the cab drivers had taking you from point A to point B. You could get a cab pretty easy in front of a hotel, but GOD HELP YOU if you were off-Strip and had to get a car called. You'd stand there waiting for about 30 minutes before one would roll up, which if you're a bride on a tight timetable made for a VERY STRESSFUL time. Especially being a New Yorker- is this what they mean when they say us East Coasters are all hi-strung? I also had an AMAZING itinerary of stuff planned that was also located off-Strip (or just further down Strip towards Fremont Street) which I never got to do, including eating at The Peppermill, drinking at Frankie's Tiki Room and going to the Atomic Testing Mueseum and Pinball Hall of Fame. Herding 40+ people in cabs to places I've never been and not entirely sure everyone would like would probably take 2 hours just to get everyone there, then to get back to the hotel room would probably take another 2 hours. I eventually realized into the 2nd day of being there that there were plenty of bars and gathering places within the confines of the MGM itself, and that truly important thing about the week wasn't where we were going to be (as long as it was comfy with a well-stocked bar) but that everyone was there having a good time and hanging out.

It may be a cop-out but my favorite moment of the wedding day started once the wedding party all got into the limo and headed to the chapel and lasted til the end of the night. It was the first time in a year I no longer had to worry about wedding preparation and finally just went with the moment. It was here and went off without a hitch. I even got genuinely choked up was when we rolled up to the chapel and I saw so many of my friends and family all hanging out front, dressed in their retro spooky cocktail best with giant smiles all waiting for Phil and I.

The funniest moment had to be during the ceremony while Phil and I were having our awkward slowdance. Elvis was singing 'Love Me Tender', Phil and I are remarking on how utterly awkward and queer it was to be slow dancing under hot spotlights (especially since we have never danced together, nor have I ever slow danced with anyone before) and over behind my shoulder in the first row of pews, my giant 6'3" 350 pound dad is visibly sobbing in his Elvis sunglasses. It was just such an amazing scene.

The only thing totally a mystery to us was how the Nob Hill Tavern was going to handle our reception. I knew the restaurant was still going to have other patrons in the dining room and I was so worried it would be a disaster. Which would be further from the truth, Nob Hill really went above and beyond to make sure we had everything we needed. Dinner was delicious, the staff was friendly and the space was much more intimate than I had imagined and there was plenty room for people to walk around and socialize with the other guests.

The most important lesson I learned from our wedding was that even if you have a 'low key' wedding, you'll still have alot of work to do to make it come together. If anything it being a low-key, DIY wedding means I had to take on alot of tasks myself. The way I am, I personally cannot let myself do something half-assed. I'm a bit of a perfectionist, and I accept that not everyone shares the ridiculously high standards I have for things and this tends to muddle my ability to delegate tasks. I've always felt that in the time it takes to explain how to do something to someone else, I could have just done it myself. I did accept help from my best friend Fenny and my mother, who are two people who know how particular I am with things and share my OCD-riddled worldview. Fortunately my ideas for the wedding were all realistic and not impossible to do, they just required time and creativity.

---Vendor links---

On Paigey:
Wedding dress: Vivienne of Holloway (dress), Louise Black (corset)
Hair: Sam at Shag Me Salon (style), Nicole at David Alexander (color/cut)
Accessories: John Fluevog (shoes), Little Asian Sweatshop (hair flower/bouquet)
On Ballsy:
Suit: JC Penneys (shirt/pants), SkinnyTies.com (tie), Palm Beach Vintage (jacket), TUK (shoes)
Ceremony: 
Viva Las Vegas Wedding Chapel
Reception: 
Nob Hill Tavern at The MGM Grand
Videographer:
GEBBS Wedding Films
Photographer:
Glitter Lens Photography at the Neon Boneyard Museum

Soundtrack:

 

More Pictures:

More pics to come soon!!

Wedd-ageddon Prep!

In exactly one week I will be in Las Vegas celebrating my final night of being Miss Paigey and my reemergence as Mrs. Ballsy*!

This being a largely DIY wedding, I along with my BFF Fenny (of Little Asian Sweatshop) and the enlistment of friends and family including Ballsy and my mom, have been working around the clock these past few months making favors, giftbags, the invitations, my bouquet, custom alterations to my dress. Pretty much everything in preparation for the big day on Dia de los Muertos, Nov 2nd. We're already planning a giant blog entry to submit to Etsy/Offbeat Bride/whoever will take us that will be chock full of shameless self-promotion, hotlinks and PR for us and our friends. Phil (aka Ballsy, aka futurehusband) also went above and beyond the call of awesomeness with wedding contributions and surprised me with news that we'll be having our wedding day recorded by GEBBS Wedding Films who also did his sister Holly Moran's amazing wedding video last year! OMGOMGOMG! (You can see Holly's on the Gebbs website front page) We won't be doing a same day edit as our wedding isn't exactly structured in a way where it would be feasible but we should have an amazing video to watch and cherish forevs after the wedding and an amazing opportunity to share and relive our special day for the rest of our lives.

Somehow I'm imagining this:



This week in Vegas just keeps getting crazier and crazier!!

Phil designed the retro-inspired invitation postcard along with Atomic Cheesecake's photos of us.

The Louise Black ribcage corset I'm wearing overtop of my wedding dress. I'm adding black diamond rhinestones to the lace piping along the bones to get a little extra glimmer on me for the big day.

Fenny and my mom collaborated on the bouquet, Fenny created the form, made the poker card flowers out of Red Dead Redemption cards and braided the 'stems', while my mom filled out the rest with silk flowers, beads and dice. I added in rhinestones to the silk flowers for an extra bit of glimmer. My mom had so much fun helping with this she wants to join up with Fenny's Sweatshop and start making more bouquets.

Fenny also made a hairflower for me out of the Red Dead cards- the skeletal face cards work perfectly with the theme of the wedding. I added rhinestones for extra sparkle. I've been going a bit rhinestone crazy- it looks AWESOME in the sun. Like a disco ball!

I'm giving Fenny's poker card hairflowers away to the female attendees as favors. We had a super fun day putting them all together.

I'm also making skeletal resin brooches with rhinestones for all the ladies. I really like the way these turned out, I want to sell these in my own etsy store and at my vending tables at shows once I get back into my crafting groove.

I'm giving the male attendees Elvis sunglasses and these adorable calavera Elvis stickers by Jose Pulido from his Etsy store.

Also if you would like to see the wedding LIVE on webcam- the Viva Las Vegas chapel will have it streaming as it's going on. The wedding itself will be at 4:30pm on Nov 2nd Las Vegas time. East coast time will be 7:30pm. It's a quick ceremony- only 10 minutes long so don't be late! The link for it is here and it will be in the main chapel. Make sure to download the realplayer and familiarize yourself with the site. You can also view the main chapel on earthcam Las Vegas camera #2!

(*Not that I'm actually changing my name or anything about myself! While this is an important milestone in my life, it is not the end-all, be-all of my existence! If anything I'm looking forward to life post-wedding just so shit can get back to normal and I can get back to work without this giant looming party I'm planning stressing me the hell out.)

Aftermath: Baltimore Comic Con 2011

Zoinks! What a weekend!! Baltimore Comic Con 2011 marks my *4th* year of going 'pro-ish'. Having a table and hustling my wares at the Artist Alley as opposed to attending shows as a fan and schlepping my portfolio around to anyone who would give it a moments notice and an ounce of wisdom or advice. With a table you have a home base, a guaranteed chair, your work out on display and an opportunity to make money as opposed to spending it. Which once you start working a convention, it's really hard to go back. I sure as hell don't plan on it.



Baltimore Con this year was busier than I've ever seen it before. I'm sure Stan Lee being there was part of it. It also being a two-day convention, that starts at 10AM both days (ouch), so you either have to get there ass early in the morning or you get there after the doors open to set up. Which when a con opens on a Saturday, it's basically the convention equivalent of being air-dropped in the middle of Panang. Especially since my last convention was Heroes Con 2 months earlier, which was a 3 day convention, starting on a Friday, which eases you into it. But yeah, not this time at Baltimore, plus my table was in a much less desirable spot than it had been last year (smack in the middle of Artist Alley, in the tightest packed row because some jerks behind us decided it'd be cool to turn their 2 tables into a makeshift booth and eat up a ton of space behind the tables), and again, it was CRAZY. So set up was pretty hectic. Pretty sure I had at least 2 panic attacks. @__@;;



Fortunately I had my BFF Fenny there to help with table hosting duties in exchange for some table space to sell her Little Asian Sweatshop hair flowers that had been such a hit at Psychobilly Luau. Which is always awesome because Fenny has an amazing infallible energy and she can schmooze and hustle with the best of them. I also hosted some items from my NYC BFF Christy's etsy store, including her famous Cupcake Eating Batman/Batgirl jewelry. Over all the table was very successful! It's a pity that the signal for the wifi was so bad in the Baltimore Convention Center, because we could have made a *killing* if we were able to use our Square credit card reader. The table was a good success though. Fenny's flowers were a hit, and we became referred to as the 'Wives and Girlfriends Table', which is definitely a niche that few have been able to fill at comic cons. Fenny was able to sell to several unsuspecting fellas while playing the angle of how either they should bring something home from the con to their girl, or if they were actually at the show, they should get them a little somethin'-somethin' for being such a good sport.



The show as a whole was good, though the added crowds were stressful and Artist Alley seems to be getting tighter. Fenny and I were discussing next year possibly getting a full-sized booth to sell our stuff at, especially with the bigger projects and collaborations we're planning on doing next year. We've got a lot of ideas for the future of Paigey and Little Asian Sweatshop and to supplement the cost of the full-sized booth we'll probably 'rent' out space to a select few of our friends as well who would like the exposure.