Ironically, I was recently commissioned to design a logo for a startup barbecue business for a couple of friends. Unfortunately, due to my diet, I couldn’t accept payment in the form of delicious smoked ribs and had to settle on regular Benjamins. (Feelings are hurt, tbh.)
Read moreHow a Paper Mermaid Gave Me a New Husband
There was this dark spot on her face that bled up from her neck that for some reason I didn’t try to diffuse with my water brush. She also has a very uneven tan. The thin lines in her tail didn’t come out so thin as the embossing powder spread as it melted under the air of the heat gun, and as goofy as the whole thing looked, this card would soon mean a lot more than just fulfilling an errand of sending a message of best wishes and fun to the little girl on the eve of her actual birthday.
Read moreEGD: Lash Paradise Beauty Lounge
Although I don’t wildly spend money on things I can’t afford, I’d like to say I have expensive taste. I enjoy looking at clothes, buying prestige brands when I shop for makeup, and not settling for store brand things when I know I can get the national brand names. I’m not great at saving (though I try), and I dunno… I wanna be fancy, I guess.
My boyfriend’s soon-to-be daughter-in-law, Torianna, has her cosmetology license and has been working doing hair (blowouts, specifically) and lashes for years at this point. She started her own LLC doing lashes and cleverly named it after herself: Lash Paradise. (Torianna’s last name is Paradise—cool, right?) She started by working out of her home in a cute little room in the house she and her two children shared with her mother and stepfather. There were cute and bougie lash-themed decorations, a nice bed lined with that crinkly paper you find in the doctor’s office on a roll, a small rolly-stool for the tech to sit while she’s working, and a nice little organizer on the side with all of her tools and supplies.
Over the years, she’s built up her clientele, and as a fellow woman with expensive taste, she also had dreams of having a high-end salon.
During the pandemic, she came to my boyfriend and me and announced she found a space and was going to rent it for her own salon. She wanted me to design the logo and signage and my boyfriend would take care of getting the collateral fabricated and he would install.
I was trying to wait until the salon’s grand opening before posting this blog, but the grand opening was also supposed to be a couple of months ago. The salon is open and operating and books fast! Contact and location info will be at the bottom of this post.
Lash Paradise Beauty Lounge, located at 127 Greentree Rd Ste 3, Blackwood, NJ 08012, is not too far from the on-ramp to 42 N (North-South Freeway) with easy access to Deptford shopping areas, 295 N and S, and the Walt Whitman and Ben Franklin bridges to Philadelphia. It’s also close to the AC Expressway, linking Philadelphia to Atlantic City, and Rt 322 for a more scenic route to the southern shore points.
You can call the salon at (856) 535-8569 or visit their website at https://lashparadisebeautylounge.com/home to book an appointment.
It's Nice to Draw Again
My buddy, Gary, sent me a text the other day (I mean like 2 months ago) telling me how he wanted the Wario Amiibo but couldn’t get his hands on it. He asked if I could make one for him and he picked out the pose he wanted.
On my Etsy shop, you’ll find a listing for hand-illustrated Animal Crossing Amiibo. While that listing is super specific, if I can find the bin files for a certain Amiibo, I can make it. However, I’m selling it mainly for the custom artwork.
I gave this one to Gary on the house because he does so much for me (like going to his fave comic book store to grab me the newest Pokémon cards), so it seemed fair.
Anyway, it was just so nice to draw again. I haven’t done it in a while, so I’m also a tad rusty. But I love it, even if I’m just doodling. I hope to do this more in my free time!
Wine Bar
While working at the sign shop, I met a woman who was an important part of the company, although she was not an employee, manager or co-owner. Rather, she was a family friend who helped with the finance stuff and would occasionally bring the shop some work.
One of the projects she brought along was for us to build a custom over-the-door sign for the wine bar in a restaurant owned by a friend of hers.
She spoke with my boss, then came to me with her idea, giving me full rights to creativity. This is what I came up with, approval soon following.
The idea was to take the top portion of a barrel (imagine taking a large wine barrel and cutting just below the top band) and turning it into a custom sign with 3-D elements such as laser- and router-cut and painted acrylic letters and shapes affixed to the surface with studs and adhesive.
Unfortunately, the plan fell through, so we were never able to bring this sign to life. It sits memorialized in its 2-D state in my portfolio.
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This was designed while I was employed at Urban Sign & Crane, Inc.