Review: Rockets of Awesome

Greetings, Fanatics!

I was recently going through the products that Facebook's algorithm has selected for me and came across a styling service for kids; Rockets of Awesome. The idea behind Rockets of Awesome is that you won't need to go out shopping for your growing child every season; they send a box 4 times a year at the beginning of each season and tailor it to your child's size, fashion preferences, and the corresponding weather/season. Much like any other style subscription, Rockets of Awesome is a neat little service that asks you to fill out a questionnaire of your fashion preferences and then sends you a personalized box full of things that you can decide to keep or send back. The items that you keep are charged to your credit card (which you provide at sign up) and you mail any of the clothes that you decide aren't for you(r child) in the included envelope. My favorite part of this service is that it's free, excluding the clothes you buy!  Shipping is free both ways and there's no sneaky stylist fee per box.

 Last week, we received Isaac's first box.


  I was ecstatic to see this cute box waiting for me on the patio - it was so much bigger than I anticipated. Isaac was napping, so I decided to peek inside.

Everything was extremely cute. As in, I was giddy going through all of the clothes. Both Aaron and I are not a fan of graphic tees.  As a result, Isaac's wardrobe is a little plain. A little sad. These clothes were bright, almost fashionably grown-up in how minimalist and subtle it was in the design, but still incredibly playful. All of the clothes had clothing tags marked with Rockets of Awesome, so I'm guessing these are all designed in-house by them. Our box came with a pair of sunglasses, 7 shirts, and 4 pairs of shorts and out of these, I picked 6 favorites.

We only ended up getting 2 items this time, a pair of shorts and one of the polos. Although the clothes were incredibly cute and seemed very high quality, the price was a little bit of a con for me - each piece averaging to be about $17 each. Maybe because Aaron and I are not particularly fans of summer fashion or maybe because being native Houstonians we know that summer clothes (especially for kids) need to be chosen carefully with the swamp humidity, sweat, and sun bleaching in mind. Isaac is also at this weird in-between size where some of the pieces were much too big and some of them fit just right, maybe on the slightly snug size - which isn't ideal with how random his growth spurts are.

Returning the clothes we decided not to buy was really easy - I just packed up the refolded clothes into the included shipping bag, stuck on the prepaid label, and dropped it into a postal box. The shipping box that everything came in was really fun on the inside and made a great coloring project for Isaac.

A great cat bed too.

Overall, I'm thrilled that there's finally a children's style box that catches my interest. Besides my love of getting mail, I really appreciate the increase in attention to children's fashion in the past few years and with how excited I was over seeing the summer box, I can't wait to see the fall edition. If you have a child that you love to dress up like a doll (cough) or a fashion forward kid who loves getting mail (COUGH), I really recommend giving Rockets of Awesome a try.

Until next time,
stay Fanatic,
Megh

(while we're not affiliated with Rockets of Awesome, by purchasing something through the link to them on this page, you get a free item and we do too!)

Happy 2017

Greetings Fanatics!

I haven't seen you since early November, which means that we've been silent for about 6 months. Winter this past year was too nice to pass up staying busy and I feel like it's appropriate that I usually start posting in the spring after a hiatus. Dormant seeds springing up when it's warm and wet out.

Anyway. There is lots to update you about: new pets, new stuff, new things that we're up to.

Sister Hannah's autumnal bounty of cats produced one fruit for this family's benefit, in the form of a black kitten named Black Philip. He has grown, in the last few months, from being a very bad kitten with a penchant for leaping on my back with claws out to a mostly good young cat that doubles as a bug eater and escape artist.
Last month, we acquired Isaac's first pets, a pair of male gerbils named Sunee (Sunny) and Conee (Coney). They reside in a 20 (?[Correct me, Aaron]) gallon aquarium with a mesh lid and dig tunnels in the coconut substrate that Aaron, the friend of all animals, filled their home with in order to more emulate their natural environment. They're fun to watch.

I've slowed down on plush making for the time being, only having made one custom plush this year so far. I've been focusing on my new job as a freelance online content writer, a job that takes no creativity, only technical skill and a willingness to write. It pays more consistently than plush making does and gives my creativity a chance to rest and recuperate after 2016's push to make as many new toys as I could. As a result, we also skipped Houston's Comicpalooza for the first time in 4 years; besides the waning sales last year, I didn't feel up to the plush rush. An impromptu trip to Austin for Mother's Day took its place.
I've been focused on art as my creative outlet lately, a new zine series in the work - its progress will be shared occasionally on this blog.

Aaron's been up to the usual, collecting bugs and making pixel art and making big, beautiful terrariums. I'm trying to goad him to do more posts this year, or at least consulting with him so that I may make more nature related posts.

That's all for now, I may start writing shorter posts more frequently in lieu of my usually formatted posts. There will still be reviews and party posts, but a lot more rambling as well.

Until next time, stay Fanatic,
Megh

Halloween Hangover

Greetings Fanatics!

How was your Halloween? As you probably know, October is the most active month for we three Fanatics and as such the blog suffers. November has rolled around and now it's time to discuss what we were up to and what the rest of the calendar year holds.

On the 16th, we decided to knock a bunch of stuff off of our Autumn Fun List and visit a pumpkin patch. Originally, we planned on visiting Froberg's Farm in Alvin but when we found out that Froberg's pumpkins are only available to purchase in a box in their market, we decided to visit The Old Time Christmas Tree Farm in Spring instead. Joining us for this adventure was Grandpa Comparetto and sister Hannah.

Weekend Roundup

Greetings Fanatics!

Happy October! We're well into the month, but I'm so happy October is finally here. It's usually our busiest time of the year, activities wise, so I haven't had a chance to sit down and write until now.

What's been going on with us?

• We've been taking every chance we can get to go outside and hike! The weather is finally tolerable, so Memorial Park and the Houston Arboretum has been seeing us more than usual. The parks are jam-packed this time of year, reminding me of the short sci-fi story "All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury, where school children on Venus are let out to play in the sun, which only appears for two hours every seven years. Read it if you love to cry. This weekend is filled with more hiking with a trip to either Froberg's Farm or Dewberry Farm for hay rides and pumpkin picking.
• Sister Hannah's outside cat Fage (like the yogurt) gave us an autumn bounty of 4 black Halloween kittens, born just this last Saturday. I'm hoping at least one of them turns out to be a female, so that I can have one (Aaron doesn't want another male cat because of the health problems they often have)
• Aaron and my anniversary is later this month, celebrating 5 years of Fanaticism.
• We recently went to the Houston Grand Opera's costume sale, which was pretty much a bust for everyone there. Though we did manage to snag 2 sweaters, 2 cardigans, and a dress for $9. The last time they had a public sale of their costumes was 15 years ago and after this weekend, I wouldn't miss it if they never did a sale to the public again, instead just having a sale for schools.
• Halloween is coming up and I'm making Isaac's first Halloween costume.
• Next month, I am participating in Pop Shop America's Winter Fest Market on Black Friday, so I'm also preparing for that.

I have some stuff coming in the mail and some events that we'll attend soon, so there will be some reviews coming up. I've been trying to get Aaron to write a series on the habitats in our house but he's very structured in his writing and is taking forever. So maybe look for that. 

In any case;

stay Fanatic,

Megh

Weekend Roundup: Squirrel Nut Zippers, Shiny Ribs, Halloween Quilt

Greetings, Fanatics!

Hope you had a nice weekend.

Well, next week is the first official day of Autumn and the days are actually starting to cool down. Not "crisp air, sweater weather, drinking hot coffee outside" cool, but a cloud or two has started meandering in front of the sun and staying out in the late evening has become pleasant. 

On Friday, we had the pleasure of seeing the Squirrel Nut Zippers and Shiny Ribs live at the Miller Outdoor Theater in the Museum district. I've been a fan of the Squirrel Nut Zippers since I was Isaac's age and I was ecstatic when I heard that they'd be playing for free at the MOT for their 20th anniversary revival tour. The three of us packed up a picnic and arrived early to make sure we'd get tickets for the seated area instead of having to sit on the hill in the back. This was Isaac's first concert and he seemed excited, even if he did have to sit on our laps with our hands clamped over his ears for much of the show, the ear plugs we brought for him being woefully insufficient. He actually ended up falling asleep toward the end of the evening. 

Shinyribs opened for SNZ. I'd never heard of them before this concert, but apparently they've got a pretty big following! Several people in the audience were singing/participating during the 60 minute set. Shinyribs is pretty great. Touted as an "American country-soul, swamp-funk band from Austin", it's almost impossible to smile at one of their high-energy shows. The band is lead by pistachio suit clad "Mr. Ribs", a jovial man with a rich voice and pretty killer dance moves. 

After a brief intermission, the Squirrel Nut Zippers took the stage. There's a lot of drama surrounding the group - front man "Jimbo" Mathus very clearly voiced the distinction that this tour was a "revival, not a reunion!", and I have to admit that I was too young to care about the falling out between the founding band members. I just like the music. Excitement was buzzing in the air as they played;  people were getting up to dance in the aisles and when the highly anticipated "Hell" began to play, throngs of swingdancing fans mobbed the front of the stage to join in the singing. A full moon hanging over the hill completed the feeling of the evening. 

 With October fast approaching, I've been putting the fabric I bought last Halloween to good use as a Halloween quilt. It's my first quilt, just a patchwork design, but I'm proud of it. So far, I've only got the columns stitched up - I ran out of black thread and haven't had the chance to run to the craft store for more. I've also been busy working on Halloween dolls for Megh's Menagerie (formerly TIM + BEN Dolls) and I've got a new shop in the works for Etsy, so keep your eyes open! 

Stay Fanatic,
Megh

Shop Review: Em and Sprout

Greetings Fanatics!

My holiday shopping has begun and today's review is on shop Em and Sprout. I've previously purchased from Em and Sprout; a few years ago I bought her now discontinued "Things in Space" t-shirt as a reward for doing well at a convention. It's taken me 2 years to revisit the shop, but when I saw this very cute Jack-o-Lantern necklace on the shop's Instagram, I fell in love.

My current necklace model.

Em and Sprout's style can be summed up in one word: cute. Large eyed animals stare sillily at you from shirts and bags and sweet looking ghosts dangle from necklaces and pins. Em and Sprout specializes in screen printing her designs on totes and hoodies and making dresses out of printed fabric featuring her art.

I'm finding myself drawn to Jack-o-Lanterns this season - the seemingly endless variation of expression on orange faces amuses me and I can count at least 5 Jack-o-Lantern items from around my room that were purchased within the last month. This necklace from Em and Sprout is fairly simple- made up of two laser cut pieces of acrylic and a black ball chain- but the simplicity is something that I like about it. It reminds me of vintage Halloween cards - the 2 tone design reminiscent of stamps from my childhood. Looking at this necklace makes me nostalgic and happy. I can wear this necklace around to add an obvious Halloween theme to my outfit or have it hanging on my wall as decoration.

If you love cute or kawaii themed art, give Em and Sprout a try.

Stay Fanatic,
Megh

Happy September 1st!

Greetings Fanatics!

It may not be officially autumn yet, but for me it's officially the beginning of Halloween season! This year I plan on capitalizing on my love for the chillier seasons by writing up posts on seasonal decor, harvest festivals around town, sewing projects, and recipes. Here's a rough list of my planned projects so far:

• Halloween quilt made with sp0o0oky fabrics!
• Isaac's first Halloween costume!
• Goat and horror plushies!

I also plan on turning our porch area into a nice outdoor sitting room to enjoy the few weeks of Houston's enjoyable weather, so expect to see progress posts on that.

See you soon and stay Fanatic,

Megh

Affiliate Post: ThriftBooks Review

This is an affiliate post; while we are not getting products or compensation for writing this article, we do get a commission from any purchases made through the links on our page. All opinions are our own.

Greetings Fanatics!

 Since you're reading our blog instead of watching YouTube videos or working, I'm going to assume that you enjoy reading as a hobby at least a little bit. Well, we Fanatics are fans of the written word as well.

Now that Isaac is older (and louder), we don't find ourselves at the local library to borrow books as much as we used to. Instead, we find ourselves at various second hand books stores around town. We prefer the pre-owned books because they're cheaper, don't cause as much guilt for us when we inevitably wear it out, and it's better(?) for the environment. But you can only go to Half Price Books so many times before it feels picked over, and it's disheartening to me to see so many copies of Catcher in the Rye in one place. So, when I stumbled upon a website called ThriftBooks, I was intrigued. I'd never heard of a designated second hand book web-store before (don't talk to me about early Amazon) and I liked the idea of looking through books from the comfort of my own home; no one breathing down my neck (Aaron), no one judging what I was browsing (Aaron). An ideal shopping experience worth pursuing.

Even when we'd go to the bookstores in person we'd usually have a budget of $20 a trip, which would get one paperback novel each for Aaron and I and maybe a book for Isaac. So far, we've spent around $130 on ThriftBooks purchases since March of last year. For hardcore book fanatics, that already sounds quite cheap, even miserly. But consider this; we've purchased 26 books, all on ThriftBooks. That's about $5 a book, which is really great considering that we've bought things ranging from textbooks to novels to children's books to a hardcover 2nd edition.You can even control what condition your books come in - a copy of JAWS in 'fair' condition, one that you might bring to the beach to read is less expensive than a 'good' condition copy. Another thing I like is that shipping is free within the U.S, if you spend more than $10 on books (which, believe it or not, is sometimes hard to accomplish). Shipping is fast, and while the books come from the ThriftBooks warehouses all over the U.S., tracking is included so you can know the whereabouts of your copy of American Psycho at all times.

While it's definitely worth supporting your locally owned second hand book shop, Thriftbooks is a valuable website to consider when you have a certain books in mind or if you want to buy a bunch of books at once. Or if you're a bit antisocial like us and want the mailman to deliver your books.

(And remember to buy through our links or banner so that we get that sweet affiliate cash!)

Stay Fanatic,
Megh

Shop Review: Pam Wishbow

Greetings Fanatics!

Sorry in advance for bad pictures, my phone is being terrible to me today. I recently made a purchase of a few spooky items from PamWishbow, an artist on Etsy. Besides her beautifully cartoony illustrations and use of color, the dark themes in Pam's shop speak to whatever is residing in my bones that compels me to accumulate interesting things. Whatever you can call Wishbow's style, you can be assured that it's got "It". Besides art prints and zines, she carries items you didn't even know you needed: a random pack of items for whatever adventure you might head off on, a personalized haunting for your home, hand sewn sigil banners to protect your home.

For my first (but certainly not last) purchase from Pam Wishbow, I bought a House Ghost, a Quest Pack for Aaron, Professor Pam's Semi-Famous Hex Breaker, and a mini love zine called The Carpenter to gift to Aaron. When I received my package, I was thrilled to see that it included a little print and a Fortune Telling Fish! My previous fortune fish went through the wash and I was excited to get another. Aaron's fortune read "Passionate" and mine was "False" (important for later!).

If you've been reading my reviews for any length of time, you'll know that I like to review each item separately first and then as a whole.

We're back from Space City Comic Con!

"Back" as in back to our home, as SCCC was held in the same city as us. I'm doing this today, two days after the convention, because while I'm still wiped out from this weekend's event, tomorrow I have to get back to work making plush for Comicpalooza in two weeks.

There's been a lot of controversy and talk about Space City Comic Con. Earlier this year, it was the Houston Convention Bureau's suit against the convention organizer, George Comits, for infringing on the HCB's trademark of "Space City" for trade shows and conventions. This past weekend, it was rumoured that several of the headlining guests from the FX show "Sons of Anarchy" had their appearance fee checks bounce. Since I don't have any firsthand knowledge of either of these two events, I'm not really going to talk about them. All I know is that I had a pretty miserable experience at this show and that TIM+BEN Dolls won't be showing up to it again, as vendors or attendees, next year (although it already looks as if there won't be a next year).

The weeks leading up to the event, Space City Comic Con released an app to help guide attendees. Filled with icons that promised to give you info on what panels were going on, what celebrities would be signing and when, and what vendors would be where, you could tap on any to reveal ... nothing. My biggest concern for the app was the fact that they did not update the vendors past the letter 'A'. Pre-con advertising is pretty important to build hype and excitement for fans of artists attending the con. I'd think that my booth fee kind of entitled me to being at least on a list on a website/app, but it turns out that the money I'd spent would be worth much less than that.

The day of, we arrived to set up. We don't often have the luxury of setting up the day before the convention, as Aaron works during the week and I am still faithfully holding out for the self-driving car, so that our future car-robot overlords will take my loyalty into account when they start treating humans as crash test dummies for androids. I was worried, most of the other convention's we've been to required us to bring proof of purchase for our booth to receive our passes, but I hadn't gotten any info on such a requirement for SCCC. It turns out you could pretty much just walk onto the loading dock and say you were with TIM+BEN's table and have passes handed to you. Well, if you were willing to wait 45 minutes on the noisy, hot, outdoor loading dock. Oh, and they might have run out of actual vendors' passes when you get to the one man checking vendors in, so you'll get handed a pair of weird silver 3 Day Passes instead. Mine was actually broken, so I had Aaron go exchange it. He came back with a Convention Guest's pass, which afforded me many opportunities to sneak into places I wasn't supposed to be.

We walked over to the booth to find that it was a) nothing like the vendor packet said it would be; no dividers, table length was incorrect, trash can not included, colors were incorrect and b) right next to another stuffed toy vendor. I think that handmade stuffed toys are an uncommon enough commodity to space them out, but since I sell basically only original designs and most other plushie artists sell primarily fan art, there's little overlap in our customer base. Unprofessional details overlooked by the con, but not something I can't deal with.

Con was slow on Friday, lots of rain and people still being at work contributed to that. Our friend, author Ian Everett came to hang out with us at our booth! He's in the middle of writing his new novel, so we greatly appreciated him taking the time to hang out with us for the day. We did very well on Saturday; I was jazzed because this is our first booth where we brought only dolls and it's made me confident about the new doll designs I had available. Our friend Jude Vivona of the Caalo Xan audio drama stopped by to say hello, his booth was only a few aisles over. A man with an Ogler from the Caalo Xan booth stopped by for some repairs to his plush. If you're not aware, last year I made a series of large Ogler dolls for them. Sunday was slow-ish. A lot of children and families came for this last day. Not so many sales and we left an hour early because I started feeling ill. My cousin stopped by to see me -I haven't seen her in about 10 years, but she's been a big supporter of TIM+BEN since I started around 6 years ago and I was very pleased to see her and meet her new family. We got recognized from several people who have bought from us before! Fans! What a world.

The con was ok on a vendor's level. Not well-run, but sales were pretty good. I was so annoyed with so many aspects that we won't be coming back. I really like clear communication and feeling like the event I'm vending at actually knows how to run itself, so Space City Comic Con isn't for me.

On a personal note, Aaron got our home an autograph from Doug Jones, a very talented actor and professional sweetheart that we both admire. So, at least one good thing came out of Space City Comic Con for us.

Stay Fanatic,
Megh

Wednesday Shop Review: Dripface

Greetings, Fanatics!

This week's episode will be on Dripface, a shop that sells strange stickers, pins, prints, and buttons - all things I compulsively buy and one of the reasons I keep making repeat purchases from them.

Dripface's Etsy store is stuffed full of weird little goodies - characters like wide eyed goats, horned monsters, and oozing lemon heads populate Dripface-opolis. Besides the doodle style of the art, I was drawn to the black and white color scheme that pervades many of the offerings in the store. Many of my personal items are adorned with Dripface stickers and my snake headed cat print sits neatly by my bedside. Oftentimes, my own shop's packages go out with a Dripface goat sealing it if I've run out of my own stickers. I like the small size of many of the stickers. It offers the chance to make anything it's put on a little creepier without overwhelming it.

If you love weird stickers, pins, magnets, and prints that look great stuck on anything, check out Dripface on Etsy or Instagram.

Wednesday Shop Review: Mother Mountain Herbs

Greetings, Fanatics!

It's no secret that I'm terribly into drinking tea. It's an aisle that I never pass up in stores, no matter how much tea we already have in our cabinets. I can always tell when my family is out of gift ideas for me when I get teas and still, I'm always excited by getting a new tin or box of it.
I came across Mother Mountain Herbs on Etsy when my favorite online blended tea shop closed and was instantly intrigued by the tea variety I found.

Mother Mountain Herbs is filled with organic herbal tea blends, sprays, and oils all handcrafted in Asheville, North Carolina. Each tea is filled with herbs that help promote health with the help of different plants - blends such as ElderMother, Mellow Belly, and Heart Path promise to give your immune system a little boost, help your digestion, and calm your nerves.

 For this review, I tried Psychic Eye.

Psychic Eye is a mix of blue cornflower, holy basil, mugwort, gotu kola, chamomile, and orange peel. The herbs in this blend help promote sleep and are supposed to relax and open your mind to allow better meditation, lucid dreaming, and (some believe) psychic energy. I have some of these ingredients at home; I sometimes use small amounts of mugwort and chamomile steeped in mint to help me sleep, but I am always interested in trying new blends made by others, especially when they come with claims like this. [Before I go any further, I'd really like to stress that besides doing your own research into whatever herbal blends you decide to consume, pregnant women especially should not consume mugwort. It causes uterine contractions and could harm your baby.]

When you steep Psychic Eye, it turns a beautiful gold. Remember to use hot, but not boiling, water for herbal tea! I used 1 1/2 tbsp in a tea bag for each cup. Its taste is mild, slightly grassy or green. I didn't use sweetener for this cup, but a little raw honey would be very good in it. It made me instantly sleepy(er), so I only had one cup, but Aaron had two. This proved to be a mistake. I fell asleep easily and had colorful, lucid dreams. Waking up was a little difficult, but I had to because Isaac was standing over me, singing. A little groggy, I got up for the day and had to let Aaron sleep for another 4 hours. He didn't remember any dreams.

Overall, I would recommend Mother Mountain Herbs if you like blended teas and natural ingredients - shipping is quick and the teas are thoughtfully packed to prevent crushed leaves. Each bag is $10 and comes with enough tea for about 27 serving meaning each cup costs about $0.37, less if you reuse tea bags for multiple cups in a row like I do. I wholly plan on ordering a few different tea blends soon.

Stay Fanatic,
Megh

(All reviews are done on products that I buy for myself, unless otherwise noted. Review requests can be submitted by following instructions at the link above.)

Moving Special

Greetings Fanatics!

So, if you've been following us you know that we recently moved into a bigger place. While we still have a few boxes left to empty, we're more or less settled in.

The extra space is fantastic; I find myself in a much better mood now that I'm not kicking spools of thread or stepping on miniature animals by accident anymore. I've been more productive and efficient with doll making this past week than I have been in the past 6 months due to having a designated permanent workspace. Our cat, Lady Baby, seems to enjoy the hard flooring and enclosed patio and is finally acting like a normal cat instead of a witch in disguise. And we at last have enough space for all of our junk; our house is like a museum for weird thrift store finds and our craft abortions (note:edit that).

Here's a few select photos of some of my favorite places in the house right now (for more snapshots of our personal life, you'll have to follow us on Instagram).

Stay Fanatic,
Megh

My favorite nook, the book and haunted cat teapot corral.

Our Beta fish, Baby Boy Beta, on a corner of our kitchen counter.

Our toad, Jules, is in there somewhere.

A blurry photo of one of our bookcases with no books.

My baby plants.

Artist spotlight/Shop Review: L0ll3 Shop commission

Some people like to be spooked. Some people like only the sweetest things in life. I belong to that ever growing group of people that admits they like both - the creepy cute crowd. A mixture of kitsch and bubblegum and horror, creepy cute is a little hard to pin down. Is it black bats on pink sweaters? Is it vintage halloween cat cards in an ornate rococo frame? Whatever it is, Lolle of L0ll3 Shop has got it down.

I originally found L0ll3 Shop on Etsy while searching for plushies to collect. 

Shop Review: Formulary55

Greetings, Fanatics! 

This week's Shop Review is Formulary55, a Colorado based soap company. 

Formulary55's owner has been making soaps and building her brand for over 20 years and prides herself on her small batch bath and body products. Although their website says that about 70% of their business is wholesale and their products are available in shops such as Anthropologie, I went ahead and ordered my soaps directly from their Etsy store. 

I would like to say, first off, that the soaps are packaged beautifully.

The wrapping gives off the feeling of hand cut soap blocks being covered in pages torn straight out of an antique dictionary, while still portraying a modern, clean look. It's very easy to take lovely pictures of these soaps and they would look great in a gift basket. 

I bought 3 guest bars of soap, which are about 2"x2"x1", good for placing next to the sink. The scenting on these soaps are fantastic. Tea & Tobacco was bought for Aaron, and he loved the smoky fragrance although it wasn't as strong as other tobacco scented soaps we've bought. Song of the Siren was fresh and salty, but my favorite was Narcissus. It had a fresh, grassy smell that I've been looking for in a soap that I've yet to find elsewhere. Blending essential oil is an art that I've yet to master, I highly respect those that do it well.

The fattiness/moisturizing effect of the soaps were average, I'd say. Pleasant and certainly softening, but if your main concern for a soap is how moisturizing it is I would find a more economical brand ($5/guest bar $10/body bar). 

I'll probably revisit Formulary55 again; besides soaps, they sell soaks, candles, and lotions that I'd like to try. These soaps are best left (for me at least) to be an occasional luxury or a thoughtful gift, but for those who are looking for a lovely smelling soap and are drawn to gorgeous packaging, I highly recommend Formulary55's soaps.

Good day Fanatics.

In between Shop Reviews, movie discussions, and the occasional excited sharing of a hobby, I like to update all of our readers on what's going on in the life of these two Fanatics.

We're finally moving to a larger apartment! Although due mostly to Houston Fire Code which states that there can only be 2 people in a bedroom and Isaac has outgrown the limits of sharing a bedroom with us, I'm excited! Expect pictures of the different ways we arrange our trash in the new place.

My birthday was on Sunday and was the perfect combination of misery and thoughtfulness. Aaron gave me two giant stuffed toys, adding two more bricks in the wall of his own tomb (aka a home in which it looks like he does not live) and I found a bunch of Halloween themed scarves in the discount bin of my favorite import shop. I was/am also quite sick and stuffy, too tired to do much of anything then or now. I blame it on the fact that I packed all of my carefully placed figures and weird art for the move. 

Since we last wrote about Isaac, he has leveled up from a semi sentient grub worm to some sort of horrible baby goat. Cute but also strange; climbing and jumping from everything, bleating strange semi-recognizable phrases all of the time, chewing on everything. He's very fastidious though, he hates any thing sticky or dirty to be on him and enjoys soap to the point that we have to buy refills twice as often as we normally would.

The orange syrup I took earlier is wearing off so I'm going to stop writing.

Stay Fanatic,
Megh

Shop Review: Burke & Hare Co.

Scented candles! I'm a sucker for them. Especially when they have neat names and smell like the ocean or a haunted apple orchard. That's why this week's Shop Review is of Burke & Hare Co.

Burke & Hare Co's whimsical name comes from a series of murders in 19th century Scotland by William Burke and William Hare. And while these candles are not made from corpses, they do have interesting scent mixtures: heady florals mixing with dark teas, spicy peppers and fresh citrus. 

Since Aaron had to put a stop to my candle spending, I only got a pair of travel tins, a smaller size of their candles that they only offer on occassion. I chose Mint & Ivy, because I love fresh garden smells, and Burned at the Stake which smells like smoke, because I love the smell of burning things. Especially money.

I enjoyed both very much; they delivered on the scents they promised and were more interesting than any candle readily available in common stores. The packaging is beautiful and I imagine that the glass and decorated pillar candles are even more so. They're made of soy, so they're clean burning and don't leave that strange waxy smell that normal candles sometimes leave.

I had an issue or two. I do wish that they'd offer the travel sized tins more often; I'd love to get my hands on a few more scents without having to commit to the large glass contained candles. I also thought that the scent could have been stronger. Maybe the standard sized candles spread their scent more, but I had to sit right next to the lit candle to smell it.

Overall, I'd recommend Burke & Hare Co for people that love spooky, unique candle blends to decorate their living space. 

Wednesday Shop Review: Defective Pudding

This week's Shop Review is illustrator Defective Pudding!
I found Defective Pudding on my recommended posts on Instagram and fell in love with her pie-eye and slightly creepy illustrations. I've been on a zine kick for the past year, so I bought 3 of the zines available in her shop; I See You, Witch Hands, and Halloween Inks.

My order shipped quickly and arrived packed very well. That's always important, especially for collectible paper goods. All the zines I purchased were in black and white and made with good quality heavy paper.

I See You is a neat little zine with various bits from the artist's sketch book inspired by women and dark forces of the 1800's. Witch Hands is filled with mini comics about a young witch in training and is super cute. These two zines are good if you want a small, fun zine.

I was most impressed with Halloween Inks, which is 15 front to back pages from the 2015 Drawlloween/Inktober challenge where artists draw a themed sketch for each day of October. I love the cartoony ghosts and goblins that haunt the pages of this mini art book. I also opted for a personal sketch on the back of my Halloween Inks copy, which I was super excited to see.

I was really pleased with my zines from Defective Pudding. Along with other zines, you can find prints, stickers, coloring books and the occasional original art piece in it. The artist, Christa, is very nice and quick to respond to questions. I really recommend treating yourself to a creepy cute piece of art from here if you like the 1920's pie-eye style with a weird twist.

Stay Fanatic,
Megh

Ferox: a game of cannibals and invaders

So, this Valentine's day I surprised Aaron with two presents: an indie card game and the fact that I finally found a game that I would play with him.

Ferox is published by Craft Fair Games, based in Denton, TX. I love finding Texas based indie brands. It makes that gland that all Texans are born with swell with pride and bile.

Ferox is a two person, turn based card game where you play as either a stranded documentary crew or a group of native tribes banded together by a shared goal of expelling/eating the perceived intruders. The game is not over until you make it to the rescue 'chopper or all the crew members are dead.

It's based on early 80's cannibal "exploitation" films and is not for anyone who finds cannibalism, rude language, really terrific gore art, or drug use objectionable. I think it's a great game. Game play is really simple. It says on the box it takes 60-90 mins to play, but it took us about 3 hours to play the first time; it was my very first time playing any sort of social card/dice game. It's very easy to pick up on, speaking as a first time player.

*The game consists of a linear "board" made of six cards and a deck of action cards for each player. Each board card has several spaces that need to be filled with defeated cannibal pieces. When you fill a board card with dead cannibals, this marks the end of the encounter, and each player gets to draft another two cards into their deck from a card pool. Cards are paid for with "rage", a fairly unique mechanic that involves paying the other player "rage pieces" to use your cards, thus giving your opponent more rage to play their own cards. This makes the turns go past fairly quickly.*

*Aaron wrote this for me.

Aaron's only (slight) criticism is that turns can pass without anything happening - there will be turns where the players take turns drawing cards without any story propulsion and the sense of moving forward can be lost. I don't share the same sentiment - I view it as more of a choose your own adventure visual novel. Overall, I would say that he likes it both as a gift and a game and I do as well. If you're a fan of 80's cannibal movies, gory and explicit illustrations, or horror themed card games I highly recommend Ferox.

(As an added bonus for me, each box is screenprinted by hand and ships fairly quickly.)

The artist for Ferox is Ryan Sheffield and I'll be doing a short artist post on him as soon as my last order from him comes in.

Stay Fanatic,
Megh

Megh's Indie Artist Gift Guide 2014

Greetings Fanatics!

 It's gift giving season and I personally can't think of a neater thing to give than a special piece of art from an independent artist or small business (except for something you made yourself, of course).

Buying something handmade or locally produced is a terrific gift to give - for everyone involved! It allows you to give a friend a hard to find, unique gift with a very personal touch, it is good for the -local- economy, and it supports and encourages artists to share their art!

Here's a list (ordered by location) of artists and small businesses that I've purchased from or had items purchased for me in 2014, along with a link to where you can order from them, a short description of their shop, and what I got from them. I hope you find something cool!

WORLDWIDE:

Sugar and Vice (UK):
A terrific shop that features laser-cut acrylic charms in necklaces, rings, earrings and more! Aaron surprised me with this sweet magpie necklace.

Taken from artist's website.

CreepHeart (AUSTRALIA):

Talented artist Ella Mobbs makes creepy-cute, Halloween inspired illustrations and offers them as prints, jewelry, shirts, and bows! I got this sweet bat button to add to my button board.

Yu Kitten Me (AUSTRALIA):

Old school cool tattoo styled prints! Often featuring Kewpie dolls doing decidedly non-Kewpie doll things. The print below was a collaboration between Yu Kitten Me and Ella Mobbs!

UNITED STATES:

For Strange Women:

Lovely and unique scents for the strange woman inside of you. Sells hand-mixed perfume oils, solid perfume lockets, and other necessities. I got a sample set of several of their scents and reviewed them here. 

Black Quartz Alchemy:

Hand crafted, sustainable, loose leaf tea blends. Yummy!I got a sample set of their tea blends and reviewed them here.

Michelle Coffee:

Creepy and cute tattoo styled art. Most of her pieces are only sold as original art and get snatched up quickly, so keep and eye on her Instagram!

Crank Bunny:

Magical handmade paper art. Great for unique cards and wall decor! I got this Senor Devil mask for the 2014 Comicpalooza ball, only to find out that there was no ball this year. :(

Taken from artist's website.

Pity Party Corporation:

 Irreverent zines, patches, buttons, shirts, and stickers that will make you nostalgic for the 90's.

A grab bag of the goodies I got from them!

Evil Supply Company: 

"Better living via questionable morality." Paper goods, shirts, and stationery for every villain. I got one of their "Mister Ghost’s Highly Enviable Monthly Parcel of Simple Yet Amazing Wonderments" earlier this year, and the review for that is here.

Sugar Bunny Shop:

Cute merchandise inspired by Japanese art. Check out their bags!

Pretty and Cute:

Not so much an indie artist, but a small business based in Portland dedicated to providing affordable and accessible Korean and Japanese cosmetics and skincare.

TEXAS:

Black Widow Balm: 

My favorite lip balm / lip tint maker. Try a tube of Voodoo color balm and I guarantee you that you won't be going back to Chapstick. She offers nut free formulas as well!

Tiny Art Shop:

Lovely watercolor paintings and prints inspired by nature and human anatomy.

Taken from artist's website.

Cult Grrrl Creations:

Cute and creepy crocheted creations! I got the black version of the cat below; I had to take a photo from the artist's website because my phone refuses to focus on my cat.

Solo Cosmo:

The artwork of Jessica von Braun, a Texas based artist. I picked up a print and a button from her at a few different Houston conventions we were both vending at.

Johnnie Rosales Jr:

Texas based artist. Picked up a very cool ink Xenomorph postcard from him at this year's Comicpalooza!

Houston readers! If you would rather shop in person, The Tinderbox carries some of the above Texas artists' and several more local artists' items at their location in Mid-Main!

Stay Fanatic this season,
Megh