elemental.embers

US customers: contrary to what you might have heard, art and books from the UK are still TARIFF-FREE! Plus, all import duties are pre-paid by me, so you WON’T have to pay any extra!
It’s proving hard to get this message out there, so if you could please repost this. 🙏
(Shop link in pinned post).

What a difficult day. I'm sorry.

I haven't seen the video, but this is what Kroger has required since I worked for them in 2004. It's exhausting for everyone involved.

Secret shopper scores *require* it too, and there are consequences for getting a bad secret shop. :(

Not to excuse Target-- just saying it's sucked for a while.

Just got back from the UK.

It made me appreciate the dry Utah air.
I was welcomed home to light switches and kitchen appliances giving me static electric shocks all day and I still appreciate not having everything be constantly damp.

But sea level sure felt good to breathe.

Maybe let’s get the word out on this again, for no reason in particular.

Child's Play. It aired on tv or was rented on VHS when I was probably about 5.

As a kid, I was taught that Columbus was guided by god, his actions part of prophecy (in the Book of Mormon). Apparently the Book of Mormon was written during a time when America was really into him.

There was a lot of untangling of gross religious assertions from the actual history when I left.

Digital painting of a red-tailed hawk in profile view, facing to the viewer's left, perched on a curving branch. The light source is to the upper left though the sky is a bit gray. There are trees and shrubs obscuring a wide open field in the distance.

#DigitalPainting of a red-tailed hawk.
#Rebelle and #AffinityPhoto

Cara's nice, but I'm annoyed they haven't figured out alt text yet.

I post there when I remember!

Maybe someday they'll get integrated Glaze back. It was great when it worked, before bad actors took advantage and they had to take it away.

They've had so much backlash and refuse to even try to reassure their users (many rely on the software for their jobs too).
I don't know about today, but even yesterday, their social media accounts were directing people to their (closed) forums for support.
Their discord is still unmoderated. 😬

I never considered the difference the writing tool could make for cursive specifically, but it seems so obvious once you pointed it out.

As much as I love my print handwriting (I've made an effort since I was a kid to make it my own), cursive has charm to it, and I admire those who can do it well.

(required in northern Utah just a few days ago)

Some locations still require actual prescriptions from your primary care physician.
Call ahead to see if your state/county does.

You've got a perpetual license for it and I'd actually consider that lucky with all of the uncertainty! You got in before they shut down their stores!

They won't take that away.

It's been a solid suite of software.

Saying that, the refund policy will lapse before we find out the future plans.

Chances of it being turned into subscription model feel high.

I assumed Canva would ruin it.
But I am surprised they're willing to go an entire month without any sales.

People have already jumped into their discord asking for a way to buy the software today (one even had their trial expire today, so they wanted to jump on it after liking the product.)

Creative Freedom Is Coming - Affinity Creative Freedom Is Coming. October 30

Canva bought Serif (Affinity Suite graphics software) last year.
It took a while, but it seems like it's finally being visibly mismanaged.

They're shutting down the support forums and moved to a discord server with little/no moderation.

They closed their store. You can't even buy their software.

And if youre sick or disabled, there isn't much left in that short list.

Oooooh the zombie one looks kind of like a fuzzy nautilus

Digital painting of a small light grey marsupial with large hare-like ears and opossum-like tail, crouching on some orange sand against a bright blue background. It is a greater bilby, a small animal native to Australia. It has front claws shaped for digging and a narrow snout.

I like painting the weird animals. <3
Greater bilby.
#DigitalArt made with #Rebelle, #AffinityPhoto, and #Procreate

Outlines are not forbidden.

When I was younger, I just wanted things to look real. And my HS art teachers didn't allow outlines at all; they were ok for doodles, but not real art.

It took a long time for me to be ok with outlines and more expressive approaches.

I can focus a lot better now that the weather is cooler. What a difference that makes!

Also, Procreate's new update brought some really fun brushes with it, so I'm excited to play around with those.

Should have something to share by end of week. :)

Mine will be here later today and I'm so excited to hold something made by an artist whose work I love. <3

A screenshot showing a preorder for "Hello Sunshine" (a graphic novel) by Keezy Young. It was placed June 30, 2025.

I've been looking forward to it for a while! <3 I hope that you have a lot of success with it-- the premise is great and the art is, well, the big reason I bought it. I can't wait to appreciate the hell out of all of the hard work you put into it.

The content warnings for art were ridiculous. I bailed specifically because of that.
Bluesky and cara have been good enough, though I wish I could find more people I know on cara.

My taste was altered for only a couple of days.
My sense of smell (and phantom smells of cigarette smoke and rotting meat) lasted probably a year or so after.
Saying that, I have long COVID (since March 2020) and *nothing* has been normal since. Most people have milder effects than I did/do!

This was really cool and I'm impatiently waiting for more.

Every scene is a joy to watch--
The colors, the character designs, the world design. It's all so good. The voice acting is great too.

ugh, I'd forgotten about the October slide. You're absolutely right. This happened the last few years (when I had improved enough to notice a setback!)

Playing the "Am I getting sick or is this just long covid playing its games?" the entire week. I'd been doing a bit better for a while, and now everything feels flu-like again.
Is it related to the dozens of mosquito bites I've had? Who knows?
The only certain thing is that something is off.