Sunday, December 13, 2020

Hi all! Lots of updates and doodles in today's newsletter. I was a finalist in my company's talent show, and on Wednesday, the results were in. About 700 employees gathered on a live stream for finalist interviews and to pick a winner. I conceded gracefully to a talented singer who had an impressive setup, frontman voice, and Australian accent. Fair enough. Swoon here and see my interview below.

Good News — my first media interview with Good News Broadcast I mentioned a couple of weeks ago is live! 

Scroll for a Hanukkah doodle, find out what's making me emotional, get a peek at a few of the cards, find out how I made my first card sale to an author/entrepreneur in California, and see recent interviews.

I'm the menorah in the window this year

I knew I needed to make a doodle for Hanukkah, but the idea was not coming to me. Then, I thought about the tradition of putting your menorah in the window. I realized, I'd already drawn myself feeling trapped inside my apartment, longingly looking out the window in a COVID doodle. I resembled a menorah. 

Thank you to my kind, patient friend, Mares, who did the photoshoot. I owe you some gelt. See the full blog post about this doodle with a cute video comparing last year's Hanukkah to this year's. I'm also working on a doodle called "The 9 types of Jews on Hanukkah" with a (much more talented) artist who lives in France! Stay tuned this week on Instagram, which is where we met.

4 things that make me emotional during the pandemic

Does anyone else feel more emotional than ever? I've found myself breaking out in tears while watching basically any show. We did a video about small businesses for work and I cried watching it. I freelance write for a magazine in Astoria and have written a few stories about how small businesses are coping. I've held back tears on interviews, especially a recent one with the owner of the comedy club where I got my start. Musicians have been playing on the streets, which just makes me love NYC even more. And, my friends have had some pretty exciting life news which thankfully brings happy tears. I recently became an "aunt"!

Cards for zoom bar/bat mitzvahs, birthdays, Christmas, and more

Those are a few cards, and I have more here. I have already sent a few out and people seem to like them! I think the elephant one could use color in the background, someone called out Santa's mismatched arm size...I'm open to feedback! If you want one card, let me know and I'll mail one, if you want a bunch, email me and we can work out a better rate than Etsy. Subscriber discount ;) 

My first sale happened through a tweet that turned into a direct message

I took a risk, it turned into a sale. I hope Samantha and her kids like these! I mailed them this week but the mail seems to be moving slowly right now. I sent a personal note too :)

Interview with Good News Broadcast

A couple weeks ago, I had my first media interview with Paul Sladkus, a friend of my dad's who runs Good News Broadcast. It was fun to talk about this hobby turned "venture," as we say in the video above. And here's the blog post summary. Thank you, Paul! I love how this turned out.

Holiday talent show interview

During the talent show holiday party, they replayed my submission video, then the host interviewed me. I was so nervous but it was a lot of fun! Here are some of the responses from coworkers who live chatted throughout the party:

• "have we published these?! we should."
• "these are really cute!!"
• "cute doodles! so impressive!"

Besides "performing" for my coworkers and actually doing work, I've been busy this past week turning doodles into hybrid videos (cartoons + real pics), posting more on Facebook, and building out my website with an Etsy integration (thank you to Julia, my sister/DID's lead graphic designer)

Happy Hanukkah again if you celebrate! Have a good week, 2021 is ALMOST here.

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