4 Years Ignited

Woo! If you see a bunch of fireworks lighting up the night sky tomorrow night, no need to be surprised. They’re clearly in celebration of my blog’s fourth birthday! 😉

With social distancing the new norm these days, what better celebration than an online celebration? And who better to party with than all the amazing blogging buddies I’ve made these past four years?? ❤

So, how are we celebrating? I thought I’d try something interesting and get some creative input from you guys. 🙂 After all, there’s no way I would have stuck around this long blogging if it weren’t for all you amazing people that make up the WP community. ❤ Since the 4th of July officially marks my 4 year blogiversary, I figured I’d have each of you who want to participate give me 4 bits of inspiration for drawing, and that I could post the illustrations I come up with based off your individual input. So, here are my 4 questions posed to whoever is game to play. (No pressure!) All you have to do is leave me a comment with your answers to the following 4 questions and I’ll (eventually in the near-ish future) draw pieces that you helped inspire. So, let’s get onto it, shall we?

My Questions For YOU:

1.) What is your favorite mythical creature?

2.) If you lived in a fantasy or science fiction story, what sort of occupation would you want to have?

3.) What is your favorite character from a well-known fairy tale, fable, or legend?

4.) What real-life animal do you find to be the strangest-looking?

I hope you liked the questions I posed for you guys and that you will join in on the fun and leave your input. When I draw something based off your answer(s) I’ll post it here on my blog and leave a link to your blog in thanks for the inspiration you gave. Like I said, I just thought it would be fun to try a little something different.

Thanks again to each and every one of you who has kept me coming back time and time again over the past 4 years. I hope you all have a great weekend, and Happy 4th of July to those of you who celebrate it! ❤

 

May The 4th Be With You!

Happy Star Wars Day, everyone!! ❤

After several super-busy weeks, I’m finally all moved and ready for things to start settling back into something vaguely resembling normalcy. I’ve missed all you fine and fancy folks and your snazzy blogs, so I’m looking forward to playing catch-up this weekend with plenty or reading and commenting. 🙂

Hoping to start posting much more frequently again now that I’m getting more settled into the new job and new place. And what better day to hop back into things than Star Wars Day?? 😀 That said, let the memes commence!!

 

 

 

Joan of Arc, The Maid of Orléans (Women’s History Month Post #3)

For my third entry for Cupcakes & Machetes’ Women’s History Month Blog Event I’ve decided to go with none other than Joan of Arc. (Be sure, if you haven’t already, to check out C&M’s posts here and here to see all the amazing posts about women people have been posting for the month!)

Joan of Arc is a woman who became many things despite her life ultimately being cut so short. She was born a French peasant, but would go on to become a military leader and a hero to her people. Sadly, she also ended up becoming a martyr. Eventually she would be deemed a saint and go down in history, her name and her legend living on for centuries.

Joan outlined military strategies for the French army against the English during the Hundred Years’ War, and directed troops in several victories, including breaking the siege the English had been holding over the city of Orléans for months. She became a hero to her country, and helped lead Charles VII of France to the crown.

Reputation has always been something of importance, and it was Joan’s very reputation in 1429, upon her victory at Orléans, that inspired what is known as the Bloodless March. This historic military campaign was one that stretched through English occupied territory from Gien to the Reims Cathedral (where Joan would witness the coronation of Charles VII). Along the way, Joan captured every English occupied city and fortress that barred the road, and she did it all without shedding a single drop of blood and relying only on her reputation.

Although she ultimately met a tragic end, being burned at the stake for multiple charges including witchcraft, heresy, and wearing men’s clothing, her strength and courage still lives on and inspires others to this day.

JOAN OF ARC QUOTES:

“I am not afraid… I was born to do this.”

“All battles are first won or lost, in the mind.”

“The poor folk gladly came to me, for I did them no unkindness, but helped them as much as I could.”

 

Harriet Tubman (Women’s History Month Post #2)

For my second Women’s History Month illustration, I chose to draw the ever-inspiring Harriet Tubman. I’ll be continuing to post drawings I’ve done of women who have helped shape history throughout the month as part of Cupcake & Machetes’ Women’s History Month Blog Event. (Be sure to check out her post to learn all about it and maybe even join in on the fun if you haven’t already!) 😉

If you’re familiar with U.S. History, you’ve no doubt heard this heroic woman’s name. If you haven’t, or even if you just want to possibly learn more about her, let me fill you in a little on Harriet Tubman and her amazing legacy.

Harriet Tubman cemented her place in American history by fighting back against slavery and freeing not only herself, but many other enslaved people through her work with the Underground Railroad. Her awesomeness does not stop there, though. She even became an armed scout, recruiter, and Union spy during the American Civil War. She became the first woman in United States history to lead a military expedition. And she managed to do all of this after being born into slavery in 1822, in a time when not only her race, but also her gender, were things that would be exploited and used against her.

She was a leading abolitionist, and devoted her entire life to fighting for the freedom of others. Her work was far from done upon the end of the Civil War. She then proceeded to put all she had into helping former slaves, as well as the elderly. Seriously, is it even possible for this woman to get any more inspiring? ❤

HARRIET TUBMAN QUOTES:

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.”

“I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can’t cay; I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger.”

Let’s Celebrate Women’s History Month!

March is Women’s History Month, so it’s the perfect time to celebrate the awesomeness of women. Cupcakes and Machetes had the wonderful idea to host a blog event to do just that, so of course I had to participate! 🙂

Her mission is pretty straight forward, so I’ll let it speak for itself with a quote from her post: “Let’s celebrate women. Every kind, in every way, in whatever way you see fit. For myself, I’m going to read only female authors for the entire month. My hope is that other blogs sign up to celebrate women in any way they would like to contribute and I’ll post weekly updates to these blogs and what they’ve worked on. Not only will this be great fun, I think it will be a helpful way to highlight your blog and meet other interesting people.”

If you’re interested, head on over to C&M’s awesome blog and leave her a comment on her event post. I’m going to be joining in on the fun by illustrating different women who have left their marks on history in one way or another. I’ll try to squeeze as many as I can in throughout the month, along with short little bios explaining the things these bad ass ladies have accomplished and how they’ve helped to change the world and inspire others. I’ll also be posting reviews of comics that feature ladies as the protagonists. (My plans are to read and review Paper Girls, Lumberjanes, some more Giant Days, Bitch Planet and some more Rat Queens!) It’s gonna be a busy, lady-filled month of posts, and I’m really looking forward to it. Hopefully some of you will decide to join in on the fun, too! 😀

Susan from Giant Days, a comic filled with delightful female characters.

 

Ignited Birthday Moth!

Woo! It’s my burfdayyyyy! 😀 Time for a birthday-cake-fueled-sugar-high that results in the mass murder of countless Piñatas, opening my presents to discover that I FINALLY got that pony I’ve been asking for all these years, and of course an obnoxious amount of confetti and glitter.

Psh, I wish. 😛 Nah, I’ll actually be going to work today like some lame ass adult. (When you work a Monday through Friday job, partying is reserved for the weekends.) 😉 This past weekend my boyfriend took me out for some birthday adventures including exploring some really cool shops, going to a fantastic Irish pub for dinner and drinks, and spoiling me with prezzies and the most amazing peanut butter cheesecake with dark chocolate ganache. Yum! (Not to mention the birthday dinner and delicious homemade pistachio cake topped with pistachio mousse my family made me on Sunday.) Sooo good! I’m sorry, but eating healthy just isn’t an option when birthdays are involved.

Going into this new year of my life, I’m feeling really good. 🙂 I have so many things to be thankful for and excited about, and I’ve got some truly amazing people in my life. ❤ Here’s to making this year just as good as last year!

 

New Year’s Resolutions: 2018

Daaaaaaaamn, guys. I seriously can’t get over the fact that tomorrow is the final day of the year. It feels like 2017 went by in the blink of an eye. A lot of things happened and a lot of changes were made, all for the better. 🙂 I feel like this was a fantastic and much-needed year for patching up what was once the fast-sinking vessel that is my mental health. I’m happy to report that I accomplished a lot of important goals I’d set for myself this past year, and that I’m not only much happier, but also much stronger, because of it.

I had a lot of things I wanted to work on in an attempt at bettering myself and I conquered the goals set before me. Honestly, it’s probably been my best year ever as far as slaying New Year’s Resolutions goes and it feels pretty damn good. I plan on riding that high right into 2018 by continuing to try and better myself. That’s kind of the thing about life, isn’t it? We’re always pushing ourselves, learning new things, and taking new chances.

So, that said, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of what exactly my goals are for the new year! I’ve got several themes for my various goals concerning different aspects of my life. Things like reading, fitness, writing, etc. (Knowing me, I’ll probably come up with several additional goals throughout the year, but as of right now, here’s what I intend to work on in 2018:)

Reading Goals of 2018:

• Finally read the neglected books that have been sitting on my bookshelves, untouched.
• Venture into reading more poetry.
• Read 50 books/graphic novels (Last year’s goal was 45, so I upped it by 5.)

Creative Goals of 2018:

• Bust my ass to get my writing project ready to start submitting by the end of 2018.
• Start utilizing art tutorials and online courses to learn snazzy new art skills.
• Experiment with watercolors.
• Draw! Draw! Draw! Write! Write! Write!

Fitness Goals of 2018:

• Do more cardio, kickboxing, and dance.
• Drink more water.
• Find more fun and active hobbies like going to the trampoline park.

So, that just about covers my personal goals for the new year. 🙂 How about you? Are you planning on making any new year’s resolutions? Did you complete any this past year? I’d love to hear about them! 😀

Since I don’t know if I’ll have time to hop on tomorrow, let me just wish you all a very Happy New Year! Here’s to what will hopefully be a fantastic 2018! ❤

R&R Book Tours’ Launch Party Mega Blitz!!

I’ve enjoyed reading so many awesome book/film reviews (and other fun posts) over at Reads & Reels, so I’m very excited about today’s big launch party for R&R Book Tours!! Get your party hat on and bust out the confetti, because it’s a blog party, folks! Everyone’s invited to join in on the fun to help R&R Book Tours kick off their official launch. With the festivities starting at 9am (EST), there will be plenty of fun to be had throughout the day. And plenty of great giveaways, too! 😀

This bash is all about the indie authors, so expect six different indie authors, six different books, and (you guessed it!) SIX different giveaways! 😉

        

So be sure to check it all out. I hope you guys all have fun over there at their launch party, and best of luck to those of you who enter those exciting giveaways. 😀 Cheers to R&R Book Tours on their big day!! ❤

One Year’s Worth of Ignited Moths

Wow, hard to believe it, but it’s officially been a year since I made my first blog post!! Massive thanks to all you awesome folks for making it as much fun as it possibly could be. ❤ I’m so excited to be celebrating my blog’s one year anniversary. Blogiversary? Blogging Birthday? Call it what ye will, either way, today we PARTY!

I started this little blog to talk about my love for creativity (be it the marvelous creative works of others, or even the stuff I was personally working on myself). Since then, this blog has covered reviews of comics/books/movies/TV shows, featured updates about my own writing and drawing, shared recipes, and just babbled about all the things in life I have to babble about. It’s been a lot of fun, and a great outlet for someone like me who finds a lot of joy in several things but is often to shy to pipe up about them in real life, person-to-person.

Pretty much the story of my life.

A major perk of having my blog has been getting to know you guys and your blogs as well. 😀 I wish I could do a shout out for each and every one of you. ❤ I’ve loved reading your posts and interacting with you guys. Thanks for making it such an awesome year. I can’t wait to see what future posts everyone comes up with, and to share many more of my own as well. 😀

 

 

20 Magical Years of Harry Potter

I can’t believe it’s been 20 years now since Harry Potter made his literary debut. With all the books, movies, merchandise, and amazing amusement parks that have since followed, it’s hard to remember life before we knew of Hogwarts and dreamed of getting our very own acceptance letters delivered to us.

I was first introduced to the Harry Potter series many, many Christmases ago when my grandmother surprised me with a copy of the very first novel. I’d never heard of Harry Potter before that moment and had no idea that I (and so many other people) were destined to fall in love with this book and the others to come after it, so big thanks, Grandma. (I also have her to thank for introducing me to South Park and the Evil Dead movies, so major props to her.) lol She knew cool shit when she saw it. 😛

20 years later, no one can deny that J.K. Rowling truly created something special with her intriguing world of wizards and mythical beasties that intertwined with our very own world of muggles. She gave us such a delightful range of characters that many of us were lucky enough to get to grow up with. The Harry Potter series is one that stays with fans for life and can be visited time and time again, be it through the books or the films. Or both!

Here’s to 20 magical years, and the countless more to come!