Scooter and Ferret http://www.scooterandferret.com Mon, 12 Sep 2011 05:10:47 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 Good-bye, So Long, and Thanks for the Ink Stains http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/09/good-bye-so-long-and-thanks-for-the-ink-stains/ http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/09/good-bye-so-long-and-thanks-for-the-ink-stains/#comments Mon, 12 Sep 2011 05:10:47 +0000 Georgia http://www.scooterandferret.com/?p=2241 It’s time to make the goodbye that everyone already assumed official: the Scooter and Ferret webcomic has come to a close. No amount of typing seems like an appropriate way to end the 6 years of drama, rewards and artistic struggle that took up such a huge part of our life during the century’s first decade. All of the characters are going to be under my skin for the rest of my life and I was very hesitant to announce the final end.

The most remarkable result of this webcomic was it caught the attention of a publisher and led to my first publication. Strawberry Shortcake: Berry Fun #1 came out on August 3 and for that minority of reviewers who read all-ages comics, the consensus was “adorable.” I have three more issues coming out, with #2 arriving in stores September 28 and the trade collection arriving to a bookstore near you in December.

Scott has been consumed with drawing another Ape Entertainment property that leaves no room for webcomics on the side. Scouts was just announced on their website to be released in early 2012 and that is probably the best reason to update this site and leave it to rest. In a coincidence that I can’t help but appreciate, the upcoming graphic novel just happens to feature a wily weasel.

Even if we decide to eventually return to our own properties, Scooter and Ferret probably won’t be resumed. I’ve got some other ideas I would like to try out, building on the lessons I learned here and working for Ape. I also intend to start blogging updates on Tumblr instead of here, but this website will remain standing as long as people want to continue reading these old adventures. Here’s to old friends and new starts.

]]> http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/09/good-bye-so-long-and-thanks-for-the-ink-stains/feed/ 0 Scooter Ferret http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/09/scooter-ferret-460/ http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/09/scooter-ferret-460/#comments Sun, 11 Sep 2011 04:00:00 +0000 Georgia http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/09/scooter-ferret-460/ Scooter Ferret

Bookmark It Hide Sites]]> Scooter Ferret

Bookmark It Hide Sites]]> http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/09/scooter-ferret-460/feed/ 0 Understanding Analytics with the SGAG http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/05/understanding-analytics-with-the-sgag/ http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/05/understanding-analytics-with-the-sgag/#comments Tue, 10 May 2011 05:21:03 +0000 Georgia http://www.scooterandferret.com/?p=2234 In my eternal quest to be involved in too many things, I will be speaking to the Seattle Graphic Artists Guild next week on Google Analytics. Here are the details:

May 18 Workshop next week

Reserve now

Understanding Google Analytics with Georgia Ball

Web analytics are a window into the private world of website user behavior,  At first glance, it looks like a tangled wilderness. Just what do all those numbers and percentages mean? Which are important?

Google Analytics is one of many software programs used to track and interpret data generated by traffic to your website, and its greatest power is in the insights it reveals about your website’s users. Follow the User as he or she navigates through your website by learning how to read the language of web analytics.
Georgia will begin with basic terms and simple installation guidelines, then move on to:

  • the significance of web analytics for your bottom line,
  • key components of the Google Analytics interface
  • next-level tutorials on tracking conversions and search terms for slightly braver souls.

For total beginner and experienced user alike. If you have a website, you need this seminar.

A website developer since 1999, Georgia Ball has used web analytics to gain proven results for national corporations, small business, advertising agencies and non-profit organizations.

A creator of multi-media designs for Microsoft, IBM, and the Cartoon Network, she is currently employed in the online advertising division of the Walt Disney Company.

Georgia is the author of the webcomic Scooter and Ferret and the upcoming Strawberry Shortcake comic books by Ape Entertainment.

When

Wednesday, May 18  12-2 p.m. Doors open at 11:30 a.m.

Where

EAFA Gallery – room A239

in the Seattle Design Center Atrium Building
5701 Sixth Avenue South
Seattle, WA 98108
1-800-497-7997
http://www.seattledesigncenter.com/ Map
How Much

Pre-register at Brown Paper Tickets
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/174753

Guild Member-$10
Full time student-$10
Sister Association Member-$15
General-$20

At the door, Cash or check only.

Guild member-$15
Full time student-$15
Sister Association Member-$20
General-$25

More info: http://www.seattleguild.org/

Questions: seattleguild@gmail.com

SPGA/Seattle Chapter Graphic Artists Guild
P.O. Box 31063
Seattle, WA 98103-1063

]]> http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/05/understanding-analytics-with-the-sgag/feed/ 0 What We’re Up To http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/05/what-were-up-to/ http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/05/what-were-up-to/#comments Tue, 03 May 2011 05:38:39 +0000 Georgia http://www.scooterandferret.com/?p=2230 I said I would say what happened to us when it was ok to say so and now is a good time. Last October I got an email I didn’t believe was real at first asking me if I was interested in writing for Strawberry Shortcake. Imagine being a small-town actress working in community theater when someone walks in and asks you if you want to be in a little film they’re making about Scarlett O’Hara. That kind of moment. Comically, the date my editor set for our initial meeting was on the day I was scheduled to give birth. I didn’t want to make it sound like I would be too busy having a baby to write, so I casually put off the phone call until the next day. My first call about the project was from a hospital bed while recovering from a C-section.

Six months come and go and the first book in the 4-part series comes out in July. It’s been the experience of a lifetime and I don’t intend to let it be my last! Writing scripts didn’t stop me from writing Scooter and Ferret, but about a month ago a comic project came in for Scott too, and between that and his regular illustration work, continuing the strip wasn’t realistic. His project is a big opportunity and I would never tell him to put off in favor of our personal work, and I’ve wanted for many years to see his skill get the exposure it truly deserves.

I wrote all of the long 16-page stories for the books and one 4-page story is mine, plus I wrote the solicitations, and we’re a staff pick in May Previews. I actually have not written the fourth script in the Strawberry series yet but I’m determined to make it the best of the four. Although I’ve stopped sending out the comic strip emails, I intend to continue to use my blog space, so if you’re only interested in seeing more of the main comic, now is the time to drop the RSS feed. This is still a good way to keep showing work in progress, and I’m keeping the future status of this strip open for now. The archives are definitely staying up, there are 400 strips on this site and they are worth reading. There’s something to be said for getting your work out there after all.

]]> http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/05/what-were-up-to/feed/ 0 Hello Seattle, Lovely to See You http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/02/hello-seattle-lovely-to-see-you/ http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/02/hello-seattle-lovely-to-see-you/#comments Fri, 25 Feb 2011 02:28:17 +0000 Georgia http://www.scooterandferret.com/?p=2228 Yes it’s true, the comic is going to be set aside for awhile. Not because of the baby, not even because we’re moving, but because of an opportunity the artist has right now that we really can’t say no to in favor of “Scooter and Ferret.” The frustrating part is I’m also working on an exciting project that’s well underway and as it hasn’t been officially announced, I’m not ready to make it generally known yet either. I will say that I’m four scripts in and I absolutely can’t WAIT to start talking about it. Something I’ve learned very quickly about print comics over webcomics is nothing is instant. So we’re going to have to be cryptic, and promise to blog about it when it’s ok to do that.

Now to the other interesting change in our life, we’ve moved back to Seattle. On the one hand you need to follow your opportunities, on the other, as soon as we got off the plane it was obvious we belonged here anyway. Slipping back into the Seattle lifestyle and old relationships has been too natural for it to be any other way. I can list things I’m glad I got to be there for in Orlando: my mother’s death, the beginning of my sister’s career, the close friends I made, and the techical skills I improved. It will always be the place where my baby was born and where my mother is buried. For a long time it may be a place to visit family and see friends. But we live here. For good I think. I am so excited to show Lydia everything I love about the Northwest as she grows up, and to surround her with our quirky friends in comics who have all been very vocal in welcoming us home. I will be at Emerald City Comic Con this year, not with “Scooter and Ferret,” just checking in to see what everyone has been up to and get back into the scene I left behind for some reason. I’ve heard ECCC actually got good lately. They must have stopped scheduling it over the Superbowl.

]]> http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/02/hello-seattle-lovely-to-see-you/feed/ 1 Scooter and Ferret http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/02/scooter-ferret-459/ http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/02/scooter-ferret-459/#comments Thu, 24 Feb 2011 05:00:00 +0000 Georgia http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/02/scooter-ferret-459/ Scooter and Ferret

Bookmark It Hide Sites]]> Scooter and Ferret

Bookmark It Hide Sites]]> http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/02/scooter-ferret-459/feed/ 1 The Classics http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/02/the-classics/ http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/02/the-classics/#comments Tue, 22 Feb 2011 07:47:55 +0000 Georgia http://www.scooterandferret.com/?p=2222 I breezed across the lawn of the St. Michelle Winery today and paused at the entrance of a building I haven’t seen in nearly four years. Something reminded me of those old halls in Jane Austen novels, possibly the design of the building, at any rate there was no butler to greet me as I swept in like a sailor home from many years at sea. I’m in the Northwest so I was equally damp. It was as surreal as a dream to step in as if the time hadn’t passed and announce firmly to the hostess that it was no longer necessary to send my quarterly shipments on the opposite side of the country, I was back. “Good for you,” the hostess nodded, without sarcasm. Everyone goes back eventually. She suggested I go to the tasting room and I don’t know why I went, which was obvious by the time I got to the counter, because the woman pouring wine within asked me a question and I gave such an off-kilter answer she suspected I didn’t belong there. She asked me some leading questions to see if I was truly in the Reserve Club, and satisfied that I was just weird, poured me a glass. “I don’t care for Gervertz usually,” I shrugged. “Too sweet.” She assured me this one wasn’t in a tone that was quite defensive, I shrugged again. She didn’t warm up to me until I told her it had more of a mineral flavor than I expected. I meant that it tasted like licking the side of a rock, which I kind of like in a wine, but she exhaled with relief that I really did know something about wine after all, poured me a Syrah and directed me to the cheese. I hadn’t eaten since breakfast so I may have scarfed a little more of the free cheese than she was expecting. All in all I think I made my presence known.

]]> http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/02/the-classics/feed/ 0 Scooter and Ferret http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/02/scooter-ferret-458/ http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/02/scooter-ferret-458/#comments Wed, 02 Feb 2011 05:00:00 +0000 Georgia http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/02/scooter-ferret-458/ Scooter and Ferret

Today’s strip is brought to you by “handwritten font” because it seems I don’t have our font installed on the laptop. The font version will be replaced in a few days. Bookmark It Hide Sites]]> Scooter and Ferret

Today’s strip is brought to you by “handwritten font” because it seems I don’t have our font installed on the laptop. The font version will be replaced in a few days.

]]> http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/02/scooter-ferret-458/feed/ 0 Scooter and Ferret http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/01/scooter-ferret-457/ http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/01/scooter-ferret-457/#comments Mon, 31 Jan 2011 05:00:00 +0000 Georgia http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/01/scooter-ferret-457/ Scooter and Ferret

At a certain age, this kind of thing just gets weird. Bookmark It Hide Sites]]> Scooter and Ferret

At a certain age, this kind of thing just gets weird.

]]> http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/01/scooter-ferret-457/feed/ 0 Back in Black http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/01/back-in-black/ http://www.scooterandferret.com/2011/01/back-in-black/#comments Thu, 27 Jan 2011 12:25:42 +0000 Georgia http://www.scooterandferret.com/?p=2213 Scooter and Ferret is updating again and what a whirlwind month. Both me and my sister are moving to separate locations at the same time, so the house is chaos. Tensions between all of us are low, we’re bonded together in adversities lately, but we can’t avoid each others’ space. Boxes are everywhere and that’s only going to get worse, and the motivation to cook or clean in this state is not compelling. Somewhere in the midst of everything Scott finished by his deadline and we dove back into strips, so here is the first installment of the new year. I can tell you that the strip will take some unexpected directions this year, so keep those RSS feeds and those inboxes ready to receive.

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