Ater Imber is a Canadian indie author who became interested in writing fan fiction in 2013 after being talked into giving the Deviant Art website a chance. Ater began posting to the delight of Supernatural fans and has since moved her ever-growing operation to her own website: https://aterimber.com/
Ater now not only writes Supernatural fan fiction, but has expanded the website to include articles about her other interests (including veganism, writing tips and nomadic/zero waste/sustainable living), and continues to write new fan and non-fanfiction short stories and articles regularly for an eager personal following.
Ater also currently has 6 books available for purchase, including 3 fanfiction novellas based on the hit T.V. series Supernatural.
Broken is Ater’s 6th book, and follows the adventures of James, Tommy and Emma as they navigate the hardships of abusive guardians, addiction and hallucinations, all while trying to keep from flunking out of school, published March, 2021. It is also the longest book Ater has written, to date.
The Haunted Corpse is Ater’s debut, non-collection novella. It’s a dark (ish) fantasy centering around Sammy, and the challenges she faces as she’s thrust into a whole new (magical) world while she searches for answers in the wake of her father’s ‘suicide’, published October, 2019.
First Try is Ater’s debut, non-fan fiction novella. It’s a collection of short stories Ater wrote during school after getting serious about becoming a writer, book-ended by the two first ‘long’ stories Ater ever wrote, published November, 2018.
Ater’s newest fan fiction novella, Holiday Treats, is about the holidays, forbidden love, and what can go wrong when the two collide (Wincest style), published in December, 2016.
Ater’s debut fan fiction novella, Don’t Get Caught, is a collection of short stories centered around a love theme, and all that entails (including a kidnapping Samifer fic and a Sabriel wedding) published in February, 2016.
Last, but certainly not least, Ater’s second book, Melting Hearts, Sunburns and Tanlines, is a collection of short stories with a main theme surrounding going on vacation, published in August, 2016.
If you’d like to check out these books, you can do so on her website, by going to the Books page, or, on Amazon.
To keep up with all things Ater, you can check out the following social media accounts, all @AterImber:
Instagram
Youtube
Tumblr
Goodreads
Facebook
Ater Imber lives in Toronto, Canada.
Being allergic to dairy, it might not surprise you to learn I haven’t tried that many different cheese flavours.
I’ve actually tried more different kinds of cheese being vegan!
So, I want you to keep that in mind while you read the rest of this review. If I say anything that’s clearly a cheese ‘newb’ thing, just, roll passed it. I don’t know, what I don’t know, y’know?
This cheese came in a square box, and was one of those what I refer to as ‘classic’-looking cheese wheels. It was also squishy, which I wasn’t expecting. I’d akin it to the texture of un-cooked tofu: solid enough it held it’s shape, but sponge-y if you poked it.
Something else that surprised me, was that it didn’t really smell like anything when it was cold. I don’t know what exactly I was expecting, but it was definitely more than… nothing.
The wheel – it was so soft the top got imprinted with the paper it was wrapped in!
I was also surprised to learn after cutting off a piece, that this cheese apparently had a rind on it?
I don’t know if this is common cheese knowledge or not, but I wasn’t sure if I could/should eat the rind or not. I figured it didn’t look like something that wasn’t edible, so decided to try it.
I was wrong.
Not in a ‘I almost died’ way, but the rind… I definitely don’t think I was supposed to eat it. It ended up burning my throat in a similar manner that happens when you eat too many salt and vinegar chips. And the piece I had wasn’t even that big!
Raw piece of cheese cut straight out of the fridge – see the difference in the rind colour vs the actual cheese?
The non-rind part of the cheese had a pretty mellow taste, thankfully. It tasted pretty close to Daiya’s mozzarella, if I had to compare it.
I tried the cheese cold alone, on a cracker, in a deli slice sandwich and heated up in a grilled cheese. Cold alone and smeared on a cracker it was fine, but definitely not my favourite vegan cheese. I did try it this way after I’d eaten part of the rind, so my throat was still a little burn-y, so I’m not sure how accurate my tastebuds were in that moment.
I also wrapped it in a Gusta deli slice, and that helped ease the burning, so I was happy about that. (I also ended up drinking some water and brushing my teeth, putting the cheese ‘away’ for the night)
Smeared on a cracker – easily spreadable, like cream cheese!
The next day, I used it in a grilled cheese, to see if the flavour changed when it was heated. I also painstakingly peeled the rind off the part I was using, because I did not want to burn my throat again.
Unfortuantley, it still happened – but not as badly! While the grilled cheese was cooking, I could actually smell the burning sensation in the air – which I thought was kinda weird – and then when I was eating it, I could definitely tell it was back, but was tolerable enough I could finish the sandwich. It wasn’t nearly as bad as eating the rind raw.
I have no idea why the rind burned my throat, whether or not that’s normal or just a ‘me’ thing, but I definitely can’t in good concious recommend you guys try eating the rind if you decide to try this cheese yourselves.
If I’m being completely honest, I don’t think I would buy this cheese again. It was an adventure, and I’m glad I tried it! But the taste at best was neutral, and at worst, hurt me, so I just don’t think it’d be worth it. It was also $16.99 at Good Rebel, so I can’t justify spending that much on something I wasn’t over-the-moon about.
Maybe if I was making a charcuterie board for a party and was trying to appear fancier than I actually am, I would buy it, but I just can’t see this cheese becoming a staple on my grocery list.
So, what about you guys? Have you tried this camembert before? Do you have any tips on how/why I could’ve tried it in a different way to have a better experience? Any doctor readers out there know why it burned me and whether or not that was ‘normal’?
Animal testing isn’t the only thing people who buy makeup need to be aware of during their hunts for the perfect products.
Yes, unfortunately, humans are great at hiding sketchy things, which means there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to searching for vegan beauty products.
Fortunately, we’re living in the future, and there are tons of vegan make-up brands and vegan lines of products out there.
But that doesn’t exactly answer the question: what makes ‘regular’ make-up non-vegan?
Let’s find out!
Below are some of the most commonly found non-vegan ingredients in make-up products.
1. Guanine
I’m starting with guanine because I think it’s important to start by dispelling myths.
For most of my time in high school, any time a girl would pull out a tube of mascara, someone would mention the fun fact, “you know that has bat poop in it?” and then everyone would laugh.
But, thankfully, that’s not true.
Those dumb little idiots were mixing up their words: Guano is the word for bat poop, not guanine.
Mascara does not have bat poop in it – but it does have fish scales!
Guanine is a chemical compound that’s found in animals. It’s one of the building blocks of our DNA. Cosmetic companies harvest the guanine used in mascara from fish scales.
But why?
Well, guanine is apparently the reason your mascara has that ‘irresistible iridescent shimmer’ and it can also sometimes be used as a colourant.
It can also be found in eye shadow, bronzer, highlighter, nail polish and shampoo.
So, rest assured: There’s no bat poop. Just fish scales!
Cause that’s better.
(And if you’re new here: yes, that was sarcasm)
2. Beeswax
As I explained in the Non-Vegan Non-Food Ingredient article, beeswax is essentially, bee poop. (Were you worried poop wasn’t going to make it onto this list?)
It would probably be faster to list products that don’t have beeswax, but luckily, this article is just about make-up! Some make-up products that contain beeswax are:
Eye Shadow
Eye Liner
Foundation
Blush
Lip Balm/Gloss
Lipstick
Luckily, beeswax doesn’t usually hide under a different name, so it’s pretty easy to spot in a product’s ingredient’s list.
There are even some ‘natural’ make-up companies that boast about using beeswax in their products!
3. Lanolin
Yes, unfortunately, this sheep’s wool extracted animal-fat is often found in make-up, too.
On the plus side, it’s most commonly found in lip-only products, (lip balms, lip glosses and lipsticks), so it shouldn’t be quite as big of a headache to avoid as some of these other ingredients.
4. Shellac
Yep, this one, too.
If you do enough research, you’re bound to see some of the same non-vegan ingredients crop up across multiple industries.
The good news is, you may already be on the look-out for this ingredient in other products, so it might make it easier to spot in your make-ups.
And in case this is the first article you’ve seen me mention it,shellac is a resin secreted by the female lac bug, which is why it’s not considered vegan. It’s used to give products an ‘irresistible shine’.
5. Squalene
Hold on, everybody, this is a bit of a weird one.
Squalene is extracted from the liver of sharks.
No, I’m not joking.
Apparently, it’s thought to enhance skin’s elasticity, improve moisture retention and ‘maintain skins balance and retention’. (Whatever the hell that means)
Unsurprisingly, this means squalene is most often found in anti-aging products, lip balms and moisturizers.
6. Collagen
Speaking of anti-aging products, collagen is another ingredient that is commonly used. It’s most commonly derived from cow’s tissues, bones, skin and/or ligaments.
It can also be found in lip-plumping products.
7. Animal Hair
Animal hairs are more commonly found in the make-up brushes than the actual products themselves, but I think they still deserve to be mentioned!
Fox, sable, horse, goat, mink and even squirrel are just some of the animals companies take hairs from to make their brushes. Animal hair is even sometimes been found in brushes that are listed as cruelty-free!
Also, apparently, sometimes false lashes could have mink hairs in them.
8. Carmine
Yes, I decided to end the article on another one of our old friends!
Speaking strictly in terms of make-up products, carmine is usually used simply as a red colourant, so it’s most commonly found in things like lipsticks, blushes, eye shadows and nail polish.
Why humans decided to put crushed beetles in so many products, I’ll never know.
But as I said above, at least you should be well-versed in spotting this ingredient on labels!
The CI averted his eyes to the carpet of his handler’s office as he shrugged, sinking his hands into his pockets – his signature trying-too-hard-to-seem-nonchalant stance, “You told me not to go after the painting.”
Peter huffed and stood from his desk, “That didn’t mean I gave you permission to go after the jewels!” At the lack of change in the man’s expression, Peter placed his hands on his hips, “Since when do you steal jewels, anyway?”
Neal frowned and offered a half-shrug, bringing his eyes back up from the floor, “I like a lot of things.”
Read the full story on my Patreon! I post new short stories every 2 weeks on Fridays and already have over 200 just waiting for you to discover!
Let’s be honest, most people like to consider themselves good people. Most people also feel badly they can’t do more to help others – whether they don’t think they have the time, the money, energy, or even that they just don’t know how.
Luckily, all is not lost!
One of the biggest things you can do to help, is to do something consistently. Sure, is dropping a one-time $1,000 donation helpful? Absolutely. Is it a sustainable way for you personally? Probably not.
Now, I’m not saying not to donate money if you have the means, I’m just saying if you can’t, there is still plenty of small things you can do to help make the world a better place.
And, the best part? All of them only require a little bit of your time, and basically changing 0 about your daily routine!
Pick Up Litter During Your Morning/Nightly Commute
The first thing on the list I want to talk about today, is actually something I’m a little ashamed it took me so long to clue into.
One day during my commute home a few years ago (pre-pandemic), I was sitting on the TTC like I usually did, and, I let my mind start to wander. The train went around a corner, and an empty coffee cup rolled out from under a seat and stopped a few feet in front of me. I stared at the cup, and found myself thinking about why that cup was there – was someone carrying a bunch of things and forgot to pick it up when they got off? Did they leave it there on purpose? And if so, why? Surely it wasn’t that hard to just throw it out when they got off the train – every station has multiple trash and recycle bins on basically every level!
I also started thinking about how sad it was that it seemed like no one else on the train had even noticed this little cup. Was everyone so jaded they didn’t even register it was a piece of garbage? Were they really all that self-involved? How hard would it be to take three extra seconds to pick it up and throw it out?
I was sitting there, somewhat in a state of annoyance, until my brain finally clued in: Hey, moron, you could pick up the cup, you know.
And then I felt embarrassed for immediately starting to judge everyone else for doing the exact same thing I had been doing every other time I’d seen litter on my commute. I was also more than a little embarrassed I hadn’t thought to pick it up sooner.
Long story short, I threw out that coffee cup when I got off at my stop, and I’ve started picking up pieces of litter I see while I’m on public transit.
It’s never impacted my commute so much it’s made me late for anything, and – despite the occasional weird look I get from strangers – there hasn’t really been any negatives.
I also make sure I wash my hands/don’t touch my face after I pick something up, since that’s the only real ‘danger’ I could think of with picking up trash. (It’s also the reason I don’t pick up things like used needles or band-aids)
If that’s something you’re worried about, you can always just not-do that, either. Picking up even just one thing is better than zero, after all.
Start small – a coffee cup on the train here, a napkin that’s stuck at the top of the escalator there – and then maybe you’ll see it’s not really that big of a deal, and it doesn’t impact your day as much as you might think.
Granted, this one is probably a little harder to do if you don’t take public transit, but let’s not sit here and pretend that parking lots are all always sparkling clean, either.
It really doesn’t take all that extra time, and again, as long as you don’t do something nuts like rub the garbage all over your face, it’s probably safer/not-as-unhygienic as you may think.
Switch Browsers (Ecosia)
How would you like to help plant trees without ever having to leave your house?
No, that’s not a clickbait-y line: it’s real!
Well, okay, it is a slightly clickbait-y line – but it’s still real!
All you’ve gotta do, is switch your search engine.
I’ve talked about Ecosia before, but in case you missed the post: Ecosia is a search engine (something you use to look stuff up on the internet, like Google or Bing) and by using it, you’re helping donate money so they can plant trees.
Back when I first started using it, their info page said it takes roughly 45 searches to plant 1 tree, and they had a little Tree Counter in the upper right-hand corner to help you keep track of your progress.
I believe it was the beginning of 2024 they said they did away with the individual Tree Counter, and were instead going to focus on the global help – which, I understand from their perspective – but it’s a little sad you can’t keep track on your own progress, anymore.
Before they did away with the counter though, I was keeping track of my searches, and from the time I had switched to using them (roughly mid-February 2020) to the last search batch I wrote down (mid-October 2023), I had 5,186 searches, which translated to roughly 115 trees planted.
115 trees.
In 3 years.
For doing nothing except for things I was already doing.
You literally cannot find a more passive way to help the planet! (Trust me, I’ve looked)
Free The Ocean Website
How would you like to help take some of the plastic out of the ocean?
No, you don’t need to buy a divers suit – just visit this website!
Free The Ocean is a website that removes 1 piece of plastic for each day you answer a trivia question – whether you get the answer right or wrong! All the trivia questions are ocean themed, and it really doesn’t take all that long to answer.
They allow you to make an account so you can track your personal progress, and they also have a store where you can buy zero waste products where part of the proceeds go toward removing plastic from the ocean.
It’s been a while since I looked at the About section of the website, but I believe it’s every $10 goes toward removing plastic. Which, I don’t think I have to tell you is definitely a worthwhile way to spend your money!
If your funds are tight though, don’t worry – answering the trivia and creating an account are 100% free!
Free Kibble Website
Are you an animal lover?
Then you’ll love this website!
Free Kibble is another daily trivia website that donates 10 pieces of kibble to animal shelters to help feed hungry dogs!
Similar to Free The Ocean, all you have to do, is answer a daily trivia question. And, again, whether you get the question right or wrong, they donate kibble!
They also have two other tabs on their website so you can help feed hungry cats and donate cat litter, too!
Free Rice Website
The last trivia website I want to share with you guys today is called Free Rice.
As you might be able to guess based on the name, these guys donate rice when you answer trivia questions. Their website says, every correct answer = 10 grains of rice for the UN World Food Hunger Programme.
You can choose to answer trivia questions in a variety of categories, such as: English, Art Culture, History, Math, Social Sciences and more! There’s plenty of opportunities for you to not only have fun, but also increases the chances you’ll get the answer right, so you’re able to donate!
If you’re really feeling stuck, you can always also just look up the right answer.
Also, one of my favourite things about this website, is that, unlike the ones above, you can do more than one question a day!
An example of the trivia – there’s a small bowl on the bottom that fills up with rice for every question you answer correctly
I like to play this website during my night time downtime as a way to relax, but there are plenty of small opportunities you could find to play throughout the day. On a lunch break, or perhaps on the train on your way to work?
As far as I know, there’s no limit to the amount of questions you’re able to answer daily, so the more you play, the more you help!
Which I think is great, because do you know how many grains of rice it takes to fill 1 bowl?
I didn’t either, but knowing rice is small, 10 grains is not very much. So, me being me, I looked it up. The internet had a range of averages – because of things like bowl size, type of rice, etc. – but the most consistent average I found said there was approximately 2,500-3,000 grains in one bowl.
Yes, you read that correctly: Three thousand grains of rice.
If we math it out, this means you’d need to answer 300 trivia questions correctly (3,000/10) before you donated one bowl.
That sounds like a lot, I know, but considering it takes less than a minute to answer one trivia question, you’ll probably hit that faster than you think.
For example, let’s say you played every night, for just 10 minutes. And – for the sake of easy math – let’s say you correctly answered 10 questions, that’s 100 grains donated right there. If you did that for just 1 week, that’d be 500 grains.
And if you kept it up for a month, that’d be 3,000 grains, which is 1 bowl!
That number doesn’t seem so big anymore, does it?
Just think of how much you’ll have accomplished by the end of a year, by basically changing nothing about your routine.
Helping others really doesn’t have to be some big inconvenience. Even if you just choose one of these things to start doing, you’ll see how quickly your ‘small’ help will have snowballed into something big!
Liking the website? Consider signing up for my Patreon! You’ll get cool insider perks, and help me keep the lights on around here – for as little as $1!
You smile as you see him standing on his front porch, with that infectious thousand-watt smile. You do your best to ignore the butterflies you feel in your stomach as you climb up the front porch steps, will you knock it off? It’s not like it’s the first time you’ve been here.
Your eyes meet once you join him on the porch, and you can’t help but smile at him, he looks frozen, “… What?”
“N-nothing,” he quickly turns and opens the door for you, “Y-you look beautiful.”
You feel your cheeks flare as you step inside his house, butterflies going crazy as you kick off your shoes, “Y-yeah?”
“Oh yeah.”
You try to swallow down the smile you feel at hearing his breathy voice as he closes the door, oh man, has it really been that long? He turns back to you, leading the way up the stairs to his bedroom. You take in a deep breath in a failed attempt to calm your excitement, seriously, why are you so giddy? You’ve done this a million times.
You get inside the privacy of his bedroom, and can’t help yourself as he closes the door. Not so easily, you pin the man to the door, getting up on your tip-toes to capture his lips with yours, finally. You smile against his lips as you pull a moan from him, at least I’m not the only one who’s eager.
You back off him after another moment, brows furrowing in confusion as he chuckles. He moves to the bed, shaking his head as he sits down, patting his lap, “I just didn’t think it’d been that long.”
“Trust me,” you jump up on him, wrapping your arms around his neck, “One day without being here feels like a month. That was entirely too long.” You nuzzle his neck, breathing in his scent, “I missed being close to you.”
He brings his hands up your back, eyes shining as he lifts you up, laying you down on the bed, smirk on his face, “Let’s fix that.”
You close your eyes as you feel his lips meet yours again. You wrap your arms tighter around his back, holding him as close as possible, slightly annoyed as you hear the phone start ringing.
His warmth disappears and you groan, “Nooo…”
You open your eyes and sit up, disappointment nearly crushing you as you wake up alone in your room, fuck. You run a hand through your hair and grab your phone, turning your alarm off, I’m starting to dream about him? Oy… You shake your head and let out a heavy sigh, getting out of bed. You move to open the curtains, looking out the window at the dead street, this quarantine cannot end soon enough.
Even before going vegan, I wasn’t able to eat Kit Kats, because they not only have milk ingredients in them, but also, they have ‘whey’ – which is the specific part I’m allergic to! Needless to say, I was pretty excited when these were announced.
Unfortunately, these were a big deal, which meant they were sold out for a while. I finally managed to get my hands on one of them back in December, which also kind of sucked, because while it was good and I would’ve gladly bought more, they’ve since been discontinued.
But, I still wanted to post a review of them, in case Kit Kat is taking notes of people who want them to come back, and so – on the off-chance they actually listen and do bring them back – you’ll know whether or not you need to put them on your grocery list.
If you’ve also never had a Kit Kat before, they’re basically just a chocolate bar with little/thin strips of waffer cookies inside, so they have a bit of crunch to them.
This bar came with 4 sticks in one pack/bar, so it was one of the bigger-sized Kit Kats, which was great, because it meant I could make it last a little longer than if it’d been the standard 2 stick kind.
It also didn’t taste like dark chocolate, despite what the wrapper said. It was closer in flavour to the No Whey! Milkless bar, if you’ve ever had those. Not bitter like straight dark chocolate. It also had what I assume is the ‘standard’ waffers on the inside, which added the right amount of crunch. Not super hard, but definitely made a satisfying snap when biting into it.
Because it was winter and I had the heat on, I did end up sticking mine in the fridge, because it got a little melt-y in my pantry. But putting it in the fridge I don’t think affected the flavour or structural integrity of the chocolate bar at all. It maaaybe added a little extra to the crunch, but it wasn’t anything too different.
I gave one of the sticks to one of my friends, and they said they tasted ‘pretty close’ to the non-vegan version. The only thing they said it was missing was more crunch. But I don’t know if that’s for non-vegan-bar-closeness reasons, or just their personal preferance for chocolate bars. So, feel free to take that criticism with as much salt as you’d like.
Another thing I liked about this bar, was the price! It was only $4.79 at Good Rebel, and while that does sound a little more than what you’d expect a chocolate bar to cost, keep in mind, it was the 4-bar size, so I was essentially getting 2 bars in one, and that would’ve made them $2.39 each, which is not that bad of a price at all. Especially when we’re talking about vegan chocolate.
All in all, I really enjoyed this chocolate bar! It wasn’t my favourite kind – that, if you’re curious, is Go Max Go’s Twilight bar, which I highly recommend – but it was pretty good. I definitely would’ve been happy if I’d got some of these on Halloween.
Sam rolled his eyes at the whining call that floated down the stairs from his boyfriend. He just flicked to the next page of the book he was reading, not bothering to get up off the couch, “Whaaat?”
“Come here!”
“Why?”
After a few moments of silence, Sam huffed and got up, if this is something stupid, I swear to God… He begrudgingly made his way up the stairs, doing his best not to curse his boyfriend. It wasn’t Gabriel’s fault his boss had been on a rampage lately and today was the first day off he’d managed to get in three weeks.
His brows furrowed as he made it to the second floor and saw the bathroom door closed, okay, maybe not a dumb thing after all. He closed the small distance and brought a hand up to knock, “Gabe?”
“Come in!”
Sam’s brows furrowed farther at the sing-songy voice that floated through the door. He hesitated a moment before walking in, “… Is everything okay?”
He stopped short in the doorway as he spotted his boyfriend – perfectly fine, sitting happily in an overly-bubbled tub. He turned to the giant as a shiver ran through his body, “Close the door!”
“Uh, right, sorry,” Sam quickly closed the door and took a couple dumbfounded steps into the room, “So…?”
The trickster scooched himself over to one end of the tub, nodding at the opposite side, “Join me.”
Sam deflated with relief, “This was your emergency?”
He blinked up at him innocently, “I never said it was an emergency.”
Sam couldn’t help but shake his head and chuckle at that, “I was in the middle of reading.”
“You don’t wanna be in the middle of me?”
“You should be capable of taking a shower without me, y’know.”
“I can,” Gabriel sent him a wink as his signature smirk lit up his features, “but it’s more fun with you.”
“How are you possibly still this horny?”
“That’s my secret, Sammich.” Gabriel got up onto his knees at that, which made him just tall enough, his dick poked out from above the bubble line, “I’m always horny.”
Sam shook his head again and raised an eyebrow, “Is that supposed to entice me?”
Gabriel moved his hips from side-to-side and wiggled his eyebrows up at the giant, “Nooo…”
Another chuckle escaped the giant’s mouth at that, and he felt his cheeks flare. He licked his lips and looked back to the closed door, I could always finish my book later…
After a moment of not-too-hard-deliberating, he peeled his shirt off and took a few steps closer to the tub, “You’re an idiot, you know that?”
“Yeah,” Gabriel sat back down, satisfied smile on his face as he watched the giant start stripping, “But I’m your idiot.”
Sam shook his head again as he started to undo his belt, “You know I barely fit in this tub alone, right? How comfy do you think it’ll be with both of us?”
“Pfft, please,” Gabriel waved a dismissive hand, and winked back up at his boyfriend just as his pants fell, “I’m sure I’ll find somewhere else to sit.”
I’ll admit, I’ve been using PHSH for a long time now, and Patterns have been one of those things I haven’t needed to use very often and am not 100% sure how exactly they work, so I’ve been a little afraid to attempt using them.
But then this year, I finally used one for the 10th Anniversary Re-Write of my first three books (at this point in time, only the first book is available to buy, the second is coming out in June!) to create the diamond effect for the sticker I used on the covers, and it wasn’t nearly as difficult as I thought it’d be, so I’ve decided to share it here!
And it’s only, like, 60/40 so I don’t end up forgetting how to do it myself later.
So, let’s get into it!
Step 1
Okay, so the first thing you need to do is decide what you need to add a pattern to and decide what kind of pattern you want to add.
Since I’ll be using the diamond text from the updated covers, the pattern I’ll be adding/using for this tutorial is going to be a diamond pattern, but you should be able to do this with any pattern you need.
Before we can add a pattern, we also need to pick an image to be the pattern.
The one I chose, was this:
If you want to follow this tutorial exactly, feel free to save the image above to work with. Or, if you prefer, find your own image.
The only requirement that’s needed for this image, is it has to be clear, and repeating.
Or, if you find the perfect image and it doesn’t repeat, you can always make it repeat yourself.
And if you don’t know how to do that, it’s super simple!(If you do know how to do this, just go ahead and skip down to Step 2)
All you have to do is set your PHSH document size to whatever you need – I usually like to start mine as a square, just because I find them easiest to resize in projects – and then line up your image in the top-left corner. Also, you can resize it, depending on how big/small you’ll need it to be.
Once you’ve done that, hold down ALT on your keyboard and then you can either click and drag the image or the image’s Layer in the Layers Panel to duplicate it.
Then, just use your arrow keys or drag the image until it’s next to the first, and so on. Do this as many times as you need to get the image to repeat along just the top line of the document. If you need to, use a Guide to help with keeping the images in-line.
Once you’ve got the first line done, go to the Layers Panel, select all of the images from the first line, then hold ALT to quick-duplicate all of them. Then repeat this until you have enough to fill the whole square.
To help keep things looking less-insane in your Layers Panel, I always like to create Groups for each line. I find this helps, especially if you have to return to a project later, in keeping things less confusing.
Once you’re done that, you can go ahead and save the project as both a .PSD and JPEG/PNG file. (The .PSD is the Photoshop file, which will leave all the Layers and such editable/intact, if you need to come back and change some things later)
Now, we can get back to the regular part of the tutorial!
Step 2
Now that we’ve got our pattern, we’ll need to convert the file to a .PAT.
Why didn’t you just save it as a .PAT to begin with?
Great question!
I tried to do that straight from Photoshop, but I didn’t have it available as an option. If you have that as an option, then great! You absolutely could’ve done that, instead, and will know for next time.
Fortunately for us, the internet is full of fast/free/easy convert-file websites.
Unfortunately, that site doesn’t have a .PAT convert option, so for the purposes of this tutorial, I actually ended up using this one.
I use that purple site for almost all of my other file converting needs, and recommend using it, if you need to convert files often.
Just go ahead and upload the file, click Convert, wait for it to finish, and then download/re-save it to your computer.
For ease, I usually name it Whatever File Name CONVERTED so I can easily distinguish it from the other one.
Step 3
Okay, now comes the actual reason you’re reading this tutorial: turning this image into a Pattern.
Are you ready?
All we have to do, is go up to Edit, then click the Define Pattern button.
Give the Pattern a name in the dialogue box that will help you distinguish it from the other patterns you already have, then click Okay to add it.
Yes, that’s really it.
Step 4
Okay, now all we have to do is apply the pattern to the text!
To do that, right-click on the text to bring up the Blend Mode options, scroll down to the Pattern Overlay option in the left-side menu.
Now, just select the pattern we added from the list of thumbnails, and hit Okay to apply it.
I also changed the Scale of my Pattern Overlay to 10% to line it up with the dots of the font I used, but that step is only required for the rest of this specific diamond effect, not for every pattern overlay.
And that’s it!
The text doesn’t look 100% the same yet, but that’s because this is only the first effect we needed to know to create this diamond text effect.
But don’t worry: I’ll be showing you guys how to complete the diamond texture effect over the next few tutorials!
“B-but,” Even though Bobby was behind him, he could see the confusion etching itself into Dean’s face, “Dad said I had target practice today.”
“You’re allowed to do more than one thing a day, y’know.”
“I-I know,” The blonde hung his head as they turned the corner on the sidewalk, park coming into view, “I just… really need the practice.”
“You kidding?” Bobby adjusted the grip he had on the baseball in his hand, “In a few more lessons, you’ll be better than me.”
That earned the father-figure a chuckle, finally.
John had dropped them off maybe a month ago now, and Dean still hadn’t relaxed yet. Not that Bobby blamed him. He’d finally overheard the speech he gave the eldest before leaving, and let’s just say Bobby discovered a new level to his restraint that day. ‘Don’t trust anyone’, ‘can’t let your guard down’, ‘be ready for anything’, and of course the classic, ‘watch out for your brother.’
It was way too much pressure to put on a nine-year old.
And, not to mention, a little insulting. If John thought Bobby was so incompetent, why’d he keep leaving the boys with him?
Not the time, Bobby shook his head to dispel the thoughts as they entered the park. He couldn’t help but smile as he watched Sammy make a bee-line for the swing set. Dean took a few unsure steps forward before turning to look back at Bobby. It took his brain a minute to realize the kid was waiting for instructions.
He could punch John.
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I’m going to be honest, it’s been a while since I’ve had any form of a Jamaican Patty. The closest in recent years would’ve been those Oggi’s Calzones I tested a few years ago – and those were supposed to be pizza flavoured!
There were a few years there when I was in school where it seemed like everyone was absolutely obsessed with eating Jamaican Patties for lunch. They were everywhere at one point, and then faded out after a few years. Does anyone else remember that, or was my school just special?
Unfortunately, because of my food allergies, even pre-vegan there were a lot of foods I wasn’t able to try. So, while I personally didn’t eat them, Jamaican Patties were a strangely big part of a few years of my life.
Because of this, I wasn’t too sure what to expect from this patty, but, I’m happy to report, I enjoyed it!
This patty came frozen, individually wrapped, and only had cooking instructions for a microwave. (I have no idea if this is a normal cooking method for this food or not) Because the place I recently moved into has pretty much brand-new appliances, I cooked the patty for 1 minute, then flipped it over and did another 20 seconds, wrapped in a paper towel. (Out of the plastic)
I don’t know if wrapping it in a paper towel was the right move, because it got a little stuck to it post-cooking. The patty also had a very strong flour/corny smell post-cooking that wasn’t there when it was frozen.
Size comparison
The patty was a good size, in my opinion. And, if I’m remembering correctly, it was taller than a ‘regular’ Jamaican Patty. The crust was very flaky, soft, and had an Earthy turmeric taste. There was also a good amount of beefless filling inside, though I didn’t think it really tasted all that beef-y. Not that that’s something that bothers me – if you’ve been around this blog a while, you know I like when plants taste like plants – I just think that’s important to note if it’s something you care about. I can’t say specifically what the faux beef tasted like, other than just, sort of vaguely ‘veggie’.
Beefless filling amount
Also, even though I did get the mild one, there was (unfortunately) still a bit of spiciness to the filling. It wasn’t overpowering to the point of making my tongue tingle, but I was also glad I had my water bottle with me.
For something that was only $4.69 (Good Rebel), it was also surprisingly filling. It was more filling than the snack territory I thought it’d be in, but definitely wasn’t enough to be considered a whole meal. (I had to eat ‘real’ dinner maybe 2 hours after)
This is definitely something I’d buy again, especially if I were to find it at a regular grocery store, or if it was available at a gas station or something. There are definitely worse vegan options out there.
The wheel – it was so soft the top got imprinted with the paper it was wrapped in!
Raw piece of cheese cut straight out of the fridge – see the difference in the rind colour vs the actual cheese?
Smeared on a cracker – easily spreadable, like cream cheese!
An example of the trivia – there’s a small bowl on the bottom that fills up with rice for every question you answer correctly
Size comparison
Beefless filling amount