Personalized Valentine's Day Baby Clothes

I just finished creating two sets of designs for Valentine's Day for my shop, Little Characters.

Click on either picture to buy onesies, T-shirts, jerseys, sweatshirts, or bibs. You can also choose from the messages, "Mommy and Daddy Will Always Love Me", "My First Valentine's Day", and "Happy Valentine's Day". As usual, every design is available in diverse skin tones. The designs I'm featuring below both have the message "Baby's 1st Valentine's Day".

The first design is more specifically for a baby and has one little curl of hair:


The second design has a child that looks similar to many prior designs and has more hair:


I want to create some personalized "_______'s 1st Valentine's Day" products with 10 popular names, and I'm not sure which design to use. Of course, I'll still personalize on order for free, and customers could tell me which design they like when they give me the baby's name. But I want to have a starter set available and I don't think I should do it for both versions.

I'm usually way behind to get these holidays drawn and up in the shop, but hopefully this is soon enough! As I was getting ready to help my son nap the other day, I said to my husband that I was going to work on my Valentine's Day drawings while he slept. My husband replied, "It's Christmas! You can take a day off!" I smiled, shrugged and said, "This is fun for me, honey. It's what I want to do." I might be a bit obsessed! :D

Fantastic Blogs in the Middle of Nowhere

Okay, I must be one of the most dim people trying to run an online business. After I had been writing this blog for a while, I decided to make a few other blogs to help people find cute baby T-shirts, onesies, and bibs on the internet and to journal about my experience designing some.

After about two months of waiting for one of these blogs to come up on Google searches, I realized that I did not have a single link to it (or any of the new blogs) anywhere and that meant that it was impossible for anyone but me to find them.

Since last night, I've been desperately trying to remedy that situation, so here are some links to my newer blogs:

Obama Baby Clothes Blog features a great collection of my original designs for Little Democrat onesies, T-shirts and bibs. I also include a short journal entry for each design about my experiences creating it and how it connects to my life as an Obama Mama and artist.

Baby Nicknames Blog features a large collection of onesies, T-shirts, and bibs with my unique drawings of babies to match all the nicknames like Peanut, Sweetpea, Pumpkin, Little Man, and Little Monster. I also include a short journal entry for each of these designs.

Jewish Baby Clothes Blog is a guide to all the best onesies, T-shirts, and bibs for Jewish babies and their families. You can just click any picture to buy cute baby clothes for under $20. In addition to my own designs, I include several designs by other online artists - along with links to their stores.

Christian Baby Clothes Blog is a directory with all the best baby T-shirts, onesies, and bibs for Christian families. They're organized into themes like "Bible Babies" and "Angels", and most of these baby clothes are created by other online designers (who are devout Christians).

Celebrating Diversity with My Baby Clothes Store

I'm really proud of the way that my online store, Little Characters, honors diversity.

If you're looking for cute baby clothes that feature babies with a range of skin tones, then please follow the link to my shop. I've drawn over fifty designs to print on infant and toddler T-shirts, onesies, and bibs for under $20. You can click on any of the pictures below to buy those products.













Some of my designs were specifically created to celebrate African-American culture and achievements. For example, I have a series of Kwanzaa designs and it was important to me to offer a range of skin tones in these, too. Obviously, not every "black" baby will have the same shade of skin. Another example is my series of Political designs celebrating Obama's victory. Having an african-american President is something we should all be proud of, and I want the images on my products to inspire a sense of shared pride - not division.









I do my best to avoid stereotyping and token tributes. EVERY design I draw is available with a variety of skin tones. I am careful to select the drawings of dark-skinned babies to display for many designs, because I don't believe caucasian or white should be treated as the default. I am very happy to do a custom drawing for anyone, so that the baby in the design looks as much like your baby as possible.

The first principle of my faith is to "affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person", and I strive to apply that value with my little business.

Christmas T-Shirts and More for Baby and Family

Little Characters, my online store, has a lot of adorable designs for the holidays. They can all be personalized for free within one day, and the drawings can be printed on a baby/toddler T-shirt, onesie, or bib for under $20. Many designs are also available on kids' and adult-sized clothes.

Click on any picture and you'll go straight to my website. Every drawing comes in several skin tones and can be matched with different messages.

These two designs are a great way to wish everyone a Green Christmas! Laughing They're perfect for an environmentally conscious family:





And here are a couple that spread some holiday cheer in a way that includes everyone:





The rest of are especially sweet as Christmas gifts for a baby or toddler:











Thanks for checking out the designs. As always, I'd love to hear your opinions and advice.

Personalized Hanukkah Clothes for Babies and Toddlers

Little Characters, my online shop, has a lot of adorable Hanukkah designs that can be personalized and printed on an infant/toddler T-shirt, onesie, or bib for under $20.

I am VERY HAPPY to personalize any T-shirt, onesie, or bib with the name of your choice at no extra charge within one day. Just describe the picture, message, and coloring you'd like and email it to drawnbyk@gmail.com. I will upload a custom-made design right away, and you can complete the sale before you know it.

For all you first-time bubbies out there, this is a really sweet gift for your little grandson or granddaughter.

Here's a peek at some of the Hanukkah designs that can be personalized for Baby's 1st Hanukkah. Click on any picture, and you'll be taken right to my store where you can buy it right away. I've chosen from the names that are already created, but remember that I will create one with the name of your choice within one day.






I'm especially excited about the last design, and it's hard to really see the detail in the thumbnail. I can create any one's name in bubble letters filled with little blue Stars of David. I'm currently working on a section with family titles (Mommy, Ima, Mamele, Grandma, Safta, Bubbie . . .)

I hope to add a couple more Hanukkah drawings to the section soon. I'm almost finished drawing a rattle with a Star of David. Just keep checking the Judaism section in my store, and you'll see all the designs as they're added!

Babies for Barack and Obama Mamas

Little Characters, my online store, has a great collection of political T-shirts for babies, kids, and parents. Click on any of the pictures below and you'll go straight to the website where you can buy T-shirts, onesies, or bibs for less than $20. They're all printed to order, so every design will be in stock in the size you want.

The design I'm most proud of is based on Obama's logo. It features a baby/toddler crawling on the red and white striped path toward the rising sun.
As always, I've made all the designs available in different skin tones. This picture is available with several messages (or just on its own). My favorite message is "My Future Is Looking Brighter".

This design was one of the things I can really say was a collaboration with my husband, Patrick. My final sketch had a rough drawing of the logo itself, but Patrick did a lot of cool technical work. He created different layers - one for my little kid, one for the wavy stripey path and one for the circles. Then he made sure the circles were really circles (I suck at drawing straight lines or perfect circles). The last thing he did was a really cool effect where the light blue background fades gradually into transparent. It makes it look like the white sun is really sending out rays of light.

I think another set of political designs that are really cute are my little blue donkeys.
A good friend of mine periodically checks out my shop and she spontaneously reacted to the United Baby by saying that the little blue donkey on his lap was really cute. The other shopkeepers on the forum have been saying for a while that I should try to offer designs that don't have people in them, so I decided to do some designs with just that donkey. I had to monkey with the coloring, because the bright blue didn't seem to print well - especially on dark colored shirts. The pastel is sweet though. My favorite product with the little donkey is the Future Democrat design on the maternity shirt.

I wish that I had been able to create more of these before Obama won, but I've been plugging away. As I'm typing this and thinking it through, I can't really ask for a better reason for designing. It's been hard work, but I do want to celebrate Obama's victory. Honestly, I'm just frustrated that I can't figure out how to get my designs to come up higher on the search results in Cafe Press's marketplace. Right now, if someone goes into their Kids section for clothes and does the featured search for Barack Babies, my designs don't start until the 7th page! I guess it's egotistical but I really believe my designs are better than a lot of the ones that come up first, and I'm worried that no one will see them.

If anyone is reading this who likes my designs, please go into the marketplace, search under "Barack Babies" and just click on my designs. Supposedly, Cafe Press's search results are based on how many people click the designs - not only people who buy them. So you could help my stuff get seen without spending a dime.

Obama Victory Baby Clothes

Little Characters is selling adorable T-shirts, onesies, and bibs for baby patriots and little Americans. They cost less than $20.

Just click on the pictures to go directly to the website, and you can have my drawing printed on your baby clothes right away. I've drawn a baby waving a flag, playing with a toy donkey and elephant. Below the baby, I've printed Obama's words: "There is no liberal America. There is no conservative America. There is only the United States of America."





I created this design a little while before the election ended. I listened to Obama's Ohio speech as I was driving to church, and when he said those words, I started crying. Yes, I am extremely sappy, but I really think he is an inspiring person. I definitely count last night's win as a victory, and I want to celebrate. It feels so good to have a democrat with so much integrity in the white house - well, almost in the white house. He's moving the kids and their new puppy in soon.

I know that not everyone counts this as a victory, but I'm hoping that the unifying spirit of Obama's words will inspire us to reach across party lines and work together - especially since a cute little kid will be the one delivering the message!

Check back in my Political section soon. I'm drawing another version of this design with a little boy and girl, so older kids can wear it, too. I'm also working on a drawing of a baby crawling on the red and white path in Obama's logo (with the message, "My Future is Looking Brighter") I'll get it up on the site as fast as I can!

Anti-Palin T-Shirt, Because We Need Something to Laugh About

Little Characters has been featured in a Political T-Shirt Blog!

Yay! I'm famous! I feel particularly flattered to have been highlighted in this blog by Sleezak, because he takes the time to stay so well-informed on current events (something I have a moral responsibility to do, but do not do)and in this particular post, he gave us all a chance to laugh at Sarah Palin.

With all the bad stuff hanging over us right now, it's refreshing to be able to stop trying to be nicey-nice for a moment, and just laugh at someone who frankly deserves it. If my husband reads those words, he'll be in shock. He won't believe his goody-goody former-teacher wife is advocating being snide and nasty. I'll just have to wait and see if he finds out that I wavered. :P

Here's the design that was featured in the blog. Click on the picture to see it in a range of skin tones. It's available on T-shirts, onesies, and bibs.

Little Tree Hugger T-shirts, onesies, and bibs

Little Characters, my online store, has two adorable Little Tree Hugger designs for infants and toddlers!

Click either picture, and you'll go straight to my store where you can buy the design on T-shirts, onesies, or bibs with a variety of skin tones and hair and eye colors.

The latest one has a baby hugging a sapling (literally hugging a little tree) . . .



The original design is one of the first drawings I made. I'm especially proud of all the detail and coloring in the leaves . . .



I decided to rework the first design after I got a lot of feedback and encouragement from other shopkeepers at Cafepress. They really are such a supportive community - they actually make starting a business a pleasant experience.

I have a long list of designs to work on right now, but I do have a goal for myself to create Little Tree Hugger designs for older kids. Some day!

Day of the Dead T-shirts & Onesies for Babies and Toddlers

I'm proud to announce that Little Characters, my online store, has a cool design for the Day of the Dead!

Just click the picture and you'll be taken right to the shop to see the products.


This was definitely a little different from my usual style! It gave me a chance to branch out and be a little more artistic. In keeping with my commitment to truly having diverse holidays represented in the store, I started thinking about how I could do a design for Day of the Dead.

The biggest challenge with this was not to be morbid or insensitive in the way I incorporated an infant. My first sketches just had one skeleton / calavera, and it was meant to be a baby. My husband, Patrick, kept looking at them and calling them the "Dead Baby Drawings" which made me wince and feel like tearing them up. Clearly, some people do lose children, and according to Wickipedia, November 1st is dedicated to lost infants and kids, but that wasn't what I wanted to focus on in the drawing. I wanted the design to make people think of babies or children being part of the celebration of the holiday.

My solution was to incorporate another traditional part of the holiday: families going to cemeteries together and sharing favorite foods or drinks with the deceased. I decided to try to draw a family of skeletons (including one baby) having a picnic at a grave. To me, this has a happier focus.

One of the aspects of the design that I like the best is hard to see in the thumbnail images on the website: the little pictures in the eyes. The daddy skeleton has bright blue stars, the mommy skeleton has purple flowers, and the baby has rainbows. It's certainly not as complex as some of the painted skulls, but I wanted to do something inspired by that.

We did get a tiny bit of comic relief in working on this design, too. When I am doing the computer work on designs, one stage is the "noskin" file. This is when I have added all the color, except for the skin, hair, and eyes. This way, I have lots of options for creating diverse variations. I got a chuckle going into Patrick's room, and announcing, "I just finished the No Skin for Day of the Dead!" Okay, I know that's a lame joke, but I'm a dork.

I've seen a lot of beautiful clothing for Day of the Dead already out there, and I can't afford to pay for advertising, so I may not make any sales. It would be really cool if someone in one of the parades had one of my designs on their little guy though!

Great Diwali Gifts for Babies and Kids

Little Characters, my online shop, has two sweet designs for Diwali. They can be printed on T-shirts, onesies, and bibs, and they would make very sweet gifts for children - especially for those celebrating their first Diwali.

Click on either picture to go directly to my store and see the products.




I recently sold a Diwali T-shirt! It makes me so glad that I worked to create the Diwali designs. The person who bought it just searched through the Cafepress Marketplace, so she probably never saw my shop. I see the customer's name and general location in my sales reports, but I wish I could email her to thank her. She probably doesn't know how happy she made someone buying a little T-shirt. At least one person has a nice way of celebrating Diwali with her child - that she would not have had if I hadn't created it.

I would love it if some more Diwali stuff was sold, but I know there isn't much time until October 28th. (Although I think that if people ordered things now, they could arrive in time!) So, I have set some goals for myself for 2009.

I want to draw at least one more Hindu holiday design. I think I will be doing one for Holi. It's on March 11th in 2009, so I should have plenty of time. It's such a fun holiday and since it's so colorful, I should have some nice opportunities to use vibrant color in the design. I also want to try to improve the Diwali lamps design for next year. I think the positioning on the shoulders and head is a little off, so I'll fix that. I have ideas for two other Diwali designs, too, so maybe I'll end up offering a total of four in 2009!

Funny Anti-Palin Designs for Kids' Clothes

Little Characters has some adorable designs for children's clothes that poke fun at Sarah Palin . . .

Your baby or toddler might be limited to reading board books about farm animals and holding them upside down, but that is still an accomplishment! Click the picture and you will be able to purchase an infant/toddler T-shirt, onesie, or bib.


Chances are, if your child is reading, s/he is already more well-read than Sarah. Click the T-shirt and you will be able to purchase this colorful text design on a variety of bright shirts for kids.


And if you want a funny way to persuade swing voters at the playground, there's always the cute Obama Change Baby design. Now available on "Mom bags"!


Hurry while there's still time to inspire people to vote for Obama! :D

Cute Clothes for Your Natural Baby or Little Hippy

Little Characters , my online store, sells my hand-drawn designs printed on T-shirts, onesies, and bibs for babies and toddlers.

Check out my sweet collection of designs for natural babies! If you are more of a hippy mom, you'll enjoy seeing your little one in these. They're great baby gifts for friends who aren't always mainstream. And for all you new grandparents out there, this is a sweet way to show your kids you support their own style of parenting.

Just click on any of the pictures below, and you'll be taken straight to the products in my store. Everything costs less than $20 and it's printed on demand, so you don't have to worry whether it's in stock in the size you want. Every design is available in a variety of skin tones, and hair and eye colors.

More than pea stains will show that your baby is green . . .

Much nicer than constantly reminding people you have a little vegetarian . . .

Since she doesn't have armpit hair, she'll have to show she's a hippy in other ways . . .

 

Thanks for looking and sharing any feedback or suggestions!

 

 

 

 

Jayne Hat Baby Clothes for Firefly Fans

Little Characters has Jayne hat baby clothes for Firefly fans. I'm selling onesies, T-shirts, and bibs with a cute drawing of a little one in a Jayne hat. I drew the design just for you, Browncoats!

Here's a sneak peek - you can click on any picture to get right to the products. Everything is under $20.





And take a look at the Stars section for other designs inspired by television, movies, and books.

Diwali designs for baby clothes

Little Characters has two new Diwali designs. The T-shirts and onesies would make sweet Diwali gifts for babies and toddlers.





I spent a lot of time analyzing whether or not I should push myself to do these, but I ended up doing two just in time for people to order the baby clothes and have them arrive before October 28th.

Patrick keeps supporting me by reminding me that this is my own business and that I don't have any goals or deadlines except those I chose to have for myself.

I'm really committed to having the religious diversity though - in principle. And when I started to talk to my mom about the possibility of doing the Hindu designs next year, I realized that I might be doing the three monotheistic religions' holidays first and then eventually getting around to the polytheistic ones. After growing up polytheistic and hearing so many people casually treating polytheistic religions like they're in a separate category or like they're not real religions at all . . . I just couldn't do that. I might not get to the Wiccan holidays this year, but I'll at least do two Hindu holidays. And now that I'm a committed Unitarian Universalist, in a way this is an expression of my current values and spiritual life. UUs always say that they respect, and are inspired by, other religious traditions.

So, yes, I talked myself into spending several more hours on yet another holiday, but I feel good about what I've done. I must be convincing! :D

SO Proud and Happy

I added beautiful new designs for Ramadan and Eid baby clothes to Little Characters

I really hustled to get these done and I was only able to add them with a handful of days of Ramadan left:





I worked really hard to get these done, and the morning I successfully posted them on the store, I was just bopping around with joy. I told Patrick and my mom that even if I didn't sell any of the designs for Muslim holidays, I would still feel so good that I had created them. I felt such a sense of accomplishment!

And then before the day was even done, I saw that someone bought two onesies with my Ramadan and Eid designs! I only earned $10, but I have to say that sale made me feel like a million bucks!

And tonight I just checked the babycenter community groups, and saw this message posted:

I love all your eid/ramadan designs, they r just adorable!!! Thanks for including the muslim holiday sentiments. We need such acceptance of diversity in religion and people in todays world. You r doing a wonderful service to all mankind. Eid Mubarak to you and your family.

I think saying that I'm doing a service to all mankind might be a bit of an overstatement, but obviously this post is making me feel absolutely wonderful!

Challenge for Muslim Holiday Baby Clothes

Okay, I'm adding to this blog now that I've had some responses about the Eid designs on babycenter.org

A couple of people on the parenting board explained that some Muslims believe it is forbidden to have images of animate things. Other Muslim mothers on the board said they don't think that is true - as long as the images are not idolatry.

I was surprised to find this out, and I feel bad that I have offended some people. That was the opposite of my intention.

I'm going to try to draw some designs that don't have any people in them - though that isn't my usual drawing style at all. One of the mothers said she would like balloons, so I think I'll try to draw a stroller or baby carseat with balloons that spell an Eid message. Someone else (or maybe it was the same mom?) said she'd like a Ramadan design, so I think I'll try to draw a baby bottle with a band of geometric designs (like Islamic art) and some kind of joke message about not fasting yet.

I have no idea if I'll be able to finish drawing these in time for anyone to actually get them for the holidays, but I think it's worthwhile to try to make up for my mistake. I want to make sure that if I'm going to say I'm offering products for all of the main religions, that I'm offering products that are actually inclusive and accessible to most of the people in those traditions.

Baby and Toddler Clothes for Eid Ul Fitr

If you go to Little Characters now, you'll see these new designs in time for Eid:



Clicking either picture will take you directly to those products.

This has been a challenging set of designs for me to do. First of all, there are just a lot of holidays happening now! I just barely finished Rosh Hashana (September 29th), and I had to really hustle to get designs out in time for Eid (October 1st). Yom Kippur is October 8th, but I don't think I'm going to do any designs for that - at least not this year. I really don't think infants or toddlers will be too involved in repenting. But Sukkot is October 14th, and that's right around the corner.

My ignorance about Islam was the main challenge in creating the Eid designs. I've read some, but there is just so much I don't know. When I researched Eid Ul Fitr, I couldn't find any distinctive foods or symbols to draw.

The only food I found mentioned was vermicelli in sweet milk, and, honestly, I really have no clue how to draw that in a cute way. I finally settled on the symbol of the crescent moon (halil), because Eid doesn't officially start until someone spots it, and sometimes children are the ones who go hunting for it. I got the idea of having a baby seem to be reaching out - as if to try to grab the moon.

The next big challenge I had was how to dress the babies. I wanted to make sure that the babies appeared modest, so I knew this design wouldn't have my typical diapers-and-little-else look. But I had NO IDEA what the baby should actually wear. I read that families liked to dress extra special for Eid, but I couldn't find any photos of what babies or children would wear.

And I was very concerned about how to draw the heads. I didn't think it was appropriate to draw a head scarf on the baby girl, because girls aren't expected to wear those until they reach puberty, but I thought the baby's head should be dressed somehow. I saw photos of boys in those fancy prayer hats, and finally, I spotted a photo with two little girls wearing them on their way to mosque.

So this is what I've settled on. I really hope that the babies seem appropriate, and that their dress doesn't exclude anyone.

I'd love some information or suggestions from any practicing Muslims out there. I'm always looking for ways to improve my designs, and I'd like to include other Muslim designs, but honestly, I don't know what I would do other than the Eid stuff.

Baby Clothes for Talk Like a Pirate Day

Hurry to Little Characters and pick up some garb for your Little Pirate before September 19th!

Ahoy, mateys, If I were a drinkin wench, there'd be salt in my beer now, cuz I'm sad that I didn't do a better job of advertising this sooner. Don't let my goof up ruin your ankle-biters' holiday! Just cuz they have to stick to milk instead of grog doesn't mean they shouldn't have fun. Before they can even shout out, "Arrrr!" your babies and toddlers can join the party.

These designs are purty enough to be called a treasure.

For more information on this silly, but real, holiday go to The Official Talk Like a Pirate Day Site