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