Little Characters - Drawn By Kerridwen

Cute Baby Clothes for Little Trekkies & Geeky Parents

2009-05-16T00:12:00.004-04:00

Yes, I spend way too much time on Facebook! I recently noticed that a lot of my friends and I all had status messages about seeing the new Star Trek movie. It seemed that all at once the lot of us were congregating in movie theatres to feed our geeky imaginations. And, when I commented on a friend's status (as I'm way too apt to do), I discovered that she and her husband had attended several very geeky films while she was pregnant. It seems highly probable that she will have a Geeky Baby.

So all this made me focus my efforts on moving my designs to the new store. It's going to take me so long to move all my artwork to Zazzle, but I'm working at it bit by bit (pun intended). I thought it seemed logical to make my next focus the geeky/nerdy/techie designs. One of my very first drawings was of a Little Trekkie in diapers, so it feels good to see that in my new forum.

Here's a sampling of some of the adorable baby clothes and cute products for new parents that you'll find at my new store, Little Geeks. CLICK ON ANY PICTURE TO BUY NOW.

Little Trekkie Toddler T-Shirt by littlegeeks
Many more tee shirt designs available on www.zazzle.com

Nerdy Computer Baby Tan Skin by littlegeeks
Browse other Baby T-Shirts

Cafe Press Doesn't Treat Designers Fairly

2009-05-07T20:51:00.007-04:00

This blog is meant to be a place for me to share my experiences about being a business owner, but I've delayed writing about my experiences with Cafe Press, because I didn't want to post something on the internet that I'd regret later.

I'm not good at being succinct, but I will try. Cafe Press really let me down. Cafe Press does not value the designers. They switched to a mandatory maximum profit of 10% for the artists who actually create the designs. I strongly believe that I contribute far more than 10% to the finished products. For those of us who have already invested hundreds of hours, it's not easy to know what to do next. For any artists, designers, or stay home moms looking to start a new business, though - let me be very clear. YOU SHOULD NOT DO BUSINESS WITH CAFE PRESS. You deserve better.

I've started the long, involved process of switching to another Print On Demand company. Many Cafe Press designers switched to Zazzle, and I've been very impressed with everything I've seen of them so far. This whole experience has been very upsetting, so I thought it would make me happiest to focus on one small niche in my designs and to choose something that I am personally invested in . . . I chose to focus on my Unitarian Universalist designs. I've opened a gallery selling Unitarian Universalist gifts featuring my original artwork at Zazzle.

The process of uploading and organizing designs is very different, so I've got a steep learning curve. One of the designers at Zazzle, Praire Ghost, has been particularly helpful. She's given me lots of one on one tutoring, and I'd love to be able to create Personalized Greeting Cardslike hers. Feel free to click the previous link and have a look around her shop. She's been kind to me (a stranger) and I'd like to promote her gallery.

Because it takes a while just to get a design up at my store, I still have a very long way to go. But one day after I uploaded my Elements Chalice Design, I sold 10 UU chalice keychains! I haven't even done a Google Feed yet!

Here's a picture of the keychain with my design. Just click the picture to buy now . . .

Bright Elements Chalice by uufaith
Design promotional key chains At Zazzle
See other Religion Keychains

One of the things I really like about Zazzle is that even though I've chosen a few products to display each design, customers have total control of which products they choose. Even if you don't see one of my drawings already on a particular product (for example, a framed poster) . . . you can just choose to have it printed on that product. And there is always the option of customizing a product by shrinking my drawing and typing in any text. At Zazzle, you can personalize in this way immediately (rather than waiting for me to do it) at no extra charge.

I have a long way to go, but I'm feeling cautiously optimistic.

A Job Well Done

2009-04-17T23:52:00.009-04:00

I feel very proud of myself. This post is, simply put, a way for me to brag.

I started my online baby clothes store, Little Characters, almost a year ago. I'm not exactly rolling in dough, but 95% of the time, I've felt happy about it, and I would judge it to be a success. Today, I'm not just feeling happy - I'm ecstatic! If I was physically capable of doing cartwheels in the street, you would now see a chubby 30-something woman awkwardly tumbling around the cul-de-sacs of suburban Maryland.

I really love the design I just finished for little Unitarian Universalists. You can find baby clothes for a baby UU in my new Unitarian Universalist store.

This design is an expression of what I believe to be my unique drawing style and something I care deeply about . . . Unitarian Universalist identity. My first UU design didn't feature any of my cartoony people. I drew religious symbols from many of the world's traditions and fit them inside the letters to spell UU. I am happy with this design, too. It represents not only the radical hospitality and respect for diversity among UUs, but also the potential value the world's religions have as a source of inspiration for UUs.

But as I wrote in my blog post about that design . . . it wasn't as much of an expression of a unique UU identity. One member of my congregation wrote that she had hoped to see a design centered on a chalice. Two things kept me from doing that right away. First, I had seen other chalice designs on CafePress that were good and I felt somewhat intimidated. Second, I couldn't visualize a drawing of a baby and a chalice that didn't seem like a portrayal of a strange and irresponsible fire hazard!

When I was looking over some of my past sketches, I came upon my original drawing for the Little Christmas Tree Hugger.

This drawing has a lot of problems I still haven't fixed, but I have always liked this little kid. S/he just looks adorable to me, and I love the pose. That got me to thinking that since I was looking for a way to portray a little UU, I could exaggerate the smallness of the baby by having him/her sit under a very big chalice in the same pose.

So after avoiding this design for months, I managed to get from start to finish in one day. A local UU congregation had contacted me to ask me to donate something from my store to their auction, and I was feeling some drive to add more Unitarian Universalist designs, so they could be showcased in time for that.

It's amazing though how sometimes I feel like I am in a state of creative flow and other times I feel like things just aren't working. And it is truly a blessing that I don't have to fight against the latter. I can just wait it out. Because this is my store. I have earned back the money I invested and my profits are piddly enough that I don't depend on them for anything. So I am blessed with total freedom about when I work, how much I work, and what I work on.

So here is some bragging . . . leave it me to overanalyze everything - even simple happiness.

I'm proud of the symmetry in the eyes of the baby. I achieved that by using a little techie trick my husband taught me. In the early stages of the store, I thought I would draw everything by hand (including the color) and just scan in the completed drawings. I have started using technology more since then, and that's not a strength of mine in general, so I feel good about the strategic way I am doing it. (Even if my sketches of one-eyed babies might look bizarre!)

I love the color in this drawing. I always offer a range in coloring for the skin tones and hair and eye colors, so the designs honor diversity. This was no exception.

But I chose the other coloring - without any pressure to fit a mold (like using red and green for a Christmas design), and I love it! Blue and yellow are most definitely two of my favorite colors.

There is actually some spiritual significance to my love of those two colors. I can't go into too much detail in this post, but there is a story about how the goddess Ochun came to have yellow as her sacred color. She started out with all white clothes, but as she went through hardships, she would cry by the river and wash her clothes until they became a faded yellow. Her tears in the river swelled though, and became a lake/Yemaya (goddess of the lake)/a sister. Yemaya's color is deep blue.

But even if golden yellow and deep blue together didn't have spiritual significance, I would still think they were beautiful! I love the way they pop in this picture. I think the gradiation from red to orange to yellow is striking. Since I use a simple technique of outline most everything in black and not shading, the blended colors in the flame stand out.

I think this baby is cute. That might seem like a kind of duh thing to say, but when I look at some of my earlier designs, I don't always think the babies are as cute. Case in point . . . the kind of freaky-eyed child in my original Free Gas drawing . . .

I like the way the message fits into the overall design. It's natural to see "Little UU" written across the cup. Sometimes, it's a real struggle to get the text to fit in the size limits - especially if I have a tall drawing. But I feel like the size and placement of the text keeps a nice proportion, and the font is sharp and easy to read. I like my little touch of making the dot over the letter i a darker shade of orange (almost like a little flame).

The body shape of this little person seems just right. A lot of my earlier drawings have babies with bodies that just seem way too long. Maybe I was trying too hard to be realistic while looking at my son as a model (he's taller than more than 97% of kids his age). But this baby looks pleasantly plump and kind of squat - in that cute cartoony baby way.

And did I mention that I like how this is a portrayal of something I care about? :D I'm sure I did, but I want to mention it again. I don't think I've drawn anything that goes against my values (though I have drawn Little Republican designs - I believe that we should be respectful about politics when possible), but I've drawn things that are lacking in personal value for me.

This drawing is an expression of my faith. And it's uniquely mine. There is no other design out there quite like this. How cool is that?

Speaking Out Against GLBT Intolerence with Art

2009-04-17T23:20:00.003-04:00

Today is the National Day of Silence to Raise Awareness About, and Fight Against, GLBT Teasing, Bullying and Abuse in Schools. This event has evolved over the years and is organized and carried out by youth and students.

I am not young. I am not a student (officially). And I'm no good at being quiet. In fact, I wrote some Facebook status messages about this, and a friend astutely pointed out that I couldn't even be silent in writing.

I guess this is okay, because non-students and adults are encouraged to participate by signing a pledge to speak up about this issue.

In the past year, I've been expressing myself through the artwork I do for my store, so this is a small gesture, but I've chosen today to be the day that I add a new design supporting GLBT families, and I'll use this blog post as a way to say a bit more about this issue.

The Day of Silence is organized to focus on harassment of GLBT children and youth in schools (not on the rights of GLBT parents to care for their families), so my drawing isn't entirely relevant. However, the passage of Prop 8 in California seems like evidence that far too many Americans are comfortable tolerating, or even championing, bigotry. And bigotry is what is underneath all of this.

In reflecting on my childhood and adolescence, I wasn't really personally hurt by anti-gay teasing or bullying. I remember that I used to hold hands and skip in the hall with another oddball student in highschool and that we were accused of being lesbians. We didn't do that often and I don't remember the teasing being persistent. It is an example of people thinking that calling someone a lesbian is an insult though.

What stands out a lot more in my memory is my summer school session on US History . . . the teacher told us his version of the evolution of the word "fag" as an insult. Brits will tell you that fag is another word for stick (it's used for cigarettes because they look like sticks). According to this teacher, the word fag was associated with gay people, because during the witch trials, people would throw accused homosexuals on the fire with the accused witches - treating them like nothing more than sticks to burn.

I really don't know if there is any truth to what this teacher told us, but I have always remembered it. It's a vivid portrayal of how horrific hatred can become when it goes unchecked. GLBT individuals are human beings. When someone chooses to hurl the word "fag" as an insult, s/he is invoking the kind of hatred and de-humanizing that results in persecution and murder. If we hear other people do that - casually or deliberately - we have a responsibility to speak up right then.

When I was an elementary school teacher, I was careful to firmly say, "Gay (or fag) is not a word to say to hurt someone or insult them" if I heard it used in that way. It was inappropriate for me to elaborate, but I at least took that stand. If you're reading this, please feel supported in taking whatever stand you can.

Sweet Mother's Day Gifts for Less

2009-04-17T22:55:00.004-04:00

Little Characters, my online shop, has some new designs in time for Mother's Day. They're cheaper than flowers or fancy perfume, and a whole lot cuter.

You can browse through the Mother's Day Gifts in the Holidays section of Little Characters or click any picture to buy now. These designs feature the words Mom or Mommy written in pink letters filled with red hearts. Simple but unique. In addition to T-shirts, you can also find Mom / Mommy journals, tote bags and even on aprons that can be used for privacy for new, nursing mothers.

More bad news for house prices

2009-04-04T16:45:00.007-04:00

We received this in the mail a little while ago:

Now that can't be good. On the plus side, maybe if enough people visit our Little Characters store we could buy a house! Pity we missed the expiry date for that $10 off, though...

Sometimes it rocks to be a work from home mom!

2009-04-03T20:56:00.005-04:00

A few months back, I wrote a journal post called, "Sometimes it sucks to be a work from home mom", so I feel obliged to balance that out today.

I'm feeling very happy about a sale I made today. I only earned $9 for a whole lot of time, but I feel as chirpy as a Disney princess!

Someone ordered a Personalized Passover baby T-shirt. I really enjoy getting the emails with those requests! Sure, when someone emails drawnbyk@gmail.com to ask me to personalize a design or change the coloring, it represents more work for me with no extra pay. But it feels more personal than just seeing sales reports. I get to have a mini written conversation with a person who has found my artwork on the internet and actually decided they want to buy it for a baby or toddler to wear! Pretty cool!

I even find out the first name of the baby, and I can imagine that there is some adorable little person with that name wearing my shirt! This time, I even got to imagine a little more, because the customer asked me to make slight changes in the drawing (making the hair curlier and longer) to make it better resemble the baby. I hope that little girl with the curls is old enough to taste a little sweet charoses, and I hope that when her family gathers with her for the seder, they like her shirt!

The customer who ordered that shirt just sent me this message:

Hi Kerridwen -
Just wanted to let you know I got the shirt today and it's gorgeous :) Thanks so much!

How fantastic is that?!

Adorable Little Tree Hugger Baby Clothes for Earth Day

2009-04-03T15:16:00.006-04:00

The saga continues . . . I have redone my Little Tree Hugger design yet again! It's exciting that this version is available on organic cotton!

If you're looking for Earth Day baby clothes - or even green kids' clothes - please check out these designs. You can click on any of the product pictures to go straight to my store, Little Characters, and buy now. Below that, I've posted larger pictures of the three different drawings.

I'm happy to offer a Little Tree Hugger reusable grocery bag for all you eco-mommies!

You can also find your choice of three Earth Day messages on the tote bags and baby clothes: Make Every Day Earth Day, Baby's 1st Earth Day, and My First Earth Day.

Here's a Little Tree Hugger Organic Cotton Baby T-Shirt.

Here's an example of a Baby's 1st Earth Day baby bib. There are many skin tones and hair and eye colors available.

Here's an example of a My First Earth Day onesie.

And here's a Make Every Day Earth Day toddler T-shirt.

Here are the larger size images, so you can see the evolution of this drawing! This is the first drawing I did . . .

Here was my next attempt. It looks less boxy, but a lot of the detail (especially in the leaves) is gone . . .

And here is the latest (hopefully, last!) version. It's leafier, but I still don't feel happy with the proportion of the child to the tree. I like having the overall picture be smaller in relation to the words, but all in all, a lot of the detail is hard to see.

Personalized Easter Baby Clothes for Under $20

2009-03-28T18:45:00.004-04:00

Little Characters has a couple adorable designs for Baby's First Easter, and they can be personalized for free. Just email drawnbyk@gmail.com and I can have a new name or different coloring added to the store in one day.

I'm pretty happy with both these designs. I tried to give the babies features that weren't too specific, so lots of parents could see their little ones in the drawings. I like the swirlies in the lamb's wool and the bright polkadots on the Easter egg. I have sketches for a couple more Easter designs that I hope to have in the store for 2010.

I tried to put more names in the personalized sections to make it more convenient, but I haven't sold any of those yet. I'll have to wait and see if that works better. I'm very happy to add anyone's name by order (at no extra charge), and it only takes me a day to put a new name in the store, but I think if it's already been created, it might be more appealing to customers.

Passover Baby Gifts for Under $20

2009-03-25T14:16:00.004-04:00

I've finally finished some adorable designs for Passover baby clothes. Click any picture to go straight to Little Characters store and buy now. Pesach is coming soon, but if you email drawnbyk@gmail.com I can personalize any design for free in one day. (I'm also happy to change any of the coloring.)

I'm happy to have finished these in time, but I have sketches for three more Passover designs. Hopefully, I'll have at least two of those available for 2010! This is a milestone for me though, because now that I've added Pesach designs, I have finished all the major holidays in the Jewish calendar. When I started my store, one of my first designs was for Rosh Hashanah. Now I've almost come full circle. That feels good.

Unitarian Universalist Design on T-Shirts for the Whole UU Family

2009-03-07T13:45:00.003-05:00

I devoted a lot less time to my baby clothes store, Little Characters, in February. Patrick and I have been putting almost all our time and energy into trying to ensure that at least one of us has a good, paying job come summer. I'm currently chasing a dream. I'll know in the next month or two if it will become a reality, but I've just started to get some breaks from running.

And anyone who knows me well knows how I use my breaks . . . to work on my store! :D

I decided to treat myself. I delayed working on the next set of holiday designs for April (I do plan to create Passover/Pesach, Easter, and revamped Earth Day designs) and instead I focused on something closer to my heart . . . Unitarian Universalism.

I would estimate that I've spent well over a hundred hours on designs for Jewish, Christian, Muslim, and Hindu designs for baby clothes - with most of that time going toward the Jewish baby gifts. I feel very proud of that, because celebrating diversity is certainly a reflection of my values.

But those values come from my Unitarian Universalist faith, so it was about time I create something based on that! I just completed my first collection of UU designs for baby clothes, and T-shirts for toddlers, kids, youth, or parents.

Creating this collection was pretty involved. Each design says either "Little UU" or just "UU" and the letters are filled with symbols from the world's religions. I drew each of those symbols. (If you zoom in really big, the waves
in the lines will prove that to you! Don't worry though - it will look smooth when printed regular size on the products)

You'll find beautiful versions of the Sufi Winged Heart, the Shinto Torii (Gate), the Pagan Triple Moon, the Taoist Yin Yang, the Jewish Chai (Life symbol), the Christian Ichtus (Fish), the Hindu Om, the Bahai Nine Pointed Star, the Christian Cross, the Muslim Star & Crescent, the Buddhist Dharmachakra (Wheel Showing the Eight-fold Path), and the Jewish Star of David. And, of course, I couldn't forget the UU Chalice! Each period is filled with a chalice.

Here are some examples of products. JUST CLICK ANY PICTURE TO BUY. You can also browse the Unitarian Universalist section of my store to find the size, color, and product that's just right for you or email me at drawnbyk@gmail.com. I'm happy to do a special order changing any of the colors in the design at no extra charge. I could also add to the design to make it more personal for your congregation or church activity. Depending on how much time that would require, there may be a slight increase in the price.

Drawing each of these religious symbols was a spiritual practice for me. I thought about what each meant to me, and I tried to chose symbols that represented the elements of the traditions that called to me personally. For example, even though I think the Jewish symbol of the Hamsa (hand) is visually beautiful, I don't feel as inspired by a sign that's primary purpose is to ward off the evil eye.

I guess it is ironic that my first design focusing on Unitarian Universalism still included signs from all these other religions. I could have started with a design that only had a chalice, and that might have been more true to UU identity. The truth is that I've seen a couple of gorgeous chalice designs on Cafepress by other artists. I haven't seen anything quite like what I just created, so it was less intimidating to start with this. I hope to move on to doing some original chalice designs and I'm very excited to create a design based on a popular children's chalice lighting verse.

In the mean time, I'm happy with this beginning. I think that these T-shirts could be a good way of spreading the good news about Unitarian Universalism without proselytizing. I suspect that someone might see the shirt and ask the wearer a question. What better way to start conversations about Unitarian Universalism than with a question?!

Purim Gifts for the Whole Family: Adorable T-Shirts

2009-02-07T23:08:00.003-05:00

Purim starts March 9th, 2009, and my store, Little Characters, has a great collection of designs for Jewish babies, kids, teens, and parents. These make cute gifts, and the baby clothes all cost under $20.

CLICK ANY PICTURE TO BUY NOW!
The T-shirts for the babies and children come first.

I am proud of this design. Some other designers have focused on Esther's looks, but it took more than a pretty face to save her people. She risked her own safety to cleverly arrange things with her husband. She's a real inspiration.

This design is perfect for your little noisemaker!

Your baby or toddler might not be ready to take part in all the Purim festivities, but at least s/he can enjoy eating Hamantaschen!

Adorable Holi Baby T-Shirts, Onesies, Bibs: Great Gifts for Hindu Festival

2009-01-24T12:28:00.004-05:00

My online store, Little Characters, has some brand new baby clothes for Hindu babies ready to celebrate the spring holiday of Holi. There's a nice collection of kids', junior, men, women's, plus-size, and maternity clothes for Holi, too! These are all original designs hand-drawn by me (Kerridwen).

Just CLICK ANY PICTURE below to BUY NOW.

I'm extremely proud of my Holi designs! I think they are a great expression of my personal values and my artistic style.

It is very important to me to celebrate religious diversity, and unfortunately, Hinduism and other polytheistic faiths are often misunderstood, trivialized, or ignored. There are so many holidays in the Hindu tradition, so I had a hard time choosing which to feature in my designs. But Holi seems like such a fun festival! I've never participated in it myself, but I can imagine how much I would love to become a running paint canvass! And I think this holiday in particular is one that really gives children a chance to go a bit wild and just be kids. I'm definitely in favor of that!

I really like the way my drawings turned out, too. I didn't compromise to make them more marketable. I love the way the baby's shirt is hugging a lovely chubby belly. I like the curls arcing over the head and the way the paint spray looks like a firework. I just enjoyed being able to use vibrant color, too: especially the pink/orange combination that is a lot more common in India than in America. It was a joy to draw this design. I hope it adds to the joy of some Hindu family's celebration.

Fantasy Babies

2009-01-14T22:35:00.002-05:00

I don't think I've had a chance to brag about my Fantasy designs for baby T-shirts, onesies, and bibs.

I'm in a bit of a bad mood, and it will cheer me up to show off my Future DM design for baby clothes. Click on any of the pictures to BUY NOW.

I am definitely the kind of gal to have lots of geeks for friends, so I'm glad to have designed something that would make a good gift for any role playing, dungeon mastering geeks who become parents. I think my drawing of this little kid is especially cute, and I like the bright blue color in the dragon. I wish that the drawing didn't end so abruptly with the line across the bottom, but dragons are big and there's only so much design space for baby clothes! I spent forever drawing and coloring in each of the dragon's scales, and now that I see it, I think it actually would have looked better if I just made the scales bigger. Live and learn. Someday when I am rolling in free time, I'll add more message options, so there are also onesies, T-shirts, and bibs that say "Future Player" "Role Playing Baby" "That's How I Roll" (see the 20 sided die), etc.

Sometimes It Sucks to be a Work From Home Mom

2009-01-14T22:25:00.002-05:00

Don't get me wrong. I love the creative part. It makes me really happy to draw my little pictures of babies and toddlers. And if I stop and think about it, it's fabulous that there are people all over America (not A LOT of people, but they are spread out geographically) whose infants are wearing my designs.

But it's been ages since I've actually drawn a picture. I've been spending all my available "me time" on uploading the drawings, writing the descriptions for the store, and . . . as much free online advertising as I can bear.

Okay, I shouldn't just focus on the negative. The online advertising can be a lot of fun, too, or I just wouldn't be spending so much time on it. I do get a chance to be creative when I'm creating lenses on Squidoo: Little Characters Baby Clothes Lens or adding entries to my blogs: Obama Baby Clothes, Baby Nicknames Onesies, and Jewish Baby Clothes. But they do suck up a whole lot of time.

And then there was yesterday. My husband had helped me design flyers and I thought I would go to a few local grocery stores and post them. We went to the store closest to home and I bought my son a banana. Happy times.

We drove to the next one on my list - taking a slight detour to look for Starbucks (which we couldn't find!) - and arriving about 15 minutes later. My son is starting to get pretty tired of being taken in and out of moving things with seatbelts. Carts, cars . . . kinda all the same! But he goes along with me and I discover that this Giant doesn't have a community bulletin board. Aargh.

I try to salvage the whole mission by taking him to a funky coffeehouse nearby. This way, he can just sit with me a little while and have fun, right? Well, the only way an 18 month old can really do that is by being strapped into a highchair! More seatbelts - though this isn't a moving thing. Luckily, they have cookies. I'm not especially proud of this, but I let him eat a big chocolate chip cookie all by himself. (Well, he did share it with his Cookie Monster doll) We talk to Daddy on the cell phone, my little guy says "Wubba" (which is Sesame Street monster talk for "I love you"), and I plan to try just one more grocery store on the way home.

My son throws a fit when I try to get him back in the car. I guess that this is normal for his age, and I can certainly understand his frustration, but for a second or two I really didn't know how we were going to get home. He was bucking and it took everything I had to get him safely in that carseat in as gentle a manner as possible. I promised him we were going straight home. Enough is enough. He is normally so good in cars with all my mama errands, so I had clearly pushed the limit.

And after all this, I just wonder, what did I really accomplish? I caused my sweet-mannered little boy to have a tantrum and bribed him with a hugely sugary snack, and what do I have to show for it? Two flyers hanging on bulletin boards hidden by restrooms.

Okay, I'm going to draw now.

Personalized Valentine's Day Baby Clothes

2008-12-28T00:29:00.005-05:00

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

2008-12-23T13:56:00.003-05:00

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

2008-12-22T19:38:00.000-05:00

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

2008-12-10T02:13:00.000-05:00

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

2008-11-30T01:59:00.004-05:00

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

2008-11-30T01:26:00.004-05:00

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

2008-11-05T17:12:00.004-05:00

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

2008-10-30T00:10:00.004-04:00

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

2008-10-28T18:10:00.004-04:00

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

2008-10-18T14:52:00.004-04:00

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

2008-10-18T14:07:00.004-04:00

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

2008-10-14T19:17:00.004-04:00

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

2008-10-14T00:26:00.002-04:00

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

2008-10-06T21:31:00.004-04:00

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

2008-10-03T20:57:00.006-04:00

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

2008-09-28T01:06:00.004-04:00

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

2008-09-18T20:00:00.000-04:00

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

2008-09-14T23:45:00.005-04:00

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

2008-09-09T14:14:00.006-04:00

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

Just created Rosh Hashanah baby / toddler clothes

2008-09-07T22:03:00.005-04:00

I'm really excited about the designs I just added for Rosh Hashana! Click here to see them.

The timing for this has worked so well, because I just opened up the shop recently and Rosh Hashana starts September 29th. I'm not Jewish, but I always hated it when people only referred to Jewish holidays as a sort of token afterthought linked to a Christian holiday. When I was a teacher, it really troubled me that the children learned about a minor holiday like Hannukah just because it happened near Christmas, but never heard anything about the High Holy Days. I didn't have much influence over the situation when I was teaching in public schools, but with my own store, I have the freedom to try to act on my principles.

So, for any parents out there who want a sweet way for their babies or toddlers to wish people L'Shanah Tovah, here's your chance!

I Love This Job!

2008-08-31T07:23:00.005-04:00

"Work is love made visible" – Kahlil Gibran

This is one of my favorite quotes. I've been very fortunate to have jobs throughout my life that expressed this. I loved teaching children, and I cared about them so much. I felt invigorated and challenged when I taught psychology and philosophy in England. The best job I have ever had is definitely being a mother, and it is well worth all the effort it takes. Now, I seem to have stumbled upon another job that brings me a lot of happiness: drawing designs for baby and toddler clothes.

I constantly drew as a child and teenager, and I always preferred to draw people. It’s great to be reconnecting with my creative side. Managing the CafePress shop takes a lot of hard work: I’m honestly shocked by how many hours I’ve spent just cleaning up images on the computer. But whenever I get the rare gift of "me time" - it truly is rare for a mother - I always rush to spend it on this.

This is definitely a team effort. My husband, Patrick, is a masterful techie: he loves to solve problems with his computer and he has supported me tremendously since I first asked him whether he thought I should give this a try.

I was jumping up and down with joy yesterday when I made my first sale, and I’m eager to show my friends and family our website. I’m proud of what we’ve created. I believe my drawings have a unique character of their own, and the multicultural features and diverse characters (jock, hippy, goth, nerd, etc) make it likely that families will be able to find a design that matches their style. Now, I just have to wait to see if this job will reveal itself to be a paid or volunteer position!