Summer Market Announcement!

This summer I'm bringing You & Mia to the streets of Vancouver!  So exciting.

In July and September I'll be selling my latest and greatest items at the Blim Monthly Markets (more info to come). There will be t-shirts with bikes, new children's aprons, pencil cases with Vespas, pillow cases with hippos, and hopefully some great tote bags for your groceries and other items that need to be carried around.

The Blim  Market is a great opportunity to see all the creative talents of local crafts people and enjoy a day of outdoors shopping. Hopefully the sun is shining.

ABC's of Biking Tuning

It's Spring, which means Summer comes afterwuuuurds and that means beach, bikini, longer days and shorter pants (also known as shorts). Perhaps you've been cooped up inside all winter and if you think the gym is an unmentionable institution of the modern world, then go biking outside. But, besides the exercise benefits, do you really need an excuse to bike? I really can't say anything negative about biking. I love it. So, for practical purposes I'm posting this How Tuesday video from Etsy because I realize not everyone knows how to tune their own bike (me included, ahem) and having a bike with functional breaks is a good thing in my book!

I heart my dog

To this day, I haven't been able to find a t-shirt with an image of a dog I actually like. I see loads of logo-looking images, cheesy silhouettes or designs put together with prefab images and font. So, a few years ago I set out to make a t-shirt with a dog that I liked. As usual, I had great plans for these t-shirts. I was going to revolutionize fashion for dog lovers all around! I figured I'd sell them wholesale in pet stores and dog lovers would come running from all parks and beaches (where else would dog lovers be?) in order to get one of my fantastic dog designs. But alas, one thing lead to another and I forgot about it, other things filled my schedule and suddenly I just plain forgot about it.



I still haven't seen another cool dog t-shirt I really liked. But for now, the prints remain another item on my To Do list and the template is in the folder marked "Develop".

Bornholm, a Baltic Gem

Bornholm is truly one of Denmark's best holiday destinations for both tourists and locals alike. First off, it's the sunniest location in the country. The tiny island is full of bike paths, leading to unique galleries, local eateries and granite cliffs leading to hidden beaches.

A few years ago I made some t-shirts for a family reunion. We were all gathering on the small Baltic island of Bornholm, off the coast of Sweden. I wanted the t-shirts to be something everyone could actually use and not have something boring written on it, like "Family Reunion 2008". I settled for a simple image, but one that is iconic and well-recognized once you know Bornholm, the smokehouse.

Back then I had never used photo emulsion to print an image and had always relied on cutting out the template by hand. I knew I needed thin lines and was determined to get a good result for the reunion. A bit of beginner's luck, reading the instructions and off I went.

I even added sparkly stars to some of the shirts, giving them a very cute effect. The end result was an almost watercolor look from the paint being transferred freely on the sky and then overlapped by the contrasting black lines, like permanent marker.

Vespa Mania

I bought a 1988 Vespa Bajaj from India. Many Vespa enthusiasts don't recognize it as a "real" Vespa. I've even had a hard time getting a mechanic to work on it! I know, I know, Bajaj and Piaggio split in 1970, but frankly, I couldn't care less if my "Wespa" is real or not, I just care that it's from India. I remember these durable scooters as a kid and owning one for myself is a joy.

Bajaj Auto does make a few scooters that have a remote resemblance to the early Vespa®. Forty years ago, Bajaj Auto was building Vespa® scooter under license from Piaggio.  Splitting with Piaggio around 1970, Bajaj Auto set off on their own engineering and design path. -Quoted from Bajaj USA

These are some of the earliest t-shirt prints I made. I sketched the image and overlay a transparency (similar to that used for an overhead projector) and using an exacto knife, I would cut out the stencil by hand. It was moderately time-consuming and my hand would get soar after a while, but this was before I knew how to use photo emulsion.

As with most of my designs, I had big hopes for the Vespas. I envisioned the t-shirts hanging in mechanic shops and retail stores with other equally cool items. Did I mention my binder labeled "To Do"? Yeah, the Vespa t-shirts have been very popular amongst friends and co-workers but I've never actually gotten to hanging them in public to sell. Tsk, tsk, tsk...