just in time for christmas… last night a brass band saved my life tshirts and hoodies are available once more!! and also this time, kids shirts AND fruit of the loom t’s in sizes up to 5XL!!!
Category Archives: new orleans
last night a brass band saved my life…
my latest creative obsession has been working on this tshirt design to use on the website teespring.com – a crowdfunding tshirt print-on-demand site. don’t worry, it’s no cafe press. these shirts get silkscreened by actual silkscreen printers (humans!) and the quality is so much better than cafe press or other similar digital print-on-demand sites. and the twist is, it’s crowdfunded, so sort of like pre-ordering – it only gets printed if enough pre-orders are made. you set your own goals for each design and your level of profit, per shirt, then varies based on your goal. and there’s no upfront expense to the creator, except the labor that goes into designing it. you can use their very easy-to-use online design tool, or you can upload your own graphics.
for this design, i chose to upload my own graphic, because i’m very interested in retaining creative control over this slogan and tshirt design. so i had to teach myself adobe illustrator in order to figure out how to make a vector graphic (!). it took a little while, but i think i got it now.
and so the result is this:
you can see the campaign here:Â http://teespring.com/lastnightabrassbandsavedmylife. several different styles and brands of shirts and a few different colors – hopefully something for everyone.
and she’s back!
look what i did last weekend!!
and the best part? i sold all three within a few hours of posting them up on facebook, twitter and/or instagram!
mind you, these were all half-finished projects staring me down in the shed for over a year. it didn’t take all that much to get them finished and ready for sale. but it is movement… out of the rut i’ve been in for the past little while. and so i am celebrating that hopefully i am getting my groove back.
all it took was 3 hours out at jazzfest last friday (thank you alice and jen for making that free ticket happen!), wandering around all the artists’ booths in congo, louisiana folk life, and contemporary areas, seeing all the amazing and beautiful artwork out there. and hearing some awesome music. and eating some yummy food. and hanging out with wonderful friends. and just celebrating and honoring my anniversary with new orleans – since it was jazzfest that basically convinced me that new orleans was the home i had always yearned for but never had before i stepped foot on its shifting, swampy soil. yep, my 24th anniversary with new orleans was this jazzfest (i really don’t count the years i was away due to katrina – my heart was still here) and well, it delivered quite a lovely anniversary present to me: i got a little creative spark back.
so stay tuned. hopefully lots more to come!
recent news…
so before i get to totally NEW news…
last month i participated in the true colors lgbtq art show. i submitted my rachel maddow stencil piece “oh rachel” (pictured below) and it was accepted and exhibited at ashe cultural arts center during pride week. it was an honor and was kinda just the kick in the pants i needed to start thinking about making more art. and the best news is… the piece sold! thank you to whoever bought it, and to the show’s organizers holis hannan and maxx sizeler. and to my dear friend isobel who i know was really the one responsible for me being in that show – love you, darlin. thanks.
update… and, scooters!
wow, it’s been a while since i wrote here last. sorry bout that, y’all. but ever since i made up my mind to go into the dog-walking/pet-sitting biz, it’s kinda all i’ve been doing. there’s been no time for making of art or craft. i pretty much have been walking dogs 9am-4pm every weekday, sometimes more, and pet-sitting on the weekends. and when i’m not actively caring for people’s pets, i’m recuperating from being out in this scorching heat all day. it does really take a lot out of a person. it’s been hectic, and i’m just now getting to a point where i’m learning how to tailor my schedule to have some downtime.
but i know it will get better. i will figure out how to have more free time, and how to balance out the work with the creative time and the leisure time. it’s a whole new world for me now. and it will just take a little while for me to figure it all out.
all this being said, i did actually find the time this weekend to make a fresh batch of scooter clocks, inspired by the fact that amerivespa – the national scooter rally put on by the vespa club of america – is in town here in nola this weekend. i had originally been thinking, months ago, that i was going to be a vendor at the event, setting up a booth over the weekend. but as my life took its exciting twists and turns, it ended up not really being possible. but then my friend mallory of missmalaprop.com said she had been asked to be a vendor, and since she carries some of my stuff in her online shop, i thought, well maybe i can give her a few things to try to sell at the event.
so i woke up early on saturday morning, before the heat got too bad, and whipped up a bunch of new scooter stencil clocks in different colors. (see pic above.) i have to say, it felt really good to be making something again. i had actual *fun* doing it, which was nice.
as it turned out, however, the organizers of the vendor area never got back to mallory to confirm her participation, so she didn’t end up doing it. so now i have seven fresh scooter clocks in various colors that have no way to actually be seen by the scooter-fanatical attendees of amerivespa.
so i suppose i will spend some of my time this lazy sunday afternoon posting these to my etsy shop. but if you’re interested in any of them before i get around to doing so, just email me. if you are local or in town for amerivespa, i can deliver. or, as always, i can ship to anywhere. $30 cash and carry. $8 more for shipping/paypal fees. (i charge $40 on etsy to cover the etsy fees too.)
hopefully i’ll find the time and inspiration to make some more stuff soon. stay tuned!
jazz fest funky lil’ art show!
ok, so i have the info now about the opening for the art show i’ll be in during jazz fest:
creative outlet presents:
the 6th edition jazz fest funky lil’ art show!
2909 ponce de leon st. (corner of n. white).
opening event: friday, april 22nd, 6pm-9pm
open-house and porch party each night after jazz fest from 6pm – 9pm
featuring some fabulous lil’ art from these artists & crafters:
alice atkinson, whitney cato, yvette chapotel, nicole crochet, margaret coble, chris cressionnie, john d’addario, carina gale, chris kirsch, rachelle matherne, jeanette meyer, bud moore, laura rapp, alice redman, giselle robert, carol springer, valerie turgeon, and maybe more….
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i’m so excited! i brought a whole bunch of stuff over to jen on sunday and i have a few more clocks to bring her tomorrow. the openings are always a crowded but really fun event, a sort of pre-jazz fest kickoff party. and all the art and craft is really reasonably priced – nothing is super expensive and all of it is really funky and different. much of it from artists who don’t do the gallery scene or even the market scene. always some rare and interesting finds to be had. come early to get all the best stuff, cuz stuff does sell fast!
hope to see y’all there!