Me

My photo
English teacher by day, pretending to be a t-shirt designer by night. Pretty successful at the day job, so that's kind of good.

Friday, March 25, 2011

Dreams

"Dreams" - Created for shirt.woot Derby #192  "Woodcuts" - Whales want to fly. Birds want to swim. We all have dreams. Please vote! http://shirt.woot.com/Derby/Entry.aspx?id=51230

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Friday, March 4, 2011

All In

"All In" - Created for shirt.woot Derby #189 "Woodland Animals" - A collaboration with the amazingly talented kevlar51! http://shirt.woot.com/Derby/Entry.aspx?id=50643

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

I Am Legendary

"I Am Legendary" - WIP - A mashup of the movie I Am Legend and the legendary Pokemon Mewtwo. Mewtwo is supposed to look like a hemocyte (vampire dude) from the movie. I think I need to redraw his head. Not loving the shape of it. 



Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Dr. Who Design Needs Some Lovin'

*EDIT: Printing soon at Qwertee!


Dr. Who fans! Would you like to see this T-shirt design printed? Vote for “Bad Wolf Corporation” at Qwertee.com. Reblog and let’s get this baby printed!!! http://qwertee.com/product/bad-wolf-corporation/

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

My Horn Can Pierce the Sky!

"My Horn Can Pierce the Sky!" - An updated version of my unicorn design. I re-drew some parts.



Monday, February 21, 2011

Saturday, February 19, 2011

Friday, February 18, 2011

February 18, 2011

Day 46: Well, after 45 days of making something every day, I've reached an epiphany. Trying to draw something every single day really isn't working for me. I feel like I'm forcing myself to make just anything at the risk of losing inspiration and creativity. I think I need to step back and draw when I feel inspired. I'm also feeling a little discouraged right now. My designs aren't getting the feedback I thought they would. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong at this point. I started designing t-shirts for fun. At this point, I'm over-thinking it and spending way too much time worrying about it. I want it to be just for fun again. 


*Edit: And just when I was starting to feel discouraged, some good news came my way. :) Details soon!

Thursday, February 17, 2011

February 17, 2011

Day 47 - "The Vinyl Four" - Created for shirt.woot Derby #187 "Retro Audio: Records, Tapes, and CDs." 



Monday, February 14, 2011

February 14, 2011

Day 44: "Happy Valentine's Day!" - Today I baked our traditional heart shaped Valentine cake for my kiddo. Chocolate fudge with strawberry icing. The perfect follow up to the delicious steak dinner the hubby made for us. Yum!



Sunday, February 13, 2011

February 13, 2011

Day 43: "Faces" - Today I just practiced drawing faces and writing with my tablet. Fun!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

February 12, 2011

Day 42: "Cyclops Had an Unfortunate Name" - Created for shirt.woot Derby #186 "Oddball." I fully expect to get no more than 5 votes on this, but I had fun making it and I practiced drawing with my tablet.  
Edit: Just as I predicted, it had all of 5 votes when I woke up this morning so I took it down. I wish there was some feedback so I could figure out what people don't like. I thought it was funny. I must have really bad taste in t-shirts.

Friday, February 11, 2011

February 11, 2011

Day 41 - "Have a Nerd Day!" - Nerds are better than not nerds. Created for shirt.woot Derby #186 "Oddball." http://shirt.woot.com/Derby/Entry.aspx?id=50055

Thursday, February 10, 2011

February 10, 2011

Day 40 - "Are You My Mother?" - Created for shirt.woot Derby #186 "Oddball." I don't think that's his mother.



Wednesday, February 9, 2011

February 9, 2011

Day 39: "Goldilocks and the Three Ratings" - What if Goldilocks had a ratings system she could follow when she arrived at the Three Bears house? I think that story would have turned out different.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Monday, February 7, 2011

Sunday, February 6, 2011

February 6, 2011

Day 36: "Coffee and Tea and Cocoa Oh My!" - I finished up my design for the Threadless Thermos challenge. I'm crossing my fingers it does well. http://www.threadless.com/submission/323104/Coffee_and_Tea_and_Cocoa_Oh_My
Coffee and Tea and Cocoa Oh My! - Threadless, Best T-shirts Ever


Saturday, February 5, 2011

February 4, 2011

Day 36: I spent the afternoon making wedding invitations for one of my dearest friends in the whole world. An afternoon well spent full of laughter and sisterhood. :D


Friday, February 4, 2011

February 4, 2011

Day 35 - Today I made nothing, but I thought about it. I think that should count.

Thursday, February 3, 2011

February 3, 2011

Day 34: "Taloned Tiger Tribal Tattoo Taunting Thumper" - Created for shirt.woot Derby #185 "Things That Start with the Letter T." Today is Chinese New Year. It is the year of the rabbit. Bye bye tiger, hello rabbit. I drew everything with my tablet for this design. This is the first time I didn't use the pen tool as a crutch. Practice makes perfect? Better keep practicing!


And the sketches to go with the design.



Wednesday, February 2, 2011

February 2, 2011

Day 33: "Coffee, Tea or Me?" - I'm attempting to make a design for the Thermos contest at Threadless. I haven't had much luck over there, but I'm going to give it a shot anyway. This is most definitely a WIP.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

February 1, 2011

Day 32: "Mustaches are Distinguished" - I created this design for the Goodjoe "Stand Up for a Cause" contest. The background behind this design has its roots in the school where I teach. Each year the male teachers in my school hold a Mustachepalooza. It's a competition to see who can grow the best mustache. The students and teachers in my school donate money to the jar of the teacher who they think should win the contest. After the winner is declared, the money is donated to the local food cupboard/family literacy center. I'm very proud of the community in my school for raising money and awareness for this cause. The bonus, everyone has fun during Mustachepalooza! http://www.goodjoe.com/Contests/Design.aspx?id=8de3f41a-ce12-45ec-b2ef-d6c822299b17


Monday, January 31, 2011

January 31, 2011

Day 31 - "The Very Unhappy Fail Whale" - I hate that stupid Twitter fail whale. It's so annoying.

Sunday, January 30, 2011

January 30, 2011

Day 30: "Falling Stargyle 2.0" - I changed my Falling Stargyle design to meet the ever growing demand for pop culture shirts. The generic stars have been replaced with invincibility stars from the Super Mario Brothers games. I showed this version to my teenage son and naturally he squealed with glee and expressed his absolute need to wear this shirt on his chest immediately. ::sigh:: Ok, kids. Pop culture it is!


Saturday, January 29, 2011

January 29, 2011

Day 29 - "Frankie says..." - Created for the Threadless "Sharpie" contest. Not up for voting yet, but will be shortly! http://www.threadless.com/submission/321766/Frankie_says 

Friday, January 28, 2011

January 28, 2011

Day 28: "Windows" - Well, got rejected the first time around for using photos. (?) Ok, fine. Here is a resub with different clouds. Just a bunch of swirly twirlies now. I hope I can get the votes back.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

January 27, 2011

Day 27: "Windows" - Created for shirt.woot Derby #184 "India." Look through the windows and peek into India.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

January 26, 2011

Day 26: "There's a Tiger in the Bathroom" - The Hangover is one of my all time favorite movies and this is one of the most classic lines ever to be spoken on a movie screen: "Tigers love pepper. They hate cinnamon." Makes me laugh every time I see it.



Tuesday, January 25, 2011

January 25, 2011

Day 25: "The Gunslinger" - Added the background today and played around with halftones. I think it came out pretty nice!



Monday, January 24, 2011

January 24, 2011

Day 24: "The Gunslinger" - The Dark Tower series remains one of my all time favorite stories. Stephen King wrote an epic tale and created an imaginative world that had me hooked from the very first line. "The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed." This is a little fan art I threw together to honor that first line. It was also an opportunity to practice using the Photoshop pencil tool with my tablet and to play with shading. It's a WIP. I'll probably work on adding the desert floor and background tomorrow.


Sunday, January 23, 2011

January 23, 2011

Day 23 - "We Have to Go Back" - The final version of my LOST/Jack Daniels inspired design. I submitted this one to Teefury. Cross your fingers. :)

Saturday, January 22, 2011

January 22, 2011

Day 22: "Have a Nerd Day!" - Still needs a little work on the braces but I'm too tired to fix it right now.

Friday, January 21, 2011

January 21, 2011

Day 21: "Pajamas are Awesome" - I re-worked this design and subbed it to Woot as a daily entry. I really want to wear this shirt to work.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

January 20, 2011

Day 20: "Falling Stargyle" - Created for shirt.woot derby #183 "Stars." 

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

January 19, 2011

Day 19: "Pajamas are Awesome" - Every morning, I wake up and cringe at the thought of getting dressed up for work. Working with kids requires a lot of running around and getting down on the floor to play games and work on projects. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't wish I could wear pajamas to work. This shirt is dedicated to my favorite pair of pajamas. I miss you so when I'm at work! 



Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Monday, January 17, 2011

January 17, 2011

Day 17: "Heart Burn v.2" - Ok, so I tried yet another version of the heart burn design. Smaller on the shirt, placed over the heart, and less swirly twirly thingies. Yeah, it's still a flop. I officially give up on this derby. Without the skill to halftone the heck out of flames, I don't think I'm going to do too well this week. Time to move on to another project. I'm thinking pirates... argh!

Sunday, January 16, 2011

January 16, 2011

Day 16: "Heart Burn" - Another one created for the "Fire" derby. I wanted to draw a blue flame and I want a girlie shirt. Not too many of those out there.

Saturday, January 15, 2011

January 15, 2011

Day 15: "Fire! Fire! Uh huh huh huh." - I help but think of Beavis and Butthead every time I think about this derby theme. I'm certain this will get 2 votes and/or get rejected for some reason. The rejectionator seems to have found a new life. Good for the deserved rejections that usually manage to squeak by, but bad for all the rejections that have been wrong so far.

Friday, January 14, 2011

January 14, 2011

Day 14: "Fire Extinguishers Are Bullies" - Created for Derby #182 "Fire." Well, this one got rejected in half a second flat for gradients. Funny thing is, there aren't any gradients. How frustrating is that? I re-subbed right away with a close-up of the halftones. Hopefully it will stick around now. Whatever happens with this design, I really enjoyed drawing it. :D 



I am immensely lazy when it comes to scanning in sketches. I usually just take a picture with my iPhone and email it to myself, then draw over it it in Photoshop. It works for me!

Thursday, January 13, 2011

January 13, 2011

Day 13: "Some Like It Hot" - I prefer my hot sauce fire hot. Created for shirt.woot Derby #182 Fire. 
Edit 1/14/11: Ok, so I posted this in the derby and after two hours I had 2 whole votes, 1 of which was mine. It must be very sucky so I took it down. No big deal. I have a much better idea sketched out that I will be working on tonight. Stay tuned...



Wednesday, January 12, 2011

January 12, 2011

Day 12: "We Have To Go Back" - Finished the LOST design tonight. I'm pretty happy with the way this turned out. I couldn't find the right font for "Jack Shepard" so I drew it in Photoshop using the pen tool.