Labels

Re: too many shirts, not enough labels.

I couldn't find anyone on-line that did rush deliveries for labels, so I silkscreened them myself tonight. Thankfully, I had an old screen with text still set. They're drying right now, & I'll heat set/cut them when they're done. This means I will have to cut in a straight line. Which is hard for me. Probably because I'm left-handed.

My sister is also left-handed, & we often bond over not being able to use simple tools like can openers & notebooks. Every year, we used to celebrate National Left-Handers Day (August 16th?) with all of our left-handed friends.

Either way, I'm in trouble with these labels & scissors & straight lines. I thought I had made roughly 90 new shirts since the October Fair, but when I did inventory tonight, I had 153 new shirts & 4 bags.

And my website isn't working for some reason right now. Or maybe it's me. Or my computer. Or my left-handed inability to type a url in.

xoxo
Strongie

Quick Post

Sit back, relax, & enjoy this picture of a pony. No new pictures of the t-shirts today...

In t-shirt news, however, I just realized I don't have enough labels for the new shirts I've made. I have 26 labels, but almost 90 new shirts. Oops.....I think some of the shirts will have to go without labels.

To keep it consistent, the new lines will probably not have them (crow/hamburger).

And in other (unrelated) news, I had a pretzel croissant at the City Bakery today (by Union Square), which was the MOST DELICIOUS thing I have ever eaten. Please go there. Or if you know someone in New York, have them mail you one. I also bumped into Max, who was on his way to buy a gingersnap.

xoxo
Strongie

Bleeech

Today, I bleached some of the hamburger shirts. Unfortunately, I'm a bit paranoid with fumes & such, which took some of the fun out of it. I wore yellow rubber gloves, & covered my nose & mouth while spraying. Afterwards, I sprayed them with a little paint to give some of the color back. I tried one on, & it looks really fun. I'm going to have to keep one for myself to wear.



This is a crow + cloud. In a very bad photo. The cloud is polka-dots, which is not clear. I have some in other colors too.

Last night, I bought the Sufjan Stevens Christmas album from I-Tunes. I listened to it last night & today while I worked to get into the Christmas spirit. This made me panic about shopping. Because I'm never ready. And ALWAYS wait until the last minute & spend too much.

On my own Christmas wish list is this necklace by Erica Weiner (EricaWeiner.com). I have one of her lion necklaces, which I wear every day. Hopefully Santa will put this in my stocking.



I also want socks, pajama bottoms, & a safety vest to jog at night with.

xoxo
Strongie

Peanut Burgers

This is one of the peanut baby tees I've been working on. I'll also have some in youth sizes.



Today I silkscreened the sesame seeds onto the hamburger shirts. Some of the registrations are CRAZY, but I kind of like it. The wacky lettuce one in this photo is a good example.

Tomorrow, I'll be bleach treating some of the shirts that are 'factory seconds' which is to say, I got paint all over some of them. I can be very messy, & the hamburger shirts suffered because of this. My room is also suffering from this, & needs to be cleaned tonight.

Sometimes, I'm a little like PigPen from the Peanuts gang.

xoxo
Strongie

Tees

Today I silkscreened the crow t-shirts. The weather was beautiful, & it was nice to be outside.



I have the grey in several sizes & the colors in one-offs (i.e. I decided to use shirt leftovers with this print). Also, some will have appliqued elements incorporated. Think cloud.



I also made four small bags with this image on them (not pictured).

Next, I'll be bleach treating some of the hamburger shirts, & printing sesame seeds on the remainder.

Let's hope it stays dry outside!

I've also been working on the peanut baby tees, which I'll post tomorrow. The baby tees I'll have for the fairs will be: peanut, rabbit, cloud, & octopus. I'll also have some youth sizes with these images as well. At the last fair, several people wanted larger sizes, so hopefully, this will do the trick.

xoxo
Strongie

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm setting a silkscreen tonight for a crow. The image is based on the drawing above, although it's significantly more graphic on the screen. I also just back from JoAnn's fabrics, where I purchased light brown fabric to make peanuts.

Two people asked me what I was going to do with the fabric (thinking turkeys). I set them straight by saying "Peanuts. Lots of peanuts, which is why I need this color. I need to make a lot of peanuts."

And I do. On Friday I'll be making peanuts.

xoxo
Strongie

........

Favorite things right now:

http://smalldogarific.wordpress.com/
http://www.ericaweiner.com/shop.php
http://seamsters.net/
http://amyruppel.com/

I also saw a shirt with a hand drawn picture of a clock. In sloppy print, it said "Fuck you, time," which I love.

xoxo
Strongie

Burger Time

Today, I silkscreened the hamburger buns onto the shirt. In these photos, the buns look purple, which is not the case, but I'm too lazy to adjust it. Please imagine a much warmer brown for the buns.



And close-up. I'm debating whether or not to include sesame seeds. The screen is prepared, but with the cold weather, it's difficult to print outside (nothing dries).

The shirts look very homemade, which I like. Things have become so slick & professional, & lately, I've been preferring a handcrafted look. Initially, I was debating whether or not to send them out to be printed, but I'm glad I didn't. They were fun to make.

xoxo
Strongie

Cheese + Lettuce

Today I silkscreened the cheese & lettuce for the hamburgers.



Here is a close-up. Tomorrow, I'll be adding the buns & sesame seeds.



And these are my BELOVED hinge clamps, which, for whatever reason, were hard to find. No one carries them, although I'm sure they're useful for more than silkscreening.

Still stitching other tees, & hoping to get these hamburgers finished by tomorrow. Then, I need to make a peanut pattern on fabric. Not pictures of peanuts, but the pattern ON peanuts (plaid-ish) for more shirts.

Unfortunately, I'm terrible at managing my time, & am panic stricken about the December sales. I also started a new job, which I didn't factor in time-wise. Regardless, I'm looking forward to the fairs very much, & can't wait to debut some new shirts.

xoxo
Strongie

Old Painting

"Now Look At What You've Done"

This is an older painting I made (a little over a year ago), that I tried to scan in sections onto Photoshop (it's much larger than my other work). I got as far as the above image (which is terribly disjoined/poor quality), & gave up. As a result, it never made it onto my website, although I like it quite a bit.



This is also too large for my scanner bed. It's a poster I ripped off a wall in Iceland.

Have a great night everyone!

xoxo
Strongie

Hamburgers

Today I silkscreened the first color of the hamburger shirts (which is the actual hamburger). Next will be: cheese, lettuce, hamburger bun, & sesame seeds.

I'm waiting for hinge clamps that I ordered, which will let me properly register the other hamburger parts. Hopefully, I'll get the clamps this week, so I can finish silkscreening next weekend.

In the meantime, I'll be stitching baby shirts (rabbit, octopus, cloud).

xoxo
Strongie

Friday

This is a picture of one of my favorite things. It lives in Brooke & Way's warehouse in RI.

Today, I set two silkscreens for the hamburger tee. It's a 5 color silkscreen, & I'll start printing this Sunday.

Then, on Monday, I start a new job!

TGIF
Strongie

Welcome November

Happy belated Happy Halloween everyone!

I celebrated by going to Brooke's party in Providence, RI, where I wore:



And before I went, I made some paintings:



"Unfortunately, the City Was Getting Too Close to the Sky"



"Having Grown More Despondent Because of the Happy Villagers, He Took Actions to Remedy This At Once"

I'm currently setting silkscreens for a hamburger tee I'm making. They'll be debuting at the Christmas fairs (Boston Bizaar & RISD).

xoxo
Strongie