Narrow Way by the Naked Pastor

Well, I'm smack in the middle of the Bible belt in Tennessee this week visiting some family - it's the perfect time to introduce the shop and designs of my newest long-distance friend/colleague, David Hayward, aka the Naked Pastor. David is just starting out in the t-shirt business, but he's no stranger to illustration - he has a great blog called (surprise) The Naked Pastor featuring some really great religious discussion and original cartoons/illustrations.

So here's a little taste of the Naked Pastor. This design is called Narrow Way - it's an original design by David (but I helped him a bit in getting the vector drawn up properly for approval). David's designs are really thought provoking - I'm confident that more great vector designs will be coming from the world of the Naked Pastor, as he builds up his Illustrator skill!

Check out David's shop here: http://nakedpastor.spreadshirt.com, or visit the guest designs section at the Insan Art Store to get this shirt and check out all of our other guest designs...

Jay-toberfest!

So, this is the 3rd attempt I've made at writing this feature...I first started it on Friday afternoon before some friends were coming over for some grilling and beer. Things (for this blog entry, at least) went downhill from there. We ended up having a little Oktoberfest - lots of dark beer and plenty of sausage grilled over an open fire! By the time the night was over, I wasn't really in any condition to blog, so I planned on finishing this on Saturday. Saturday rolled around, we did a nice 12 mile bike ride and then decided to have Oktoberfest, part 2 - more dark beer, plus TWO kinds of sausage this time (and some other assorted grillin's - that's the spread from Oktoberfest night 2 in the photo to the left).

Anyhoo, no Oktoberfest part 3 today - we need a break! But, that doesn't mean we can't have a t-shirt Oktoberfest, right?

It's been a bit since I've featured designs from a our cool German friend, Jay, from Van Tribe. So here's five shirt designs by Jay - a little something I'm calling, "Jay-toberfest"!

Triple Skull & Lucky Skull
I know I've touted Tat2ts as the Master of skulls, but he and Jay are both heavily into the skull genre (actually, they do designs for each others shops occasionally). Jay's got quite a nice collection of skull designs including the tribal reminiscent Triple Skull and the Lucky Skull: skull + lucky clovers = great, unique idea (not to mention the dropping leaf - a beautiful touch).


Fist of Love & Hate
Jay has a really great graphic style that carries through all of his work, whether it be tattoo, tribal or even /graphic slogan based. One of my favorite non-tribal/tattoo related designs from Jay is his Fist of Love and Hate design. The design is so simple and clean, but the graphic itself and the message are so powerful!



Breeding Demon
A number of Jay's designs are tribal inspired (or mixed with tribal elements). I really like his Breeding Demon design because, frankly, it's quite clever.


Twinkling Dead Flower
Yes...he even does flowers - Jay's got something for everyone. Of course, it's with his own personal touch, twisting tattoo and tribal elements into one sweet, unique design. The dead flower concept is morbid enough for men, yet feminine enough for the ladies (and it's featured on Spreadshirt's brand new unisex tie-dye).

Grab these shirts today in the guest designs section at the Insan Art Store, or check out Van Tribe to see more great designs from Jay and others...

27 New Designs from Insan Art

Well well, it has been a month since my last feature and what a busy month it has been! Over the past few weeks I've been doing a number of things, first and foremost grinding the rust out of my Jeep and patching and painting it. That was crazy. Then, I've been working on a book for my good friend Van Wagner. In between everything else, I worked on a whole slew of new designs! There's 27 in all including 3 new slogan/text designs and the rest are symbols based on real signs. Here's a peek at 12:


Three New Slogan designs:

Give Me Unlimited Internet or Give Me DEATH - This design is for all of us out there worried about the recent news of caps on bandwidth usage.
WARNING: May Contain More Than a Trace of Nut: This one was actually overheard being said by a certain Colbert on his report - it's too funny and so true, I need one for myself!
BEER, Now cheaper than gas! "Drink, Don't Drive." - This one is pretty self-explanatory.



Plus, new symbol designs:


Various Animal Warning symbols including Moose Warning (from Maine), Squid/Stinging Marine Animal Warning (one of my ocean/beach favorites), Giant Insect Warning (those skeeters are a bitch), plus Bear Warning and Croc Warning (not shown)...


...various sport/recreational symbols including Technical Rock Climbing (and not shown are Climbing/Mountaineer, Kayaking,
Biking, Swimming, Hang Gliding, Swinging, Skiing and Spelunking)...




...various "warning" symbols like Jet/Plane Warning, No Pirates Warning, Radioactivity/Death Warning and the "Crotch Fire" Warning (plus, not shown are Cliff, Shock, Thin Ice and Tsunami Warnings)...


..........plus, one very special symbol design (green shirt, bottom right) that is honestly from a real sign. It is a Japanese Subway

informational sign. Look at it briefly, what's your first impression?


OK, ready for the spoiler? From left to right it means: Person with injured arm, person with a child, pregnant woman and person with an injured leg.

Yes, seriously. Not what it looks like, huh?!?



Hehehehehe...

Anyhoo...click on any shirt to go directly to that design
section in my shop, or go directly to the Insan Art Store main page to check out all of the new designs!

Inspiration: Lotus - 5 designs by Giltlotus

Back from Hickory Fest - spent a few days recuperating (I'll probably be blogging about the weekend on the Insan Art Blog, sometime next week) and now my husband and I are headed out for some camping, hiking, biking and rock climbing, in-lieu of the honeymoon we're supposed to be on this weekend in Ireland (decided not to go this year because of the economy). But, before I go, I better throw down 5 new shirt designs! Being in a hurry, I'm doing a 5 design quick pick and as usual, a perfect candidate for this is Giltlotus, our resident Sensei of lotus and Asian inspired motif. Let's see what's she's been up to:

Chinese Peony Swag - one color & multi-color
This design is exactly the kind of shirt design that amazes me - Gilt (aka Amy) has got an eye for creating these lusciously intricate vector designs that still somehow meet Spreadshirt's design requirements. She must put a ton of time into creating these tasteful, yet technically printable motifs. I absolutely adore the multi-color Chinese peonies, but the one color version is JUST as striking!



Wave Kamon & Japanese Snake Kamon
If super intricate designs aren't your thing, Amy's got you covered, too! She's got an amazing line of Japanese Kamon style motifs (another I blogged previously) that are simple, yet striking. The wave kamon is a beautiful, clean example of a contemporary spin on traditional Japanese styling. The snake kamon is a bit more high energy with it's crisp repetition and tribal feel.







India Paisley
Amy's got quite the collection of paisley inspired designs, too - singles, multiples, one colors and multi-colors. She also has a number that are inspired by different regions. While I love them all, I had to pick the single India Paisley as my favorite to feature here!

Well, here's the part where I usually tell you, "Go buy these in my store!" Sure you can still do that - my store.....or make your own.

However, I wanted to put the link to Amy's designs she has available in the Spreadshirt Marketplace as well. She doesn't have a full store at Spreadshirt right now, so I encourage you all to check out her Marketplace designs here, if you see something you like, just click on "place the design on a product" to get started designing your own shirt.

You can also visit Amy's other shop, Ming Tees.

NEW the Insan Art Store & Designs by Insan Art

Howdy!

The Insan Art Store is ALL NEW with a fresh new layout that matches my homepage, plus several new designs. This remodel has been needed for a long time. I originally started out with just the stand-alone Spreadshirt shop. Then, I upgraded to a premium account and started expanding - I used the PA State Store as a guinea pig to test remodeling options. When I had that squared away I went on to the Squid Shop. Then summer came - LOL. But, it's finally done. A few minor layout alterations to work on, but it's there!


The first new design that I absolutely love is Nigga, Peas. It's offensive, but overall it's funny. It's a parody straight from the actual Green Giant. I was going for a disco/pimp kind of look.






The next design, Will Thrift is one I've had started ever since I made Thrift Store Chic (which has been completely re-designed as well). It's a parody of the Goodwill Logo. I grew up on a healthy diet of thrift store visits and clothes with my mother being the thrift shopping queen (and I'm next in line for that throne), so I had both those things in mind when I created Will Thrift as well as Thrift Store Chic.




Another new design is I'm a ctrl freak, made with myself in mind, but I figured that plenty of others would get it, too. I'm an avid user of programs like Photoshop, Illustrator and Dreamweaver in which your productivity is greatly increased by using keyboard shortcuts - many use the "ctrl" key. But, even everyday computer use can be streamlined by using "ctrl" plus other keys for things like cutting, pasting, etc. If you're truly a "ctrl freak", you'll totally understand this.

So, check out the all new remodel of the Insan Art Store and check out the new designs. As always, if you don't see something you like, you can make your own with our t-shirt designer!

Triple Feature from New Artist, Taikuodo

Introducing yet another new artist, Taikuodo (aka Andrew). Here's a quick pick - triple feature - power preview of three of his designs! Hehe.


Guinea Pig On Drugs
OK, I'll admit that this is my favorite of all Taikuodo's designs. I laughed so hard when I saw it!
Great concept. Great execution. Totally hilarious shirt.
'Nuff said.





Learn to Fly
This design stood out to me since I'm working on one that is a slightly similar idea. I think Andrew had the Foo Fighters in mind when he came up with this one. This is a really fun one to play with in the t-shirt designer - lots of great color combos to mess around with.





Love Machine
I love "Love Machine" because I'm a sucker for the triple 7's - my husband and I were married on 7-7-07 (more for the religious reference to the number). This design is a really cute take on traditional lucky 7 and slot designs. I'm curious as to whether the man is the artist himself?

Grab these shirts in the Insan Art Store, go make your own (under borrowed designs) or visit Taikuodo's whole collection here: http://kuoindustries.vze.com/

Attention Spreadshirt Shoppers!

I just wanted to let all Spreadshirt shoppers know that due to a high volume of summer t-shirt sales, Spreadshirt is FAR behind in the production process of all digital printed orders!

What to do if you've placed an order with a digital print:
Please be patient! All customers whose orders are effected should have received an email warning them of the delay. This email initially said it would be a delay of about 4 days, but that delay has grown to about 10 days! (I believe the email no longer states a specific time period) Regardless, your order will be produced as soon as possible! Spreadshirt wants to not only get all orders out, but make sure they're all printed properly as well.

What to do if you're looking to do some shopping at Spreadshirt right now:
Please, keep on buying our products at Spreadshirt!!! To ensure that there is no delay in your order at this time, we suggest sticking to ordering only plot printed items (vector graphics) as these are being produced in the proper amount of time. Not sure which type of graphic you're ordering? On each product detail page, whether in the Spreadshirt marketplace or in a shop, you'll see where it says "print type" in the details section: you're looking for something that says "flock" or "flex" print. Anything that contains the word "digital" will be delayed.

So, keep on shopping, buy lots of vector graphics (which are better than digital anyways!) and stay tuned. I'll post again when the digital design production at Spreadshirt is back to normal!

Thanks! Happy Summer Shopping!

MjrProductions Quick Pick!

Hey Everyone! Those of you who have been reading (and I thank you for sticking with me) know that this time of year is extremely busy for me. But, that doesn't mean there aren't any shirts to feature!! So, in an extra effort to get 'em out on time, I'm going to start doing some more multi-design features and quick picks...

... since MjrProductions is up next in the feature queue, I thought I'd talk about the rest of his really great vintage advertisement designs (you may remember I posted the first one a few months ago here). I loved the first design so much that I decided to feature some of the other vintage ads he's got:

MacNiven & Cameron
Vintage ad from the 1890's. Not sure what they're selling, but it's "Sold Everywhere" and a wise old owl watches over the commerce atop his neat, 4-way street sign (one of the signs does say "pens"). I'll bug Mjr about getting a better image of this design.

"REX" Tailor-Made Shirt
I think this is probably my favorite of the 3 (although, it could have something to do with the fact that I put it on my favorite style shirt...). It's a vintage ad from the 1890's and reads, "Proper Fit Guaranteed" & "Special Orders in Four Days". Lol, sounds like Spreadshirt. Again, need to bug Mjr for a better picture of the design because I really would like to know what the guy is putting up to his face - a pipe perhaps?







Ransomes Lawn Mowers
"Ransomes Lawn Mowers, the Best in the World!" This is a vintage ad from 1910. Mjr says that it was a "firm in my home town of Ipswich, UK". That's one hell of a funky looking lawn mower. They advertise both hand AND motor powered mowers.

So, if you're into vintage advertising, one of these shirts might be for you! Check them all out in our featured guest designs section at the Insan Art Store or go ahead and make your own shirt with our design your own t-shirt shop (to find these designs, please choose "grabbed designs" under the menu where it says "top graphics").

2x the Twisted Pleasure from Shivtees

If there's one thing I love about the designs from Shivtees, it's got to be the consistent theme of twisted sarcasm (I also dig the fact that ALL the designs maintain a very distinct style that is simple yet hugely professional!).

This first design from Shivtees is called "Gingerbread Cannibalism". The name alone is pretty catching. The design itself is SO simple, but has an extremely funny and hardy message. The gingerbread men make this shirt work for Christmas, but the sarcastic tone makes it a no-brainer for t-shirt loving jokesters to wear year-round.

This next design is "Freedom from Prehistoric Oil". I'm always looking for well-executed, environmentally-conscious designs, so this one stood out. However, I think that this design is perhaps a step above the rest of Shivtees' designs. The style is consistent with the rest of Shiv's designs, but rather than simply a play on words, Shiv takes this one and makes it a sarcastic view on a very real, very timely problem. As a design in the environmental genre, "Freedom from Prehistoric Oil" is SO timely and SO original that it stands out miles ahead of the rest of the "Earth Day" pack.

Catch one of these tees at the Insan Art Store or make your own!

Animal Double Feature by Aspa Shirts

Well, first I must apologize for missing yet ANOTHER week - I had totally meant to do a vacation post, but my lack of time got the best of me!

Of course, Aspa noticed I was gone - that's funny, Aspa is next up on the design feature queue!

So, my apologies for the wait and to make up for it, here's a double feature from Aspa Shirts.

First is the "Red Dragon" design (which I've changed to the green dragon since that's my favorite color). It was neat to see the development of this one - Aspa had posted several incarnations of it to the Spreadshirt Forum, knocking around different ideas and colors, while playing with the design requirements. I honestly love the wings - very batty! The fire is designed nicely too, giving it a very rich, dimensional feeling.

Next is "Crocodile" which comes in two versions: a "full" colored one (on the white shirt) and a "simple" colored one (on the tan shirt). Both designs are 3 colors, but the latter has much more of a minimalist feel.

I meant to ask about this, but the design immediately makes me think of the "Lacoste" alligator (or is it a crocodile?).

Both these designs are perfect for your favorite animal (or mythical creature) lover! Check them out at the Insan Art Store and as always, if you don't like what you see, you can make your own!

the Squid Shop Re-Launch by Insan Art

This may be old news since I re-launched it a week or so ago, but the The Squid Shop is all new and available at www.thesquidshop.com!!!

There is an all new section for photos of people wearing their shirts and hats (and I haven't received any yet!) - for a limited time, I'm offering a free lightweight mens or womens t-shirt with the Squid Shop graphic of your choice to the first person that sends me a photo of themselves (or someone else) wearing one of my Booty Hunter hats while hanging out the window of a broken down car (like Early in the show intro). See the "show off" section of the site for details.

Also new is the "beyond the hats" section. It contains designs inspired by the show, but not from an Early hat. Designs available include the "Sharif Badge" (sheriff star for those who spell correctly) and the "Git Yer Yankee Ass Off My Property" slogan.

AND, IMPORTANT NEWS!!! - Spreadshirt is finally offering white flex-fit baseball caps starting May 30th so in the beginning of June, look for hats available in the Squid Shop!

Get on over to the all new Squid Shop and get yourself some spankin' new squid gear (or make your own!).

Church: We Have Cookies by SpokenVisuals

Growing up I wasn't exactly "churched" (lol), but recently, I've become a fairly religious person (I married a preacher's son and I was Baptized last year before our wedding in a creek in the ghost town I'm obsessed with) and I find a lot of religious shirts and humor quite amusing - especially the geek/humor designs from Spoken Visuals.

That's why I totally got a kick from Spoken Visuals' design, "Come to Church, We Have Cookies". I had to laugh when I first saw it because it made me think of all the times I have personally used that line to get other people to come to church in general or just get new people at our church to actually stay for the cookies afterwards (OK, sometimes it's crackers, but free food is free food!)....

So, if you like the design, get one on a shirt at the Insan Art Store or Make Your Own. (and, if you're in the Mansfield, PA area on a Sunday, stop by the Mansfield First Baptist Church - we have cookies!)

Love My Planet by Gladditudes

Well, it is a little late for Earth Day, but Spreadshirt already took care of recognizing "Love My Planet" by Gladditudes for that (this design was featured in their Earth Day 2008 promotion - congratulations Glad!).

This is a really wonderful design, and amongst the plethora of Earth Day designs out there, this one certainly stands out for a reason. Like most of the designs I feature, this one is simple and original. It states it's purpose without any fancy bells or whistles, and though it is available in 2 and 3 color versions, it works perfectly fine in one color (especially a green design on a green ORGANIC unisex jersey shirt!).

As far as I'm concerned, everyday is Earth Day - so grab one of these shirts today at the Insan Art Store or make your own on one of Spreadshirt's many organic products (or non-organic products if that's what you fancy).

Thank God for PA & State Forest Boundary by Insan Art

Thank God for Pennsylvania! And thank goodness, the PA State Store is officially open!

Lots of new PA designs will be coming soon, but right now there are 9 available including the "Thank God for Pennsylvania" design shown at the right.

One of the designs I am most excited about is the "Pennsylvania State Forest Boundary" design. Last week I ordered some sample shirts from Spreadshirt, including a PA State Forest shirt. Well, I received the shirts on Thursday and I've worn this one 5 times since I've gotten it! It is a huge hit and with the silver flex option it looks just like the real thing!

I've included a shot of my shirt so you can see how the silver and black flex looks on a real product! The reflective quality of the print is quite difficult to photograph, so I tried to crumple it up a bit to show the metallic effect.

Check out the PA State Store today and make a statement about the state you love! As always if you don't see something you like, you can make your own (please follow the make your own link in the shop).

Electrodynamics by Insan Art

Well, last week was a busy one again and even though I had figured out which five shirts I was doing, I didn't meet my deadline!

So, to start this week's five off is "Electrodynamics" from me, Insan Art.

This design was inspired by a book a friend of mine was toting around called "Principles of Electrodynamics". I thought that the cover graphic looked a lot like boobs, so I decided to do a design from it. I mean, what goes better together than geeks and sex humor?

Even if you don't think it looks like boobs, it does make a nice geometric/abstract design...lol. The design is also available with the text "I Love Electrodynamics".

So, check it out! It's available at the Insan Art Store and if you don't see something you like, you can always Make Your Own!

A Gilt Lotus Graphics Double Feature!

To round out the week, what better than a double feature from the amazing collection of Gilt Lotus Graphics? With so many gorgeous designs, I have been tempted for a while to feature more than one...

First, on the tank top is "Phoenix & Flower" (two color version). This design flows beautifully and I love how it isn't really constrained to any certain square or rectangle shape. It is a great design, as you can see, to be printed on the lower section of shirts (especially for the ladies).

Next is "Dragonfly Kamon", one of a series of Japanese Kamon (family crest) inspired designs by Gilt Lotus. I did a little research to find out exactly what a Kamon is, and Gilt's designs are a really nice take on the traditional Japanese styling, with a variety of Japanese icons, like Mount Fuji and Cherry Blossoms.

Grab the shirts in the Insan Art Store or you can always make your own.

If you are really interested in these types of designs, I highly recommend checking out Gilt Lotus Graphics!

More Chopsticks from Insan Art

Since I'm a busy bee this week (OK, always) I'm going to do two bulk posts to get five shirts up!

So - introducing the rest of my Chopsticks series! Now, along with the plain chopsticks (from last week) also available are chopsticks with either the Japanese or Chinese characters for the word "chopsticks" and chopsticks with a cute little shrimp! I had also planned to do one with a sushi roll, but my first attempt didn't look quite right, so maybe I'll give it a go some other time.

For any of you out there who are familiar with Kanji and other Asian writing, please let me know if you think that my characters are really, really wrong!

Also, guys, I didn't forget you! There are lots of men's shirts available in the store - I just really liked these 3 ladies shirts and I decided to go for a triple female feature! So, go get yourself some chopsticks (on a shirt, of course) at the Insan Art Store, or as always, you can make your own using our t-shirt designer!