A Healthy Glow

The other day I mentioned that I picked up some new inks for my screen printing press that GLOW IN THE DARK. I was finally able to use them yesterday afternoon. I am so pleased with how they turned out…

The color really TEALS the deal for me…

I absolutely love the teal color. I was a little nervous that the inks would be difficult to clean out of my screen (they weren’t!) and that they would be too transparent like my other glow-in-the-dark ink. Fortunately, they were not too transparent on a light-colored fabric. I did try making a print on some darker-colored fabrics and it was difficult to see the design. I will need to put a layer of white ink down if I want to print on darker fabrics.

I am sure you are wondering whether or not the ink actually glows too… IT DOES! Here are some photos I snapped with my camera. Unfortunately my camera did not take the best photos in the dark, but you can totally see the glowing. The actual glow was brighter than this. Too cool!

Let it GLOW!

I think these bags turned out great! And this glow was after a very short charge under a lamp. I think they are a cool bag for kids. (Or adults!)

For good planners: These would make excellent Trick-or-Treat bags!

Of course, they are available in the Pink Toe Press Etsy Shop.

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Spilling the Beans: Inspiration Post Rocket Dog and Cat

I’ve had a lot of people ask me where I get my inspiration from. That is a hard question to answer for many artists and, many times, one illustration can be inspired by many different sources. I know some people who make work about their own experiences, others who are inspired by the programs and movies they watch, the foods they eat, and the list goes on and on. Many of my pieces are inspired by my love of animals and nature, history, food, and, well, my list goes on and on too! Today I thought I’d share my inspiration for my Retro Rocket Dog and Cat Prints.

When I was in college, my senior thesis project was inspired by vintage postage stamps and match boxes. I did a lot of research and made a series of prints featuring extremeophiles (animals and insects that can live in extremely hostile environments). My favorite extremeophile, the Waterbear, is able to survive in space! They are able to go in to a state of extreme hibernation and are able to be revived back to life by a drop of water. No kidding!

The famous Waterbear!

In researching other space-traveling animals, I found inspiration in Laika the Soviet Space Dog. She was the first animal to orbit the earth on November 3, 1957. She sadly died due to overheating of the spacecraft, but her story lives on in stamps, sculptures, books and more!

I love the idea of making a print inspired by a real animal who helped advance our knowledge of space travel and its effects on living things. I also love the design of old space crafts, so that was a no-brainer for me to design a print inspired by those. I’ve been hand-drawing retro-rockets on bags at my other job for over 3 years, making a screen print is the logical next-step!

Candy Bags make everyone smile, young and old! Every purchase comes in a hand-drawn rocket bag!

Retro-future rocket stamps!

Sputnik 2 was eye-catching, but I wanted something more flashy, so I gave my “Puppy Stardust” a different rocket inspired by retro-future illustrations of the late 50’s and 60’s. There were many designs I liked that were memorialized in stamps and postage, but my favorite rockets are the old Tin Toys that I’ve always coveted. Hoping that kids would like my design, I drew inspiration from those toys: their simple shapes and bright colors.

An assortment of retro Tin Toys.

And now you know where I got the hair-brained idea to make a Rocket Dog and Rocket Cat. I don’t know of any cats who orbited space, but as a Cat Mom of two silly cats, I thought it would be unfair to leave them out. The “Rocket Cat” design is inspired by my cat Ferdinand who, I think would make a fine AstroCat.

Retro Rocket Postcards

I am excited to share my newest project with you: Retro Rocket Postcards! These fun postcards feature a Dashing Dog and Curious Cat as astronauts in their own Space Ships!

These postcards all measure 4 x 6 inches and they are printed on AMAZING Cougar Paper which gives the postcards both an amazing weight and color.

They even have a space on the back for writing the recipient’s address and a handy icon so you know where your postage goes; it’s 33 cents for a card within the USA, $1.10 for anywhere else. These postcards are perfect for sending little letters to people all around the world!

NOW available as a 6-pack in my Etsy shop!

New Graphic Design Work for the Shop

Here are some fun new designs I put together for the shop. They are always looking for refreshed artwork and graphic design items (Business cards, posters, signs, etc.) and I created this button design for them this week.

Swanky new button design for Rocket Fizz!

I think I may make more of these to sell in the shop very soon.

I just love these button designs. I think I might put one on my motorcycle jacket. :-)