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This blog moved. I'm now blogging here: http://www.theheated.com/blog

SF Design Week Event

Yeah, I still have a blog, huh? Ha! I've been updating my website and hope to have my blog integrated into it soon. Anyway, here's what's up for next week.

Overlap on March 1st

Can it be that March starts next week? Is that right? I'm getting my March off to an amazing start as I will be vending my screen printed wares at an Overlap.org event at Public Works next Thursday, March 1st. The mission of Overlap.org is to bring creativity and community together. That will certainly happen next Thursday as the evening kicks off with a presentation about the creative process from Christopher Willits. There will live music, food and other vendors (including one of my personal favorites Dave Marcoullier). Tickets here: http://overlap030112.eventbrite.com/

 

Hearts!

By now everybody is probably used to me printing my little hand-drawn, every day objects on towels. Well, I got all modern on you with this one. I tried looking at old Valentine's Day cards to get some inspiration for a design but quickly realized that most vintage cards rely heavily on terrible puns and blatant racism/sexism. I was not inspired at all. In then end, I decided that I didn't want to smack you in the face with Valentine's Day but rather coax you in for a closer look. It's subtle enough to keep using all year long. At any rate, they are available on white or natural towels.

Custom Cutting Board

We all wish we could make amazing hand-made presents for our loved ones each year, don't we? But, please. Like we have that kind of time/ability. I ended up going with a cutting board for my wife. Yes, I have some woodworking abilities but there was no way I would have been able to craft a homemade cutting board for her during the busiest time of the year without her knowing. So, I picked up a sturdy wooden board from Pot and Pantry instead. 

     It didn't occur to me to customize it until my wife mentioned she would like that. That reminded me of a party we had, years ago where a woman brought over some fruit and put together a fruit salad. It looked delicious but, as another party-goer remarked, "Is it just me or is there something savory about this fruit salad?" Sure enough, she had cut the fruit on an onion-y, garlic-y cutting board. It was gross and I had to choke the whole salad down because of good manners.

     Lest the same fate befall me or my wife, I decided to take my wife's mention to heart. Originally, I thought I would go with the same ink I use on my dish towels but then I remembered I had some non-toxic gel stain from a different project lying around so I went with that instead. So far, it's held up to water well and I kept the screen, just in case. Below is the process I went through to get it made.

I usually start with some hand-drawn sketches. Here are all the elements I knew I would need to put the design together, using the onion for the "o".

I assembled the drawing in Photoshop and then printed out my transparency.

I did some test prints first, which really helped the print on the board come out well on the first try.

I let it dry for 24 hours and then put it to use. Now, if you come over and want to chop things, you can't claim we didn't warn you.

2012 Resolutions

Here is my to-do list for 2012. Some are huge projects and some are little things that I've just been wanting to do. Some are things I've already committed to do, so that's kind of cheating but who cares? Last year was about staying the course but I think there will be more innovation and growth this year.

Renegade Craft Fair: Holiday Sale in San Francisco

I drop out of touch every year around this time. It's not on purpose, it's because I'm spending every spare moment printing and hustling my wares. It's the most wonderful time of the year! Come see the fruits of my labor, including rad new designs and sale items at the Renegade Craft Fair this coming weekend, December 17th and 18th. The Heated and This Humble Abode are sharing booth #162! at the Concourse Exhibition Center (635 8th Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-4901) on December 17th and 18th, 11:00 am - 6:00 pm.See you there.