Circuit Board T-shirt

I've always been fascinated by the artistry of computer circuit boards. The one side looks like a miniature futuristic city, and on the reverse there's a hypnotizing maze of copper and green (which in itself is a great color combination). As I understand it, the copper lines are screen printed onto the circuit board, so screen printing a similar design onto a T-shirt seemed like a good idea to me.

Not having to worry about function, I created my own design in Adobe Illustrator and burned the images onto some screens. I tried all sorts of color combinations, but ultimately decided I HAD to use metallic inks to get the coolest effect. After spending nearly $50 per quart on both copper and silver inks, I struggled to figure out how to make theme look just how I wanted on the shirts. Well, after hours of trying all sorts of tricks I got it right. Worth resurrecting a blog after a year of inactivity to tell about it? I hope so!

Find it here: PhippsArt Tshirts

Abraham Lincoln Shirt

Abraham Lincoln helped keep the U.S. together through civil war and introduced measures that resulted in the abolition of slavery. Sounds like he deserves to be on a shirt, so here it is...

Bye Bye Birdie

I started a thread on Etsy asking for help in naming my new shirt (seen above in one of its four styles). Kind of by default I simply called it "SNIP". When I changed it to one of the names below, a bunch of people told me I should have left it! So...I changed it back. Nevertheless, here are all the suggestions. Which one do you like?

My notes are in red...

no strings attached
down to the wire
Severed connections
dont fly with scissors!
Snip... let the birds do the flying
cut-the-wire....
end-communication....
Cut it out
chirpy-chirpy-snip-snip (Goofy but I like it!)
Cut to the Chase
bye bye birdy (Hee hee)
Off Line
very cool shirt btw (It WAS suggested, albeit jokingly)
Lorena Bobbitt shirt (Had to look this up. Oh yeah, HER. Next...)
nsa = no strings attached
cut above the rest
Evangelin shirt
Quick! My Mother-in-law is Calling!
Dropped Call
Cut Loose
Flying Without a Wire
Call Screening.
Fly away Peter, fly away Paul.......
It's time to cut the strings!
Sproing (Another favorite of my own because this shirt really is about what is GOING to happen)
going wireless
like birds with wifi...
breaking habits
The Birds.. The Scene They Didn't Show You
Live Wire

Parsecs and Filigrees

I recently held a contest in which contestants had to wax poetic in order to win a prize. The following poem by http://sierrapelonacrochet.etsy.com was the clear winner, and was inspired by the shirt design above (click to see the listing in my Etsy store)

(Note: I couldn't get past the first line without pulling out the dictionary [i.e. looking at the dictionary widget on my computer])





the psychedelic eye sings
of parsecs and filigrees

its unblinking gaze is
a witness to auroras and migraines

such a solemn orb,
yet it does not weep

and on the shortest night
when you awaken from sleep
you'll find this mystic eye
regarding you, gauging you,
as it calmly goes about
creating order from chaos