Erin, No Pinchy!

Happy St. Patrick's Day. What are you wearing on March 17? 
How about a P.L. t-shirt with Erin Go Bragh! Or perhaps a No Pinchy hoodie!

Recently, P.L. was studying up on her Irish ancestors when she came across the phrase "Erin go Bragh!" with a vintage illustration of an Irish maiden raising a traditional Irish flag. In the spirit of the coming holiday, P.L. donned a green dress to reenact the event. 
Ireland forever!

There's also an interesting yet obscure tradition that involves pinching the hapless people who forget to wear green on this day. 
Hey, we say they are already missing out on the fun. Why inflict physical pain as well? 
Especially since seeing how fun and cool you look in one of our "No Pinchy" t-shirts will undoubtedly fill them with envy.

The Artist at Work shop has both designs on a variety of apparel and other merchandise, including our newest items, kitchen mug sets and fun undies in different styles for both men and women.

Erin Go Bragh!

No Pinchy

Our shop at WhimsicaliTees has more new stuff, from baby clothes to adult tees, a sports spirit rally towel, and plushy bears.

Erin Go Bragh!

Hey, No Pinchy!

Don't get yourself in a pinch -- literally! 
Hurry over to Artist at Work or WhimsicaliTees for fun and fabulous St. Patrick's Day gear! 

Choices: Edward or Jacob?

It's at least another month before "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince" comes to P.L.'s favorite theater. In the meantime, she's been keeping herself occupied reading the Twilight series. There are only four books, and she just finished book three, Eclipse.

The series is strange and moody and supernatural, yet it has a down-to-earth feeling that appeals to P.L. A teenaged girl who loves Romeo and Juliet and Wuthering Heights, Bella Swan is comfortable telling a story -- in first person, in this case. Set in the woodsy little town of Forks, in the north-Pacific state of Washington, her story tells of her life as the new kid in town. Bella is a quiet girl and a bit of a clutz, yet she is a fresh face that appeals to several of the local residents. One of them is Edward.

Without giving away too much of the storyline, we'll just say that Edward and his family are amazing (even at playing baseball!), they lead us (through Bella) to heart-stopping adventures, and Bella would give up anything to spend the rest of eternity with Edward.

Not everything is as it seems, though.
Bella and Edward are separated early in book two, and she becomes dangerously depressed. Of course, we know she'll be fine, because she's the one telling the story. But we feel for her as she describes a kind of madness she experiences and finds one ally to save her -- Jacob.

By book three, we become torn between these two young men. They are natural enemies, supernatural beings doing their best to protect Bella from danger. That includes each other. Both represent some kind of threat to Bella's well-being, family, and way of life, not to mention (possibly) her very soul.
They could both be the bad guys, yet they are both the good guys.

So, if we had to choose one guy for this Everygirl to love and live with forever, would we choose Edward Cullen? He is handsome like a Greek god, cool beyond belief, with a family whose close-knit love extends to Bella. Or would we choose the noble young Jacob Black, whose father is Bella's dad's best friend, and who loves Bella like a brother until he is mature enough to vie for her heart?
(No spoilers, please!)

Yes, based only on this information, P.L. asks you -- which team would you choose? Cool blue Edward, or vibrant red Jacob? The crystal heart or the wolf from the woods? Vampire or werewolf?

Choose a t-shirt that supports your team. One for Team Edward or one for Team Jacob.




But what if you don't want to choose? Just keep rereading this romance with two young men who love the girl enough to give up everything for her... and get yourself a t-shirt commemorating both of them. What a team!

For more gear about your new favorite hometown, Forks, remember to visit Artist at Work.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

P.L. is getting into the spirit of the holiday by dressing up like a leprechaun -- or somewhat like one, at least. She's wearing a spiffy green t-shirt here, unlike the garb of most old-world leprechauns. You can try to catch her, but you'd better be quick about it!

Emerald green t-shirts are new at the Artist at Work shops. They're available in three styles for adults: a Hanes unisex style, and two more fitted styles from American Apparel.





Our leprechaun P.L. herself makes an appearance on this women's fitted green t-shirt from American Apparel. She's peeking out from behind the words "Catch me if you can!"
This 100% organic cotton shirt is 4.3 oz. of softness.

"The Luck of the Irish" brings its own charm to this t-shirt, with a heart of shamrocks on it. High quality 100% pre-shrunk cotton, 5.6 oz. of casual fit.

The "I'd Sooner Catch the Blarney Stone" t-shirt shown here is printed on the American Apparel men's fitted t-shirt. It's 4.3 oz. in weight, 100% organic cotton. Ahh.



But how long, you may ask, will this fetching green garb be around Artist at Work and its sister shops? Even the wee folks cannot say. Just the same, Lorilei and P.L. are putting other designs on them in hopes that they will stay for quite a while.

But just in case, better go get one of these green tees now --
else you'll be pinching yourself all year!




"Of Course I'm the REAL Easter Bunny" - unisex green t-shirt
"Earth Day" - women's fitted green t-shirt
"Have a Beary Merry Christmas" - men's fitted green t-shirt

Parking Wars and other games -- you're addicted to WHAT???

P.L. is not yet the owner of a car. She doesn't even have her driver's license. But she routinely parks vehicles of varying shapes, sizes, and colors in streets -- often illegally -- and then attempts to move them before they are ticketed or impounded. Even stranger, she takes delight in writing tickets on her own friends' cars!

What madness is this? It's Parking Wars, an online game she plays through the social networking site Facebook. The game was inspired by the A&E television series by the same name. P.L. has several friends and a few unknown neighbors who compete to get badges and higher scores by outwitting each other. (They also help each other, as P.L.'s best friend Emily could tell you!)

Of course, P.L. has now adopted Pet Pupz and Cute Catz, and the Hatchery Eggs which turn into funny little monsters when she and others nurture them.
She has planted a Lil' Green Patch so she can tend environmentally-friendly plants and help friends with their own virtual gardens. She sends hugs, wild animals, and SuperPokes to others, so she always has a lot to keep her busy when she gets online.

But probably the most annoying thing she has done with all these social networking games is to infect me with the darned things. Weren't Solitaire and Bejeweled II Deluxe enough? Now I have to check my account, even before I open my email, to see if someone's parked in an illegal zone on Lorilei Street. Worse yet, I have to worry that the parking signs will have changed while I was away, and someone may have ticketed one of my cars. Oh, no! Another violation!




What can be done? I'm sure the fever for the game will cool after a while. In the meantime, it's all good fun that keeps us off the streets -- so to speak.








I'm making a new mousepad for P.L.'s computer desk with the Addiction to Online Games design on it. In fact, she's getting a t-shirt like this, too. You can get one to remind yourself (or your roommate) to get back to work! You can check your cars after a few hours, as a reward for keeping on task.
(That's right. It's only a game....)

RAH, RAH, school sports!

Forget the fact that it's 90+ degrees outside, and that the football field turf is a lovely shade of brown. Time to return to school! We are so excited.

In this great land of ours, team sports have always been a popular form of entertainment. Millions of dollars are spent on football, baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey, and other competitive pastimes each year.
Teams with names like Warriors, Tigers, Indians, Lions, Vikings, Dragons, Senators, and various other scary people or animals, meet on a field or court to knock the stuffing out of each other.

But all good things must come to an end.
There is a new trend toward instilling in our youth the idea that good competition is clean, wholesome, and non-violent. Certain war-like names are quickly dropping out of vogue.

One of the first new teams is Daisy Meadows High School's Butterflies.
P.L. is pleased to show her support of this team this year. You, too, can support non-violent contact sports (and other pastimes) by wearing , carrying, or giving away (as gifts) these mementos of these courageous folks.
Makes your heart swell up with pride, doesn't it?