Alternative Christmas Carols

Oh, this is soooo wrong, but I couldn't help it - had to share these with you all.  I think it's more that I'm over the whole Christmas thing than anything else.  




Which one is your favourite?

1. Schizophrenia --- Do You Hear What I Hear?

2. Multiple Personality Disorder --- We Three Kings Disoriented Are

3. Dementia --- I Think I'll be Home for Christmas

4. Narcissistic --- Hark the Herald Angels Sing About Me

5. Manic - Deck the Halls and Walls and House and Lawn and Streets and Stores and Office and Town and Cars and Buses and Trucks and Trees

6. Paranoid --- Santa Claus is Coming to Town to Get Me

7. Borderline Personality Disorder --- Thoughts of Roasting on an Open Fire

8. Personality Disorder --- You Better Watch Out, I'm Gonna Cry, I'm Gonna Pout, Maybe I'll Tell You Why

9. Attention Deficit Disorder --- Silent night, Holy oooh look at the Froggy - can I have a chocolate, why is France so far away?

10. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder --- Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells , Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells

Big fat disclaimer at the bottom.

Seriously though - mental health problems are really no laughing matter - if you or someone you know needs help with mental health issues, talk to your GP or one of the organisations listed here

Flashback

I love a good read - and all the works in the book - nay, all the works in the group are 150 words or less - just brilliant for a person with a short attention spa ..... oh look at the pretty birdy or those with limited time for literature appreciation!

Like many others, I had been waiting impatiently for the book to be released - and lo and behold it hasn't disappointed with my all time favourite FF work "Pull My Finger" the very first volley fired!

You'll find the book available for sale at Blurb - for the exceptionally

amazing price of $9.50 AUD.

Click here to go and get a copy for yourself!

#TwiTeDeDa

Hmm.  Long time no post.

So long in fact, that it is now November, and Twitter is filled with #NaNoWriMo, which is National Novel Writer's Month.

Great way for writers to get together - write, publicise and generally run amok!

So I thought - what a great idea, and decided we should do something similar for tshirt designers!!

So I"ve coined the tag #TwiTeDeDa - Twitter Tshirt Designers Day and designed a tshirt in celebration!

So now I reckon it's up to you all - spread the word - design a tshirt - upload it, publicise it and above all - tag it #TwiTeDeDa!!

There's No Such Thing As A Silly Question

Has always been one of my most used expressions - and now it's a book - a really, really helpful book.




To give it it's full title:

There's No Such Thing As A Silly Question

A practical guide for families living with a

child with chronic illness, disability, mental

illness or a life-threatening condition

This is a marvellous FREE book (or downloadable PDF) published by the Woman's and Children's Hospital Foundation for parents who find themselves with a seriously sick kid.


Based on a similar Victorian publication, the book has all kinds of really useful information - but it's not a dry, dusty list of agencies or specialists - it's a whole lot more.


The publication includes sections such as: ‘Where do I begin?’, ‘Going into Hospital’, ‘Who Will Help Us in the Community’, and ‘How to Give Life Balance’. There is also a handy glossary and lists of publications, resources and services included.


In easy to find chapters, it deals with so much that you need to know -  ranging from pre-diagnosis to palliative care for your child - and everything in between.


Written in plain English it's sprinkled with quotes and tips from other parents who have dealt with the same situation - for example:


“Access and set up a website for your child. If treatment is intense and/or long it will save you having to repeat yourself numerous times to everyone wanting to know how things are going - they can just read updates on the website. It saves time and often - your sanity!”

(Kimberlee – parent)

It covers an amazingly wide range of information - things like getting a second opinion, setting up a care plan for your child right through to financial considerations and maintaining some semblance of "normality" for yourself, your partner and of course, your other children.


At 120 pages, it's no lightweight pamphlet - but hey - the subject's no lightweight matter either!

I haven't had anything to do with the creation or publication of this book, and we're blessed with two pretty damn healthy kids, but it's just such a wonderful idea I wanted to help spread the word.

Besides - it reminds me of one of my other favourite sayings .....

You don't have to know everything - just someone who does!!

Download it from here:

To organise a hard copy of the book:


Email: nosuchthing@wchfoundation.org.au 


Phone: Jane on 8464 7900.

Or hey - you could even consider donating to the Foundation here:

The Women's and Children's

 Hospital Foundation

Days With My Father

Click the photograph to go to the site.

That heading's kind of misleading - it's not actually me and my Dad, it's a man by the name of Phillip Toledano and his photographic record of his father before he passed away.

Before you think "Ugh - how morbid", I have to say it is one of the most heart-warming, touching and yet wryly humorous sites I have ever seen.

The photography is exquisite - and the words sit perfectly.

I'd say enjoy - but somehow that doesn't seem quite right.  So just have a look.  I guarantee you will be touched.

The Definitive Guide to Marketing

The internet is full of serious hints and tips on marketing your product, advertising your product and generally getting your product (or your brand) "out there".

So that you can make the most of all the good advice available, I would like to offer a glossary of advertising terms.










This will clear up any confusion ...



You're a woman and you see a handsome man at a party.
You go up to him and say, "I'm fantastic in bed."
That's Direct Marketing.


You're at a party with a bunch of friends and see a handsome man.
One of your friends goes up to him and pointing at you says, "She's fantastic in bed."
That's Advertising..


You see a handsome man at a party.
You go up to him and get his telephone number.
The next day you call and say, "Hi, I'm fantastic in bed."
That's Telemarketing.


You see a man at a party, you straighten your dress.
You walk up to him and pour him a drink.
You say, "May I," and reach up to straighten his tie, brushing your breast lightly against his arm...
And then say, "By the way, I'm fantastic in bed."
That's Public Relations.


You're at a party and see a handsome man.
He walks up to you and says, I hear you're fantastic in bed."
That's Brand Recognition.


You're at a party and see a handsome man.
He fancies you, but you talk him into going home with your friend.
That's a Sales Representation.


Your friend can't satisfy him so she calls you.
That's Technical Support.


You're on your way to a party when you realize that there could be handsome
men in all these houses you're passing. So you climb onto the roof of
one situated towards the centre and shout at the top of your lungs, "I'm fantastic in bed!"
That's Junk Mail.

Tee-ming with Stuff!

Busy week in the world of Cathie Tees this week! 

I was lucky enough to have my second TeeCraze.com feature with Some Days ... the first being my Music Machines entry - Evolution.

Today I found out that my Scribble shirt was featured on the Redbubble homepage yesterday and I missed it - thanks to RB member Sanne for the little screen dump!!

 

 

Game of Kings

And I'm not talking about chess ... er, well, perhaps I am, but in no form that it's ever been seen before!

To ensure that I explain this properly, I have shamelessly lifted this copy from the official Game of Kings Blog.

The Game of Kings is a collaboration bringing together Red Bubble artists from Australia and the UK. Initially starting out as a series of character-based t-shirts, GoK has expanded to include an accompanying narrative and will be spinning out into other media.

The basic theme of the project is the game of chess. The initial brief was that the project’s creator, Simon Sherry, would illustrate the black side of the board, while a team of eight other artists would tackle the white. As the project gathered momentum and the members of the group shared ideas and artwork, a story began to evolve around the pieces in this celestial battleground. With the addition of Danny to the group as ‘biographer’ of this strange cast of characters, this story took on a life of its own, and everyone involved knew that the scope of the Game had grown beyond the cotton canvas.

Due to the clever skills and imagination of those involved and the epic scope of the theme, the GoK group are creating a wonderful series of artworks, stories and multimedia to hopefully fire the imagination in others. The first ‘phase’ of this project are the character tees making up the board itself. Every two weeks four pieces of the board will be revealed along with a section of the story, adding another piece of the jigsaw to build a final picture. Accompanying the artwork and writing will be interviews with the people involved, adding further insight into the project, their role in it, and the thought behind their creations. Every other week, previews for the next ‘wave’ of characters will be released, along with other behind-the-scenes material to whet appetites for what’s in store. A blog, facebook page and twitter account is also online, providing fans with updates and additional extras that may not appear in the main Red Bubble profile.

The Game of Kings Group on Red Bubble will open its doors in the future to accept members who want to contribute ideas, stories and art as well as compete in competitions that will stretch the boundaries of fun and excitement with prizes worth the effort.

The Game of Kings is more than Tee Shirts. It’s wall art and animated story lines, vignettes and artist clashing styles against each other. It’s books and games. It’s audience participation and contribution. It’s something that we hope you can watch grow and enjoy as a whole new world opens up before your eyes in the next few months and beyond.

Gibson - Vale Les Paul

Those of you who have been familiar with my work for some time will remember "Live Life Loud", a tshirt I made for my hubby's 40th birthday party costume.

Well, in the interests of equality and indeed as a bit of a personal tribute to the passing of the legendary Les Paul, I have come up with a Gibson version.






I think I actually prefer this to the Fender version ... lol... but isn't that like picking your favourite kid??

10 Things I Like About Me

After reading's Jordan's blog which was inspired by reading Definatalie's blog, I have decided to have a crack at the interweb's newest mini-meme!

It's easy for most of us to find something to criticise about ourselves - but a list of things you like
about yourself is bound to take a little more work!

So here goes - my time starts, NOW!

• I'm a great repository for stuff that you didn't think you needed to know. (Great skill for winning quiz shows!)
• I'm enthusiastic - if I'm involved in something I give it my all.
• I'm friendly - very rarely bite, and think I get on with most people.
• I take the odd half decent photo, and have designed a few not bad tshirts!
  
• I'm generous with my time and talents. (Read: I do a lot of stuff for friends for nothing)

Phew - halfway there .... this is hard work!

• My need to know "stuff" - see point 1 actually. (Google is my friend)
• My sense of humour.
• My loyalty to my family be they the real ones or my bestest friends.
• My optimism - I a half full kinda person (hic)

Ugh - that's nine ... close enough ..... ooh - hang on .................. drum roll please ..............

• I'm NOT a perfectionist - but I do try hard!

So now - tradition decrees that you sail off and write your own list - or if not - add the things you love about you as a comment here.

Evolution

Well, Redbubble and Demo Stores are at it again.

They have launched a third collaborative competition, Music Machines, where again the winners will get to have tshirts hanging in their store in Carnaby Street. Yep - real shirts - on real mannequins in a shop!

After immediately having a couple of ideas, I spent a good week frustratingly trying to translate them from my brain to "paper" .. and finally came up with this!




I was surprised tonight to receive an email from the amazingly talented Yanmos with this fabulous mock up of a "real" person wearing my shirt!! Thanks Yannis!

So, there you go .. I can't imagine that this will do as well as my other Demo competition entry, but hey - I've given it my best shot!

As usual ... the pictures are links to buy!

Free Redbubble Shipping!

Hey world!

For one week only (expires August 13th) I can offer my friends, family and the world free shipping on all my tshirts and art on Redbubble

The discount code you need at the checkout is CATHIEFFW.


Oh ... and ps... it'll work on other people's stuff too ............... ssssshhh!


Go here for shirts or here for my art!

Food Chain

Entered a speed tee challenge on Redbubble tonight - and this was the result, and here's a little more detail ..



And don't forget - all my Redbubble tees are a whopping 25% off until July 30th!!

Click on the tshirt to buy!

25% Off All My Redbubble Tshirts!!

This is a sale that's OUT OF THIS WORLD! (Sorry - I had to do it)




Until Midnight, June 30 in your time zone, all my tshirts are a whopping 25% off!!





And if that's not enough, buying 5 tshirts in one order will get you FREE shipping!!






Click on the moonwalker shirt above to go to my shop!!

Teefuryous Omnibus 2

Or .. Happy 1st Birthday TeeFury!!


To celebrate their first birthday, TeeFury announced a giant collaboration - inspired by their TeeFury birds T-Bird, Teevil and Dead Bird.










Now the reason I'm so excited about this is because the little guy almost at the bottom on the left hand side (the one with the "party" tattoo and the numeric eye) is my submission!!

With 110 subs in total, there will be more tshirts to come ....

As normal with TeeFury, the tee is available for 24 hours only ... and as I write this, we're down to just under 17 hours.

Buy now - or miss out completely ............. I've got mine!!

PS - As always - the pictures are links to buy.

Live Life Loud

Originally made for my hubby to go under his "Slash" costume - I figure this is a pretty good philosophy for life!

Available for sale on Redbubble and MySoti

I made it onto a Hide Your Arms List!

wOOt!!

I've made a tshirt list on what I consider to be one of the best tshirt blogs in the known universe!

Or in this case, perhaps known galaxy would be more to the point.

Andy, the man behind HideYourArms has spent over thirty hours compiling a list of Star Wars tshirts for your viewing and purchasing pleasure!!

I'm tshirt #107 and you'll find it here .....

202 Star Wars Tshirts

Oh yeah - and while you're there, play spot the Redbubbler - Rubyred, Yanmos, James Lillis, Quigonjim, Reece Ward, and lots of others!!

This would have to be the coolest thing since the whole Demo/Wired from Birth business!

I can highly recommend the HYA blog - and if you click on the piccy below you can go there and sign up for yourself!!





Enjoy the fruits of Andy's labours - to celebrate I've reworked this and I'm waiting for the next 202.

Sweet Georgia Brown. Best. Version. Ever..

My husband is a heavy vehicle mechanic. My husband is a guitarist. Little wonder he was impressed when someone sent him this.

I give you Sweet Georgia Brown, played by a guitar trio, and a tractor, yep - a tractor.

Turn up your sound - this rocks!

EPIC!

The adjective d'jour on Facebook and Twitter!

We love you Mr Baxter

There's a new kid in Redbubble Town.

His name is Rupert Baxter (but you may call him Mr Baxter), and I was first introduced to him via a "You've made a sale ..." email around March this year.

His title at that time was "Chief Officer of Giving You Good News"

Then a receipt appeared signed "Mr Baxter - Head of Numbers"

We knew very little about him at that time and then suddenly he appeared "front of house" his watch list containing only Jo O'Brien and his one piece of art being a tshirt proclaiming his relationship status (I must confess I'm a tad sceptical)












When Redbubble put him in charge of the Friday's Buyer's Booth winners, he became "Mr Baxter – Superintendent of Spotting Good Pictorial Efforts". Catching his eye and receiving one of these little suckers will earn you a RB Voucher!






Wednesday's "Picture of the Week" efforts are signed "Mr Baxter – Executive Officer of Writing Fine Words About Fine Pictures" festooned thus earning the recipient a Redbubble voucher.





It's little wonder that Boxter er, Baxter is gaining quite a following!


So if you want to keep the good news flowing - and have a giggle to boot, you could do far worse than adding Mr Baxter to your Redbubble watchlist by clicking on his picture below;











Or indeed follow his trail of good news all the way to Twitter - and follow him there .....







As usual, all pictures in this post are links - so click away!

Actually, Yes

Available on Redbubble, with a 'subtle' sized design ...




A larger version of the design is available at MySoti




And as a mousepad on Zazzle

Actually, yes by CathieT
Browse more Orbit Mousepads

Einstein was a Mutant

Wasn't he?

Prompted by a comment in X-Men Last Stand!


Available as mousepad and coffee mug at Zazzle.com.au and a Tshirt at RB!

Einstein by CathieT
See more Cathiet Mousepads

Einstein ... by CathieT
Make travel coffee mugs on www.zazzle.com.au

Tiger Drinking Tshirt - MySoti

I love the massive print area with MySoti, and after a conversation with @hemeon on Twitter, tried something new with some of my animal photography. I'm rapt with the results - thanks Marc!

Ramblings

Well, it's taken a while but this post has lots of random stuff, there's been a few really different things that have piqued my interest of late!

Firstly, the much tweeted release of WolframAlpha ... not another search engine, but according to it's header - a computational knowledge engine! It's really cool - it gets the information you search from all over the interwebs, rather than giving you links to pages.

For example:

Search 88mph and you will get the following results:

(Click on the picture for a larger version)

Notice there's not only useful stuff like mph to kph conversions, and not shown here in the site generated pdf a conversion to knots - miles per second and the killer .... the speed at which Marty McFly had to fly the Delorean to time travel! Well - there's a movie reference!

Not only does WA have really useful information, it has a sense of humour too.




Definitely worth the mouse click to have a look for yourself!

In other mind numbing news, I have rediscovered my long neglected Zazzle account - and in the process, Zazzle.com.au.

Now that I actually have some fodder for product, I have been busy transferring tshirts to mousepads and coffee mugs.

Looks really impressive on my RB pages now .....

Was nice to be inspired to do the Einstein 'range' .... (oooh, I have a range) it's been a lot of marketing and not a lot of creating of late!

As usual - all the pictures are links!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all you mums out there!

I'm pleased to say that my mother is one cool lady, digital photography aficionado, social networking fiend, brilliant grandma and all round nice guy!

Like all mums, she is a veritable font of wisdom, and in her honour I'd like to post the following list:

Everything I need to know about life I learned from my Mum

1. I wasn't born in a tent.
2. My father doesn't own the power company, nor does he work in a glass factory.
3. There's no such thing as a free ride.
4. Things have changed since she was a girl.
5. Money doesn't grow on trees.
6. If she's cold I will wear a jumper.
7. We're not paying to heat/cool the great outdoors.
8. She didn't come down in the last shower.
9. You get back twice what you give out.
10. When I get a nice lounge suite, she's going to come round and jump on it!
11. The dishes will still be there, no matter how long you hide in the toilet.

And the most important thing I learnt from my mum, (and it seems Oscar Wilde picked up on it too ...)

“All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That’s his.”

~Oscar Wilde

Happy Mother's Day Jan! You're a legend!

Happy Star Wars Day!!

Subtitle: May the Fourth Be With You.


So it only comes round once a year people - live with it!


Now, in honour of the day, I have fished around on Redbubble and found a handful of my favourite Star Wars parody tshirts!




Saddle Up! by RubyRed



R2 Manual by Reece Ward



London, New York, Paris, Tatooine by James Lillis





Jedi Inside by Quigonjim


Jedi TV by Zomboy


And now that you're all impressed - and probably sailed off via Redbubble anyway, I'll sneak my own in!!




Luke by Cathie Tranent