New card posted in the etsy store!

The last of the "ugly people" inspired cards is up...

Now I actually have to start making new designs.  If you have any ideas for cards, or keep looking for a certain type of card but can never find it, leave it here! Some of my best drawings have come from random, obscure comments that people have left in requests for cards.

For example:
Angry Bear began as a custom card for a friend. I always ask questions about the recipient, such as, what do they like to do, what do they hate, tell me an anecdote about them, and how do most people describe them.
My friend described his brother:

 "He likes Canada. He really likes Canada. Like bears and shit. Oh! what about a bear, like drowning in a lake of honey..."

A bear drowning in a lake of honey was less aesthetically pleasing as I was drawing it out, but there's something about that stance they get when they are up on two legs that is so amusing/frightening.

So please. My brain works overtime on weird 24/7, and sometimes it doesn't want to work in the right way. But I'm trying.

IN THE MEAN TIME:
hikaridesigns.etsy.com
The etsy store is extra beautiful as it is filling up with exciting things!

IN ADDITION:
I got boxes! I made a gift set! It is quite nice. There is a set of four cards in a box, it will sell for $20. (that is an $8 difference from purchasing the cards individually.)  Pictures/posting to follow.

IN THE FUTURE:
Stefhan and I are going to Japan on Tuesday.

Two new cards posted in the etsy store.

Yesterday I posted the "hot mess" card, and today I posted the "eat the cupcake" card!

The initial ideas for both were created a few months ago, when I started drawing my 'ugly people' for screen printing projects. These two girls came out a little too pretty, but I couldn't part with them. On a card, however, they certainly don't look too glamorous.

I ordered another big batch of clear plastic sleeves, and even some boxes, so I will be all stocked up for the coming months. Look for new cards coming soon, and I'm going to be releasing box sets of cards as well!

Click your little digital self on over to the Etsy store to check them out, and "favorite" them if you have an Etsy account.

hikaridesigns.etsy.com

IN ADDITION:
Hikari Cards now has a facebook page!  I made a page just for the cards, and you will notice, the profile picture features a made-over Angry Bear! Angry Bear, while he has received much fanfare in his previous appearances now has a new, cropped look and a fancy, orange damask background.

Hikari Cards on Facebook

Australian Today Show News Anchors Have Dirty Minds.

Is this the long stabby thing?

The 'Long Stabby Thing' that we keep by our beds incase of an intruder?

For me, it's Stefhan.

But I can understand why the other news man would prefer to "whack them off from a distance."

One Last Beautiful Day.

Today, Washington D.C. was graced with fabulous 78 degree weather. Our last warm, jacket free, windows down, eat outside day for another week or so has passed. I took full advantage of it, spending every minute of my lunch break outside people watching and bee avoiding.

I was amazed at HOW MANY MORE PEOPLE show up to a major metropolitan area, the amount is innumerable. Street corners were packed, lines for frozen yogurt or sweet treats (Georgetown Cupcake, anyone?) were out the door, and I saw too many sandals (and unfinished toenails) out and about today.

I hid down the wide alley in between the Georgetown Park mall and Dean and Deluca, and munched on my quesadilla while listening in on people's cellphone conversations.

"I totally made this yuppie roll down his window last night and talk to me about why he just cut me off."

-"No, he was just super passive aggress-"

-"No, he just cut me off!! And I say, 'Excuse me, Sir, are you aware you just performed a hugely dick move?' and he's all 'EFF YOU BITCH!' "

-"Yeah I know. Some yuppie."

I admired young brothers and sisters playing together, and watched the "warm weather" outfits that office workers put together, faced with the first short sleeve appropriate day, but still not having switched their summer and winter closets yet... oh the dilemmas.

Exciting News!

Last December, some of my screenprinting work was featured in the Brentwood Arts Exchange gallery along with other undergraduate work in a show called "Impressed."  I also had some of my cards there for sale. The cards were pretty popular, a few got sold during the course of the show, but the owner, Phil, wanted to keep them there for a few more months for any upcoming gallery receptions and shows.

I am most surely glad he did.

I got an email from Phil this morning saying that they sold an additional SIX cards at their reception last friday!

I'm going to drop off a few more to replace the ones that sold, and I'm curious to know which styles sold so quickly...
In the mean time, here are some things to do:

I am adding new styles of cards to my etsy store in the next few days. Look for them! I will post a link here as well when they're added!

I purchased a showcase spot in the "papergoods" category that will air tomorrow! I'm hoping that it will result in more clicks and such and such.

If you are near Brentwood Arts Exchange, peek on over and see their new exhibition, "Resonant Forms."
You can read about the exhibition here, or read some further information about the artists here.

While you are in the area, you might consider picking up a card for that person in your life who is just as weird as you are.

If you're not in the area, just click on over to the etsy store(www.hikaridesigns.etsy.com) and do it there!

dupont loves hello kitty

While on the metro this evening from Dupont Circle, I couldn't have predicted that attached to the girl next to me's earbuds was a huge, pink, hello kitty CD PLAYER. Trying to serrupticiously snap a picture, I had to deal with the train moving, take a steady pic, and have my model not notice my cell phone loom closer to her face every second.  Finally, the train slowed, I settled for a moderate picture, and I even heard a snippet of her final fantasy-esque instrumental music through her headphones too.

Married to the Sea early morning inspiration.

Married to the Sea

How true.

Our country propaganda-cizes (just go with it) ourselves as well.

Cat REQUIRED to attend Jury Duty

Telegraph Newspaper
Cat ordered to do jury service
In Boston, a woman is still "required" to have her Domestic shorthair cat, Tabby Sal, attend jury duty. The mistake must have come from the owner listing Tabby Sal in the official census last year, but in the pets section.

I'm trying to imagine what it would look like if either myself or my boyfriend had to haul one of our fat cats into a court room, just so they could sit trial.  Would I have to translate for them? Am I expected to be fluent in cat?

"Oh, excuse me your Honor, actually, that ear twitch means 'I'm Hungry,' not 'Guilty.' Can we have a recount?"

Sleeping.

I have been having trouble sleeping lately.  It started a few months ago with your standard, run of the mill, wake your boyfriend up in the middle of the night, teeth grinding.  Then the jaw clenching, so I would wake up having to massage my jaw open again and wrestle the knots out of my muscles. Then the anxiety, and so on and so on. I'm taking measures to resolve these issues... but it gets (no pun intended) exhausting.

I know that this is mental. It's anxiety driven subconscious crap that comes from some deep dark place that is repressed. There is one fun part about this current state, sometimes, every once in a while, I will have these ridiculously vivid dreams that I can remember for the entire day.

Last night was one of those nights.

I had woken up several times in the night because of various reasons, already restless.

Finally drifting off into that half asleep, half awake place I am cognizant of the dreams that are being created, and of the fact that I am currently asleep. A very strange place for sure.

I am driving in my car, listening to music. I'm not sure where I'm headed, or what my intended goals are for the day.  My cellphone rings. I answer, and it is my old friend from freshman year in college, James.  James  is so excited on the phone, he is talking fast and I can hardly understand him, his zeal is infectious through the phone. Finally I get out of him his reason for calling me.

"I won you concert tickets on the radio!" he screams, getting out of breath.

James had been listening to a Baltimore radio station that gets picked up in Chestertown, Maryland, where we went to college together. I get the station here, in DC, but am not a fan of this particular station.  He happened to be listening at the exact moment where he needed to call in, got through, and won the tickets! He was so excited, but convinced the DJs to transfer the tickets to me, since I was much closer to the venue and would be able to go.

What, pray tell, what the concert that I had inherited these tickets to?

Linkin Park.

I thanked James for thinking of me, and I said I would give the other ticket to my sister, who I was sure would enjoy the concert despite the fact that neither one of us really likes Linkin Park. Why let perfectly good tickets go to waste? The concert was tonight and I had nothing better to do than listen to screaming rap-rock at loud volumes in Baltimore.

The rest of the dream involves me recounting how I got the tickets to very random acquaintances in my life, and ended with my sister and I arriving at the concert venue that evening.  We had to swim through a castle moat with trashy girls dressed like mermaids to enter the venue.  Soaking wet, we meet the DJs who are SO PROUD that my sister and I could make it, and that they were able to make such successful accommodations.

The entire dream I never referred to my friend James by his real name. He was either "Jimmy Jones," "James Jones," or I couldn't remember his name at all.

Oh, the benefits of having an anxious mind.

Prince William and Kate Middleton - The Silver Lining to Putting Up with All the Media Hype!

  In the US, the hype surrounding the upcoming Royal Wedding is limited to a "Royal Wedding Countdown" on the NBC Today show, with a few other minor inclusions. I can only imagine what the UK and surrounding countries are in for. I would try to liken it to a celebrity wedding, but really, it is so much more. Our top celebrities may get a contract with a major tabloid for a few mil (you know, no big deal), but the hype soon dies, and it is hard to find a comparison that would equal the DAY BY DAY coverage of the wedding plan development.

Creative Review - Wills and Kate memorial plates

  UK blog Creative Review posted this about an online retailer taking advantage of this hype, and satirizing it for all of us non Brits, cynics, ambivalent citizens, and people into the hype who really just care about the "free day off."