Everyone I know is into Farmville on Facebook.
In a way, it drives me nuts. Just another "time sucker" as my friend Jane says.
But I do like their logo, so here it is on a t-shirt.
You can get this logo on sweatshirts, t-shirts, coffee mugs, anything. And it's all by Zazzle.com,
where I have my store Zazzle.com/creativethought, so I know it's good because I've gotten some shirts from them and they're very nice quality. The big thing I like about Zazzle is that everything comes with a 100% money back guarantee...I wish more things came with a guarantee these days!

Politics and creativity

So, I really thought my Barack Obama Obumpa fist pump t-shirt would be a big seller at my t-shirt store. I mean, I thought the design was clever, and the play on Obama's name seemed clever, but perhaps my son is right. Perhaps it is a lame pun. What do you think?
It's so hard for me to combine creativity with politics. I mean sure, there's the name of the candidate, and the symbols, (American flag, peace sign, etc.), but how far can you really stray from the status quo? Then I see some incredibly unique designs, and I wish I had created them! My 2 most unique designs for Obama are can be found here.. and here.
But even I admit I need to make something more unique and exciting. And when trying to come up with a creative thought, it just seems different with a political theme. I get caught up in the red, white and blue, and the ordinary, expected things. I wish I could erase every political design I've ever seen, I think they've influenced me over the years. It's kind of like really bad tv commercials, you seem to remember them, so I guess they've done their job.
And yet, my favorite way to get inspired to come up with new, creative ideas for my t-shirts, is to go to the used book store, and spend hours there looking through the art books. While I usually spend some money there, the point is to find things that inspire me, not to copy other artists' ideas. It's great because there is so much original art in the world, it makes me think that I can come up with something original too. If I put blinders on. But then, so much of the outside world is great for inspiration, I guess it would just be nice to have a filter. I do like my yoga t-shirts though, especially this one.
Please check out my t-shirt and gift store, any feedback is greatly appreciated.
And if you have any ideas on how you get inspired, or what helps you be creative, I'd love to hear them!

Barack Obama loves Hillary Clinton?

Well, Hillary is finished with her campaign. Or is she? Could it be possible that Hillary Clinton will be chosen to be Barack Obama's vice presidential running mate? I find it hard to believe that after all that has happened in her hard fought campaign, she would be content to be vice president. Actually, I think Hillary would like to be vice president, because she is a powerful woman who wants to be as powerful as she can be. What about Barack Obama supporters? Would they embrace Hillary after all that has happened on the campaign trail? I admit, she has been very good about playing fair, and I think she is incredibly intelligent, but would Barack Obama even want her around? Does Obama himself pick the running mate, or is it the Democratic party? I'm not sure how that works, it will certainly be interesting to see what happens. One thing is for sure, it's a history making political season!
And don't forget to get your Barack Obama campaign buttons, yard signs, posters, coffee mugs, and more at my online t-shirt and gift shop, www.cafepress.com/creativethought.

McDonald's-love the fries, hate my thighs

So, the Center for Commercial Free Childhood sent me a great update...see below!


"Thanks to the efforts of CCFC members, McDonald's has ended its controversial report card advertising in Seminole County, Florida. Children in kindergarten through fifth-grade had been receiving their report cards in envelopes adorned with Ronald McDonald promising a free Happy Meal to students with good grades, behavior, or attendance. CCFC was alerted to the advertising by Seminole County parent Susan Pagan and launched a campaign which resulted in nearly 2,000 letters to McDonald's and plenty of bad publicity for the fast food giant. The following is CCFC's statement on the McDonald's decision to end the program.

This is a good day for parents and children in Seminole County and anyone who believes that corporations should not prey on children in schools. We are pleased that McDonald's is listening to parents all over the country who believe that report cards should not be commercialized.

In the absence of needed government regulation to protect schoolchildren from predatory companies like McDonald's, the burden is on parents to be vigilant about exploitative marketing aimed at children. One parent can make a difference. There is no doubt that the Seminole County ads would have continued - and violated McDonald's pledge to stop advertising in elementary schools - had one parent not called attention to the problem. And when that parent was joined by other parents and CCFC members, one of our nation's largest corporations was forced to back down. What we accomplished in Seminole County should put all marketers on notice: advertising has no place in our nation's schools.

Thanks so much to all of you who took the time to write to McDonald's. Those of you who wish to acknowledge McDonald's decision to pull the branded report cards can email Kathleen Pyle, McDonald's director of family and kids marketing, at Kathleen.Pyle@us.mcd.com.

Working together, we can reclaim childhood from corporate marketers.

The Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood.
www.commercialfreechildhood.org

Support CCFC. We rely on our members because we will not compromise our commitment to children by accepting corporate funding. To make a tax-free contribution, please visit http://www.commercialfreechildhood.org/donate/"

Now, I LOVE McDonald's french fries...fresh, hot, salty...they are one of my favorite things in the whole world! You can tell by the size of my thighs, I like fries!
But, I don't think they should sneak their corporate brainwashing techniques into elementary schools! Or any schools for that matter!

Anyway, good for the Campaign for Commercial Free Childhood, be sure to check out their website.

So, my t-shirt selling biz is going pretty well. I sold my first dog t-shirt! Someone bought a Barack Obama t-shirt for themselves, and a matching one for their dog! Yeah! I think that's pretty cool. I really like designing the t-shirts, coffee mugs, etcetera, but trying to figure out the SEO and marketing stuff is making my brain hurt.
It's really a lot more difficult than I thought. And, as it's January and no more Christmas sales...it's a little discouraging right now, not tons of sales. But I'll keep plugging away. I purchased my own domain name and site, separate from CafePress through cpshops, but linked to my CafePress shop. I can supposedly do a lot more with it, but it's scripted, using Perl program, and I am totally lost trying to figure it out right now. Perhaps I bit off more than I can chew, as they say. Anyway, check out my new site, and feel free to pass the link on to your friends! http://www.creativethoughttshirts.com