New Product Shots

Printed some new combinations for Twilight Artist Collective today.  Pretty amazing color combos - took photos and now I'm posting them.

Yup, I sure do

I love my life... that is a fact.  Off to go print some shirts for Twilight Artist Collective.  Then take photos and drop them off.

10 Reasons Why Today Rules

Reason why today totally ruled:

1: I did not change out of my sleepy pants all day while I worked

2: Found out that the CPSIA just got suspended for a year!!!!!

3: Did I mention that the CPSIA is stopped for now, till it can be re-thought and actually protect children from lead?

4: I made home made wheat bread with olives

5: I had an amazing conversation with my good friend Brenna today

6: Found out my best friend in the world Mia is coming to visit me in Seattle

7: Did some drawing

8: Gonna watch a movie Hon Solo then go to bed at 9pm on a friday

9: Decided that Partybots is going to start making Top Tube Pads, and printing my dorky drawings on them.

10: Got a bunch of data mining work done today

It feels good to draw

Woke up this morning and all I wanted to do was draw.  Wall-la!

A little printing, data entry, bikes and stickers

This morning was a little hard to get out of bed.  I can happily say that since I have been riding my bike every single day my insomnia is gone... not counting right now since I'm still awake.

My online orders have picked up in the second half of the month.  Thank goodness for that.  I know it is a scary time with the economy.  Its a pleasure to know that folks still want rad dorky drawings on eco-friendly apparel.  Hooray!  Shipped out 5 orders today.  Got some data entry done and even had time to start working on some new stickers.  I need to get a new Sharpie thou, the one I have is a fine point.  I like the detail, but my lines are way to thin for me liking.

My evening ended with Ryan, Ian and I going on a bike ride around the city ending at Flowers in the U-District.  It was a good ride, a little slower then last week but we also tracked up a lot of hills.  An hour and 27 minutes of solid non-stop riding.  It was nice to hang out at Flowers since Bubba and Koos showed up.  Both of those kids are super amazing.  I have all these ideas of drawings in my head based on bikes now.  I'm sure I will be thinking about this for the next three months before I sit down and start drawing.  That is generally my process with this type of thought in regards to drawing and planning.

Tomorrow I have more printing to get done and hopefully I will have time to upload new product to my website.  Officially - there are 87 choices of my dorky drawing.  Closing in on 100... then it is party time.  

I have another art show coming in the summer, I finalized my concept for it this week.  The show will be called "A 100 Reasons."  I kind of want to keep this show sort of a mystery only to be unveiled on opening night.  More on that later, want to get the iNVASiON show done first at Twilight in April before I start putting a lot of time on this next show.

shut it down....

More on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act - PT.2

Last week I wrote about this, because this new law being enforced by the CPSIA is just up-surd.  A friend sent me this article and I feel it sheds a lot more light to the stupidity and danger of this law.  The dangers for small business is enormous in both practicality and cost.  Not only that but this law does not grandfather product that is already on the shelf now or before Feb 10th.  So all product must be removed until certified by this third party.

I'm both appalled and sad by the overall impact of this.  It might force me to shut down my Kids and Toddler line plus lose several stores that are all children apparel boutiques.  The impact for my own business is going to be huge.  My hope is that both my suppliers for my apparel and printing products certification will be enough to allow me to continue selling.  Or, Congress wakes up and realizes what a terrible idea this is.

Here is a link to read the article from The New York Post:

Or you can read it here:

"By JEFF STIER

Last updated: 12:54 am
January 28, 2009
Posted: 12:52 am
January 28, 2009

IF Congress doesn't act quickly, tens of thousands of Americans will lose their jobs - and several hundred New York businesses will get hit particularly hard.

The problem is the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which Congress passed overwhelmingly last year because of fears about lead in toys from China. Bizarrely, the law threatens US-based children's clothing makers as well as toy makers - and even libraries. Its staggering, unintended consequences have prompted outrage from everyone from "mommy-bloggers" to some environmentalists.

In the name of safety, the law imposes absurd standards and insane testing requirements. These aren't based on science, but on political hysteria - and they're a major burden on business. In this recession, they could close down countless companies whose products are perfectly safe.

One example: The law not only requires testing of components of children's clothing for tiny levels of lead, but also separate testing of each different style of clothes, even if made from the same materials.

What's worse, the Consumer Product Safety Commission interprets the law to apply to kid's clothing retroactively. So products already en route to stores - even if they contain no lead - will be illegal to sell after Feb. 10 if they haven't been tested.

Wal-Mart is telling its suppliers that everything it has in stock that hasn't already been tested must be out of stores by Feb. 1 - even if that means sending the stuff back to suppliers.

This is creating chaos for everyone involved in making and selling children's items. Unless Congress acts now, tens of millions of dollars worth of safe children's clothing will be destroyed - and that's from New York City clothing makers alone.

Dozens of small, family-owned New York businesses, already struggling, will shut down and/or lay off their workers. The city could lose a quarter to a half of its 8,000 garment-industry jobs within weeks. Cory Silverstein of Kids Headquarters on 34th Street fears he may have to lay off close to 100 of his 600 employees in the city.

Meanwhile, the test requirements will make children's clothing more expensive.

Opponents of this "safety" law include not just businesses but activists like Chicago writer and environmentalist Manda Aufochs Gillespie, a.k.a. "the Green Mama." She writes that it "has made things much harder than they need to be": Even products that already meet much-stricter organic-certification requirements, as well as European Union standards, are not exempt from the "safety" testing requirements.

Companies like Chapter One Organics are also angry - because big business can absorb the costs and pass them along to consumers, while smaller companies will be forced out of business.

The law's onerous testing requirements may even apply to children's books. If so, until every single children's book is certified safe, libraries would be off-limits to children. So the American Library Association is lobbying for a quick fix to exempt libraries from the law.

But the law is so fundamentally flawed that it can't just be tweaked - it must be repealed. Then, Congress can consider a more science-based approach to safety that protects children without destroying whole industries.

The immediate need, however, is for Congress to simply delay the law from taking effect. If it doesn't act now, thousands of small businesses will close and consumers will pay more for everything they buy their kids.

Jeff Stier is an associate director of the American Council on Science and Health."

Thursday Night Ride: Come Tonight!

My friend Ryan and I are hosting a weekly thursday night bike ride. I'm going to try to get in the habit of posting it on my BLOG in case anyone wants to come out. Tonight will be a 19 mile ride around Beacon Hill and back.

I'm sure we will come up with a name for this... sometime soon.

Gasworks - Capital Hill - Beacon Hill - Mt Baker
19 Miles
Mile Instruction For
1 0.0 R Depart Gasworks Park going east on the Burke-Gilman Trail. 1.1 mi
1.1 L 7th Avenue, then immediate right on 40th Street. 0.3 mi
2 1.4 R Eastlake Avenue E (across University Bridge). 0.3 mi
3 1.7 BL Harvard Avenue E (underneath I-5). 0.2 mi
1.9 L E Shelby Street. 0.1 mi
4 2.0 R Broadway E. 0.3 mi
2.3 L E Roanoke Street. 0.1 mi
5 2.4 R 10th Avenue E. 0.1 mi
2.5 L E Miller Street. 0.1 mi
6 2.6 R Federal Avenue E. 0.9 mi
3.5 L E Prospect Street (at end of Volunteer Park). 0.1 mi
7 3.6 R 12th Avenue E. 2.4 mi
8 6.0 BL Cross over I-90 and continue on Golf Drive S. 0.1 mi
6.1 Continues as 15th Avenue S. 0.9 mi
9 7.0 BL Beacon Avenue S. 1.4 mi
10 8.4 L Cheasty Blvd S (at end of golf course). 1.2 mi
9.6 BR Continue as S Winthrop Street (just before Martin Luther King). 0.1 mi
11 9.7 Take overpass across Rainier Avenue. 0.1 mi
12 9.8 Exit overpass and turn right on S Mt. Baker Blvd. 0.5 mi
13 10.3 BR Continue on Lake Park Drive S (at Mt. Baker Park). 0.3 mi
10.6 L At bottom of hill onto Lake Washington Blvd S. 0.2 mi
14 10.8 BL At Coleman Park, go back up hill again. 1.2 mi
Continue on Lake Washington Blvd S over the top of I-90.
15 12.0 Enter Frink Park and start down again on Lake Wash Blvd. 0.5 mi
16 12.5 L At bottom (Leschi) continue north on Lake Washington Blvd. 1.5 mi
At stop sign (Lakeview Park) take S-curves back up hill.
17 14.0 L E Harrison Street. 0.6 mi
18 14.6 R Martin Luther King Way E and cross E Madison Street. 0.1 mi
14.7 Continue straight on 28th Avenue E (E Prospect Street). 0.5 mi
19 15.2 Continues as 26th Avenue E. 0.8 mi
20 16.0 L E Lynn Street and immediate right on 25th Avenue E. 0.2 mi
21 16.2 L E Roanoke Street. 0.1 mi
16.3 Follow bike signs to University of Washington through alleys, 0.2 mi
across Lake Washington Blvd to 24th Avenue E over SR-520.
16.5 L Exit museum parking, continue straight, turn on E Shelby Street. 0.1 mi
16.6 R Montlake Blvd NE, cross the Montlake Bridge to UW. 0.4 mi
22 17.0 L Cross Montlake Blvd and turn left onto Burke-Gilman Trail. 2.0 mi
23 19.0 L Return to Gasworks Park.

long day

Today was long, wanted to get more done.  Off to bed to get up super early to start fresh in the morning.  Tomorrow/today will be another amazing day.

shut it down...

Gorditos Installation - Part Two

This morning I went back to Gorditos to do the second half of my installation.  I added two Eagles Carrying A Little Girl, two Gorilla Man and two Jean Jacket Sharks.  Pretty rad!  So if you want a tasty baby size burrito and to check them out go there.  Oh, and did I mention they are vegan/vegetarian friendly?  Hooray, everyone WINS!

The Daily

Today was chill, rode home this morning which took me longer then I wanted to due to the rain and mild snow on the ground.  Did not prepare for it so I was pretty frozen, wet and cold when I arrived home.  Spent the rest of my afternoon and day doing detail work on the new wood installations that are being installed tomorrow and doing data mining.  The data mining is alright, but it needs to be done.  Trying to find more stores that I can sell my dorky drawings to.  Found out that two of my stores are closing their doors.  Bummer, they are great people and deserve to stay open.

There is a good possibility that I will also need to find part time work which I already started looking in to.  Unless a miracle happens and I land some rad huge account that will keep my production alive during this economic downturn.

Today was really good.  Feels good to get things done and working towards my goals in life.  Did not get to draw... my only regret of the day.

shut it down...

Today was a good day

I got up pretty early this morning to finish up the installations that are going in to Gorditos in Greenwood.  I have not figured out how many of these I'm putting in.  But I figure what I don't I will use else where.  There are two more polar bears, three gorilla men, four eagles carrying a little girl and three sharks wearing a jean jacket.  A good amount for sure.

The rest of my afternoon I posted new products on my website and worked on emails.  I think I'm going to spend the rest of the evening posting product.  By the time I get done with today it will be another 15 hour plus day.  I wouldn't be doing all of this if I did not love what I do for a living.

Invasion Artwork - Rad Print

First off, I'm very very happy with this artwork.  Second off, I'm even more happy about the printing of it.  It nearly wraps around the base of the shirt - so it gets a little intense.  These are all based on some dorky drawings I have been doing a lot.  I drew this set on the plane heading to Chicago last year.  Hope you enjoy it!

Art Installation at Gorditos in Seattle

This morning Omar and I went and Installed these at Gorditos for an installation piece.  There are three Mr. Stemke 4ft Polar Bears currently.  However, I will be making some more based on other drawings this week.  They have a lot of wall space.  These were the three I could bust out to bring them now.

The installation will be up for the next two months.  Gorditos is an amazing mexican food joint in Greenwood with delicious BABY SIZED burritos.  No joke...

Go get some amazing food and check out the installation that I have up! 213 N 85th St, Seattle, WA‎ - (206) 706-9352‎

New Product Photos

I pumped out three orders for the Whole Foods Market in Roosevelt Square, Whole Foods Market in Lamar, and Neighborhood in California today.  The lighting was perfect and was able to get some product shots today as well.  Tons more will be posted on my site, or you can go to my gallery page to see them.  Feels good to see it as a finished product.

Children Product Law.. a third part joke?

Can I just say what the fuck?  I found out about this today and I'm completely speechless.  How are small business suppose to deal with this?  Third part regulation on this is a fucking joke.  How is this even going to be regulated or policed by a third party in the first place?  Is this part of a micro-management bureaucratically wet-dream?  I'm all for keeping kids and children safe.  I would not be striving for environmental sustainability in the first place if I did not give a shit about my fellow human being or the world we line within.  This is on par with giving Robert Murdoc control of the FDA.  It does not make sense and is completely ridiculous.

Request for Comments and Information*

Mandatory Third-Party Testing for Certain Children’s Products

Section 102 of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act

(“CPSIA”)

The Commission staff invites comments on Section 102 of the CPSIA, Mandatory Third-

Party Testing for Certain Children’s Products. The staff requests comments specifically on

third-party testing of component parts.

CPSIA section 102(a)(2) imposes testing requirements to support certificates of compliance

for “children's products'' as defined in section 235(a) of the CPSIA (to be codified at section

3(a)(2) of the Consumer Product Safety Act). Ninety days after the Commission issues those

requirements for a given product or category of products on the rolling schedule specified in

section 14(a)(3), the certificate for the product or products in question manufactured after that

date must be supported by testing performed by a third-party laboratory whose accreditation

has been accepted by the Commission absent the Commission's exercise of its authority to

extend such a deadline by an additional sixty days in certain instances. Given the schedule

for implementation of the third-party testing requirements, the staff is interested in comments

and information regarding:

• How the risk of introducing non-compliant product into the marketplace would be

affected by permitting third-party testing of the component parts of a consumer

product versus third-party testing of the finished consumer product.

• The conditions and or circumstances, if any, that should be considered in allowing

third-party testing of component parts.

• The conditions, if any, under which supplier third-party testing of raw materials or

components should be acceptable.

• Assuming all component parts are compliant, what manufacturing processes

and/or environmental conditions might introduce factors that would increase the

risk of allowing non-compliant consumer products into the marketplace.

• Whether and how the use and control of subcontractors would be affected by

allowing the third-party testing of component parts.

• What changes in inventory control methods, if any, should be required if thirdparty

testing of component parts were permitted. Address receipt, storage and

quality control of incoming materials, management and control of work-inprocess,

non-conforming material control, control of rework, inventory rotation,

and overall identification and control of materials.

• How a manufacturer would manage lot-to-lot variation of component parts, in a

third-party testing of component parts regime, to ensure finished consumer

products are compliant.

• Whether consideration of third-party testing of component parts should be given

for any particular industry groups or particular component parts and materials.

Explain what it is about these industries, component parts, and/or materials that

make them uniquely suited to this approach.

Comments must be received by the Office of the Secretary no later than January 30, 2009.

Comments may be filed by email to Sec102ComponentPartsTesting@cpsc.gov. Comments

may also be filed by facsimile to (301) 504-0127 or by mail or delivery to the Office of the

Secretary, Consumer Product Safety Commission, Room 502, 4330 East-West Highway,

Bethesda, Maryland, 20814. Comments should be captioned “Section 102 Mandatory Third-

Party Testing of Component Parts.” Interested persons will also have additional opportunities

to comment following publication of any notices of rulemaking proceedings in the Federal

Register which are commenced under this section.

A couple new Drawings

Did some drawing today.  Hope you enjoy!

New Artwork Printed on Tote Bags

These are shipping out to the Lamar Whole Foods Market in Austin.  But, they are also now available for all of you fine folks on the internet.  They will be posted on my site shortly here for sale.  There is the Banjo, Mustache, Bike and Dance N Bananas!  

I Really Miss Painting

Last week I started working on this little guy and finished him up.  I have not painted in so long, and now I can not figure out why I ever stopped.  I'm going to be starting on my second painting this year today.  Hooray!

Thank you City of Seattle!

Yes, thank you City of Seattle for changing your taxing limit from 50k to 80k!  Small business appreciated the help for sure, Best day ever!

HOORAY!

- karl addison

Off To A Good Start, Drawing Away

Yeah!  Drawing is awesome and so far I have been doing a lot of it.  My flickr page is loading up of even more then you see below.  Enjoy!

Marketing: New Newsletter & Twitter!

HI!

I'm trying to get a few different marketing mediums going for Partybots to stay in touch with everyone.  The two new methods are a new NewsLetter that is WAY better then what I was using before.  You will be able to opt out if need be, or more importantly forward my newsletter to a friend.  There will be a sign-up box on my site shortly.  As soon as I add the code in.  The second is using Twitter.  I'm not sure really why I have not used this from the get go.  But it seems like an amazing way to tell folks quickly about sweet new artwork and products.  So, if you get a lot of attention from me today it is purely based out of love.

Here is my Twitter Profile: Partybots - Twitter

Greeting Cards!

These cards are pretty neat.  They are all hand made based on my dorky drawings.  The card size are 5x7 and they are printed on 100% Post Consumer Recycled Paperstock.  I will be releasing a lot more of these cute cards as soon as I color in more of my drawings and get all the product shots done.

Here is the link to check them out: Cards

First Drawing of the Year!

First drawing of the year!