A Creative Life: Satees

My intern, Tammy, has an interest in baby/kid products and when I asked her what some of her favorite products are, Satees was top on her list. Naturally, she set out to ask them if they would be willing to share their creative life with us. Read on to find out how this pulchritudinous (how's that for a SAT word?) idea started and click here to purchase their tees!


Tell us a little bit about your background

I'm a graphic designer working in print for various clients from publishing and nonprofits to more corporate graphics. Scott is a copywriter/writer whose background is in direct mail but also writes for numerous sites/blogs on food and popular culture in New York City.

How did SATees begin?

I was working on tshirt and onesie designs as an idea for a side business and Scott suggested the idea of putting SAT words on shirts. I thought the idea of putting them on onesies and little kids' tees was a humorous juxtaposition. Scott came up with the very clever name SATees: Big Words for Little Kids and between the two of us we searched words that we thought would make funny (yet fitting) adjectives for kids and infants. We debated whether to put the definitions on the shirts, but decided that the quizzical looks they would evoke would make it more fun. We kept the font simple and clean (helvetica) like a flash card, but added the bright primary colors and the complimentary color dots over the 'i's and 'j's to make them more kidlike or "puerile."


What's the inspiration behind your work?

Possibly the fact that all four of our teenaged daughters (Scott has two and I have two) have taken, or are about to take, the SATs!

Who are your favorite designers and artists?

Oh, there are so many! I'm a big fan of designers who play with type. Paula Scher from Pentagram, Gail Anderson, Carin Goldberg, Michael Beirut... As far as artists, Tara Donovan comes to mind. James Turrell and his fascinating play with light. Scott is also a fan of many of those that I've mentioned, but also follows a lot of the street artists such as Banksy and Peru Ana Ana Peru, among many others.


What's a typical day-in-your-life at the studio?
For me, it's spent mostly in front of the computer either totally inspired and in the flow, or stuck, inspirationless with a lot of trips to make cups of tea until something hits. Scott travels around the city (NYC) trying different restaurants, photographing food and locations and then back to the computer where he transposes the notes from his moleskin into captivating prose.

Giveaway Winner: Februaryy 13 Creative

Thanks to all who entered to win an art print from the talented moms at F13 Creative!
We'll be doing lots of giveaways now that we're nearing the holidays, so definitely stay tuned for more. In addition: they are offering free shipping on all February 13 Creative Etsy orders that are placed on or before November 24th.

The lucky winner is: Angela Lee
Congrats and please email me at designingmoms@gmail.com so I can get your info!

Friday Fotos: Double Trouble

Designing Mom Aya and I are currently on the hunt for a shared nanny. We've been laughing over the thought of double strollers and all... But I hadn't quite thought of "double trouble" until I saw these adorable little trash can accomplices from Victoria at The City Cradle. Too cute.

Have a Happy Friday and weekend everyone! We'll see you Monday.

Giveaway Reminder: February 13 Creative

Just a reminder to enter February 13 Creative's giveaway for a modern art print! The giveaway ends tonight at midnight so be sure and click here to enter!

Make: Pumpkin "Oatmeal" Gluten-free Cookies

by Designing Mom Mari

Holiday traditions

This is my daughter’s first year, and sidling alongside all of her normal milestones are my own brand new challenges. Like, how the heck to celebrate the holidays? What traditions do we bring from our families, and what new ones would we like to add? Obviously we’ve got a couple years to sort things out before she accuses us of being Scrooges, but I like to be prepared.

The first order of business: the food. It’s such a big part of family traditions. Most celebrations in my family included cake and cookie decorating. In the fall we always hand-sculpted pumpkin shaped pumpkin-oatmeal-chocolate chip cookies. They only tasted right when coated liberally with frosting and chocolate chips, lots of little candies, and licorice.

However, this is a bit of a hurdle for me. I became allergic to dairy, eggs, and gluten about 8 years ago. I’ve only recently been able to add in some gluten-free alternatives without getting sick. So I decided this was the time to solve that very important ritual. The goal? A cookie that is safe for me, but one my family would eat without turning up their noses.

After years and years without these particular flavors (there really is no other substitute), I still knew from my first bite that I had found the right combination.

These cookies taste like childhood.

Pumpkin “Oatmeal” Gluten-free cookies

This recipe borrows from the “oatmeal” cookies recipe in Cooking Free by Carol Fenster, Ph.D. (It’s a great book if you have multiple allergies.)

My (very picky) husband said you wouldn’t know they’re GF/EF/DF. Enjoy!

2 cups brown rice flour

½ cup potato flour (not potato starch)

¼ cup tapioca flour

1 cup brown sugar

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp xantham gum

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

2 tsp cinnamon

½ cup butter or margarine

½ can pumpkin puree

1 cup applesauce

1/4 cup molasses

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 ½ cups GF/DF chocolate chips

1 cup rolled rice flakes (found in natural food stores with the oatmeal)

Preheat oven to 325°.

Line 2 cookie sheets with parchment paper (or grease).

Combine dry ingredients (flour through cinnamon).

Combine wet ingredients in food processor (butter through vanilla).

Add dry ingredients and rolled rice flakes to the wet ones. Pulse until mixed.

Dough will be fairly stiff.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop in large tablespoons onto cookie sheet, flatten with non-stick spatula to 1/2 inch thick.

Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until edges begin to brown.

Makes around 2 dozen cookies.

Frost with vanilla frosting when cool.

I highly recommend adding chocolate chips or shavings on top as well. (or go full-on in the decoration department!)

Here’s a basic frosting recipe, feel free to use your favorite!

A glaze works well too. You just need the added sweetness.

• 3/4 cup powdered sugar

• 3/4 cup margarine

• 1/8 cup vanilla soy milk

Combine ingredients in a mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, blend until creamy. The consistency of the frosting may vary. Add more sugar, margarine or soy milk as needed.

Shop: Skin

This would've been great for our sketchbook series. From Marisol Rodriguez comes Skin, a truly transformative clothing collection! The line is inspired by origami and is meant for an "extended lifetime."

Shop: Wreaths

Designing Mom Jackie

I'm not much of a traditionalist when it comes to holiday decor. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Hanukkah decorations are pretty boring compared to all the sparkly Christmas fanfare. Not that I'm a fan of Rudolph or Santa, but I do love the idea of a decorated tree, handmade stockings, and shimmering lights.
The problem is that I feel completely out of my element every December when the winter holidays roll around. We kept things pretty simple when I was growing up. A few menorahs. Some plastic dreidels. End of the story. Now that I have kids and am part of a mixed faith family, I am trying to take things up a notch. I'm striving for something festive, with hints of Christmas and Hanukkah, reworked in a creative, contemporary fashion. A tall order, I know.

First thing on my agenda: wreaths. I've always admired them but never had one. I would really really like to make one this year, if time permits, and I'm thinking of something a little whimsical - made out of paper or buttons or even gum drops. Here are a few inspiring examples that I'm just loving:

1. Faux bois wreath from Knock Knocking

2. Button wreath Shopping Sherpa's flickr pool

3. Faux feather wreath from Kitschy Digitals

4. Felt wreath from Allium Design's etsy shop

5. Paper wreath from Rag & Bone

5. Paper wreath from Haru's etsy shop

Shop: Crochet Goodies

by Designing Mom Liberty
I have a friend from my days in Chicago who is a designing mom of 4 boys. Just looking at her site of crocheted food toys (which are the softest, most fun toys!)... you can see her creativity and marvel at how cleverly she designs all these different foods. We've bought a couple of play coffees from her for our kids and they ALWAYS reach for the crocheted coffee mug over the plastic play ones - because they look so real and feel so soft.

My hubby and I recently bought some cute travel coffee mugs that look like the disposable type... (the search in our house for the perfect travel coffee mug is a whole other story!) But we really do like these funny ones, and our kids think they are clever. For Christmas this year, I'm going to ask Tiffany to make mugs for the kids, so we can all sit down and drink our coffee/pretend-coffee from our non-disposable mugs together. (Oh, and I'm hoping to get some cupcakes into the mix, too!)

A Creative Life: Sarah Hannevik

I received a wonderful note from artist Sarah Hannevik about her beautiful fiber art . Each of them is like a tiny stitched vignette and I love that she uses materials from her surroundings (currently South Korea). Read on to see what her daily inspirations are and click here to purchase her work via Etsy!

A little bit about myself:
I moved to Oslo, Norway after growing up in the US, mostly in Atlanta, GA. My mother is Norwegian (my father was American) so moving to Oslo was not really a huge leap. I married a lovely Norwegian man and we have two children - Cornelia is 6 and Gustav is 4. When Cornelia was an infant I started a web shop importing good's for children from the US and some other European countries. Creating that business was such an adventure, but the business was not one that was meant for a long life, on to other things :-).

Inspiration:
Last year, after 12 years in Oslo my husband's job took us to Busan, South Korea and I have seriously experienced the most profound creative awakening. Korea is an amazing place focused on his colorful history of handicrafts using paper and fabric, plus it's general love of art - where I live there are 10 galleries in a 5 mile radius. I am having my first exhibition next week at a nearby gallery, this is a dream come true!


So here in Busan I have started producing fiber art. I sew together paper and fabric and add elements of collage and embroidery. The fabric market here is amazing and new projects pop into my head every single time I am there.

above: my work room is a bit weird since I have a big window looking into
the laundry room, weird Korean apartment layouts?!

My daughter, Cornelia, is especially interested in creative projects. I bought her a real mini Hello Kitty sewing machine and she tries to recreate what I do. Lately, we have been painting every day, the art supplies here are so cheap and easy often of very good quality.

above: Cornelia and I sewing on her cute little Hello Kitty sewing machine.

A day in the life of "me":

I drop my children off at school at 8:30, rush home to the last bit of coffee, clean up the kitchen and then dive into one of the many project either waiting on my work table or swimming around in my head. I work best when I can listen to a brand new episode of This American Life, but can manage well with any of NPR podcast actually.


There are days now and then when inspiration never comes, but when it does I can complete sometimes 3 pieces in one day! On these days, I am on such a high, I walk around clapping and complimenting myself all day! Needless to say I get so immersed in my work that it is often hard to break off and get to school by 2:40, but I have gotten better over the years to switch gears and be completely with my children when they are home. Luckily they love making things, so we often spend the afternoons coloring, drawing, cutting, glueing and talking.

Giveaway: February 13 Creative

I'm here to start the week with another great giveaway! This one is for a beautiful modern art print for your home or kid's room from Designing Moms Betsy, Pamela and Amy at February 13 Creative.

To enter: choose the art print you'd select from February 13 creative's Etsy shop.
Leave a comment on this post on which print you'd choose and why and it will be entered in a random drawing to win. The giveaway ends this Friday and is open to all Designing Moms and readers alike. Good luck everyone!


About: February 13 Creative is a collective of three happy Aquarians specializing in graphic design and illustration for celebration! We're delighted to offer a great selection of our illustrations as limited edition prints through Etsy. Gift a friend or gift yourself... our prints are sure to deliver an upbeat pop of color and style to any home!

Our Projects: What's in My Sketchbook

by Designing Mom Tori


I love sketchbooks. I love the imperfections, the layers, the smudges, the quick ideas represented, and all of the little details. Little did I know that I would build up such a collection over the years. I can look back on certain sketches and vividly remember particular times in my life.

My future grandchildren may not have many old journals of mine to read through, but they will definitely have a few (very imperfect) sketchbooks. I thought I would share a few sketches for my greeting card designs. I love to do several rough sketches until I get one that I like and then I scan it in and tweak it in Illustrator. When I first started my business I was much more comfortable with drawing by hand than I was with a computer so I have a lot more of my "early work" in sketchbook form. Now that illustrator is just another medium for me, I often create my card designs from scratch on the computer. I still start many of my designs by hand and scan them in though - to give it a certain feel that I just can't get with a computer program.

Giveaway Winner: LavishGiving.com

Thanks everyone for participating in the LavishGiving.com giveaway!
Congratulations to Tiffany and Kristie on each winning a $50 gift certificate.
I know you'll have so much fun deciding on what goodies to choose from (and knowing you'll also be giving back!).

Giveaway reminder: Lavishgiving.com

This is a reminder to enter the LavishGiving.com giveaway which ends tonight! I know some of you have expressed some hesitation in giving out your email, but I promise it will only be used to contact you if you win. If you choose not to leave it, just be sure to check back in to see if you are the winner (or email your contact info instead)!
So enter away by clicking here...2 $50 gift certificates to spend on "lavish" holiday gifts is a great way to give/save!

Friday Fotos: Catching Zzzz's

Designing Mom Mari and her photos of daughter Wren always have me bent over laughing... Don't we all wish we could nap like that? What a perfect image to end the week--happy Friday and weekend everyone. We'll see you Monday!

above: From Designing Mom Mari, "Silly girl
slept this way for 2 hours."

Our Projects: What's in My Bag

by Designing Mom Guissell

I should explain that I have never been a fan of diaper bags because they often look like a big diaper with handle! I may be alone in this but that's just how I feel about them. With that being said these are my two "everyday" bags I interchange with. My mommy bag (which I guess would be considered diaper bag) is my beloved Doors canvas bag I got from Target. My Beatles "singles" bag is the one I use when I'm running solo. After taking this pic I realized I missed one item in the contents picture which is my trusty journal... Why you ask? Well because I was writing on it when I remembered I had to take this picture! Oh but the joy of motherhood....

"Mommy Bag"

1. A set of change of clothes for my little man plus his shades because if I have shades then he has to have shades... you know how that goes.

2. Wipes... I don't think I need to explain this one.

3. Books... These just happen to be his favorite now.

4. The unstoppable duo of Woody & Buzz Lightyear!

5. Juice box... I don't use them all the time but I like to have them just in case.

6. Snack... Small finger food can be a melt down savior sometimes.

The items withing the {} are contents that I need at all times and must shift between bags.

7. Shades... A NYer must!

8. Wallet... Business cards reside in here as well.

9. Cellphone... ok I hate cellphones and if you would talk to anyone I know they would tell you how they hate I own one. If it's not dying, it's dead. Needless to say I often hear "why do you own a cellphone again?"...

10. Hair tie... Must must must! I use the No Damage by Scunci in black.

"Singles Bag"

11. Magazine... This one is the one I am reading now but it varies with decor mags.

12. SUDOKU!!!... enough said.

13. MP3 player... MUST MUST MUST! But it only resides in this bag. I find it rude when I see parents with their headsets on and walking with their kids.

14. Reading glasses...

15. Pen... To do my Sudoku of course! Funny how I don't carry one in my mommy bag. Sorry I only got one extra hand and it's not going to be used for writing.

16. Tissues... Because I need break from the wipes!

17. Trusty Journal... I couldn't leave it out of my list. It's a leather bound Banana Republic one I got 10years ago. I have the bad habit of collecting journals.

I should add that when I am working outside of home my "singles" bag is replaced with a business bag and a make-up bag is thrown in the mix...

Make: Paper Silhouettes

by Designing Mom Mari

What a classy way to jazz up some of those random action photos that aren’t always as frameable on their own (mine are always blurry!) If you’re computer savvy, you could do a lot of this on the computer too, though an afternoon with scissors and paper sounds rather soothing if you ask me.

This would be a great project for older kids too. Send them out with the camera first to pose for all of the shots - you’d be sure to get poses like the silhouette hanging out of the frame (my favorite!) Or, they could act out a favorite book!

*For the "Make" please click here (via Timeout New York).

A Creative Life: Rachel O'Donnell

I just loved hearing that illustrator Rachel O'Donnell created her "Alphabet Soup" print in anticipation of her soon-to-be arrival. And also that she often finds herself sitting in a puddle of art supplies (me too!). Today she's sharing a little bit about her creative life with us. Be sure to click here to purchase or view her work.


What is your background and how did you start your career as an illustrator?

I have been working as a freelance illustrator & designer for the past 9 years. I studied Surface Pattern Design at Syracuse University, and after graduation I started freelancing between job interviews. I realized that is what I loved to do! I exhibited at SURTEX and was able to meet a lot of art directors and designers. I have worked with lots of different companies, creating artwork for a variety of products including: giftwrap, greeting cards, gift bags, bedding, apparel, wallcovering, and more. I do mostly kids and baby art, and Christmas too. Recently, I started selling prints of my artwork for baby & kids rooms!

What inspires your work as an illustrator?

I like to create things that make people smile. I am inspired by POSITIVE things- I choose to focus on upbeat, optimistic and happy.

I try and bring my camera with me wherever I go to try and remember things that I see. I recently moved from Florida back home to upstate NY and the changing seasons are wonderful. I have been spending a lot of time painting outside over the past few months. Fresh air and long walks do a lot for when I am in a creative slump.

Also, I am expecting a baby in November! I am so inspired by this new little person! This is our first child, and my husband and I are working on an Alphabet-themed nursery. I created a painting called 'Alphabet Soup' to put in the room - its full of little drawings and surprises, lots of fun things for baby to find.

What's a typical day-in-your-life?

A typical day... usually everyday is different, which makes freelance work so much fun! But I usually get up early and try to do all my computer work in the morning, which leaves my afternoons free for painting & sketching, or creative projects. I enjoy having lots of different projects happening at once, and am most happy when I am sitting in the middle of a big mess of art supplies.

Holiday Craft Sale

by Designing Mom Jackie

Holiday Craft Sale!

Featuring homemade wares by twelve local designers + lots of yummy holiday treats

date: November 7

time: 10am - 3pm

place: 1090 Keeler Avenue, North Berkeley (my friend Nan's house)

details: I will be selling some little handmade ornaments (see attached pic for a sneak peek) and would love to see you!

Our Projects: What's in My Sketchbook

We're continuing with our ongoing series of sharing what's in our sketchbooks...

From sweets to spooky creatures...I'm not one bit surprised to see that the initial pencil sketches from Designing Moms Pamela, Amy and Betsy of February 13 Creative are as playful and jubilant as the finished design!