Black shirts are in!

Black shirts are officially in! We've tried and are still trying to make as many as possible designs on these shirts for you. But you can browse our sections and black shirts should be more or less at the top of the product list.

Cancer

I don't usually post about this stuff or talk about it much but today, actually only 5 minutes ago, someone that I tutor French to on a regular basis just came in and told me why she had not been in class or tutoring sessions for the last 2 weeks. She announced to me that she had breastcancer and that her doctor as well as mammogram people kept telling there was nothing to worry about.
She is absolutely devastated as anyone would be finding out this type of information. it's almost a death sentence. She fortunately pushed very hard to get an MRI even though her doctor kept telling her there was nothing worrisome. She knew she had a lump in her breast but everyone kept refuting it and brushing it off.

To the medical community: WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE? If someone knows they have a lump, don't brush it off as paranoia. Honestly. You should be forbidden to practice for having such neglecting behaviour.

Anyway mammograms are not as effective as people think and you are better off going with an MRI.
So she begins treatment at the end of this semester. She is a single mom and is afraid of losing custody of her son due to this. It's sad, very sad that the justice system would deprive a mother of her son just because she is undergoing medical treatment.

With the advancement of science, cancer is not more common today but it is more easily diagnosed and people are more knowledgeable about what signs to look for. She is only in the beginning stages fortunately, so hopefully they will be able to eradicate it. She already has enough on her plate as it is.

So I urge you reader to support the breast cancer and any cancer cause and foundation as this is a very present disease that can be fatal. It can happen to anyone.

National breast Cancer Foundation, Inc.

Store Revamp

So tonight, as I was doing some new design sections I was thinking more and more about how messy everything always looked in there. A huge ass list of sections for individual designs with no particular order or any seperation of sorts. Get halfway down the page and you can't take it anymore
So I sat down for a couple of hours and made some new section images where my designs have been put in a more orderly fashion. Hopefully this will help the shopper a little bit and maybe not feel so overwhelmed. Nothing worse than going to a site and having to spend hours looking for stuff, unless you have hours to spare or enjoy doing that sort of thing. It looks smaller, but cleaner, it really hasn't shrunk, the portal makes it seem that way.
Have had a little success with my "tattooed intellectual" and "tattooed mom" designs. So I'm happy with that, and the holiday season is coming up so get your credit cards ready lol.
Yes holiday shopping can be fun but also a nightmare. Do it early, that's probably the best piece of advice. Relying on shippers and such is usually a big mistake especially when it's getting uncomfortably close to christmas.

Anyway need sleep.

Fantasy Art

With the new Harry Potter coming out today I thought it'd be good to talk about fantasy art and showcase some designs or shops that I think are owned by some of the most creative artists.

I'm not a big fan of fairies but definitely have my fae moment. I'm not into the tinkerbell flowery fairy stuff, since fairies are mischievous as much as they are beautiful and creatures of nature and forests, not necessarily flowers.
I have a fire fairy design of my own in my store, and was thinking of adding a pinup fairy also (still thinking about the illlustration for March for my pinup calendar).
Anyway I think first and foremost where fairies are concerned Ophelia's Art is a good place to start.

The Green Fairy of Absinthe.Her store also has other wonderful designs that are feminine and not necessarily about fairies, the other are corset art and sassy word shirts.
Knotwyrks Too also has a nice Titania Fairy Queen design and also gorgeous dragons.

Fantasy Art Gifts also has some beautiful and very creative fantasy art. A multitude of dragons that are a part of nature and almost invisible in the natural setting their are in. Beautiful work.

Anyway I can't way to see Harry Potter (I'm going to wait a couple of weeks so the crowds and kids die down a bit). I haven't read the books because I'm more interested in the visual aspect of a story.
Make sure to check out these wonderful artists and my store for other great items and designs.

Info and breaking that stereotype

People often see tattoos as either art or body disfigurement. Something you do when you are young on a whim only to regret it later on in life. Both are true and both are wrong.

Tattoos are an art when you think of them as well rendered pictures on human skin, but a craft in any other sense of what they are. One must go through an apprenticeship, you don't begin tattooing until you know how to clean, maintain a shop and know how to build machines. Basically you have to know everything there is to know about tattooing excluding the art in the first instance. A person tattooing out of their kitchen or bathroom, or tattoo parties should be avoided at all costs. These places are not sanitary! Anyone who started by tattooing their friends at home with no formal tattoo education or state required licenses should be avoided like the plague. These "scratchers" give the craft of tattooing a bad name.
Human bodies and skin are not the easiest things to decorate. Putting on eyeliner straight is an art in itself so you can imagine the difficulty of applying ink into the skin. This requires a certain amount of skill, skin stretches and moves over the body and appendages move, people move.
So next time you go and get a tattoo from a clean, licensed, and skilled tattoo Artist, think about how difficult it is for them to do what they do artistically.
The other side of the coin has to do with the rampant stereotypes about tattoos. Tattooing has been part of civilisation for thousands of years, it's not something sailors invented. Most early tattoos were attributed magical or medicinal properties, such as amulets. People believed them to have power and in many parts of the world they still do. Why tattoos have taken on such a bad image is beyond me.
They are a form of permanent adornment, just like eye glasses, earrings, clothes, shoes, except not as easily removed. A tattoo is not something external to the body that you just put on to impress your peers. It is a part of you, your personality, your being and your life. Sure people always think "do I want to still have this when I turn 60?", why not? It marks a point in your life when getting a tattoo meant something, or symbolised a person, event, belief. Tattoos are not done on a whim, and if they are then yes you will live to regret them.
Those who are tattooed are usually the cleanest people out there for the simple reason that when a tattoo is healing it must be kept clean. And keeping just one spot clean on your body is a little bit difficult, especially in the shower.
Also, yes there are people who get tattoos in prison and gang-related, but it doesn't mean every person who has tattoos is involved in criminal activity or even drugs. If one reads the guidelines as to the do's and don't's of getting a tattoo you'll soon realise that drugs and tattoos are on opposite sides of the spectrum. Alcohol, aspirin and other sorts of painkillers thin your blood, meaning you will bleed more during the tattoo process and also this may delay healing as well as make the ink bleed out. So you want to avoid these things. Deal with the pain, it's not permanent and contrary to popular belief it is a tolerable pain.
Also coming in to a shop drunk or high will more than likely get you kicked out. Nobody wants to deal with a drunk or junkie.
Tattooers probably have it the hardest, since they have to deal with people with stereotypes and utter misconceptions, that are rude and intrusive and who lack respect for what they do. Someone with tattoos that are semi-visible will not lift their shirt to show you on demand, like a dog performing for its owner. Just like I wouldn't ask you to show me your bra if I saw your bra strap sticking out.
Tattoos are a form of self-acceptance and love, they are not made to shock people, get conversations going, or get attention. If you have an ugly scar and feel your body is unattractive because of it or it holds painful memories, you can heal by tattooing over it with beautiful artwork, and be proud of what and who you are.
Don't turn away someone just because they have tattoos, that's just silly. It's as if you decided that people with blue eyes were bad and refused jobs to all people with blue eyes, it's akin to racism as it discriminates against a person with a different appearance.

I think I've written enough of a rant for one day. You can check out a very informative, and artistic site full of tattoo flash by clicking the banner below or in the sidebar.

First post of many

Well here it is, this is a blog attached to my store CLD Arts
I'm going to be posting random info about sales, coupons, new items, new designs and other events on here so check back often.
My store is mainly focused on designs relating to tattoos, pinups, fantasy, random subjects and the like. I also have a section for adult humour, my comic art or merchandise relating to my comic, and what I call word shirts. Shirts with sayings, slogans, or just tags. A good example of what I mean by tag is this, my tattooed romantic ringer, also available in mint green and gold yellow.


I'll also post things about the Affiliate program you can take part in and what is going on with that. You can find out more about it by following this link Affiliate Program. This is a great deal if you have a blog or website since it will allow you to earn 20% in commission by just linking to my store or products. If you follow that link you'll find out how.

Whenever I post a new design announcement, please feel free to comment on it. Also let me know if you have problems viewing my site.

Feel like browsing? Check out my links in the sidebar.