{ the jaunty magpie }

Not long ago, this Bird was Inspired by the drawn-on elaborate necklace art on t-shirts that were showing up in all the stores. They were elegantly imperfect and with a sly sense of humor, combining the look of formal jewels with a simple t-shirt. Plus, how clever is that -- you never have to think about throwing on a piece of jewelry because you're already set with just the shirt on your back.

That got this Magpie's noggin-gears clicking away, thinking, "How hard would it be to just make one myself?" Despite not having any screenprinting materials, that was easily solved with the magic of the almighty Sharpie marker. While it meant each shirt design would be one-of-a-kind, that made the designs all the more special. And it also meant this Bird needed to be on her drawing a-game as there's no erasing of a stray mark when it comes to pen on cotton fabric. But the scribble gods looked kindly upon this crafty venture, and these are the shirts that were produced.

I had some fabric paint from another old project. The jewel toned gold, silver and bronze were a nice bit of color to add to the simple pen drawings. Although the drawings could have been fine on their own, even without the paint. An extra flourish of sewed-on ribbon bows were added to some, to add a little extra bit of dimension. I'll have to remind the recipients of these gifts to wash gently in cold water. Even though t-shirts are meant to be rugged, these ones have been made delicate with the Jaunty power of faux jewelry!


Jaunty Fine Print:  photo by Denise Sakaki