A Note from Liz:
Crafts have always been a passion for me - but until two years ago crafting remained a personal hobby (and the recurring subject of my day dreams) as I pursued my trained proffession of practicing law. When life circumstances presented me with the opportunity to retire from the active practice of law, I eagerly sought out ways to turn my crafting hobby into a new career path. Throughout my years of doing crafts as a hobby I've developed a passion for t-shirt decorating. I just can't pass by a plain white t-shirt without an impulse to fill it in with paint, rhinestones, glitter and anything else that I can get to stick to the shirt! I have created a lot of wonderful shirts using these traditional methods. As with most things one feels passionate about, I was eager to share my passion for t-shirt decorating with others (especially with my young daughter, who was age 5 at the start of my adventure in t-shirt painting). Thus began my experimenting with different ways that my daughter and her young friends could decorate their own unique and artistic t-shirts. We tried fabric paints, fabric markers, glue-on rhinestones, inkjet heat transfers, stencils and all manner of painting techniques. While these efforts were fun to try, the results were sometimes unimpressive. The children used way too much paint, the shirts felt stiff, the markers were too dry and not colorful enough and the finished t-shirt often times was not that practical to wear.
Thus it was with great enthusiasm that I came across Darryl Zinman, a professional screen-printer located in Montreal, Canada who had also been experimenting with ways that children could enjoy the fun and excitement of decorating t-shirts as a craft activity. Darryl's 20 years as a screen-printer had enabled him to fast-forward to the end product that I was inching closer to, but had not yet found a way to master. Darryl had developed a special t-shirt transfer that children could color in with creamy oil pastels and blend to create beautiful color effects, then he used a heat press to fuse the finished transfer design onto the t-shirt, resulting in a clean, washable, one-of-a-kind t-shirt that the children could wear within minutes of completion. I had to try this new method out for myself. Darryl was kind enough to send me a few samples to try. I created some shirts, my daughter and her friends created some shirts - and we were hooked! I loved this method so much I flew to Montreal to meet Darryl, see his production process, and attend birthday parties where children were making Creative T-shirts with great success and ethusiasm. Seeing the whole process in person further convinced me that I just had to bring this new product and method to Boston - and that is just what I have done. I hope you enjoy this wonderful new product and t-shirt decorating technique as much as I do!
Liz Yanishevsky, Owner and Activity Leader
See the founder's website, CLICK HERE