Women Can Punch Bears Too!

After many request from our bear punchers-to-be, we proudly present you with the women's Haymaker Sea Blue Deep V neck printed on American Apparel 100% cotton.

If you don't know Bas Rutten...

Last weekend I was hanging out with my best buds Will & Ben watching some good ol’ UFC at the bar. While waiting around for the UCF 123 to kick off the topic of pre-UFC fighting came up. I’m definitely all caught up on my facts about modern day mixed martial arts, but I had only seen a couple of clips of the old school Japanese leagues. This is when Ben spoke two golden words: Bas Rutten.

He’s a Deutch Thai Boxing champion from the Pancrase league that was way before my time. You have to check out this Best of Bas youtube clip:

My initial reaction was that this stuff was as fake as WWF but after some heavy Wikipedia-ing I found out that it’s the real deal. The best sentence in the article has to be:

“During his MMA career he became known for two particular things: his fondness of liver shots and his habit of doing a jumping split after winning a fight."

Oh man, I’m so inspired to get another Haymaker epic t-shirt going…

Do you know the Jesus Lizard?

My biggest inspiration for making new t-shirts has to be National Geographic. I love kicking back with a brew and letting my mind wander as I learn about new creatures and their strange abilities. I recently bumped into a lizard with the ability to run on water. Check this video out:

I don’t think I’ll be able to use it on a t-shirt since the religious theme would definitely mess with sales, but I’m really glad I found it nonetheless!

UFC saved my life (but I’m sure it will take plenty of others)

Before I found UFC, I was never really hooked on a sport. Sure I’d watch the first couple games of the Deadskins each season before they would break my heart yet again, and the World Cup’s a good time when it comes around, but four years is a long time to wait!Then one lazy couch potato night a couple years back, I found UFC and everything changed.

I must admit that it was a bit like watching road kill at first. With each punch knocking out a good chunk of a rivaling alpha male’s 2nd grade math skills, I couldn’t help but feel sick as I would vicariously take the same punch on the couch. But I just couldn’t take my eyes of the screen. This is true natural selection at its finest! 2 bros in a cage with close to no rules, fighting for survival until the other submits to his brute dominance.

Just to clear things up, the UFC is not fake. Sure I said the same thing about WWF when I was 8, but back then I believed in a lot of other crazy things... (For the record, I still believe in David Blaine, so please do not attempt to disprove his hovering powers in my presence).

Let’s just say that there’s no faking a broken orbital (see the Brandon Vera v. Jon Jones knockout if you don’t believe me).

So what makes a well-educated suburban kid fall in love with such a primitive sport? you may ask yourself. I’m not really quite sure when I made the switch to UFC fanatic, but something just snapped in me after I witnessed enough brain poundage. It’s a bit like Stanly Kubrick’s Clockwork Orange. After enough exposure to freaky violence, you just start craving more.

Each month I have the pleasure of gearing up for yet another UFC bout with some extreme title like “Relentless” or “Unforgiving”. “YESS!!!” I declare as I pound my fist on the nearest object. This is what I’ve been waiting for! I like to label my UFC watching time as work time. As elbows and knees are raining down on helpless victims, I’m sitting back, daydreaming about t-shirt ideas and how I can apply this violence to a t-shirt.

That’s how we got to designs such as The Haymaker aka Bear Punch, or the Rhino Hunter (When Animals Attack! Part 6). I’m lucky to say that my favorite pastime has now become a source of my livelihood. I can’t wait to clock in again tonight as Marquardt takes on Okami. Showtime baby.

Great things to come

I've always been a good sharer. Ever since I won 5000+ M&Ms because I guessed the closest amount inside the jar, and then was forced to share them with 1st-4th grade by my mom, I've had a keen understanding of what true sharing is. Anyways, here's some voluntary sharing of new Sharp Shirter stuff that will be coming out in the next month or so:






Please let me know if you like it, because we'll make extras if there's a huge demand

My First blog!

Hey Sharpies!

So here's my first blog ever after 2 years of procrastination. First of all, I'd like to thank Dave Murray from Seibei for being my inspiration for blogging. I always gravitate to his site when I'm looking for a good read, so if this one isn't doing it for you, definitely give it a look.

Anyhoo, I just finished my first run of summer tradeshows. The first one was "The Big Art Show" in Philly. Although I braced myself for disaster, and used the trip from DC as an excuse to get out of the house, the show turned out to be a blast! I sold way more than I had expected, and I had a chance to show off my new line of laptop skins which have been doing really well (just got picked up by Urban Outfitters!!).

This weekend I had "The Punk Rock Flea Market" show in Lancaster, PA. Unfortunately the tables turned on this one, and my expectations were not met. There was a pretty so-so turnout, and on top of that, a lot of punk rock kids that thought spending wasn't too cool and just came to check things out. Regardless of the disappointing sales, I must say that I single handedly created the best booth I've ever made. Here's a shot of my masterpiece:

In case you're wondering why it's so bright, I brought my depresso-light for Seasonal Affective Disorder (I may or may not suffer from it, but I sure do like bright things), and it worked out really well.

In case you want to come out and show some support, here's my schedule for the the upcoming weeks:

Renegade Craft in Brooklyn June 14-15
Pile of Craft in Baltimore June 21
DIY in Maryland July 18-21 (biggest public outdoor event in the nation)
POOL in Vegas August 25-27 (buyers only show)

Well, that's a wrap on the first blog. I'll leave this inspirational photo for all you gamers out there:

That's my granny of 91 playing Wii tennis. If she can do it, so can you!