Every day is Earth day at Zen-oh-tee

Since I'm taking a huge leap back into writing for the blog, I thought I would post a little something for Earth day. What better day to waffle on about how good my hand printed tshirts and hoodies are! Seriously, they are good for the earth, and here's why:

Sustainable Clothing 

Each geeky T-shirt, gamer hoodie and every piece of anime clothing I sell is sourced from a supplier who practices sustainable garment manufacturing. I will soon post a "Why choose Zen-oh-tee" article that will list the suppliers and their policies and standards so you can see for yourself. :)

Ethical Clothing

I ensure all the manufacturers of the blank T-shirts have high ethical working and living standards for their workers. My suppliers help their local communities and believe in safe and fair working conditions and wages. Sometimes helping the environment can begin with something as simple as taking care of your fellow man.

Made to order, not mass produced. 

That's right, I only make what is ordered. This is why items can take a few days to be posted. Your gamer T-shirts are being made just for you! They are not mass produced on the cheap and stored in a warehouse to sit and rot, and so there is no way any unwanted designs are going to end up in a landfill when the latest fad has been forgotten. This also means less energy and materials being wasted.

Better printing materials

The printing media I use is PVC free and so it's better for the environment, its also perfect for my made to order policy. Printing and the chemicals involved can have a huge affect on the environment, I save every off cut and again as I only make clothing to order, this further reduces the negative impact that printing textiles has on our planet.


Degradable mail bags

I bet you didn't know this one! Yes that is right, all gaming t-shirts and geeky hoodies posted are sent in a mail bag that is degradable. It took me a long time to source these but to me they are worth every minute spent trawling the internet. I also don't bag items individually in garment bags. I mean what's the point of putting a bag in a bag?


Seriously though, these are beautiful selling points for my geeky t-shirts and hoodies that I hardly touch on. I must admit I'm not sure how many people out there care about this sort of thing, or even look for it. But I know I'm one of those people, so hey! There's at least one :)

So there you have it, sustainable geek T-shirts, organic anime clothing, environmentally friendly gamer clothing. Geek and gamer clothing that we can be happy to wear! I've always been a sort of casual hippy I guess. In my circle of friends I am the most eco-conscious, I care about being wasteful and recycling, I like the planet I live on and the animals I share it with. So its something that is always on my mind, in a way a sort of hobby, and something I wanted to incorporate into my little business.

When I first worked for one of my suppliers, one of the clothing manufacturers came in and did a presentation on a new brand they had introduced. The brand was, plain and simple, organic clothing. They explained that for every T-shirt there is a cup of pesticides used, we're talking a cup the size of one you might get from the water cooler at work, so when you consider the amount of clothing in the world, that's a lot of dangerous chemicals going into the soil, and some of that cup of pesticides stays in the clothing, and ends up on our skin.

It was something I had never considered. You never do consider things like this until you are actually told about it. As a species we produce a lot, and sadly we are wasteful. So when you think about all the clothing out there, all the damage done to produce it all, it's something to consider when you are looking to help the planet.

When I started my little clothing company, being green is what I wanted to do. That brand that produced some of the worlds first organic T-shirts was an inspiration. I could actually make a conscious effort to have an environmentally friendly business. And so my Etsy shop started out with sustainable and organic geek and gamer clothing.

As time goes on things do change, and the brand that I used for my organic and sustainable T-shirts no longer produce those specific items I sold all that time ago, or in one particular case they stopped making the women's styles. I wasn't happy. But that didn't stop me!

So anyway that was about 4 years ago now, and today I can celebrate Earth day in my own little way, knowing I've built a little company that cares about our planets future, and I certainly wont stop here. I'll always be sure to keep an eye on my suppliers and their practices, and every time I find a new supplier that is green I will introduce a bit more to my geek and gamer clothing range. Happy Earth day people! I hope you are all doing your bit :)

2015 Christmas posting schedule

Its been some time since my last post so I have to apologize, but to be honest I do have a decent excuse. Its getting close to Christmas! And I've been busy making sure everything is ready for the rush so that I'm not caught out.

With this in mind this post is simply an announcement on Christmas postage dates, hopefully with this you can all make sure you get your orders placed in time so that they arrive before and not after the holidays.

Please note that the below is the last dates for orders, last post dates for Royal mail are a little later but the few days extra are for me to print and process the clothing in time for those last post dates.

Please keep in mind that these dates DO NOT GUARANTEE DELIVERY BEFORE XMAS.
Even though I reach deadlines the rest is down to the postal service both in the UK and in the country the item is destined for. There are many different factors that can have an affect on delivery at this time of year so please order early to avoid disappointment.

Cyprus & Eastern Europe such as Poland, Czech Republic and Slovakia, Central & South America  

Wednesday 2nd December

Greece, Australia, New Zealand 

Monday 7th December

Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Poland, Canada, Finland, Sweden, USA 

Thursday 10th December

Austria, Iceland, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, France 

Monday 14th December

Belgium, Denmark, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Slovakia, Switzerland 

Tuesday 15th December

United Kingdom 

Thursday 17th December

Items will still be posted after these dates before I shut down completely for Christmas but of course I expect they would probably arrive after the 25th, so please plan accordingly. If you have trouble purchasing through Ebay (Paypal has had a lot of issues with Ebay recently) please get in touch :)

People Person hoodie

Diving back into the old Etsy selection, I've brought in another one of my favorite sarcasm hoodie designs.

Originally on Etsy as the men's sarcasm T-shirt style, I'm bringing this one back to the range as the sarcasm hoodie to start off, since the turn in the weather says that Autumn (or more like Winter) is on the way.

I am a people person, I'm just not a stupid people person hoodie, great for those of us who prefer an intelligent conversation.

Jiji the cat

Delving back into the Etsy pot once again, Studio Ghibli fans may appreciate my Jiji T-shirt! The lovable black cat from Kiki's delivery service.

I always find it a bit weird to watch with English dubbing, mainly because Jiji is voiced by Phil Hartman. A well known voice in The Simpsons. All i can hear is Troy McLure.

Anyway, the Jiji T-shirt returns to the range in the women's Anime clothing section. :)

Elfen Lied

Finally expanding on my love for anime and manga again. This one happens to be one of my favorite anime's, but once again I've not yet read the manga which I  believe is quite different.

Originally only available as the Elfen Lied women's vest top, I've brought this design over into the hoodies section of my range. I'm not sure how many male fans there are out there of Elfen Lied, but I know I've neglected them for a while. Much to my disappointment there really isn't much merchandise out there for Elfen Lied, so I made my own. So here it is, the Elfen Lied Hoodie

This design is truly unique to me and my Zen Oh Tee range, inspired by the hand (or vector) print Lucy left on Kurama's back in the first episode, and the title taken from one of the dvd box sets, this design is now available in either black or charcoal in the adults hoodie range, and can be found in the Anime and manga hoodies section :)

Sarcasm, it's not for everyone

This time from the old Etsy range I'm bringing back one of my sarcasm tshirts. It may be the lowest form of wit to some,  but my god sarcasm is a great release for when you're dealing with the not so bright. 

Another one for the men's t-shirts section, "If you don't want a sarcastic answer, don't ask a stupid question" printed in a nice font onto a short sleeve tshirt. Available in 4 colours.

Just don't forget, sometimes sarcasm can be lost on some people, especially online. 

Charmeleon I choose you!

Another return from the Etsy list!  The pokemon ones always make me smile as it's one of those game series I just keep wanting to go back to. And if you are anything like me, you always want the same team for each adventure.

It's nice to see that Charmander,  Charmeleon and Charizard are still among the most popular Pokemon still to this day. So show your love for these fire types with one of my retro Pokemon first generation artwork tshirts, today's addition is the Charmeleon T-shirt.

Charmeleon now available in the men's Anime and Manga T-shirts in short sleeve and in 3 different colour choices.

Avengers distressed logo tshirt

I've had a lot of love for the two Avengers films so far. Now to be honest as a child I was never really a fan of the characters individually. I'd never even heard of Black widow or Hawkeye.  But I can confirm that Marvel and Disney have kindled my interest in all of the Avengers heroes, whom I'd previously had no interest in at all.

With that said I've been wanting to do an Avengers T-shirt for a while, and with Ultron starting out so messy and scratched when he first came into being I thought that once again I'd go for the distressed look. Since our heroes always end up so roughed up at the end of their epic battles. So today's addition is an Avengers Age of Ultron T-shirt

For now available in men's short sleeve tshirt in 4 colours and can be found in the men's film and tv t-shirts section.

Bleach

A brand new addition this time as I begin watching an anime series that for me is brand new. Bleach has been around for some time and is quite a popular anime, with the many suggestions I've had from people to give it a try, I'm currently almost at the end of the first series.

As usual I never seem to have enough time for my love for anime and manga. But since I've taken quite a shine to this one I thought I'd get my first Tshirt out there for it. So here it is, the Bleach logo T-shirt

The bleach logo, currently available in men's short sleeve tshirt in 3 colours. Watch this space as I'm sure i will soon have more as the series continue for me, but for now you can find the Bleach T-shirt in the men's Anime and manga T-shirts section :)

Stitch hoodie

Introducing Stitch! in hoodie form with a couple of extra colour options, as I know not everyone is a fan of white hoodies.  (it doesn't matter what it is, if it's white I get dirt on it!)

I love this design, the Stitch experiment 626 T-shirt was one of my first prints made for myself and I can't believe how popular it's been. Stitch for me is by far the best Disney character out there.

I can't wait to make more items featuring stitch. Experiment 626 - Stitch hoodie in 3 colours. You can find it in the film and TV hoodies section :)

Kodama T-shirt updated

Hey guys and girls, time for another upload. The next addition the range is more of a revamped version of the Kodama T-shirt I had originally uploaded to Etsy.

The original Kodama t-shirt design taken from Studio Ghibli's film - Princess Mononoke - had three of the little tree spirits which was printed on the chest area of men's and women's T-shirts. The little guys I actually took from screen shots of the film itself to try and keep them as close to the original idea as possible, but what I wanted to include was one of them smiling. Just like the one that prince Ashitaka asks "Hey little fellow, are you showing us the way or just getting us more lost?"

So the new additions for this upload are for the updated version of the design which includes that little odd smiler. Available in T-shirts and hoodies in men's, women's and kids styles.

I have considered perhaps adding the little Kodama tree spirits to the same style jumper as the popular sootball slouch jumper (but in black) for any of the girls out there who like the off the shoulder style. If there is enough demand then I'll more than happily add this one in for everyone :)

League of Legends Twitch T-shirt (as promised)

As part of my fresh start for the new year I decided to set myself a few goals. Number one being:

UPDATE FREQUENTLY

Last year wasn't a very social year for zen-oh-tee, and between setting up new sites. moving house and the Christmas rush, I lost out on making and uploading new designs. It means that everything has gotten a bit messy really, so a lot of my original prints are missing, some appear on ebay and some only on my main site and I seem to have heavily weighted my stock range in the men's T-shirt section which is a bit unfair really. Its winter, people need hoodies and jumpers! 

Anyway, the goal for this year is to make regular posts on the new and old designs I'm adding in. And to try and keep things evenly spread with each new design being added to all my online shops, and to be available across the whole range (men's, women's kids, tees, hoodies, and hopefully more) where possible of course. 

I had wanted to start out with the top item on my list that has been missing from the range since Etsy closed my shop (DAMN YOU VALVE!) But then I remembered my last post I mentioned someone who had contacted me and accidentally ignored. He'd asked about one of my old items in the hope I would re-list it. I never did, how embarrassing. 

And so here it is, for any league of legends Twitch fans out there. I give you my two Twitch designs. Available across the whole range. They are currently only available on the main site here (a quick Twitch search will turn them up or of course links are available below) but by tomorrow evening Ebay and Bonanza will have these also (for those who feel a bit more secure ordering from the big sites)

Hopefully this will be the first update of many this year. As usual if there are any want uploading sooner rather than later just give me a shout :)

Twitch quote T-shirt "They are the plague"
Twitch quote T-shirt "What doesn't kill you just isn't finished yet"

  

New year, new stuff?! Soon my friends.... soon...

Happy new year boys and girls! I hope its been a good one for you, and of course that the new year brings you many nice things. I have to start off the year by giving a small apology.

Christmas and the months leading up to it provided more than enough long hours and hard work for me, and as a result I fell off the radar. I think my last post was at the end of August and even facebook hasn't seen an update from me since before even then! The amount of work that came in meant I had to limit the orders I was taking so I know a few people had trouble getting their hands on some items, I'm very sorry if anyone didn't manage to get a toothless hoodie order in in time for Christmas.

It also meant that unless your message to me was order related I may have accidentally ignored it. (Special shout out to Sebastian, I'm so sorry I never replied to you! Things just got so busy, the Twitch T-shirt will be up soon if you still want it)

On the plus side I want to say a big thank you to the customers who had the patience to wait for their orders at such an awkward time of year! The feedback has been brilliant and I can't wait to get started on uploading some of my old items and also begin making some new ones.

The online shop will be reopening this weekend for a fresh start on Monday. As usual any requests or feedback is always welcome, and of course keep checking back for new stuff. Thank you everyone and once again happy 2015 to you all :)

Do Minions have eyebrows?

Ok, so working on updating my Despicable me Minion hoodie I had a bit of a random thought. I've not seen one of these little guys without their goggles. I've seen them dressed up, still with their goggles, and fan art in various costumes.

And still wearing goggles, or maybe they are converted to glasses like the Harry Potter Minion that Google images also offered me. Now that I think about it, I can't actually imagine these guys without them. It turns out, they look pretty weird. 

I now have to wonder how long the designers of the Minion characters spent pondering over whether or not to give the minions eyebrows, was it the cyclops Minions that swayed the decision? Perhaps the thought of giving a creature a mono-brow was a bit off putting. Safe to say its now made Minion fan art a bit weird for me. I still love this minion hoodie though, the original didn't have a mouth! And here's me going on about not having eyebrows....

The time has come....

After an exceptional amount of patience and insomnia enducing thought, I have decided to set up a new temporary site for Zen-oh-tee. There has been a lot of frustration with bugs and broken links with the current site, and after having put in so much work - only to find that it doesn't work - I figured it's time I made something that does work.

So to try and keep things simple and a little bit more personal, I've set up this small blog with a shop on the side that will include my top sellers and a few new additions. This site will link through to my Etsy shop, so the whole range is still available from here, but this will just give a bit of information on me, how I work and how designs have come into being. Hopefully it will also help inspire new designs too with some feedback from customers and followers :)

The old site will still be running and climbing the Google ladder, but until the bugs are fixed I can't afford any more time on the old site, especially when I have no idea how to fix it myself. Hopefully it will return to being a main site when its new makeover is complete.

So then, let the new sites testing and tweaking begin!