Curls Twitter Contest

Hello everyone!

The contest is officially on and you have one week to get retweeting (or RT as they say on Twitter)! If you already have a Twitter account, all you have to do is be a follower of @curlsstudio and post:

"CONTEST: Spread love of the Curls Webcomic! RT this message - one will win sketch on 3/4 by Carolyn Belefski. http://tinyurl.com/curlscomic"

If you don't have a Twitter account, now is the time to get one. One winner will be announced on March 4, 2010. The winner will get a free sketch by yours truly, Carolyn Belefski. Thanks for helping to spread the word about Curls!

Comic Creator's Alliance Donation Drive 2010

The Comic Creator's Alliance Donation Drive is LIVE January 11 - 24!

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."
-Margaret Mead

Monday, January 11th is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day. To participate, we formed the Comic Creator's Alliance--a group of over eighty comic book creators (both web and print) who volunteered our artistic talents to raise money and awareness for this cause. You may not know it, but there are currently 27 million enslaved people worldwide- more than double the number of enslaved Africans during the trans-Atlantic slave trade. UNICEF estimates that 1.2 million children every year are sold into slavery, most of it sexual. The US Department of Justice estimates 16,000 victims of human trafficking are brought into the United States every year. Unlike slavery in the 19th century, what is happening today is happening in secret. So it won't end until awareness is raised, and people like you and me take a stand.


So here's what we did: each creator contributed an original drawing of one of our own female characters, and combined them into a single wallpaper image. The wallpaper features characters from The Phoenix Requiem, Girls with Slingshots, Earthsong, Looking for Group, Curls, Shadowgirls, Marsh Rocket, The Uniques and three IDW Publishing titles: Fallen Angel, The Dreamland Chronicles and The Dreamer, and lots, lots more! Donate today to download this unique, once-in-a-lifetime wallpaper. The Donations Drive will last for two weeks, from January 11th - 24th. All proceeds will be split evenly between Love146 and Gracehaven House - two organizations working on rehabilitation of victims and prevention of this crime.


Character List (Curls is #32)

To learn more about the Comic Creator's Alliance visit www.comicalliance.weebly.com. To learn more about the problem, visit http://love146.org/slavery. (Note: contains adult themes and actual accounts of sex slavery.)

Sketch Before Sleep

This week I created a new blog called Sketch Before Sleep as an outlet to experiment with my new Wacom Tablet. I will try to spend a few minutes before I go to sleep to create something everyday as my gift to you. The images above are some examples of what I have been posting.

Be sure to subscribe to the RSS feed! If you are interested in purchasing any prints of my Sketch Before Sleep entries, contact info@curls-studio.com and tell me what you'd like. Or if you are an Art Director or Creative Director in need of illustrations or spot art feel free to contact me about future assignments.

UPDATE - March 11, 2010
If you see Sketch Before Sleep entries you'd like to purchase as prints, email info@curls-studio.com or contact me on Etsy and I will try to make them available to you in the following sizes: 5" x 5", 8" x 8", and 10" x 10"

Urban Forest Project Submission

This spring, The Urban Forest Project, a global public arts and environmental initiative, will plant 100 street banners designed by local designers and students in downtown Washington, DC. Each banner will use the form of, or metaphor for, a tree to make powerful visual statements about the environment. Together they’ll create a forest of thoughtful images in the heart of the nation’s capitol. Once the banners come down from the light poles, the artwork will be repurposed into tote bags for purchase. Proceeds from the sales of the tote bags will go to non-profit environmental efforts that will aid Washington, DC in being a cleaner, greener and more sustainable city.

The project, conceived by Worldstudio, is being presented in Washington DC in collaboration with: AIGA DC, the District Department of Transportation (DDOT) and the Corcoran College of Art + Design.

Here is my statement about the banner I created:

The Washington Monument is the inspiration for my banner design. The shape lends itself to create a lovely tree and represents both the environment and the city of Washington, DC as one visual element. In addition, the variety of leaves evokes a feeling of diversity and community.

Curls for Comic Creator's Alliance 2010

This image is my contribution to the Comic Creator’s Alliance. It’s a collection of many webcomic artists from all over to raise awareness in the fight against human trafficking. Curls has teamed up with other creator-owned female characters to create one single wallpaper image, available for download after people donate to Love 146 and Gracehaven. This project was conceived by Lora Innes.

The hope is that readers will be excited to participate in our donations drive, and that the wallpaper idea will be used to generate interest in the project. All of your favorite characters on one screen!

January 11th is National Human Trafficking Awareness Day in the United States. The goal will be kick off the donation drive on that day. Visit Comic Creator’s Alliance to get more updates on the project and find out how to obtain the wallpaper for your donation.

For more information on the problem, read what Lora wrote here: http://comicalliance.weebly.com/the-problem.html

"Toast of the Town" Doll featured on Etsy Finds

My handmade Toast of the Town Doll was featured on the December 3, 2009 edition of Etsy Finds by Emily Bidwell who works with the Etsy Merchandising Team. She writes:


Etsy Finds: The Limited
One of the great things about handmade is that artisans are constantly playing with their designs, often resulting in mini boutique lines and limited editions. All year round I enjoy hunting these nifty little numbers in hopes of finding something extra special. For today's Etsy Finds, I have put together a collection of some of my favorite limited editions currently for sale on Etsy. If you see the perfect gift, or something you just have to have, get it while you can! These items are hot and won't be in stock much longer.

Handmade Mart Holiday Shop -N-Stroll

Join Curls Studio this Saturday for...
Handmade Mart Holiday Shop -N-Stroll
Saturday, December 5 -- 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM
Ellsworth Drive (Between Fenton Avenue and Georgia Avenue) in Downtown Silver Spring, Maryland

Admission is FREE. Click here to read the Vendor Q&A with Curls Studio. We will have a tent in space 17 (near the middle of Ellsworth Drive, click on above map for exact location). We hope you'll join us.