“Too Cute!” T-shirts celebrate dim sum

I took one look at the dim sum T-shirt advertisement and had to smile. After all, the cartoon picture fit the product name and company -”TOO CUTE!” T-Shirt Designs presented by Smilin’ from Ear to Ear – as well as the hectic, happy atmosphere of a typical dim sum lunch at a Cantonese restaurant.

The dim sum shirt is one of a dozen different designs by artist Frances Yip, who sells the shirts along with matching note card designs at various Southern California Asian boutiques and shows. “You get inspired by all the funny Asian type shirts like “got rice?” [referring to current YOLK Magazine merchandise]” says Yip, who took about a week to draw and design the dim sum shirt, her top seller along with the sushi shirt. “I find humor in the upside down pigs, the poor ducks and chicken, and the little Chinese ladies with the carts yelling, ‘Siu mai! Cha siu bao!’ They crack me up! The live seafood is a weird sight to me too!”

Yip peddles her wares through advertisements in magazines, fliers and appearances at conventions, and hopes to promote via word-of-mouth through a website and Internet chatgroups. She says this is her life, and she couldn’t see it otherwise. “Art has always been my love,” she explains, ”and pen and ink is my way of communication.”

To order Frances’s TOO CUTE! T-shirts and note cards, contact her at Smilin’ from Ear to Ear, PO Box 6137, Anaheim CA 92816-0137, Phone: 714.630.4886, E-mail: [email protected]. You can also check out her designs at www.SmilinFromEarToEar.com. Shirts range from $14.50-$18.50 US plus shipping and note cards are $4.00 US per pack of eight cards and envelopes. Shirt designs include Dim Sum, Sushi, Soccer, My Jesus, Froggy, Friendship, Family, Dog Lover, Cat Lover, Teacher, Basketball, and Bunny.

One of several dim sum t-shirts on offer circa 2014 as part of the “Too Cute Series.” (image courtesy of Smilin’ From Ear to Ear)