Subtle scents of freshly-washed linens, ink, and newspaper linger in a room that doubles as an art studio and apartment living room. In the duo-purpose room, a drafting table sits with bits of linoleum, sketches of designs drawn onto paper, and art supplies including ink, a paint-roller, tape, and a heat-press piled onto it. Posters line the walls of the studio and contribute to a feeling of creativity.

This is where Analiese Causey creates art and established her own business.

Analiese Causey, local Bloomington artist and Indiana University sophomore, launched an Etsy shop named Blooming Creations that sells graphic T-shirts created with hand-made print-making stamps on Sept. 11, 2018 to combine her passion for art and her need for money.

“I’ve always liked fashion and repurposing clothes,” Causey said. “I thought it’d be cool for my prints to be in fashion, like on T-shirts.”

Making prints has been Causey’s passion for years but after spending part of her summer studying print-making in Venice, Italy, she became even more devoted to the art-form.

Causey spent most of August and early September experimenting with how to successfully place her prints on T-shirts. In that time, she also created a logo, took photographs of her tees to post, and told friends and family about her soon-to-be Etsy shop.

“I thought that when I went live it might be overwhelming, but it actually wasn’t,” Causey said. “I usually have an order that I work on, or should be working on, every day. I’m kind of happy with the pace it’s at right now because it doesn’t make me have to focus too much on anything.”

Causey’s process for creating the T-shirts takes time.

After brainstorming an idea, she sketches it onto paper, carves it into a linoleum block and creates a print-making stamp. Then she rolls ink onto her stamp and heat-presses her design onto different-colored and different-sized T-shirts. She then places the shirts on a rack to dry. Once they’ve dried, she ships them to the individuals who have ordered them via her Etsy Shop Blooming Creations.

It took a lot of hard work and determination for Causey to start her business. Causey is constantly stretching her creativity through different art projects for class, friends, companies, or for herself.

“She’s extremely talented and we’ve been in talks for her to design logos and images for my fraternity’s apparel,” Blooming Creations customer Jordan Gould said.

Causey is enthusiastic for the future of her business because of all the support she has encountered since launching her site, she said.

“I really admire her for starting this business on her own and being so confident in her creativity” said Aino Rahkohen, friend of Causey’s.