Great designs hook you instantly. Especially cute ones about babies (aww!), kids and motherhood. That’s why we love this CafePress shop so much.

Flaunt It Baby is a fun CafePress shop specializing in adorable designs for the young ones in your life (as well as designs for the expectant mother). The “brainchild” of designer Brindi Atkins, Flaunt It Baby was born when she was searching for special T-shirts for her daughters. It suddenly dawned on Brindi that she could make her own designs and find something that fit her wee one’s personalities perfectly. Plus, she could make some extra money, which never hurts with a young family.

While Brindi loves snowboarding, camping, hitting the beach, scrapbooking and other activities, with young children she realistically spends most of her day in their playful world. And that’s where fun ideas come to the surface on a regular basis. Brindi gets a lot of the inspiration for her ideas from just hanging around with the girls. In her own words, “I’ve always had a knack for design, but my daughters and their outgoing personalities help too!”

It’s also fun for Brinidi’s daughters to wear clothes with the designs they’ve created together. What keeps her motivated? “My daughters,” Brindi says. “They’ll always need clothes, and they can’t go walking around in lame designs – ha ha.”

Last Friday marked a milestone for gay rights in the United States, as New York State became the sixth state in the country to pass law legalizing same-sex marriage.

The Senate passed the bill 33-29 in a late-night Friday vote, which included four republicans voting in favor of the bill, and one democrat voting against it. Same-sex couples will be able to marry as early as late July, once the law goes into effect in approximately 30 days.

Passing of this bill was celebrated on both a local and a national level. As people took to the streets of New York in excitement, our shopkeepers, designers and advocates and supporters of the effort took to CafePress.com to create new New York gay-marriage designs and LGBT t-shirts to show their pride and enthusiasm.

On CafePress.com, sales of gay marriage-themed products more than doubled over the night of June 24^th, the day the bill was passed. Many credit New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo in working to make same-sex marriage legal in New York, the sentiments of which many agreed with here on CafePress.com.

The quickly-approaching July 4th celebration has people seeing red, white & blue. Independence Day designs and Americana themes are hotter than the bumper of a ’76 Buick cruising in a holiday parade. Hopefully the weather will be nice for people to get outdoors and enjoy their summer merchandise.

Also exploding on the scene are new Obama designs, pro and con, as the rhetoric picks up between Republicans and Democrats. Sales are starting to skyrocket as voters hope to spread the word on their unique assessment of the President’s performance to date – and chance for the 2012 election.

And because people need to relax and unwind with some less taxing matters, pop culture is a rising tide this early summer. The TV show Blue Mountain State is trending high, and designs are selling particularly well. Ditto for the daytime talk show The View, which continues to rack up significant sales.

As part of our ever-growing group who serve the major brands utilizing the services of CafePress (which includes corporations ranging from the teams behind Snoopy and Garfield to Someecards and Funny or Die), Christy is a people person. She’s also a T-shirt person. Which is what makes her such a perfect fit for the job here.

But as well as her knack for (and love of) finding the perfect T-shirts for a night on the town, listening to her favorite bands and meeting up with friends new and old, Christy loves reconstructing T-shirts. That is to say, she loves taking scissors and string (or whatever material strikes her fancy) and turning those T-shirts into a wearable work of art. She can shape them into her own unique form more suitable to her feminine frame, our puff them out for a casual look. In fact, no seam is safe when Christy gets that gleam in her eye.

Not surprisingly, she loves reconstructing T-shirts with designs from some of her clients. Here are a handful of them that she loves. Although, you might not recognize them when she’s done.

Music is My Life Mug: Since music is one of my favorite things, I just love this Schroeder Mug from the SnoopyStore. Not only does is feature Schroeder doing what he does best, it has a cute saying on the side that just makes this mug all the more adorable! You can purchase this mug, or mugs like this one here.

Nurse Jackie Fitted Tee: What can I say – I am a huge Edie Falco fan! Ever since her days on the Sopranos, I have been following Edie as an actress, and Nurse Jackie quickly became one of my favorite shows on Showtime! If you don’t have Showtime, get the DVDs or watch the series on YouTube! Nurse Jackie is a dark comedy, and I love this dark fitted t-shirt from American Apparel! It fits a little snug, so I recommend ordering a size or two up since American Apparel runs small.

Musing Keepsake Box: Caia is one of my favorite artists! I love her artistic feminine styled work and this keepsake box is one of my favorites! It is great for jewelry or anything small you want to store and would look great in a bathroom, coffee table or dresser.

Owl Love You Tote Bag: Owl bet you’ll love this tote bag!  I love to have a cute tote bag with me! I keep this handy in my car for stops at the grocery store, a quick trip to the beach, or just to lug around all my stuff!! This super simple, yet cute design always gets a lot of compliments when I am out shopping!

With Gay Pride festivities in full-force across the country, a rainbow of designs are bubbling to the top. And naturally, CafePress customers are purchasing them en mass. In fact, equal rights designs of all themes are popular as people prepare for summer and are looking for products that express what they’re most passionate about.

Speaking of passion, the 2012 Election is one hot tamale on the trending politics gravy train. With Newt Gingrich throwing his hat in the ring and the first of many Republic Party debates happening, people are looking to sway opinion. Vote early and often (with tees, of course).

A wave of patriotism also seems strong, especially for military-themed designs. With Independence Day just around the corner, look for more red, white & blue to go with the camouflage coloring.

We’ve had a smorgasbord of hilarious pop culture crazy over the past few months. From tweetalicious tiger blood rants to the introduction of Gym, Tan, Laundry (GTL) and a celebration of t-shirts in the modern “stud” wardrobe, the CafePress community has been creating a multitude of cool designs to keep up (and upstage) the crazy.

Last week, we sent out an e-mail for a special T-Shirt Challenge – and had our CafePress community vote on their favorite t-shirt from five of our best-selling funny tees. Of course, some of these included the infamous “WINNING” and “GTL” monikers. And with the votes tallied, “I Do My Own Stunts” t-shirt is the winner!

And the best part about this challenge is that winning t-shirt above is now on sale for only $10*. And it will be that price for the next 48 hours…so snatch yours up before the deal dies!

What’s your all-time favorite funny t-shirt?

*Promotion ends June 21, 2011 at 11:59 PM (PST), while supplies last.  This offer may change, be modified or canceled at any time without notice. This promotion cannot be applied to past orders.

Now that Father’s Day is (yikes!) just around the corner, gifts for Dad (oh, and Granddads) are seriously spiking. Looks like grateful children across the country are remembering and appreciating all the sacrifices Fathers have been making after all. Or maybe it’s just a guilt trip? Either way, the Father’s Day section is booming.

With the economy still limping along – and the auto industry especially hard hit – Grand Rapids has been in the news as Michigan adjusts to changing times. Designs usually go hand-in-hand with news, like Grand Rapids YouTube video that went viral two weeks ago, and we’re seeing a lot of action with people supporting the city.

And let us not forget that yesterday was Flag Day. And American Flag designs are always popular this time of year. Especially as summer kicks in and parades and fireworks heat up as quickly as the temperatures. Pass the hot dogs and apple pie.

As part of our spirited design department, Gail knows a thing or two about eye-catching graphics. Not to mention what it takes to create a well-rounded design that appeals to both the eye and the mind.

In short, nothing boring is going to make it on her radar. You can see this in the fun CafePress designs that have created a spark in her eye. In Gail’s own words:

“You have to love the fact that we live in an era where half naked men on horses, Rebecca Black and sparkling vampires are part of our daily culture. I’m a designer, meme follower, free speech believer and a behaviorism fangirl. Designing for Cafepress is all about communication. Telling your story, speaking your mind and letting the world know who you are and where you stand in your beliefs in a T-shirt, mug or bumper sticker. I love seeing products that drive discussion and proudly make a statement.”

More specifically:

Real Hope. Real Change Decal: Real Hope. Real Change. A great reference to pop culture and Shepard Fairey’s art, this bumper sticker is sure to give your cars bumper attention.

Born This Way 2-Sided T-Shirt: Born This Way is a great play on the bar code as an icon and the incredibly fast moving social changes going on in the country.

Schoolgirl Mini Button: 22.88 million people would appreciate this button’s love of the smart and the goth.

Carpe Bacon T-Shirt: Carpe Bacon. Meat lovers unite and seize the bacon!

Although the Royal Wedding is now gently simmering on the back burner, other British-inspired topics are heating up at CafePress. One red-hot riser is from Britain’s WWII war effort and America’s favorite comic characters, Peanuts. The Keep Calm and Carry On T-shirts and posters features Snoopy and the Gang are selling well. Ditto for TARDIS designs. It’s the fictional time machine in England’s Dr. Who television series, which looks suspiciously like a blue phone booth.

Of course on this side of the pond, dutiful sons and daughters are boiling over in excitement for Father’s Day. With just a few days left until the holiday, we expect a big rush on gifts in this area.  We’re certainly all shopping for Dads around here, anyway.

Take a peek at last week’s latest hot trends in our weekly Cultural Barometer report!

If ever there was a CafePress shop that grew out of a deep passion, it would be Clare Wilders and her DiveBunnie world. Long a scuba diving aficionado and now living in Egypt, Claire longed to express her love for the water sport. Plus she hoped to encourage more women to get their feet wet in the male-dominated world of scuba.

Hence her female-friendly underwater world of the DiveBunnie surfaced – as well as her fun DiveBunnie shop. Clare specializes in fresh & funky designs, with candy-shaded colors leaning towards pink & turquoise. The ultimate example of her style is Clare’s signature mascot – the adorable DiveBunnie herself.

A former professional dancer who occasionally dabbled in art, Clare now devotes her full time to scuba instruction and running the DiveBunnie empire. It gives her the freedom to have a successful career while enjoying the fantastic ocean views (including, yes, views from the bottom of the ocean). The scenery includes the awe-inspiring turquoise ocean and peachy-pink mountains, which inspire her palate and bring awesome colors to her many t-shirt buying customers around the globe.