Jacob and I volunteer as youth leaders for our church’s youth group and we attended an event called “The 30 Hour Famine.” The 30 Hour Famine is an event where people commit to fast from food and drink only water and juice for 30 hours to raise awareness and money for world hunger. Every 5 seconds a child around the world dies from hunger related issues.

My brother, Andy, gathered and organized 8 different youth groups (175 kids and adults) for a weekend full of games, community service, sleeping in cardboard box houses, raising awareness about hunger, and fun times. He asked me to design the t-shirt for the event and I was more than happy to design the shirt.

The 8 churches raised over $8,000 which means that 20 children around the world will be sponsored and will not die from hunger related issues. This may seem like a small contribution, but it is better than not helping at all.

Here are some pictures from the weekend:

Spread the Swell,
J-Bird

BirdSwell was one of the businesses that participated in the Green Mixer Event at The Cafeteria on Newbury Street on March 18th, 2010.

We were among some other great green and local businesses such as City Feed and Supply, Jute & Jackfruit, Jewelry From the Sea, Zip Car, Cabot and others.

We had a great time meeting other businesses and all the people that came to the event. It was a busy night and a lot of people came out which was great!

We did a small presentation and talked to so many people about BirdSwell. It was an honor to be part of this event and we want to give a HUGE thank you to Sylvia and Taro for putting on the event!

Here are some pictures from the event:

I hope we will continue to Spread the Swell and participate in more events!

Spread the Swell,
J-Bird

5 years ago, Jacob and I went to Costa Rica with our friends Tara and Chris for college spring break. We decided to go at the last minute and had no plans except to surf. It was an amazing trip! We have gone back with Jacob’s parents but our recent trip (March 2010) was a return trip with friends.

Our friends, John and Sarah just started surfing and we told them about how much we love Costa Rica. They thought it would be a great idea to plan a trip and go to Costa Rica. We mentioned it to Tara since she loved Costa Rica the first time we went. She and her husband, Morgan are both surfers and they were really excited about the idea too. After months of talking and planning we found ourselves in Costa Rica once again and couldn’t have been happier about it.

The trip was very eventful with both good and bad times. Double surf sessions every day. We surfed Playa Hermosa, Playa Esterillos, Jaco and Boca Baranca. We also went on a horse back ride through the jungle, a hike through Manuel Antonio (national park) and saw a ton of different types of wildlife. We saw a sloth, lizards, iguanas, turtles, hermit crabs, monkeys, and lots of different bugs. We also zip lined through the jungle from tree to tree with great views of Playa Hermosa.

The only down side of the trip was that someone broke into our cars and stole 4 backpacks with wallets, cameras, a passport and other valuables. It was definitely a downside to our trip, but we tried not to let it ruin our trip. We were taught us a valuable lesson that we should never leave anything in the car again. We had a couple more days to go until we had to go home and were able to surf off the bad moods and disappointment.

Over all the trip was really fun and eventful. We all got better at surfing and really enjoyed Costa Rica. We of course told people about BirdSwell and gave out stickers and informational cards. We gave one of our shirts to the Manager, Roger since he was so accommodating and just an awesome guy. He said he would wear the shirt with pride!

Jacob and I have gone back to Playa Hermosa 4 times. Maybe next time we will go to different part of Costa Rica…maybe Tamarindo or Dominical. Who knows where our surf travels will take us…maybe even Ireland!

Spread the Swell,
J-Bird

Here are the pictures from our trip:

I Just Surf blog from Hawaii featured BirdSwell on their blog! Check it out here.

We love your informative and fun posts. Thanks for your kind words I Just Surf!

The online version is MIA, but here is the article that Julia Fairclough wrote for the The Somerville Newspaper (images of newspaper article below)

Taking a new business venture to the tee
By Julia Fairclough

As they say, gifts come in surprising packages; which is why the story of Julie-Ann Burkhart’s tee-shirt business brings to mind that a losing a job can mean the opening of a new door.

Burkhart, 26, was laid off from her job as a graphic designer for a Somerville marketing agency in October 2009. Just a couple months later, she created her own business that combines the things she loves best, working with art and surfing.

BirdSwell (ww.birdswell.com) touts surf-inspired tee shirts (or “wearable art”) featuring Burkhart’s original designs. While going from graphic designer to tee shirt designer happened rather quickly, it was a process that was perking on the back burner for a while.

“I was having some doubts about doing Web design, and wasn’t sure whether I wanted to try something new, like teaching.” she said. At the same time, “I was talking about doing something like BirdSwell.…I’d see a plant and think, how cool would that look as a design.”

Burkhart sat down to brainstorm with a friend who is a creative director. “He asked what my passion was, and I thought, surfing and art.”

Always an industrious woman, Burkhart researched tee shirt forums on the Internet, and spent hours brainstorming with her husband, Jacob. It didn’t take too long to create a few prototypes, and then an initial tee shirt line. Her work embodies delicately gentle waves, curlicued flowers, and diaphanous jelly fish.

“There was a point where I’d come home from work and she’d have a new design every day,” Jacob laughed.

“It has become almost routine to hear stories about job loss and the economy. However, there is one demographic whose story is untold. The “twenty-somethings” out there whose positions are being cut and the ingenuity and tenacity they are showing in wake of job loss," said friend Marcus Andrews.

“I was amazed at the tenacity Julie-Ann displayed,” he said. “I was shocked when we met for coffee two or three weeks after our last day and she already had a dozen design comps for surf inspired tee shirts. In a couple of months she had screen printed shirts, a new website and a business plan.”

Thus far, Burkhart has traveled to surf shops on both the East and West coast. She learned how to make cold calls and show up with a suitcase full of tee shirts by bravely marching through it.

“I heard so many stories that this was a bad economy, but once people looked at my designs they loved them,” she said.

Several stores in New Hampshire, Maine and Massachusetts carry her designs, and she does a good business on line.

Burkhart grew up in Hampton, NH and went to the beach often as a child. She would watch the surfers riding the waves and was fascinated. When she was 14 years old, she decided to give surfing a try and was hooked. She surfs up in Nahant, and takes surfing trips to Costa Rica and Mexico. She has been creating art since she was 5.

She gets inspirations for her designs while surfing. She will see a piece of seaweed and move it around before taking a few photos for design ideas.

Burkhart, who lives in Arlington, wants to keep her business local. She works with Hemlock Inc. in Somerville to print her designs. She also wants to collaborate with local artists for group shows to accompany her tee shirt sales.

“I finally found my niche, a true outlet for my graphic design,” she said. “I am excited now to get out of bed in the morning and to think of new designs.”

Join Burkhart for a BirdSwell launch party at the Landsdowne Pub, 9 Landsdowne Street, Boston on April 13 from 8 p.m. to 12 a.m.

Thank you to Marcus and Julia for this story and spreading the swell!

We found the online version of the article. Here it is – The Sommerville News Article