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All responses Most smiled responses
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For myself I prefer to use card stock and crease/fold myself with a bone folder since I can use it for multiple purposes/sizes. I have never had a feed issue with prefolded cards, make sure the paper isn't too thick for your printer to load though!
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I purchased the ColorMunki Design for color management. I did not end up purchasing rip software, and I can print from most applications without a problem. I can't, however, successfully print from Adobe Illustrator. Since it's not a PostScript printer, the printouts are jagged and pixelated looking.
Illustrator also can't be color managed successfully. These are things I didn't learn until after I purchased my printer and calibrator, so I had to figure out a workaround. I print all of my work out of Photoshop, and the results are perfect. It's not the ideal situation, but I've been doing it this way for so long that I barely notice it anymore.
Megan Nutley
Silhouette Blue
http://www.silhouetteblue.com/ -
I work in my tiny 5x5 laundry room. There is a brief glimpse of it here:
http://our3cs.blogspot.com/2009/11/scarf-along-week-two.html
Heather Mattos
http://our3cs.blogspot.com -
I also have in my policies that I am not responsible for lost or damaged items, and that personalized stationery is non-refundable. I say this to keep most of the small complaints out. However, if a customer came to me with something that was damaged or if they really hated the color, I absolutely would replace the piece. I'd rather loose a few dollars resending an order than have an unhappy customer.
Megan at www.silhouetteblue.com -
So far I haven't had anything that got ruined? More than likely if it did happen, I would send replacement product asap! and at no cost.
Stacy @ inkspotworkshop.com -
I started a business right out of college in 1996 that was a total disaster (I bought a $20,000 printer using an unsecured business loan and had about $500 in total sales before giving up on the business & selling the printer a few months later for $12,000), so after that I was very hesitant to invest any money a new business idea.
I was extremely cautious when starting sarah + abraham in 2007 and made a very small investment from my personal savings for the essential start up costs. I sold paper goods on Etsy for 3.5 months before I even purchased my own ($300) printer! Those first few months were NOT FUN, bundling up my kids (ages 2 & 3) in their winter gear to drive to the printer every time I had an order to fill.
Sara Tams, sarahandabraham.com -
I heard someone say one time that you can do it all, just not all at once, and I think that's so true. In my case, I'm trying to do it all at once, and something is always suffering.
I LOVE my work, but sometimes I get so caught up in it, I start to feel really awful about not spending as much time with my kids (ages 5 & 6) as I'd like to. I often find that I need to make a conscious effort to stop what I'm doing and give them my undivided attention for a little while, and then go back to work.
Also, I sometimes have a hard time turning off my brain and relaxing with my husband... we seem to end up spending most evenings "talking shop", even when we go out for a date night.
But I think overall it's working for our family because we talk about it a lot with the kids (why we work so much & what it is that we're doing), we regularly check in with each other about what's working, what isn't, and what changes we can make to keep the household running smoothly, and we're very aware of how consuming our work can be and that we need to step back sometimes and keep a balance (as much as possible!)
Sara Tams, sarahandabraham.com -
That's a great idea, thanks! I'll definitely do that for my business, and I'll pass your suggestion along to the other contributors as well.
Sara Tams, sarahandabraham.com -
I use the Epson Stylus 1400, the same one as Sara Tams at sarahandabraham.com, which is how I first learned about it.
Stacy Altiery, inkspotworkshop.com -
Almost all of my illustrations are made from scratch. Sometimes my ideas jump into my brain, and other times I find inspiration while browsing through photography.
Once I have an initial concept, I do some research. If I was creating a bicycle, for example, I would do a Google Image search of vintage bicycles, and use my findings to help create my illustration.
Once I have the basic bicycle shape, I edit and refine it until it's perfect. The whole process - from idea to research to design - takes 1-2 hours, depending on how complicated I want the final result to be.
Megan Nutley, silhouetteblue.com -
Different printers create different ranges of color. Different monitors display the same colors differently. And different types of paper affect the color of your ink. What can we do?? We can work smart and then learn to let go.
Without getting into the details of RGB vs. CMYK (use CMYK btw), understand that the colors of your design will always look brighter on your monitor. So, a good first step is to print out and photograph your designs instead of just posting a jpeg of the image.
If a client wants to match a color exactly, I sometimes create a color swatch file showing a variety of options for their color and ask them to print it. The client chooses the color that is closest to their goal, and I work with it. If you do this, be sure to stress that the customer print the swatch sample with the printer and paper they plan to use for the final product. Very important.
Similarly, if a client is planning to print their file professionally and nervous about the results, I recommend that they have the printing service do one test print first to make sure everything looks ok.
But for day-to-day sales, you won't have the color swatch luxury. And that's where you have to let go. Just ask yourself: Is it ok that my perfectly sky blue bird with a scarlet breast may turn into a perfectly cornflower blue bird with a crimson breast? If the answer is no, printables may not be the best choice for you.
I've seen some sellers put messages up about potential color issues, but honestly, the subject has only come up a few times in my shop. I think most people know that things print differently on different machines, even if they don't know why. Keep in mind, changing a color is much easier than changing the shape of something. So if a customer does ask me to make a color change after the purchase is complete, I do it. Establishing a good relationship with that customer is well worth 5 minutes of my time.
Meg Bartholomy, olliegraphic.etsy.com -
Oh, if only I had the time to run design ideas past a committee, that would be a luxury! Nope, I must say I just run with my ideas, whenever they strike. As you might assume with the law of averages, there are some designs that are FLOPS! but I just blame it on my poor picture taking skills and say a prayer someone will like it.
OK, I will admit I have bounced an idea or two off my hubby, who is more interested in UFC fights than my little stationery business. Oddly enough, his testosterone balances out the girly girl designs I tend to create and we make a pretty good design team.
For example... a customer wanted me to make a Jeep Wrangler themed baby shower invite, where the Jeep was going up a sand dune. I created a banner that looked as though it were being pulled by the Jeep, which read "It's A BOY!" The banner looked more like something that should have been flying behind an airplane. My husband took one look and said... "What's a banner doing on a Jeep? It needs to be a flag on a bendy pole." You know he was 100% right? Here's what the finished product looked like...
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Atlanta-GA/InkSpot-Workshop/115572255031?v=wall&ref=ts#!/photo.php?pid=10872723&id=115572255031
Stacy Altiery of inkspotworkshop.com -
In the beginning it was always so exciting to get orders, even when there were a bunch at once, so it was quite a while before I started to worry about how I would handle too many orders at once.
It took about a year and a half before my business reached the point where I needed to hire someone to help me, so in my case there was plenty of time to plan for it. I was definitely nervous about making a bad hiring decision and not looking forward to letting go (even just a little bit!), but luckily I found the perfect person for the job, and it has worked out beautifully.
I have huge sales peaks in April/May and November/December, so I'm already planning for those times, estimating what my sales will be based on the past 2.5 years and figuring out how much help I think I'll need.
In the beginning I shipped almost every order within 24 hours, and as my sales grew it took a while for me to feel okay about stopping work with orders not completed, but over time it's gotten easier to relax about it.
Now I typically ship orders on MWF, so they're still getting out within 1-3 days, and I don't think anyone really expects anything faster than that.
Sara Tams of sarahandabraham.com -
I actually do illustrate about 95% of most of my own artwork. I know it is time-consuming... but the good part is that I have accumulated tons of ideas/drawings over the past 6 years that I keep organized and am able to pull from when I need them. For instance... a simple bird body can be changed hundreds of ways by switching out legs, beaks, wings, etc. So be sure to save everything you draw as you can always go back and rework it later to fit another project.
Hope that helps!
Stacy Amoo-Mensah of nameyourdesign.com & lepapierboutique.com
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Oh My! Handmade Goodness’s Bio
a community for independent children’s retailers and the hip parents who support them
