A few new cards

A few new cards designs! Currently available for sale in my etsy shop, and I’m working on getting them up in my online shop.

Love from Far Far Away was requested by a customer back in September.  I *just now* had time to print it up for her and decided to print a few extra to sell.

 

Like Whoa!  engagement rings is also a project that got put on the back burner during the holiday season. It is a companion card to the “Like WOAH babies” card.

 

And finally, my most personal card of this new set.  ”40 Best Year EVER”  dedicated to my husband who turned 40 last weekend (Feb 12th), yet never *really* seems to age.  Showing that age is all your state of mind.

 

Etsy + West Elm! We *heart* Etsy

I’m excited to be returning back to West Elm for another collaborative event with Etsy Sellers!

Saturday February 25th from 1-5p I’ll be selling my cards with several other awesome local Chicago artists and crafters at the West Elm location in Lincoln Park.  1000 W North Ave.

More info on the FACEBOOK event and the WEST ELM BLOG site or the LIVE CREATING YOURSELF blog.

ABC news

Steel Petal Press was featured on the ABC News Website today as a part of an article about buying made-in-America and handmade gifts for Valentine’s Day!

You can read the full blurb here:  http://abcnews.go.com/Business/MadeInAmerica/made-america-valentines-day-gifts-heart-us/story?id=15472343#3

YAY!

Wholesale SCAM

Drama-Rama!  Wholesalers beware!  Last week / weekend I was (too deeply) involved in an attempted scam!  The whole situation was slightly traumatic but thankfully the dust has settled today.

Here’s the details:  Last week someone contacted me from “Ritchies Store” in Sydney Australia and requested a very large wholesale order. They said they had a specific shipper they wanted me to use, “Iship Inc,”  and gave me their email address to contact them with a shipping quote.  The shipping was $597 for 3 day express mail + customs.  It seemed high to pay on shipping for cards they were going to have to re-sale for a profit, but they said no, it’s OK it saves them the hassle.

So I invoiced the cost of their order plus the cost of shipping and took their payment via credit card.

THEN, when I contacted the “preferred shipping company” (Iship Inc) to set up a pick up time I was instructed to wire them money via money gram in order to schedule the pick up.  And that’s when the RED FLAGS went up.  What legit shipping company requires wired money?

There were a few other red flags I should have spotted before I got to that point (not great English, refusal to pay via paypal, a gmail account: Ritchiesstore@gmail.com) but the “wire money” part is what got me.  After some internet research I found this website:  419Scam  and more pecifically this information: http://www.419scam.org/419-phone-uk.htm#phone-uk

If an email mentions a UK phone number starting with +4470, it usually means that the sender of that mail is not in the UK at all and it is almost guaranteed to be a scam.

Usually the presence of a +44 70 number in a 419 scam email means you’re dealing with criminals based in Nigeria who are using these numbers to make people believe they’re dealing with someone legitimate who is in the UK instead of a criminal in an Internet cafe on a different continent.

• Do not reply to any emails that mention +4470 phone numbers!
• Never call such numbers!
• Break off all contact with these people!

….   The “Iship Inc” phone number was: +44704077213

So, over the weekend I found myself with their pending payment for $900 and instructions to wire money to someone via money gram.  I continued to communicate with “contact” at “Ritches Store” saying I would ship via UPS on Monday, that I didn’t trust wiring money, but they continued to insist I use “Iship.”

Finally I refunded the money I had charged.  And based on advice from friends, called the FBI to report it, and Visa to report the credit card being used.  Of course it was Saturday morning so no one was around for me to do anything.

Today is Monday and I called the FBI to report it.  They confirmed “Yes, it’s most definitely a scam” but there’s really nothing they can do about it.  They said I should call the bank again, which I did.  I gave the bank all the information I had and they said they’d do some research to look into it.

And for now, that’s about all I can do.

I consider myself a pretty street smart person who can usually spot a scam or fishy activity, but this was completely new to me.  Especially because I was getting paid and I wasn’t asked to send any money up front.  It was stressful while I was in the middle of it, but now that I’m out of it I have a little more perspective and feel good knowing I did the right thing.  (although it would have been nice to have made that really big sale..)

I wrote this blog because I want all you craft people, and small businesses who sell wholesale to know about this and beware!

NEW STUDIO!!!

 

So, the BIG NEWS is I’ve moved into a NEW STUDIO SPACE!!  This is super duper exciting for me!

I had only been in my previous studio space since last April but was already quickly outgrowing it, and was starting to feel claustrophobic and unhappy there.   My previous studio was in a small corner of an unfinished warehouse shared by ~30 other artists.  Most other artists and tenants there had day jobs and were hardly ever there.  The space was very affordable, which made it appealing at the time I moved in, but I knew it was only a short term solution.  If my business continued to grow it was not a place I pictured myself for long.  The  biggest factor motivating me to leave was the lack of space.  It was also dirty, unfinished, there was not enough light nor was there any privacy. Needless to say, I was definitely ready for a change.

The new space is large and spacious with windows everywhere and lots of natural light.  There’s an extra hallway with storage, a kitchen area, a living area with a couch and it even comes with a kitten, Tiger. The best part is I’ll be sharing the space with two wonderful women and fellow letterpress printers, Reba from Rar Rar Press and Kimberly from Daily Sip Studios.  Reba and I were in the same MFA program at Columbia College (she was a few years ahead of me) and we used to see each other printing in the studios all the time (before we both made the leap to owning our own presses). Kimberly had a studio space adjacent to me in my previous studio situation.

Reba and I would see each other at craft fairs all the time and last November at the DIY trunk show she approached me about moving in with her.  Of course the holidays were crazy for both of us and the project got side tabled for December.  When we finally connected in January I saw the space I knew it was exactly what I had been looking for!  Private, cleaner, bigger, more windows, room to grow AND with another letterpress printer.  I don’t think I could ask for more.   I then approached Kimberly about joining us in the move.  She said yes and everything else quickly fell into place over the last few weeks.

I moved all my smaller stuff in last week and then yesterday (Monday January 23rd) on a cold, rainy day in Chicago my 1,800 lbs Chandler Price Model-n and Kimberly’s 800 lbs Vandercook SP-15 made the journey to Pilsen to their new home.  Below are some photos of the move taken with my camera phone.  I plan on taking some better pix of the new space in the coming days for now I leave you with this.

AND —  once everything is moved in and the dust has settled you all are welcome to come visit an open house!

 

 

 

 

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New Valentines Day cards

I’ve been so busy I forgot to mention my new Valentine’s Day cards that were printed and completed last week!  I reprinted some old designs and have a few new ones as well.  All are available for sale on my online shop OR my etsy shop.

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New Letterpress Work

It’s been a while since I posted any new work, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been working!  See my new letterpress Save the Date cards and personalized letterpress stationery below:

I  was really happy with how the peacock feather envelope liners turned out:

 

I was also super stoked to be working with old my college roommate (whom I haven’t seen in 10 years) for her Save the Dates for her weekend wedding at a day camp! (how fun!)

I was also really please with this Save the Date for a wedding in Christmas Cove Maine next July.  Coincidentally I was printing these right around Christmas time.

I must confess I love my press

So, yesterday was a difficult day for me in the studio. ..  Penelope, my beloved press stopped working!

Since acquiring Penelope, my Chandler Price model-n, from Paul Aken at the Platen Press Museum last May I have been happily printing away on her several days a week.  She is a very rare and vintage Chandler Price press that was made over 50 years ago.  They don’t make them any more, nor do they make parts and not many people left know how to fix them.

Well last night while I was working my way through printing piles of Valentine’s Day cards she FROZE UP mid print.  Naturally I FREAKED OUT,,, had I broken my irreplaceable, rare, vintage piece of equipment?  Had I not been taking good enough care of her?  Was I not oiling her enough? Or using the right kind of oil? Was the pressure to high?  what was it?!  This is my baby I’ve been using and caring for over the last 6 months.  She is the basis of all the business I do.  She is EVERYTHING.  I just started to get to know her and all her little quirks and I have been getting really good at printing lovely work on her. And then all of a sudden …

Immediately I called Paul, the man who sold me the press, and luckily he answered (in fact, it’s lucky he’s still alive).  He asked me a bit about the issue and then told me he’d come down to my studio to take a look the next morning.  Thank goodness he’s still around otherwise I don’t know what I’d do.  He stopped by my studio this morning and after some tinkering, thankfully he was able to get her out of the jammed position and working again!

Letterpress printing is about precision.  The rails have the be the right height, there has to be the correct amount of packing for a good impression, there has to be the correct amount of ink, the trucks have to be the right size, the rollers have to be the right size  and have to hit the image to print at a very exact spot in order to pull a good print. With old presses many of these factors can change as the press is used  over time, thus throwing it all off. There are many different ways people adjust their presses based on some of these factors.  (Sorry if this is vague but it’s really hard to go into details without any prior knowledge of letterpress printing, so I’ll just leave it at that)

Anyways – MY specific issue was I had built up the rails so the rollers could be type-high and accurately hit the plates to print.  Apparently I had built the rails TOO high and they ended up jamming the press when it was in print.   (Why it had all of a sudden jammed yesterday and not any point in the last 6 months, we don’t know…) Needless to say, Paul instructed me to remove all the tape from the rails to prevent  further jams.  But this would leave the rollers too low to print correctly!  Paul’s advice – TAPE THE TRUCKS! Not the rails.  This is something I’ve read before on Briar Press but so many other people including Fritz at NA Graphics had instructed me to tape the rails.  So I did.

After a morning of working on adjustments, removing tape from the rails and re-taping the trucks, Penelope is back to working again!

Happy New Year!

The New Year is an important turning point. It’s a time to look forward and a time for reflection.  2011 was huge for me and especially for my business.  It was this time last year (January of 2011) that I was laid off my part-time job and decided to focus all my energy on making Steel Petal Press my full-time career.  It’s hard to believe that was only a year ago because SO MUCH has happened since then and so much has changed over the past year.

1 – Card Designs and process.
I have designed and printed soo many new card designs in the last year that my store front hardly looks like the same place it was just one year ago. Some of my new favorites (and best sellers) from the last year are:

Also around this time last year I started printing all my cards on 100% cotton rag (tree free) paper which is not only nicer to the environment but also looks the best and leaves the best impression.  I also started pairing each card with a colored envelope adding so much more than plain, boring white.

2 – Custom jobs!
Although I had completed a few custom orders before 2011, this was the year my custom orders really started to take off!  I completed  35 Letterpress Wedding Invitation suites, plus Save the Dates, custom Wedding Guestbooks AND I introduced a new line of Personalized Stationery, which sold very well over the holidays.

3 – Space
I bought a press and moved into my very own studio space.

4 – Etsy front page
Items from my shop were featured on the etsy front page 9 different times

5 – Press and Praise
My story was shared on Etsy Blog “Quit Your Day Job” series and Blogxcar Press Blog.   I was also featured or mentioned in many other great wedding and paper blogs like Rustic Wedding Chic, Paper Crave, and Oh So Beautiful Paper.

6 – Craft Fairs
This year I only left town once for a regional craft fair in Madison WI, and still managed to sell at 11 craft fairs in the Chicago area through out the year.

Needless to say, it’s been a very very busy and rewarding year full of ups and down (mostly ups) and over all a fantastic learning experience…

Moving forward I really need to start thinking about next year with more long term business goals in sight.  This year was more of a test for me; a trial period to learn if running my own letterpress business was even a possibility. Up until this point I have been more focused on getting things done rather than long term vision. Now that I know it *can* be done, I really need to hunker down and write up some business plans, some 5-year goals and start to envision my business even longer term than that.

My business goals for this year are:
1 – move into a bigger more professional space where I can meet clients instead of out of my home.
2 – purchase a paper cutter (so I don’t waste so much paper cutting 3 sheets at a time)
3 – adjust my prices on custom to better reflect the labor involved.
4 – get a steady intern (or two) to help with the production process
5 – Visit the National Stationery Show in New York to see what it’s all about (before applying myself)
6 – Write out a (real) business plan with long term goals

Longer term goals in the next 5 years. (in no particular order):
- buy another press (a Vandercook press and/or a Windmill.)
- hire an employee (or two) someone to help with Admin, Marketing, PR, web maintenance and other business stuff. Also a studio assistant to help with production.
- be featured in a national publication (Brides Magazine, Style Me Pretty, Martha Stewart Weddings) OR on tv
- Participate in the National Stationery Show (2013)

________

So, now, after all this business talk I also want to mention some of my personal goals to help me lead a more balanced, productive and healthy life because we all know career isn’t everything (although sometimes its easy to forget…) and without love, friendship and laughter the rest of it would have no meaning.

- husband. - My husband is my best friend. He has always been there for me, supported me and encouraged me from the beginning. I need to remember no matter how busy I may be, our relationship comes first.   We should always find time to spend quality time together, continue to work on our relationship and on healthy communication.

- health – as I get older my health becomes more and more important to me. I want to add some light weight lifting to my work out routines to build muscle.  I want to continue to go to the gym at least 3 times a week and find more time for my pilates classes (which I abandoned when the holiday season started getting insanely busy)

- detox – I have a 2 week elimination plan for this January. no booze and no sugar for two weeks.

- friends – spend more time with Chicago friends. With a craft fair every weekend in December, I had to disappear from my friends, but I want to make sure I know what’s going on in their lives and I can be there for them if they need me or even just for some smiles and good times.  Balance is key.

- Savings – hopefully put some money into savings for the future.

—————-

So that sums up my 2011 and my goals for 2012. I’m sure there’s something I forgot to mention that I’ll remember later.  Either way 2011 was a really huge year! and I can’t wait to see what 2012 has in store.

for now, over and out – Shayna

Boxing Week Sale

It’s a Canadian tradition, but also right after the holidays is a great time to have a sale!

I am offering all my holiday cards and my 2012 letterpress wall calendar at half price through December 30th.

Right now I only have the Green Holiday Wreath, Let it Snow and Merry Christmas Tree cards left.  So come get yours quick before there gone.. or until next year

Happy Holidays!!