from sketch to retail

March 31, 2011 • business, etsy, greeting cards

i’m married with 3 kids, i live in the burbs, and just a few weeks ago, we deposited our suv for a mini {no, not a mini cooper, a minivan!  don’t judge.  i never thought i’d say this, but minivans are spacious and awesome}.  deep down though, i’d like to call myself a city girl.  i was born in chicago.  went to college in chicago.  got married in chicago.  bought our first home in chicago.  got my first post college job in chicago.  so even though i’m 20 some miles away from the big city, i’m a chicago girl at heart.

when i decided to open my little online shop, i knew i wanted to sell a chicago card.  this past fall, i asked my sister {my illustrator} to draw me the chicago skyline… here’s what she came up with after a few minutes of what she likes to call “doodling”…
then the sketch is re-drawn to scale…
then i take the drawing… scan it at high resolution and upload it to illustrator.  that’s where i “clean” up the artwork, convert it to vector line art, add font, and prepare the file to send out to the platemaker 
for this card, i chose to have a photopolymer plate made.  after a few days, the plate arrived and off to printing i go…
since it was winter and the holidays were approaching, i decided to use asterisks to create snowflakes on the card…
only after a few days of being listed in the shop, i received an email form a local store owner, kara.  she went on to say that she loved the chicago cards and wanted to know if i do retail.  what?  do i do retail?  i pretty much fell off my chair and died for a little bit!  i mean, me with my little printing venture and my sister’s sketches that she doodles at her kitchen table!  are you kidding me?  after several email exchanges, there you go.  boxed sets of the “with love… from Chicago” cards have gone retail.  
where you ask?  magnificent milestones at 472 w. erie {in chicago of course!}… a local paper shop carrying everything paper with big name invitation brands like kate spade, martha stewart, and vera wang as well as little local folks with boxed sets of letterpress printed chicago cards =)
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workday wednesdays: tails of love animal rescue

March 23, 2011 • note cards, workday wednesdays

happy wednesday!  i’ve been busy taking care of the new peanut and printing that i am backed up with my blogging.  time to catch up.

i’m fond of animals, but not all fuzzy creatures.  we have a few open lots near our home and during this past winter season, a furry animal found refuge in our warm garage… a field mouse!!!  pregnant with my big belly, i was not about to print in my little garage shop with an unwanted visitor,  but i had some projects that could not wait until the little critter was caught!

enter my husband, my “unofficial assistant”.  i set up the press and with my supervision, my husband helped me print and complete a project for Tails of Love Animal Rescue, a new york based non-profit organization.  zarina from Tails of Love contacted me to create note cards and thank you cards with their organization’s logo.  here’s what they are all about about {visit their facebook page to learn more and become a fan}:

We are a 501(c)3 animal rescue. We save lives. We are committed to creating a compassionate community where there are no more stray, abandoned, or neglected animals and where destroying animals is no longer used as a means of population control. No matter if the animals are unwanted, abused, neglected, or ill we are dedicated to ensuring their life forward is an amazing one. We rescue from high kill, overcrowded shelters. We vet, transport and foster pets until the perfect match is made between you and one of our adoptable pets !

a big thanks to zarina and Tails of Love Animal Rescue for letting me work with your great organization!

{and a big thank you to my husband for helping me out… he enjoyed printing and working with the heavy machinery!}

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mommy mondays: buns in the oven

March 01, 2011 • mommy mondays

there must be a lot of baby making going on!  in the month of februray, 28 baby cards have sold in the etsy shop… 18 bun in the oven cards and a set of 10 pram cards.

if you read the blog, you know that our little bun came out teeny, tiny weighing in at 4 pounds and 3 ounces.  after only a month, our little peanut has gained a womping 2 pounds.  here she is sitting on my postal scale… her thighs are starting to form chubby rolls… mommy loves it!

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