New Products - Scrabble Tiles

I've been busy thinking about what new things I can make into coasters. Today's exploration, SCRABBLE!

And on the principle of 'measure twice, cut once' I like to lay out new designs before pushing forward and actually making them with resin. So here I have a sneak peak of what's to come, a set of 4 scrabble tile coasters, with words based on the eternal sentiment of LOVE.

I laid them out on top of my flower coasters, so the flowers seen behind are not going to be included, though maybe a few pretty hydrangeas would work nicely with my love themed words. Anyone have any thoughts before I start pouring the resin?

Zipper 8 Design on Twitter!!

I finally bit the bullet and signed up for Twitter!

So come check me out at http://twitter.com/Zipper8Designs to get great new tips about upcoming products and a peak inside the inner workings of starting your own business.

Cheers! Allison

Zipper 8 Design on Cargoh!

Sunday Greetings!

I know I've been somewhat M.I.A. recently, and I apologize. My only excuse is that between Basel nibbling on EVERYTHING and trying to come up with some great new products, I have let my internet presence slip.

But, there's some exciting new news, my work has been accepted to be part of a new marketplace, Cargoh.com! It is a new website devoted to hip, young, indie sellers, and in order to keep their vision intact, they have decided to become a juried site. I figured it was worth the effort so I applied and they liked my work enough to accept me as a seller! So come on down and check out my new shop, at http://www.cargoh.com/store/zipper8design and see what's there!

While I will probably have the exact same inventory as I do at Etsy, it is always good to spread out a bit, not have all your eggs in one basket and that sort of thing. Hopefully Cargoh will catch on and it will be a new and exciting marketplace to be a part of!

As always, thanks for reading and cheers to a good week ahead!

Allison

My First Etsy Treasury!!

I just put together my first Etsy treasury, inspired by Basel. Its filled with Dachshund themed items, bright colors, and fun art. I hope you'll check it out, and enjoy!!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4c5dd03e752e8eefc369c1db/dachshund-love?index=18

Zipper 8 Lighting Design

Friday Greetings Everyone!

So I've recently been working on some new inspirations, and more specifically ideas for creating my new line of lights. Here's the first one I created. It isn't perfect, but I'm pretty happy with the first effort! I hope you like it, and stay tuned for more new lamps to be appearing soon, both here and at my Etsy shop. And of course don't forget to check out all the new inventory at: http://www.etsy.com/shop/Zipper8Design

Cheers!! Allison

Photo Editing Tips 1

Happy Tuesday Everyone,

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I've been taking new photos of my products, and even though I bought a daylight bulb, they are coming out a bit pink-yellow-ish. So I've been editing them in photoshop, and found a great quick fix, so I wanted to pass on the techniques I've learned so far.

Oh, and my photos are on a white background, which is why this works. Just putting that out there.

When you open the photo in Photoshop, go up to the Color Balance (Image-Adjustments-Color Balance). Then you have to make sure you switch from effecting Midtones, to Highlights. This way the color balance change will primarily effect the white background, and not the color of your actual product. (If you need to tweak the color of your product, you can play around with changing the Midtones and Shadows toggles too.)

Here's is the original photo:

Then, simply increase the top slider towards Cyan, and increase the bottom slider towards Blue. You need to move both sliders because they balance each other out, towards a purer white.

Here's the photo once you increase the Cyan slider:

Here's the final photo, once you increase the Blue slider as well:

I hope this is helpful! I just wanted to pass along this tip since I've found that it has helped me a lot in the past two days.

Good luck! And thanks for reading, Allison

Etsy Shop Revamp

Happy Monday!

Much to Basel's chagrin, Monday means its back to work. We're back from a wonderful week in Connecticut, and its time to get back on track, updating my Etsy shop. We made our first sale two weeks ago and I can't wait to make our second sale soon! But to make that happen I've been working on some major overhauls, including brand new photos and listings!

This is our new 'set', its all about a professional look, right! So that means its all about a cohesive, branded shop. I'm hoping these new product photos will help add to that look, bringing a more calm and professional vibe to my store. The white background with the touch of wood as a backdrop should let the coasters POP while including a quiet touch of color and pattern.

Come back over the next few days to see which new amazing products will be popping up next! I plan on adding a set or two of coasters each day for at least the next 4 days. So keep checking back for the latest and greatest additions from Zipper 8 Design.

Featured here are our adorable Puppy Paw Print coasters, with bee caps from the Thomas Kemper Soda Company in the center.

Cheers! A

Capture a Piece of Your Wedding Forever

I'm going to start out right up front by saying that I have never been married. However, I was the maid-of-honor in my college roommate's wedding, so I do have some first hand knowledge of the topic. And here's one cardinal rule I learned.

Everyone wants their wedding to be special, and no one wants to let go.

I wasn't even the bride but I carefully hung my bouquet to dry, and made a whole fancy shadow box featuring the invitation, the little guest gifts, and a piece of the dried flowers I'd saved. But, except in this somewhat useless shadow box, I was suddenly left with this beautiful bouquet of dried hydrangeas, that I really didn't need.

If only I had started my business back then I would have had a great idea for what to do with those flowers. What about making them into a wonderful and totally functional set of coasters!! Now I'm still learning the art of pressing flowers, but so far I've been able to make some pretty great floral coasters.

In fact, one of my favorite sets of coasters happens to be these, made out of blue and purple hydrangeas, the exact flower featured in my roommate's wedding! They just had their fifth anniversary, and I think the next time I see her I may give her a set of these coasters, just to bring back all those memories.

So if you are a bride, and you think that one of my floral sets of coasters matches your wedding flowers nicely, consider using them as bridesmaids gifts. Or, contact me and together we can work on using the actual flowers from your bouquet to make some very special, priceless, and of course functional keepsakes!

Colorful Eggs

Happy Saturday Everyone!

Basel and I are up early this morning, because he's still learning the art of sleeping through the night, and I realized that it was the perfect time to post a photo that I had forgotten about before. Look how beautiful these farm fresh eggs are, and they are just as delicious as they are colorful! I hope you are all sleeping in or having an otherwise restful Saturday morning. I'll be back later with a more substantial post.

Cheers!! Allison

Bridal Giveaway at Hill City Bride

A quick second post for the day to talk up this great giveaway being done by Hill City Bride, in combination with Bebe Sniklefritz for a set of 5 absolutely ADORABLE little mirrors that make perfect bride's gifts, or gifts for any other occasion!

http://www.hillcitybride.com/2010/07/giveaway-from-bebe-sniklefritz/

So check out this awesome giveaway, and come back tomorrow for some more random insights from me!

Cheers! Allison