The New Stationery + Free Shipping Coupon

Below is the new stationery I've added so far. I wasn't able to add the border design I talked about Saturday night because my husband didn't get a chance to scan it (the lab was packed), but I did get a lot of other designs going. Shipping on stationery is FREE through September 30th with coupon code NEWPAPERSHIP .




I'd love your feedback on these, and any suggestions for ones you'ld like to see next! One little note: The price shown in the shop is the price for 10 pages--but the price per page goes down 30% when you buy over 25 pages (and continues to go down the more you buy). It actually costs less to buy 25 pages than to get 20.

It's gonna be hard to wait til' Monday!

Zazzle just came out with stationary, letterhead, invitations, flyers, and rack cards! Woo-hoo! I wanted to sit down and work on this all day...but I have kids and a messy house I've already let go while I worked on the new size photo cards they just came out with earlier this week so I wasn't able to do as much as I wanted! Honestly, I'm so excited about this I could work on it all night...but I have church tomorrow morning, so I really need to hold myself back. Plus, I try not to work on business related stuff on Sunday. Oh man, it's gonna be hard to wait until Monday!

Especially for the stationary. You don't know how long I've wanted to do stationary! I have a scribbleprint border design I drew years ago that's just gorgeous. I printed some on parchment style printer paper once just using a copier, and it looks great...but the copier warped it so I was wanting to look into how I could do it better. I'm so thrilled that I'm gonna be able to offer that through my shop now! Just gotta have hubby scan it Monday, and I'm good to go.

Arts, Crafts, and Show and Tell Memes

MONDAY
Made it Monday
http://www.skiptomylou.org

TUESDAY
Post a blog about something you've made- a refurnish, recipes, a craft project, a sewing project, room decoration, anything you've done! But NO SELLING.



WEDNESSDAY
(Big Girls OK too)


THURSDAY
Thrilling Thursday (no button required) - Show off anything you made

(Big Boys OK Too)



FRIDAY
Weekend Wrap Up-Party (show what you've been working on this week) - button possibly not required



Favorite Things Friday (can't tell what the rules are)


Flaunt it Friday
You may post about anything you'd like to share... decor, crafts, recipes, thrifty finds, helpful hints, whatever you're proud of!


Creation Corner Link Party
It can be a craft, an art project, some yummy recipe, something with home decor, organizing or cleaning tips... It could be something you did this last week or even a few weeks ago.
http://creationcorner.blogspot.com/search/label/Link%20Party

Friday Fun on KoJo Designs



I'm Loving It (post anything you love)




SATURDAY

Craft Envy (anything you made)


Link It Up Saturday
DIY Crafty or Baked only




Check Me Out Saturday (no rules listed)


Saturday is Crafty Day (projects, doesn't say tutorials though)


Simply Designing Link Party
Not sure about rules




CHALLENGES

TUESDAY NIGHT OR WEDNESDAY
Artist and Art
http://theadventuresofbear.blogspot.com/search/label/art%20appreciation


SEASONAL

FALL LINKIES
Fall Festival - Every September Wednessday
http://diaryofacraftaholic.blogspot.com/2010/08/fall-frenzy-linky-party.html
Fall Festival - Every September Wednessday


Fall Decor (may not work for my coloring pages)

New Photo Cards at My Zazzle Shop - Plus Free Shipping

Zazzle announced new 4x8 photo cards today, and below is my first attempt - a version of my fire leaf design (you can change the text and add your own photo). What do you think?

Thanksgiving Leaves by scribbleprints

And below you'll find my second...you can actually change the background color on this using the customization tool (and of course the text too!). With a different greeting and background color this card could be used for almost any occasion. Oh, and yes, that's my little one in the picture. He's a cutie, isn't he?
Abstract Flurry by scribbleprints


Get free shipping on these with coupon code NEWPHOTOCARD through September 30th!

Free Shipping On Orders Over $35 at My Zazzle Shop

FREE SHIPPING on $35+ Orders at My Zazzle Shop!
Excludes oversized orders or orders with items from different shipping classes
Use Code: FREELABORDAY
Expires September 7, 2009 at 11:59 pm

An Explaination of Zazzle Shipping

Zazzle shipping can be confusing, so I thought a little explanation was in order.

HOW SHIPPING IS CALCULATED
Zazzle used to provide a shipping chart to it's customers, but that has been taken down. Now they suggest you put your items in the cart and start the checkout process to calculate shipping costs.

The reason it was taken down was probably because even with a chart shipping at Zazzle can be confusing. Zazzle doesn't have a flat fee and they don't ship by weight--they ship by class. Each type of product has it's own shipping price because some items are printed at different locations, and therefor can't be shipped together. If you are buying multiple items from the same shipping class the shipping price of buying addition items goes down. BUT, if you buy an item from a different shipping class, you will pay the same as if you had ordered each of those items separately. Here's an example of how that works below (this is taken from the old shipping chart - exact shipping prices may have changed but I believe the general idea is the same):

Example:
Shipping Cost for 1 Magent: $1.99
Shipping Cost of 1 T-shirt: $4.99
Shipping Cost for 1 T-shirt and 1 Magnet: $1.99 + $4.99 = $6.48
Shipping Cost for 2 Magents: $1.99 + $0.20 per additional magnet = $2.19
Shipping Cost for 2 T-shirts: $4.99 + $0.49 per additional T-shirt = $5.48

WHAT CAN BE SHIPPED TOGETHER?

• All aprons, bags and apparel (except embroidery and pet t-shirts) are shipped together.
• All embroidered items are shipped together
  
• Magnets, buttons, and key chains (but not photo sculpture key chains) are shipped together
  
• Greeting cards and postcards (but not invitations, photo cards and other stationary products) are shipped together
• Business cards and profile cards are shipped together
  
• Assume all other items are shipped separately
  

FREE SHIPPING COUPONS/ OVERSIZED ORDERS
When you have a coupon for free shipping, it will usually ONLY apply to items from one type of shipping class. If you buy items from two different shipping classes you will usually get free shipping on only the highest priced shipping class, not your whole order. In most cases, free shipping coupons do not apply to oversized orders (orders over 50 items).

Changes to the Marketplace

Well, CafePress made changes to it's terms of service again, and I'm looking at these with mixed feelings:

In order to keep designs fresh and of high quality as we launch new products, styles, and printing technologies, solely for designs that you are selling through the CafePress Marketplace: (i) CafePress may automatically add your designs to additional products in the CafePress Marketplace; and (ii) in order to improve the printing quality, CafePress may automatically modify your designs (e.g., cleaning up JPG artifacting, adjusting colors for different printers and products, and adjusting design placement on products).

So, what this means is that, while products sold in my shops will remain the same, since I sell through the CafePress marketplace as well, my designs might be added to products I never intended them for.

It's the "automatically" part that concerns me the most. Sure, sometimes it would be nice to have my design "automatically" available for sale on new products. But there are some designs that are just not meant for some products--I mean, what sense does a toddler t-shirt with "sleep deprived parent" on it make? And while I really don't care if CafePress wants to clutter their marketplace with those types of non-sequiturs, I do care if one of my design is added to a product that changes it's meaning in a way that I don't approve of. For instance, I wouldn't mind if my "Body by Baby" design was added to a thong (That's actually kinda fun, and I've nothing against thongs, really--I just haven't added them because I don't think they fit the type of image I'm aiming for.). But, a "Body by Baby" shirt on a child kinda starts to get creepy. And that's nothing compared to the racier designs put out by other artists. What might be sexy on an adult could reek of pedophilia when put on a child, and artists should have the discretion on whether to place their designs that way.

Anyways, right now I'm leaving things as is. If they do this intelligently (only adding designs to very similar products that are already listed) it might not be bad. If they do it wrong, I may have to pull at least some of my products from the marketplace. Not that this is entirely a bad thing. Right now with the way the marketplace pricing works most products cost more while earning me less when someone buys them directly from my shop. THAT alone is another reason this is a somewhat scummy move on the part of CafePress. In response to the recent change in the commission structure of the CafePress marketplace (artists used to set the mark-up themselves, but marketplace prices are now set by CafePress and artists get a flat 10%) many artists have pulled most or all of their products. Others have left only products where the commission or price was similar to what it was before the changes (so they wouldn't be competing with their own shops for sales, and earning less)--which might be one reason why they're doing this.

But, most of my sales come from the marketplace, not my own shops...and I really hoped to continue relying on marketplace sales so that I could spend less time on promotion (which I'm not that good at) and more time on designs and things like playing with my kid...and, yes, even cleaning house (another thing I'm not that good at...but it has to be done).

Anyways, if you want to read more about this topic there's a very good article over at Irregular Times.