Roundup of Favorites 003: Really Digging these Products Today - My Designs

In keeping with the growing tradition of showing what I'm in love with on a random day in this blog, I really dig these designs today. Maybe you'll like them too! You can click the images of the photos to be taken to the shop where they're available for purchase. Lower in the page I've written little blurbs about each; you'll find links there too.

A Few Notes About the Merchandise in this Group

  1. This postcard features a digital art design I created on the fly a few nights ago. The worst part is that I made a really novice mistake and wrote over the file with another design. So I don't have the original artwork on my computer. I can design hundreds - maybe thousands - of different products with this design using Zazzle, but right now, not through anyone else. Why does that bother me so much? a) Mild OCD tendencies, b) I really want this design on a kimono wrap from Art of Where. One day I'm sure I'll cave and see what Zazzle can do to help me get my hands on the high resolution version of the art. For now, I'll just buy some postcards like these to keep it fresh in my mind.
  2. A mug with the same artwork as the postcard. I have several of my designs printed on mugs but don't think I won't eventually cave and get this one, too. Because pretty!
  3. Maybe you have some friends turning 50 soon? This coozie is a fun gift or party favor for the Fifty & Fabulous party!
  4. Last year my honey bought me a sweet little Wacom tablet to try out and see what I could do. This postage stamp is printed with the results of one of the earlier things I did with it. All the circles make me happy. I always think what if river rocks and constellations had a baby.
  5. Another of the tiny, square notes I design on business cards, this one says Thank You on the front. It features a rich pink watercolor background with a subtle, organic mandala over it. I wrote more about a set of these over here.
  6. Somehow this specific design of leggings - out of something like 69 pairs in my Zazzle store alone - became one of two that ended up on the right radar. I've sold 3 pairs of this one. In fact it's one of two different pairs that keeps showing up in my list of royalties. Fun and whimsical and simple. Thank you to those buyers!
  7. Another of the friendly cards for leaving notes. This one has a purple and blue abstract watercolor background.
  8. I kept running into merchandise that said "I am silently correcting your grammar" and one day after a friend who is also a client and I had talked and I'd explained something to her having to do with an improved way to word something on her forthcoming blog post, I realized the original phrase really bugged me. I added the thought of morning snark without coffee and came up with this: "I am not silently correcting your grammar. I just need more coffee and then I'll explain how you need to fix it." The phrase and the design printed on this mug, specifically, made me much happier than the original and my clientfriend who happens to have dyslexia agreed with me. The first sentiment isn't at all friendly, but this one works brilliantly! Yay English majors!

How Many Quirky, Typography Mugs Does One Woman Need?

As a huge word lover, one of the first things I wanted to do when I started dabbling in print-on-demand designing was to create mugs that say things I find entertaining. That is not to say that others will find them funny. I realize that our senses of humor are unique and what strikes me as humorous might be just plain boring or overdone, to you. Sometimes it's not a funny phrase I want but an encouraging one. But this set is meant to elicit a giggle or two, for the most part.

The thing about mugs on Zazzle is that they can be customized in so many ways. Even if the mugs themselves aren't fully, 100% editable, you can still choose your size and style and often you can even get a different color on the inside. There IS a way to create mugs that you can personalize, and I do that sometimes. This is just not that set. This set is all about the phrases!

I did add an editable field to one of my favorites. It says "I still listen to Mr. Mister / Don't Judge" and it made me deliriously happy the day I designed it. First, I'm a biggole dork and I still love love listening to 80s music. (In fact, that's exactly who I realized I was listening to when the inspiration struck me and it was a good day. Hmmm.) Second, I was really excited to create this design with personalization in mind. The part that says the band's name can be replaced with YOUR guilty pleasure band or musician of choice! How cool is that? (I designed it on a little cotton tote bag, too, just so I could have one of my own, it made me that happy.)

The of the mugs in this set are just graphics created from phrases that I created in Photoshop. Using some of the mild-addiction-driven cool fonts in my collection. But in time I'll be sharing way more with you that do have more editing capabilities. For now, maybe you'll enjoy one of these! Check them out and see...

So You Love Sales???

Oh. I should tell you that although this kind of on-demand merchandise is obviously more expensive than what you'll get in your local discount or even department store, Zazzle is awesome about running sales. So keep an eye out if economy is on your mind. You can sign up for specials and I'm not kidding: they do deliver. On any given day, it's not at all surprising to see that mugs are as much as 40 or 50% off! It's worth mentioning. I sure need the deals, now that I've found this little addiction of mine. Creating my own mug designs means sometimes I simply must have one for my very own! Maybe you'll want one too!