Scoop Coater

Scoop coater, scoop coater, scoop coater!  I can't say it enough!  If you're thinking about trying photo emulsion screen printing GET ONE.  That is all.

Second Sale & Screen Printing Update

YAYAY!  I made my second sale on Etsy and the buyer left amazing feedback! I'm feel as high as the ocean is deep!

Only problem is now I have to build some more inventory.  If only I could do this screen printing thing right.  Last time was another fail.  I think the emulsion was a bit uneven (due to application with a squeegee that's too narrow) and that I didn't expose my images for long enough.  But at least this time, no light bulbs exploded and I had a bit less of a mess on my hands.  The image actually was printed on the screen, it's just that is go washed out in the areas where the emulsion was too thick.

I think I'm going to be able to reclaim the screen as well (I haven't done it yet because I can't even look at it right now I'm so upset.  I put it out on my patio that I never use).  There's nothing worse than working on something for 8 hours and achieving a negative result.  FML.

Solution: order a scoop coater, wait for it to ship, try again.  Three times a charm, right?  If I fail after all this, I'm taking one of Spins and Needles' Silk Screening Workshops in October.  Who am I kidding?  I'll do the workshop anyways.  I lurve those guys :)

Screen Printing Adventure

Feast your eyes on my "Ghet-up" (my ghetto set-up).  Yes, that's my bathtub, so I should probably explain...  This is the beginnings of some new items for my Etsy store.  I'm attempting to screen print and this is attempt number two.  My first attempt involved WAY too much photo emulsion that never dried, a burn out 250w bulb and a huge mess.  So far, this attempt is going a little more smoothly, but I'm not out of the woods yet.

Update to come!

Custom Ribbons

Name Maker may not have fully customizable clothing labels, but they do have awesome ribbons with customizable text!  I had some made for Land of Gawk to make my shipments extra special.  Cost me roughly a dollar per yard, gets cheaper as you order more.  No duty!

Visit Name Marker's ribbon page by clicking here.

Clothing Labels 4 U

I wanted to have some custom clothing labels made, so I did a bit of research and found a few online that looked promising:
www.clothinglabels4u.com
www.namemaker.com
and I have subsequently discovered that Grand & Toy has an agreement with a third party company to make custom clothing labels as well.  Who knew? 

I ended up going with Clothing Labels 4 U because they were the only company I could find that does fully customized labels (any size, and material, any font/image).  Other companies, Name Maker included, only seem semi-customizable (i.e. you can customize the text and font but it come on a standard template).  Clothing Labels 4 U sent me A TON of samples with the wide array of labels they can produce.  I chose to have printed cotton labels.  

The company is in the US, so I had to pay $40 shipping.  Overall the labels cost me about $325 CAD for 250 labels.  Not bad considering they were EXACTLY what I wanted.  The only thing is that the whole process was a bit slow.  My first contact with the company was June 17 and I finally got my labels on August 24!

Overall I'm very happy and recommend Clothing Labels for you if you need custom labels, but are not in a rush (I just hate to rush).

To the sewing machine!

Embossing Seal Update

After much deliberation and research, I ended up ordering my embossing seal at Grand & Toy.  They didn't alter my design at all!  It cost about $140 and took less than a week to come in.

Very happy :)  Now I just have to make some prints!

First Sale!

Made my first Etsy sale yesterday!  Weee!  Now I'm official :)