Thursday, August 25, 2011

Screenprinting Tutorials

So we're trying to improve our silkscreening skills, as this is probably our weakest area.=)  One of the smartest things we did this year was TAKE A CLASS!  I don't know why it's so easy to write this off, I know I always think, oh, I'll just by a book.  Not the same thing.  Most importantly, the book can't watch you go to pull a print, and say, your angle is a little off, don't hold it that way, too easy to get your hand in the ink, etc., etc.  So if you're frustrated with something you want to learn, check out your local college's extension program, or if there's a community college close to you, they have a ton of really helpful classes that you can usually take at night.  If you're in the SD area, UCSD Extension and the Craft Center have a crazy range of classes you can take, from metal casting to glass blowing.  And when all else fails, You Tube!!

Haven't tried these yet, so can't vouch for them, but will be very soon!

How to make a cheap & easy exposure unit:

http://youtu.be/KjeiVrfuMyc

http://youtu.be/1OIpRQt9ttY

Super cheap & easy screen drying box:

http://youtu.be/HXN8YhSfFhM

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Things are about to get exciting!!

So I've been off the radar for a while.  Here's what I've been doing:









Housekeeping--Check it out, I found the pics of my favorite stockings of the year!  An awesome customer ordered 5 black and white custom stockings with a rainbow of jewel toned flowers.  I thought about keeping them.=) (Forgive me, they're unedited.)

Ran the Big Sur Marathon--A-mazing...The last marathon I ran, said I'd never need to do it again.  This one, we were ready to sign up at the finish line.  A really tough run, but probably the most scenic run I've ever been on, and really well organized.

Apparently everyone I know got the memo that it's Lets Have a Baby Summer.  So I now have a stock pile of baby gift tutorials on my bookmark bar (I'll link some at the bottom), and got to use up lots of really cool tiny scraps of fabric I thought I'd have to throw out. And I learned how to make a sock monkey. Or 6 :)

Anyone know a good IT/IS whatever the *&#$ ( they're called?  I've spent the last couple of weeks transferring software, installing/uninstalling, my web host lost ALL of my contacts, and after 24 hours of internet chat restored them on and on and on.  And now I'm trying to do a total makeover on my website--(soon to be E-Commerce Site!!), blog, packaging, branding, the whole sha-bang.  Did I mention I HATE working on this kind of stuff? I can't wait till I all this crap is over and it's back to sewing!!


The bright side?  I learned A LOT. 
 
We worked through some serious silkscreen issues.  New vendor, new screens, new emulsion, new equipment, couple of good online tutorials (if you're into silkscreening check out this site), and things are going to be about 300% easier, faster, better than they were last year.

Made my big purchase of the year--Accucut Grandemark!! It's a commercial grade die cutter.  I literally cut out 1000's of 1" circles last year by hand, this sucker will cut out about 40 in about 10 seconds. And they make custom dies, lets just say I should buy stock in this company.=)

So all of this horrible housecleaning crap should be finished in the next week or so, and it'll be time to prototype all new ideas for Halloween/Christmas 2011!!  I'll post some pics once I get there.

Oh, and almost forgot, in the midst of all this, we did get some beach bags finished!  I'm not 100% happy with the screen design, that should be fixed this weekend, and should be listed by mid-next week at the latest.

Some baby gift tutorials:

Nursing Cover:  http://sewmuchado.blogspot.com/2009/02/description-stylish-and-practical.html

Easy, cute baby dress:  http://www.made-by-rae.com/2008/04/free-itty-bitty-baby-dress-pattern.html

Classic Sock Monkey:  http://www.supersockmonkey.com/catalog/howtomake.html
(Target has really cute socks for a couple of bucks, pick some up!)

Wednesday, March 2, 2011

TGIM!!

Okay, so I can come out of hiding, January and February are over!!

I don't know about you, but these are my least favorite months of the year, for several reasons.

But really, the biggest is my own fault.

Up until hopefully this year, I've really only done any significant amount of business September through December.  Last year was kind of nuts because we developed an entire new product line and were dealing with a lot of materials we hadn't used before.  Long list of excuses short, I didn't do any of my books until after Christmas.  I do not recommend this!! =)  I've spent the last 2 months doing 2 things:  reorganizing my studio-house from the chaos that ensued Nov-Dec. and entering a pile of receipts resembling that Vonage commercial  into Quickbooks.

But now the light is at the end of the tunnel!  I ripped apart the studio and reorganized everything so that the materials I intend on using most often are the easiest to get to.  I finally feel like I can breath in there again.  It was a lot of work, took more than a few Venti iced coffees to get through, but was totally worth it.

So this weekend I'm back to work on some new stuff.  Will  have pics to post soon!



In the meantime, my current big inspiration:  Harry Clarke Illustrations.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

What I Did While I Was Hiding Out All Year.

Here's some proof for people that used to call me a friend that I was indeed working while not having a social life.=)

My Favorite Big Stockings from 2011, in no particular order.  (Some of them are missing because I was in too big of a hurry to take pics, will not make that mistake next year!)  Almost all of these were custom orders, which I had an awesome time making.












Mini Stockings & Halloween will be in another post!

Monday, January 10, 2011

Ew, January

January is, and has been since I was old enough to have to go back to school after Christmas break, my least favorite month of the year. The holidays are over, the days are short and it's cold. That being said, it's a fantastic time to clean and reorganize. So we've spent the last 3 days cleaning out cabinets I forgot were there, and a fortune at target on organizers. So by February were hoping to run like a well oiled machine here at B & B, something that couldn't have been further from the truth the end of 2010 :). We scrambled through it, and a big thank you to all of our customers who made it a successful year for us.

We re in the design stage of some awesome beach bags, and hopefully a whole line of totes to be listed by April. (Think circus and vintage fairy tale.)

Recap of 2010:

Ran my first marathon.

Barnacle got 3 stitches in his tongue (won t even tell you what that cost, you wouldn't believe it.)

Designed our first Halloween line.

Had a blast doing custom big stockings for some really fun customers.

Got an iPhone!!!!

I'm going to post some pics of our favorite items from 2010 in the next couple of weeks.

Thanks again to all of our customers!