Friday, December 9, 2011

DEC 9th Planning a New Adventure


Good Evening Journal & Friends,

Okay... nuff controversary. Time for some fun! Well, it's fun for me, anywhoo. ;-)


I mentioned recently that next year one of my goals was to pluck up my courage and open my very own Zazzle  store. I no longer feel as though I have to get "skinny" before I step outside my comfort zone. :-)

Zazzle is an online shop that takes our own designs and puts them on stuff. Everything from prints, cards, posters, key chains and stickers, to personalized postage, t-shirts, buttons and coffee mugs. And tons more, too boring to list here. 

Anyway, before I get involved, I'd like to make sure I really want my NAME associated with them. In other words, I want to check out the quality of their printing and merchandise. So, I bought some stuff.

And most of them turned out terrific! 

I'll be honest in my review... I bought 5 things and: 

3 were fabulous 
1 was just okay 
1 was a little disappointing  

The actual merchandise seems very nice. For instance, the apron is not flimsy at all, but nice, bright white heavy poly/cotton fabric, neatly sewn. Same with the coffee mug: nice size and fabrication. My minor beef is just with how the images turned out on 2 items. And one of those might be because I didn't read close enough to know how big the final image was going to be... not sure about that one. Here's the deets:


We got two mousepads... here
is the one Jim chose, from one
of his waterfall photos. He likes the
quality and richness of the image.



Here is mine. I used one of my 
designs, and stuck on text that
was meaningful to me. I think it
came out crisp and colorful; overall
I am very satisfied. The background
is a soft gray, and my mouse glides very
 easily over the silky smooth surface. 
Eek, I sound like an infomercial!



I love the sturdy white fabric of my apron,
but have to say that in person the image
is not as bright as I had expected. 
Perfectionist?? Me?? Why, never. ;-) 



My mug turned out bold and fabulous!!
I am drinking tea out of it this very minute.
The colors are strong and vibrant, and
I added my new Mantra: 
I Can Do Hard Things




And last but not least... we got Joey
her very own t-shirt! We love how 
she looks in it, and it's adorable. But,
this is the one I was most disappointed 
in. The photo was sooo much smaller 
than I expected. Good thing we have
her in person to look at, LOL!


We're starting to get frost and snow here
in Southern Oregon, so she can keep cozy
when she goes outside to Do Her Business.
Oh, and dig to China after the gopher that 
decided to move into our backyard!



So far, I am leaning towards a thumbs UP on opening my own Zazzle store. It would be called Art by Retta, with a bunch of my designs available to put on shoes, hats, t-shirts, ipod cases, mugs, posters, office accessories, blah blah blah... all the stuff I've mentioned and more. I'll just do it in my spare time. (choke choke... if you only knew what a joke THAT was, LOL!) 

But Jules at Big Girl Bombshell recently had a wonderful post on choices, time and our goals. So my Zazzle store will happen when I make it a priority. Period. Thanks for that nudge, Jules.


Anyone use Zazzle before? Would you recommend it? If I'm headin for a cliff, I'd rather know BEFORE I feel air blowing in my hair! Just doing my research before I decide. :-D



From Dr Phil's book: "Having specific carefully mapped out, vividly envisioned goals is an absolute requirement for success."

My verse for today: "As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless."

My quote for today: "Age is something that just doesn't matter, unless you're a cheese." --Billie Burke

Enjoy the Journey,

Loretta
=^..^=

DAY 844

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

I don't know anything about Zazzle, but I like the name!

Great mug and I love Joey in her little shirt.

For exercise, I will be going to yoga, working out at the gym, and using the salt water pool in my building. Can't wait...my body feels like it wants to get busy!

Hope you are doing well!

Anonymous said...

I no nothing about Zazzle. Nothing. But if it allows you to market your art---> Wahoo!

Your merchandise looks very nice. It seems as tho the harder or less porous the surface,the brighter the imiage. But that could just be a coincidence.

Joey is so cute in her t-shirt--and she looks so tiny! I know you have said that she isn't expected to get big, but her pictures have made her look larger than this one does.

Love that pup.

Deb

P.S. Loretta, what fills your time that you have so little to spare? Did you take on at-home employment after all?

Retta said...

K: Yeah, I like the snazzy name, too. So... jazzy. Maybe it's the Z's, ha ha ha

Salt water pool?? Oh... so... envious!!!

DEB: I agree, it seems the soft fabric can't make a very bright image.

About time: ever since my little Joey arrived, I have little uninterrupted time. Can't play night owl anymore, and that was my best "art" time. As "excuse" sounding as it is, it also takes me sooo long to do the regular stuff from a chair. Just the "dailies" fill up my day, even though Jim does more than his share. Well, I refuse to do the self-pity stuff... the smaller I get, the better and stronger and more energetic I will feel... I am convinced!

Except for one minor blip, am still on plan. Down to 332... can't wait to crack back into the 20's. :-)

Anonymous said...

I have Zazzle shops. I like them a LOT better than CafePress(where I used to have a shop) because they don't charge a monthly "shopkeeper" fee. The other thing about Zazzle is that you can set your own profit margin, which allows you to undercut competition if you want to :D.

Zazzle also has community features. You can "like" or "favorite" other shops, there are comment sections for you products or shops you can use, and you can set up "merch stores" on FB with an easy tool.

I don't like the way they do their reports as much as I like those from Cafe Press, you can't look at things by month or by week, for example.

But over-all, my experience with Zazzle has been a good one. If you go to my blog, you'll see a "Zazzle pane" gadget for my smaller store: Simply Fabulous, where I sell my health and fitness related items.

Christine said...

Never heard of zazzle, but it sounds like a kick. I say go for it and have fun! I barely have time in my day to get everything done either...but we manage, don't we...somehow. lol. Wish there was 26 hours.

Retta said...

Thank you so much, Fab Kate! I appreciate hearing the details from the "inside". I'll definitely check out your link. I'm getting excited about this adventure. :-)

Diana said...

I love the idea of you doing some of your ideas and your hubby's photos on some Zazzle stuff. I'd buy some - especially like the mousepad. And is that puppy for sale? :) Cutest dog ever!

The only other blogger I know that does Zazzle is Kate at http://fab50.blogspot.com/. She always says good stuff about it. You might check her blog and email her. I'm sure she could tell you all about her experience.

So happy to be back and reading my favorite bloggers. :)

Anne H said...

Love it! I can do hard things!
Never heard of Zazzle - but I have now!

Sandy said...

I was soooo happy to hear you say you didn't feel like you need to get "skinny" before embarking on this adventure.

You go girl! Good luck and keep us informed how things are going :)

Lisa Marshall said...

I have ordered from Zazzle and was pleased enough with the quality of the t-shirts we got. My youngest is a huge Dr. Who fan, and we found some really fun graphic T's that aren't available in stores. You are so talented, I think it would be an excellent idea.

"Do Hard Things" was our High School co-op motto for my youngest son. Excellent!

Diane, Fit to the Finish said...

I had not heard of Zazzle, but had heard of Cafe Press. I think that putting your talents to work and maybe making some money is a great idea! I hear you on the "spare time" thing. Where does that time come from??

M Pax said...

I know a lot of writers have used Zazzle for promo materials. Don't know much else about it. I think it's comprable with cafepress though. But not really certain.

Love the designs. I think your own Zazzle shop is a great idea. If you want to promote, you're welcome over on my blog any time. :)

You should move on with your life goals. It will help fuel your other goals. Yeah, I know I always say that, but it's true.

I'm happiest when pursuing my art. Happiness makes doing hard things more ... palatable.

'Yellow Rose' Jasmine said...

Can't resist sneaking in to comment while I enjoy my little unplanned down time...
Love your stuff and love the idea of you selling/marketing it, any way you can. Seriously, you are so darned talented.
Don't know Zazzle, but you have made me want to check it out!

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