i'm not quite ready to unveil any sneak peaks of my website redesign just yet. i've been working on it pretty diligently the last couple of days and i'm pretty excited with the direction it's going. there's still a lot of design work left before i get to the coding side of the redesign. i saved the hardest part for last, the portfolio. i've been collecting up portfolio worthy works, but it's hard narrowing it down to a selected few. i should be ready to start coding by mid august. that's assuming all goes according to plan.
my one trick zebra projects have slowed down some. i have two orders that i'll be finishing up tonight. i've created an official one trick zebra t-shirt design that i'll be printing tonight as well and hopefully unveiling it early next week. in the meantime, let me introduce you to one trick zebra's new mascot:
i've been a slacker about updating all last week. i just haven't been in the mood to do a real update. and that includes today. i really just wanted to check in and remind you that i am still here and i promise to do a real update soon. my website redesign has yet again peaked my interest and i've been working on that lately, keeping me busy. i'll hopefully be posting some sneak peaks this week. in addition you can look forward to seeing some new one trick zebra stuff!
even though it hasn't helped yet, i've gone ahead and added more items to my etsy store, bringing my grand total to... wait for it.... .... eight items! i feel like such a slacker with my number of products not even making it to the double digits. the products are limited to onesies/tees right now as i haven't had time to finish the receiving blankets i've been working on. everything's been put on hold as i wrap up some orders. i have a weekend of wedding stuff planned so i doubt i'll be working on any one trick zebra stuff.
tomorrow morning begins with another trip to david's bridal. this time it's all about the bridesmaid dresses. my girls are all meeting up to try on the dress and make sure the dress suits each of their shapes. i really love the dress we've selected. it wasn't quite the style i was looking for from the start, but it has turned out to be perfect! once that's squared away, it's off to do some shoe shopping. hopefully this will also be a painless process.
after the dress and shoe shopping it's on to a follow up appointment with a local florist. i'm pretty sure we're going to sign with her this weekend since she has turned out to be the only really reliable florist we've talked/met with. other florists have been jerking us around, some constantly rescheduling appointments, others not getting back to us for almost three weeks when we were promised within two weeks. we can't afford to sit around and wait for these clowns. and if this is any indication of how they really work, then i don't want anything to do with them. i'll let out a sigh of relief once the florist is checked off of our list.
visits to a few of our local hotels are also planned for this weekend. we'll hopefully be reserving room blocks for the night of the rehearsal dinner and wedding for out-of-towners and others who don't want to make a long trek back home either of those nights. this will be another major check off on our list.
let's see... what else? maybe a couple other random wedding things will take place. some shopping or some crafting... we'll see. i can say that i will definitely be spending saturday night watching harry potter and the deathly hallows part two!
have i mentioned how much i love one trick zebra? it's almost become somewhat of an obsession for me. i love logging on to my facebook fanpage, checking for updates, posting on the wall, adding new pictures, communicating with my "followers." it's exciting watching it grow. word is getting out there, people are seeing the unique things i'm creating and they're getting hungry for more! i never imagined it would become as popular as it appears to be becoming. the last couple weeks have been ridiculously busy for me with what seems like an endless number of orders flowing in. when i first realized that i had created something that could be very marketable, my original intent was to create an etsy store and sell some products there. so, i posted a couple of onesies, but have yet to generate any orders. none of my orders have come from etsy at all. my store front and individual products have received a lot of attention from etsy users. my shop and individual product have been added to a number of people's "favorites," but all of my orders have come almost solely from my facebook page. facebook's influence on today's society is really amazing. this has been my only source of "advertising" other than my etsy page. the last day or so i've been working on a really cheap form of advertising, tear-off flyers. might seem a bit cheesy for a graphic designer such as myself, but this type of advertising can prove to be very effective and since it's free, i'm gonna give it a try. i plan on posting them in some local businesses this weekend, so hopefully by next week one trick zebra will generate even more buzz!
here's a quick shot of the latest one trick zebra creation. this was a custom order that i was able to bang out in just one night. special orders have really taken over one trick zebra. and i love it! i love getting the chance to be challenged creatively and watch customers' delight as their ideas come to life. it involves a lot more work on my end, but it's worth it. especially since i've been able to cut down the start to finish time of each job.
production time now takes only about a quarter of the time since i first began screen printing. and this is the case even though i'm doing much more complex designs with multiple colors that require multiple screens. i've fine tuned my techniques so much that the most time consuming part has become waiting for screens and/or shirts to dry. most of the time i avoid those longer waiting times by using a combination of my new screen printing machine with a built in dryer and my good 'ole trusty hairdryer!
as promised, here's a couple shots of my finished dinosaur applique onesie from one trick zebra. pretty stinkin' cute, right? i'm in love with how this turned out. sadly, i had to send it out to a friend who ordered it, but fear not! i ordered a bunch of new baby/toddler gear to begin applying this new technique to and i can't wait to share my creations. i have a bunch of ideas bouncing around in my head that i'm dying to test out and eager to see to completion.
right now i'm in the midst of another baby quilt. a while back i began my first completely hand sewn baby quilt. it took me a good amount of time to work through being that it was my first one and i had to troubleshoot along the way. i sort of already chalked it up to a loss from the beginning considering the fact that it was my first attempt. i figured that by the time i got to the second quilt i would have everything worked out and be able to create a real piece of "art." turns out i was way too hard on myself from the start. although it took me much longer than i anticipated to finish it, the important part is that i did finish it and it turned out amazing. i'm extremely proud of it and instead of giving it to my nephew as originally intended, i decided to keep it for myself and eventually give it to a child of my own. i still plan on making my nephew his own baby quilt, but my first quilt holds a special place in my heart so i felt i should keep it. the quilt i'm working on now is the same quilt, but for a friend this time, meaning my nephew is gonna have to wait just a little bit longer!
here's a shot of my latest one trick zebra creation. i took this shot before i began to sew, so it's not 100% representative of the final product. i'm actually very, very happy with how this design turned out. it was sewn by hand using an applique technique in a way that allows the edges of the dinosaur silhouette to fray lightly, giving it a much different feel than mass produced products. i'll post up finished pictures when i get them.
i've been quite the busy bee lately with one trick zebra gear. it seems like everyone is either having a baby or knows someone who is having one!
