Busy Bee: Limited-Edition Stickers
As a small business owner, I get to make all the decisions for the kind of items I want to release. One of the decisions I enjoy making the most is: what kind of limited edition sticker do I want to produce? A big question, some of the time. But that’s not to say it is always hard to come up with the ideas.
Throwing it back to the first stickers I released… the Fall/Halloween Collection. It was admittedly a spur-of-the-moment idea I had to make the stickers myself. I had gotten samples of my designs from two different vendors but was not satisfied with the results. So I did as most artists do, I said, “I can do this myself.” And, apparently, I could do it myself. It definitely took some trial and error on the first batch of stickers and I made waaayyy too much inventory. However, this is all part of the learning experience.
The next sticker collection I released was the Holiday Collection. I did not make as much inventory for this collection based on sales of the Fall Collection. With this collection, my production system was smoother and quicker. I printed the designs on vinyl sticker paper and then used my Xact-O knife and scissors to cut out the stickers. This collection will probably be one of my favorites for a long while because I feel that the designs were well executed and cute.
At the beginning of the year, I decided to redesign the animals to be in production year-round. I wanted a simple design for each of the characters. These designs could be used as is or with a limited edition overlay.
The Solar Eclipse was a week ago. Being in the Dallas area meant that we were in the path of totality. For a few minutes, the sun was covered by the moon. I saw this as an opportunity to have fun with this astronomical event and release a set of limited-edition stickers. Each of the eleven characters wore some sort of space t-shirt or had a nod to something space-related. These stickers are available until April 16th. Another reason why I decided to create a collection of Solar Eclipse stickers was because my sister has a bachelor’s degree in Astronomy. (It is one of three degrees she has.)
Now for a serious question, if I start to get a lot of sticker orders, will I outsource the sticker making?
I have thought about this quite extensively… what plan do I have to handle orders? Right now, it is not a problem to keep up, but I know that one day I will have more customers. At the end of the day, I don’t think I will or can outsource the sticker-making. Because they are hand-cut stickers, I don’t want them to lose any value. I know that I can find a good supplier for stickers but the current plan is to continue producing the stickers myself.
~Piper Louisa
P.S. Due to my workload and schedule, I need to reduce the frequency of blogs I am writing. Starting now, I will be posting blogs on the 6th of every month. Thank you for joining me on my blog adventures!