Monday 30 March 2015

Print on Demand Websites for Printing Artwork on Clothes

This March I have been especially interested in print on demand websites that print on a wide variety of wearable items, particularly dresses & sweaters. This blog post is dedicated to the POD websites I have been researching! I made up this info page as reference for myself at first, but hopefully it will also be useful for any artists out there looking to sell their artwork on products & clothes. I found three so far that look rather interesting, and I will be trying one of them out in April. If you know of any other Print on Demand websites that focus on a wide variety of clothes, let me know! I am always looking to add more to this list.

A few notes before reading this list: these are not ranked in any sort of preferencial order, other than the fact that I wrote one down before the other. This is an informational blog post rather than my personal opinion... That will come later on in the month! ^_^ Also, note that I only included websites that have the option to set up shop for free. Some of them do have added benefits to paid shops however.


1. CowCow
One of the websites I found in my search is a print on demand website called CowCow, which boasts 400+ products available for you to add your designs to. CowCow is based out of Hong Kong with all of its production done in China, which means lower prices but much longer shipping times. Some of the products that I was particularly interested in were bodycon dresses, skater dresses, pull over hoodies, bikinis and spaghetti strap tops.

At CowCow, you set your own commission, however the initial cost of the item depends on what sort of shop you have. There are three different types of shops you can get: one is a free, basic shop with standard item prices, the others are premium and VIP shops that are paid with lower base product prices. Premium account starts at $4.99 a month, whereas VIP starts at $9.99 a month. Compare the plans Here. Apparently CowCow only takes these payments if you make money from your shop. For example, if you made .99 cents, your payment for that month would be .99 cents. If you made $40 that month, your payment would be $4.99 or $9.99 withdrawn out of your store balance. They also have free 36 month trials for the Premium and VIP shops, by using codes PREMIUMFR36M and VIPFR36M respectively. I'm not sure what cancellation or switching shops is like with this website, but 36 months is a pretty long time to decide whether this print on demand website is working for you or not.

2. Print All Over Me
Print All Over Me, or PAOM, is a print on demand website that focuses mainly on clothes but also has fabric and home decor items to design. PAOM's design studio is based in New York, and their production is done just outside of Shanghai. PAOM gives artists 20% commission payable through paypal, or the option to turn those earnings into PAOM credit, giving you 40% rather than 20%.

PAOM has a free shop, however they also have a paid version with the benefit of choosing from a selection of premium items, the ability to set your own royalty, and a $15 gift card each month to purchase things from the website. It is $15 a month for this service, so you are pretty much buying your gift card every month while getting the extra shop perks.

When creating, you can differentiate between the premium items and the free for all items by the plus symbol that shows up on the corner of premium items.

3. Art of Where
The third Print on Demand website I found, Art of Where, has me a little more excited than the others. This POD has a selection of clothes, silk scarves, pencil cases, pillows & device cases to choose from. What really excites me about this one is that the company is not only based out of Montreal Quebec, they also hand sew the clothes & print the designs there, too. Seeing a company so entirely Canadian is rare nowadays, and I love it (but I promised just the facts, so I'm going to go back to the topic...)! If you are going to be setting up a shop with Art of Where, you get 25% commission on everything sold in your shop.

This is not the only way to sell with ArtofWhere, however. They also offer drop shipping, in particular for people with etsy shops or existing websites. Through drop shipping, you get their products for 40-60% off of the retail price. To view drop shipping prices, click here.

The final way to sell with Art of Where is wholesale. Again, they offer the prices for 40-60% off of the retail price through wholesale, with a minimum order of 6! This is a great little option if you are interested in selling your art products at shows & shops, or if you already know in advance that certain designs will sell.

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Well, those are the ones I have in mind so far! The only thing that I found lacking in all three was the preview pictures. I'm sure the products are beautiful in person, but the mockups and preview pictures just aren't quite as nice as the other print on demand websites I have been on. It will make selling on these websites a challenge.. but one I am up for! ;)

Have you used any of the websites on this list? What is your favourite one to use?

-Tanya

Thursday 26 March 2015

Rickshaw iPad Mini Sleeves

Good morning everyone! It has been a while since I did an actual zazzle item feature, mainly because I have been pumping out new designs like no tomorrow! I also don't feel like making another wishful thinking spring post, because its actually freezing rain right now! Ick! So instead I am going to talk about my most wanted item from zazzle, the Rickshaw iPad Mini Sleeves! When I saw these sleeves, I knew this is what I need for my iPad. I haven't actually bought one yet, because shipping is so darn expensive... I'm waiting for a sleeves sale on zazzle to make this purchase worth it. I am currently working on making all my designs available in these, and I have most of them done already. Probably by the end of this week I will have them all up and ready!

The Rickshaw sleeve is the nicest personalized iPad sleeve I have seen so far. Along with being able to customize the design & background colour, you can change the lining and binding colour as well! You have about 15-20 colours to choose from for the binding and lining. These cases are slim and protective, being water resistant as well as very padded. These sleeves are made in California and are available for the iPad regular, the iPad mini, and the Macbook. I am going to be featuring the iPad mini ones today.

Here are some of my favourite ones from my shop! (okay, all the ones I picked are slightly spring themed. Clearly the fact that it is freezing rain outside doesn't take away my spring mood!)

Purple Watercolour Flower Tile Pattern iPad Mini Sleeves
My newest design! I love adding a faux stitched belt down the middle of these, with a stitched monogram in the centre to personalize. Those elements can be kept there or taken away in customize mode, as usual! I went with a really retro font for the monogram to match my 70s geometric pattern mood.


Yellow Watercolour Daffodil & Dots Pattern Sleeve For iPad Mini
My happy daffodils iPad sleeve with a beige faux ribbon & monogram! This one is just so bright and cheerful. To get a different effect with this design, try black binding & lining with a black background! 


Inked Girl Portrait with Patterned Gradient Hair iPad Mini Sleeve
Patterned hair girl iPad sleeve!This features the design on the front and back. A name can easily be added sideways down the left side of the iPad sleeve for personalization. This is the only non patterned case that I have!


Spring Floral & Leaves Digital Watercolor Pattern Sleeve For iPad Mini
This is the floral pattern that won in the sew good zazzle challenge for fabrics! It looks great in all colours. For this case, I opted for a simple white. I am getting this pattern delivered to me in fabric, and I am going to attempt to make an iPad case out of it. If that fails miserably, this is the case I am going to buy :)


Glitter Tropical Pineapple with Stripes and Dots Sleeve For iPad Mini
This one is my top favourite! I just love the colours and the pineapple design. Its so girly and just a little bit retro. Add a full name with the monogram faded behind it to personalize. As always, the faux belt and monogram can be removed in customize view! This case looks great both ways.


And thats it for today! It is no longer freezing rain btw, it is snowing gigantic snowballs.

Monday 23 March 2015

New Purple Watercolour Floral Pattern on Nuvango & Zazzle!

Yesterday while binge watching That 70s Show (the whole thing is on Canadian netflix now.. super exciting!) I found myself heavily influenced by those 70s textile patterns & wallpapers, and decided to make a floral tile of my own. I went with the simplistic, geometric florals rather than my hand drawn style because I wanted to focus on symmetry. I gave this pattern my favourite technique though... watercolour textures in digital vectors. :) The pale pinks and purple shades work really well together, adding to the simplicity of this pattern with a simple colour palette.

It also reminds me of easter, and spring.

Spring, which still isn't here. Did I mention it snowed yesterday?

Purple Watercolour Flower Tile Pattern Fabric
Here is my new pattern in Zazzle fabric! The flowers are alternated purple watercolour and white.  There are smaller circles to add a break in this traditional design. 

Laptop skin from my Nuvango gallery, available in mac and windows selections. 
Purple Watercolour Flower Tile Pattern Wood USB 2.0 Flash Drive
Pale purple floral wooden USB stick! I just love these. These personalized USB keys are a great way for wedding photography companies to share their digital photo packages with the bride and groom. Easily change the monogram on this USB key to whatever you like!



Purple Watercolour Flower Tile Pattern Makeup Bags
Purple watercolour floral makeup / accessory bag! It is completed with a faux lavender stitched belt fixed with a circle monogram with a retro style initial. As usual this one is fully personalized and makes a great pencil case!


Friday 20 March 2015

Happy First Day of Spring! New Floral Design

Finally, after what seemed to be the longest winter ever, spring is here! Well, it is here in date, anyways. I am still waiting for the rest of the snow to melt, and for it to warm up just a little. I won't feel like spring is officially here until those two things happen!

But for now, I have started with the making of spring themed products. I took the daffodil that I made for my march flower project and made a separate floral and dots pattern with it, available on zazzle! This daffodil pattern is made up of different sized flowers in different shades of yellow & orange, and is surrounded by little dots. It is repeatable, and is very bright and cheery. As usual, this design is very easily personalized, and the background is completely customizable! Play around with the background colour to get a different feel to this print.

Here are some of my favourite products out of this collection, showcasing some of the different background colours that work with this pattern to give some ideas.

Yellow Watercolour Daffodil & Dots Pattern Tags For Luggage
A monogrammed luggage tag, complete with a faux ribbon & stitched circle on a white background. It looks so happy, don't you think? You will spot your luggage for sure with the bright yellow flowers.

Yellow Watercolour Daffodil & Dots Pattern Tags For Luggage by TanyaDraws

Yellow Watercolour Daffodil & Dots Pattern Barely There iPhone 6 Plus Case
Daffodil iphone 6 plus case on a coral background with a stitched monogram circle. I think that the coral background is my favourite, it makes this pattern really fun!

Yellow Watercolour Daffodil & Dots Pattern Barely There iPhone 6 Plus Case by TanyaDraws

Yellow Watercolour Daffodil & Dots Pattern Uncommon Clearlyâ„¢ Deflector iPhone 6 Case
A translucent iphone 6 case with my daffodils and a black background. It is available in iPhone 6 plus too!

Yellow Watercolour Daffodil & Dots Pattern Uncommon Clearly™ Deflector iPhone 6 Case by TanyaDraws

Yellow Watercolour Daffodil & Dots Pattern Return Address Label
Yellow daffodil pattern labels with personalized name and number on a stitched tab! 

Yellow Watercolour Daffodil & Dots Pattern Return Address Label by TanyaDraws

Wednesday 18 March 2015

Redbubble Art Pillow Purchase Review

Edit 22/09/17: I remade this pillow with a slightly different pun on RedBubble! "Mew've got to be kitten me right meow". I kept the same classic cat shaped design.


Kitten me right meow Redbubble Pillow

Click the pillow to see more details on redbubble pillows! This is what I purchased, and will be reviewing today.


A few weeks ago, I bought a present for my sister on Redbubble. She always says "You have cat to be kitten me right meow" so I made a pillow out of this saying for her birthday!
I chose to buy this pillow through redbubble over the rest of my print on demand websites for a few reasons. The first was the appealing price with the artists discount. Shipping was also considerably lower on redbubble, and the option to buy a pillow or a pillow case was also available. I had stuffing at home, so I opted for the 16" pillow case for less shipping. 


cat to be kitten me right meow pillow
It matches my sisters room very nicely! :)
I was really happy with how this pillow turned out! The printing of my design was clear and crisp. The background colour was a bit lighter than what I was expecting online, but not terribly so. It really goes well with the colour palette in her room. 

The pillow is polyester, so it is soft enough but still feels like polyester. It has a bit of a canvas feel to it, and is very thick and durable. I was able to stuff it without fear of it ripping. The zipper for this pillow case is really small and easy to conceal, which is nice. Something to consider before buying this pillow case is if you will be stuffing it yourself, or trying to fit an existing pillow in to it. I was hoping that I could use this as a case for an existing 16" pillow, but the zipper doesn't go the full length of the case, so the 16" pillow will not fit in it. If you are going to buy a pillow case from redbubble, be prepared to stuff this pillow yourself! 

Close Up Redbubble Pillow Picture
My iPhone can only go so close up before making pictures look blurry!
Here is a detail shot of what the printing looks like up close. Its very nice! I'm sure that artwork with really tiny details would look fabulous on these pillows. The black that I used for this design was very rich in print.
The design is also printed on both sides of this pillow.

Kitten Me right Meow Pillow

As for shipping, it took a decent amount of time. I ordered it on the 24th of February, and received it on the 17th of March, so roughly 3 weeks for shipping. The shipping costs were low too, which is nice. Another thing I liked was the fact that I did not get charged duties when this went over the border. 
Living in Canada where shipping is crazy expensive already sucks, but when you get charged that extra fee it makes things on the internet even less accessible for purchase. I'm happy to have found a website where I can order things with my art on it without worrying about my item being stuck at the border! 

My sister loves her new pillow, and she now wants a shirt with the same design on it. Maybe that will be soon! :) 

Tuesday 17 March 2015

Happy St. Patricks Day!

Have a happy St. Patricks day, everyone! Are you wearing your green today? I sure am. I have these awesome green pants that I am wearing to work, matched with a white blouse and gold necklace & earrings to top off the work casual irish look. ;) Along with actually being dressed in green, I also made a fun polyvore outfit featuring all things green and shamrock-y! There are also fabulous sets from some very creative & festive polyvorers out there, and I wanted to celebrate their creativity & share some of my favourite sets with you. Maybe these will give you some ideas for that St. Patricks day party that is happening tonight, or give you ideas to be excited about for next year. :)

My St. Patricks day set, featuring some of my shamrock designs:
St. Patricks Day Irish Set



Creations by fabulous users on Polyvore:


HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!!!

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY!!! by abbadoo616 featuring post earrings (I love this set, the cat luck shirt is adorable!)


It's time to celebrate.! St Patrick's Day


It's time to celebrate.! St Patrick's Day by info-23 featuring a red wall clock (an awesome festive garden party!)


St. Patrick's Day

St. Patrick's Day by loves-fashion-style featuring loop scarves (such a classy St. Patricks day outfit!!)