New RubberStampMadness Ad - and Stamp Discount

Just received the Fall 2009 issue of RubberStampMadness, with our newest ad.

Discount Code: The discount code is blurred out here - we want to encourage people to pick up a hard copy of RubberStampMadness - a great magazine. The code is good for 10% off rubber stamps when entered during the checkout process on our site. Although there is no way to automatically calculate savings on our Etsy shop, you can enter the code in the notes section when you check out and we will refund you your savings. (Coupon codes apply only to rubber stamps - mounted or unmounted - and will not work on our eBay shop.)

New RubberStampMadness Ad - and Stamp Discount

(An edited reposting of an entry originally posted on Jan 30.)

Lost track of time! Just received the Spring 2009 issue of RubberStampMadness, with our newest ad.

Discount Code: The discount code is blurred out here - we want to encourage people to pick up a hard copy of RubberStampMadness - a great magazine. The code is good for 10% off rubber stamps when entered during the checkout process on our site. Although there is no way for savings calculated automatically on our Etsy shop, you can enter the code in the notes section when you check out and we will refund you your savings. (Coupon codes apply only to rubber stamps - mounted or unmounted - and will not work on our eBay shop.)

Stamp Images: Unfortunately, the squid and round geometric design featured in the ad (and probably the reason behind the positive response we've had so far) are not yet available as stamps. (The corner and zig-zag elements are available as part of our Celtic Knotwork Triple Twists sheet.)

Long story as short as possible: We have been testing out processes for creating polymer stamps and had been planning to have those designs come out as our first images in polymer. We experienced some set backs and do not yet have a finalized system.

We will continue to plug away (although it is a busy month and so it will have to be on the back burner for a bit). Once we have a process down, we should be able to get images out at a faster rate and create different sizes to satisfy individual customer requests, etc. We are excited about the possibilities.

In the meantime, we apologize for any disappointment. We certainly did not intend to advertise products that are not yet available.

(We will see how we feel about using (and recommending) the polymer stamps for velvet. I know that there are plenty of people who do use them for these purposes. I want to be sure that there isn't any danger from applying heat to the stamp.)

Artwork in the Ad: Loden put this ad together. For the background he used photo of our embossed velvet pillow, below:

He then layered on images of the corner elements from our Celtic Knotwork Triple Twists as solids in yellow and outlines in red. A layer of semi-transparent blue, then the squid image I made, and the circular design that he created.

Advertising and Stamp Discount Offers

We have ads coming out soon in the following magazines (from left to right): Cloth Paper Scissors, RubberStampMadness and The Stampers' Sampler.

Each advertisement includes a code (blocked out in these images - sneaky!) that is good for 10% off rubber stamps when entered during the checkout process on our web store. (Coupon codes will not work on our Etsy, eBay or DaWanda shops and the discounts do not apply to cling mount sheets, acrylic blocks or other stamping accessories.)

The codes expire at the end of December.

Cheers!

Latest RubberStampMadness Advertisement

The berry plate is by RaquelMasri. The Celtic stamped pendant is by DesignsbyGinaLouise. The black and white Celtic images are from upcoming stamp sheets.

Ads

I took a bit of time today to mock up an ad, as we have another deadline for RubberStampMadness...


I love these images (from RaquelMasri, DesignsbyGinaLouise, and RedHotPottery), as well as this one of Adornyourself's buttons (but the image doesn't seem to show up well at this size, unfortunately.) Loden took a look at this mockup and said that it looks as though we sell ceramics. Sigh - I think he is right. I think we will have to pull together some black and white stamp images and add color. We shall see!

Q: When is September not September?

A: When it is August.


Once upon a time I knew that monthly magazines typically come out a month earlier than the date on their cover. But I haven't subscribed to a monthly magazine for years - just tend to pick up magazines that catch my eye, one at a time. So I had forgotten this... had not remembered this fact the whole time we were prepping for our ad for the Sept/Oct issue of RubberStampMadness to come out.

Oops! Here it is! Got this in the mail yesterday.


We are right inside the front cover, which is very nice. We just weren't expecting the timing. Loden would have caught the error of my assumption, but when I said we had until September before the ad came out, he assumed that I knew that that was when it would actually be available.

So... we are still plugging away at more stamp sets. More will come within a few weeks, they just won't predate or coincide with the appearance of our first magazine ad. C'est la vie!

Cheers!

10 City Promotional Swap - DeWitt Mall, Ithaca

DeWitt Mall, Ithaca - Greenstar/Oasis North Entrance, originally uploaded by inklings and imprints.

I'm behind on posting these images. I posted the rest of the 10 City Promo Swap items in downtown Ithaca, at the DeWitt Mall. Images up on Flickr.

Style Library

User hndmadevintage on Etsy put out a call on the forums for people to submit ads for her site, http://www.stylelibrary.net/.

From the site:

Style Library is your handmade and vintage shopping source. When you visit our website you will find hand-picked handmade and vintage items for sale. So if you love surfing through etsy, silkfair, mintd, trunkt, or wherever else, but are just too overwhelmed by the amount of items for sale (or just too busy so search them all), swing by Style Library. We pick out the best items we can find and try to feature new ones each week.

I wanted to take her up on the offer, but have been holding back on much promoting because I've not yet completed the new site. But I realized today that I should just bit the bullet and call the new site "open", even if I still have work to do on the online shopping portion of it. After all, it has pretty much the same amount of content right now that the Maggie Bags site has.

So, I put together an ad and got a quick reply, telling me it was up in the Jewelry section:



Bam - that was fast!

Our First Print Magazine Advertisement

It's about time, really...

Click on the image for a larger view. Actual print size is pretty small...

Still catching up on things now that I am back home from visiting family. One thing that we did before I left was submit the electronic file for our first ad to appear in print. It will be in the September/October issue of RubberStampMadness (a magazine that was started in Ithaca, no less... although it is now based in Oregon). The theme of that issue will be fairies, elves and Halloween.

Loden did most of the work on this. The problem with working so hard on something, especially for a deadline, is that by the time you are finished, you can be sick of the item. That was sort of the case for us.

Now we just need to get some new stamp sets made, get the new website up... and prepare a new ad for the next issue, which is due before this first one hits the stands... yikes.

(The round celtic knotwork is an image that is in the works for a rubber stamp set - not yet available.)

New Business Cards

We had many, many cards made... and then, of course, Loden worked on a new stamp design that we now wish we had put on the cards. Guess it is just added incentive to distribute these cards so that we can create a new design for the next batch!

And now we have to get the new website fully up and running...

(I've whited out the phone number in the image of the front of the card. Of course, anyone who physically handles the card will have the number...)

10 City Promotional Swap - others' posts

A photostream on Flickr - images the other participants are posting.

10 City Promotional Swap

AlwaysAmy, a seller on Etsy, had the idea of having a group of people send one another their promotional materials (business cards, etc.) so that each participant could post in their local area and have their promos posted in 9 other cities.

I was just away on vacation, visiting family in Massachusetts. I posted some of the materials I received in a great and funky consignment shop called "The Dress Code" on Main Street in Gloucester (yes, home of "The Perfect Storm" and the mythical teen pregnancy pact). The shop was very busy while I was there.

Cassette tape promo: AlwaysAmy

I came home to upstate NY to find one more envelope of materials in my mailbox. I'll be posting these and the remaining materials on bulletin boards around Ithaca as I do errands later this week.

RuBee Designs, Designs by Reese, Marge Cards, Floral Origami, Scribble Nation, XO elle.

And I only just NOW realized that I didn't post my own materials there. Whoops!