Calling all graphic designers and creative types!

I need help! Some might call it a favor... I am going to get 1,000 custom jewelry boxes made (sounds fancy, doesn't it?) and I really need some creative input.

First – an aesthetic question: I can’t decide what ONE image to put on 1,000 boxes – the embossing stamps I am using now are flowers & birds but they aren’t really related to my jewelry - they're just cute. Then I thought about putting my logo on it but that won’t really work because they don’t recommend overlapping. I could just put the business name on it in a cute font but then that’s kind of boring. What kind of image says "Freshie & Zero"? What sort of image would you get excited about if someone handed you a jewelry box that had some Freshie & Zero jewelry inside? Is it a company name or is it a cute little drawing? I thought about my little hammer I drew (at top of blog) but then I thought - who wants a hammer on a jewelry box???

So basically - I'm open to designing help. When I say open to, I really mean begging for design help, and I'm not above a little bribery. I'm a little overwhelmed right now with, you know, making jewelry and stuff and I don't have the creative energy to create this fabulous new box image. IF you design something for me AND I use it on my boxes, I will give you a $75 gift certificate to http://www.freshieandzero.com/. Enticed? Keep reading!

Here are the specs:

The image will be going on a chocolate brown kraft box, measuring 3" x 2 1/8" on top. These are the boxes, to be exact. I would prefer the image to only be on one corner of the box. Here are the art requirements from the printer:

Art requirements for printing on pre-made products.
Send BLACK AND WHITE Camera Ready Art.
1. Vector files may be in color but will have to be converted to BW
2. Bitmapped files must be Black and White and at least 600 dpi and sized as closely as possible to your actual plate size. We
cannot enlarge art more than 150% without losing clarity around edges.
3. Please convert all text to outlines or curves.
4. Screens cannot be hot stamped or ink printed on pre-made bags or boxes.
5. In order to lessen fill-in problems do not send art with large solids, fine lines, fine
details, or overlapping images.
We recommend against large “reversed areas in the art”
6. Business cards and faxed copies are not acceptable.
7. Minimum line width 2 point.
8. Small text (10 pt or under) not recommended on hotstamp bags.
Special Considerations: The nature of Flexographic or Hot stamp Printing does not allow us to print heavy ink/foil coverage,
halftones or very fine or small details.
Accepted file formats: .psd, .pdf, .tif, .eps, .ai
Adobe Illustrator® EPS files
Art should be Vector (Illustrator .EPS or .AI) To prevent font problems convert all text to outlines. Select your type with the
Selection Tool, go under TYPE on menu to CREATE OUTLINES and click on that. Save the document as an eps. or an ai.
Include all linked images when emailing the file.
Adobe Photoshop® TIFF files
A SETTINGS menu will pop up before you begin to scan.
Make sure you scan with these settings:
Type: Line Art or Grayscale (Line Art or Bitmap images make smaller file sizes.)
Res: 600 dpi.
Scan original art close to the size of the plate you are purchasing from us.
Once the image has been scanned, check your art under the Photoshop® Menu under IMAGE – MODE should be Bitmap
(grayscale is acceptable but will have to be converted to bitmap). Under IMAGE SIZE check your Document Size in inches and
check your Resolution at pixels/inch. It should be 600 dpi.
Photoshop art that is too low a resolution will be choppy and rough around the edges.
Freehand® files are acceptable if exported as Illustrator EPS with text converted to paths. Include all linked images.
CorelDraw® files are acceptable. Convert type to curves. Save as Illustrator.ai Include all linked images.

Above is my official logo just for a jumping off point, but I'm totally open to anything - as long as it's cute and classic! You may send questions or your images to freshie [at!] freshieandzero.com. PLEASE HELP! Thank you thank you!!!

Renegade NYC Vendors are up!!!

The Renegade Craft Fair vendor list for Brooklyn is up!!! Yay!!!

AND holy hell - Lotta Jansdotter is going to have a booth there!!!??? Are you kidding me!!!??? Talk about excited - I might geek out on her like I geeked out on Jenny Hart at last year's Stitch. "Hi Lotta, my name is Freshie and I make jewelry and your stuff is so awesome and I've been a fan for years, really, and one of my friends has one of your books and uh ... uh... "
And speaking of Jenny Hart, that reminds me of the Austin Craft Mafia in general and I really just have to give a shout out to them while I'm giving out shout outs. As my business has been growing and I prepare myself for the next level, the ladies of the ACM have been on my mind because they really are so nice and so professional and yet so rock n' roll and cool all at the same time. Especially the ladies that I've personally interacted with - Jesse Kelly-Landes, Jennifer Perkins, Karly Hand, Jenny Hart, and Vickie Howell - they've all been so super sweet and friendly and they are truly inspirational role models to anyone who wants to be in this crafty business. Seriously!!!

Okay enough gushing for one blog post. Having said all of that - I am so excited about Renegade!!!!

the Handmade Market!

So this past weekend I went to Raleigh all by my lonesome to be a vendor at the Handmade Market, a spring show put on by the Handmaidens - a super awesome collective of crafty ladies around Raleigh. The show was great! It took me about 9 hours to get to Raleigh (I got a little spaced out and had to stop and walk around for a bit) but what a welcome surprise when I got to my sweet hotel at the Sheraton - I swear the paint had just dried because the room was brand-spankin' new with that new carpet smell and just so - clean. I got up the next day with butterflies in my stomach since the last time I did a show out of town by myself, this happened. But I was confident and Greg & I had made sure none of my boxes of display stuff were too heavy for me to lift.

The good news was that the show was really packed and busy! The bad news was I was too busy to shop! That's like torture to me! Oh well, it was a trade off I guess. :) There was so much cute stuff from crafty people I had long admired including: Twist Style, Photo Glass Works, and...

Meredith Steele

I was stealing glances of everyone's awesomeness whenever I had a second to walk around but I wasn't able to really shop. Finally, I totally abandoned my booth around 4:45 because I couldn't take it any more! I agonized at Twist Style's booth but just couldn't make up my mind - I have a feeling she sold a lot including what would have been the perfect piece for mother's day. Then I ran over to Mood Swing's booth and I was in heaven! What had initially begun as myself shopping for Mother's Day became Me! Me! Me! I bought two necklaces and a pair of earrings (shown below) and they are fabulous. The funny thing is, when I showed them to my mom, she loved them too and got online and bought two of her own! I had no idea my mom would love something so funky!


After the show, we had sangrias and tapas at Humble Pie. There were a lot of gals from the NC/VA area - Arlington, Richmond, etc and they all spoke my crafty language! We discussed fellow crafty businesses, craft shows, and other nerdy crafty stuff. I had so much fun hanging out with them (even as we got louder as the evening and sangrias progressed and my voice eventually got hoarse) but then sadly the evening came to an end and I went back to my hotel room. All in all - a fabulously girly and crafty time was had by all!

advertising is getting out of control

I've been noticing over the years that restaurants have added new ways of advertising to their customers. It started with the bathroom advertising which is actually a great idea and I have to admit I got really excited a few years ago when a boutique that carried my jewelry actually mentioned me in their list of vendors in their Indoor Graffiti ad!

Then a few of the more posh establishments like Bound'ry added t.v. screens in the wall that flashed digital ads you could watch while hanging out in the bar - forget watching muted ads on t.v. - here were flashy ads full of pretty pictures and text you could read while the guy trying to pick you up was totally boring you!

But now, Nashville has gone a bit too far. I drove by Sunset Grill yesterday and saw that the valet stand had three glossy ads behind glass on the podium. Do people really read ads by their knees? What businesses were convinced that this is a good idea and actually put their money down? I don't know because I didn't slow down to find out what they were trying to sell me. Really - is this ridiculous or is it just me?