funky print studio

Wednesday wishes. Getting into blogging mode

May 20, 2015July 15, 2015 Andreea

For this week’s Wednesday Wishes post i think it’s going to be all about the blogging mode i seem to have gotten into. I used to have a personal blog and i loved posting there, interacting with other bloggers, attending blogmeets and so on. It was a lot of fun and it lasted about 3 years. It all came to an end when Funky Box Studio came to life. No more time for blogging… The day job and the etsy shop were more than enough to leave room for nothing else. So i had to quit blogging. For a while i blogged solely for the shop, updates regarding the shop, new items and so on. Oh, but it was so boring! Now, with this new virtual home, i’m more than determined to combine the two in a fun way: personal, but also for the shops. So i’ve finally started one of the goals in another WW article: i’m starting to interact with other bloggers! General feeling: it feels so good to be back!! Blogging mode activated!

Maybe i should actually start the WW article…

* Sort through the blogs i follow via Bloglovin’ and leave the ones i actually do read. Also, add more! Done and doing! As i keep interacting with various bloggers i also update the Bloglovin’ list.

* Schedule blog posts. Since time is always an issue, i must schedule posts whenever there’s a chance… technically. Technically, because practically there’s always something i must do! There are always a bunch of things i want to do!

* Sleep. Ok, something not related to anything, but i’m in serious need of sleep! I think i can consider this cleared. Various reasons here (we got extra help with the production processes, got out more – park, bedminton, mountains -, very quiet month of July).

* Buy peonies. It’s their time, after all. And since my “buy tulips” goal was never accomplished, i think maybe this time… i’ll be luckier? My husband cleared this one out for me!

* Get new table for the studio. I kept saying how we’re trying to put the studio together and how we need a bunch of things, but the table is a definite must. Also, just as important as the table, storage options.

* DIY projects. There are so many i want to try! So i need to get them all in one place first, update whenever there’s something new and finally, start actually doing them! Then again, i guess i could put the studio decorating thing over here, so it’s not like i haven’t done anything at all…

No more wishes for this week! Or maybe there are, but i’m too sleepy to think straight? Hmmm…

The Funky Studio team wishes you, as always, a colorful day!

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etsy, funky print studio story, letterpress, letterpress cards, letterpress save the dates cards, pantone

FPS is currently working on: custom letterpress save the date cards… again!

May 18, 2015May 18, 2015 Andreea

Yep, it appears that FPS is very lucky when it comes to custom letterpress save the date cards. This time around, the cards i’ve designed according to our lovely client’s requests are just a bit trickier: there are two ink colors printed on 450gsm China White card stock and we also have a bit of die-cutting!

letterpress heidelberg tiegel windmill — Say ‘hello’ to our Charlotte! She’s a mighty fine letterpress printing Heidelberg Tiegel. :)

Well this last photo i wasn’t exactly supposed to post as i hate ruining surprises, but i still wanted to show juuust a bit of everything: two ink colors, die-cutting, China White card stock. Also, since this photo is taken with my phone i think it’s safe to say that it’s not ruining much of the surprise, right? These custom letterpress save the date cards are yet another project i’m really proud of.

The Funky Studio team wishes you, as always, a colorful day!

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etsy, tips and tricks

Words you don’t want to hear as an Etsy seller…

May 15, 2015May 15, 2015 Andreea

… or simply an online seller of any kind. Being an Etsy seller surely has lots of advantages, but it’s not always pink cotton candy and unicorns and flowers and rainbows. Remember a while back we talked about one of the biggest problems we have as sellers – shipping problems.

Shipping is definitely a major issue and it’s very stressful as it’s clearly out of our control as sellers, but also out of the client’s control too. So it’s definitely a bummer when a client tells you: “My package hasn’t arrived yet. What’s going on?”

*** Since we’ve already given a few tips on the article about shipping (see above), let’s move on to the next terrifying words you could hear from your clients: “I received the package, but i don’t like the items / the items don’t fit.” Awful, right? Here are some tips to prevent such a situation:

– make sure your shop policies are crystal clear on refunds. For example, if ordered items are personalized, could you actually make a refund? You’d be stuck with the items as you couldn’t resell them, you’d have lost time on making them, you’d have lost money on materials…

– make sure you double check every detail of the order before sending it. Make that a triple check!

– send as many photos as possible and as accurate as possible.

*** Another terrible situation is when a client tells you: “I received the package, but it is not what i ordered!” Etsy sellers are either full time online sellers or they also have a day job too. It is tiring dealing with a day job, Etsy promoting, talking to clients, being active on social media, working on orders, shipping orders, creating new designs, maybe also taking care of the family. It is understandable to make mistakes, so here are some tips in order to try and prevent something like this from happening:

– be organized. Even if you’re naturally not an organized person, make sure you have an organized mess there in your workshop!

– use labels. I’m not talking about something fancy, but simple post-it notes or something similar so that you’ll know at all times what is where.

– step by step and one by one. Don’t start working on more orders at once. If it’s deadlines that you’re worried about, you should consider extending the time frame within you tell your clients that you’ll ship their orders. Better safe than sorry.

*** The final terrible situation you can find yourself into as an Etsy seller is having your client tell you: “I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to order anymore.” Even though there aren’t any apparent losses depending on the exact time the client has decided not to order anymore, we – as sellers – know exactly what and how much we lost: time, money and materials. Here are our tips:

– communicate. Try and find out what caused the client to change his mind and work your way from there.

– do not send hateful messages to the client. Yes, he might have caused you to waste time and money, but hateful messages won’t bring them back and won’t do any good either. Quite the opposite actually.

– stay positive and don’t get too upset about it. You’ll need that energy for the other billion possible clients who will actually order from you!

Feel free to add your own tips and tricks for these situations or maybe share similar awful situations you had to go through and how you handled them!

The Funky Studio team wishes you, as always, a colorful day!

PS: This is part of the blog articles i’m “rescuing” from the old blog.

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etsy, tips and tricks

Shipping problems tips & tricks. It’s not always pink and flowers…

April 23, 2015April 22, 2015 Andreea

… Remember that even beautiful roses have thorns!

This is the second Tips & tricks article that i’ve taken over from the old blog. It’s slightly revised as it’s been almost 2 years since writing that article, but the main aspects still are the same to this day. So let’s talk about shipping problems when sending out your clients’ orders and respectively, when receiving a package ordered online.

Probably the most common problem Etsy sellers have is shipping. Everything regarding shipping. Starting with the insane shipping fees and ending with packages not being delivered! Everything in between those two examples is also of high importance, however this time around let’s focus on those two, discuss about them, find solutions and give tips.

1. Shipping fees

This is by far the biggest problem of them all. First things first:

– for Etsy sellers – don’t feel guilty about the shipping fees! You’re not the ones making them; you have no control over them. Try and make your customers understand that. Give them links for the websites of the couriers / post office and have them see the fees themselves. Do not charge less for shipping fees because you feel like they’re too high! A possible solution for this would be taking a little out and putting it on your items’ prices. However, keep in mind that Etsy calculates its fee from your items prices, so the absolute best solution is to try and explain to your clients that this particular aspect is out of your control. Another thing you can do is presenting special offers for the repeat customers or clients with larger orders.

– for Etsy buyers – in order to have your orders sent safely to you, you need to pay shipping fees. They are high, but Etsy sellers can’t do anything about it unfortunately. The lowest shipping fee always comes with risks – damaged package, lost package, delayed delivery, no track & trace, no insurance, no way of ever finding out what happened to your package. You have to pay extra for the package to arrive sooner, you have to pay extra for the package to have a tracking number, you have to pay extra to have insurance, you have to pay extra to have a confirmation of receipt, you have to pay extra if the package is heavy. It’s terrible, all Etsy sellers know that, but this is how it is, unfortunately.

2. Lost packages

The Etsy seller gives you a heads up when he mails your package and you’ve also read about how much time it would take to get to you. That time had come and passed and you still don’t know anything about your package. What do you do?

– check out the track & trace number – usually when you make an Etsy purchase you’d receive a track & trace number for your package. Check it out and see where exactly your package is at the moment.

– no track & trace number? If, however, you don’t receive a track & trace number, contact the Etsy shop owner and let him know about the problem. He would then give you that number and check it out himself. There are situations where there is no track & trace number (for example: packages sent with non-priority mail if the customer so wishes, simple envelopes etc.). For those situations it’s best to have your package sent with a confirmation of receipt. That way it will certainly either arrive to destination or get back to the sender. If there’s also no confirmation of receipt, the Etsy seller should send a new package to his client, but this time making sure all the proper precautions had been taken care of. There is also another situation where post offices simply don’t register international tracking numbers. An example is Australia. We ship to Australia quite a lot, but we can only track the package on our post office’s system until it gets out of the country. After that, if there’s a need for tracking, we can only contact the social media team of the Australian post office (and by the way, this team is awesome! Quick responses, friendly people!).

– for Etsy sellers – it does cost extra, but make sure you either have a track & trace number or a confirmation of receipt. Otherwise, you’d have to send out a new order on your expense.

– for Etsy buyers – please understand that shipping problems are out of the Etsy seller’s hands. They will of course do everything they can in order to have your package delivered safely, but what will happen on the way to you is out of their reach.

Hope everything above will be helpful for both Etsy sellers and Etsy buyers.

The Funky Studio team wishes you, as always, a colorful day!

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