Sunday, March 6, 2011

seeing stripes (and solids)

I've decided to really, finally (hopefully soon) open an Etsy shop. I've been making these little shirts as gifts for my friends' kids for about a year and now I've got a library of designs I can use. My husband thinks I should do it too, so here we go. First I have to build up an inventory, then photograph, figure out my prices, shop policies and all that good stuff. So it will still take some time. At least I'm committed to actually doing it, which means I've been buying supplies for new shirts. It's hard to find time to work with my 3 precious princesses, since I'm their only "lady-in-waiting". But a slow start is still a start.

Pictured below are some of the gifts I've made recently. I design these in Adobe Illustrator, cut them out of heat transfer paper using my Silhouette machine, and then iron them on t-shirts. So far, they hold up after washing several times. The design challenge is creating 1-color designs that have enough line weight for cutting. Adding a scripture reference, if applicable, is very important to me too. The little scripture type can be tricky to cut and peel off of the backing paper, but it's worth it.








I also designed a little tag with washing instructions on the back. Presentation can really make or break a product! I'm grateful that my years of working as a product designer helped me figure out some of this stuff already. Most importantly, I really want my Etsy store to glorify God and shine as a light for Him. To God be all glory!