That time I spent most of my weekend designing postage stamps with the word "love" on them

When I discovered that you could design your own US postage stamps (see here and here for my own, in two different stores) and people would actually buy them, I was gobsmacked. And that's not even a word I use! But I was... to consider that a self-taught designer could create an image and submit it for approval to someone who has the authority to accept or decline my submission so that, in time, people might use my work on their mailings? Just a very cool thing in my book.

So one day recently, I was deciding which font I wanted to use in a new wedding invitation-themed set I was about to start work on. My eye hit on the simple word "Love" in the string of test words and phrases I'd typed for consideration. I realized that while certain typefaces in the collection might not work all that well for the purpose I'd had in mind, they sure did look nice with the word "love" on them!

When I remembered a recent discovery from one of my Zazzle sales reports, that postage stamps were a proportionally-somewhat-high hitter for me - I opened my first Zazzle store 5 months ago this weekend, and as of this writing, the company has sold 24 sheets of stamps with my designs on them - I started considering the possibilities. Not only could people planning weddings use stamps with the word "love" on them, but other people could too! I mean, not to mention Valentine's Day and other holidays and special events geared toward sharing love, we have our own personal special occasions, too! Sure, you wouldn't want to pay the premium prices charged for custom stamps, for paying your bills. But the price is apparently worth it to a lot of people, for those celebratory times we like to celebrate!

And so I started designing stamps that featured the word "love" and I got a little crazy. Which is to say I could not stop myself. Some of them just had the word. Others of them had a template place holder for a special date, still others had a spot for a bride and groom's names. Some had both. Still others had a gold glitter badge and yet others had a gold glitter (faux, glitter effect - these are all paper, folks,) heart in the middle! But what about white on a solid color? Or on a watercolor wash background that has been so popular for these wedding-themed items from folks who like this particular look?!

You can order stamps from Zazzle in small, medium, and large. They come in vertical or horizontal. And they come in different price points, so you can plan for using them for standard envelopes, or postcards, or even oversized card mailings.

Regardless of the use, the options are ideal, and I went at this project as if it were a serious charge. OHHH the options.

Eventually I had to stop. (For the time being, that is!) I mean... how many typography postage stamps with a single (albeit important) word does one woman need in her collection? Ahem. I have more than 100. All were approved within a few days (this product option is not instant, as most products are in the Zazzle marketplace,) and I continue to be happy I took that time to design these.

Coming up, I'll modify some of the designs you see here for use with some of my newer wedding invitation design suites. Because matching stamps, too, turn out to be quite a biggie. (Example: though they don't say "love", this set has sold 6 times and 3 sheets of these have sold so far.)

There are days on this still-new path that the whole thing grows daunting and my head spins at the numbers of other designers whose work my ideas are up against. I took a peek just now and saw that as of today there are over 700,000 unique postage stamp designs in the Zazzle marketplace. Is it any wonder, then, that it takes so much effort to get some quality traction with a brand new print on demand store?!

And so today I'm celebrating my tenacious personality and my love of fonts. And the way the word "love" looks in just a very few of those fonts. Stay tuned... you never know when I might be ready to give it another go and try my hand at even more of these! Meanwhile if you need some pretty stamps that commemorate a big special date of your own, check out my Love stamps. You'll find quite a few to choose from!

My First Foray Into Wedding Invitation Design: Teal & Blue Ombre Watercolor Suite

When I had been at this print on demand thing for a few months, had even taken an online course to make sure I was working as efficiently with the Zazzle system as I could (for a beginning "Zazzler" as my young nephew now calls me, that is) I realized I really wanted to tiptoe into the wedding invitation design waters. Knowing that we're no longer limited to the uber-formal, engraved, traditional, must-be-done-the-way-the-garden-club-members-say-it-must-be-done invitations that were once the norm, I warmed to the idea. What sent me further down the road with confidence was the realization that my designs are not going to mess up anybody's wedding. (Way less pressure than wedding photography, this!) I mean, if a bride likes my design, she is welcome to buy something I've offered. But no pressure. I can just put it into the pot of all the other thousands of other designs (no competition pressure there, lemme tell ya!) and people are free to choose or walk away.

And so I decided to go with something fairly simple and subtle and take it from there.

I took the leap and I jumped with a soft teal and blue ombre design that features one of the sweet, modern script fonts from my obsessively growing collection for key phrases, and a watercolor background. The biggest sale Zazzle has made thus-far with one of my designs (read: most numerous parts in one order) were a set of 85 thank you cards from this set. Elated, that was me. I keep thinking of ways to arrange and lay out details that can be presented to people interested in this design suite.

For now, though, it's got quite a lot in it and there are definitely things I've learned that I won't do in future sets. Still, it was a fun first step and I'm happy to show it to you now. And document the progress from this early example.

Enjoy!