Zazzle announced that the Blackberry Curve case has been discontinued and the Samsung Galaxy case will be removed next week. This was a decision by Case-Mate, the manufacturer of the cases. Another Blackberry case does remain and some new cases for Android will be added soon.
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New on Zazzle! Custom Photo Bags by Bagettes
Did you ever think you could give the same gift to your seven year old daughter, her teacher, yourself (or your wife or girlfriend), your mother, your teenage niece, the choir director at church and the neighbor next door who babysits for you? And it wouldn’t be chocolate? And no one would say it doesn’t fit them?
[OK, probably this works better if we assume that all the above (except maybe YOU) are female.]
No, not a silly gift certificate to the mall! How about a custom photo gift? It could be a coin
New Product Introduction
Bagettes Custom Photo Bags have got to be the easiest product ever for photographers and snapshot lovers! And they are so darned cute! You will want to have – or gift – several of them. Bagettes was begun by mompreneur Felice Azorsky in 2003 and has taken off since.
Without fanfare, a few days ago Zazzle.com added an nine bag line-up of Bagettes for designers and customers to create beautiful, fun, interesting, or gothic designs on. Or just to add that photograph of a bunch of friends together, an engagement photo, a new baby or all the grandkids.
Here’s what was introduced in the Bagette line:
- Small cosmetic bag
- Medium cosmetic bag
- Sueded medium cosmetic bag
- Key coin clutch
- Sueded mini clutch
- Small Wristlet or Mini Clutch
- Medium Wristlet
- Clip on accessory bag
- Travel accessory bag
BTW, you may notice that the names of the bags get a little confused (and confusing!) sometimes. Just check the descriptions. I think there’s some Google love-seeking going on as well as the organizational pains of a new product line.
Elegant Monogram Turquoise Swirl Design Travel Accessories Bags by Beachwalker
Browse other Turquoise Bagettes Bags
A few Gift Ideas
Want a special gift for Mom or Grandma?
Create a bag with photos of her baby, kids or grandkids. And the family pet!
Want custom gifts for your bridesmaids?
Create cosmetic bags that coordinate with your wedding colors, or flowers, or have photographs from a girl get-together!
Want a special gift for a recent graduate?
A photo of her and her friends on graduation day on one side and kindergarten on the other would be fun!
There are so many possibilities to create cool bags with photos of family and friends, pets, flowers, food (think cupcakes!), schools, houses, vacations, birthdays, weddings, parties, hobbies, sports and more! And then add all the myriad artwork that would be enjoyed!
Zazzle Designers
I’ve started designing on these in my Beachwalker and Woodswalker stores already. Some people have wondered whether it makes sense to design on just one bag or on all eight of them. Because of the format, customers can easily switch from wristlets to cosmetic bags or coin purses.
However, Zazzle’s search design does go by specific products. If someone is looking for a Key Coin Clutch specifically, a Mini-Clutch that COULD be turned into a Key Coin Clutch will not show up in the search. Personally, I set up some templates to quickly design a set of eight bags at once.
How are you handling it?
Zazzle Customers
If you are a customer looking to design some custom gifts for friends and family, these little bags will be pretty easy!
Click on the links to create Custom Accessories Bags, Custom Cosmetic Bags, Custom Coin Purses, and Custom Wristlets.
Just make sure:
- Use a photo that is clear and nicely colored
- Check the design view to make sure your photo will go to the edges
- Check both sides of the bag before you buy
- Consider adding a name or date or greeting
Or, want to shop some of the new designs? These are pretty new to have all the typical pages, but you’ll find already-designed Bagettes wristlets and coin purses here. I think some designers may have gotten a head start! 🙂 In a few days, I should have some summer beach designs in the Beachwalker store and the Woodswalker store. If you’re looking for a design you like and don’t see it, just use the Send Message option in the sidebar of either store. Or leave a comment on this post.
What’s next?
I wondered when – if – Zazzlers will have access to the entire lineup of Bagettes. My crystal ball is cloudy! How’s yours?
I’m planning a coin purse for my mom with photos of her two brand new great-grandbabies. It’s a bit late for Mother’s Day, but never too late to give mom a gift!
What will you design? For whom?
Custom Skins for iPads, Kindles, iPhones, Androids and More!
Custom Skins
Zazzle just announced the introduction of custom skins for “nearly 300 of the world’s most popular electronic devices made today (and more than a few classic ones as well).”
We – designers and customers – have been waiting for these!
There are custom skins for the brand new iPad and Kindle Fire, as well as all of the popular skins for iPhone and Android devices. And laptops, headphones, MP3 players, XBoxes and more! As of today, there are 270 electronics devices covered by available skins with more being added so check back if yours isn’t available right now.
What are these skins like?
Zazzle describes them as “super-durable, ultrathin, re-peelable adhesive sheets” made with high quality patent-pending Avery adhesive vinyl. They are high gloss and easy on/off with no sticky residue.
Want to create your own?
If you have a design of your own to upload, here’s the link to the Create Your Own Skins page. Once there, you will use the drop-down menus to
- Choose a device
- Choose a brand
- Choose a model
- Create!
Design Tips
You can use JPG, PNG, GIF, PDF or TIFF files when uploading your design for a custom skin. There aren’t any downloadable guidefiles yet, but it’s not hard to figure out the design tools. Be sure your image is at least 200 ppi and preferably equal to or larger than the skin size needed (unless, of course, you are going to be placing the design in a corner, or something!). I like to use sRGB colorspace. Don’t forget, a color-calibrated monitor will help ensure that what-you-see-on-your-screen-is-what-you-get.
In addition to adding your own photo or image, you can use any of the hundreds of Zazzle fonts to add your own words to a design. Some text ideas include:
- Your name – or the giftee’s name
- Business name
- Contact info in case device is misplaced
- Proud Dad
- #1 Mom
- Congratulations!
- A favorite quote
- A tagline or slogan
- Don’t even think of touching this! (my favorite)
More Design Tips Just for Skins
This is Zazzle’s first product with multiple design areas that will be printed on multiple sheets, so it can be a little bit complicated. Some products will have front and back, others won’t. The design tools will help switch you between sheets as you add images to the top, front, left, back, etc.
Look for the drop down box located in the customize section to see what all your options are. If you need some help, check out this Zazzle Skins Design Tool Tips & Tricks.
Don’t do this!
Zazzle will not print images that potentially violate intellectual property rights (see here). This means you can’t make skins with your own Disney or Twilight or Justin Beiber images. Or images you grabbed from Google. Or anything that might infringe. You would be surprised how sensitive some people and places are about having their picture used!
Make sure you use images for which you own the copyright or have permission (your mom will let you use her pictures most likely!) and you have the right to publish the content. Otherwise, you will do all the creating and your order will be cancelled. Not fun. You’ve been warned! 🙂
Delivery
Zazzle is PDQ (pretty darn quick) with most orders and says the skins should be on their way to you within 3-5 business days of your order. Don’t forget to check out the Zazzle Black program for free shipping in the USA.
Guarantee
If you don’t like it – whether you screwed up the design or Zazzle did or you designed the perfect skin for your girlfriend’s laptop and then she dumped you – Zazzle will take it back for replacement or refund within 30 days. Official policy here: Everything you want to know about Zazzle returns.
Check out Available Designs
There are already thousands of designs available in the Zazzle marketplace, so you have lots to choose from already and more every minute! Click any of the categories below to see beautiful / artsy / weird / sarcastic / fun / sweet designs on the shelves!
- Phone skins
- eReaders & Tablets Skins
- Computer Skins
- MP3 Player Skins
- Game Systems Skins (Game Consoles, Game Controllers, Nintendo & Sony Handheld Games)
- Headphones & Speakers skins
- Hard Drive Skins
- Video Camera, Flip Camera Skins
Want Custom Design Work?
Didn’t find what you were looking for?
Want something really custom for yourself or your business?
If you want custom skins and would like to have it done for you, I can help you out – your design or one from one of my stores placed on which product(s) you like.
Contact me for information and costs. If it’s one of my existing designs, the price is likely free!
Zazzle announces rare price increase – on new Rickshaw bags
Citing raw material cost increases, Zazzle.com announced a price increase in the forums today:
As of midnight last night, we increased the price of all Rickshaw products to keep in step with the dramatic rise in the cost of raw materials used to manufacture these cut and sew products. As everyone is aware, we do not do this often, but we are committed to this new and rapidly-expanding product line and felt the increase wouldn’t jeopardize their sales
The new base price of the bags is $85.95, so expect to see many of them priced over $100! So many of us Zazzlers fell in love with these bags and have been planning to buy our own, so this will hit us, too. It was particularly surprising as the bags have only been available since mid-January! I only remember one or two other Zazzle price increases in nearly four years of Zazzling, so this is a rare event as Eric mentioned in the forums.
Although cotton prices doubled in 2010 after natural disasters badly affected crops in Asia and Australia, prices fellback steeply since March of 2011 as production increased and demand fell per Commodity Online.
While cotton producers may shift into higher paying crops in 2012-13, thereby decreasing the global cotton production, the timing of this particular price increase was a little surprising.
Presumably then, it’s some other raw material. I hope so, because all the new products announced last night are made of cotton!
New product launch on Zazzle! Pillows, kitchen towels, placemats and napkins!
A low key announcement by Zazzle.com late tonight has got the late-night designers firing up the coffee pots! Zazzle has released four new products in connection with a new partnership with American Mojo.
American MoJo products are produced by sustainably employed single moms in the USA and contribute to breaking the cycle of poverty for single moms and their children.
Introduced tonight are
- square and lumbar cotton couch pillows
- cotton kitchen towels
- cotton dinner and cocktail napkins (in sets of 4 each)
- cotton placemats
Here’s what the new products look like with coordinating dots & lines designs:
Kitchen Towels starting at $15.95
Placemats, starting at $19.95
Napkins, dinner sets starting at $44.95 and cocktail sets starting at $34.95.
Pillows, square starting at $59.95 and lumbar starting at $49.95
Are these prices a bit high? Not so much when you consider that each is custom made in America and there are NO MINIMUM orders. And these prices, truthfully, are just the starting prices. Many designers will choose to set their prices much higher. But you will be able to get really custom home decor items that you not only don’t have to sew yourself, but with a custom design as well!
I would like to feel the weight and “hand” of these myself. Eventually!
Also worth noting, all items are printed edge to edge, giving you the most design flexibility and the pillows, which are a good size compared to others on the market, are printed on both sides.
Here’s my first pillow to show you that!
Front side:
Reverse side:
Now I’m off to design a few more before going to bed!
If you want to try your hand at, click on any of the dots & lines images above to be taken to create pages (affiliate links). Give it a shot! It’s fun and – you never know – you could be Zazzle-happy yourself in no time!