Monday, November 19, 2012

holiday cards | christmas octopus

christmas octopus
One of the most frequent comments I get at art markets is "You should sell greeting cards!" And I always smile and nod, but the thing is, I've never planned on selling greeting cards in my shop. The reason why? To be brutally honest: profit. Or lack of profit. To me, it just isn't worth it to sell something that I only make a buck on (or less!), considering it takes me the same amount of time to design a card as it does to design a small print. People may expect to spend $25 on an art print, but no one wants to pay more than $5 for a greeting card. Profitability is obviously a major consideration when you produce your own products and own a business, and I just couldn't figure out how to successfully add greeting cards to Funnelcloud Studio's current product line.

However! I do like designing cards (I freelanced as a greeting card designer last year), and I do like offering seasonal designs for the holidays. So I've been doing some research and calculations and am currently testing out professional printers to find the best quality cards for my designs at the most competitive prices.

I got the first shipment of cards last week and I'm excited to finally introduce Funnelcloud Studio's first holiday cards! I'm a non-traditionalist when it comes to the holidays, so the first design is a Christmas Octopus!
christmas octopus
christmas octopus
You may recognize the octopus design from a print in my shop. I actually had the idea for an octopus holding eight candy canes last winter. I didn't have the time to design cards for my shop last year, so I revised the idea to include forks, knives, and spoons for a plate design competition this spring. When I didn't win, the design became the Let's Eat - Octopus print in my shop. Anyway, I'm happy to finally have my original candy cane idea come to life, and I think the recipients on your Christmas card list will get a good chuckle when they find this guy in their mailboxes.
christmas octopus
The cards are currently available in sets of six cards (with six white envelopes) in my Etsy shop. I'll also be selling them at my upcoming holiday markets in December. And I hope to come up with a few more designs (and test out a few more printers) before the end of November, so stay tuned...

2 comments:

Chris said...

these are wicked cute!!

Unknown said...

I wish you still had an Etsy shop. I'd TOTALLY buy these!