Sketchart26 Fine Arts & Photos Zazzle Blog Presents This Weeks Featured Store - Bluewren's Treasures

Sketchart26 Fine Arts & Photos Zazzle Blog Presents This Weeks Featured Store - Bluewren's Treasures


* How did you get started at Zazzle?

I've been selling my images online through a number of microstock agencies for a couple of years, and was looking around for a new outlet when I stumbled upon Zazzle. I thought what fun it would be to add some of my images and see them on real products...so, I opened Bluewren's Treasures to do just that. Little did I know that a year and a half down the track I'd still be creating designs and loving it.

* Where do you get your inspiration for designing from?

My inspiration comes from my love of photography, and from my fascination with creating fractal designs. When my camera is in my hand, anything and everything can become a subject for my images.

* Do you have formal training in Designing/Art/PC?

I'm a quick learner, and self-taught, so I would say I have had 'informal' training over the years, from searching for information, reading and trial and error. There are so many wonderful tutorials available and once I learn a new skill, I then allow my imagination to come into play as well.

* Tell us about your experience at Zazzle as a shop owner

I have really enjoyed being a part of Zazzle. It has taught me a lot about patience, persistence and online marketing. I still have much to learn, but I'm focused on the long term, and plan to keep evolving with my store.

* What advice would you give other Zazzle owner that helped you the most in your experience at Zazzle.

My best advice would be to take a great big dose of 'stick-to-itiveness'. By that, I mean to keep on designing, creating, trying new things and learning how to promote your store. I really believe that the more effort you put into your Zazzle experience, the more you will get out of it. And that doesn't necessarily just mean monetary gain, but personal growth as well.

* Provide a URL to your two best sellers - or favorite designs from your store.

2011 Recipe Calendar by bluewren08
View other 2011 Calendars

Please See Bluewren's Treasures second design here
(I apoligies for not having the design here but am unable to access the code due to issues with Zazzle products being invisiable - When you click the lik you are able to view the product though)

Sketchart26 Fine Arts & Photos Zazzle Blog Presents This Weeks Featured Store - Zaz.Nu

This Weeks Featured Store Is

Zaz.Nu

Zaz.Nu

* How did you get started at Zazzle?

My original introduction to Zazzle was through my mother (SeymoursImages) who wanted help with the Advanced Customisation for her Page on Zazzle.com After setting up buttons and page layout etc I had a look at Zazzle's Developer Pages and thought "I can do that". Having programmed on the Facebook platform, Zazzle's Feed Structure gave me a more stable platform compared to Facebook's REST API.

* Where do you get your inspiration for designing from?

I don't really do designs. I'm more technical than creative. There are plans for me to try a few designs, but most of my work at the moment is about developing and expanding Zaz.Nu.

* Do you have formal training in Designing/Art/PC?

No No and No :) Self taught PHP, SQL, jQuery. I've have wrote two programmes to utilise Zazzle Feeds better, approximately 3 times speed improvement. :)

* Tell us about your experience at Zazzle as a shop owner

To be honest, my experience with Zazzle Inc has actually been quite negative, however my experience with the majority of Store Keepers has been very positive. But this isn't really the place to talk about it.

* What advice would you give other Zazzle owner that helped you the most in your experience at Zazzle.

Remember that the community is wide and diverse but ultimately you are competing with other Zazzlers. Learn the Zazzle Feed structure. Play... Figure stuff out.

* Provide a URL to your two best sellers - or favorite designs from your store.

http://zaz.nu/store/seymoursimages/ (My Mum's store on Zaz.Nu)

This Weeks Featured Store - Tammy And Mummy

Tammy And Mummy


* How did you get started at Zazzle?

My husband chanced upon it in a US magazine in the library and said I should go check it out. And my! What treasure I found. The timing was great too. At that point in time, we were thinking of ways to get Tammy to understand the value of money. (Kids these days ask for more because of the constant peer pressure... yes, even at such a young age!) So we wanted to give her an outlet to do something she likes and make her own money at the same time. Zazzle was the perfect solution. Tammy came up with the name "TammyAndMummy" for the shop. I had wanted something more interesting, but she calls the shots.

* Where do you get your inspiration for designing from?
Most times, Tammy decides what she wants to draw and it's usually animals. We didn't plan on our shop being animal-themed, it just turned out that way thanks to her creations. We do chip in to give advice and designing tips. Daddy's quite good with colour and design selection as in he'll look at all our recommended colours and design and go "okay, that one". (Pretty easy job, if you ask me. Ha ha.) For me, I do help with the designing. When she simply can't draw a particular section of her design properly (on Photoshop), I'll take over. Tammy draws her designs on paper and then we draw them on the computer using Photoshop. I suppose it's easier for a 6-year-old to draw using a pencil, compared to the mousetrack pad. (Right, I don't even use a mouse!) But I must say she's getting rather good at it.

* Do you have formal training in Designing/Art/PC?
No formal training for Tammy and myself. Which is why we consider ourselves amateurs in the area of designing and our utilization of Photoshop tools. You may not believe this but all this time, we only used the "pen" tool in photoshop for all our creations. We have only just discovered the "brush" tool which can create a "soft" effect, and we experimented it on our koala bear design. It was pretty fun, but Tammy couldn't control the brush tool as well and it was more difficult to undo errors made.

* Tell us about your experience at Zazzle as a shop owner
In one word - amazing. I have never "met" a nicer bunch of people who are willing to share information and help one another selflessly. For anyone who's looking to do an internet business, I would highly recommend zazzle. It's not a get-rich-quick scheme and it will take a whole lot of effort, but it's fun and you'll meet the most amazing people who will help you along. Tammy even got her birthday wish - a scooter - from a zazzler who found out she was trying to earn money from zazzle to purchase it for herself. I mean, this gift was shipped all the way from US to Singapore! Honestly, it left me in "shock" for a couple of days.

* What advice would you give other Zazzle owner that helped you the most in your experience at Zazzle.
Go to the zazzle forum. I didn't know about it's existence till about 1-2 months later. There is a whole lot of sharing by the zazzlers on how to better promote your store and improve your descriptions and tagging for your product. There are also zazzlers offering to promote your store. You can get all your questions answered. No question is deemed too silly, so don't be afraid to ask.

* Provide a URL to your two best sellers - or favorite designs from your store.
This is difficult choice, but here goes. For some reason, this sticker is doing well. 

Cute Elephant Baby Shower Sticker - Customizable by TammyAndMummy
Make your own stickers on zazzle

We also sold this mug.

Mug with giraffes following the leader by TammyAndMummy
Browse other Giraffe Mugs

This Weeks Featured Store - animotaxis

This Weeks Featured Store - animotaxis


* How did you get started at Zazzle?

I was looking at someone's on line artwork which lead me to zazzle,. I thought, okay, this could work for me so I signed on.

* Where do you get your inspiration for designing from?

Inspiration is everywhere I look, everything that I see and feel. This is how I communicate and interact with others. This is how I choose to tell my story. This is how I share myself with everyone around me and the internet lets me talk to the world.

* Do you have formal training in Designing/Art/PC?

None, none, and none. I have had bits and pieces here and there, books, articles, workshops and so on. But no actual formal schools training. I just love to do what I do.

* Tell us about your experience at Zazzle as a shop owner

My experience here has been very positive. I signed on about a year ago but have only started to upload in the last 3 months or so. Its taken me that long to figure out how everything works, at least the essentials. Once I started uploading I had some sales right away and two Today's Best close together. This was so very uplifting and gave me the encouragement to keep going. So far my sales have been consistent, I've created over 1200 products and have many many more to come. As long as zazzle is here, I will be too.

* What advice would you give other Zazzle owner that helped you the most in your experience at Zazzle.

The single most helpful part of zazzle, for me, has been the forums. That's where I go first and last. There are so many little things that you can only learn with that kind of interaction.

* Provide a URL to your two best sellers - or favorite designs from your store.

This is my top seller.

Piano Keys by animotaxis
Keychains made online at zazzle.ca

This is my fav.

Red by animotaxis
Browse other Red Binders

This Weeks Featured Store - Allicor

Allicor

* How did you get started at Zazzle?

I was surfing the net, and came across zazzle,and I have been addicted ever since. grin

* Where do you get your inspiration for designing from?

I get my inspirations from what I see in my surroundings, old sayings I heard long ago. Ideas suddenly pop in my head and right away I say this sounds like a good idea.

* Do you have formal training in Designing/Art/PC?

No I don't

* Tell us about your experience at Zazzle as a shop owner

Well I first created my store and I had to learn how to create and I thought this is not going to work, I won't sell anything. I was wrong ,my first sale was not a big one but it was like I struck a gold mine. Then I started having more sales.

* What advice would you give other Zazzle owner that helped you the most in your experience at Zazzle.

Don't give up, someone somewhere will like what you have created. Also I would say advertise a lot.

* Provide a URL to your two best sellers - or favorite designs from your store.

Flower girl mousepad by allicor
Create your own mousepad at zazzle.com

Party invitations by allicor
Browse for a different announcement or invite at zazzle

This Weeks Featured Store - JKLDesigns

This Weeks Featured Store - JKLDesigns


* How did you get started at Zazzle?

I came across zazzle a few years back when I was looking to make keychains for my Meet the Mews (www.meetthemews.com) website. I came back about 6 months ago after I realized how much work it was to create my own products to sell on my site. It has been such a thrilling experience to sell my artwork! With every sale I gain more and more of a desire to create. I wish I had started years ago.

* Where do you get your inspiration for designing from?

My love of animals and all things cute. I have always felt a stronger connection with animals than with people so much of my art is focused on the creatures that have touched my life.

* Do you have formal training in Designing/Art/PC?

I do not have any formal training, but I am a self-taught web developer so many of my skills carry over to zazzle. As far as the art side of things I have taken classes through the years, but nothing more than your basic college course. Much of my training has come from observation and trail and error.

* Tell us about your experience at Zazzle as a shop owner

I LOVE being a zazzle shop owner. There is really nothing better than receiving a YOUR ITEM HAS BEEN PURCHASED email. I am still relatively new at this and I can see my sales slowly building. I am hoping I will make proseller before the end of this year and then who knows - the sky is the limit!!

* What advice would you give other Zazzle owner that helped you the most in your experience at Zazzle.

That it takes a lot of work to be successful on zazzle. Its not a get rich quick scheme in any way. What you put into it is what you get out of it.

* Favorite designs from your store.

Cute Penguin Stationery by JKLDesigns
View other Cartoon Stationery

True Love - Owl Cartoon by JKLDesigns

This Weeks Featured Store - All about S

This Weeks Featured Store
All about S

* How did you get started at Zazzle?

Well i had a storefront opened on Red Bubble for a few weeks, and nobody was visiting my store as much as i expected. That's when i got some advice from someone who took a shine to my work and told me about Zazzle, and i decided to take a step and open another store on a different site.

* Where do you get your inspiration for designing from?

I get inspiration from many different sources such as TV, movies, music, video games, street art and even political issues. My friends also give me some ideas to go on, but i tend not to take their ideas directly as my own, i'll take the general theme that they have in mind and do my own thing with it.

* Do you have formal training in Designing/Art/PC?

Before i had no idea how to use Photoshop until i went to college to do web design and development. From there i was taught the basics and then when summer arrived, i taught myself even more from my home as i had all the time to do so. So, i guess the only training i had came from college and from home schooling myself.

* Tell us about your experience at Zazzle as a shop owner

At first things were very slow, as to be expected, and there were some teething problems trying to get noticed but things take time to develop and now i'm glad i kept my patience and stuck at it. Nowadays there are some good days and bad days like anything really but i'm glad i was told about Zazzle as lots of people are beginning to notice my designs and knowing that people from all over the world are enjoying them gives me such a huge boost.

* What advice would you give other Zazzle owner that helped you the most in your experience at Zazzle.

The only advice i would give would be to add lots of variety to their store as many different people like different things. I have many different genres to my store which gives me the opportunity to add many different things that can appeal to lots of people.

* Provide a URL to your two best sellers - or favourite designs from your store.

Panda Watch by Sleepless_Shadowman
View other Urban T-Shirts

Make Music, Not War by Sleepless_Shadowman
See more Make T-Shirts

This Weeks Featured Store - JulzFineDesigns

THIS WEEKS FEATURED STORE

JulzFineDesigns

* How did you get started at Zazzle?

I was first shown Zazzle, by my mother back in may of 2009, when I then decided to open a store as it looked like a lot of fun and a fun way to maybe make a little pocket money.
* Where do you get your inspiration for designing from?

My biggest inspiration for my designs comes from my mother Sketchart26, because her designs are awesome, and I love watching when she is creating them.

Another of the many things that inspire me is the little things in life I love with a passion such as animals, nature and my friends and family. Through them I find myself wanting to recreate the great memories that I carry with me on a daily basis in order to keep them close to my heart.
* Do you have formal training in Designing/Art/PC?

I have had no formal training in designing. I did do a few art lessons with Jan Van Fetch for a short time, and also back in the earlier years of school during art classes. The only knowledge of PC I have comes from gen chat and tying up homework on the pc.
* Tell us about your experience at Zazzle as a shop owner

One of my most learned experiences whilst with Zazzle has come very recently, when I learned to use templates when setting up designs as it make the design very clear and much more inviting to the customer. Once I started to do this I realized that I myself liked the look of my own designs even more.
* What advice would you give other Zazzle owner that helped you the most in your experience at Zazzle.

Just keep enjoying what you’re doing. Remember to advertise as much as you can.

* Provide a URL to your two best sellers - or favorite designs from your store.

ZACK can see you by JulzFineDesigns
Browse other Zack T-Shirts

Dolphin Love by JulzFineDesigns
See other Badge Mugs