#shop faq

[mildmayfoxe]

Your prints always look so clean! May I ask what paper/ink you use?

sure thing! i use all kinds of paper depending on what i’m going for but i generally tend to use strathmore printmaking paper at 120 gsm bc it’s cheap and easy lol. and i use cranfield caligo ink almost exclusively

[samglyph]

Heads up, in preparation for opening my merch shop for Invictus Con I’ll be closing my online store later today so I can rework stuff. See you folks on Friday!

[daily-imbibitorlunae]

Hey I have a couple questions about your shop.

If I were to order multiple stickers(let's say two each of you hsr stickers) would you mail it in one envelope or multiple? Also while on the topic of mailing, what would the envelope look like?

As for my other question, are the stickers safe to put on water bottle or would they be hard to remove?

hi there!!!

all stickers are mailed together in one envelope and i use 5"x7" kraft paper envelopes and tend to use various washi tape/random throwaway stickers to seal the envelopes

i print my stickers from my at-home printer with glossy sticker paper. they are NOT removable vinyl stickers and can't guarantee how easy/difficult they are to remove. but i DO keep some of my own designs on my own water bottle & the back of my phone and theyre fairly water resistant and durable for inkjet stickers!

hope this helps :D

[mildmayfoxe]

Hello do you use a glass plate for rolling out inks. If not do you have a recommendation. I’ve put ink on a sponge and sponges my Lino blocks and that has worked but I DO have a roller just no. Surface thanks ok bye

i use a speedball metal bench hook! it’s got a bent edge on both sides so you can flip it either direction & it’ll hook on the edge of your surface so it doesn’t move when you’re rolling your brayer. anything flat, smooth & non-absorbant should work, but i bet in a pinch you could use a cereal box or something. i bet if you did a cereal box printed side out it wouldn’t absorb the ink as fast… big piece of plastic, glazed tile…. the world is full of possibilities…. people on reddit have scolded me for suggesting metal over glass to people before bc “it scratches” but i’ve been using mine for years with no issues lol. unless you’re really doing some crazy shit it’s not gonna get scratched enough to be a problem. and glass you either need smooth edges or to put tape on it & then it’s hard to clean. idk do whatever you want! but the bench hook is easy & cheap imo

[mildmayfoxe]

hi! your prints and also other circumstances in my life have inspired me to try block printing, do u have any tips you would be willing to share? i’m starting small using erasers and matchbooks hehe

OF COURSE! : remember everything will be printed backwards! that's the biggest one. 2) an easy way to transfer your original drawing to your block is to trace on tracing paper with pencil and then flip drawing-side down on your block and trace again/burnish to transfer the lead- this flips your image & doesn't require any fancy methods to get your linework. 3) start with ink pads for stamps! you don't even have to move past this if you don't want, i follow printmakers who ONLY print with ink pads. plus they come in lots of fun colors! 4) unfortunately oil based ink is way nicer to print with than water based, but it's a lot more expensive. water based dries out quickly & tends to get really tacky and thick so if you're getting really gummy or flaky prints with it it's not your fault. keep in mind that even if something is marked "washable" you should NOT run it down your sink drain! there's lots of different kind of wipes you can use to clean with, i personally use tub o'towels but i think lots of people use baby wipes. 5) the thinner your paper the less ink & pressure you need (and you can see what you're doing!) but conversely the harder the material of your block is (real linoleum vs pink speedball rubber, for instance) the more ink and pressure you need 6) the pink speedball rubber is really easy to carve and really easy to print by hand but because it's so stretchy it can be hard to get crisp lines, esp with dull tools. real lino can be very dry depending on age & needs sharper tools, but you can get very crisp detail. unforch it's also rougher to print by hand (needs a lot of pressure and ink). (also ink pads work great w speedball but pretty bad w lino if you stick to the ink pad method.)

ok i think some of that is past where you're starting but if you have any other questions please ask, i am always happy to talk about this! and most importantly: 7) HAVE FUN!!!!!

[mildmayfoxe]

i really enjoy your stickers and wanted to ask you a few questions if you do mind! ive never made stickers before and im curious about becoming a sticker artist. what are the steps in producing a sticker? like, do you first sketch ideas out in a sketchbook or sketch digitally? once you have an image for a sticker, how does it get manufactured? do you have them manufactured in bulk then sell them in your shop, or are they printed when someone buys them? i know that's a lot of questions, i don't mean to overwhelm you. im just interested in learning how you do it 😄 thank you!

totally not overwhelming! i'm always happy to answer questions :)

this got kind of long so i'm going to put it under a cut. click if you want a little rundown on ordering stickers, some suggestions & things to consider!

i sketch in a sketchbook and also digitally, but to order stickers from a manufacturer you have to send them a digital file so the final product is always digital (start your file in CMYK! this is the color profile used for digital printing. if you use rbg (your standard automatic profile) it will not come out the way you want, but you can switch your file to cmyk & play with color levels if you mistakenly start with rbg--however it will not be the same. starting with cmyk is always easier). once you have your design you send it to your chosen manufacturer & specify the amount, size, and shape (die-cut (cut to the outline of your object), square, circle, etc) you'd like as well as any other specifications ("i'd like all white areas to be glitter" etc (usually making all your glitter or holo sections transparent is the easy way to signal this without requesting they do extra work for you)) and they send you a digital proof to give you an idea for how the final product will look. if you like the proof, you accept it and then your stickers go into production. if you don't like it, you can request changes and they will work with you to make that happen. sometimes you have to make changes to your file for this. depending on the place the turn around time for sticker production and shipping is usually a week or two, but can be longer.

as with any manufacturing process, the more of the item you order the cheaper it is per piece. if you're ordering 300 stickers that's much cheaper per each than if you're ordering 25, but obviously your buy-in for 300 stickers total is much higher than 25. this is something you should take into account when ordering items; how much you anticipate selling and how quickly you'll do so is something you have to consider. quality of your product is also something to keep in mind: as you mentioned you can also personally make stickers to-order, but i personally find that stickers made at home without specialty equipment have a cheap and homemade quality which i don't want for MY business, so i prefer to have them made professionally in bulk at a manufacturer. but it can definitely be a big expense when you're just starting out, so it can also be good to experiment with what you can make at home to gauge interest. experimenting is not a bad thing, but keep in mind that people are generally willing to spend more money on something if it seems "professional" and high quality, even if making stickers at home is sometimes more labor intensive! the longevity of a professionally manufactured sticker is also much higher than something you'd, for example, laminated at home. on the other hand if you want your "brand" to be very handmade, blood sweat and tears, this could be a great route for you to take. it all depends on what you're looking for.

lots of places offer sample packs for the variety of sticker finishes they offer (sometimes for free!), so think about the kind of thing you're looking for & do some research about companies, and then you can request a sample pack from them to see if their merchandise is the kind you're looking for in your final product. some places also offer sample packs of 10 or so stickers of YOUR design (off the top of my head i believe sticker ninja does this, though i'm sure there are others) so you can try out ordering some stickers with committing to having a ton of stock you don't know what to do with. i currently use sticker bros for most of my stickers (but i'm looking for a new holo manu rn, i don't like they way they do holo/glitter but their matte vinyl is great) and sticker giant is generally very popular. personally i would avoid sticker app bc while their prices are great and the automatic proof while ordering is nice, i've found that they peel badly after a few months & it can sometimes be hard to request something specific if the automatic proof doesn't understand what you're trying to do. HOWEVER i haven't used sticker app in about four years so maybe their quality has changed, idk. but there are TONS of sticker companies out there waiting for you to experience. keep an eye on minimum order size before committing to a place though, sometimes companies only fill orders for 100+ stickers, which can be difficult when you're just starting out.

ok i think that's all i wanted to say! if there was anything else i've forgotten by now lol. please let me know if you have any questions! i'm always happy to talk about this stuff :)

[mildmayfoxe]

hey there! i'm an artist and looking into selling in person at markets. may i ask, how do find markets to sell at? i know of local annual ones, but i'm hoping to find others as well. thanks for your time, i really enjoy your prints. =]

honestly i haven’t branched out too much from the one i do all the time which i knew about because i used to go a lot as a shopper! but generally i find out about them from instagram or from word of mouth from other artists. one that i did i found on a local artist newsletter that i’m on the email list for. you could also find out about groups via fliers & follow them & put yourself on the mailing list for the next time! i get ads on instagram for markets all the time now because i guess ive interacted with that kind of content a lot but it does give me a lot of ones out of state which is so funny. like i’m not going there

[mildmayfoxe]

hello! I was wondering how you package and send your prints to make sure they stay safe during shipping? also do you print the stickers yourself or order them from a third party? sorry for the questions and hope you're having a great amazing day!!

i send em in rigid mailers & include a piece or two of chipboard for added rigidity! i mostly package them in plastic or glassine sleeves as well. stickers are printed by a third party! they’re nicer than anything i could print myself