Sunlit Letterpress Now Available at Livingroom Home Decor

It is with great pleasure that we announce that Sunlit Letterpress stationery is now available at Livingroom Home Décor in beautiful and historic Fort Langley, BC!

Since the birth of our daughters, I had not had a lot of time available to maintain or develop our wholesale stationery sales; however, when Courtney from Livingroom contacted me a while back about carrying our cards, I knew her store would be a great match for our products. Livingroom offers customers decor and accessory products with a refined rustic aesthetic. The boutique opened in 2014 in the quaint Fort Langley village and owner Courtney believes décor for the home should evoke a sense of comfort and beauty at the same time.

Livingroom currently sells some of our most popular greetings including wedding cards, congratulations cards, a variety of note cards, and other stationery items.

If you pop in to Livingroom Home Décor and take a photo of the Sunlit Letterpress stationery you find inside, we will send you a free Sunlit Letterpress greeting card (while supplies last). Send your photos to us at our email address, along with your mailing address (so we can send your free card!).

We look forward to seeing your photos of Sunlit Letterpress stationery in the wild!

(top photo courtesy of Livingroom Home Décor)

New Wholesale Catalog and Pricing - Coming Soon!

Dear retailers: Sunlit Letterpress will be distributing a new wholesale catalog with updated pricing and products. If you would like to be send the e-catalog, which will include Holiday 2010 stationery items, please email us at info at sunlit-letterpress.com.

Have a great weekend!

Chicago Retailer + Giveaway Winner

Image © and courtesy of Alphagraphics Chicago

We are happy to announce that Sunlit Letterpress cards are now available at Alphagraphics in Chicago (1017 W Washington Blvd.)! What a beautiful brick building! (Because our weather is so mild here on the West Coast, we don't have a lot of brick buildings, so I miss seeing them.) Be sure to check out their new stationery storefront if you live in the Chicago area!

And now...time for the winner of the most recent Sunlit Letterpress Giveaway Contest...and the winner is...drumroll...

VENESSA! (comment #2, picked using the Random Number Generator at Random.org). Venessa suggested Joan's Papers and PaperNiche - two shops in Florida - thanks Venessa! Please send me your postal mailing address to the email address in the header of the blog and I will ship your letterpress goodies to you!

Thank you to everyone who participated by posting in the comment section. Hopefully our products will soon make it to your suggested shops so you can find our stationery in your area!

This week has been steadily busy with wedding invitation projects. As soon as I have a chance I will post photos of the completed pieces.

Happy letterpressing!

2009 Sunlit Letterpress Wholesale Catalog Now Available

It's long overdue, but it's finally ready for you retailers to check it out - our wholesale catalog. To receive your copy and find out about carrying Sunlit Letterpress' products in your shop, please contact our studio.

Later this week I will have another blog contest for some free letterpress goodness...so check back later for your chance to win!

Happy letterpressing!

American Craft Retailers Expo

These photos come a bit late - they are from my trip to Las Vegas at the end of April. I went down for a weekend of fun, and as a habit, I always check out what conventions are on before I go. This is a great way to find out ahead of time if the hotels and restaurants are going to be crowded or not. It's also helps explain the random things you might run into while you are on the strip - like large groups of mariachis down for the largest mariachi convention in the world. Or the abundance of police officers during the North American Crime Scene Investigators convention. Ok, I digress.

Anyways, before I went I checked out the convention list online and saw that the American Craft Retailers Expo was going to be taking place while I was there. So I figured I would go and check it out, and see how other artists go about selling their products wholesale to retailers.

After signing up as a visiting artist ($35), I was permitted to walk around the masses of booths and check things out. I ran into an artist I love while walking around - Myunghye of Paper Russells. Myunghye creates stationery featuring animals (dogs) that she paints. I own her boxer magnet, and bought others for family and friends in the past from a store in Seattle. It was a nice surprise to meet her in person. She mentioned it was her first time at the show.

I walked around a bit more and met a few artists from Canada - some of whom found these types of shows useful, and some who were disappointed. A few mentioned that most of the buyers do not make decisions until the end of the last day, so there is a lot of time sitting around waiting for buyers to submit their orders.

Many artists noticed my "visiting artist" nametag and quickly ignored me - but I don't blame them, I wasn't their target!

Anyways, it was a good learning experience as I was able to see how these wholesale shows work, the type of set-ups people have, and what paraphernalia is needed. I think if I do this kind of show, I will probably stick within Canada for my first one - as the whole customs thing sounds like a hassle when bringing samples across the border etc. For now I will consider shows that are a bit closer to home.

If any of you do wholesale shows like this - I'd love to hear about your experience. Are the shows worth the investment? Which ones have you liked/disliked? What should a newbie consider?

Happy letterpressing!

Sunlit Letterpress Wholesale Catalog - Complete!

It has taken me some time, but the Sunlit Letterpress Wholesale Catalog for Spring/Summer 2008 is now available. If you are a retailer we would love to send you an electronic copy - please e-mail the studio at the address listed in the blog header for more information on our wholesale offerings.

This weekend I am off to Las Vegas. It was meant to be a non-business trip; however, I just noticed that the American Craft Retailers Expo is taking place at the LV Convention Center while I am in town. The cost is $35 for visiting artists, and I'd have to show credentials to get in (including a receipt from a raw materials purchase), but it might be an interesting show to check out. The Convention Centre is at the opposite end of the strip from where I'll be staying, and I'm not sure what my plans are for the weekend, but if I can spare an hour, I may go attend. If anyone reading this has attended in the past, please let me know what you thought.

Happy letterpressing!

Wholesale woes...

This weekend I spent some time finalizing the Sunlit Letterpress Spring-Summer 2008 Catalog. I found setting wholesale pricing difficult. There is always the tradeoff between making a profit and adding more retailers to your list of retailers. From my research, I've established that with mass-produced items, the wholesale price offered to retailers should be about 50% of the MSRP. But when you are an artist or crafter creating limited amounts of product, this 50% might only cover your costs. Selling your products at cost won't get you very far.

So what is the balance? Is there even a formula that works for everyone? Definitely not. I guess it's a bit of trial and error.

Then there is the other issue of minimum order quantities and dollar amounts. Discounts for repeat orders and payment up front. Oh, and should you even list an MSRP? Shipping costs and return policies...the list goes on and on.

I think I've come up with terms and pricing that will work for me - but the sad thing is, that I won't know if this will work for retailers until they see the catalog for themselves.

If you are an artist or crafter that has struggled with these issues - I invite you to comment below. What works for you? What feedback have you received from retailers that carry your products? Do you have tips for the rest of us?

Happy letterpressing!