It’s really hard for me to have a definite date of the beginning of A Jar of Pickles. My Etsy was a random thing I started in college because I was making fliers/logos etc for student groups on campus, and my roommates suggested I should put stuff up for fun. It was a very passive project; I’d just design things every couple of months when I felt like it.

Because of this, I never had a “launch date” but the start of Pickles can be marked by a few significant milestones:

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I'm so fond of Portland because the first time I visited was for a childhood friend's wedding, and I traveled there with 2 of my besties. We loved everything about it and I have loved going back every time since then! Portland is great because there are a bunch of tiny neighborhoods and streets w... View Post

I have been thinking about making letterpress cards for YEARS. Inspired after I went to a letterpress workshop, I reached out to a bunch of letterpress printers in 2015:



Every year I consider it, and every year I chicken out. I am very risk adverse and rarely will take any kind of financial risks with Pickles, even if it's not technically a risk (for example, it took me 5 years to buy a $200 label printer.. lol). 

But while I spend lots of time on Pickles in my current job-less state, I am so, so close to taking the leap! View Post

Office:
A) Sideboard: product packaging materials: boxed sets, unfolded cards, envelopes, product packaging stickers, etc
Bought used
B) Cabinet: mailers, samples from vendors, old designs for references, etc 
From Ikea
C) Shelf: all products, (mostly) ready to ship. Card boxes can hold ~200 cards, I fit about 2 SKU's per box. I have to refill those boxes too often and the shelf is getting very crowded with so many new products! 
Shelves from Ikea, card boxes from Amazon, most other boxes from Ikea
D) Desk: I thought I'd work and stare into the backyard here a lot, but I don't. So it's 100% packaging orders 
From Ikea View Post

Last week in San Diego, I tried to sit down and finally tackle gift wrap, something that's been on my list for years! The goal was to convert our very popular holiday card, Fleece Navidad, onto gift wrap.The easiest option was to tile the card design, which I knew wouldn't look great but I just w... View Post

Pulled up data to compare this year and last year's sales: 2018 sale was 5 days, 30% off everything 2019 sale was 7 days, with a tiered discount:15% off all custom 25% off all pins, notepads, prints, totes etc35% off all cards General numbers comparing 2019 to 2018 (normalized over 7 days):  A... View Post

It's been a while on the blog, but thinking this is a good comeback to it: Sooo incredibly excited to launch our BIGGEST sale of the year! Until next Mon (12/2), everything in the store is on sale: 15% off all custom items (like stamps & holiday cards!) 25% off all pins, notepads, prints, t... View Post

It’s the 25th anniversary of Friends this month! On September 22, 1994, the first ep of Friends aired and about 10 years after that it became my favorite show of all time to play as “background noise”. I’d borrow DVD’s from the library, friends, and eventually bought my own set while I played it ... View Post