GET EXCITED….104 PACKAGES HAVE BEEN PICKED UP BY CANADA POST AND ARE EN ROUTE TO THEIR NEW HOMES!!!
It was starting to feel like we would never get this order packaged and out the door! So many things came up for us (personally) hindering the process…but fortunately… we were successful!!
They were picked up by Canada Post On Tuesday (August 8th) – I apologize for the delay in posting this (have been recouping).
We have many packaging stages – sticker making, envelope stamping, card corner clipping, authenticity card writing, sticker and card packaging, grading merch, putting merch on backing cards, packaging merch in mesh bags, packaging full orders into bubble mailers, label making and affixing to packages.
Of course, for the next little bit, we are also adding in Stars Align Super Mini Comics to help introduce her characters more into the world. We did hit a snag with printing the one to go with this month due to getting the wrong paper from Staples (we believe they gave us paper to use in a laser printer when we have an inkjet at home). I tried six different paper type settings and all printed horribly! Thankfully we were given a refund!
I was in panic when the paper issue happened because it was late at night Sunday with Monday being a holiday here and Tuesday was scheduled pick up day. We couldn’t put off sending them out because we had already done that twice due to our health and other things overwhelming us.
Thankfully we had a moment of genius (well, for us it felt like it) to upload the Super Mini Comic to the website and create a QR code for only those who purchased the order to have access to. We printed them out onto sticker paper and put them on the large backing cards…voila…problem solved!!!!
Time for the packaging process pictures…
- We love our stamp we got for the sticker and card envelopes – designed by Thea. It takes a bit to dry, but we think it’s worth it!
- All our cards come standard, as they charge extra to corner them so we do it ourselves. I have gotten pretty fast at doing it!
- It is extra work on me but we love having this added aspect with the Authenticity cards. I accidentally ordered the wrong material and they came way thicker with full gloss on both sides (what Thea wanted for the business cards) so the ink takes a bit to dry on these as well. We ordered new ones, hopefully proper so it dries much quicker.
- The list with it is how many I had to make for this order 🙂
- When I write them I lay them out as I go so they have time to dry to avoid smudging! We are so grateful for our table when it comes to doing this business! Especially with the stamping of envelopes and writing of cards – both which get layed out across the six foot table to dry!
- We printed out two sizes of her logo as stickers. The smaller went on the envelopes for the stickers and cards, and the bigger went on the envelope for the Stars Align Super Mini Comic QR code.
- A sticker and card envelope packaging process picture. What you don’t see is the little sticky note on the other side of each envelope with names on them so I know what envelope goes with which order!
- These are the stickers that went with April’s Pre-Sale orders – Marcanne went with the Marcy pin, Marcy pin design went with the Marcy Standee, and the Hunter w/Flapjack went with TOH Jumbo Pin! (for those who really like the Marcanne drawing, we have ordered charms with it for the store later!)
9. Marcy pins were a lot easier to grade then TOH Jumbo pins!
10. The Marcy Standees looked so great set up in their bases!
11. TOH Jumbo pins were too large to put on the work table during grading so we got a sheet out to lay on the floor, they covered almost the whole double sheet! Thank goodness we have a large living room with room to lay them out! Of course Miss Maisie was needing to get a close look at them, and was treating it as her own maze to wander through!
12. We had to use one of our mailer packaging bins to store the Jumbo pins in once they were packaged in the mesh bags. This bin was crazy heavy! Imagine 94 pins weighing 0.196 kg each!
13. We have smaller containers for the packaged merch to go in, both the Marcy items fit beautifully in it!
14. This was my set up for this order’s packaging into mailers. Once they are packaged a sticky note goes on the mailer with the name of who it is going to on it and Thea weighs and measures it added that information onto list with each person listed in order of their invoice (largest orders to smallest essentially). We make a really good packaging team
15. Here is the print out disaster of the cover portion of the Super Mini Comic…I was so stressed! What made things worse is there was so much ink overage it spilled over into the printer! I had to open it twice to clean up the ink overage mess!
16. Here is how those who ordered will find their story…I have placed a little logo sticker over the card though to block the QR code.
17. I separated the order into two boxes due to how heavy many of the packets were. The smaller one our mail pick up person was able to carry alone, but the larger one took both of us!
18. Of course no packing process would be complete in this house without Miss Maisie…our TheaArtsz mascot helping along the way! She was guarding the Jumbo pins while keeping watch out the living room window…she wanted to be sure they stayed safe for everyone!
19. She was supervising the sticker packaging process, because you never know what might happen…
20. The QR code portion was a new aspect so she was sure to be on hand for it! She made herself busy guarding the letters that go into the envelopes while we affixed the stickers to the large backing cards!
21. Thea was apparently needing Miss Maisie’s expert measuring skills for the packages because she made her way onto the little table she was using and, well, as you can see made herself quite comfy!
We hope everyone is super happy when their packages arrive! Thank you so much for the continual support!
Until next order…stay tuned…