New Tote Bag Design

From my time at Trader Joe’s I learned of a word that we use all the time: “Kaizen”. Depending on who you ask, “Kaizen” means to always be improving, and/or to enact “Good Change.” Kaizen is a daily process and it refers to activities that continually improve all functions and eliminate waste (especially in a business environment). We use the word all the time at Trader Joe’s to encourage people to work better and “smarter not harder.” I do try to implement good changes in Pink Toe Press too.

Doesn’t that bag look lovely?

One recent “Kaizen” was to solve a problem with my tote bags. They are great bags, I love them. I love screen printing my designs on them, and I love sewing my own bags from canvas. But I was running into a problem: What if, at a store where Pink Toe Press retails, a customer or employee puts my bags away backwards? There was no way to tell from the back where the bag is from if there just a print on the one side. How is a customer to know that it is not just a blank canvas tote bag?! I had to make a change to make my bags more appealing to customers, and to also make them more valuable for Pink Toe Press. 

My solution: Create a design to print on the back of the bags that is not only aesthetically pleasing, but that showcases the Pink Toe Press logo in a big way. As I do a lot of sewing, I thought that a motif with stitching would serve me well. I chose a mostly-square design with scalloped edges and a criss-crossed quilted look. love the way the design turned out and I LOVE the way it looks on the slightly textured canvases that I use for my bags.

It’s impossible hard to find a tote bag where the back looks just as nice as the front.

This way, the tote bag looks great on the shelf and on your shoulder. Customers get to purchase the tote bag with their favorite design on the front and Pink Toe Press gets a cameo on the back. Both sides of the bag look so nice that you can show off your Pink Toe Press pride and carry the bag with the logo facing out. I do!

And, of course, the design looks great on all colors of canvas!

All newly-printed Pink Toe Press tote bags will have the Pink Toe Press logo on one side moving forward. What a great Kaizen!

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The Process of Screen Printing

I’ve been printing a lot of new tote bags lately! They are currently available for purchase in my Etsy Shop! I thought it would be interesting to share some of my process photographs with you. It is important to show the polished final product. But with something as hands-on as screen printing, I think it is important to show the process as well!

Carefully pulling the ink through the screen to make the print on canvas. 

It’s important to have your inks mixed before you start printing. You can either buy ready-made ink colors or mix your own! This red-orange ink was made from a pre-mixed orange and process red. I’m using my smallest squeegee to make sure I get the right coverage and pressure with each print.

All that careful work paid off! Look at that beautiful print! Since I am only printing with one screen today, the printed bags can be hung up to dry right away. On to the next bag!

The finished print: Looking GOOD!

When it’s time to change a color you need to wash the screen out COMPLETELY and let it dry. There is a chance that some of the ink from the first color would pass through with the new ink color if you are not careful, and that will muddle your colors or, even worse: dry in your screen.  Between colors (multitasking while waiting for the screen to finish drying) I heat-pressed the first set of bags so that the colors be permanently on the bag and will not run if the bag gets wet!

Back in black! The black ink is a little thicker than the orange ink, so it takes a little more ink to print the same design in black.

 

Some of my new tote bags are made from brilliant colors of cotton canvas. Black looks best on them, so I changed ink colors to black.

Carefully lifting the screen away from the bag. This is one reason why it is called “pulling” a print!

Go Green! This bright green canvas is one of my new favorites!

More colors of tote bags coming soon. I am in the process of MAKING MY OWN TOTE BAGS out of 100% cotton canvas made in the USA to ensure the quality and colors are up to my high standards! New colors include yellow, natural canvas, and avocado.

I am even offering small purse-size (or kid-size) tote bags! They are 9 x 12 inches and are a really great size!

All of these amazing tote bags are available in my Etsy Shop!

Thank You Renegade Craft Fair Los Angeles

What a great weekend I had at the Renegade Craft Fair in Los Angeles this weekend!!! A big THANK YOU to all who stopped by!

Greetings from the Renegade Craft Fair!

New greeting card sizes and designs.

I just want to say a big “THANK YOU” to everyone who attended the Los Angeles Renegade Craft Fair this past weekend at the Los Angeles State Historic Park. This was my first time participating as a vendor at the Renegade Craft Fair and I sure hope it is not the last. I am already getting ready to apply for the winter show!

New prints and notebooks! Great designs…more photos to come!

I saw many new old friends and countless new faces. Needless to say the craft fair was a great experience for me and I hope you enjoyed it too! I introduced some new designs and new projects at the fair, so stay tuned to see them grow online and in stores! I also started an email list! I will be using my email list and newsletter to keep you updated, much like this blog, but I will focus exclusively on Pink Toe Press related activities, new items, give aways and more! If you are interested in signing up for my newsletter, please let me know!

Pin-back Buttons as far as the eye could see…

New button designs made just for the fair! Now available at Rocket Fizz and online!

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