At the Printers!

Today was a very exciting day for me and my business! Michelle, my designer/marketer and I drove down to Albuquerque Printing to do a "press check" of the sleeves for my lotion bar and soap packages. This was a great learning experience for me. As you can make out a bit, we were in a giant warehouse room with huge machines. Don, who has been the manager for my job, has been amazing to work with--making numerous mockups of the boxes, and just being so friendly and easy to work with. Joe was my printer, running this incredible machine, on which he was able to make small color corrections for Michelle (and theoretically, me) to inspect for accuracy. This was tricky, because it got to the point that I couldn't really tell any difference between an earlier color proof on glossy paper, and the printing on my cardstock. There were certain variations that made it difficult for me to compare the two: the paper proof was high gloss; the cardstock has a satin finish. Also when a color was adjusted say, for the soap labels, the lotion labels were affected too, as they are all on one sheet.

Ultimately, it was an incredibly quick and painless process, due in large part to the expertise of Michelle, and the professionalism and skill of Joe and Don. Let me just say here that I feel completely bonded with Don and Joe. To me, this is another local relationship that I have cultivated (thank you, Michelle), and that has been so nurturing for my business. I feel so lucky not to have send my work out to another state, or, god forbid, China. This is a local business, and although I am small potatoes, compared to many of their other clients, I felt like royalty, today, and their excitement about this first step with me, was a great gift.

I should have brought a bottle of champagne. I did bring soap and lotion bars (not enough!) and I got to go home with several sheets of my labels--a thrilling souvenir for me!