Sunday 8/2/20
8/2/20
On Sundays I reflect.
I didn’t drink alcohol this week.
In the three years since I quit I have saved at least $5,000 all of which has gone into this business. That would be assuming I only had one $5 beer a day, which is probably less than I consumed. Among other influences to abstain, the financial benefits are tangible and easy to track. I have no idea where else I would have come up with an extra $5,000 over the last three years, that’s for sure
Studio Update
Most of this week was spent onboarding Skinny @skinny18 my new photographer. Skinny has been a fill-in photographer for me when others were busy over the last few years. He recently decided to take the plunge and quit his hotel job to work full time with me at the studio. My goal is for him to shoot boxes of cups when they arrive, edit them that same day and also get the products uploaded to the site for sale. One of the biggest problems I have identified in my business is the delay between when I order cups and when they make it live to the website. Skinny shot and uploaded over 50 products this week and we should be fully caught up this upcoming week. As Bibi wraps up her internship, Skinny and I will be managing the social media posts and you might notice a slight change in voice.
Thank You Bibi
Bibi @barelyb_ is getting ready for her senior year to start at CU Boulder and finishing up her summer school online classes. She has been a tremendous help around the studio, and has created some of the best content I have released on our page in my opinion. Over the summer I have witnessed her growth both personally and as an artist. Outside of school, this internship has probably been her biggest responsibility so far on her resume. I jokingly posted #pray4bibi during her internship because I recognize how demanding it is to work for this brand. Bibi helped me to plan our entire social media feed, expanding into Reddit as well. She brought her camera and photographed almost everything you saw this summer besides light box photos that Skinny has been shooting. Bibi worked with a dozen models she had never met, most of which had never modeled before. She helped create artist interview blogs with me and helped bring to life the Shift Drink Saturday blog with Sam.
As an artist Bibi has had my attention for some time now. She does not have experience selling her work, and is shy about sharing much of it. Through the summer internship I hoped to help her to gain more confidence in her skills and creativity. She painted her largest mural in my studio over the first few weeks, and it came out exceptional. She had some stickers made of her art before arriving and sold a few during the internship as well. She collaborated with JCOST @planetjcost on some mixed media stickers featuring JCOST Same Face Cup drawings and Bibi doodles and watercolor. So far all of these collaborations have sold, but I think there might be another batch coming. I will definitely be adding one to my personal collection.
Bibi also received a commission to design the packaging for a new beverage coming out that I can’t talk about here but wanted to mention how cool it is that she accomplished that. I think she is also designing a tattoo for someone to have done. Overall her art career is taking off and I highly suggest getting your hands on any of her work you can, while you can. She won’t be managing my social media once school starts back up, but she plans to still be involved with meme-making and other projects. She also told me that she would like for me to help promote and sell some of her own art, which I am looking forward to.
Spent Some Time at Everdream
This past Thursday I had to drive a client to the airport in Denver, so I made a stop over at Everdream Studios on my way back home. If you are not yet aware, the guys there are working on a five-way collaboration cup for a client of mine. This will undoubtedly be the coolest cup in existence once complete.
Due to the timing of my airport dropoff, I arrived to the studio before noon. Fortunately WJC @wjcglass was working because everyone else was definitely asleep or elsewhere doing other things. Justin is a humble, family dude whose intricate pattern work takes more hours than I can count. He showed me his most recent bong (presold) that took him at least a month to make. We had a lovely time catching up and learned that we grew up not more than a few hours apart in Illinois. I would not count on any drinkware from Justin though, as he is passionate about spending all of his free time making the bongs and pipes that come to him in visions. He explained this to me a bit more in depth but you’ll have to wait for a full interview to hear that whole story if he ever agrees to do one with me. What he did say this time that has me optimistic, is that he is not against making cups. He simply has no intention to make cups just to do it, but said that when he has a vision of the cup or cups he is here to make he will be excited to make them. His section for the five-way collaboration was the first one complete (surprisingly) and will definitely set this cup apart.
Right as Justin was leaving to have lunch with his family, N8 @nathan_miers pulled in. He just wrapped up his big 7/10 show out in Connecticut a few weeks ago and had been too busy prepping for the show to make an order of cups we have been talking about for some time. I congratulated him on an awesome show, and we chatted about some of the pieces and where they ended up. I love chatting with N8 about just about anything, and I am excited to let you know he is officially prepping for a drinkware drop! The unfortunate news for you is that everything might already be presold but if you are interested in getting on the list please let me know and I will keep you posted if there is anything available. N8 has also completed his space section for the five-way collaboration cup and I have to say it is a STELLAR section!
Enough about my week though, it’s time for a CUPDATE.
CUPDATE
We finally uploaded the huge batch of Adam Childress @egonglass optic cups. This is the largest box of cups I have ever received and they are also some of the finest scalloped twist cups on the market. He is currently offering twist and wig wag styles, along with some hex cups. He usually sends me one fully worked color cup with a huge batch of clear stuff and this time he sent a gem I might keep for myself (though it is currently listed).
Rob @logglass is working on a restock of all four of his standard shot glass designs. By next week we will be fully stocked on Black & White as well as Rainbow Wig Wag and Spiral shot glasses. His most recent fumed mug sold, but we just got a handful of his tumblers listed on the website. He even got one in with Niko @taffythegrey when he was here that we listed this week too.
I got in my first two pint glass collaborations with Blake @glass_by_blake that will be listing this upcoming week. I like one a lot better than the other but they both came out great!
Hopefully you got a chance to read my interview with SALT @saltglass earlier this week. Someone scooped the only solo mug I had as well as the pair of tumblers SALT made with Shen @shengoines a few months ago. I am down to a pair of Christian Luginger @flameoneproductions and the AKM @pipemaker mug as for collaborations with SALT and he is definitely busy with orders. We spoke and he has me on the radar but I never know how long that really means before the fresh drop. I will definitely keep you posted!
I picked a winner yesterday from all the people who bought something on the website in July. This person will be getting a surprise box in the mail with a shot glass made here at the studio by Rob. Anyone who makes a purchase on the site in August will be entered to win a mystery box September 1 and we are going to keep this monthly giveaway going.
I am beyond grateful for the increasing support every day. Our social media pages are growing faster than ever before. Website sales are happening almost daily, and I have been taking 5-10 packages to the post office almost every day. Lots of exciting things on the horizon but for now I am heading out for a drive and a hike. Thanks for tuning in and supporting my journey!
BB
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