Sunday Reflections: T-Shirts, Fresh Collabs and CUPDATE!
On Sundays I reflect.
I didn’t drink alcohol this week. It’s been a year and nine months since I quit drinking. That feels like some kind of accomplishment.
I started the week on my snowboard, enjoying the snow storm that welcomed me home to the mountains from Miami. Conditions are getting better with each storm and more of the mountain is opening. I’m feeling more confident with every run, but I’m definitely sore all over.
The Shirts
The primary item on this week’s agenda has been printing our first run of Drinking Vessels shirts. We were able to source dead stock Banana Republic shirts through our friend Crys (Algorhythm Designs) who set us up with a mystery box of forty-eight shirts ranging from XXS - XXL in about a dozen colors. We were as happy as most of you are if you’ve ever bought one of our mystery boxes, and will definitely be sourcing from this supplier in the future.
Justin hand carved the Drinking Vessels logo into linoleum blocks in a variety of sizes. He then rolled on ink and printed straight on the shirts. We were able to show one of our high school interns the process later in the week and now she’s helping us as well. Each shirt has to be ironed in order to preserve the ink, which Justin has been doing as well.
We’ve learned that the fashion industry is one of the largest contributors to waste on the planet so it was important for us to ethically source and print these shirts. Instead of ordering blank shirts made for us to purchase, we used overstock from an existing manufacturer. Rather than outsource to a print shop, we are making the prints ourselves in our studio and teaching the interns how to make their own shirts with their own designs. It’s a very cool process.
Recent Collabs
I made a few collaborations with some prep from Vera Undertow that I’ve had since we met months ago. She recently moved from the East Coast to Denver and she brought me the latest ceramic mug drop from her mom (Surya Art Studio) so I wanted to have the cups ready for her to sign. Well be releasing those once they get photographed and I think we’ll auction one on Instagram so stay tuned for that.
This weekend Cary Martin (C Martin Glass) came by to throw down. We made the first sleeved section of my composition notebook prep which we combined with pink lollipop to make a goblet that will benefit the National Breast Cancer Foundation along with the rest of my pink themed cups. We caught so much powder on Friday at Vail I couldn’t see ten feet in front of me and the snow came up to my thighs in Sun Up and Sun Down bowls which opened that morning. Wow did it feel good to send it in the back bowls. That night we caught a free Modest Mouse show put on by Vail that was outside in the cold and snow. My friend Taylor turned me onto Modest Mouse in high school and I’ve listened to them since, so it was definitely worth the experience.
CUPDATE
Reda is coming Thursday to shoot those collaborations, the ceramic mugs, and my latest fully worked goblet with Cary Martin along with a few other things. We’ve got a box on the way from Jason Gordon and a few new artists sending work so there’s lots coming before 2019 ends! We’ve also uploaded some products from the last shoot so check out the shop to see what’s new!
I’ve had a couple artists contact me about their struggle to buy holiday gifts for their kids, asking me to help them sell some cups. It’s an especially challenging time of year for artists and entrepreneurs. If you want to know about some special deals to help out these artists in specific please reach out via email or Instagram DM and we’ll show you what’s available. Every time you purchase art from us, your money is directly supporting a network of artists who mostly rely on their art to support themselves and their families. It brings me great joy to be able to support these artists on their journeys, and I’m grateful for your support in doing so.
We’re almost ready to release tickets for the Vail Cup Collectors Club 2020 which will be held February 7-9 in Vail (and Minturn) Colorado. We’ve been working for months to assemble a team of artists, sponsors and other special treats for our third annual event. You can find some of the artist announcements on our Instagram page, where the final roster will be released soon. Tickets will be available here on the website, and this year we are offering a special Artist ticket in addition to our GA tickets and our VIP tickets. Tickets will be limited as we don’t have space for everyone to attend, but the event will be intimate and unlike any other experience. We hope you can join us!
I’m trying to take a day off today, which might mean snowboarding and it might mean blowing glass. It also might mean sitting around the house reading, doing laundry, and cleaning my room. Either way, I’m going to do my best to enjoy the day and leave “work” behind.
Enjoy your Sunday,
BB
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