Are you someone like me, one who spends countless hours on Pinterest, Instagram, Etsy. You pin, take screenshots, follow, add to cart. But also have these incredibly high high hopes that all these beautiful creations you see other people making are something you can one day create? Then you realize. hello, that is some serious hard work!
Through all my back and forth, believing I can…realizing I can’t, I have gained a tremendous amount of respect for all those small business owners. The individuals who decided they could learn a trade and put in the time and effort none of the rest of us want to, in order to make all the fun custom pieces we use to fill our home with everything that makes us happy.
I have followed the process of making many of the items I not only want, but wish I could make myself, and it is the most intimidating thing I have ever seen!
How do they line everything up so well? Everything I do is crooked! How do they make things with letters that aren’t all spaced apart differently? How do they have so many different colors on there and they don’t overlap each other or bleed into one another? These thoughts are a sample of the problems I have ran into myself in the short amount of time I have dabbled into all things creative, I can only imagine how many other hurdles there are when making these awesome custom pieces. Hats off to all the creators out there.
One such creator is Barbara Perry. She sells custom pillow cases and reusable bags using silk screen and ink. I looked through all her available products on Etsy and Instagram and was blown away. Each piece is entirely different from the next. They have bright, bold, vivid colors. What I loved more than anything was that you can contact her to customize your order however you dream for her to make it.
I spoke with Barbara and asked her to share some information about her company with our readers:
“I started Ink it Up in the summer of 2019 after joining a silk screen company. I first started out making reusable bags as my husband and I own a grocery store, so I thought they would be a great product. I then saw a picture of silk screened pillows and tried making some myself. I just fell in love with the process and the thought of being a part of adding some colour or style to people’s homes just made me so happy.
I purchase my pillows and bags from wholesale websites. My inks are also bought from a few online companies, ensuring the inks are meant for fabric as there are different kinds of ink. I currently buy my silkscreens from a few different companies online that make them, but I am currently in the process of making my own designs and silk screens here at home. Graphic design is much harder than most people think it is!
To compare my business to other retail stores or larger companies, I feel my products are much more personable. My customers can choose different pillow covers for different seasons throughout the year. I also offer personalized designs as well. All of my products are all made with ink and each one by hand. Colours can easily be customized if the customer would like to change them. Best of all, because my products are made with ink, there is no peeling or cracking like vinyl. Ink holds up great!
The process for my creations is quite simple. My first step is to iron the material to get any wrinkles out. This helps the silk screen lay nice and flat and achieve the best possible contact with the material. I then choose my design, figure out the layout, and select my ink colours. This is often the hardest part! I then let them dry, usually overnight Then I heat set them to make the design permanent.
You can machine wash and tumble dry any of my products with no issues. If there are wrinkles you can iron them as well with no risk of harming the design. I have shirts I have done for my boys that get washed every week, even white shirts washed with bleach and there is no fading.
I am a wife and Mama to 3 young boys 7 and under, we live on a farm with chickens, cows and pigs. Life here gets busy and a lot of my creating time happens at night once all the boys are in bed. It makes for some late nights but I enjoy creating and it makes me happy to know people support what I do.”
Ink it Up can be found on Etsy, Instagram, and Facebook. Feel free to reach out and let Barbara know if there is anything custom she can make just for you!
Use code “MATURINGMAMA” for a discount of 10% off!
www.etsy.com/shop/inkitupboutique
