Zazzle Blog

At Zazzle, we’re very proud of our Zazzle Custom Stamps. Zazzle’s unique product and marketplace model allows for customers to create postage for weddings, birthdays, new birth announcements and more. Well, it seems that Zazzle (and our customers) are not the only ones in love with putting pictures and designs on postage. On Wednesday, Zazzle Custom Stamps got some celebrity love from comedian Stephen Colbert on his satirical news show, “The Colbert Report.” Stephen featured his face on Zazzle Custom Stamps in a segment about the USPS to help give a bit of the ol’ Colbert Bump to the USPS. Check out the clip below!

Want to get the official Stephen Colbert Zazzle Custom Stamp and mail your packages with extra truthiness? There’s only one place to get them!

Check out this week’s Foto Friday!

What’s Foto Friday? It’s our weekly blog post of customers enjoying their Zazzle products. Want to join in the fun and earn $5 towards your next Zazzle order? See details on how to participate in Foto Friday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! CARDS

Join in the fun now! Learn more about submitting your photos and videos to Foto Friday!
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What do you consider an official holiday, Valentine’s Day? Groundhog Day? Labor Day? How about Talk Like a Pirate Day? All but Talk Like a Pirate Day? Well, think again! The sarcastic holiday, celebrated on September 19th, that turns your mornings greetings from “hello,” to “AHOY MATEY! THE SEAS CALLS ALL LANDLUBBERS TO SAIL AT DAWN!” seems to have caught on in the past few years. In fact, there is so much interest is Talk Like a Pirate Day and Talk Like a Pirate Day T-Shirts that it is starting to beat out traditional holiday searches.

As you can see from the data (collected during the month of the holiday, e.g. Valentine’s Day data was collected in February), Talk Like a Pirate Day doesn’t have the clout of your Valentine’s Day, but it’s definitely more holiday worthy than Groundhog Day (sorry Phil). So are you ready to turn “are” into “ARRR!!!” officially? Want to see Talk Like a Pirate Day on the list of official holidays? Think Ninjas are better than pirates? Share your thoughts in the comments! Also, some of my favorite TLPD t-shirts are below.

Yep, you read that correctly! To celebrate the launch of our 5 new ways to dress your walls, Zazzle is giving away $100,000 worth of wrapped canvas prints! Check out our Facebook page for your chance to win a FREE 8×10 wrapped canvas print! Hurry up and enter before they’re all gone, and don’t forget to share with all of your friends on Facebook! Everyone will walk away with some reward, so don’t miss out on your chance to take Your Moment and Your Memory, and create Your Masterpiece!
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For many Star Wars fans the release of the film series on Blu-ray this Friday is causing a stir because of the special effects changes made to the films. Just like the re-release of the original films on DVD, when the scene between Han Solo and Greedo was altered to make Han shoot second, the Blue-ray “Return of the Jedi” has a new voiceover of Vader yelling “NOOOOO!!!!!” when throwing Palpatine to his death (in the original Vader said nothing). Will this be the next fan controversy that spurs shirts like the famous Han Shot First t-shirt? What do you think of the changes for Blu-ray? Still going to purchase the series anyways? Share your thoughts in the comments!

Venetta, from the Zazzle store ButcherTwin, talks about her inspirations and her time as a Zazzler.  Check out the interview below and don’t forget to check out her store ButcherTwin!

Zazzle: First off, tell us a little bit about yourself.

Venetta: I’m an all-around artist who enjoys digital art, printmaking, watercolors, and black and white photography. I live near Monterey, California and attend art classes at MPC. Currently I am working on illustrations and stories for my characters known as The Rowdies.

Zazzle: When and how did you first become interested in art, and how long have you been making it?

Venetta: I’ve always enjoyed drawing, but making art for me began once I started using Illustrator. At this time art became my passion not something I did just because I was good at it.

Zazzle: What’s your inspiration for your designs?

Venetta: Recently my designs have been inspired by my current interest and thoughts. Ramen Warrior was inspired by a craving for ramen and Surprise Attack was inspired by my boyfriend’s cat who stalks and attacks me all the time.

Zazzle: How would you describe your style?

Venetta: I would say that my style is cute, silly and edgy with anime and traditional cartoon roots.

Zazzle: If you could be a superhero, what would be your super power?

Venetta: Retro-cognition: the ability to see back into the past. This ability would go hand and hand with my nosy personality. Plus, I’ve always been fascinated with supernatural superheroes.

Zazzle: What has been your favorite design you’ve created, and why?

Venetta: My favorite design is always my most recent, Ramen Warrior is my latest piece. Seeing my progression from piece to piece is what keeps me making art.

Zazzle: What was the very first thing you made on Zazzle?

Venetta: A keychain featuring my design Itchy Back.

Zazzle: What is your favorite Zazzle product to create?

Venetta: It’s a tie between posters and shoes for me. Shoes yield the biggest wow factor. In my mind you know an artist is popular when they start putting their art on shoes. But my store is full of posters; they’re just so fun and easy to create.

Zazzle: What got you interested in selling your art on Zazzle?

Venetta: Since learning Illustrator I’ve wanted to see my art on apparel and on posters. Having a brand has been a dream of mine and with Zazzle I can see what it’s like.

Zazzle: What tips can you give someone who is just starting out on Zazzle?

Venetta: Quality over quantity, make sure ever design is done to the best of your ability. With lots of heart and effort in your designs you can’t go wrong. Also be sure to promote yourself, if you promote buyers will come.

Thanks Venetta!

How was your first day of school? Hope it went well. If it didn’t – if you fell on your face in the cafeteria in front of everyone – hang in there. Next year you’ll laugh about it and realize you’ve got a pretty hilarious story under your belt. Over the years, school will provide you with a plethora of anecdotes like this – some will be humorous; some will be upsetting; and some you’ll treasure forever. Here at Zazzle, we aspire to help document and preserve those prized sentiments on products like photo mugs, mousepads, and more.

While you’re waiting for that embarrassing moment to turn into a gem, read through these funny stories our Facebook friends shared with us. These are their most memorable first days – ones they LOL about now.

Nicknames

“I sat in the front of the class on my first day of 5^th grade at a new school. The teacher tripped over my legs while carrying a desk across the room. I didn’t do it purposely, but had to stand in the corner. My nickname for the rest of that year, the only year I spent at that school, was “Tripper”.” – Guert

“On the first day college I sat on a Milk Dud and was then referred to as chocolate butt for the rest of my college career.” – Elyse

“I went to school when there were still freshmen initiations. They could not hurt us, but they could ask us to do dumb stuff. I was asked to sing the Oscar Meyer song to the entire lunch room full of people and I didn’t know the song. Everybody LOL-ed for weeks. I was then known as the girl who didn’t know the bologna song.” – Cara

Physical comedy

“I threw up all over my desk on the first day of 5th grade. Way to make an impression, huh?” – Stacy

“I broke my arm! First day of kindy!” – Rebecca

Getting into trouble

“I challenged a kid to a race on our hands and knees across the playground. He was winning so I gave him a little bite on his leg. He immediately started crying and yelling and although I asked him to stop and apologized it was too late, the teacher was already saw what had happened. I was ordered to the principal’s office. I was a big fan of “Leave it to Beaver” and had heard all the horror stories about the principal from my older brother and sister. I was so terrified I hid in the bathroom for what seemed like forever. When I finally got the nerve, I crept back to class. The teacher looked at me sternly and asked, “Did you go to the principal’s office?” I looked at her and said with a sad little voice, “Yesss.”  She then asked, “What did he say?” I told her, “He told me to never do that again.” She said, “Let that be a lesson to you, now go sit down.” It was the last I ever heard about it.” – Bret

“Hey, when you’re young everything is embarrassing. I had to stand on a chair in front of the class with gum on my nose.” – Faye

Silver lining

“On my first day of first grade, while waiting for the school bus to come, I accidentally dropped my yellow plastic Snoopy lunchbox in a mud puddle. I didn’t have time to tell my Mom so I just picked it up and took it to school with me all sloshy and wet, my bologna sandwich and Hostess cupcake a mess inside. By the time lunch period arrived, I opened it to find nothing edible so I sat in my seat and cried until a nice lunch lady came over to see what was the matter. A few minutes later, she brought me a nice PB&J, a stick of government cheese, and a chocolate milk to replace my lunch. She even washed my lunch pail out so my mom would not be upset with me. That made me feel so special and I’ll never forget the kindness of that sweet lunch lady!” – Tess

“I started high school in 1978. I was entering 9th grade. The teachers were on strike at Oceana High School, Pacifica, CA. Classes got so jumbled up. When I got home from school and mentioned the strike, I was thrilled when my mother said I did not have to attend school until the teacher strike ended. I had close to 3 weeks of extra vacation. Loved it ” – Allison

First day outfits

“Fifty years ago this week, I went with my two best friends, to Shoppers Fair, a strip mall in Tulsa Oklahoma to purchase matching bags, notebooks (pink white and black), grey suede loafers, blue mascara and pink heaven lipstick. We were over the moon with excitement to be starting Jr. High at Eli Whitney. Last week, many miles later, sadness and joy behind us, we reunited and recalled that incredible day of hope and possibility.” – Karen

Thanks for telling us your stories guys! For those of you still in school, we hope these give you a bit of reassurance and comfort. Embrace those silly moments, they are exclusively your own.

Zazzle strives to bring the most options to a customer with every product release. The recently release wrapped canvas product was no different. We added everything from three different frame thicknesses to mullion compensation…wait, Mullion compen-what? Confused? I was too. I remember sitting in a Zazzle Engineering meeting hoping like an eighth-grader during a pop quiz that no one would call on me to explain mullion and its compensation. Thankfully, people at Zazzle that are smarter than me know how to explain this process and explain they did. In fact, our Zazzle Engineering team and Product team did such a good job of explaining it that Zazzle’s answer rocketed to the top of Google’s results for “mullion compensation” and “what is mullion compensation” within days of launch! Read the amazing (almost poetic?) description of mullion compensation and understand the power of the well written word.

Check out this week’s Foto Friday!

What’s Foto Friday? It’s our weekly blog post of customers enjoying their Zazzle products. Want to join in the fun and earn $5 towards your next Zazzle order? See details on how to participate in Foto Friday.

Fog over Mississippi River Post Cards
Greetings from MISSISSIPPI Postcard
Starry Night Mississippi Queen Postcards
Mississippi river Sunrise reflection Postcard

Cappy & Whiskers postcard

UN Vegan 2 T-shirts
VEGAN Distressed Embroidered Hat

Join in the fun now! Learn more about submitting your photos and videos to Foto Friday!
Follow @zazzle