While I was off gallivanting in California, we restocked a bunch of products in the shops (Big Cartel — the main US shop, and Etsy for international orders).
The Good News
First, in our Big Cartel shop, we have just relisted the Col-o-ring FOLIO ($40 each + $10 oversized shipping). We only make a small quantity of these pads at a time so place your order early to guarantee you get one from the new batch.
The Col-o-ring FOLIO is our biggest Col-o-ring product ever! It can double as a desk pad or drawing pad with 40 sheets of 12″ x 16″ original Col-o-ring paper (same 160gsm weight) and now with sturdier covers thanks to the fine work of Skylab Letterpress.
We ship the FOLIO out in large cardboard mailers and they weigh in at almost 4lbs so that’s why the shipping is high. We will be trying to bring these behemoths to some of the pen shows this year, so be sure to let me know what shows you’ll be attending and I’ll try to stuff a few extras in my suitcase.
We’ve also relisted our Ink Bottle Stamp Set ($40) on both Big Cartel and Etsy. These are miniature versions of the Ink Bottle (Short) and Sample Vial plus the rare, discontinued Pedestal Bottle (if you know, you know) and the Classique Bottle ($10 on it’s own, if that’s how you roll).
We have also restock stickers, our Daily Grind and Compendium of Unfamiliars Nib Rubber Stamps and some of our postal-themed rubber stamps.
The Bad News
It’s a tale familiar to most of you that, in the current manufacturing climate, we have to announce that starting in March 2023, we will be raising the price on our Original Col-o-ring Ink Testing Books to $12. All other products are still the same price.
We have needed to do this for some time but we didn’t want to put undue pressure on our devoted customers. But we’ve hit a point where we feel the small bump will be acceptable to most everyone. Our paper distributor relocated to the other side of the country in 2020 and, on top of material costs, we have to pay shipping just to get our paper.
When we started the Col-o-ring project, our distributor was about two miles from the print shop and we could pick it up. During COVID, we figured that trying to keep people happy with our product was more important that trying to stay ahead of the curve. What can we say? We both have art degrees, and not business degrees!
When we launched the Col-o-ring in 2017 (SIX YEARS AGO!!!), we had no idea it would be the success that it has become.
Thank you for being such a large part of this success.
Wow, this post is incredible! Thank you for introducing Col-o-ring FOLIO in your recent blog post. As someone who loves to experiment with different art supplies, I can definitely see the appeal of this product for organizing and cataloging color swatches. I am curious to know if the FOLIO comes with pre-labeled tabs or if it’s customizable for different color systems or categories. Also, have you found that the FOLIO is durable enough to withstand frequent use and handling?
The FOLIO is just a large glue bound pad so there are no tab or labelling options but I’d be delighted to see if you come up with a solution to match your needs.