Stickers and epaulettes plus an unexpected collaboration in January
If everyone tells me that January is a dead month and there are no orders, I ordered some special glossy paper from Amazon to play with the printer and plotter. I managed to make some really cool stickers by myself and scattered them here and there.
It was all like a test for me to see if I could produce a saleable product that looked and behaved professionally.
If you like what I did, I can do more with your graphics, for a reasonable price (I haven't thought about how much I would ask, but prices generally on the market range between 0.5 RON and 1.5 RON per piece from what I've noticed on other related sites) depending on the size and ink and how many fit on the page.
Unfortunately, the cultural barrier in Romania and the paranoia that scares Romanians about everything technological, has turned QR codes into a kind of "pariah" of advertising. People avoid scanning QR codes because they are afraid of being ridiculed. Some know how to use their phone's camera to scan.
Sometimes they're afraid of being hacked by the Russians and having their bank details stolen or who knows what. It's a kind of "chip passport" from Satan that they're microchipping us all like cattle. A cultural myth. Or at least that's the opinion I've heard left and right, although QR codes are used extensively in hotels, restaurants, airports all over the Western world.
Then I made some personalized t-shirts with name, position, and epaulettes for a ship commander. This project was close to my heart and I worked for 3 days on the design, prototype, execution, etc.
I had never made epaulettes before and I wanted to choose the embroidery path. I learned to use the embroidery machine in almost 2 hours because my wife didn't have time to show me. I made a few variations, changed the material and made a few more variations. I know for sure now that if I ever make epaulettes again I will make them even more professional. A product can always be improved. Of course, I threw away everything that was a prototype. But the experience stayed with me and I know now what to do, so I came out on top. Was it worth it? Of course, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered to do the project at all.
Yes, it's handmade, not mass-produced. But the epaulettes you find online for 45 RON a piece are pretty.... crap.
An unexpected business 2 business collaboration
A lady from Eforie Nord contacted me about DTF printing. Initially, it was about me printing everything she needed and then having all the prints pressed in their christening kit workshop. I haven't sold DTF foil yet, but let's see what happens.
Since we are talking about a business in Constanta, we thought together about supporting each other through an exclusive commercial offer, with the thought that there will be more orders in the future if the customer is satisfied.
Of course, we made some massive price reductions because it is the first contact and most of them are sample-type. I think everyone was satisfied with the first order. I hope we continue together in 2026.
Good luck with Picolino Personalized Baptismal Suits . The business has been on the market for many years and the people there are professionals, so if you are interested, click on the link and you can find them on Facebook. They also have a TikTok profile.
Oh, I forgot about the retail clients. I had four clients who wanted customization on t-shirts or sweatshirts brought from home. I think we gave some good prices, the graphics were sent on Whatsapp and the order was picked up the 2nd day or the same day.
One of the customers benefited from a 10% discount on the previous invoice because he had previously ordered a set of 4 t-shirts from us sometime in November, if I'm not mistaken?
I love seeing people happy and getting what they want. For another client, I had to use artificial intelligence to improve the resolution of a photo, to make the colors more vivid and the image clearer.