Just dropping in to wish you all a Merry Halloween! Aside from the parties, free candy, and excuse to take a ridiculous amount of photos… favorite part about Halloween is knowing that my favorite holidays are just around the corner! Squee! Who else is excited? What did YOU dress up as for Halloween?

(Note: My entire costume was thrifted, handmade, or pulled together from my own closet!)

Ladies and gentlemen, my holiday tour for 2010 has been underway, but we’ve got a lot of stops ahead of us. With a new mini collection launching before November’s UCI vendor fair, I’ll be equipped with your winter gear needs and your holiday shopping! We’ll be traveling around Southern California, and will actually be making our first visit to San Francisco this December!

So far, this is what our tour schedule looks like:

UCSD VENDOR FAIR
October 25-29, 2010
UC San Diego

MAXT OUT
November 13, 2010
Pasadena City College, CA

UCI HOLIDAY FAIR
November 15-19, 2010
UC Irvine

DESIGNER CON 2010
November 20, 2010
Pasadena Convention Center, CA

UNIQUE LOS ANGELES
December 12-13, 2010
Pasadena Convention Center, CA

RENEGADE SAN FRANCISCO
December 18-19, 2010
San Francisco Concourse Exhibition Center

For more info, check out our Shows and Events page for details and updates!

…and apparently, yo panda faces.

I had some fun in Photoshop to make side-by-side photos, and thought I’d bring this to your attention:

Steppie’s Panda Face Ring | kalcan8′s “Panda Face Ring”

No, I am not affiliated with kalcan8 in any way nor do I condone her mimicking my product. This isn’t the first time I’ve had others be “inspired” by my designs and products, but this is the first time it’s been as blatant and clear that it’s a copy-cat. Most at least make their own “version” or slap it on a different kind of product, but in this case she literally took my original design and printed it as if it was her own. The image hasn’t been altered at all from its original form… and I would know this since I’m the artist.

It’s not the end of the world, but it’s big enough that we should take action when we can. Too many people don’t understand the idea of intellectual property, and too often do they get take advantage of it and get away with it. So, I ask that you take a second of your time to visit the product link, scroll down, and click on “Report item to Etsy.” If we get enough reports, she’ll be forced to take it down. If she doesn’t comply, her account may even be terminated.

This isn’t just about me standing up for my own design — for my own business, and something I’ve put my life into for the past two years — but it’s also about the entire handmade community and this un-nerving issue of copyright and how much it puts a damper on what we do. On the flip side, there’s also a hilarity factor to it all: chick didn’t even take the effort to switch it up at all… but hey, gotta give it to her since she admits this in her listing: “Really lazy or I’d write more about how awesome this ring is.”

And with that, my ranting ends. Hoping with some effort, this will be brought to the attention of Etsy moderators, and that these types of things don’t have to happen again. Or at least, not as much.

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UPDATE:

She replied back to my message, and though she denies that she copied my design, she has taken down the listing. Funny thing is, she admits to stealing other people’s images (“magazine articles or advertisements”), and apparently found my panda face on a t-shirt ad (I’ve never had a panda face on a white t-shirt before). She’ll admit all of this, except that she stole my design. But whether she stole my image or stole my image from someone else stealing my image… doesn’t make the situation any better or respectable.

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Thanks to good friend Melly Lee for sending these photos to me and to Joseph Vincent for showing off the new “Nerdy Panda” tank! The tank isn’t currently available online yet, but will be available at my upcoming shows at UC Irvine and UC San Diego in the next two weeks!

Who’s Joseph Vincent? If you’re not familiar, here’s a little education for you…

Singing “Grenade” (Bruno Mars) cover (and wearing the tank!):

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His appearance on The Ellen Show:

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And a few more photos…

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Work UCI talent.

Square-ing up,
and small progressions.

If you’ve paid with a credit card at one of my shows, it’s no surprise to you when I whip out my cell phone and start keying in your info to complete the transaction (though some still seem pretty shocked and amazed that this is possible). It’s been a huge convenience that I can accept credit cards in the first place, considering I’m usually at random locations and a large majority of people don’t always carry a bunch of cash in their pockets nowadays. And more so, that I can accept these transactions through my phone… is pretty awesome.

I’ve decided to switch over to Square though for a few reasons — one being lower fees for the merchant — but mainly because I wanted to speed up the transaction process. When I’ve got a few customers backed up and they’re all paying with credit cards, keying in the individual numbers one-by-one can seem like a long process. But now that Square has shipped over their free reader (though it took months to arrive), I can swipe the card and we’re done within seconds!

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Some added bonuses:
+ You get to autograph my phone to authorize the transaction.
+ I can send you an electronic receipt through e-mail.
+ This receipt includes the details of your transaction, equipped with a location map to remind you where you purchased from me and even the option to attach photos or details to remind you of what you had purchased.

This is a small feat, but an exciting one since it’ll definitely speed up efficiency at shows. And uh… swiping cards is pretty cool too.

Watch this video to learn more about how Square works:

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I’ve got shows lines up at UC Irvine and UC San Diego in the latter half of October, and will be sure to keep those of you who are colleagues or looking into trying Square updated on how it’s working!