It really *is* all about the packaging. Shortly after I started CBT, I wanted to stand out from the crowd a little bit. Create a little bit of excitement when our packages arrived.
What better way than in the packaging?
Normally we have our famous Owl tissue paper, but our supplier was out of it when I went to pick up my supplies this past Saturday. I brought a friend along who is creating goody bags for an event, so we decided on colourful tissue paper, of which I gave her a few set of to get her started - it was a BIG batch of tissue paper! But no worries, I'll be popping back to my suppliers'
I picked up my boxes though...and stamped all 80 of them this morning! They might last me a few months (more likely not at the rate we're going!). I find the stamps make us stand out, and get customers excited when our orders arrive. I also enjoy being able to provide a personal touch to every order (aside from the toys I create!)
I picked up this cute Feather Stamp from an Etsy seller - I'm all about supporting other Small Business owners, and this was the perfect stamp to add to my growing collection
I also found a cute set of mini Owl & little bird themed stamps while picking up some supplies from the UPS in Ogdensburg, New York.
It is a bit of a project, but after doing this for a few years, I just get into the stamping zone, and get them all done at once. It's much easier for me to do big batches vs only a few.
We won't go into how in the beginning I hand stamped Every. Single. Business Card/tag. Thankfully Husband was kind enough to buy me business cards the first Christmas after I started CBT. I could NOT keep up with stamping
That's all for today for a bit more insight into the workings of Crystal's Bird Toys.
I love meeting my customers - whether it be learning about their birds, finding out what materials I need to add to our selection, or actually meeting the birds we make our toys for.
It brings me back to my Avian roots. The Clark Kent Day Job is interesting and lets me utilize my brain all day, providing me with challenges (such as my pending Professional exam)...but I do admit that I do spend my drive to and from work and lunchtime thinking about how many pieces of balsa wood I need to cut and drill that night, new toy designs, and the fact that I need to pick up more stars and hearts in order to prep for the upcoming weekend's dye session.
I met Bonnie from
'Birds iView', a local Parrot consultant (bnbbabies@gmail.com) via one of my local ads - she has an African Grey parrot, and an Umbrella Cockatoo, Elmo.
They scored with an OoOoh!, Spin Me Around, a couple of Pine Trees, and a Medium Leather Squared toy. I threw in a Medium Candy Cane toy as well as a foot toy for each of her parrots as part of our Holiday Special (
and I have a soft spot for greys).
Within half an hour, Bonnie forwarded me a video of Elmo playing with his new Candy Cane toy, and another of him playing with the almond he successfully "saved" from the toy.
p.s. Bonnie gave permission for Elmo to be my promoter for this blog & to provide her avian consultant information :)
I always enjoy hearing about my customers reactions to their toys - it makes all the hours of hard work and dedication Husband and I put into this business all worthwhile.
Here's a big THANK YOU to all of our current and future clients!