Wedding Stickers: Hot Ideas for Summer Weddings

'Tis the season not for jingle bells, but for wedding bells -- and if you or someone you know is tying the knot soon, consider the wedding sticker.

It neatly affixes to nearly anything, creating an instant, personalized wedding favor: a box full of seashells, for instance, the lid of a jam jar, or even the side of a bag of popcorn. (They can also work as save-the-date reminders when sent out to your guests in advance.)

There's the classic "Her Name and His," but wedding sticker designs these days -- like everything else associated with weddings -- have become increasingly personalized, coordinating with wedding colors, themes or even flowers.

Included with this post are just a few of the wedding sticker designs that have caught our eye recently, but the best (of course!) is your own, printed with high quality inks and high-resolution graphics from Custom Sticker Makers.

Mactop Stickers, Part 2: The Woody

Next up in our series of custom stickers for electronic devices is Schtickers. Offering custom skins based on your pictures -- as well as a plethora of artistic designs, ranging from Van Gogh's "Starry Night" to Hiroshige's "The Wave" -- these folks have got laptop skins covered.

Our favorite Schtickers design may be one of the simplest. It's a series of Macbook skins that reminds us of the famous "Woody Wagon" -- that classic 1950's suburb-mobile covered in fake wood paneling -- called the Woody.

Here you can choose to clothe your oh-so-sleek and modern white Mac in retro Birch or Cherry Woody skins that either allow your little backlit Apple logo to shine through or obscure it, depending on your tastes. (While most Mac owners would probably opt for the former, we imagine there are a few out there who appreciate the minimalist design.)

Woody laptop skins from Schtickers run $29.95, while custom images will set you back $24.95.

Laptop Stickers: MacSlaps Class Up Your Apple

First, we brought you Stick with Me, Baby -- now we bring you another (and definitely classier) option for personalizing your Mac while highlighting that iconic apple logo: MacSlaps! 

These laptop stickers are all built around the backlit Mac logo, and each utilizes it differently. There are designs that put the apple to work in obvious ways -- Snow White's apple, for example, or the apple gobbled up by Pac Man on his way through that pesky maze -- but also those that place an apple where you wouldn't expect one (behind a drum kit, or on the hood of a VW bug).

All of these stickers are constructed of tough vinyl and leave no residue when peeling off. They also work with the clean lines of your Mac by focusing on silhouettes, rather than detailed images.

MacSlaps! come in 28 different designs and sell for $24.00 apiece.

Live Oak: Live Music Fans Share the Love

The Live Oak Music Festival is a three day concert and camping event held every year on Father’s Day weekend in the hills above Santa Barbara, California. It started way back in 1988 by a group of staff and on-air hosts from California's Central Coast public radio station, KCBX, as a fundraiser. Since then, it has grown into an annual tradition with a dedicated following.

Live Oak, as it is affectionately known, this year hosted live music ranging from traditional, folk, bluegrass and gospel, to blues, jazz, classical and world music. Headliners included Toots and the Maytals, The Wailin' Jennys, and Grammy winner Mavis Staples, among other luminaries. It was attended by nearly 3,000 people.

All those fans, of course, need a way to express their love for the festival--they'd been asking for stickers for years, but Kelli Reynolds and other festival organizers had a hard time finding a printer that could handle the colorful graphics of the festival's artwork at a price that wouldn't break the public radio bank. (This is a fundraiser, after all.)

Fortunately, Custom Sticker Makers fit the bill, giving the fest a way to show off its artwork in full color, and with unique die-cut shapes. The stickers were sold this year at the festival, and since then, Kelli has seen them on cars all over the area. 

"When I found CSM," Kelli told us, "I decided to give them a try because the ordering process was simple and the prices were very reasonable. You can submit the order online which makes it easy, but also if there is any problem with anything, you can call them up and you’ll always get a live (and very nice!) person." She goes on to note that all the custom die-cut option really makes their stickers pop.

The Live Oak Music Festival can be found at www.liveoakfest.org and KCBX Public Radio can be found (and streamed live!) at www.kcbx.org.

If you live along California's Central Coast, you can pick up KCBX on your radio dial at 90.1 FM in San Luis Obispo; 89.5 in Santa Barbara; 91.7 from Paso Robles to Salinas; 90.9 in Santa Ynez, Avila Beach, and Cambria; 91.1 in Cayucos; and 95.1 in Lompoc.

Warning: Rabid Aardvarks Gaining Popularity in Wisconsin

The Rabid Aardvarks (in case you were wondering) is a band that covers contemporary pop and modern country songs with female vocals. They're also pretty popular in their native Wisconsin, where they went home with the Wisconsin Area Musician's Industry (WAMI) People's Choice Award for 2011.  

The present incarnation of the band got its start back in 2006 with the goal of becoming one of the top cover bands in Wisconsin. Since that time the group has evolved, picking up rabid (yes) fans everywhere it goes, as well as a number of nominations from WAMI.

Like most bands that know what's good for them, a big part of what the Aardvarks do off-stage is brand management--a.k.a., helping to build awareness of the band and driving traffic to their website, where fans can connect via newsletter and text updates, or via the band's Facebook page. 

Kevin Machan of the Aardvarks told us, "I've always used custom stickers for band promotion going back to the early 90s, but the uniqueness of our current mascot design put me on the search for someone who could do relatively short-run, high graphics, which are a terrific fit to CSM's digital process."

Check them out online at www.rabidaardvarks.com

Acute Clothing Customers Look Sharp (and Spread the Word)

Jeremy Tan's vision is simple: to create a shirts with a positive message and meaning. Acute Clothing is an outgrowth of that--a brand new company featuring Jeremy's clever t-shirt designs.

Acute Clothing's first two t-shirt designs are the case in point. One features an airplane flying into the company's unique triangle logo--headed off, no doubt, into that alternate dimension that surrounds Bermuda. Another features the company mascot dog, Sharpy, keeping an eye out for suspicious behavior.

In keeping with a streetwear tradition established by major brands like Vans and Vision, Acute Clothing includes a logo sticker with every order. Jeremy also uses that sticker design for guerrilla marketing, too--just slapping it around town, he's seen, has gotten people to notice the brand.

Why Custom Sticker Makers? "You guys had some of the most affordable prices," Jeremy told us, "and I liked the immediate quote."

The Store: acuteclothing.com 

The Blog: acute339.tumblr.com is my blog

Twitter: twitter.com/acutesharp

Facebook: facebook.com/acuteclothing

Perfect Production: ZeroPoint Grafix

Jim Crantas of Atlanta, Georgia, has a degree in film production and a passion for the arts. Over the years, he has created various films, posters, brochures, and graphics for family & friends--so as his client-base developed real businesses/careers, and clamored for more, it seemed only natural for him to open up an official business of his own: ZeroPoint Grafix.

Jim believes that stickers are a great way to communicate. Why? Because everyone loves stickers and they can wind up ANYWHERE. As a marketing pro, he also appreciates the way a sticker design can be expanded into other forms of media, keeping a consistent message and visual brand.

Jim's original sticker concept was for a family member in the military, integrating with fundraising applications. In honor of the countless sacrifices made by members of the military everywhere, Jim has a personal policy: if it’s for the military, all design work is free.

Of course, because it was for the military, this sticker had to look good, which is why he was happy to find Custom Sticker Makers.  "The quality and customer service is what won my business," he told us. "These stickers were for the military, so they had to be perfect!"

This Car Leaves No Tracks: The Bumpsticker w/Green Street Cred

Want to cut your carbon footprint, but can't afford one of those shiny new electric cars? Fear not--you can offset the greenhouse gases produced by your ride by purchasing Renewable Energy Credits through NoTracks.org, an organization dedicated to helping people help the environment.

The idea for NoTracks arose from a larger project John Lund and friends were working on a few years ago. Seeking a simple fund raiser, they came up with a bumper sticker campaign aimed at offsetting the carbon emissions associated with transportation. Before long, however, they realized that this kind of carbon offsetting project was an important mission in and of itself.

Given the magnitude of the environmental challenge, a big part of helping people help the environment is helping them to get others to do the same, and NoTracks bumper stickers are a critical part of the equation. When people choose to offset their vehicles' carbon emissions through this organization, they receive a bumper sticker they can put on their car that lets others know about the green choice they've made--and, of course, where they can go to do the same.

Why Custom Sticker Makers? "Initially it was all about the cost, so we could do more with the money from each sale," John told us. "After finding your site, though, we really liked the efforts CSM makes towards lowering its own impact on the environment. Using inks without VOCs, recycling and reusing your trimmings, even the thinner backing paper your stickers are made on... these were all things we were happy to find." 

We're honored that the organization actually quotes from Custom Sticker Makers green sticker printing policy on its website, www.NoTracks.org--and proud, of course, to print these stickers!

What's Up, Dog?:Karma Warrior Sticks w/Fun, Eco Yoga Gear

Forget all that self-conscious yoga gear--if you really want to get in touch with spirituality (and save the world while you're at it) you need some down-to-earth apparel from Karma Warrior.

Show folks the real meaning of the High Life--or broadcast your Ayurvedic body-type pride with designs like "Warning. I'm a Pitta." or "Lighten up, I'm a Vata." KarmaWarrior designs show that yogis can achieve the perfect Downward Dog and have a sense of humor. 

Jackie Mori and friends' yoga-inspired clothes were created on the principle that doing good starts with each of us. Karma Warrior starts with earth-friendly, organic cotton and works with local artists and small businesses to create fun, functional apparel with community-driven mindset. 

The company even takes that common-good mindset one step further by donating 12 percent of all sales to charity. 

Karma Warrior stickers were part of the goodie bags the company offered at its recent launch party, and will be given out free at yoga festivals and events to help build visibility for the brand and drive traffic to the website, www.KarmaWarriorClothes.com.

"It's important to us to be as eco-friendly as possible when choosing our products," Jackie told us, "so we searched for the best solution we could find for sticker making. We went with Custom Sticker Makers because they use Eco Solvent inks, plus we could get any quantity we needed at a good price."  

Revive Fly Fishing: The Custom-Sticker-as-Biz-Card

Bryan Crumpler has been a fly fisherman since he was a kid, but it wasn't until around six months ago that he got the idea to start a business selling his various fly fishing products. Since that time, however, the concept has evolved to include an online showcase for his nature photography and writing, highlighting some of the most incredible natural destinations in South, the Southwest and beyond--a.k.a., Revive Fly Fishing.

Although the primary focus of the website is on fly fishing, Bryan also sees it as an opportunity to share the  beauty of nature and to talk about great natural destinations, with the intent of getting some national exposure for his images and words. While the website itself is still evolving, he's starting the business off with with an eye-catching design sure to turn heads, courtesy of his good friend Katie Calhoun.

Bryan likes the idea of using stickers as a business card, allowing the person receiving the "card" to stick it on their car or whatever else, and believes it makes a business more memorable to a potential or current customer.

Why Custom Sticker Makers? "I was referred to CSM from a friend who is also in the outdoor business and I decided to see what you guys were all about," Bryan told us. "Throughout the whole process, CSM was extremely helpful, contacting me three separate times with various concerns and questions to ensure that the final product was quality. This, to me, is a sign of a very well run business." He notes that he's planning on ordering more stickers from CSM in the future.

Jefita Plushies: Cute Characters, Smart Stickers

Amy Monteith studied to be an engineer, but in the end, she just couldn't bring herself to give up her artistic side--and we're so very glad she didn't! About three years ago she combined her skills as an illustrator and her crafty side in an Etsy shop under her online moniker "Jefita" and began selling all manner of adorable handmade stuffed animals, or "plushies."

What started out as a source of income on the side has now grown into a full time job for for Amy. As of today, you can choose from the Jefita line of cuddly creatures--Batholomew the Bad Bunny, perhaps, or Cheshire Cat the Tiny--or dream up your custom stuffed animal, as Monteith takes commissions (such as the laptop plushie bag, pictured).

While Amy's business is primarily through the internet, she needed a way to direct people to her website when she was out and about in the real world. Traditional business cards were fine, but fun plushie animals deserved fun promo materials--i.e., custom stickers. She'd become interested in Quick Response (QR) codes and loves stickers, so she decided to try combining the two. 

Will Amy's innovative new sticker design inspire people to pull out their smartphones and scan the code--and discover her work? Monteith hasn't passed out enough of them to know that yet, but in good marketing form, she has set up her website, Jefita.com, to be able to track traffic originating from her stickers.

"I wanted somewhere that had a quality product and would allow me to affordably 'try out' a batch of stickers," she told us. "Custom Sticker Makers offered exactly what I wanted. I was thrilled with the results and look forward to trying out some die cut designs eventually."

Creative Use of Stickers Round Up: Bat Signal, Try-On Tats, a Hair-Rasing Elevator, and Really Local Spuds

Yes, kids, it's that time again when we round up some of the most hilarious, clever and creative uses of stickers in advertising. This dispatch comes courtesy of Web Designer Depot.

How to promo the launch of Batman Begins on TV2? Stickers placed on footpath lights, of course, creating the bat signal after dark.

This tattoo shop had a clever idea--tribal stickers in public bathrooms allowing users to "try on" their next tat.

Scared of losing your hair? Chances are, you'll be way more scared after seeing this sticker-covered elevator, advertising Folliderm.

Lays wanted people in diverse regions across the country to know that their Lays chips were locally-sourced--hence the sticker spuds at the top of this tunnel.

Animated Stickers: The Ultimate Art of Kelsey Stark

Kelsey Stark is an independent animator with a vision: to stretch the limits of animation, "the ultimate art form," with films that combine different aspects of all the fine arts into one four-dimensional medium. She learned her chops at the Pratt Institute in New York, where she created her graduation film, 'LGFUAD,' which has now screened to rave reviews at festivals such as the Ottawa International Animation Festival, South by Southwest, and the Melbourne International Animation Festival.


As an independent artist, her intention is not only to promo LGFUAD, but to keep the ball rolling by delving further into animation and exploring collaborative projects. Both require her to get her name out there in a big way, and towards that end, she's chosen to work with custom stickers. 

"I really love the guerilla style marketing of stickers," she told us. "Its a great way to spread the word, because they are much more permanent than something like a flyer or a business card." Kelsey goes on to note that she created her stickers as a promotional tool for her film, to hand out at festivals. People who enjoy the designs have stuck them almost anywhere--even bathroom stalls--prompting Google searches by those intrigued by the images. 

"I must have looked at a dozen or so websites that advertised custom sticker printing," Kelsey said. "My heart was absolutely set on die-cut stickers, and no other sites I looked at even compared to the price Custom Sticker Makers offers." She also really liked that it was easy to upload artwork, that she didn't have to order in bulk amounts, and she could order multiple designs at once. 

Interested in Kelsey's ultimate art form? Check out LGFUAD on Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/11426611

Getting Hip to Green: Hip Mountain Mama Stickers Are a Hit w/Green Families

Established in 2008 with a desire to promote green and natural living, Hip Mountain Mama is a small family business that sells natural, eco-friendly, reusable, and fair-trade products, all sourced from small businesses. Green and reusable products for the home, safe and natural toys for children, and handmade, fair-trade clothing for women are all available through their online store, www.HipMountainMama.com, giving hip mamas (and papas) cool ways to help reduce their impact on the earth.

Andy Hawbaker and his partner were focused exclusively on promoting their business through marketing online, social media, and print magazines--until their customers started clamoring for stickers. It didn't take the business owners long to realize the value in having their customers spread their message by posting Hip Mountain Mama sticker on their bumpers, water bottles and bikes.

"Everybody likes a cool sticker that makes a statement," Andy told us. "The Hip Mountain Mama logo and brand is a fun and cool statement that you just want to stick everywhere." And while it can be difficult and expensive to get people to tell their friends about your business, it's easy to give them a cool sticker they'll put somewhere that hundreds of people will wind up seeing. 

Why Custom Sticker Makers? "We like to work with smaller businesses, so I was trying to stay away from some of the larger sticker printers," Andy told us. "CSM was very professional, the ordering process is easy, and the final product was as good as I had hoped for." He goes on to note that he actually placed a small order at first to made sure the quality was up to snuff--and now plans on following up with a much larger order.

Hip Mountain Mama's stickers have proven a hit with its customers, too, who've posted rave reviews on the company's Facebook page. 

Pretty Stickers for Pretty Girl: Halle Ford's Flying Violin

Up and coming singer/songwriter Halle Ford first began playing violin at the tender age of 4, and by the age of 8, had become the youngest student of the Louisville Symphony’s Concert Master. Those classical skills served her well when she moved west in her early 20's to Los Angeles, where she made a living as a session musician--but she always knew she wanted to break out on her own.


Halle's debut album, Pretty Girl, combines her love for mainstream music with her experience and skill on the violin, creating a catchy blend of pop, classical and traditional music. To get this sound, Halle focused on the song melodies first, and wrote pop vocal choruses around them--a process that inspired what she describes as "some really exciting violin solos." The result has been described as "a KT Tunstall-esque marriage of traditional and pop, swapping out the guitars for that all important violin and bow" (The Music Slut). Pretty Girl was officially released on February 8th, of this year, and two of the songs on the album have already been recognized in the international Song of the Year competition.

To promote the project, Halle wanted to create an image that would invoke the violin, but not necessarily classical music. Inspiration for the "Violin Butterfly" logo design came from an old T shirt she wore in college, which featured an electric guitar with eagle wings. Halle replaced the guitar with a violin, and traded out the eagle wings for more feminine butterfly wings to create her logo design. 

These Violin Butterfly stickers were originally created for press and radio promo packages, but received so much interest from fans that Halle now plans to sell them on her official music website (where you can also stream the new album).

Why CSM? "I selected Custom Sticker Makers because I needed high-quality stickers, and fast," Halle told us.  "Custom Sticker Makers had one of the best turnaround times in the market." She adds she's very satisfied with the results, and has already placed orders for more.
Like Halle Ford on Facebook:  www.facebook.com/hallefordmusic

Street Stickers Sell It: the New York State of Mind

In 2008, Brett Stein discovered an important fact: thanks to the First Amendment of the Constitution, it's legal to sell T-shirts in the streets and parks of New York City as long as they make a political/religious statement. Stein put that knowledge together with his political views, love of street art/graffiti, skateboarding and hip-hop, and came up with New York State of Mind (NYSM)--a clever, eye-catching collection of t-shirts sold on the streets of Soho and in NYC's Union Square Park.

Since then, thousands of NYSM shirts have been sold to people from all over the world--proving, in the immortal words of Mos Def, "it's not where you're from, it's where you're at!"--but to this day, every shirt is silk screened by hand in Stein's Brooklyn studio with mad love.

Despite all the success, NYSM is still an independent business with virtually no budget for marketing/advertising, so beyond  word-of-mouth and some basic social networking, Stein's entire marketing plan has consisted of custom sticker "stick ups" on the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn. As a consequence, he told us, it seems like almost everyone he meets in NYC is familiar with his brand/logo.

Why did Brett Stein choose Custom Sticker Makers to print those all-important NYSM stickers? "I choose to deal with CSM because I know they value me as a customer and go the extra mile to keep me happy," he told us.

Sticking with the Workout: Words to Sweat by

When Dana founded a company called Whimsical Walney way back in 2004, her vision was to create unique children's products. Unfortunately, unintended consequences of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 put the testing required to continue selling these products out of range for her start-up. But rather than give up and throw in the towel, so to speak, Dana noticed one day at the gym how many of her fellow fitness enthusiasts draped their towels over their workout equipment. Why not create a towel with a little attitude and inspiration?

Thus was was Words to Sweat by born--a line of towels designed to help people take their workouts seriously, but not themselves--appliqued with sayings like "Carpe Dumbell" and "C is for crunches, not cookies" and the ever-popular, "10 more reps and the cupcake is history." The brand launched in November 2009 with about 15 gym towels; in 2010, reusable snack bags and key chains were added to the line and in January of this year, Dana launched the World-Class Words collection of towels, which sponsors four athletes going for gold in the next Olympics. These towels feature each athlete’s own personal mantra, and sales help to support that athelete's training.

Dana likes the way her custom stickers can wind up anywhere from a water-bottle to a laptop computer. She includes one in every order as a little surprise, and often hands them out to prospective customers. She notes that stickers are both cost-effective and easy to store, and once they're placed on an object, they're usually there for good--which means she never knows who might learn about her brand just by asking about the sticker after seeing it.

Why did she choose Custom Sticker Makers? "I originally choose Custom Sticker Makers because you offered the best pricing," she told us. "I also liked that it was so easy to understand your pricing and get a quote. Then I had a little hiccup with one of my graphics and the CSM team made sure that they had the right graphic in-hand so that I got the best sticker possible. So, the pricing was the initial draw, but the service is what made (and makes) me a repeat customer."

Stickers That Keep it Straight: The Eyebox Organizer

With a number of different pairs of contact lenses, Sharena Walker had a hard time keeping them all straight. That's because contact lenses--whether prescription or decorative (colored)--typically come in vials printed with all their pertinent information, and when those lenses get transferred to a case, all that information gets thrown out.

What to do? Keep all those empty vials cluttering the medicine cabinet? Open every case and try to figure out which pair is which? Sharena had a better idea: a compact jewel-case organizer which would not only keep all those lens cases neatly organized but which would identify them, via a simple system of (what else?) stickers. 

Her innovative invention--the first offering of her new business, Lovely Ideas--is the Eyebox. To use, you simply place a colored sticker on the bottom of a contact lens case and a sticker of the same color next to a line on the Record Keeper, a card that fits neatly in the bottom of the box. Record the info specific to those lenses--brand, color, purchase information, date, cost, expiration information, sphere, base curve, and diameter--and voila! No more wondering, and no more fumbling. 

In creating the Eyebox, Sharena ordered sticker samples from three other companies. Custom Sticker Makers won because of the quality/price ratio. "These little round stickers needed to adhere to the type of plastic used for most contact lens cases," Sharena told us. "They had to be durable, very sticky, and water resistant. CSM stickers fared above the others and won my business."

Stuff We Like: Stickers for the Holidays, Part 1

When you think of stickers as Christmas presents, chances are, you're thinking of stocking stuffers. But this holiday season, we ask that you think a little bigger in terms of what stickers can do for the kids in your life--a lot  bigger.

From Yoda with a light saber to Tinkerbell, space-rockets, dump-trucks and fairy-tale castles, there's not much in the way of childhood obsessions that are not available as a mural-sized repositionable wall-sticker, it seems, as far as Wall Sticker Outlet goes. We're especially fond of this t-rex busting through the wall, though we're not sure it's suitable for kids who wake up at night scared of the boogie man.

Wall Sticker Outlet offers everything from single character stick-ons to full-scene murals, available in Girls Themes and Boys Themes, as well as more mural-oriented wall-stickers aimed at adults. There are also stick-on chalkboard options.

These wall-stickers will run you anywhere between $17 for a single character to $325 for a giant wall mural, just in time for the holidays.

Stuck Up Piece of Crap: From Punk Rock to Contemporary Art

Memorably title, "Stickers: Stuck Up Piece of Crap: from Punk Rock to Contemporary Art" is a new art-book by DB Burkeman with a little help from street art icon Shepard Fairey (as well as Monica LoCascio and Carlo McCormick). Together, the authors tackle the history of stickers in a variety of musical sub-cultures, including punk rock, raves and hip-hop.



Says one Amazaon reviewer: "To be brief, if you have even a passing interest in Punk Rock, Graffiti Art, Rave Culture, Club Culture, Sub Culture or just Graphic Design, this book is an absolute must have. Essays by the Authors and Shepard Fairey beautifully connect the dots from the sub culture of sticker design, production and broadcast to its influence on our every day lives. The book is wonderfully, curated, and the design on the pages is beautifully laid out."

MTV.com chimes in with:
"For DB Burkeman, stickers are those little markers that document our culture. Whether it's the first 'Watch out! Punk is coming!' sticker slapped up on the Lower East Side in late 1970s or a 1930s R. Stanton Avery silk-screened political bumper sticker, they capture a point in time that somehow defined American culture. So it only makes sense that Burkeman, along with his partner, Monica LoCascio, got to researching the art of stickers and churned out Stickers: From Punk Rock to Contemporary Art. The 300-page book traces the visual and social history of the medium, and explores the relationship artists have with their pieces and how they communicate with viewers." ~MTV.com


Jeff over at the Websticker blog also has good things to say, so we know, as far as stickers go, this book has got the goods.


At $23.10, this book seems like a good deal for a coffee-table book--but here at Custom Sticker Makers, we're interested in the deluxe hardcover $175.00 version, complete with vintage stickers.