Hummingbird Cake Stationery

So, I've started a stationery company called Hummingbird Cake Stationery. Just under a year ago I started designing and uploading designs to Zazzle.com, which is a website that prints and ships items people design and gives the designer a royalty they have named for themselves. Mine is set to 15%, so I make a few dollars here and there, but having my own company will of course open the door to having a much higher profit margin. Naturally, there's more work involved, but I enjoy doing it, so it's not so bad.

A tiny backstory on how this all came about. I was fine with the Zazzle formatting until I started doing wedding/bridal shower/baby shower/bachelorette party invitations, which are my top sellers and received numerous emails from potential clients regarding the paper choices Zazzle was offering. Apparently, Zazzle lists their papers as matte, when in fact they are coated with a very shiny gloss on one side, which is, in my opinion, not appropriate for formal invitations, and my potential clients felt the same way. I got to thinking - why couldn't I print the designs for them?! I had been dancing around the idea for a while, and the complaints were just a push in the right direction. So, I filed all the proper paperwork with the city, county and state and voila! I'm a legal business owner. I've got my prices, my paper picked out and given the graphic shop in town a heads up for what is on the horizon - I'm getting my business cards printed by them this week, so I'd be happy to hand those out to anyone who may know potentially interested clients ;)

I'm working on the website now, and hope to have it up by the end of the week. Even if only just to have the gallery of the images done, as I'm still working on the shopping cart aspect...

Oh, and for those a tad confused by the name, this will be on the "About" page:

Hummingbird Cake Stationery is located on the Central Coast of California and was started by Chelsea Cochran shortly after her wedding in the spring of 2009. It started out as a design hobby after I spent hours and hours looking through countless catalogs and websites offering thousands of different wedding invitations and other stationery goods, but not finding any that I could both afford and fall in love with.

That challenge of finding something both beautiful and budget-friendly led me to start my own company with the mission to offer high-quality, personalized stationery at accessible prices.

I delight in my clients' creativity, and am happy to customize any of my designs, or create a brand new one for you! For example, if I do not currently offer a design with coordinating table cards, that does not mean I can't make them for you - just ask!

The name of the company comes from another beloved hobby of mine - baking. Many people on the West Coast have never heard of a hummingbird cake, but for those that do not know, it is sort of like a carrot cake but with bananas and pineapple and pecans, with a cream cheese frosting. Check out a recipe here! (a side note to blog readers - it also came about because I wanted to incorporate the hummingbird somehow, being that it is something I will always associate with my grandmother - as it was her favorite bird. I thought that may be a tad too convoluted for the general public)