[Image from http://www.cainesarcade.com]

Caine Monroy had a dream. Nothing would stand in his way. This 9-year-old boy, filled with creativity and determination, built an arcade out of cardboard boxes. A claw machine was built with yarn and a simple S hook. A soccer machine had toy soldier blockers. He even built a cardboard office, all before hosting a single visitor!

Caine dreamed of the day he would have lots of customers visit his arcade. Every Saturday and Sunday he’d patiently wait while proudly wearing the shirt he’d thought up and designed. Some might see simple Cooper letters on a plain blue T-shirt, but Caine couldn’t have been more proud of it.

One day his persistence paid off. Nirvan Mullick came into Caine’s father’s auto parts store, looking for a ’96 Corolla door handle. Mullick, a filmmaker, was quite taken with Caine and his arcade. Saddened by the fact that he was Caine’s first and only customer, he hatched a plan. Secretly meeting with Caine’s dad, he discussed filming a flashmob visit to Caine’s Arcade. Knowing the happiness this would bring Caine, his father agreed. Shortly after creating the event request on Facebook, a friend’s repost on HiddenLA sent it viral. NBC News soon followed and before you could say “Caine’s Arcade” it had made it on Reddit. Across the nation, and around the world, people were posting how they wished they could attend.

Caine’s inspiration, paired with this random act of kindness, became unstoppable. The short film Mullick produced at the October event was posted on CainesArcade.com. The initial goal was to raise $25,000 for a scholarship fund to help with Caine’s education. The first day the film was posted, over $60,000 was raised. A week later, the Goldhirsh Foundation pledged a matching dollar-for-dollar grant of $250,000. The Caine’s Arcade Foundation was born and will ensure that children’s innovation and creativity thrive. Since the film’s posting on April 9, $202,673 has been raised.

How does this relate to your business? Think back. Have you turned away jobs that seemed too small? Would you willingly create a single shirt? Many see baby garments as an unprofitable inconvenience, but you never know when that garment will be a part of something HUGE.

If you own a heat press, there are several easy ways to accommodate small orders, whether they’re small in number or in size. Pre-Cut Letters and Numbers are simple to stock, and accommodate single shirt requests in minutes. Pre-Spaced Text and Numbers, available in low quantities, is another simple solution. A wide selection of heat transfer materials, available in a variety of finishes and effects, can be cut on your vinyl cutter to accommodate most any request. And recent advances in digital technology have added CAD-PRINTZ^® full color digital transfers to the mix.

With so many options for producing small runs it’s time to reconsider your stance on one-piece orders (again, whether they’re orders for one garment or several one-piece garments). Don’t miss out on your chance to be a part of something BIG. Happy Decorating!

Reflective designs aren’t just for safety anymore. Active customers will always be looking for attractive safety apparel that keeps them safe and looking good, but reflective designs also make a splash on apparel for parties, events, and fashion. It helps to have store displays and samples ready, whether your customers are looking for safety apparel or for ideas to make their next event T-shirt stand out. The CAD-CUT^® Reflective Kit can help you make their decision easier.

With sample sheets of CAD-CUT 3M™ Scotchlite™ 5807 and Fashion-REFLECT™ heat transfer materials, as well as color swatches and vector art samples, the Reflective Kit gives you everything you need to create displays and samples. With it, you can show your customers that you can fulfill their needs for reflective apparel, whether they’re wearing it for safety or for doing the Safety Dance.

We can dance if we want to, and who doesn’t want to? Those who can’t be seen dancing, that’s who. Fashion-REFLECT heat transfer material is sure to get your customers noticed, even if they’re just dancing in the dark. Available in 10 colors, Fashion-REFLECT applies to cotton, polyester, Lycra^®/spandex, nylon, and Cordura^®, making it a great option for fashionable designs, whether they’re on T-shirts, spirit wear, or dance apparel.

Other customers may be more concerned with safety than with their dance hall days. 3M™ Scotchlite™ 5807 brightly reflects lights such as vehicle headlights and street lights, making it great for emergency workers, bikers, and joggers. Other businesses, such as security services, landscaping companies, and delivery services will also find this material useful in keeping their employees seen – and safe.

There’s more than one market for reflective apparel, and the Reflective Kit allows you to create samples of garments that will make your customers be seen, and want to be seen.

Heat presses use time, temperature, and pressure to get the job done. But what happens when time constraints, the pressure to get things done (correctly), and the heat of a busy shop start getting to you? Don’t be the one getting pressed – there are several pre-spaced text and number options available that will save you time and effort when fulfilling your orders.

Whether you’re pressed for time (there’s that word again) or just find it to be a chore to align letters, numbers, or graphics, our pre-spaced offerings can help you out. Decorating a lot of jersey orders? Player Perfect™ pre-spaced text and numbers will help save you time and effort. Names and numbers come perfectly aligned on one carrier, allowing for quick and worry-free application.

Team Perfect™ allows you to apply text and graphics in one simple step. Simply choose a font, size, graphic, and heat transfer material, and your order comes on one easy-to-apply carrier. No more measuring each shirt, bag, or jersey to ensure perfect alignment – we do the work for you.

Then, of course, there are our Pre-Spaced Text and Pre-Spaced Numbers. Easily apply player names, team names, messages, uniform numbers, or class years onto jerseys, shirts, and bags in one step. We even offer pre-aligned vertical text for decoration of sleeves and legs.

You can also save time weeding with ZIPP Weed™. With this option, cavities are removed and a center notch is included for easy placement on the substrate. With all the time you save weeding and aligning, you’ll notice an increase in productivity and a decrease in pressure to meet deadlines.

Plus, our pre-spaced offerings are now available in Glitter Flake, Super Film, Flock, and Premium Plus™ heat transfer materials. So whether your customers are looking to decorate performance wear, spirit wear, athletic uniforms and warm-ups, or fashion garments, there’s an option available.

And to save you even more time and effort, we have a new Pre-Spaced Ordering System, allowing you to preview your design while taking advantage of convenient one-page ordering. Learn more about this new ordering system in this video.

So, to save time and effort, thereby increasing productivity, look into pre-spaced text and numbers. You’ll be glad you did.

The two-hour classes are a mixture of lecture and hands-on application, and are offered three times each day, so it is a great local opportunity to come for two hours and then return to your shop or job.  Ken will feature the Hotronix^® Fusion heat press  along with optional platens and will explain how and why to use them. Show specials will be available, so if you’re in the market for a new heat press or vinyl cutter, or just want to get some new ideas on how much more your existing equipment can do for you, these free sessions will definitely get the wheels turning.

We would especially like to thank Rick Roth, owner of Mirror Image Screen Printing, for allotting space in his building to host these events. Rick is an industry icon and educator who shares our philosophy that anyone can sell you equipment, but the real investment is in a partnership with a  supplier who has your success first and foremost in their mind.

For more information or to reserve your seat for this event, please email Ken at kenwchadwick@yahoo.com

by Matt DeLaere, Marketing

In comic books and movies, superheroes usually have a mild-mannered alter-ego. Clark Kent and Peter Parker lead ordinary lives, not attracting any attention – until a need arises and they suddenly transform into something super. As a garment decorator, you might think of them as blank T-shirts – getting the job done, but not standing out. Until, that is, they are decorated with Glitter Flake or Fashion-FILM™ Metallic and suddenly save the day for a cheerleading squad threatened by the evil Dr. BoringWarmUps.

Meanwhile, back at stately Stahls’ ID, this model has been turned on its head. In its normal, everyday life, CAD-CUT^® Super Film heat transfer material applies almost as fast as a speeding bullet, has more adhesion power than a locomotive, and has incredible stretch and rebound. In short, it’s super. There are times, however, when a more subdued alter-ego is needed to get the job done. At these times, Super Film tucks away its cape and takes on a new identity.

Look! Over on the heat press! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! It’s CAD-CUT H2O! Going from the superhero of heat decorating to its more toned-down counterpart, Super Film becomes CCH2O, giving a more washed-out look and softer feel, like that of water-based screen printing. And no telephone booth, bat-pole, or cosmic radiation is needed to make the change. A simple adjustment of application settings unleashes the power of CCH2O on the (textile) world. You can find these adjustments in the Super Film application instructions or in the video below, along with several helpful hints and tips.

So, it may not be able to fly or climb walls, it may not turn green when angry, and it may not operate out of a secret cave beneath Stahls’ ID, but whether in traditional form or its CCH2O alter-ego, Super Film is a superhero in the heat printing world. Dr. BoringWarmUps has finally met his match.

Video: CAD-CUT^® H2O Technical Tips and Tricks

A vinyl cutter and heat transfer material aren’t all you need to create great heat applied graphics – you also need the actual graphics. You don’t want to set up your cutter and pick a fashionable material only to realize that all you can think of to cut is a circle. While some may choose to create designs themselves, not everyone is an excellent (or even serviceable) artist, and artwork creation can be time-consuming. The good thing is that you don’t have to be Picasso to create great-looking shirts and accessories (in fact, it probably helps if you’re not – have you ever seen some of his work?).

With Stahls’ CutUps™ vector clip art you can produce a great-looking graphic for almost any occasion. This collection of artwork from Great Dane Graphics, designed for easy cutting and weeding, includes over 1200 designs divided into 13 categories. Need a logo design for a little league team? Check the “Mascots” category. A tote bag for animal lovers? Look in “Animals.” Matching outfits for a family trip to Akron? “Vacations” will have something for you.

Each design is provided in two sizes – 10″ for T-shirts, bags, etc., and 3″ for smaller application areas, such as caps or left chests on shirts. They’re also provided in both CorelDraw^® and EPS formats for use with any vector PC or Mac program.

There’s even an awesome turkey design, which you can see above and find in the “Holidays” category. Seriously, could you find a better turkey to adorn a Thanksgiving shirt (or perhaps a gravy boat cozy)? He looks thankful and welcoming while casually waving his hand as if to say, “Well, hello! Enjoy eating my delicious cousin Stu!”  I want that turkey on a shirt – and so will your customers.

So, if you’re looking for a simple solution for vector art that’s easy to cut and weed, gobble up Stahls’ CutUps now (man, I really love that turkey).

	The Roland GX-24 Vinyl Cutter.

Like your heat press, your vinyl cutter should be kept free of dust and debris. If you want the cutting and weeding process to be smooth and effortless for your employees, begin a routine maintenance plan.

• Use a vacuum to suck up dust and/or frequently wipe your cutter down with a damp rag. Dust and debris, if allowed to collect, can interfere with the motor, get stuck on the material you are cutting, collect in the blade holder and interfere with the pinch rollers.

• Are you experiencing inconsistent cutting results with your heat transfer materials? Take time to make sure you have the right cutting guidelines for the materials you use. Post a chart on the wall that shows these settings and train the person operating your cutter on the importance of making adjustments whenever they change out materials. It will help you save money by reducing material waste.

• Cutter protection strips are an essential accessory to achieve consistent cuts every time, but they don’t last forever. The small investment in replacing them will save you money in the long run with error-free work.

• Blades…very important. Are you using the right blade? Has cutting become difficult? Is the blade cutting through the material like butter? Is the blade skipping across the material? Flock blade, sign vinyl blade, carbide blade, twill blade, popcorn shrimp…oh sorry, gotta love Bubba! Make sure you are using the appropriate blade and if you cut certain materials often, replace the blade once you start experiencing poor performance.

Last tip…perform test cuts! This takes a few minutes and only utilizes a couple square inches of material. I can’t tell you how many people have let their cutter run though a roster of team names, then found out through the weeding process that they never cut through completely.

You know the old adage, measure twice, cut once! Moral of the story? Waste not, want not!

[Image from http://www.pizzashirt.net]

Several months ago we had a blog post about the new trend of decorating pizzas with graphics. Pizza Prints™ allow you to decorate pizzas with messages (such as “Happy Birthday!”), popular animated characters, and even sports team logos. In short, they make your pizza look like your T-shirts. Well, now the script has been flipped.

Pizza Shirts have arrived. These T-shirts are printed to make the wearer look like a giant slice of pizza. Really. The product’s site points out that the shirts can be used as “pizza camouflage” – apparently perfect for sneak attacks at birthday parties or for hunting pepperoni. And they’re perfect for people who really want to look like giant slabs of cheese and tomato sauce. And who doesn’t?

For those who might not think that masquerading as greasy cheese and pepperoni promotes a less-than-healthy lifestyle, there’s also a vegetable pizza version of the shirts. No word yet on adding your own toppings, though. Random thought: This could open a whole new world of customization business, replacing pizza ovens with heat presses. Imagine building your own wearable pizza with heat transfer materials! Green pepper in Thermo-FILM^®, pineapple in Premium Plus™, even anchovies in Fashion-FILM™ Metallic! The possibilities are endless (and delicious)!

At the very least, Pizza Shirts prove that off-the-wall product ideas can be successful, and certainly generate buzz. The slightly-less-than-serious marketing approach also helps. For instance, the Pizza Shirts website refers to them as “the most incredible achievement that mankind has to offer.” While that’s quite an exaggeration (I hope), they should be an inspiration to those looking to market their own unique brands of apparel.

The New CAD-CUT Top Sellers Kit

Number one on the New York Times Best Sellers List, top of the pops, number one at the box office – in entertainment, it’s easy to find out what’s most popular. A simple list, though, isn’t always enough information to make a choice that’s good for you. A sappy romance might be the number one movie in America, but that doesn’t mean that you’ll like it. You could, of course, read reviews and maybe watch a short trailer, but it’s not the same experience as seeing the movie itself. To truly know whether you’ll like it, you’ll have to see it yourself.

You won’t have to experience the same uncertainty with the most popular heat transfer materials from Stahls’ CAD-CUT^® Direct. With the new CAD-CUT Top Sellers Kit you can easily create store displays while testing these popular materials for yourself.

Each kit contains three 15″ x 20″ sheets each of Glitter Flake, Premium Plus™, SportFilm Lite™, and Thermo-FILM^® heat transfer materials, as well as 21 of our Stahls’ CutUps™ vector clip art files, color swatches, and a promo code for a future order. Use the vector art or your own artwork with your vinyl cutter to create sample designs, then apply to sample apparel with a heat press (also included in the kit are cutting and application instructions, plus a Kraft paper cover sheet).

So try out our top-selling heat transfer materials with this affordable (a $75 value for just $48.75) and convenient kit.