How to have FAB Valentine's Day

Fab.com has put together a a feisty collection of fun gifts to give this Valentine's day. Their collection is anything but cliche. Here's a round up of my favs including one of my own. It's okay to love your own creations right!?






Happy Shopping!

Custom Polaroid Necklaces

New product alert! The Polaroid Necklaces that, up until now, have exclusively featured the beautiful shots by Diana at Our.City.Lights are getting a bit more personal. Now you can have your own favorite photo framed in necklace form!

Will it be a family portrait, a shot of your adorable furry friend or your all time best instagram image? Whatever you chose you're sure to love it even more shrunken down to fit onto a one inch button within a Polaroid bamboo frame. Even better, you'll also receive a print of your image on high gloss photo paper printed to look like a polaroid, accompanied by a matching, heavy duty photo magnet perfect for displaying the print on your fridge!



I thought it would be fun to work with a few of my favorite blogger friends to see how they would choose to personalize their necklaces.

Danielle - Sometimes Sweet

Danielle went with this gorgeous shot of her beautiful family in front of a stunning back drop. The vibrant color of the sky draws you in and that little Henry with his loving parents makes my heart melt!

Diana - Our.City.Lights

I couldn't launch the personalized version of the Polaroid Necklace without hearing how Diana would make one just for herself. This dreamy image was taken on her way home from a romantic trip to Rome with her husband.

Katie - Skunkboy Creatures

Katie's daughter's Hope and Poesy are seriously too cute for words so it's no wonder she's excited to keep them close to her heart in necklace form!

Liz - Srsly Liz

It's Walter! If that little furry face isn't the perfect fit for a 1-inch button, I just don't know what is.

If you place your order and get me your image by the end of the day Sunday 12/18 then you can still receive your own personalized Polaroid Necklace via USPS Priority mail before Christmas!

A Sweet (and minty) Christmas Deal

The Fab.com sale concluded early this morning and now it's time for the Vivi Dot elves to start packing up all of those orders. I am so, so happy about how the sale went and feel very thankful to have been featured on such an awesome site. In celebration of a very successful sale on Fab I though it would be nice to feature a holiday deal in my online store as well. I've put together a minty fresh gift pack perfect for the holidays. Here's what it includes:

One Holly Jolly Button Set that also doubles as a gift tag


One Minty Fresh Peppermint Ring


And one pair of festive Peppermint Earrings


You can wrap it all up for one lucky recipient or divide it up and stuff three different stockings with some holiday dots. There's always the option to keep some of it for yourself too! If you buy each item individually it will run you $24.50, but this special holiday set will only set you back $18! No coupon code is needed for this price - nice and easy!

Extra Bonus Gift: If you leave me a comment at check out that let's me know you follow me on twitter and/or follow the Dot Girl Blog then I'll throw in an extra free gift with your purchase. This extra bonus deal is valid on all orders placed before the holiday order cut off (12/19/11)!

Thanks again to everyone who supported the Vivi Dot sale on Fab by tweeting about it, inviting friends to join, blogging about it and making purchases. It's been a week filled with a ton of happy emails and congratulatory tweets that made me feel so very warm and fuzzy!

Shop Update

I just published a bunch of new items in the shop!
Here are a few of my new favorites.

The Bicycle Ring Double Set

The Alamo Square Ink Blotter Necklace

The Mesa Dessert Lexington Necklace

Triple Ring Set - Cool Colors

Check out the rest of the new items and shop this weekend and you'll receive 20% off when you enter the coupon code BLOGFRIENDS at checkout. Happy shopping!

My Spring Shop Update Is Live!

What a week! Work has been crazy busy, I've finished up three more wholesale orders AND.... the Vivi Dot Spring/Summer update is live! I am especially fond of the fabric prints we created for this season and I'm so excited that they're finally photographed, described and ready to share with you all. There are two new Polaroid Necklaces (my collabo with Diana from Our.City.Lights) and they just so happen to be my new favorites. I'd love it if you checked out what's new and let me know what you think. Thanks as always!

Let there be light!

Product photography is tough! For the last few shop updates I've done I've used natural light for my photos. I was generally happy with them, but some products were especially hard to get just right. I could get them to look okay with some photo editing, but that's tricky because it can end up distorting the colors into something they aren't. Duncan purchased some shop lights for about $100 for a project he worked on last week. Since those are now sitting in our garage he suggested I buy a photo light tent. At only $30 I figured it was worth a shot.We set up lights on the right, left, and one from behind. It took some maneuvering to get the light even and get rid of the shadows, but we eventually got them just right. Next we messed with the settings on our camera (Nikon D40x) until the white balance looked good. After that work was done the rest was a breeze. We powered through a ton of photos in very short amount of time, lining them up the same way each time. Editing them is really easy too because once you crop one just right the rest can all be done the exact same way.
Here's a before and after example with the first being in natural light (with those pesky shadows) and the second in the new light tent.
I'll be editing photos and writing descriptions tonight and hope to have a big earrings update later this week. I think I'll even have my first online sale to celebrate!

Mega ViviDot Store Update!

I was finally able to publish over 75 new items to my online shop today! It's been a long time coming with many late nights after work photo editing, uploading, describing and coding. It feels so good to finally have these items from my Spring/Summer 2010 line up and ready to sell! I'll have some product highlights and discount opportunities in the next few days, but check out these two posts to tide you over in the meantime...
Vivianna posted some of her favorite items from my shop today. She also shares a coupon code for 15% off your entire order so make sure to hop over to the Polka Dot Robot Blog and check it out.
Kami is a good friend and the lovely lady behind the feather illustration on one of the new Vivi Dot fabric prints. She did a post about the items featuring her illustration over at her blog Kamma Claire as well.

NEET Shop Update

I was a busy bee this past weekend. I worked on filling wholesale orders on Saturday and Sunday and also completed a big photo shoot for my springtime shop update. I'll be rolling that out over the next week, but decided to do a mini shop update today to coincide with my items in the March issue of N.E.E.T. magazine. If you aren't a N.E.E.T. reader you should be! They do an excellent job highlighting independent designers, vintage shops, and unique DIY projects. The fashion spreads they include seem to impress me more and more each issue too. Oh and did I mention it's free online? Doesn't get much better than that! The new items included in the update today are a Delicate Lace Watch Necklace, Purple Bike Lane Hair Clips, an Aztec Flower Brooch, Tea Party Hair Pins, a Springtime Stripes Flower Brooch, and Candy Pink Hair Bows!

Duncan and I also attended a going away party for our good friend Ciccio who's moving down to Ventura for a more surf friendly environment. We'll miss you Ciccio! See you soon.

Do you WishWishWish for Free Vivi Dot?

One of my new favorite blogs, WishWishWish.net posted a contest for some free Vivi Dot items over the weekend. Hop on over to her site and comment on the Vivi Dot post to be entered to win.
Carrie has a wonderful fashion focused blog that highlights her shopping adventures, what she wears, and various other things that inspire her daily life as an 18 year old college student in the South-west of England. Be sure to add her to your blog list as she's definitely one to watch!

Oh and by the way... I can't get enough of British English vocabulary. Hair grips! It makes perfect sense and isn't that much different than what they're called in America, but for some reason it sounds oh so much more charming.

Paper n Stitch

I'm very excited to be a part of the Paper n Stitch online marketplace from now until February 22nd. I'm in outstanding company there so be sure to check out all the wonderful works from each of the designers. Here are some of my favorite items:
1) Recycled Poppy Corsage by Foundling
2) Waiting for you by ValentinaDesign
3) Paper Quilt No. 6 by Brittni Wood
4) Original - Drawing no. 30 by mimi
5) Tall Poppy Teapot by Dahlhaus
6) Doily Clock by brenda rose {and furthermore}

Please also be sure to visit my shop and show me some love by clicking on the heart next to my Vivi Dot avatar. Whoever has the most 'votes' at the end of the exhibition wins a very nice prize!
About Paper N Stitch:
Paper N Stitch is an online exhibition space that was created to promote talented artists, designers, makers selling handmade goods, and independent boutiques. The exhibition space is curated monthly and showcases the best of the best on an international level.

I'm Thrilled!

I'm ecstatic to announce that my Vivi Dot cuff links made 'The List.' The San Francisco Thrillist list to be more specific. According to Mediapost.com, "Thrillist targets young 'successful' men with tailored product and service recommendations in the areas of food, drinks, services, gadgets, gear, sports and travel." It is often likened to the male version of DailyCandy though unlike that publication you can't pay to be featured.
Or as Thrillist puts it...

We only cover what we like.
We're not going to waste our time or yours with things that suck -- you already have your job for that. So we don't write reviews, just recommendations, and because we painstakingly wade through the crap to unearth greatness, you get exclusively the best of your city's food, drinks, gear, services, entertainment, travel options, and events, like booze cruises, and a divine concept surely birthed on a booze cruise -- stripper cruises.

So yay, they like Vivi Dot!
Here's what they had to say:

Handmade-to-order in SF, these cheeky little guys are one inch 'round, and covered in fabric emblazoned with stuff like saffron yellow stegosauruses, blue propeller planes, and a pair of traveling gnomes donning beards and red caps (as opposed to those gnomes who wear mustaches and fezzes).

(click on the image to enlarge it)
I have some other PR related posts coming soon so it may just be time for an official press section!

Love is in the Air

I'm excited to announce the launch of the Vivi Dot Valentine's day product line! Check out the Vivi Dot Store to see all the special items. Highlights include 'You're as Cute as a button' fabric button sets and 'Diamonds are forever' faux diamond earrings.. There are also lots of new pink and red themed watch necklaces, hair accessories and oh so much more.

An Extra Large Holiday Delivery!

Vivi Dot had a busy weekend! I sold more than double what I normally do at Indiemart and had a great time doing it! There was even a line down the block to get in so it seems as though the word is out that it's the best place to drink and shop your weekend away.

Next up I spent a rainy Sunday inside making a over 20 items that needed to be shipped out today. I've been sending a couple of orders out each day but sending out ten packages at once marked a new record. Hopefully I'll soon look back at ten orders in a day as my 'humble beginnings,' but with this being my first official holiday season in the online world, I'm pretty excited about this record breaking day!

I mentioned before that Olive was patiently awaiting your orders so I figure it was only appropriate to have her pose next to today's big stack of boxes ready for shipment.

Crafty Giveaway!

Vivi Dot is a part of the Modish Giveaway this month! It's the last month Jenna will be doing the giveaway in its traditional form so make sure to participate and get a chance to win hundreds of dollars in crafty wares! With over $2,161 in fabulous goods the giveaway is split up into three packages (one today, one tomorrow, and one on Friday). All you have to do is check out some of the awesome goods and comment on something you like. By commenting you're entered to win! It's that easy! Check out the details of this give away at Modish and enter today.

Spot the dots in the picture? Look out for my Polka Dot Mushroom hair clips in this first giveaway. 12/12/08 Update:
Spot the dot in the day two and
day three giveaways too!

Modish Marketplace

Vivi Dot is excited to be a part of the Modish Marketplace for the month of November and December! We're in great company (ModCloth, ShanaLogic, Asking For Trouble, Emma Gordon London, and oh so much more) and have already started crossing items off our gift list for the holidays. The best part is each designer is offering an exclusive discount for Modish Marketplace shoppers so you can find a slew of great deals on unique, handmade vintage and indie goods all in one place! You can find the Vivi Dot listing and coupon code in the accessories section.

International Shipping!

Vivi Dot is excited to announce that we now accept international offers in our online store!

If you are ordering outside the US or Canada you will automatically be charged $4 for shipping via USPS First-Class International mail. If shipping to your country is significantly higher than the $4 charge we will notify you that additional payment is required to process your order. We will then send you an invoice via email for the additional amount. Once the difference in the shipping charge is paid your order will be sent out as soon as possible.

You can check the USPS website to see how much shipping to your country will actually be. Select your country from the drop down, package, and enter 0 pounds and 8 ounces (the approximate weight of most Vivi Dot orders).

15% ViviDotStore Discount!

The Vivi Dot holiday shopping discount begins this Saturday, November 1st! Everyone on the Vivi Dot mailing list will receive 15% off everything in the online store! If you're already subscribed you'll receive an email with your coupon code shortly. If you'd like to subscribe and get the discount please visit our contact page here to enter your email address and get your code too. The discount expires December 15th so sign up today!

With 15% you'll only pay $34 for watch necklaces, $12.75 for flower brooches, $10.20 for earrings, etc. What a deal!

Oh and Olive is in charge of the mailing list and she's anxiously waiting for you sign up!

Vivi Dot's First Advertisement!

I made a bold move and decided to purchase my first advertisement for Vivi Dot! I'll have a small little space in the December/January issue (on news stands the end of Nov) of ReadyMade Magazine. Check out the proof of my ad below and make sure to check out the 'Gallery' section of the issue so you can see and use the coupon code that I conveniently removed for this post. Sorry, you've gotta get the mag if you want the discount. Please note that the watch necklace in this photo should be available in the Vivi Dot Online Store within the next week.

Vivi Dot Online Pattern Catalog

It's likely not too hard to believe that I've become quite obsessed with fabric and paper. You could say I look at the world differently now... in terms of what things would look like on a one-inch button. This obsession means I'm constantly adding to my collection of fabrics and paper which makes it quite difficult to keep my pattern catalog up to date. Knowing that I'll realistically never be 'caught up,' I've decided to post what I have so far. You can check out all of my lovely patterns (fabrics, paper prints, as well as custom made images) here:
www.ViviDotOnline.com/PatternCatalog

If you see a pattern you must have that's not currently in the Vivi Dot Online Store please don't hesitate to email me the pattern code that's listed below each circle swatch along with the product you'd like. There's no additional charge for ordering Vivi Dot items this way so get to shopping!



Email: orders {at} vividotonline.com
Pattern Code:
Product:
Shipping Address:
Shipping Preference: Select USPS or UPS (USPS is $3 for US and Canada & $4 International with no tracking and no guaranteed delivery times vs. UPS which price and delivery time varies based on location but allows you to track your shipment and is guaranteed)

All orders take approximately 2-4 days to ship (I have to make them and give them ample time to dry). Once I receive your order I will send you an invoice via email that can be paid securely online with a credit card or a paypal account.

Here is a list of my products and prices:
Buttons (Paper) = $1 or six for $5
Buttons (Fabric = $1.50 or six for $7.50
Ring = $5
Pair of Hair Pins = $6
Pair of Hair Clips = $8
Jumbo Hair Clip = $10
Earrings = $12
Flower Brooch = $15
Garment Clip = $24
Pocket Watch = $40
Watch Necklace = $40
Money Clips = $6
Tie Tacks = $5
Cuff Links = $15
Magnets = $12
Bookmarks = $6
VinoDots = $25 (paper only)

Product Highlight: VinoDots

Traditional wine charms are great, but can you remember which charm is yours after a glass of wine or two? Was it the grapes or the wine bottle charm? With VinoDots, each double sided wine charm comes with a matching button with a pin back closure to wear as a reminder. Unique prints make it easy to match your button with your glass and you'll never forget which wine glass is yours again!




Each of the eight double sided wine charms is made with a silver plated 1" hoop wire. Each wire easily clasps shut around the stem of your wine glass. A matching button with a pin closure attaches to your sleeve, collar or any fabric. Clear mylar protects the paper and metal button face and makes clean-up easy. Simply wipe VinoDots and buttons clean with a damp cloth (not dishwasher or washing machine safe).

Each set includes 8 handmade charms and 8 matching pinback buttons and comes in a tin container with a clear top cover.

Not a wine drinker? Prefer stemless glasses? Clip on VinoDots are also available (also known as Kegger Dots). They slip over the edge of your stemless wine glass, plastic keg cup, etc.

VinoDots were featured in the San Francisco Chronicle's 2007 Holiday Gift Guide! Check out the online version of the article here.


Check out the standard prints in the Vivi Dot store or
email me for information about customized VinoDots and Kegger dots.