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Bumper Stickers to Vinyl Decals
The entire industry has come a long way from the stickers you used to decorate the coffee table as a kid and Mom would get mad because they were next to impossible to remove, but did I mention we also offer hot cold, glow-in-the dark? Stencil? Chalkboard?
Let me start by saying...
Whether you have a “Baby on Board,” your kid beat up the Honor Roll kid, or you’re advertising your buddy’s new bakery business “Knead to Dough,” bumper stickers and vinyl decals have been around for quite some time. Interesting enough, transportation signage can be traced back to horse and buggy days, but it wasn’t until after bumpers were put on cars and Forrest P. Gill put some fluorescent paint on an adhesive backed material that formed “bumper strips” in the 1940s.
That was before my time, but fast forward a day or 30,000+ (Woo! I did math) and still today, you find some form of vinyl decal hitching a ride on your car, bicycle, and even tumbler cups. We’ve come a long way from hand painting “strips” and have advanced into a world where for a few hundred dollars you can make the world sparkle from the comforts of your kitchen table or craft room. Oooo…Maybe that’s a great excuse to turn that room or closet into a craft room, especially after seeing some of the cool stuff in the craft vinyl world now... or you may have to get a bigger kitchen table.
Anyway, one thing I have noticed is vinyl is becoming more readily available. When I first got involved cutting my own stuff, it was a hurry up and wait game… kick someone off the phone line to hop on the internet… beeeeBe booop ceerk….ok, not that long ago, but you did have to order it and wait a week-ish for delivery. Now, I can easily walk into a multitude of stores and go “woo pretty!” and a few tiny dollars later, I’m skipping up the driveway to decorate a new cup… that I may or may not have bought to match … and put …the vinyl on… but whatever.
The downside to this, is I have also discovered not all vinyl products are equal and you sometimes get what you pay for. I don’t mind it as much if it is something I am doing for around the house, but when it comes to creating things for others and trying to sell products at shows, I don’t want to sacrifice quality. I mean, I want people to like what I have and come back… to buy, not to shove me in one of my totes because what they have bought failed miserably after a few weeks. After twenty-ish years of creating things with vinyl, Oracal has always been great to work with. They have permanent, and removable, and sparkly and cool stuff, so why not offer this to my fellow people to share the joy. So, we did… welcome to Craft Vinyl Warehouse. For the first couple years it has been great, but as I attend craft shows, seeing creative minds working, doing bigger, better, cooler stuff, and have seen what the big box stores have to offer, it was time to up our game.
Allow me to introduce to you StyleTech, by TapeTechnologies.
WAAAAIT!! Come back!! It’s not a paid for, endorsed by, commercial advertisement… you’ve read this far for the entertainment, stay with me for a second. It was simply tested and approved and I’m invoking my bragging rights on what I have found in hopes you’ll join in my excitement. Let me start by saying...
TEMPERATURE. COLOR. CHANGING.
I had to chase my socks down the street because this stuff knocked ‘em right off. Also shot me back to the days in school when Hypercolor t-shirts were cool. When I received my samples for these adhesive vinyls, I found myself with my head in the freezer watching it change. They offer a set that changes from white to blue, white to pink, white to purple, and then one from pink to purple (my favorite…shh… don’t tell the others.) There is even one that starts out red and when it gets hot, changes to yellow, perhaps for the Super Bowl Champion fans out there. I found myself cutting some things and adding them to sticking it to glasses and coffee mugs in the kitchen.
I then found myself being entertained with Sun Vinyl. You just add sunshine!! It became a new game of let dog out, take vinyl out, let dog in, bring vinyl in. It changes from white to purple, white to yellow, white to blue, or white to pink. Some of my plants found their plain boring pots turn fancy! Including my, emotional support cactus that now seems brighter and more friendly, but says “Do not pet.”
BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE
They also offer a large selection of opal, metalized, luster, and chrome vinyl that is super cool. I get lost in the color shift of the opal material. It’s yellow… it’s pink… it silver… it’s weird...whoa! Not to mention they have a transparent glitter where the glitter is on both sides of the vinyl, so it doesn’t lose it’s twinkle!
AAAAND you won’t be finding glitter in the house, in the car, at your desk at work, on the dog. Come on! Super bonus! AAAAND THEN… their stuff, except some the metalized are solvent and eco-solve printable! They say, "you can't print glitter, but you can print on it!" Full disclosure… haven’t tried it yet, but I’m gonna! I’m going to push the limits soon and see what other types of ink and printers I can use, so stay tuned.
So yeah, they have a ton of cool stuff, that I couldn’t help but introduce into our inventory. They being small family-owned business, starting out creating vehicle and sign materials, have made their craft materials easy to use with any cutter or scissor and durable. Also made in the USA. They have been beyond helpful in this journey we’ve jumped on with them and excited to see what everyone thinks.
The entire industry has come a long way from the stickers you used to decorate the coffee table as a kid and Mom would get mad because they were next to impossible to remove, but did I mention we also offer removable materials?! Or glow-in-the dark? Stencil? Chalkboard?