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At Digiwrap, we are all about personalizing—after all, custom-printed tissue paper and gift bags are our jam! So we love the idea behind Willo Bixby, an Etsy shop where people can order personalized products without having to DIY.

Tiffany Bryant, the brains and creative force behind Willo Bixby, left us one of our favorite reviews to date! We love knowing that the packaging of her product gave her confidence as she moves forward with her awesome business plan:

“I’m not one to get emotional very easily (OK, OK you caught me...😆) but I was nearly brought to tears when I opened my packages! I'd already been blown away by the excellent customer service and the finished product put me over the top. I've been wanting to start a small business for some time and finally got the courage to take the leap. Digiwrap made the marketing ideas in my head real, and I couldn't be more satisfied with the outcome. My motto this year has been "Do MORE...fear LESS" and trying this out was certainly scary. TY TY TY for making it so easy and for making my business look like a million bucks. I will definitely be ordering again soon.”

Thank you, Tiffany! Now without further ado, learn more about Willo Bixby, Tiffany, and support her in her work if you love custom and personalized products but aren’t sure you have it in you to DIY!

About Willo Bixby:

Creating customized and personalized products has never been easier and more affordable with the proliferation of in-home cutting and pressing machines; however, not everyone has the time or the eye for design. From T-shirts to backpacks and cups to keychains, Willo Bixby offers the unique, one-of-a-kind character you want from DIY-ing without the hassle of TRYing.    

Where did you get the idea, and how did you decide to get started?

I refer to myself as an "ideator”—someone who always seems to have a good idea partying with the lint and gum wrappers in their back pocket. I am also notorious for being a procrastinator—someone who never acts on said ideas and casts them aside with said lint out of fear because, like many other women, I too suffer from being P.I.S.S.E.D.: a Perfectionist and Imposter Syndrome Sufferer Every Day. I’m constantly asking myself, What if it's not good enough? What if no one likes it? What could I possibly have to offer that hasn't already been said or done? 

I knew I wanted to do something because I had hundreds of ideas in my journals, but I couldn't convince myself anything would be worthwhile. Sad but true.

After a milestone birthday last year (no, I will not tell you which one but thanks for asking 😄 ) and a seemingly unending parade of “I-could-have-done-that” encounters online, I was fed up with watching from the sidelines. Nevertheless, I was inspired to buy the cutting machine I'd been stalking for six months (and no lie, it took another three months to even open the box). Finally, I started making things in my spare time. Taking letters from my name and the "with love" concept I wanted to convey in my work, the company name, Willo Bixby, was born. It felt smart, unique, cool, and mature, just like me. Or like my great-great-great grandmother who survived the Antebellum south, according to my husband. Pretty sure she was super cool too so it works either way.

Why are you passionate about your product?

Everything I make is a personal reminder that I can do whatever I put my mind to because I'm the only person who matters standing in the way. I am not the  ______est (insert adjective here) person in the room, but I am still worthy of being there because there is enough space for us all—preferably in a corner with the rest of the socially awkward introverts. Thanks!

Everyone should have the opportunity to feel empowered, and Willo Bixby is the battery in my back giving me life in ways my professional career hasn't. My neck and head hurt from bumping into and staring up through the glass ceiling every day. (In case my boss is reading this, I love my job and the work is extremely fulfilling!)

What inspires you when you are designing something new?

There isn't a nice way to put this, so I'll come right out and say it—my inspiration is pure selfishness!  I want to hear the "oohs and aahs" and "OMG that's soooo cute, I love it" from my customers so I learn as much as I can about them and the project before I start designing. I want to know, What's your favorite color? Is this a gift for you or someone else? What's the sentiment behind it? How should it make me...I mean...you feel? All this information influences the design choices and helps deliver a more memorable product and experience for the client. Nothing feels better than hearing "you did a good job.” Like I said totally selfish, I know, but it feels super win-win for them and for me, so I don't stress myself too much about it.

Why is presentation in your packaging important?

I don't even know where to start. There aren't enough fingers and toes on the planet to count how many times we've found ourselves buying something we don't need (or really even want for that matter—I’m looking at you, Target) because the packaging or store presentation subconsciously said "give me your wallet,” and we were handing over all our cash and valuables without realizing we were being stuck up by pretty color combinations or fonts that reminded us of our first kiss or the last dance. Humans only need three basic things to survive: food, water, and shelter. But, to feel alive, these three things must make you feel better than basic, and any good marketing/sales person worth their salt knows presentation is the tool that bridges between surviving and living. Live, honey, liiiiiiiiiive!!!!

What do you do for fun?

The best compliment I can receive on any given day is, "Cute shoes; what...you're an accountant?!"  Making business and finance decisions all day may sound really fun, but even I need a break every now and again from being about that crazy CPA (certified public accountant) life. Willo Bixby is one place I'm currently channeling the creative, left-brained side of my life (because creative accounting in the workplace will typically land you in jail, and head-to-toe county orange is not the best color for my neutral undertones…). I am just a nerd in cool people's clothing, so of course I enjoy reading and watching documentaries on all things weird and informational (not mutually exclusive). I am a huge sports junkie (golf and hockey though...gross). I inexplicably love llamas and alpacas (fight me, bro).  I am just a regular haberdashery of fun and good tidings all around.

Learn more about and shop Willo Bixby—we'll add the link once the shop is open! Coming soon!

A friend of Digiwrap was recently in a rush to wrap a present for his brother—a very expensive bottle of whiskey. He threw it in a plain nationwide brand gift bag he purchased at a store for $4.50, and in the parking lot on the way to bring the gift to the party, the worst thing happened: the bottom of the bag dropped out, and the bottle of whiskey smashed to the ground. We’re sure that’s the last time he’ll put an expensive gift in a cheap bag.

At Digiwrap, one of the things customers comment on the most in reviews is the high quality of our bags. For nearly the same price as an un-personalized national brand gift bag, they purchase a gift bag hoping for a nice personalized way to present a good gift—and they get both what they were looking for and an unexpectedly well-constructed bag to protect whatever present is inside. In fact, it’s nice enough that the recipient will be able to reuse it over and over and it will still be good as new.

A few examples of what customers have said:

“I am super pleased with this gift bag, it's a nice size and seems strong and durable. It should last a long time and has two strong handles.”

“Good, high glossed bag that is heavy and strong.”

“I’ve purchased what I thought was top quality gift bags In my lifetime... and these right here! are top notch thick and sturdy!”

“Opened up the package to find a heavy weight, well made quality gift bag. The size was bigger than expected and the rope handle added that extra touch of class!”

Some of our favorite words that pop up often in reviews:

• “Durable”
• “High quality”
• “Sturdy”
• “Well made”
• “Heavy weight”
• “Strong”

Check out all of our reviews on Zazzle, where 96% of reviewers have given us 5 Stars.

Interested in purchasing your personalized gift bag? Order one today

When you are planning your wedding, why not bring in an artist? Emily Rose Ink offers more than your typical wedding invites. This professional calligrapher has been “drawn to the intersection between words and art” since childhood. She now gathers information about a couple’s vision for their big day and tells the story through her thoughtful calligraphy and art.

Since she offers the ultimate in personalized invites, we are so pleased she has used custom printed tissue paper from Digiwrap to help carry the art and theme of the wedding through all the details, designing custom tissue paper for wedding welcome bags. We sat down with Emily to learn more about her incredible work, her inspiration, and what she does for fun.

Why are you passionate about calligraphy? I've always had good handwriting and loved cursive, but there's something very meditative about calligraphy—dipping the pen, forming the letters—it's like each envelope is a work of art, like a gift for each recipient. Especially these days, it's so rare that we get beautiful hand-written letters in the mail, so it's a really special moment when you find a beautifully calligraphed envelope in your mailbox.

How did you get into it? My sister got married in 2014 and asked me to design her wedding invitations since I had always been really passionate about art and knew my way around photoshop. I took a calligraphy class, and at her wedding, a few people asked me if I would do their invitations, and the rest is history!

What inspires you when you are designing something new? I get a lot of my inspiration from nature; one of the first things I do when I'm working on a custom sketch is to look at pictures of the wedding venue online. I talk to the client about their vision, their passions, why they chose their wedding venue and date, etc...and then I let the setting speak to me. Often, we pull in specific flowers that they are going to be using, and I pull those flowers into the design as well.

How have you used Digiwrap paper? The most common use of Digiwrap paper has been for welcome bags.   

We've loved the custom tissue paper we have created through Digiwrap and are excited to continue using it for our clients in the future! The colors were accurate and vibrant, and the paper was really high-quality.

What do you do for fun? I love to read (I was a high school English teacher in my past life). I love poetry and I have also been trying to read more contemporary novels by women with female protagonists. There was a great article in the NYT with a list and I bought like 10 books from there to read! I crave time with a big cup of coffee and a good book. I also love to walk our two rescue dogs in the park, and practice yoga.

Learn more about Emily Rose Ink

Joel Cherrico of Cherrico Pottery has a passion for his product. This becomes immediately clear from his website and social feed. Just a glance through all the photos of mugs, jars, and vases and you can see—the gorgeous pottery tells its own story of beauty. But the story doesn’t end there.

Recently Joel posted a live video of a late-night packaging session in his office. In just the 15-minute process of walking his fans through getting two mugs out to ship, his passion for his work becomes clear. You can see he’s taken great care of how the customer will receive his work. The details he’s added to what goes into each box add up to what we’d call a big hug from him to his customers.

“Most people who buy this pottery want to connect with the artist somehow, so just a simple note on every one…I know it seems like it takes a long time, but if they’re going to take the time to support your work and buy it, this seems like an easy thing to do,” says Joel.

His packaging includes information about his Guinness Record for "Most pots thrown in one hour by an individual,” biodegradable peanuts and a clear explanation for why he uses them, a handwritten and individually addressed message if he has time to include it, a box with his logo hand-painted, and our favorite piece—a sheet of custom printed tissue paper to enhance the theme of his design.

The custom printed tissue paper is our favorite (of course, because it’s our product!). But also because, with all of the other elements, he could just wrap his product with a sheet of plain white paper and call it a day. Instead, though, he knows that the story is in the details. And we love that a piece of tissue paper will help to show his customers how much he cares about his art.

Learn more about Joel and Cherrico Pottery.

With advancements in technology, the print design industry is changing all the time. We love thinking of new and interesting ways print can be used as digital printing capabilities expand. Sabine Lenz, the Paper Queen of Paperspecs, a magazine about the power of print design, recently hosted a webinar discussing the Top 5 Print Design Trends of 2017. We were honored to be featured as she discussed Trend 5: Make It Personal!

In the clip featured here, you can start at 35:45 to hear about why it’s important to “Make It Personal” when you are printing something. As you know, with custom tissue gift wrap and gift bags that you can print in quantities starting at 1, Digiwrap is all about making things personal! Click below to hear Charlie and Brad discuss the benefits of digital printing, background into the business, and Digiwrap’s extreme ability to customize tissue paper and gift bags!

We love our custom printed gift bags and tissue paper, and we can gush about it all day. But it’s our product, so of course we love it, right? But now you don’t have to take it from us. It’s such a huge honor to hear Sabine Lenz, the Paper Queen of PaperSpecs gush about it. She has a penchant for paper, and has built a career off of celebrating it. And PaperSpecs is a magazine dedicated to the power and poignancy of print design. So her high compliments are such a treat!

She raves about the customization, the paper options, and our favorite is when she waxes poetic about the experience of having one of these bags: “While both custom-printed tissue paper and bags are eye-catching, it is the pairing of these that truly make for an unforgettable experience. From the look and feel of the complete package to the crinkling sound of the tissue paper between your fingers, nearly every sense is engaged.” What a great, vivid description!

We love especially that as she walked around the How Design conference with one of our bags, everyone wanted to know what she had. She says they approached her with one thought in mind: “this is the perfect giveaway for events without having to invest in huge print runs.”

Read the full article

Order your Custom Gift Bag today!

We love our custom tissue paper customers, since we know that they love to make things special! And what could be more special than a couple’s big day? Digiwrap Customer Live Love Party Designs recently put together an awesome wedding invitation using custom tissue paper for their clients who were having an incredible destination wedding. We sat down with Noreen and Melisa, the mother/daughter team behind Live Love Party Designs, to get a feel for who they are, why they are passionate about their work, and how they have elevated the wedding invitation to such an awesome level.

Who are your typical clients?

Our most typical clients are brides and grooms who are looking for custom invitations that are uniquely personal and reflective of their own tastes. We strive to work with clients who want to set the tone for their wedding with their invitations, and not only invite their guests but also excite them. We also work with mothers and fathers who are throwing birthday parties, communions, and bridal/baby showers for their children. Our clients usually cannot find what they want online so they come to us with a vision, and we make that come to life. And of course we serve those clients who are not sure what they want and ask us to create a vision for them. We even work with corporate clients like Dylans Candy Bar, in which we provide digital invitations for all of their parties in their NYC, Miami, and Chicago locations.

What are your favorite projects to do for clients?

Our favorite projects to do with clients are those that make us think outside the box. We love to creatively come up with ways to uniquely cater to each of our client’s interests and needs. We love projects with embelishments and lots of detail as those always seem to stand out the most.

Why are you passionate about your work?

We are passionate about our work because we are creating stationery that symbolizes a monumental moment in our clients lives. When we design and deliver invitations to our clients, we see their excitement. Invitations truly begin the process for an event, and we are so happy to be able to bring that joy to our clients.

What inspires you when you are designing something new?

When designing and creating, we love to really cater to our clients’ needs. Getting to know the mood of their event can really help. We look for inspiration by looking at pictures of their venue, their choice of decor, and the color scheme, of course. We keep on top of trends, but only incorporate those that are in line with our clients’ style. What's it like to work as a mother/daughter team?

Working as a mother/daughter team is much easier than some may think. We can take each of our strengths (and weaknesses) to work better together and for our clients. We can support one another in different ways than most can and can openly communicate without there being any barriers.

What do you do for fun?

Noreen, the mom of the duo, enjoys hiking and biking. She also enjoys all kinds of crafts, sewing, and refinishing furniture. Making Halloween costumes for her three-year-old grandson is especially rewarding. And she loves just spending time with him. She is hoping he will be old enough to want to go camping soon.

Melisa, the daughter of the duo, enjoys spending time with her husband and their three-year-old son, along with their family and friends. She also enjoys crafting at all hours of the day and night—simple things like creating tablescapes for her Thanksgiving dinner and planning her son’s birthday parties a year in advance. :) When time allows it, she also enjoys reading and doing projects around her house.

Learn more about Live Love Party Designs.

As a part of the gift wrap industry, we understand celebration. And as a custom gift wrap company, we understand that some things are worth such a high level of celebration that wrapping you can buy at any old store just won’t do. Gift wrap customer Nikki turned to Digiwrap when she was about to attend the ultimate family party—a celebration of life for her Great Uncle Keag, who had passed away recently, and an 80th birthday party for his wife, Great Aunt Helen.

Nikki says her Great Aunt Helen is a total character. Throughout the party, she cracked everyone up, as usual. To Nikki, she said, “You know, I am recently single if you have any friends you can introduce me to." In fact, the picture Nikki picked for the personalized tissue paper is this one—which Nikki says is a common theme in her photos of Great Aunt Helen:

Great Uncle Keag was a character as well. During his celebration of life, most of the crowd was surprised to find out that he was a stunt driver Dan Keenors Hurricane Hell Drivers In the late 60s and early 70s. At the ceremony, his sister-in-law told the crowd, ”He along with the other stunt drivers thrilled fair audiences around America by doing their precision driving, driving through fire, and standing on top of cars while they were being driven through fire. They would jump their cars over 5 or six other cars, roll their cars to come out unscathed. They were billed as America's first crash dummies." Of course this fun family would come from that kind of stock.

At the celebration of life, Great Uncle Keag was remembered well with some funny stories and some tears.

Then the family moved to the church gathering room for Great Aunt Helen’s 80th birthday celebration. They say with gifts that “it’s the thought that counts,” and if that’s true, nothing says you thought about it more than wrapping with a personal photo, name, or quote. Take a look at the gift wrap below—it doesn’t matter what is inside these gifts. Throughout the party, when anyone passed the table, they stopped and admired.

When Great Aunt Helen opened her gifts, she was so gentle with the tissue paper and bag—she wanted to save every piece of it. Then she looked closer and realized that the tissue paper had the picture of her flipping people off. She said, "Oh no, you are going to show this picture of me? This is so bad, we are in church!" Nikki laughed and said, "Aunt Helen, I have heard you swear at least twelve times today in this church." After they laughed together, Nikki added, “Besides this is my favorite flip-off picture of you and there are a lot to choose from."

Great Aunt Helen thought the custom gift wrap was so special that she plans to frame the extra pieces. Happy Birthday, Great Aunt Helen! We are glad you had such a great celebration of life for Great Uncle Keag and partied well for your 80th trip around the sun!

Do you have a Great Aunt Helen in your life? Are you interested in custom gift bags? We make all custom gift bags available on Zazzle. Order yours today

How about custom tissue paper? Check out our selection of easily customizable tissue paper.

We are obsessed with one of our latest custom tissue paper customers: Badass Backpacks! Their company embodies the perfect combination of art, thoughtful design, and passion for their work. And one of our favorite things—they have a crystal clear vision for how their product should look when it gets into the hands of their customers. They have decided custom tissue paper is an important step in the completed product. We spoke with Adam Lemmon, owner, about his fascinating company, his inspiration, and his life outside of badass backpacks!

Why did you decide to start Badass Backpacks?

I had this one backpack (it was an Italian made Invicta backpack) that I used all over the world. That backpack was bright, loud, and beautiful, and people would come up to me all the time to ask me about my bag. I met some of the coolest people in my life via conversations started about my backpack. So that got me started on the whole thing. I decided that I wanted to create beautiful backpacks that are designed to start conversations.

Why are you passionate about art? And why backpacks?

I love this question. For Badass Backpacks, I think about both art and backpacks at the same time.  It’s actually where our logo comes from. Our logo tiles are the same size.

Sometimes it looks like one is bigger than the other. But that’s just an optical illusion. Switch them to the other side, and now the other one appears to be bigger. And so it goes with Badass Backpacks— we need both happening at the same time.

My passion for art was initially inspired by my first art teacher, Cheryl Hicks. In her classes we learned to level up our capacity to create, by learning how to observe, listen, and see. Intoxicated by the possibilities of art, I was hooked.

As for backpacks, the short answer is that I’ve always loved backpacks because they are beautiful and mysterious. They make me smile. And that’s probably enough. Longer answer: I am obsessed with backpacks because they are never complete on their own; what’s inside a backpack is always changing. An accessory that’s a companion, waiting for you to put yourself inside and to go an adventure. Maybe it’s a small journey. Maybe it’s an epic journey. But a backpack is the perfect vessel to you help you carry your things. When you want to know about the journey that a traveler is on, you can ask them what’s in their backpack, and you’ll learn more than you ever wanted to know.  Sometimes we share openly what we are carrying in our backpacks. Sometimes we don’t dare share what we are carrying with us. I love looking down a crowded sidewalk and seeing lots of people walking with their backpacks. It’s mysterious. What journey are they on? What have they chosen to put in their bags?

How do you decide which art and themes to feature?

Rusty Kocian, co-founder of Badass Backpacks, leads our creative process for exploring art, artists, and project themes. At the beginning, we overwhelmed ourselves with beautiful lists of possibilities— the number of themes to explore became endless. To help us focus and right size our signal-to-noise ratio, Rusty created a process that we use at our weekly creative sessions. That process facilitates conversations and discovery centered on 6 things: Art, Theme, Story, Gift, Tribe, and Movement. We want these 6 things to go into the design and creation of the bag, and we want the bag that we create to generate these 6 things.

Why is presentation in your packaging important?

Packaging gives our bags an extra touch, and we absolutely consider it to be important. Many people who buy our bags are buying them as a gift, and so when it arrives, we want the person opening it to feel special. We also want them to pause, even if just for a moment. We want our packaging to grab their attention. “Wait!”, the packaging screams—this might be important. We want the experience of owning and using a Badass Backpack to give the wearer some comfort in asking big questions—big questions about the world, and big questions about their own journey. Intentional and beautiful packaging is the start of that journey, and in such a fast-paced world that we live in, we want our packaging to slow down the person opening it.

Do you have a success tip for other new business startups or makers?

Yes. The following advice is derived from a Seth Godin open Q&A session that I attended years ago.  It’s advice that helped me greatly: Go buy a notebook, or grab some scratch paper, and go to a cafe (best if it’s a cafe you don’t normally go to), and sit down with a blank page, and write down what you’re scared of. Ask yourself sincerely, and explore closely: “What am I scared of?” Now then, if you are a human being, it is very likely that 10 minutes or less into this exercise, you have already gotten distracted and drifted off, the mind procrastinating. When you catch yourself drifting off, come right back to the notes you started, and now ask yourself this question again. What am I really scared of, right now? But…answer for real this time. Spend time coming to understand the challenges, the unknowns, and the hardest parts of what you are about to do. Fear. Explore it closely for as much time as you can, and be honest with yourself. When you are done, look at your page. You now have an important list in front of you. What are you going to do about it? (source: Seth Godin)

About Adam Lemmon:

At rest and at ease Adam is an impassioned modern impresario, weaving together resources and opportunities to put on a show. During his 15-year career in the world of SaaS platforms, he delivered training sessions and strategic consulting dotted with observations, insights, and metaphors that always left his clients wanting more. Improvisational theater, artistic self-expression, and a pension for making anything and everything more interesting all fuel Adam’s need to march to his own drum. As the owner and founder of Badass Backpacks, Adam is striving to connect the dots between creating beauty and creating life-changing experiences for our customers and the world of which we are all a part. You’ll find him at the many cafes that dot the map of Austin, TX, where he lives, loves, works, and plays with his family. Adam and his wife, Nancy Lemmon, are learning and growing with their 3 children, Hudson, Phoenix, and Alejandra.

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About Badass Backpacks, LLC:

Badass Backpacks is a collaborative art project dedicated to self expression and creating connection through conversations. We make art-inspired bags that are ready for adventure. Badass Backpacks believes that your backpack can be more than just a backpack.  We believe that it can be expressive and thought provoking. We believe that it can be a companion on your journey; that it can remind you to ask big questions, and it can remind you to put yourself inside each step of the way.

We seek to build bridges—connected experiences and products worthy of starting a conversation—helping our community find more ways to tell their stories. And giving them a bag for that journey. We are based in Austin, TX, and all of our bags are crafted with love, made right here in the USA.

Contact info for Adam Lemmon: adam@badassbackpacks.com badassbackpacks.com, Blog, LinkedIn.

We love our custom tissue paper customers, since we know that they agree with us about one essential truth: packaging and presentation are important! Often makers have a vision for how their product could look when it gets into the hands of their customers, and they need custom packaging to bring their vision to life. We love to help makers to retain their special, handmade feel by creating custom tissue paper for their packaging. Digiwrap Customer PocketJo wanted to wrap her beautiful aerial-themed jewelry with love, so she chose a repeat logo pattern for her tissue paper packaging. It turned out great!

After exploring her model-made jewelry site, we fell in love with her story and product. She is “PocketJo” because her model-making course at University had three Jos. To distinguish her from the other Jos, they called her “Pocket Jo” because she’s so small and cute you could put her in your pocket. She makes jewelry based on her other unique love—circus! Learn more about her shop below.

Why did you choose aerial acrobatics as your main subject matter?

It's a beautiful art form, and I couldn't find very many places offering accessories related to it so I thought I could try and create some pieces and see what happened.

How did you get into jewelry and model making?

I have a BA(Hons) in Model Making from UCA. I have enjoyed making things from an early age and had the bonus of having a very creative Grandmother who let me make a mess on her kitchen table.

Why are you passionate about your shop?

It's something I've built myself and I have already learned so much in the short time its been up and running. I hope to keep improving it and make something that can supply people with lovely gifts and special, unique things for themselves.

What inspires you when you are designing something new?

I love contrasting shapes, colors, and textures and try to use more than one material in each design that compliments the other. I also love to capture the energy of motion and movement.

Why is presentation in your packaging important?

I want every purchase to be exciting and to make every customer feel special. I want them to know and to feel that care and attention has gone into each and every order.

Do you have a success tip for other makers?

Make what you enjoy—it will come through in your work and it will never be wasted time.

What do you do for fun?

I have started classes in aerial silks over the last few months which gives me even greater respect for the professionals!