Budcozy Holiday Gift Specials!

Order by Dec 10 on Budcozy.com
• Buy 3, get 1 free
• Free shipping on orders over $30

Why give Budcozy?

It's a unique and affordable gift:
A great stocking stuffer or gift for hard-to-buy-for friends,
family, guys, and work pals. Only $15 each.

It solves an everyday problem:
Keeps your earbuds from tangling without all the winding.

Made from sustainable fabrics:
Bamboo, hemp, organic cotton and upcycled fabrics are
better for the environment.

Handmade in San Francisco:
Buying handmade and local is good for everyone. Avoid
chain stores. Support indie crafters and small biz.

Please help spread the word, pass this special along!

www.budcozy.com

Budcozy Retail Location!

I'm trying a new venue for Budcozy... Ceiba Records and Fashion on Haight Street in San Francisco. Ceiba is an eclectic boutique of independent designers with styles that range from steam punk to wood nymph, and whatever falls in between. I have a hard time walking out empty handed.

Ceiba Records
1364 Haight St
(between Central Ave & Masonic Ave)

Yelp Reviews: Ceiba
Yelp Reviews: Budcozy

Online Marketing & Selling Tips

I've been keeping my eye out for online resources about marketing that can help someone like myself (a small independent online merchant). I've been blogging here about my product and the things that interest me as a small business and artist/crafter. I've got a Budcozy Yelp page, Twitter, Facebook, Etsy and my Budcozy store. I will be launching my Cartfly store in the fall (disclaimer: I work for Cartfly). There is a ton of buzz going around about what is next for ecommerce... and as soon as I can, I'll be writing about what Cartfly has cooking under the lid.

Here's The Viral Garden's Top 5 Marketing & Social Media Blogs:

1 - Seth's Blog
2 - CopyBlogger
3 - Chris Brogan
4 - Search Engine Guide
5 - Logic + Emotion

Go to The Viral Garden for the whole list of 25...

I want to be in green gift guides!

Would love to get Budcozy in upcoming gift guides. Green gift guides would be especially great. Any advice, leads, contacts or suggestion would be appreciated!

I've had my eye on these and am eager for contacts:

Yahoo! Green Holiday Gift Guide

Treehugger: Buy Green

Etsy: Gift Guides: Environmentally Friendly

Splendora

Design*Sponge: gift guide: eco-friendly

iLounge: All things iPod, iPhone, iTunes

Mighty Goods: Shopping Blog

Branch: Sustainable Design Living

Budcozy on Etsy

Taking Etsy for spin this morning. Curious if I can get any traction in their busy marketplace. The Geekery Category isn't as saturated as others, so I'm hoping this works in my advantage.

I've had my Etsy MissJenny shop since 2006 when I was painting. Dusted it off today with Budcozy. The site has evolved so much in the last 2 years. The user experience for adding products and store information is really tight. Really nice to use a tool that is really usable. Definitely lots to learn from their progress.

Found their Etsy Mini, but not finding it very useful. I definitely have my own thoughts on what they should do here ;)

Hands Free California with Budcozy

The day is arriving (tomorrow) that California drivers need to use their cell phones hands free. In comes my shameless plug, those of us with iPhones and earbud headsets can keep those pesky wires tangle free and ready for hands free action with... Budcozy. Seriously folks, it’s a great little accessory that solves an every day problem. Last thing we need is a bunch of drivers distracted by tangled earbud headsets. Sure there are other options available, but budcozy is stylish and cute. Case in point, overheard at an office: guy #1 “Why are you wearing that in here?” guy #2 “it’s my bluetooth headset, duh” guy#1 “dude, take that ridiculous shit off. please.”

More info on this law here at the SF Examiner: Put your cell phone down and drive — or face the penalties.

And reference back to a previous post that our nations top brain surgeons don’t put their cell phones up to their ears and use wire headsets instead...

Budcozy at Mission Indie-Mart, July 27

I'm very excited for budcozy’s first craft fair, the Mission Indie-Mart.

“The Mission Indie-Mart is a bi-monthly marketplace that has quickly grown from an underground backyard shopping party into a popular monthly event featuring a tantalizing combination of shopping, music, and food. This event showcases truly independent local designers, offering everything from one of a kind fashions and reconstructed vintage to offbeat crafts, handmade jewelry and fun antiques. Enjoy cheap beer, hot plates, local DJs and the cream of the crop of SF’s indie designer scene.”

It’s a big step for me. Lots to figure out in the next few weeks. Success today at Daniel’s Display on Market. Miranda gave me the scoop on Daniel’s when I asked about her hat display. Each step along the way with this new business is such a learning experience. Paula also threw me a great tip on a new local production company. Will definitely be checking them out, if the fair goes well. At the very least it will be a fun day with bbq, drinks and djs.

Will post more deets when it gets closer to July 27.

eCommerce Widget

This falls under dual research for both budcozy and my day job. Lemonade is a widget that lets you select products to embed in your blog or social network. It's like a navigable ad. There are a variety of brands including Apple and the Gap and a bunch of categories like electronics, kitchen, apparel, books, movies and more. I found a few products that I have, and can recommend. I'm pretty sure the solar panel is the one my sister took to Uganda with her, and will be leaving several behind with the school she's visiting.

It was a good learning experience to see what they do well with the user experience, and what falls short. Food for thought.

iPhone Earbud Review by Derek

While I don't know Derek personally, we run in similar circles here in SF and I've been enjoying his blog for years. Today he posted a review of iPhone earbuds. He hasn’t found the perfect pair yet, but I may have to try his current recommendation to see if they work well with budcozy. Another friend also sent me a thorough review of his experience trying budcozy with the Sony EX71s. In his opinion it wasn't an ideal match due to the exceptionally long 2-3 feet of wire and a right-angle connector. He got it to work by disconnecting the middle coupler and feeding it through “backwards”. A bit unintuitive, which is good to know and something I will add to product information in the store.

Debate Over Cellphones and Cancer

I'm a bit hesitant to post about this NYT article because there really aren't hard facts yet on this topic. But to be honest this controversy is partly why I use my earbud headset with my phone and why I originally got frustrated with the tangled wires and came up with budcozy in the first place.

Plus, Dr. Keith Black is someone I saw speak once and he blew me away. He presented his research work on brain tumors and how he developed a sort of vaccine using a patients own cancer cells. Or something like that. I tried finding the video of his talk to link to but I think that was before the conference offered the presentations online.

Of note in this article:
“Last week, three prominent neurosurgeons told the CNN interviewer Larry King that they did not hold cellphones next to their ears. “I think the safe practice,” said Dr. Keith Black, a surgeon at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, “is to use an earpiece so you keep the microwave antenna away from your brain.”

“For people who are concerned about any possible risk, a simple solution is to use a headset. Of course, that option isn’t always convenient, and some critics have raised worries about wireless devices like the Bluetooth that essentially place a transmitter in the ear.”

“We cannot say with any certainty that cellphones are either safe or not safe,” Dr. Black said on CNN. “My concern is that with the widespread use of cellphones, the worst scenario would be that we get the definitive study 10 years from now, and we find out there is a correlation.”

Experts Revive Debate Over Cellphone and Cancer

Eco Friendly Envelopes

Wow, now that's an exciting blog title. I figured that while I patiently wait for the Life Box to be available I could look around for other options available now. Tons of recycled post consumer waste envelopes, which is good and what I'll continue to order. But ideally I'd like find something more than that.

Ecoenvelopes
Ideal for mailing things like bills that include the need to send a reply payment. Made from a minimum of 30% post consumer waste (PCW) content and use soy and water-based inks and bio cell window films. Nice blog. And a nice logo, too.

Brown Bag Envelopes
100% recycled using post consumer waste. I started off mailing budcozy with a batch of similar brown bag envelopes, but the glue was horrible and didn't seal properly. But I'd be open to trying another brand like this one.

Paperboard Mailer
These look interesting. Made from 100 percent hand-sorted, recycled fiberboard (containing 95 percent post-consumer paper). This is a more sturdy almost cardboard looking mailer. Especially good for sending more than one budcozy at a time.

I found these envelopes all accounted for on ActionEnvelope. In the short time I searched, they look to be the online resource for eco-friendly envelopes. Plus they practice what they preach.

Paul Stamets's Life Box Packaging

Life Box video stills from TED|Talks.

I've been wanting to package budcozy with eco-friendly materials that go beyond it's first purpose. Paul Stamets's Life Box is exactly it. When will this be available? Anything else on the market like this?

Capsule Design Festival

I'm considering branching out and selling budcozy at the Capsule Design Festival here in SF. It presents a big challenge of how to display budcozy and get a booth together. Luckily I have a couple friends who have been doing this for years, so I'm hoping to get some valuable guidance. On another level, it's a bit scary. What if I'm that booth that no one stops by, that vacant booth that repels everyone, that booth worker staring eagerly at everyone who passes by? DailyCandy was a big boost for the confidence. But I really need to have thick skin to brave the potential less rosey side. I suppose it's good to know sooner rather than later. And there is nothing like face to face feedback to find out. I've been pretty comfortable being a designer behind my computer. This is very different.

Searching online for booth ideas isn't coming up with much. I took some photos at the Union Street Festival last weekend, but that was a bit underwhelming. Devin had a great idea to pin up budcozys on cork boards. I've also seen cute stands made out of tree twigs, sort of like sling shots standing in an upright "Y". Or maybe wooden clothing pins, or contrasting the tangle-free life with budcozys with tangled yarn, or birds nests. If anyone is reading this, feel free to shoot me any vendor booth ideas.

Hello? Oh boy, the nerves are already getting the best of me.

Recycling Jeans

The Jesse budcozy, coming soon...

I'm looking forward to finding some time to finish up the next limited edition budcozy. These will be made from a bunch of jeans and some vintage-style red buttons. Thinking her name will be Jesse. The jeans shown here are Miss Sixty's. I've also got some Paper Demin Cloth and Sevens ready to go. Might also do a second button option for a more gender neutral look, something along the lines of a metal rivet.

Recycling tshirts, dresses and jeans has been a good way to keep this project interesting. I've been looking at my wardrobe in a whole new way. MJ has been a loyal scissor ninja, keeping me motivated, and supplying her friends with budcozys. One of them even sent me something from their closet to try. I can see this becoming a really fun aspect. If only I had clones of myself and didn't enjoy sleeping so much. Plus, the new-ish day job has been really interesting and keeps me plenty busy by itself.

Things I'm Searching For. Any Advice?

Professional Snapper
Little did I know that most small sewing shops refuse to install snaps. I tried a local button and pleating company for my recent batch of budcozys but this experience was not ideal. After a series of attempts, they ended up doing an acceptable job but it was too painful to work with them.

Organic Cotton Clothing Tags
Do these even exist? Or possibly in some other sustainable fiber? I'm pretty much out of my tags, and before ordering more I'd like to try to get them in an eco-friendly form. UPDATE: A great idea came in via comments. Wanted to explain a bit about the tag. It's an integral and functional element to help pull budcozy up/down, so while there are other great solutions to branding the budcozy I definitely want to keep the tag. But overall something to figure out ...

New Things

Now that I've expanded into the sewing and eco-business world, there is a whole slew of online resources I've been collecting.

Greener Printer, in Berkeley
Once I'm ready to move on from my ink jet printer I'll be looking for a professional resource. This company is 100% wind powered, certfied green, and use soy and vegetable based inks.

JHB Buttons
Tons and tons of buttons you can order online.

The Button Drawer
More buttons.

1% For the Planet
Another item for my to-do list.

Trademark Information
If you are suffering from insomnia and need a good trick to help yourself fall asleep, then this is the place for you.

Clothing Labels 4 U
Affordable fabric tags in smaller units if you're just starting out.

budcozy <3 u

A couple people out on the internets have seen the light, and believe in a world of tangle-free earbuds. And I heart them.

The Next Hottest Model
Budcozy is the newest accessory that is truly functional, it slides over your ipod cords and keeps them from getting tangled. And what makes Budcozy different is that it is made from natural materials like hemp, bamboo and organic cotton. Retails at 15. You don't have to be the world's top model to know the comfort and convenience that Budcozy offers can actually change and enhance your entire Ipod experience.

Eco Smart Style

Budcozy is a hand crafted accessory that slides over your iPod and iPhone earbud cords to keep them from getting tangled up. Made from all natural fibers like hemp, bamboo and organic cotton when possible, budcozys are manufactured in San Francisco. Cute, stylish and affordable at $15 each, it's a great gift for yourself or that iPod user in your family.

This Next, by hanahula
Every time I go out for a run I somehow manage to dislodge my earbuds from my iPod. Just one of life's little annoyances . . . but one that now has a cute solution: the budcozy. I like the Samantha (made in hemp with pink trim) but you can choose from denim, bamboo and cotton designs too.

Fernanda Zaffari
Rough translation: The Budcozys was an excellent invention to finish with rolled up wires them earphones them MP3, besides being a perfect accessory to load the device. It is alone to place the phones in the Budcozys and to incase wires separating one of the other. Beyond that the Budcozys is fashionable and is seeming an accidental super necktie. Still more with the neutral tones that do not ruin the disguise. The Budcozy is manufactured from organic staple fibers and renewed.

Grassshopper1995
Love these!! So I just bought two of these (Pow! and Slate) and I think they are the coolest thing ever. Why didn't I think of it!

To outer space and back to the couch

It was one of those busy-fast weekends and we were excited to get everything accomplished. D has been swamped at work so this was a necessary break to get recharged by seeing some great stuff other people are up to. We started the day off with a hike up to Twin Peaks with Lucy. We are really lucky to be able to walk right out the front door and just keep going up until we've reached the top like the surface of another planet. Spring is so here with butterflies, birds, alien weeds and flowers. It was so windy up there that Lucy's ears flew back like she was riding a motorcycle.

Once we got back down to earth, we bused into town to load up with a super taco and horchada and head to the historic Armory building. It was open to the public for the Mission Bazaar, an exhibition of art, design, music and performance. We drive by that place often and someone usually makes a comment about what sordid things go on in there. In 2006 it was purchased for $14.5 million by an adult production internet company, giving the ominous Moorish Castle style building on a edgy intersection an even grittier presence. So we have been really curious to see the inside. It was like walking back in time into an old airplane hanger, lots of brick and steel and huge windows with bright sunlight streaming into the dark space. Most of the vendors were clothing and accessories, with a burningman-steampunk-hippie aesthetic. I got a super cute red and cream striped wrist band made from a vintage tie, with a single silver snap. D tried on a tiny victorian top hat, which made him look like something out of Alice in Wonderland. I think I should get him one. We bumped into a friend who makes films. A favorite local clothing designer of mine was there, Miranda Caroligne. I'd really love to get to the point where budcozy could be part of an event like this. I was inspired to get back to work on some new limited editions themes. American Cupcake sent me a link to the Union Street Faire in a couple weeks, which happens to be an eco theme, but it's hard to swallow the $650 booth fare. Being creatures of habit and feeling a bit overloaded by the bazaar, we walked over to La Copa Loca for waffle cones of hazelnut sorbet and sat on the sidewalk to charge up for evening plans.

The rest of the weekend went like this:

Wes Scoop at the Marsh
Hard to cover the 90 min show, I kept wanting to write things down but didn't want to miss anything. One thing I remember him saying is the answer to our nations problems is to acknowledge our predicament and engage in an intentional decline with a Reverse Peace Corps, to learn how to siesta and make tasty dishes from rice and beans. Remember to breathe. Unlearn our overachieving.

icanhaz
An honest attempt to icanhazcheezburgers but gravitational pull of the couch won. Instead we went to witness with our own eyes a really big crossover moment between the internets and reality.

Opera.

That butterfly
More collisions between worlds with the butterfly from the hike now firmly embeded in a mural. It stopped me in my tracks.

Free samples
In between giant boxes of cereal, a moment of bliss at Costco: toasted ham-n-cheese croissant sammie samples.

iPhone
A new iPhone case that goes real cute with the Pow budcozy. But I find myself looking at my iPhone wanting to take a picture of my phone with my phone. Need to track down the camera.

Series of amazing events
D got 2 pairs of jeans and 1 pair sneaks, without even trying. Do you know how amazing that is? We were so tired and hungry but you just can't stop when shopping karma strikes. Nutella-banana crepe post spree prepared us for MUNI home. And then the most amazing series of events happened. The J arrived immediately. Only one crazy person on board talking into a cellphone with no one at the other end. It did not break down. I do not kid. Then as we sat waiting for our transfer on the 48 to take us home (estimated 17 min), Hoshi appeared out of nowhere in a skid and waved us aboard to deliver us to our door.

More couch.

Buttons and Smoothies

Fabric Outlet on Mission Street is my favorite fabric store. First of all, the staff is so incredibly friendly. They never rush you and always have helpful advice. I don't go on the weekends so that might help. Second, they have great sales and always a huge bin of discount and discontinued buttons for super cheap. One of the staff helped me dig through the bin and I got a bunch of red vintage style buttons for a denim limited edition budcozy I'm working on. The store is a bit worn around the edges but that gives it some old school character. I like how you enter on street level down a wide and open staircase which gives you a birds eye view of the store. Today, I stopped in to pick up my order of Samantha budcozy heart buttons and more pipe cleaners. MJ came with me and petted bolts of fabric in their vast furry section while sipping her berry bliss smoothie.

We got smoothies from a small window on a street I will not name. I hope this place stays quiet because even in today's heatwave there wasn't much of a wait. They seem to have steady business but it would really suck if it became as bad a wait like Sushi Zone (which I miss dearly). I had my usual fave, banana and acai. Yum.

Hemp Factoid

Wiki says: "Hemp requires little to no pesticides, replenishes soil with nutrients and nitrogen, controls erosion of the topsoil, and produces lots of oxygen, considering how fast it grows. Furthermore, Hemp could be used to replace many potentially harmful products, such as tree paper (the process of which uses bleaches and other toxic chemicals, apart from contributing to deforestation), cosmetics (which often contain synthetic oils that can clog pores and provide little nutritional content for the skin), plastics (which are petroleum based and cannot decompose), and more."

While hemp is still illegal to grow in the US, I get my hemp fabric (and bamboo and organic cotton) from a local SF importer Pickering International.