Today we’d like to introduce you to Karla Cazares.
Hi Karla, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Mabel’s Creations started a long time ago around 2008, but it has evolved and changed a couple of times since then. I started with cakes and cupcakes and moved on to hair bows and finally progressed to what I am doing today. I make shirts, decorated tumblers, stickers, and paper items, such as cake toppers and garlands. Those products have also evolved since I first started making them because it was a lot of trial and error. When I started my shirts, I had a vision of how I wanted them to look, but I had no clue how to get there. I tried different techniques from ironing on vinyl and then adding an iron-on photo to finally discovering the process I use today. I enjoy what I do and the challenges it brings, from finding supplies to perfecting a technique, it’s all a process. When I first started, I would purchase a lot of Starbucks cold cups, such as the different seasonal releases, and I would be afraid to waste them, thinking that whatever design I put on them might not be what the customer wanted and that help me back a lot. Eventually, I decided to go for it and just put a design on the cups and hope they would sell at farmers’ markets or pop-ups. And it worked I was surprised with the response for my cups that I just started to trust my own judgment regarding the designs. It wasn’t until I combined my love of baseball and creativity that I really found my place to shine. That is why I make so many Padres designs because I feel that it sets me apart from everyone else. I’m most popular during baseball season, but I’ve noticed that being a sports fan is a year-round thing so Christmas and holidays are also busy times for me.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has definitely not been a smooth ride at all. Most of the issues I’ve had have been with supply. At times it has been difficult to get what I need from suppliers, because of either shortages or the fact that I am a small business and suppliers want businesses that purchase thousands of dollars a month. I use special iron-on sublimated paper for my shirts. It has gotten very popular and it is often sold out or shipping takes over a week. I have also struggled with finding the correct process to get the best results. The paper I mentioned works best with a specific printer, a very expensive printer, but when I first started, I couldn’t afford this printer. So, I opted for a cheaper version but it would ruin so many sheets of the expensive paper I eventually decided that the cost of printer was far less than the ruined material. Now I don’t have as many issues with the printer but still struggle with supply. I also struggle with space. My home is small and I have four printers, a heat press, three Cricut machines, and all my vinyl, cups, and card stock, not to mention all the supplies of forgotten or discontinued projects. I’m always looking to expand my base products, so there are a lot of projects that I’ve bought supplies for but haven’t gotten around to starting.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I specialize in shirts and stickers right now, but love decorating reusable cups, which is what I started out with. I do a number of projects but I love making shirts and stickers. Everyone loves stickers and I have adjusted my process a couple at times, but I feel that I have finally perfected them. My stickers are made of printable vinyl and have a layer of clear vinyl to keep them waterproof. My stickers leave no residue when they are removed and can be placed again. My shirts are made with a special sublimated iron-on vinyl that is washable and dry-able. The shirts I use are preshrunk and super soft. I use these shirts when I make my lotería shirts. All the San Diego Padres Lotería shirts I make are my designs. These designs are what I’m most proud of, they set me apart from other similar businesses, and what I’m most known for. I’m especially proud of my shirts because it took a long time to get them to how I wanted them to look. I started out with an idea that was inspired by my husband. He always gives everyone a nickname to remember the person’s name. I took that idea and added my culture and that’s how my loteria shirts really came about. For me to make a shirt for a player it has to be requested if it’s not the padres, or they have to do something that makes them unique. I love making shirts for my favorite players as well, even if I just make one shirt for me. It happens often that people see the shirt I’m wearing and ask me for one.
Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
I feel it’s essential to be genuine, kind, and a people person for sure. I love being out in the community and sharing my work with people, which is why I loved doing pop-ups and markets, you meet so many amazing people from different backgrounds and you can learn a lot from them even in a 5-minute conversation.
People come up to me all the time and ask how I make my shirts and I’m glad to let them know. It’s important to support other small businesses and share our knowledge to help other people reach the same level of success. I genuinely love to help other people do what I do. If people need help finding the right paper or the ink, I would be glad to help and share my trial and error. My next step is to start a youtube channel or maybe hold classes to teach people what I do. I want to do tutorials and test out materials because I know when I started, I had no clue what to do, but I learned and I feel I could share that with other people,
Another big one is always be grateful for even the smallest sale because that’s support for what I am doing. Customers sometimes just buy stickers and it’s something that makes them happy and I’m super thankful for the support.
Pricing:
- Stickers are 3/$5
- Shirts are $25 each
- Glass mugs $15
- Starbucks cups $25
- Glitter tumblers $40/$50
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/mabelscreations
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mabelscreation/
- Other: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MabelsCreationsShop?ref=seller-platform-mcnav
