Sunday, June 2, 2013

Interview with Margaret Chayka of Chef Catering Biz Cards Part 1



Interview with Margaret Chayka Part 1
 
 
Rico:
What's Your Name?

Margaret Chayka :


Rico:
List your shop(s) -

Margaret Chayka :

Chef Catering Biz Cards

Is a business card theme store for chefs, catering, baking and other foodies with an appeal emphasis on women cooks and bakers.

Culinary Note Cards

My Christmas card, sticker, and ornament shop for the same culinary crowd.

Knittingand Sewing

A business card theme store for knitting and sewing crafters, along with "handmade with love" stickers, greeting cards, binders and notebooks for patterns and pattern notes.

Bags a la Carte

Is a non-themed store featuring shoulder bags, wristlets, electronics sleeves and cases, and other carryables and gifts. I love the new Zazzle bags and just wanted to do something fun!



Rico:
How did you find Zazzle?

Margaret Chayka :
I used to have a Cafepress store, so Zazzle came up quite often in forums and such. When I shut down my Cafepress store - let's just say that dictating small designer profits didn't sit well with many of us - Zazzle was the place to go.



Rico:
How long have you been at Zazzle?

Margaret Chayka :
I opened Culinary Note Cards in the summer of 2009 so I could hit the Christmas season. Since I already had a corral of graphics from my former Cafepress store, I was up and running pretty quickly.



Rico:
Are you a ProSeller?
If yes, how long from the time you open a shop until you made it to ProSeller?

Margaret Chayka :
I became a Bronze ProSeller after a year, I believe, and recently graduated to Silver. Although my sales of cards do very well for the holidays, I opened up Chef Catering Biz Cards to get a more steady income from business card sales.



Rico:
What made you decide to open your own store?

Margaret Chayka :
On the "outside" I was a personal chef struggling to find decent marketing materials for my own business, then once I designed my own, started designing them for other chefs and professional foodies I know. Now I've given that up completely to cater to the start-up who wants a great business card without committing to a higher custom design price, and Zazzle products are perfect for that.



Rico:
What makes your shop stand out from the rest?

Margaret Chayka :
I'm pretty much the "it" girl when it comes to women chefs and cooks, and I'm not talking about images of a woman wearing a chef hat. It's about designs with a feminine touch, or a bit of whimsy or humor. As far as my other stores go, these are fairly new, but as a lifetime crafter the Knitting and Sewing store is right up my alley as well, and we'll "have to see" what happens in the new bag shop. As always, your customers will tell you what sells by buying things!



Rico:
How would you describe your design style?

Margaret Chayka :
A crisp, clean style is my preference, but also use retro aspects from the groovy cookbook style of the 60s and 70s; more lately have given in to some vintage elements and shabby chic, which really aren't practical for a long-term "logo" solution, but for a pre-made business card for a year or two - heck, why not?



Rico:
What type of product do you prefer to design?

Margaret Chayka :
Most of my stores are business stores, with lots of business cards - I plan on opening one more niche store this year. The bag store is my "other stuff" store where I don't have to be serious. I'm not a great artist by any means, but business cards are a low commitment artistic outlet that keeps my brain functioning. Everything else is icing.



Rico:
What's the best advise you got when you were starting out?

Margaret Chayka :
The great thing about a place like Zazzle is that you don't need a lot of advice! Didn't ask, didn't get!



Rico:
What was your first Sale (include link)?

Margaret Chayka :

Well, it was this t-shirt with a pig on it, from an old store I decided to let stagnate in favor of Chef Catering Biz Cards.

Tasty pork pig with chef hat t-shirts

Pork, ham, bacon, pork tenderloin...all tasty, and all the meat you crave! who says guys can't wear pink? When it's a pig with a chef hat and involves tasty pork, it's A-OK!

The first business card sold was this measuring spoons one

Measuring spoons cooking utensils business card 1

Black and white baker, baking, cooking, kitchen, culinary utensil measuring spoons with flowers and a little bit of curl to make it pretty. Nice card for a baker, pastry chef, cooking or food business, caterer or other culinary establishment.



Rico:
What medium/tools do you use to create your designs?

Margaret Chayka :
An ancient CorelDraw for every image, and an ancient Photoshop 7 for when a few effects are called for. On a tech scale 1-10, I'd come in as a 3.



Rico:
A few of my Favorite designs from Chef Catering Biz Cards :



Cat emblem paw print pet food chef business card


Cute cat emblem and paw prints pet food chef business cards or 'from my kitchen' gift tag for your homemade pet treats and goodies.



Heart loaf of bread bakery baking business card


Heart shaped bread buns business cards or 'from my kitchen' gift tag for baking or bakery. Two seed-topped loaves of bread with ribbon bow and light, colorful background.



Colorful cake pops baking bakery business cards


Colorful cake pops business card for baker or bakery in pink, purple and green candy stripe colors. You can change the background color, too, and it makes a terrific "from my kitchen" gift tag for finishing touches on gift packages.



vintage butterfly fork chef catering business card


Vintage, shabby chic style butterfly fork business cards for chefs, cooks, personal chefs, caterer or catering, cooking classes, cooking lessons, gourmet shop, kitchen store, or other food, cooking, or culinary service. Also makes a neat 'from my kitchen' gift tag for your homemade food gifts or small market food packaging.



The second half of the Interview with Margaret Chayka : will be posted on Wednesday June 5, 2013. So come back for more with Margaret Chayka!


Posted by at
Labels: , , , , ,

3 comments:

  1. UnknownJune 2, 2013 at 8:45 PM

    Terrific interview! There are so many Zazzle stories to be told, and this is the place to find them. Cheers, Marian

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousDecember 2, 2019 at 3:43 AM

    I want you to thank for your time of this wonderful read!!! I definately enjoy every little bit of it and I have you bookmarked to check out new stuff of your blog a must read blog! catering near me

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousDecember 2, 2019 at 5:19 AM

    There's no doubt i would fully rate it after i read what is the idea about this article. You did a nice job.. Napa Valley caterers

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)