Happy Anniversary

Today is CupKozy's 1st year anniversary on Etsy! 

Since the launch of our Etsy shop, we've been keeping track of the positive impact we have had on our planet by crunching numbers and calculating averages based on real, national statistics. The numbers are in...

In 2008 alone, CupKozy users helped keep ...(drum roll please)... 19,000 lbs of trash out of landfills! WOW - It's a very impressive number isn't it? We thank you and your planet thanks you for making such a huge difference. A sincere thanks to Etsy for giving us a running start in 2008 - we heart you!

We're celebrating with FREE SHIPPING on Etsy and our official website, www.CupKozy.com on December 31st and January 1st (ends at midnight 1/1/09 - Pacific time)

Oh behalf of team CupKozy, I wish you all a happy new year and please remember to drink responsibly - your coffee, that is!

 

Stay kozy out there ;)

-Dinah 

We're still here!

Hey there. We haven't posted to the blog in a while, I know. This was CupKozy's very first holiday season and we've been busier than we had anticipated! We've been sewing our fingers off, filling great big orders like this one...

You're looking at an order of 150 CupKozys, packed and ready to ship. This should give you an idea of what it has been like around here lately. We haven't even had time to put away the Thanksgiving pumpkins! We plan to kick-off 2009 with some new colors and prints that we'll be offering on our official website and Etsy shop in January. 

CupKozy's 1st year anniversary is on December 31st and we'll be celebrating the occassion with a special, so stay tuned for more info on that during the next few days.

In the meantime, we wish everyone a wonderful holiday season!

-Team CupKozy

Hurry!

Get the perfect stocking stuffer for the coffee / tea lover in your life - for under $10!

www.CupKozy.com

Take the pledge.

I pledge to make or buy handmade gifts this holiday season. Why buy handmade? It's simply better for the environment.

 

"The accumulating environmental effects of mass production are a major cause of global warming and the poisoning of our air, water and soil. Every item you make or purchase from a small-scale independent artist or crafter strikes a small blow to the forces of mass production." -  buyhandmade.org

Just one more reason to buy CupKozys for your loved ones this holiday season!

!

As of today, we've had 400 sales at our Etsy shop! 

Woo-hoo!!!!!

Starbucks is rewarding voters

I'm SO nervous about the election tomorrow! Please go out there and cast your votes.

It's a privilege we can no longer take for granted :)

7-Election

7-11 is allowing their coffee-drinking customers to weigh in on the presidential election by letting people choose an Obama or McCain cup.

The "votes" are being tallied and you can see who's in the lead by going to their website, 7-election.com. What a great idea!

Wishing Willow

CupKozy is proud and honored to be featured in today's edition of the Wishing Willow blog!

We are sponsoring a give away over there, so check them out and subscribe to Wishing Willow for a chance to win a free CupKozy! While you're there, be sure to take a look at all of the other beautifully written reviews about wonderful artists and products. They have a knack for finding gorgeous goodies. 

A sincere thanks to Wishing Willow for featuring us. <3

We're in Etsy's Autumn Showcase today!

The CupKozy is one of the products being featured in the Etsy's Autumn Showcase today - Check it out

Halloween is approaching...

Celebrate the first week of Fall by treating yourself to a Day Of The Dead CupKozy! Go to http://www.cupkozy.com/ to check it out ;)

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Happy Autumnal Equinox

Having lived in L.A. all of my life, I've always envied places where people get to experience the spectrum of fall leaves blowing in the crisp, cool, autumn air. For us it's more like a state of mind because the colorful leaves don't show up until early Winter and even then, it's barely noticeable. Despite the lack of a well-defined Autumn, it doesn't keep this Californian from celebrating and taking full advantage of all that it brings. 

I hope everyone out there is enjoying cooler weather and pumpkin spiced lattes!

 

Well, it's just after midnight...

...and as promised, here it is! Available at www.CupKozy.com for a limited time only.

Muhuhahahaha!

Spooky CupKozy teaser!

Something spooky is-a-brewin' in the CupKozy sewing room at this very moment.



Check out http://www.CupKozy.com/ at the stroke of midnight (Pacific time) to find out!

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Spooky CupKozy teaser!

Something spooky is-a-brewin' in the CupKozy sewing room at this very moment.



Check out http://www.CupKozy.com/ at the stroke of midnight (Pacific time) to find out!

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Getting Kozy in L.A.

Our friend Ann submitted this pic of her Cupkozy in action, wrapped around what has got to be the biggest cup of coffee I've ever seen! 

Proof that the CupKozy is truly universal in size :)

Thanks Ann!

CupKozy SALE this weekend!

We're celebrating the last days of Summer with a WEEKEND SALE! From Saturday 9/6/08 to Sunday 9/7/08 (*midnight) enjoy $1.00 OFF all CupKozys! Our limited edition tees will also be marked down!

We need to clear out old stock and make room for some new items that we'll be releasing very soon. CupKozys make great gifts, especially when paired with a Starbucks gift card or any gift card, for that matter!

Be sure to stop by this weekend and do a little shopping for yourself or a fellow coffee lover ;)

www.CupKozy.com

Silent Auction and other news...

We recently donated a CupKozy to a silent auction being held to help raise money for the family of Stephanie and Christian Neilson, who are in a coma, recovering from severe burn injuries following an airplane crash in Arizona about two weeks ago. You can read more about it here.

The winning auction bid for the CupKozy was $35! Not too shabby for one little ol' CupKozy :)

I'm happy we could help this family in need and I'm really enjoying the charitable side of business lately. We don't have a whole lot to give since we're still a small company but we try to give what we can.

In other CupKozy news, we'll be launching some new colors on Monday so be sure to check out our website next week! I would also like to remind everyone that a very cool Halloween Cupkozy will be making an appearance very very soon. We hope the suspense isn't driving you too crazy.

*Muhuhahahaha* 

Til then, keep it kozy!

Donating felt scraps to an Elementary school

Today CupKozy did something really good. We donated a giant bag of felt left over from our production process, to Sylman Elementary School. They are local to us here in Van Nuys and they will use the felt to supplement their Kindergarten and 1st grade arts & crafts supplies.

Below is a letter I enclosed for the school's vice Principal:

"8/27/2008
Greetings!

I am the founder and CEO of CupKozy.com. We make an eco-friendly, reusable coffee sleeve to replace disposables. During our fabrication process we end up with residual pieces of wool felt, which is what our product is mostly made of. We've been storing it, trying to think of the perfect way to re-use these extra bits of material. The first thing that came to mind was all of those fun, felt, art projects that we used to make in elementary school!

I decided the best thing to do was to donate the felt to a school so that students can use it to create their own little masterpieces while helping the school promote art education without having to fund every single art supply. At the same time, the school will be helping our company achieve greener business practices by repurposing the felt, allowing us to minimize the amount of landfill “waste” that we are generating. We hope you'll agree this is a win-win situation for us and our struggling planet.

We would love to eventually see images of how your school's young, imaginative minds transform the materials we have provided. It would be amazing for us to see and share this with our online visitors and customers.

Thank you so much for accepting this donation. It means a lot to us and we really hope you enjoy it!

Best regards,
Dinah O."

I just got back from dropping the felt off at the school. I gotta tell you, it feels really good. REALLY good. :)  Now, let's see what they make with it!
Stay tuned...

CupKozy featured on Outblush.com

For months, I've been religiously perusing a women's lifestyle blog called Outblush.com. Some of you guys might be familiar with the male equivalent of this blog, Uncrate.com. 

This lifestyle blog covers all of the latest and greatest products out there, from gadgets, to clothing and everything in between. Other fashion/trend/lifestyle bloggers look to Outblush for content on a daily basis and often duplicate their posts all across the web. I've often thought, "Wow, it would be SO awesome if the CupKozy was featured on that blog, or any blog that comes remotely close to Outblush". Well, Imagine the look on my face when, to my surprise...



There we are! Somebody pinch meeeeee :)
This is a really big deal.
REALLY big!

Heh!

Frugal Green Living Blog Mention

Written by Frugal Green Living:

"I understand the usefulness of paper cups, sometimes you just plain forget your thermal mug. Maybe it is in the dishwasher, or on the counter next to the coffee maker. You may have forgotten to bring it home yesterday and it is now fermenting on your desk. More than likely you left it on the hood of the car before you drove off. (What? I can’t be the ONLY one beside the people in commercials, right?)

Well if you have a cup emergency and resort to paper, don’t grab one of those paper insulating rings. You know the contraptions that keep you from burning your hands on that cup of essential morning elixer.

Grab a CUP KOZY"

Yay! Thanks for the cool blog mention, Frugal Green Living!

The site is LIVE!

I am excited to announce that the CupKozy website is now officially live! Come on over and take a look, won't you?

WWW.CUPKOZY.COM

It's been a while!

I know, it's been awfully quiet in the CupKozy blog but I have a few excellent reasons:

1. A new series of color combos are a-brewin' over at the cupkozy factory (if you wanna call my little sewing room a "factory").

2. We've been working hard to refine the production process while maintaining the handmade nature of the CupKozy. Not an easy task I tell you! The good thing is that we've been making great progress on that front.

3. The next seasonal CupKozy will be a Halloween themed version with an awesome print (screen-printed by hand, of course). Can't wait!

4. We just got a new batch of T-shirts in new colors that we'll be offering in conjunction with the launch of the CupKozy website. That's right, we're launching our very own website, not affiliated with Etsy! Aww, CupKozy is growing up.

The bottom line: Lots going on behind the scenes and LOTS OF NEW COLORS coming late Summer/ early Fall. Always a very exciting thing around these parts.

Hey, we excite easily!

Stay Kozy, my friends ;)

Eco Gift Showcase on Etsy

CupKozy is proud to be featured in Etsy's Environmentally Friendly Gift Guide / Showcase! Check it out :)

Summer SALE!

We're celebrating the beginning of Summer by having a sale today! All CupKozys are $5 (Regularly priced at $7-$9).
Also, to celebrate the launch of our new T-shirts, we're including a FREE CupKozy with the purchase of any T-shirt!

Be sure to take advantage because this SALE ENDS AT 12 MIDNIGHT (Est)!
WWW. CUPKOZY. COM

Muy caliente

Yeah. It's HOT in Van Nuys. 91 indoors and 104 outdoors. Yowza!

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Custom Kozys

Ever since I started offering custom embroidery for the CupKozy, I've gotten some interesting requests. Most recently, I got a request for the quote you see pictured here. I really like this one. Makes me wanna have a cuppa cwoffee right now!



In case you still don't know what a CupKozy is: http://www.CupKozy.com/



:)

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Tee-hee

I love this funny little e-card, especially since I'm a simple girl when it comes to ordering a drink at Starbucks :)

Check out the rest of their inappropriately funny e-cards at www.someecards.com

Father's Day CupKozy

I am currently offering a custom embroidered CupKozy for Father's Day. Get your favorite dad's name or nickname embroidered on any one of our CupKozys! For more details, visit the shop: www.cupkozy.com



SHIPPING DEADLINE IS JUNE 9TH, SO HURRY! :)

New prints and colors!

Designer-inspired CupKozy prints and new solid color combos available!

View other new colors and designs over at our online shop.
Stay tuned for even MORE new CupKozy goodies coming very soon :)

Customer appreciation :)

A few days ago, one of my lovely customers shared some pictures showing her CupKozy attached to her backpack! See the little guy rolled-up on the right side?

The picture was submitted by Emily who is a student at San Jose State University and is also a Starbucks regular. As a matter of fact, she's a shift manager there! She really knows just how many disposable sleeves they go through every day.

"I can't always keep up with cleaning my travel mugs so the kozy is perfect little way to help with America's waste problem."

In addition to expressing how much she enjoys her kozy, she also informed me that she recently organized a raffle to win a fantastic Earth Day basket containing lots of Earth friendly products. The CupKozy was one of those products and the winner just loved it!

How awesome is that?
Thanks Emily!

-Team Kozy <3

Atten-HUT!

When I see a batch of CupKozys lined up and ready to get shipped out, I feel like I'm preparing to send a bunch of little soldiers out into the world to fight the "good fight", so to speak.



Go Kozys!

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

To celebrate our planet we're having a SALE on all CupKozys! Sale ends at 12 Midnight PST 4/22/08. Visit my shop for more details! www.CupKozy.com

We're also launching a new color today. Grey with sunny yellow accents!

It's easy being green

The U.S. Postal Service is making it super easy for people to recycle their small electronics like PDA's, cell phones, pagers, cameras, etc. Just look in your junk drawer and you're bound to find an old relic that needs recycling. Go and grab one of these free envelopes at your local post office, fill it with the gadget of your choice, seal it and drop it in any mail bin. It already has an adhesive strip AND they don't require any postage! So easy! You gotta love that.

I've already used them on a few broken and outdated gadgets. It feels good :)

What are you waiting for?

-Kozy-D

Getting Kozy in New Jersey

When I started making prototypes for the CupKozy, I often wondered if anybody else would share in my kozy enthisuasm, so I decided to go ahead and produce them and find out! Since the launch of the CupKozy shop I've gotten a ton of positive feedback from happy customers and even a few pictures from them, showing their kozys in action! Here is the latest one, submitted by Jennifer B. in New Jersey...


She purchased quite a few and has been spreading the kozy love all over town! She even told a couple of her local baristas about it and they thought it was a great idea. The next day, she took two kozys with her and gave them to the baristas! What a gal :)

Thanks Jennifer B.!
You're our new best friend!!!

-Team Kozy

P.S. Got a kozy action shot or a kozy story to share? Send it to GetKozy@CupKozy.com :)

A sneak peek at some new CupKozy fabric

that i'll be using in the near future. My talented sis did a great job screen printing these for me. I can't wait to cut into these!

Valentine's Kozy

Introducing the Valentine's day limited edition CupKozy. Black felt with hot pink & light pink accents. Lovely!

Only a few of these were made. Go get yours now!

CupKozy II is here!

One of the biggest challenges I face as the creator of the CupKozy, is helping people remember to actually use them. The cardboard sleeve around a coffee cup is so easily taken for granted and I will admit, there have even been times when I've almost forgotten to use my own Kozy. It definitely takes a little bit of "training", so to speak. As big as this challenge may be, I was determined to find a solution, so I put on my thinking cap and went to work.

I tested out several different prototypes, adding buttons & snaps to try and make the CupKozy more of an accessory. After adding all sorts of hardware, it just didn't have that clean simplicity anymore, so I went back to the drawing board and stripped down my design to keep it compact, lightweight.

Nicknamed the "PortaKozy", the newest member of our collection is a travel version which allows you to roll it up and attach it to your key ring. This makes it even more compact and ready to use whenever that caffeine craving strikes! Once it's rolled up it's about the size of lip balm tube! The metal hook allows you to clip it on and off of your key ring with ease.

Now available on my Etsy shop. Go get yours! http://www.cupkozy.etsy.com

Introducing...

The CupKozy (TM Pending)

A handmade, reusable alternative to the cardboard sleeves typically used at your favorite coffee shop. All are made with felt, chosen for its superior insulating properties and will fit most 12, 16 and 20 oz. disposable coffee cups.

Did you know, If 50 people use a cardboard sleeve twice a week, it adds up to 1000 lbs. of waste per year? Can you imagine the damage being done by the notorious "double-cuppers"? We're here to put a stop to this!

I know that the most effective solution would be for people to carry their own mugs, eliminating the waste completely. The sad truth is, even with the public's renewed interest in the environment, reusable mugs are rarely used at coffee shops. CupKozy offers a realistic and convenient way for people to make a difference.

What better way to protect your hands and your land?

http://www.cupkozy.com/