Did you know that April is Jazz Appreciation Month? (It’s also Procrastination Awareness Month. Does that mean you should put off your sax practice?)

We have a great selection of jazz related gear. Whether it’s honoring jazz artists like Miles Davis or translating the freedom and improvisation of jazz into bright visuals, we’ve got designs that will be a great way to share your love of the original American music genre.

So kick back, put on some Wynton Marsalis, maybe check out Ken Burns’ excellent Jazz miniseries.

We’ve seen a renewed interest lately in designs and products featuring a certain Emerald City (Sorry, we’re not talking about Seattle). Not to mention sparkly footwear, and Witches both Good and Wicked.

Our Official Wizard of Oz store offers fan gear for the original classic movie, The Wizard of Oz.

The Official Wizard of Oz store is one of our fan portal partnerships, and it has a ton of great products honoring Dorothy, Toto, The Scarecrow, Tin Man, Lion… and yes, the Great and Powerful Oz.

Whether you want a coffee mug that subtly threatens to drop a house on your witchy coworker, or a throw pillow asserting the timeless truth that “There’s No Place Like Home,” we’ve got you covered.

Don’t see that perfect design? No problem. You can sign up for our Design & List program and submit your own Emerald City masterpiece.

We’re proud to announce that once again, we’ll be participating in Autism Awareness Month this April. We’ll be donating 10% of proceeds from products tagged “autismawareness2013” sold through our Marketplace to charity.

The proceeds will be split evenly between two autism-related organizations. We want your input! Help us pick which two will receive these funds by voting for one of the organizations in the survey below by March 8, 2013.

CafePress Autism Awareness Survey

Unfortunately, this week we encountered a problem with leaked promotional codes resulting in canceled custom Crock Pot orders. What follows is an explanation of the situation that resulted in cancelled orders, but first an apology to our customers. Please know we deeply regret the circumstances that led to the cancelation of orders and sincerely apologize for any inconvenience.

The promotional code in question was distributed strictly to the studio audience of 200 who attended the taping of “The Doctors” show on Thursday, January 17th. This promotional code was intended only for that group of attendees. However, it was posted online by someone other than CafePress, and then spread virally.

As soon as we found out this was happening we turned the code off and began the process of sending out cancellation notices for any orders placed outside of the original group of 200 attendees.

If you did not attend the taping and placed an order with this code your order will be canceled.

If you have questions, please contact Customer Service to determine the status of your order. You can also login to your CafePress account and check the status of your order here.

Customer Service – (877) 809-1659 (9-9 EST Mon – Sat) or click here to email us.

Sincerely,
CafePress Customer Service

Are you ready for some football? That’s right football fans, Super Bowl XLVII is Sunday and should be one heckuva game! Being that CafePress is a San Francisco Bay Area company, you know who we’re rooting for, but we’ll try to stay as impartial as we can for this blog post.

The San Francisco 49ers are going for their sixth Super Bowl title and would only be the second team to do so. That’s difficult to do in any professional sport and in my humble opinion, Pittsburgh got lucky when they won both numbers 5 and 6. Did you see that Super Bowl against Seattle? Come on!

The Baltimore Ravens are going for their second Super Bowl title, and this game is marked by the impending retirement of inside linebacker Ray Lewis. The Ravens dismantled the New York Giants in Super Bowl 35, 34-7 for their first Super Bowl win 12 years ago.

Both teams are playing very well. The Ravens had a remarkable victory in Denver and shut down New England. The 49ers dominated the Packers and had a great come from behind win against the Falcons. I expect a very physical game between two very physical teams.

The Ravens key to victory is… BAH! Enough of this impartial talk! Let’s go Niners! Let’s stomp those little birdies into the ground! Frank Gore, Colin Kaepernick, Vernon Davis, Michael Crabtree and Randy Moss are gonna take it to that Ravens defense. And the Smith brothers, Aldon and Justin are going to harass Joe Flacco all day long.

Let’s do this 49ers! Let’s get number six! Niner fans, who’s got it better than us? NOBODY!

Okay Pinterest® fans, we’ve got something fun in store for you. Introducing the CafePress Holiday Pinfest, your chance to win up to $500 in gifts from CafePress. How do you win? Just create a board on Pinterest featuring nothing but your favorite CafePress Inc. merchandise for your chance to win.

Need some more t-shirts and sweatshirts? Maybe the moving truck broke all of your funny movie quote mugs? Or maybe you’re the type that likes to swap out their iPhone® case all of the time? No matter, this sweepstakes has you covered.

To win, all you have to do is:

1. Create a board on Pinterest with a minimum of 10 pins of CafePress products;
2. Tag the board #cafepresspinfest; and
3. Email the board URL and your contact information (name, telephone number and email address) to sweepstakes@cafepress.com with the subject line “Pinterest Holiday Giveaway”.

* The winner will win their entire board (up to 30 products or a $500 value). Please see the official sweepstakes rules for eligibility, limitations and other requirements. So that’s it! Have fun pinning and good luck!

TO:                     United States House of Representatives

FROM:               CafePress

SUBJECT:          Budgetary Savings Proposal – Government Portraiture

DATE:                 November 14, 2012

USA House of Representatives,

As you know, many Americans are concerned about the economy, government spending and the “Fiscal Cliff” our nation faces. As such, I’m sure you can appreciate the surprise many feel when hearing about unusual or unexpected government spending.

This week Jim McElhatton of the Washington Times wrote an article titled “Picture This: Cabinet Portraits For Big Bucks” – which got us thinking – we can help the government save money!

Sample Portrait of President Obama

We write this as an open offer to help the government realign spending on portraiture. We in no way intend to imply that portraits of outgoing Cabinet and top administration appointees are unimportant; to the contrary we are fans of art in all formats. We do however suggest that we can provide a model for saving money on this program.

As an example, the article notes that the Environmental Protection Agency spent approximately $40,000 on a portrait of Administrator Lisa P. Jackson. CafePress can offer similar museum quality art at a savings of 99%. The math breaks down as follows:

• Government commissioned price: $40,000
• CafePress/Canvas on Demand 36X48” canvas – $350 (including shipping)
• Savings – $39,650 or 99%

In addition to cost savings, we can offer speedy service – no more waiting 8-14 months for delivery! All we’ll need to get going is a high-resolution photograph of each official, license to digitally manipulate that photo to create the desired artistic effect, and we can deliver finished art in less than one week.

Last, I would like to add that all canvas art created by CafePress and Canvas on Demand is Made in America, so each portrait purchase from the government helps the economy and helps keep jobs in America.

If you are interested in learning more or discussing this cost savings plan we can be reached at (502) 995-2220.

Sincerely,

CafePress

Rebecca, of West Virginia-based Magic Garden Designs, is the Grand Prize Winner of CafePress’ hugely successful “Most Pressed” Contest. Despite tough competition, Rebecca’s design took off – boldly going where no designer had gone before—to the top of Most-Pressed product board. Congrats Rebecca!

Tea.Earl.Grey

What’s Rebecca’s secret to topping the CafePress Pressboard™ page charts with her out-of-this-world Star Trek™ TNG mug? CafePress got details on her inspiration for the cleverly nuanced design that rewarded her with a brand new iPad!

Rebecca says her boyfriend, a self-proclaimed Trekkie, was her muse for the design. She says he “really wanted a Captain Picard mug.” To embody the essence of the revered character, Rebecca strategically wrapped the mug’s white background in a design inspired by Picard’s uniform then accented it with Captain’s-rank gold buttons and badge. Because Picard is admired for his quotable moments, such as “Engage,” “You have the bridge Number One,” and of course, his well-known beverage machine order, “Tea. Earl Grey. Hot”, Rebecca says it seemed fitting to include it on her Star Trek-inspired mug.

Rebecca is “thrilled” to have won the Press It contest Grand Prize. She says to secure this win, she rallied everyone she knew to “Press” her captain’s mug to the CafePress Pressboards— tweeting, posting to Facebook, emailing…you name it. “I LOVE my new iPad and I’m excited about the marketing suite for Magic Garden Designs,” which will help her continue to build on the success of her CafePress store.

The CafePress Pressboards are “forward-thinking,” says Rebecca. “It gives me the ability to see which of my designs people want to Press, and I find inspiration from other designers’ Pressed products. It helps me track what’s trending (and what’s not) so it keeps me current.”

Captain’s Log: Will Rebecca rally her friends and fans to keep “Pressing” now that the contest is over? “LOL, absolutely!”

Hot Buttons. We’ve all got ‘em—and every single one of us gets our undergarments in a twist about one thing or another. Maybe you’re anti-Romney, anti-“hope,” anti-taxes, anti-second amendment or even just anti-workin’ for a living. Wait—that’s good. Everybody break and put their feet up…excellent!

Point is, people have been voicing complaints, compliments and out-loud observations about society since the term was first coined. Sticking their views right on their lapels via buttons. This habit of button-wearing for a cause actually goes back centuries; even America’s iconic, powder-wigged original leader himself had these campaign tchotchkes to pass out. Yes, way back in 1789, little brass “G.W.—Long live the President” buttons were sewn right onto the jackets of George Washington’s supporters. In 1860, President Lincoln similarly offered up campaign buttons, as did McKinley in 1896, etc., etc.

So, what’s your 2012 issue or passion you’d love to stick out there? Wanna give a shout out for recycling? Trekkie conventions? Your favorite candidate? Whatever it is, we’ve got a button for you (or if not, you can design your own!). That’s the beauty of CafePress—it’s “any button for one, or one button for all. You pick.” Can’t imagine why that slogan hasn’t taken off.

Top button collectors say it’s a timeless form of expression. “By removing the barrier for individuals to produce unique items in limited quantities, CafePress provides today’s users with the ability to create tomorrow’s collectibles,” says Chris DiGiovanna of Trader Chris Consignments in Pittsboro, North Carolina. “Who knows what sort of things you’ll see from CafePress selling on eBay in 5, 10, or 20 years?”

To sew it up, political campaign buttons are a great way to get your point across. CafePress buttons are subtle, yet also provide a message with a lot of sticktoitiveness. The perfect 2012 political companion!! And you can get ‘em now at CafePress.

We’re not talking about vampires here, but something much bigger—imagine that! We’re talking about yard signs! November 6th is just around the corner, so gear up for the big Election Day. Are you hopeful in giving President Obama and Vice President Biden another term, or are you all for Mitt Romney and his recently announced running mate Paul Ryan? Maybe you are a die-hard fan of Ron Paul and Gary Johnson. Support YOUR candidate(s) with one of our $15* yard signs! Stake one or three in your front lawn or potted plant—whichever you have available.

Be sure to check out this hilarious video featuring some of our popular yard signs.

Stake your claim for your favorite candidate here!

* Only applies to yard signs, subject to availability. Excludes bulk orders. Discounted prices are set forth on the website, no coupon code required. Promotion starts on August 14, 2012, at 12:00 a.m. (PT) and ends on August 20, 2012, at 11:59 p.m. (PT). Discount can be combined with other coupon code offers. All orders must be from the CafePress Marketplace. Offer valid online at CafePress.com only, and may change, be modified or cancelled at anytime without notice. This promotion cannot be applied to past orders.