Preparing the Trxtr5 Cave

Hello all!  This is Ria, Head Trxtr and Herder of Cats here at Trxtr5.  I've had a very busy week.

As most of you know, our press was delivered to the Trxtr5 cave last week.  Unfortunately, the cave was not really ready to receive a package of such magnitude. So, for the last week I have been getting the cave ready for business.

At Trxtr5, we create a variety of products, and our space has to be able to handle all of our forms of creativity.  Our cave needed a space for screen printing apparel and accessories, a space for Kcat to create her one-of-a-kind jewelry, and a space for sewing (since we eventually want to provide costumes for steampunk and cosplay). The supplies for all three of these endeavors could each take up an entire room by themselves!  This is where my organizational capabilities came into play.

So I spent my week hanging brackets for wall shelving, using the level to make everything straight, cutting shelves to size with the circular saw, cursing at the drill, turning screws by hand, cutting and hanging pegboard, building a foot-pedal platform for the sewing area, and mounting supply cabinets on the wall.  I have never been so grateful to have been raised by a tribe of Amazons who taught me how to do all of these things (including the cursing at the drill). 

I think the end result was worth all the frustration and late nights.  We now have a functional, usable space in which to work.  Take a look at the pictures below and let me know if you agree.  I can't wait to hear what you think, but now I'm off to emulsify screens so that we can print new designs on our new press!

 Kcat's shelves of fabric for costume design

 The hanging ironing board

 The jewelry station

 The screen printing station

 Kcat can finally reach the foot pedals without straining!

 The sewing station

The Press!

As most of you already know (since we're so excited we can't stop talking about it), we ordered a press and inks so that we can begin printing our own designs in-house. Our packages finally arrived! We worked as a group yesterday on clearing space in the Trxtr cave to set up our screen-printing station.

Crafty Trxtr and I are so excited that we can't stand it! The fibers nerd in me has been geeking out over the awesomeness of actually having a press (all the screen-printing that I did in undergrad was by hand)! Head Trxtr is ordering our blank shirts today, and tomorrow we plan to put the press together! Soon, Crafty Trxtr and I will be burning our first screen and doing test runs! Squee!  ^__^

In other news, I've been test-running design layouts for our website/storefront, which we hope to have up and running soon. It is so incredibly awesome to be using all the facets of my education and to have fun doing it!

Lots of awesome changes are just around the corner! Thanks for sharing this amazing journey with us. It wouldn't be possible without you all! We love you guys!

<3 Maya, Chief CreaTrx and Tech Faery

Our focus on the Environment

Greetings,

This is Kcat, the Crafty Trxtr and Bringer of Shiny Things. Since I am currently at UNCG studying the retail and apparel industry, I thought I would let everyone know a little bit about why we have chosen to use R20 inks in our printing.

We Trxtr5 are very conscious of the impact that our business and the entire apparel industry has on the environment. The apparel industry is in the dawning stages of eco-friendly production techniques for apparel and accessories. The outsourcing of many manufacturing processes to foreign countries allows for less stringent laws on safety and emissions in addition to lowering overhead costs.

As a company, we have decided to print our shirts in-house with the R2O inks that we have previously mentioned. This process will use less energy. We also hope that our customers will appreciate the softer feel that the eco-friendly inks provide. By using R20 inks and environmentally friendly chemicals in the actual screen-printing process, we are decreasing our impact on the earth and increasing the actual value to you, the customer.

Awating a special package!

Greetings All,

We are currently awaiting our very own screen printing press. The press is going to be a great low-energy way to print our products in-house. It is from Ryonet.

As part of our commitment to our planet, we will be using environmentally friendly chemicals and inks to print our shirts and accessories. If you would like to know more, you can check out the inks here: R2O





Stay tuned for more exciting news about our evolving business!