Mead labels
- Thread starter Echostatic
- Start date
-
Love Gotmead and want to see it grow? Then consider supporting the site and becoming a Patron! If you're logged in, click on your username to the right of the menu to see how as little as $30/year can get you access to the patron areas and the patron Facebook group and to support Gotmead!
-
We now have a Patron-exclusive Facebook group! Patrons my join at The Gotmead Patron Group. You MUST answer the questions, providing your Patron membership, when you request to join so I can verify your Patron membership. If the questions aren't answered, the request will be turned down.
Well, my artist has got back to me... Not really etchworthy, but I really like it, so sticker labels: here we come!
Back during 2004 I labled all my meads as "O For" Mead, a pretty bad pun but it let me know what year it was bottled in. I then tried "Hi Five"for all my 2005 batches but it just didn't sound right. I got a bit lazy after that and scribbled the type, bottling date and bottle number on small address lables.
Ah...Poor Thing...it looks as if you are affected by the paronomasia endemic to these forums...
I've never much bothered worrying about copyright for my labels, as they're not for commercial production. I think I can make a "Fair Use" argument (hey, it's not profit and educational), and even if I can't.... eh.
I would really like to shell out a couple hundred to get a bunch of vector images for my labels so I can edit them easier (I use Photoshop Elements). As of now I steal them from image warehouses, which is why they're not always as clear as they could be. I tell myself this is ok, because it's not for profit, but I'm still probably going to burn in hell.
My base label is the cow head, wihch I thought was perfect. He's kind of looking down, licking his lips at the ingredients. The ingredients change based on what's in the bottle, as does the cow's hat. Normally no hat, but for special occasions I add it in. This was a mead for my grandmother's 90th birthday. For the birth mead I did for my niece I put a little pink baby bonnet on his head.
I would really like to shell out a couple hundred to get a bunch of vector images for my labels so I can edit them easier (I use Photoshop Elements). As of now I steal them from image warehouses, which is why they're not always as clear as they could be. I tell myself this is ok, because it's not for profit, but I'm still probably going to burn in hell.
My base label is the cow head, wihch I thought was perfect. He's kind of looking down, licking his lips at the ingredients. The ingredients change based on what's in the bottle, as does the cow's hat. Normally no hat, but for special occasions I add it in. This was a mead for my grandmother's 90th birthday. For the birth mead I did for my niece I put a little pink baby bonnet on his head.
Now that my wife and I are mostly moved into our new place (still have some boxes to shuffle around and we're waiting on contractors to hurry up with the last couple of renovations WHILE we live in... *sugh*)
I've been looking at getting a new fridge, going to put the old one in the garage for brewing with a temp control
The other thing on the to-do list is get the wife going on making some customized art. She a very gifted artist with pencil drawings, getting her to do them for me is the hard part
I've been looking at getting a new fridge, going to put the old one in the garage for brewing with a temp control
The other thing on the to-do list is get the wife going on making some customized art. She a very gifted artist with pencil drawings, getting her to do them for me is the hard part
As per the bartering thread, my labels were gifted to me.
When the artist came to visit, he left with a six pack. ;-) he was quite pleased.
When the artist came to visit, he left with a six pack. ;-) he was quite pleased.
So somewhere back in this thread was a discussion on glass etching. Since I saw that, off and on I've been pondering if that might be something to give a try to for my bottles. So I periodically look at "glass etching" on Amazon to see how much stuff costs, in case a really awesome deal pops up.
Today, one of the class etching compounds for sale comes with this warning in the header in bold letters.... "Not for cleaning"
Well.... yeah. If it eats glass, I should think not. More over, I don't think that product had that warning before. Which means that sometime in the last few weeks someone tried using it for cleaning.
We are doomed as a species. ;D
Today, one of the class etching compounds for sale comes with this warning in the header in bold letters.... "Not for cleaning"
Well.... yeah. If it eats glass, I should think not. More over, I don't think that product had that warning before. Which means that sometime in the last few weeks someone tried using it for cleaning.
We are doomed as a species. ;D
I realized this when Pop-tarts started needing instructions.
What do you people use for printing your labels on? Just postage stickies, post-it's, hang tags... spit and magazine clippings? I tried some clear address label things and they lost their labels, well, the stickies stayed on, but the sharpy marker I used wiped off and I'm using dark brown bottles so the pen didn't show up on the clear label to well.
I buy labels from 4th & Vine. I think 4thvine.com.
They're good for everyday use, but come off pretty easy in moisture. This includes being in a picnic cooler.
- Brett
Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk
They're good for everyday use, but come off pretty easy in moisture. This includes being in a picnic cooler.
- Brett
Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk
I use USPS shipping labels. They fit in my printer and stay on through just about anything but a hard scrubbing when I'm ready to re-use.
Do the USPS labels have anything on them or are they completely blank? Where do you get them?
Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk
Sent from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk
I have found the big white sticker sheets I've been using don't hold up to moisture well either, which is disappointing. We have some clear stock back on a shelf that hardly ever gets used, I think I'm gonna try it next.
I use Staples or Avery inkjet/laser shipping labels, equivalent to Avery 5163 or 8163, 10 labels per sheet. When I was still using my ancient but sturdy HP inkjet, I found that a quick spray of something clear (I've used lacquer, clear primer and clearcoat) after the ink has dried but before I put them on the bottles made them a lot more resistant to water damage.
Then I got an HP colour laser printer for $129.99 and have been using it ever since for all my labels, no water damage at all.
To get the labels off, I put 7 bottles into a cleaning bucket and fill them and the bucket with mildly soapy water and after about 5-15 min the labels loosen up. The last batch I got wouldn't leave any residue at all when scraped off with the dull side of a knife or the edge of a spoon, but the recent package sometimes leaves a bit of gummy stuff if I don't time it right and try to scrape them off before the glue has softened or after the paper's gotten too soggy. Even after soaking, I can still read the labels clearly before I scrape 'em off.
And about glass etching, generally two ways to do it - mini sandblaster or hydrofluoric acid, which is also used as an industrial cleaning product for things other than glass (I know this because a friend of mine used to clean in a hotel and his eyeglasses got etched by the stuff he was using). If you keep it off your hands and out of your eyes (and away from pets and children) the etching paste is pretty safe.
Then I got an HP colour laser printer for $129.99 and have been using it ever since for all my labels, no water damage at all.
To get the labels off, I put 7 bottles into a cleaning bucket and fill them and the bucket with mildly soapy water and after about 5-15 min the labels loosen up. The last batch I got wouldn't leave any residue at all when scraped off with the dull side of a knife or the edge of a spoon, but the recent package sometimes leaves a bit of gummy stuff if I don't time it right and try to scrape them off before the glue has softened or after the paper's gotten too soggy. Even after soaking, I can still read the labels clearly before I scrape 'em off.
And about glass etching, generally two ways to do it - mini sandblaster or hydrofluoric acid, which is also used as an industrial cleaning product for things other than glass (I know this because a friend of mine used to clean in a hotel and his eyeglasses got etched by the stuff he was using). If you keep it off your hands and out of your eyes (and away from pets and children) the etching paste is pretty safe.
I actually started glass etching before I started brewing etc. Now my roommate has some nice glass bottles that he wants me to etch for his first batch of wine and/or mead, and I'm thinking about etching one or two myself.
Maybe I'll talk to one of the Graphic Design majors I go to school with and trade a bottle or two for a label design.
Maybe I'll talk to one of the Graphic Design majors I go to school with and trade a bottle or two for a label design.
http://www.google.com/products/cata...a=X&ei=pKZVTq3QDa-x0QHYhfGwAg&ved=0CHgQ8wIwAA
I just google usps shipping label, they're half sheet shipping labels. I like them because I can make them whatever size I want and don't have to worry about cropping to smaller labels. The clear-laceur coat from Chevette is a good tip if you chill your mead or put it on ice and worry about water damage.
I just google usps shipping label, they're half sheet shipping labels. I like them because I can make them whatever size I want and don't have to worry about cropping to smaller labels. The clear-laceur coat from Chevette is a good tip if you chill your mead or put it on ice and worry about water damage.
