Putting Myself Out There - Sun, Jul 10, 2022

Oh, I hate putting my face out there. But right now I feel I need to. I made these Rain Clouds. They have taken over my life. They have impacted my family, as my husband and 2 kids have been involved in this journey. Who knew one of my weird ideas could take off like this. But right now…I feel the need to remind people that there is a person behind this idea, this invention, because images of my product are showing up everywhere and they do not represent me.

I make these at home on my 3D printer. Each cloud takes 7 hours to print, and then my husband and I clean and test each one before I ship them out. I cannot at this point mass produce them but they have shown up on Amazon and Walmart and other internet shopping sites. I have had one customer reach out and show what she received from one of these listings and it was nothing like what I have been making, but I am afraid that others will see these products and think that they represent my Rain Cloud.

I have been trying to make sure my Trademark is prominent in my product photos, but these copycats have been photo-shopping my images and even stealing text from my Etsy listing so it sounds like me. This is devastating to a small business. This is devastating to me as an artist. Seeing my images used without permission, and trying to report them on these massive website that do not care. I made something that never existed before, and more than that, I made something I love. As my husband and I have traveled this road, I have asked him many times if this is how it works, you make something you love and it becomes something more. It doesn’t feel real. I have made over 2,500 of these clouds and I am not tired of them yet. But I am frustrated by the people who think they can see a good idea and jump on its back. I am not sure I would even mind as much if they made a similar concept and were marketing it, but they are using my images of my design and even my words and that feels personal. Please, if you love my clouds, look for my trademark. 

Or the branding “THE CLOUD MAKERS” or of course, Axelsson Fun Factory. I love my customers, they are the reason I have come this far and the reason I won’t be giving up now.  

Ericka