It's a great story

On January 17th I was reading the February issue of Entrepreneur magazine (the paper version - I'm 58 and a real paper magazine still works for me!), and on page 29 is the article "Taking shape" about 3-D printing and Shapeways. As soon as I saw the pic of the 8 items featured, it was the "aha" moment..."I CAN CREATE A ROSE THIS WAY!". I've been creating artificial roses for over 15 years and it's what I do, it's my business: https://www.JustPaperRoses.com/Anniversary-Gifts

I signed up on Shapeways and immediately posted on the "3D modeler needed" forum and the first response was from Adam Mellotte of Inner-Leaf.com. I looked at his sample works and exchanged a few emails and then hired him for the job. I emailed him a picture of a real rose as a model (my avatar pic here on this forum), and we knew one way or another we wanted the customer to be able to personalize with text/words on the petals. After about 2 months of back and forth, we submitted the first unit for print at Shapeways on March 15.

The result? AMAZING!!! https://www.TheILoveYouRose.com So far we've sold 35 to our past customers and they love it. We're just beginning our advertising and marketing. Personally I believe it will be a million unit seller.

We had a few bumps with Shapeways, issues with "stepping" and orientation, but that's been worked out and our models are PERFECT!

An important note is that I am NOT a 3D designer nor experienced with 3D printing. I did go to college for Mechanical Engineering back in the day when CAD/CAM was in it's infancy. I'm an entrepreneur who creates and sells unique artificial flowers through my online business. So my view is Shapeways is now bringing 3D printing to the mainstream, because all it takes is for a person to have a creative idea, a vision of a 3D product and Shapeways can deliver.

Special thanks and credit to my designer Adam Mellotte. I've never met him, nor even spoken on the phone. We had prolific email exchanges during the design stage and I could "read" his patience with me growing thin by the end of the process. As a designer/creator of other roses you see on our website, I always experience growing tired of the design and usually even by the end of the design phase I can no longer judge whether the design is good, bad, or ugly - so the judges are my customers. With The I Love You Roseâ„¢ I have not yet lost my "this is AMAZING" reaction every time I look at one!

So help us spread the Shapeways good news to the mainstream world who still doesn't really know about 3D printing?

Help us put a The I Love You Roseâ„¢ on the desks of a million people?

Jeff Block

P.S. the 3D printed part is just the rose head, which we then put on a standard artificial rose stem and secure it in a little terra cotta pot with glued pebbles to anchor the whole thing as one unit.

Wow thanks for sharing Jeff! What a great collaboration.

Testimonial emailed yesterday:

"My mom's name is Rose and I almost always send her a gift/card on special occasions with a Rose theme. Many years ago my mother said that while she loves fresh roses that they are harder for her to take care of because of her arthritis and things are more difficult with age, she in now in her late 80's.

One year I ordered the Paper Roses for her and she seemed to like them, but she was not overly excited. When I saw the I Love You Rose, I wanted to order it for mother's day, however there was not enough lead time so I made a note to order for her birthday.

I called my mom on her birthday and before I even said Hi, Happy Birthday, she was telling me how much her and my dad liked the Rose. She thought the pot was so cute and the rose was lovely. I told her that it was custom made, how it was made and that I had to order it six weeks ahead. She thought that was great and appreciated that it was made just for her. She went on to tell me exactly where she put the Rose and that it is perfect, she will see it from the living room, dining room, den & kitchen. My dad then got on the phone and told me what a great gift and that it made my mom very happy. We then talked about how the rose was made.

Thanks for continuing to be creative. I think the rose gifts are very clever. My 20th wedding anniversary is on Monday, I should have hinted to my husband about your Anniversary Roses. It would have been fun to get the annual Anniversary. The 20 year porcelain is beautiful. I think my favorite bouquets are the chili peppers and the shells. Too cute!

Thanks also for getting the I Love You Rose to my mom in time for her birthday!"

Linda M. 7/13/13 (She personalized The I Love You Rose with "Love You Mom")