Monday, November 30, 2009

An Up-Pop Tutorial and Link to Interactive Card Blanks



Carol, from the wonderful ExtremeCards Blog just posted a terrific tutorial on how to make an up-pop box. Check it out! It's pretty cool...

She also mentions how Whitney Woods, which makes very amazing promotional products, has jumped into the craft market, with (among other treasures) blanks for some of their very popular, interactive marketing materials. These are really cool...

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Stop Action Papercutting Video



This is absolutely amazing.

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Just one more holiday card....



I had said that I was totally done earlier this week -- I was totally flogged after pumping up my inventory for craft fairs -- but here's just one more... a special request from Nicolette, who owns a little retail shop in Singapore.

It's a Three Reasons card, so you turn the wheel to 1, 2 and 3 and write in your personal reasons in the window.

I have to take some photos, but I can probably post this to etsy pretty soon! Yay!

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Winners of the Elf Pop-Up Cards!




The giveaway for the pop-up elf card ended at noon today! I selected five random winners and they are:

Aileen, Erma, Janette, Jolt, and Bandbabe (Bandbabe didn't leave an email address -- if this is you, please email me and I'll send you your prize!)

I had an amazing number of people sign up for this drawing! In the past, I was pretty excited to get more than 30 responses. This time, I got more than 60!

Like before, I found a number of online blogs and giveaway sites that allowed you to register your giveaways for free. I also advertised via Google Adsense, which brought me a number of click-throughs, which might have helped. And I posted this on FaceBook and tweeted about it. Cyberspace offers so many ways to promote something like this!

Hearing all the positive comments about my cards really was very exciting and very helpful for me to know what it is that people like about my little shop. Oddly enough, the items that were picked out aren't necessarily the items that sell well (My Lazy Daisy cards were mentioned several times but they've never sold a single time!).

This giveaway went so well that I'm very likely to do at least one more before the holidays are over, especially since I now have other holiday designs. And, of course, there will be future drawings for other cards as well.

If this is something you're interested in, let me know!

Thursday, November 12, 2009

New Christmas Tree Pop-Up Card!


This card came together really fast! It' easy when the artwork is beautiful and inspiring. Plus, I had most of the mechanics already worked out -- this card shares a common genetic identity with my Giraffe card.

It's the first card in my 180 degreee stand-up series that I've printed on the pop-up -- usually, as for my African Animal series, I leave the subject white, so that the simple white silhouette has more power, but in this festive card, I know that this artwork is a real winner.


I think this would be a nice card for people to send out -- you don't get many unusual pop-up cards in the holiday mail and it would certainly stand out! I'm going to offer free personalization on orders with at least ten cards, I think...


In other news, my Elf Pop-Up Card Giveaway is going strong! I can't believe I have more than 30 entries already and still half of the week to go. I love love LOVE hearing all the nice comments from people about the things in my store -- it's really worth it just to get that kind of feedback! Plus it's nice to know what people are liking. I got several comments, for instance about my Summer Breezes Thank You Notes, which I never thought of as being anything special.

Anyway, I'll pick some random winners on Sunday, so if you haven't already entered to win, head on over and do so! All you have to do is leave a comment (or more for extra chances). There are five cards being given away, so the odds are really good.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Holiday Elf Pop-Up Card Giveaway!



I was at PaperZone yesterday and heard it: Christmas music merrily filling the store with song.

REALLY? The kids haven't even eaten the good stuff from their Halloween candy yet!

But after the initial annoyance, I realized that I had a choice. You know that old adage, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em?

Well, I'm kicking off my OWN premature Christmas season with a giveaway!

Five lucky random winners will each receive one Pop-Up Holiday Elf Card.

How to enter? All you have to do is check out my etsy shop and then come back here and leave a comment about one of my cards. Pick one that you like and tell me what you like about it! Be sure to include your email address so that I can contact you if you're a winner!

For a second chance to win, you can follow this blog and leave a comment saying that you do so (if you already follow me, just leave a comment saying that you already do).

For a third chance, become a FaceBook fan by clicking on the link. Don't forget to leave a comment letting me know that you're a fan!

And, lastly, if you have a blog, mention this giveaway on your blog and leave a comment letting me know with a link to your blog post.

This giveaway ends in one week, November 15, at noon and winners will be announced at this post. Winners will also be notified and the prizes will be shipped out shortly thereafter.

With any luck, you could be sending some premature holiday cheer before Thanksgiving hits!

What are you waiting for? DO IT!

-------------------------

We have WINNERS!

I will be emailing Aileen, Erma, Janette and Jolt! to get their shipping addresses so I can send their prizes! Bandbabe is also a winner, but didn't leave an email address. If that's you, please click on my profile and send me an email!

Everybody else: THANK YOU FOR PARTICIPATING! I can't believe I got so many responses! I loved hearing all your comments and I plan to be doing more giveaways quite soon!