LBD Giveaway Winners Announced!

Micah very unenthusiastically helped me draw our winners out of his Woody hat this morning...

2 runner up prizes: FREE double upgrade to a boutique card with an upgraded finish

OR

FREE set of 50 return address labels (rectangle size)… winner’s choice

The WINNERS are:

Annette Bishop

and

Courtney Masters

And the GRAND PRIZE,

25 FREE custom 2-sided panel cards goes to:

 Ashley Knippers!

Congratulations winners! Email me when you are ready to place your order! 

Everyone else, thanks so much for participating! This was so fun and really got me excited about Christmas Cards this year! 

You still have plenty of time to get your orders in by the deadline on December 10th!

Little Bears GIVEAWAY!

**UPDATE: I've had a few requests to extend the giveaway deadline through the weekend SO the new deadline is SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 6th at MIDNIGHT!!! Details below...

Believe it or not, it’s November! This means it’s T-24 days until it is officially the most wonderful time of the year, Christmastime! It also means that the Little Bears ordering deadline is right around the corner!

To celebrate the month of November, the coming holiday cheer and the new Little Bears Website, we’re having our very first GIVEAWAY!

Let’s talk prizes:

Grand Prize: 25 FREE custom 2-sided panel cards

2 other prizes: FREE double upgrade to a boutique card with an upgraded finish

OR

FREE set of 50 return address labels (rectangle size)… winner’s choice

HOW TO ENTER:

1. Post about this contest & link to the new website in your Facebook status.


2. Blog about this contest & about the new website, including a link


3. Tweet about this contest & about the new website, including a link. 

4. Email a minimum of 10 people about this contest &  include a link to the new website.

5. Become a fan of Little Bears Designs on Facebook.

Each time you do one of these your name will be entered into the drawing.

As stated above, a link to my website must be included in your posts/tweets/emails.  Since all the giveaway info is here on the blog, you could also link here but it is not required.

Example: “Ally of Little Bears Designs is having a GIVEAWAY! Go check out her new website: http://www.littlebearsdesigns.com!" See details of the giveaway out on her blog: www.davidandally.blogspot.com.”

After you’ve finished everything, post a comment here on my blog or on the facebook post with all that you’ve done. If you do all 5, your name will be entered into the contest 5 times with 5 chances to win!

Questions:

Sending out Christmas cards is not really my thing so why should I enter?

The grand prize set of 25 cards DO NOT have to be Christmas cards, they can be birth announcements, invitations of any kind, New Year’s cards, moving announcements, etc. The only stipulation is that you  must place your order by January 31^st, 2012.

What if I'm already a "fan" of Little Bears Designs on Facebook?

That’s GREAT, just let me know in your comment. That does still count as an entry.

What if I’ve ordered from you before?

 This is not just for new clients, ANYONE can win!

What if I post about LBD on my blog 4 days in a row?

You may repeat the same task multiple times, but it will not increase your number of entries.

DEADLINE for entries is on Friday, November 4^th at midnight. The drawing will take place Saturday morning and winners will immediately be announced here on the blog. Good Luck!

*As stated above, all FREE orders must be placed by January 31^st, 2012.  Please email ally@littlebearsdesigns.com with any questions.

Little Bears Designs NEW Website Launch!

I am so excited to announce that my new website is finally complete AND ready for 2011 holiday card orders! I love how the site turned out and hopefully you will to! 

I have just completed my new set of holiday card designs but I will definitely be adding as custom orders come in and as new ideas come to me so check back often. 

I am going to try to keep up with posting new designs and examples of current work on facebook so I will rarely use this blog for Little Bears announcements. Be sure that you "like" Little Bears Designs on facebook so that you don't miss anything!

There are a few things I wanted to point out about the 2011 holiday card gallery:

-Boutique cards! I am now offering cards that come pre-cut in 3 different shapes. Any design can become a boutique card. This is a fun option to make your Christmas cards really stand out.

-There are now 50... yes 50 designs to choose from. This year, I tried to incorporate a few different styles, color schemes, and layouts so that there is something for everyone. Whether you prefer something more traditional or something different and funky, there is a card for you. HOWEVER, if you still do not see what you want, I am still taking custom orders. All custom orders placed before December 1st will be excluded from the custom design fee. So, if you want something custom, make sure you get your order in before that deadline. 

-The order cut off date is December 10th this year. I am actually going to stick to it this year. I will be closed from December 10th until January 5th. I am happy to customize a New Year's card after that time.

-I am also excited (how many times now have I used that word in this post?) that Little Bears is partnering with Natalie Blazei Photography this year for holiday cards. This does NOT mean that you can only use Little Bears if you use Nat for your pictures, it simply means that there are incentives for you to use both of us. Read more about that here. 

Well, what are you waiting for? Click on the logo above and check out the new site! And as always, email me if you have any questions.

Picture Post

I have been unintentionally MIA from the blog lately, mostly because Christmas card orders and sewing have begun to take over my life. Or really just all of my free time. But a lot has been going on so I'll try to catch up today.

My sister took some pictures for us back in October for Laurel's 6 month and Micah's 2 1/2 pictures. She did SUCH a great job! I know I posted my 2 faves a while back but there so many other good ones! She even took a few more that are my absolute favorites of Laurel but I haven't gotten those from her yet. Since I can't show them all, here are my top 10.

I love that last one because there is something in his sweet face that still makes him look like my baby... instead of the little boy he is turning into!

I could pick MANY more but I'll leave you with those for now!

New Website

I am so excited to announce that I have a new and improved website! I have been using nap time pretty much every day right now to work on it and I was pretty sure it was never going to be finished. Well, it is finally done! BIG THANKS to my sister who did most of the work for me, I really don't know what I would've done without her help.

I have a fully updated 2010 Holiday Card gallery as well as birth announcements, invitations, save the dates, and accessories (address labels, thanks yous, etc). I will be adding new designs frequently so check back often! I wish I had more birth announcements and invitations but that will come as I get more orders. I am learning new things every day and my skills and abilities have changed a lot since last year so if you have a custom order or any questions about my capabilities, just ask!

Also please let me know if you have any suggestions for how I could make my website better, typos, or any other suggestions you might have.

CLICK HERE to see the new site!

Feature Friday

A friend gave me the idea to have a feature each week on new designs that I have been working on for Little Bears. I have a blog on that website and had intended to use it to do this but I just haven't ever gotten around to it. Plus, no one reads that blog. So, here are some recent designs I have done. Last names are always changed for privacy.

Valentine's Cards

front

back

photo card

Baby shower invites:

Ok yes I designed my own shower invite... I didn't put my logo on the back so that counts for something, right?

Birth announcement:

front

back

coordinating return address label

I have also recently done a few birthday invites, more birth announcements, and save the dates but I'll save those for another "Feature Friday".

I am planning on taking a little "maternity leave" from March 22-May 1st so if you have any kind of design need sometime in that time frame, just email me now so I can be working on it ahead of time. Especially if you are having a baby sometime in there and want me to do your birth announcements. We can start working on them now and then plug in the pictures once you have them.

Happy Friday!

Update...

I promise a fun Christmas picture post... perhaps with pictures of the new house. I don't want to post pics until it is completely finished.

Since my last post...

- we finished renovations on the new (old) house
- we moved in (thanks to LOTS of family and friends)
- Mother's Against Cancer luncheon was awesome and Bake Shop increased our proceeds from years past (yay)
- David was a fantastic wise man in our church's Christmas Celebration (pictured below)
- I wrapped up Christmas Card season (designing them) and had a blast
- I crawled into a dark dark cave of unpacking

... that pretty much brings us up to date. I have decided that moving/unpacking comes in 3 steps. Step 1) unpacking Step 2) organizing Step 3) decorating. We are finally through steps 1 & 2 and are on to Step 3. It finally feels like home and I know that it will more and more as we decorate and really make it ours. We are loving living on this side of town close to church, friends, Aunt NatNat/Uncle Dan, Uncle Kev/Aunt Audrey. We get to see friends/family on a daily basis which has been great.

Micah is talking more and more everyday and LOVES playing in his new backyard. I can't ever seem to get him to come inside without me picking him up kicking and screaming.

Pictures coming soon... I have lots on my camera that I haven't had time to upload. I might even post a belly pic. Until then... enjoy this...

You're welcome

Christmas Cards, Continued...

I finally got my rear in gear and created a website. I promise this is the last time I'll post here about this... at least for a while. Click on the link below or the button on the sidebar to see the new Little Bears Designs!

CLICK HERE

If you have any suggestions as to how I could improve the site, let me know. Also, if you want to help me out by advertising for me, let me know and I'll send you the link to add a button to your blog or website (like the one on my sidebar).

Holiday Cards

Well it is about that time to start thinking about your Christmas Cards. I just wanted to throw an option out there for you... me! I would love to design cards for your family if you are interested. I have said for months that I am going to start a website displaying designs but I of course haven't gotten around to doing it yet so I don't have many examples to look at but I am more than happy to create something for you from scratch or based on specific colors or a theme. I can work with you to create a perfect custom design whether you know exactly what you are wanting or have no idea. I will create as many proofs as you need until you are completely happy with the final product. Cards go to print after I have received payment (via paypal is easiest). I have put some examples of cards I created last year for Christmas at the bottom of this post. If you would like more examples, I am more than happy to show you what I've done and am willing to do (birth announcements, shower or party invitations, bag tags, etc).

Please email me if you are interested... littlebearsdesigns@gmail.com.

My pricing is below:

Examples from last year (I have changed last names for privacy):

(I didn't show any of the back designs because they were pretty simple, I can make back designs more detailed with multiple pictures or I can make them very simple.)

I am a little obsessed...

with Photoshop. I know that this is a pretty common thing nowadays but I love it. It takes up way to much of my time and even though the program makes my computer run so slow that I want to throw it into the wall, it is worth the long pauses every few minutes. 2 reasons I love Photoshop:

1) Editing pictures... I have learned a lot of editing techniques from friends, online tutorials, and mainly the Pioneer Woman. Also note that David and I got a super fun and nice camera for Christmas and we are still learning how to use it, we are far from good photographers. That is why Photoshop is so fun for me, every picture I take could use a little adjusting. Just because I think it's fun, I will show you:

Here is the picture I started with (I had already adjusted the levels because it was a little dark but this is it):

I ran some actions (actions from the Pioneer Woman's website) on the 4 below just for fun to play around. If you can't tell, I like old timey looking photos.

colorize seventies

lovely and etheral (my favorite action) vintage

Then, I really worked on this one, it is by far my fave. I ran a boost action to make the color pop a little more, then added a quick edge burn (for the dark around the edges). I then added a blur filter for everything around my little pumpkin. Now this I might actually frame.

Now, for the comparison (I realize they aren't that different, the before and after is more drastic when the original photo really stinks):

Before: After:

OK, and now for #2:

2) I love making cards, announcements, invitations, labels, etc. I am even in the process of working on a little website to showcase what I've made and let people order if they're interested. I have an account with a professional printer and I am really excited. It is such a fun little hobby for me to have, why not make a little money on the side? Here are 2 of the Christmas cards I made this year (I only wanted the post the ones without last names because I'm too lazy to change them to fake ones) and you'll just have to wait and see the cutest birthday invite ever. I'll post it once they've been mailed and it is closer to Micah's party.

OH, and I made these super fun labels for Christmas goodies that David passed out at work:

So, be on the lookout... (but don't hold your breath, it will probably take me a while)