some new designs and a makeover...

I've been seeing more and more 'copycat' shops out there lately. Most recently I discovered a shop who was "inspired by" at least 17 of my designs... so inspired that she copied them right down to the colors she used to create the pieces, and is now selling them as her own work. Though I try not to let it bother me, it just ticks me off when I see things like this. I spend a lot of time and hard work  coming up with my designs, starting off by creating a sketch then cutting and sewing and often tearing it all apart only to start over again until I get it just right... To have someone just pull up your photo and create their own (sub-par) version of it, without any vision or creativity of their own... well, frankly it sucks. :p What ever happened to originality people?!?


Sadly this is not the first time someone has outright stolen my designs and passed them off as their own. SO I try not to think about it while staying one step ahead by adding new items to my shop as often as possible. ;) Last week while I was working on orders I had the urge to sketch out a few new ideas for Lens Pets™. I haven't introduced anyone new in a while so I got straight to work and came up with five ideas...

{sheep, fox, puffer fish, otter and skunk*}

*the skunk was on the backside of one of those papers so she'll just have to be a surprise ;)

I was so excited about the new designs I just couldn't wait to start bringing them to life so I pieced two of them together  that same afternoon...

sheep

 otter

I haven't had a chance to get the others done yet, but the puffer fish seemed to be a very popular choice when I posted on FB so she'll be joining the Lens Pet family very soon! :) 


In addition to the new designs every so often I find a pet that I think could use an overhaul. I tweaked my reindeer just a bit and I'm even happier with the new and improved version...

I have a few more pets on the list to be tweaked so I'll share pictures as I get those done. And of course once I finish the fox,the skunk and the puffer fish I'll share those as well. 

Until then, it's back to working on orders! Hope everyone had a great week! Enjoy your weekend! :)

hello? is anybody out there???

Hello, hello, hello...


My poor blog has been abandoned for far too long. Sadly I am still without a computer (though it's in the shop so maybe with some luck I will have it back soon). In the mean time, typing up a blog post on my itty bitty iphone screen is just not a possibility! BUT today I am borrowing my sons laptop so I thought I would post a big update to catch everyone up and breath a little life back into my blog! :) A LOT has happened since my last post so pull up a chair and get comfortable...

SALE, SALE, SALE!

First and foremost, if you haven't been over to my Facebook page you may not be aware that I am running a SALE for the next few days! SO rush on over to the shop and save 15% on all of your orders from now until Friday (the 17th) at midnight EST. Just enter this code at checkout VALENTINE15

VALENTINE CUTIES READY TO SHIP!

Next up... I still have some sweet Valentine Lens Pets available for immediate shipping! Don't let the fact that they're covered in hearts deter you from using them year round. They're bright and fun and sure to bring the smiles! Here are a couple of my favorites:

WHOOO LOVES YOU?!

LOVE MOO!

SOCK MONSTERS

I've added a few small sock monsters to the shop in the last couple months, and I'm planning to add more soon. They're ready to ship right away so if you need a unique gift for a loved one look no further. :) This bumble bee is one of my favorites...

INSTAGRAM

I know many of us are big fans of Pinterest and you can find me there under the name MandeeFranee. But how many of you are on Instagram?! I am ADDICTED! Like crazy addicted! I'm on there multiple times a day browsing and posting pictures. On January 1st I started participating in a Photo of the Day challenge where we get a word for each day and I have been having so much fun with it! Here are a few of my recent images:

{sweet}

{someone you love}

{words}

{self portrait}

Come check me out over there if you're an Instagram user, I'll give you one guess what my user name is! ;)  mandeefranee :) 

THE BIG MOVE

The last few months have been a little crazy. As I posted back in August, without a lot of advance notice my three boys and I moved from Michigan to Ohio to be closer to my family. We left a small 3 bedroom ranch town home in Michigan, and found ourselves a nice 4 bedroom house - plus a basement - here in Ohio. The extra space is AMAZING!!! As an added bonus, we're only 7 blocks away from my sister so the kids are able to see their cousins multiple times a week and they all go to school together. :) It's pretty awesome!

Though most of the unpacking was completed right away, I have yet to unpack my scrapbook/craft items. I think that's going to be a big project for me this summer, going through it all (because my move was planned so last minute I wasn't able to sort/purge before packing and it all just got thrown into boxes and put on the truck). After I'm able to get rid of a bunch of stuff I have an area I plan to turn into my craft space and I will definitely be sharing pictures of the before-during-after process. :)

SPEAKING OF CRAFTING...

Some of you may know, long before I started making Lens Pets and sock monsters, before I even had an Etsy shop, I used to make a lot of cakes and holiday themed treats for my friends and family. In the last month or so I've been able to dip my toes back into the pond of baking/decorating and I think I've caught the bug again!!

First I made a cake for my youngest niece's birthday. She happens to be a BIG Minnie Mouse fan so I chose a heart shaped pan then after a quick layer of frosting I drew Minnie freehand and filled her in with a star tip. My niece was super excited about her cake and I can't wait to make the other kids special cakes this summer! :)

Last weekend I joined my sister, her boyfriend and his siblings for game night. Everyone was supposed to bring some kind of food to share. As soon as I heard that I KNEW I couldn't just bring some prepackaged snack! NO WAY! Thanks to Pinterest, I found this great idea for dipped marshmallows. I coated them in dark chocolate first them rolled them in sprinkles, toffee, chocolate chips and crushed candy cane. They were a hit! :)

Most recently, I made Valentine cupcakes for my boys to munch on after school. :) I just did a quick frosting them topped them with a variety of candies and sprinkles. The boys loved them and if I hadn't put a limit on the number they could eat at once, they might have devoured all 24 of them!

GIVEAWAY!

That's right... next month a few of you might just "Get Lucky!" I'll have more details as March gets a  little closer but keep your eyes peeled! There will be a contest (and maybe a few Lens Pets *wink wink*) to tie in with St. Patrick's Day!

I think that's just about everything that's been going on over here! With any luck I will have my computer back SOON so I can keep posting and chatting with all my bloggy friends. :)


Hope everyone out there had an awesome Valentine's Day today! <3






See you soon...