As you might have guessed by my complete lack of posting in the last two months, it's been a crazy summer. Just having the kids home throws me all out of whack. On top of that I've been struggling with a bad flare up of my arthritis for the last month or so. Unfortunately this particular flare is in the fingers of my right hand, which is my sewing hand. So it's all I can do to keep working on orders most days. But I trudge on with a smile...
In the meantime, during a routine visit to see family in Ohio over the fourth of July, the kids suddenly ALL agreed to the move I've been dying to make for probably 15 years! For about three weeks I was on the hunt for a house, quickly getting discouraged because I wasn't finding anything in the area I needed... BUT as luck would have it, I just so happened to find a place on another trip a couple weeks ago! The house I found is pretty cool. It's an older house but it's HUGE compared to where we are now, all the kids will have their own rooms AND a basement to play in and we'll be just seven blocks from my sister! I can't wait to start fixing it up and making it "mine".
In THIRTEEN DAYS my boys, the dogs, the cat and I are moving to Ohio!
Those of you looking to place an order or with currently pending orders, have no fear, I will be connected at all times! I'll be keeping my supplies close at hand so there shouldn't be more than a day or two on either end of the trip where I'm not sewing. I have complete access to email, Etsy and FB through my phone so if anyone has any questions about orders or anything else I should be able to get back to you fairly quickly. :)
In other news... there have been a couple new Lens Pet designs added to the shop in the last few weeks, an updated large giraffe and a standard alligator!
The summer is coming to a close, the holidays will be here before we know it! I've already received my first holiday order so if you're planning on sock monsters or Lens Pets as gifts this year, I highly recommend getting your order in very early. I can only sew as quickly as my fingers can move which limits what I can do in a day. Ordering in the next month or two will assure that you have your gifts in hand in plenty of time. :)
Well I'm off to do more packing and sewing... have a great weekend everyone!
Thursday, August 11, 2011
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Anniversary Week - WINNERS!!
More than 200 entries later and it's finally here!! What you've all been waiting for! The big announcement! Six chances to win... and EIGHT WINNERS! I won't keep you from reading on and finding out if you're one of the lucky ones. :)
- Contest 1: refer your friends (Monday, May 23) - WINNER: Wendy Byrd
- Contest 2: suggest a new Lens Pet idea (Tuesday, May 24) - WINNER: Sarah
- Contest 3: take a picture (Wednesday, May 25) - WINNER: Courtney
Congratulations Courtney! I loved your photo of George with his elephant friend! :) Your prize is a $20 store credit good for anything in my shop! {$20 retail value}
- Contest 4: trivia (Thursday, May 26) - WINNER: Nichole Anderson
Congratulations Nichole! Your managed to find the most correct answers in my trivia game, a total of 18 out of 25! Your prize is a $35 store credit good for anything in my shop! {$35 retail value}
- Contest 5: the name game (Friday, May 27) - WINNER: it's complicated...
So the object of this contest was to come up with a name for a new product line I'll be releasing this year. Unfortunately, of the many names suggested, none of them were quite right. BUT I was so inspired by your ideas that I finally thought of one of my own!! So instead of one winner getting the prize (which was to be 3 of this new product before its official release in my shop) I have chosen the top 3 people, whose suggestions inspired the name I eventually chose!! Each of these people will receive 1 new "PIP SQUEEK" before they are available for purchase on Etsy! Those 3 winners are:
--Robyn (who suggested pocket pets)
--Arlyn (who suggested squeaker pets)
--Girlgonechild (who suggested peppy pets)
--Arlyn (who suggested squeaker pets)
--Girlgonechild (who suggested peppy pets)
***GRAND PRIZE WINNER --- kjurasevich***
Congratulations Katy!! You've won the big prize, a collection of Lens Pets from my shop worth $100!!
TO ALL OF THE WINNERS: if I had contact info for you, I have contacted you! If you haven't heard from me yet, please send me an email at mandeefranee@hotmail.com for instructions on how to claim your prize!
I want to thank every single person who played along with me this past week. I would not be where I am today without all of the wonderful customers I've had over the last year. I am beyond grateful. :)
and here's to another awesome year!!!
Friday, May 27, 2011
Anniversary Week - Contest 5
Welcome to the 5th and final contest of the week! I hope every has had fun playing games this week. Don't forget ALL of the contests are open until Sunday at midnight so you have until then to get your referrals/answers/suggestions/photos in! :) Now, on to today's contest! What's in a name you ask?? Well, pretty much everything!
Today you're going to get a sneak peek at one of the new products that I will be debuting in the next few months! I have the idea, the designs, the supplies... the only thing I'm still lacking is THE NAME {obviously a pretty important part of the deal}! And that's where you come in! I have thought and brainstormed and made lists and crumpled them up. I cannot come up with a name that I think "fits" this little guy and his soon to be friends. Here is a picture of the first prototype {who shall be referred to from here forward as "the new guy"}:
Let me tell you a little bit about "the new guy" and his buddies. This line will have a variety of critters and creatures, the designs of which will of course be similar in style to my Lens Pet designs. They'll be made from fleece, fabric and felt, hand and machine sewn. Each is a perfect fit in the palm of your hand and has a squeaker inside. Making it the perfect little addition to any photographer or mommy's bag. :) {button eyes can be replaced with felt to make "the new guy" more baby/pet friendly upon request}
Now, for the naming part of the game. I would like something that goes well with or is similar to 'Lens Pets'. But I'm not completely set on that. If someone comes up with a great name that is in no way related to 'Lens Pets' then that rule goes right out the window. Which makes the rules pretty simple and straight forward... come up with an awesome name, and post it here in the comments section! :)
THE RULES:
- You're welcome to submit as many names as you can come up with, but one name suggestion per post please.
THE DEADLINE: This contest will be open all weekend to give everyone ample time to get all their entries in. :) On Sunday May 29 at midnight this post will be locked.
Winner will be announced in a blog post on Tuesday May 31.
THE PRIZE: THREE different "new guys" in advance of their release in my shop! {$45 retail value}
*prize will be new, not this prototype
As always, feel free to email me if you have any questions - mandeefranee@hotmail.com
*prize will be new, not this prototype
As always, feel free to email me if you have any questions - mandeefranee@hotmail.com
BONUS:
In addition to the daily games and contests there are a couple bonuses that can get you a little closer to winning that big grand prize at the end.
In addition to the daily games and contests there are a couple bonuses that can get you a little closer to winning that big grand prize at the end.
- Each sale from 12:01 am on May 23rd until 11:59 pm on May 29th will earn bonus entries into the drawing for the grand prize. Every Lens Pet or sock monster purchased gets you TEN extra entries. Order two Lens Pets, you'll get twenty entries, three gets thirty... and so on.
- Each person YOU refer that places an order gets you another 5 entries towards the big prize (plus of course, they earn entries for ordering)! Make sure your friends add your name in the notes section when they place their order so I know to give you credit.
Thank you so much for playing along all week! :) See you on Tuesday with the list of lucky winners!!!
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Anniversary Week - Contest 4
Welcome to day four! :) Today the contest is more of a trivia/scavenger hunt type game! So I hope lots of you will participate. Some of the answers may be a bit harder to find than others, but they're all there if you're willing to do a little digging. You can find the answers you need in the following places:
THE QUESTIONS:
1. On what date did I list my very first Lens Pet on Etsy?
2. On what date did I share pictures from my first craft show?
3. What did I say in my very first status update on FB?
4. Name 3 of the weekly features I've run here on my blog in the past year
5. What are the names of all of the holiday Lens Pet collections I released in 2010?
6. How many sizes of Lens Pets do I offer? Sock monsters?
7. What is my best selling Lens Pet design?
8. What is my favorite number?
9. When did I host my very first giveaway?
10. What are the names of the bees in the OddSox fairytale that I wrote?
11.What was the title of my very first blog post?
12. Approximately how many Lens Pet orders did I receive in my first week on Etsy?
13.How many tattoos do I have?
14. Name something I am afraid of
15. What is my middle name?
16. How many photo albums do I have total between FB and Flickr?
17. Name one of my favorite Etsy shops
18. How many different Lens Pet designs have I created (NOT counting different colors of a single design)?
19. How many different sock monsters have I made (NOT counting multiples of the same animal)?
20. What did I do for work before opening my Etsy shop?
21. What crafts did I love to do when I was a little girl?
22. How many kids do I have?
23. How many pets do I have?
24. I won a contest in May of 2010, who sponsored that contest and what was my 'title' as the grand prize winner?
25.What do I want to be when I grow up?
THE RULES:
- One entry per person for this game.
- You must EMAIL me your list of answers. DO NOT post them here or others won't have to work as hard to find them! ;)
- Send your list of answers to me at mandeefranee@hotmail.com with "day 4 trivia" as the subject
- The person with the most correct answers will win the contest.
- If there is a tie between two or more people, a random number generator will be used to choose a winner.
THE DEADLINE: This contest will be open throughout the weekend to give everyone ample time to get all their entries in. :) On Sunday May 29 at midnight this post will be locked.
Winner will be announced in a blog post on Tuesday May 31.
THE PRIZE: $35 credit towards the purchase of anything in my shop.
As always, feel free to email me if you have any questions - mandeefranee@hotmail.com
As always, feel free to email me if you have any questions - mandeefranee@hotmail.com
SPECIAL ONE DAY BONUS!!
Because today is the official one year anniversary of my very first Lens Pet sold on Etsy, for one day only I am offering 15% off every order placed from now until midnight tonight!! Just use code ONEYEAR15 when you check out. And don't forget, not only will you save $$ on your purchase but you'll also earn the bonus entries for your chance to win the GRAND PRIZE!! :) So if you were thinking about it, now's the time!!
BONUS:
In addition to the daily games and contests there are a couple bonuses that can get you a little closer to winning that big grand prize at the end.
In addition to the daily games and contests there are a couple bonuses that can get you a little closer to winning that big grand prize at the end.
- Each sale from 12:01 am on May 23rd until 11:59 pm on May 29th will earn bonus entries into the drawing for the grand prize. Every Lens Pet or sock monster purchased gets you TEN extra entries. Order two Lens Pets, you'll get twenty entries, three gets thirty... and so on.
- Each person YOU refer that places an order gets you another 5 entries towards the big prize (plus of course, they earn entries for ordering)! Make sure your friends add your name in the notes section when they place their order so I know to give you credit.
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
Anniversary Week - Contest 3
Welcome back for another day of fun!! :) Today's contest is in part, a big thank you to every single customer I've had in the last year!
And all you have to do to enter today's contest, is take a picture! :)
1400+ orders, that's a lot of Lens Pets™ and sock monsters sold in the last year. So to get an entry into today's contest you need to take a picture of the Lens Pet™ or sock monster that each of you has purchased from me in the last year. ;) The more creative the better! Maybe you'll take your sock monster to a professional sporting event and get one of the players to hold it for a photo... or maybe you'll get the guy at the corner store to wear your Lens Pet™ on his hand while you snap the pic. {of course it's not required that you go anywhere, the picture could be taken in your own home} Whatever it is, just get creative... get crazy!! ;) I want to see where all of my creations have gone off to live!
example photo {taken from my FB page} by Ashley Swallow of Live Laugh PHOTOGRAPH
THE RULES:
- One photo per Lens Pet™/sock monster. If you own 5 Lens Pets™ and 5 sock monsters, that means you can get a total of 10 entries.
- Post your photos to Flickr, PhotoBucket or another photo sharing website
- Then come back here to my blog and leave a comment with a link to your photo, otherwise I won't know it's been posted and you can't get credit! <---This step is critical! You can't get credit if you don't share your link!
THE DEADLINE: This contest will be open all week to give everyone ample time to get all their entries in. :) On Sunday May 29 at midnight this post will be locked.
Winner will be announced in a blog post on Tuesday May 31.
THE PRIZE: $20 credit towards the purchase of anything in my shop.
As always, feel free to email me if you have any questions - mandeefranee@hotmail.com
As always, feel free to email me if you have any questions - mandeefranee@hotmail.com
and don't forget your chance at getting some bonus entries for that big grand prize...
Two days down, three to go! See you right back here again tomorrow!!
BONUS:
In addition to the daily games and contests there are a couple bonuses that can get you a little closer to winning that big grand prize at the end.
In addition to the daily games and contests there are a couple bonuses that can get you a little closer to winning that big grand prize at the end.
- Each sale from 12:01 am on May 23rd until 11:59 pm on May 29th will earn bonus entries into the drawing for the grand prize. Every Lens Pet or sock monster purchased gets you TEN extra entries. Order two Lens Pets, you'll get twenty entries, three gets thirty... and so on.
- Each person YOU refer that places an order gets you another 5 entries towards the big prize (plus of course, they earn entries for ordering)! Make sure your friends add your name in the notes section when they place their order so I know to give you credit.
Two days down, three to go! See you right back here again tomorrow!!
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