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...

on the move...

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!

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

Congratulations Wendy, your referred the most new "likers"! Your prize is one standard size Lens Pet {$15 retail value}. The standard size pets fit well on most 50mm lenses and other lenses similar in size.  

• Contest 2: suggest a new Lens Pet idea (Tuesday, May 24) - WINNER: Sarah

Congratulations Sarah!! There were so many great suggestions and it was hard for me to pick just one (I may use some more of everyones ideas in the future) but my sketch for the ALLIGATOR you suggested looks like it  will make a fun addition to the Lens Pet family. Your prize is one alligator Lens Pet in the size of your choice - mini, standard or large {$12-$22 retail value}

• 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)

***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!!!

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:

1. 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

and don't forget your chance at getting some bonus entries for that big grand prize...

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.

• 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!!!