New Packaging! What is Black, Red, and White All Over?

Those following my Facebook already saw the new packaging, but as you can tell, I am running about a week behind on everything!  These are the business cards that I received for hosting the last UPrinting Giveaway.  They are die-cut and I tried to utilize the shape of the card and have it compliment my logo.  I have been a long-time Moo.com user and I just wanted to say that I was really shocked at the quality of these Uprinting cards.  Sometimes on Moo, my colors bleed just a little too much for some unknown reason (especially reds), but my whole logo turned out incredibly crisp and clear.  The cards have a great weight to them and the die-cutting looks perfect.

While shopping on Black Friday (yes... I braved the crowds!) I found that stickers at Michaels were 50% off... So I grabbed tons and tons in order to decorate my new cards.  Instead of having the flower in her hair pre-printed, I left it black to see what I could add on my own (and I am certainly glad that I did).  I found stickers for all occasions!  Snowflakes, flowers, hearts, pumpkins, bats, etc.  What a better way to get into the holiday season?  I also splurged on some red craft paper and black raffia to complete the look.

Over all, I think the new packaging really POPS!  Now I just need to find some coordinating paper to write my origami thank you note.  Every time I pack up an order now I have been getting a huge satisfaction from picking out which sticker to use.  Hey -- we need to enjoy the little things, right?

Giveaway: 250 Die Cut Business Cards from UPrinting.com

I was not planning to do another giveaway so soon, but this came up and I just had to do it because I think it would be useful to most of us crafters who sell on Etsy, Zibbet, and Artfire.  From marketing materials to personal cards, business cards have come a long way from the boring rectangle with printing on one side.  This giveaway is about trying new options and daring to be different with more modern cards in innovative shapes including rounded corners, square cards and slim cards.  Our sponsor for this giveaway, Uprinting.com, has a vast array of business card options to create a card appropriate and unique to your handmade business.

Giveaway Prize:                    

250 Die Cut Business Cards for One (1) Winner

2 x 3.5”, 2 x 2” (square card) or 1.75 x 3.5” (slim card)

Die cutting options available: Rounded Corners, Leaf, Rounded One-Corner, Half-Circle Side, Circle

Paper Type: 14pt Cardstock Gloss, Matte, or High Gloss; 13pt Cardstock Uncoated       

Color: 4Color Front, Blank Back; 4Color Front, Black Back; 4Color Both Sides            

Limited to US residents only  18 years old and above (Sorry any international residents!)

The winner will be drawn by random.org on September 28th, 2010.  And as an added bonus, if you are not sure the best way to utilize these new die cut shapes, I will be happy to design your business cards for you.  You don't have to take me up on that offer, but it is certainly there for the winner.  I will design the card and e-mail you the file that you can simply upload onto Uprinting.com and reuse whenever you wish.  It gives me a chance to build my graphic design portfolio, and you get a swanky new card design.

How to Enter? (Separate Blog Comment for Each Entry!)

1. Respond to this post by telling me any creative uses for business cards, or how you plan on using your new die cuts. (1 entry)

2. You can follow this blog on any one of the social networks to which we belong (BlogFrog, Google Friend Connect, Facebook, NetworkedBlogs, Twitter) via our Social Networking Page.  Just tell me your username on the one you subscribed to so I can make sure the winner checks out.  If you are already following, that is fine too!  Just remind me.  (1 entry per follow, separate comment post for each)

3. Share this giveaway any way you can and post a link to it!  This can be via a forum post, tweeting, facebook mention, blog mention, etc!  However, please do not spam people.  (one entry per mention, and venues cannot be repeated.  I.E. if you tweet, you get one entry.  If you tweet 100 times, you still only get 1 entry.  But if you tweet and facebook once, you get two entries, one for each venue).  Please make a separate comment for each!

I am really looking forward to trying my own set of die cut business cards which I will also get a chance to play with as the host of the giveaway.  I am thinking of using the half-circle side cut and putting my "Keiko" logo using the circle as the top of her head.  I am looking forward to reading about how you plan on using yours!