Our exciting week continues – and I want to thank everyone for your comments, support, enthusiasm, and there have even been a few concerns. I consider all of the feedback to be valuable. Before I dig into today’s fun stuff, just a quick blanket statement: With the 2 new partnerships announced, please keep in mind that David and I don’t take decisions like this lightly. We have worked way too hard the past few years.
Our decisions were made based on a lot of factors. One of the major factors is the constant customer requests for more Project Life and more options – and more availability. Another factor is that David and I can only do so much. We have a small but amazing team. In order for us to bring more Project Life to the world, it’s not a matter of just hiring more people. Trust me. Going that route and trying to do more by building up our own team exponentially could have a potentially detrimental affect on our health and family.
All that said, we are completely thrilled with these 2 new partnerships because they will help us meet customer demands. This is the key point I want to make: The simplicity of Project Life as a system remains in tact. I still stand by the theory that all you need to complete a scrapbook is a binder + big pack of photo pocket pages + a Project Life Core Kit (plus your photos and a pen). That’s not changing. But for those who want more options to build upon that (which we have discovered happens to be many of you) … we are so happy to be able to offer more options. That’s what these 2 new partnerships bring – options.
If you fit in that category (as so many do – including myself) that you want to create scrapbooks simply and without all the extra stuff, that program remains – and will continue to remain – as it is. You don’t have to pay an ounce of attention to anything else we’re doing. Just keep on keeping on. This is the beautiful thing about scrapbooking. To each her own. Something for everyone. : )
Now on to TODAY’S exciting stuff …
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We have a little tradition of providing FREE holiday digital templates each year. You love it. We love it. Everyone wins. The really fun part is that we have opened this up to YOU. Have some design skills? We would LOVE you to submit a holiday card template design! The top 10 winning designs will each receive $100 cash! Need a clue as to what we have done in the past? Check out THIS blog post from a couple years ago and that will give you an idea.
Before I get into the nitty-gritty that you would need to know, I want to let you in on a little secret: You are now aware that 2013 will bring about more Project Life, which means more designs and more editions … which means I want to discover more designers that could potentially work with me on Project Life! So if you are interested in getting “noticed” to possibly be considered for a Project Life design gig, I highly recommend you submit to this Holiday Card Design Contest. How fun is that!?
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Submission Guidelines
1. Each design must be submitted in three sizes – 4″x6″, 5″x7″, and 6″x7.5″ (same design, just formatted in 3 sizes).
2. Files must be saved as 300 dpi PNG files.
3. You must leave a blank space where the photo(s) is to be placed. The photo(s) should be prominent in the design.
4. You must name your files in this format: LastFirst_2012ChristmasCard_size.png [ i.e. WhitlockLori_
5. All artwork must be original art. You may NOT use any paper or embellishments from digital kits.
6. The orientation can be either horizontal or vertical.
7. You may include the year 2012 somewhere in the design if you’d like. But, keep in mind that if your design is chosen, we’ll retire your design after the 2012 holiday season if it includes the year.
8. As for style, well … that’s up to you. You’re the designer. But, I’ll give you a tip on what will likely stand out to me personally: Clean and uncluttered. Obviously we want to end up with 10 unique designs so that everyone has plenty to choose from so do what suits your style best.
9. The deadline for submissions is November 7 at 12:00 midnight PST; that’s next Wednesday.
10. No more than two design submissions per person.
11. Email submissions to submissions@beckyhiggins.
12. If your submission doesn’t meet all the requirements above, it will not be considered.
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Here are a few more things worth noting:
1. Who’s who. I have no rules about who you are and whether or not we know each other. This is open to everyone. So whether you happen to be a personal friend or if you’ve never even heard of me before today, whether you live in the U.S. or the other side of the world … you have equal chances. I just want the coolest cards to share with my readers and my bias is only about the design itself. : )
2. Tell your friends! Know a great designer who may not be aware of this contest? Encourage him/her to consider entering this contest. Spread the word, because that’s how we’ll get the best designs.
3. Fonts. Please be mindful of copyrights. Your safest bet is to use generic fonts like the Arials, Helveticas, Geogias, etc. Be sure to save your layered files for any slight changes you may be asked to make.
4. Holiday terms. We will ultimately want to represent a variety of phrases in our final designs – Christmas, Holiday, Hanukkah, Merry, Kwanzaa, whatever. Take your pick, using any phrasing that best suits your design, or leave words off altogether if you choose.
5. You get to vote! For the first time ever, we are going to involve YOU – our readers – in deciding the top 10 holiday cards this year! After narrowing down our favorites, we will create an album on facebook for everyone to cast their vote for their favorites and that’s how we’ll come up with the final 10. Stay tuned for more information, which will be around November 9. We’ll keep it simple and easy, and give you a few days to vote.
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I seriously can’t wait to see what you come up with! Good luck!
