bonne fête – giveaway 18

Another Paperie favorite is back to celebrate our birthday this time – give it up for Sassy Designs, Inc. and Bad Sass Backdrops, Inc. One lucky Paperie reader will win a $100 gift certificate to Sassy Designs – and another lucky reader will win a $50 gift certificate to Bad Sass Backdrops!

(You can see Paperie’s recent review of Bad Sass Backdrops, with photos, here.)

So how do you win this wonderful prize pack? It’s easy!

1. Like Bad Sass Backdrops, Inc. on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/badsassbackdrops

2. Follow Sassy Designs on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/sassydesignsinc

3. Post the following to Facebook or Twitter (and tell us where you did it):
Win gift certificates to @SassyDesignsInc / Sassy-Designs.net and BadSassBackdrops.com at @PaperieBoutique – http://PaperieBirthday.com

4. Leave a note in the comments here saying what your favorite Bad Sass Backdrops, Inc. product is.

Each entry requires its own separate comment here. (In simple terms: If you want FIVE chances to win, you have to do the five things listed above, and then make five separate comments here telling us how you did them.)

Comment that you have posted to your Twitter and/or Facebook account(s), with a link to where you did it – or that you’ve liked one or both vendors on Facebook – in separate comments here to have multiple chances to win!

ATTENTION: All links you post must direct to public-access accounts. We cannot verify links on private, friends & family only, or passworded accounts and they will not be eligible to win this item. If we have to subscribe to your feed, a website, or forum – or request permission to see them – your entry will automatically be disqualified.

Comment(s) must be posted here by 11:59 p.m. EDT on Saturday, July 23rd. You can enter up to five times total. Post that you have met both requirements in separate comments to have multiple chances to win!

You can enter / post up to five times total – one entry each for both the options listed above. (PLEASE NOTE: Comments are held for moderation and may not appear immediately. Please be patient! They will show up eventually.)

You have five chances to win, but only one chance PER OPTION – please do not post the same link multiple times. Duplicate links will be removed. Each entry requires its own separate comment to have multiple chances to win!

Comments on this entry will be numbered in order of posting. The winning number will be chosen by Random.org, and the winner will be contacted within 48-72 hours of the winner-announcement to claim their prize.

Good luck!

Thanks Sassy Designs, Inc. and Bad Sass Backdrops, Inc. for the awesome gift certificates! And in case you don’t follow Bad Sass Backdrops on Facebook (and why not?), right now they are running a “Christmas in July” promo. Receive 25% off your entire purchase and FREE SHIPPING with code CHRISTMASINJULY25 at checkout! Sale ends 7/31 at midnight EST.



Don’t forget several of our merchants are offering discounts and coupon codes to all Paperie readers this week! Check and see if your favorite vendor is there!

Click over here and see what you missed. A special sale, and a teaser of the great giveaways ahead this week, were posted over the weekend!

There’s a limited-time offer for advertisers / vendors this week, too. Over half-off some ad rates for new advertisers. Check it out!




It’s Friday and I still have two more pages of giveaways left!
We’ll keep going ’til all of them have winners – see ya’ soon!
-Robyn

P.S. Vendors, if you are interested in being a part of the birthday celebration, e-mail me at “robyn AT paperieboutique DOT com” ASAP!

totally Bad Sass

I am so excited about today’s guest post / giveaway! Not only are the actual prizes amazing – so is the vendor!

I recently had a chance to try out the new Bad Sass backdrops, and I absolutely love them! They are printed on a nice, thick sturdy canvas and are so versatile. Here are a couple of my own shots featuring each of my drops and one in use at a recent session.

One of my favorite features is the 4″ of unprinted canvas left at both ends, meaning you don’t lose a single inch of actual backdrop if you choose to clamp the top to a background stand, or the bottom to a faux-baseboard. It also gives you space to add grommets, velcro, or attach to a hanging system.

So now that you totally want one of your own, read on for your chance to win it!

Hi everyone! Terry here from Sassy Designs, Inc. again!

First of all, I want to thank Robyn for having me back again on the Paperie Boutique blog. I’m sure most of you know of Sassy Designs, Inc. as Robyn has been generous enough to host Sassy giveaways numerous times over the past two years.

This time I am back to announce my newest venture with my oldest and dearest friend Kristen of Kristen Caldwell Photography. Together we have created a specialty backdrop company – Bad Sass Backdrops, Inc. Utilizing the original digital paper designs from Sassy Designs, Inc. as well as exclusive patterns from Florabella Collection we offer a wide variety sure to meet the needs of any photographer!

Our backdrops are printed on 100% canvas with a matte finish sealant. The sealant acts as a UV protector as well as a water resistant barrier. It allows us to guarantee that you will never have a glare no matter what lighting situation you may be shooting in.

All of our canvas backdrops are 60” wide and come in lengths of 4’, 6’, 8’ or 10’. We offer the option to split all 8’ and 10’ canvas backdrops into two designs giving you more versatility and a cost savings! You can choose any two patterns available on our site for your split design canvas. Whether it be two different wall patterns or the combination of a wall pattern and a flooring design the choice is yours!

We’re sure the quality, clarity, and color of our backdrops will amaze you! Canvas backdrops are durable, versatile, lightweight, and an investment that will last you nearly a lifetime! For more details and to see our available patterns please visit: www.badsassbackdrops.com. Please be sure to also “like” us on Facebook to keep up with our news and updates! www.facebook.com/badsassbackdrops.

We’d like to give one lucky Paperie reader a gift certificate for $250 to Bad Sass Backdrops, Inc.– which is the cost of a 10’ canvas backdrop. (And as a special bonus another lucky Paperie reader will win a $250 gift certificate to Sassy Designs, Inc. to celebrate Sassy’s ninth birthday!)

How do you win? Easy!

1. Like Bad Sass Backdrops, Inc. on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/badsassbackdrops

2. Follow Sassy Designs on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/sassydesignsinc

3. Post the following to Facebook or Twitter (and tell us where you did it):
Win $250 gift certificate to Bad Sass Backdrops, Inc. / BadSassBackdrops.com at PaperieBoutique.com / @paperieboutique – http://is.gd/6BTPlw

4. Leave a note in the comments here saying what your favorite Bad Sass Backdrops, Inc. product is.

Each entry requires its own separate comment. (In simple terms: If you want FOUR chances to win, you have to do all four things listed above, and then make four separate comments here telling us how you did them.)

Comment(s) must be posted here by 11:59 p.m. EST on Sunday, May 8th. You can enter up to four times total. Post that you have met all four requirements in separate comments to have multiple chances to win!

You can enter / post up to four times total – one entry each for the options listed above. (PLEASE NOTE: Comments are held for moderation and may not appear immediately. Please be patient! They will show up eventually.)

You have four chances to win, but only one chance PER OPTION – please do not post the same link multiple times. Duplicate links will be removed. Each entry requires its own separate comment to have multiple chances to win!

Comments on this entry will be numbered in order of posting. The winning number will be chosen by Random.org, and the winner will be contacted within 24-72 hours of contest’s end to claim their prize.

Good luck! Thanks again to Robyn and good luck to everyone that enters!

drop it like it’s hot

First up before the big giveaway (yes I said “big giveaway” so read ’til the end), I have a freebie download. To celebrate surviving the year being half-over I recently made mini-calendars for my clients. I had them printed as folded bookmarks from ProDPI, and they look fantastic if I do say so myself.

You’ll have to come up with the front and back design (I used a business card front/back for mine), but I’ve attached a download for the inside-spread that includes the calendar. I have included the crop-guide layer. You’ll have to add your logo if desired and the month names, calendar dates, and month box background colors are not customizable (unless you delete the layers and add your own in their places) – but the background color and bar-stripe are easily changed with the click of the mouse.

The white background color can be changed with one click as shown in the Photoshop background color fill layer in the Layers Palette. The text for the month names, the date text, and the box backgrounds for each month cannot be changed. However, the top stripe CAN be changed and your logo can be added using the included lab crop-guide for ProDPI.

→ download link ← (please note this file was designed in CS2 and you must have Photoshop or Elements and know how to edit a .psd layered file — I do not provide technical support for this download)

And now as promised…the big giveaway by Heather Green of The Drop Shoppe! Heather has stopped by for today’s guest post…

The Drop Shoppe (thedropshoppe.com) sells thick, matte, high quality vinyl backdrops in large sizes that are affordable for photographers. You can use these with studio lighting or natural light. Each image is created in Photoshop or Illustrator to be the absolute sharpest possible when it’s printed in large format. Currently we sell two sizes; 5 feet by 8 feet and 10 feet by 8 feet. The 5′x8′ drops are $90.00 and the 10′x8′ drops are $150.00 All prices include free shipping to the continental United States. If you are out of the country you do have to pay shipping, but we work hard to find you the fastest and most affordable shipping solution. Each backdrop has an extra 1/2″ white border around the outside, which is perfect for you to clamp to your backdrop stand. This way you’re not clamping directly onto the backdrop image.

Here we have a simple set up of hooks screwed into the wall, a metal pole and three large clamps holding the backdrop.

There’s a variety of ways to hang these backdrops. You can just clamp them to your horizontal pole on your backdrop stand (with large clamps you can purchase at a hardware store), or you can hang hooks on your wall with a pole and clamp to that. We used the hooks/wall method in our small office since we couldn’t fit my larger backdrop stand in there. A quick Google search will also turn up quite a few do it yourself backdrop stands that you’re able to make at home for very little cash.

We have all sorts of patterns and styles for you to choose from. There’s plenty of grunge, messy paint, realistic background photos, wallpaper, doors, floors and much more. The possibilities for these backdrops are endless. Use them in your studio, use one for the popular ‘photo booth’ set ups at weddings, even hang them outside for big parties or family get togethers. The backdrops arrive in a shipping tube, which we ask you to keep so that you can store your backdrop in it when not in use. The best ways to store these are either rolled up, hanging or laying flat. If you should wrinkle them, usually laying them flat in a hot room or outside in the shade will remove the wrinkles. These also wipe clean with mild soap and water. No worries about that baby or toddler making a mess, just wipe it up!

I’ve also included a size chart for the 5′x8′ drops, showing the size of an adult woman and the size of our backdrops – a good way to show how big these drops really are:

Here’s an example of our backdrops in use! The following photo was taken by Holly McCaig with our Aged Red Doors backdrop.

Another backdrop photo by Chrissy Avila.

The backdrop I want to give away here on Paperie Boutique today is our Aged Copper Wall, sized 5′x8′. It’s one of my favorites and works well when shooting just about any subject…from kids to women to men.

Here’s a few sample photos taken with that Aged Copper Wall backdrop – first by Chrissy Avila Photography:

And one by me using more of a cross processed/vintage technique:

Winner will receive one Aged Copper Wall size 5 feet by 8 feet backdrop with additional 1/2″ white border around it. Backdrops do not come with any kind of rods, clamps or pockets to hang them – you must supply your own way to hang it up. Backdrop will be shipped to the winner 3-7 days after the contest ends.

There are three different ways to enter between now and 11:59 p.m. on Friday, July 9th – each entry requires its own separate comment:

1. ‘like’ The Drop Shoppe on Facebook, come back and post here that you did so

2. post on Twitter (then leave the link here):
I entered to win an Aged Copper Wall backdrop at paperieboutique.com by @shutterblog from The Drop Shoppe/ thedropshoppe.com/store

3. leave a comment here on the blog about what your favorite backdrop is from the shop (thedropshoppe.com/store)

UPDATE The winner has now been posted here – check it out!

And last but not least…everyone gets $5 off their purchase from The Drop Shoppe by using the code paperie at checkout!

Huge thanks to Heather and The Drop Shoppe for such a fantastic prize giveaway! Head to Facebook and tell them thanks ‘in person’!

And to wrap things up for today, I’ve been posting photos of my new office setup over at Flickr as things progress (including info on how to create the wrap station yourself, and the Photojojo poster). Here are a couple of teasers for now.

Stay tuned this week. More fun ahead!
-Robyn

P.S. If you are interested in advertising with Paperie Boutique, please contact todd @ this domain. If you are a photographer and are interested in having your packaging featured – or are a vendor and are interested in having your business packaging, marketing ideas, or photography-related products featured – please contact robyn @ this domain to be added to the posting schedule.