Happy Holidays from Simply Silhouettes

From our family to yours, we hope you've had a holiday season filled with love, laughter, peace, joy and happiness. Thank you so much for your support this past year, it is truly appreciated. We wish you and yours a very happy 2011!

Silhouette Dog Gifts

We recently added a furry new member to our family and some of these items from Harry Barker are definitely on my wish list this year.

 Food Bowls

Dog Toys

Dog Beds

Silhouette Tree

via here

Simply Silhouettes Holiday Deadlines

Monday, December 6th is our deadline for most Custom Silhouette Products, in order to guarantee delivery in time for Christmas gift giving. If you haven't gotten your order in yet, we have a few options for you:

 
A Coming Soon Certificate
This is the perfect solution to let your gift recipient know that their special gift is in the works and will soon be on its way. Just go ahead and place your order and we'll get to work on it. We'll also provide you with a certificate showing a picture of the final product along with an estimated ship date, so your recipient will know when they should expect to receive this custom gift made just for them. There is no cost for this option, just let us know you'd like a "Coming Soon Certificate" when you place your order.

Gift Certificate

Not sure which item to purchase? Buy a Simply Silhouettes Gift Certificate instead! You can order a gift certificate for $5 to $500 towards any Simply Silhouettes product and instantly print out the gift certificate or have it emailed to your recipient. Then they can visit SimplySilhouettes.com, redeem their gift certificate  and purchase just the item they're looking for!

You're Still in Luck

There is still time for our always popular Silhouette Prints. Our prints feature modern silhouettes with vintage charm. They are completely customizable and printed with premium archival ink and paper.

Print prices start at $25 for 5" x 7" prints, and additional copies are available for just $10 each, so buy one for the grandparents and treat yourself to your own copy too. Digital silhouettes are also available. We will be accepting order for Silhouette Prints through Wednesday, December 15th. You can place your order for prints here.

Our Holiday Gift to You

We were so excited when the folks from Parents and Family Circle Magazines approached us about developing a tutorial for our Silhouette Christmas Stockings to feature in their 100 Days of Holidays feature.  (You can sign up here to get access to coolest new gift ideas, festive recipes, and hosting tips.)

How cute would these look hung by your chimney with care?

You could make them for the whole family or give them as a Christmas gift to newlyweds or to celebrate a new baby. 

It's our first tutorial, but hopefully you can follow along (just leave a question in the comments if you have any questions.) And if you'd prefer to have us make one, you can always order yours here in our Etsy Shop. (Just get your order placed by December 6th.)

We were also thrilled to have them featured in a few of our other favorite blogs: WhipUp, One Pretty Thing and Cool Mom Picks

Buy Handmade on Small Business Saturday

 

At this point, we've all heard about Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but did you know that today is Small Business Saturday? It was created by American Express in effort to support the local businesses that create jobs, boost the economy and preserve neighborhoods around the country. Small Business Saturday is a national movement to drive shoppers to local merchants across the U.S.  You can learn more about it here on their Small Business Saturday Facebook page  In addition, they'll be donating $1 to Girls Inc., a group that’s been helping girls become leaders since 1984,  for each "like" (up to $1,000,000), so head on over and "like" it. 

As a small business owner, I'm particularly passionate about patronizing small businesses whenever I can. Do you have any idea how many amazing small businesses are out there creating beautiful things? This holiday season, I encourage you to consider buying your gifts from a small shop in your area, shop Etsy or at a local craft show or bazaar. Not only are you supporting a local biz and you community, but your gift recipient will surely appreciate your unique and thoughtful gift. 

via here and here

Christmas Giveaway

We've got the Christmas Spirit today, so we're giving away a Cookies for Santa Plate. What a fun tradition this will be for your family to put this out every Christmas Eve. Sure to become a family heirloom.

 This giveaway will go through Monday, November 29 at 11:59 PST. To enter, just leave a comment on this post. You can get additional entries by  following us on Facebook and Twitter  Just leave a comment letting us know you've done that as well. Winner will be notified on Tuesday, November 30th. Good luck!

Happy Black Friday!

 
Now that Thanksgiving is over, we're want to let you know how thankful we are for your support with a few special deals that are good all weekend, from Black Friday (11/26) through Cyber Monday (11/29).

Special Offer 1:

With every Paper Print order, get one FREE copy. This way you can take care of both sets of grandparents for the price of one, or give one and get one for yourself. Our prints are available in 5" x 7" and 8" x 10" and are completely customizable. We've got the traditional black and white to more modern interpretations of the silhouette. To get this offer, just mention "Black Friday" when you send us your photos. Order yours here.

Special Offer 2:

We're offering 20% off everything in our Etsy Holiday Shop. We've stocked it with a great selection of custom holiday plates and platters and printable Christmas Cards. Just enter the code "Facebook" at checkout to redeem this offer.

 

Happy Shopping!

Platter Giveaway

Just in time for holiday entertaining, we've got a great giveaway going on over at Burlap and Blue.

You can enter to win a Custom Silhouette Platter. We've got designs for Thanksgiving, Christmas and everyday entertaining. You could make one for yourself or create a one-of-a-kind holiday gift.

How to win:

To enter, just leave a comment on the Burlap & Blue blog.

Want more entries? You can receive a second entry for following burlap+blue's blog, and third, fourth and fifth entries for following us on twitter, facebook, or leaving a comment here on our blog!

 

Please leave a comment for each entry.

 

Contest ends November 8th. 

 

Good luck!

Happy Halloween

Wishing you all a very Happy Halloween. I recently came across this silhouette inspired Halloween costume and had to share it.

 via here

Would you be brave enough to take candy from this man?

No Tricks, Just a Treat

Can you believe that Halloween is just a few days away? We're frantically sewing costumes today for a party tomorrow night.

At Simply Silhouettes, we just love special celebrations like this and to make it even more special, we're offering 50% off our Custom Silhouette Halloween Prints now through Oct. 31st. You can find them here in our Etsy shop.

Are you ready for trick or treating? What are you and/or your kids dressing up as this year?

Simply Silhouettes Class

If you're in the Portland, OR area this Friday, we'd love you to join us at the Pine Needle in Lake Oswego.

We'll be teaching a class making your own Silhouettes with the Freezer Paper Stencil technique. And the Pine Needle has a fantastic selection of fabrics which are sure to provide you with inspiration, just in time for holiday gift giving.

The class will be held from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. and the cost is just $5. To register, please call The Pine Needle at 503.635.1353 or 1-800-655-5632. Hope to see you there!

Eat, Drink and Be Scary

Today's the last day to order your Halloween plates to ensure delivery in time for Halloween. Get yours here at our Etsy Holiday Shop.

Silhouette of the Day

The Tin Man and the Cowardly Lion

Let them eat cake

Lately we've been seeing lots of cake buntings popping up. And even a cupcake bunting. The originator of these is Kiki La Ru, who has a wonderful Etsy Shop with a great selection of buntings. We were so inspired that we decided to try our hand at a silhouette version.

Silhouette Leaves

Found today via Gracious Inspiration and I just had to share. These silhouette leaves were created by Nature's Art, a Chinese company that makes them using a 60-step process. The leaves aren't made by cutting the leaves but rather carving them, which removes the surface without cutting the veins. 

Every leaf speaks bliss to me, 

Fluttering from the autumn tree.

Emily Bronte

Christmas Rocks!

 

Ho Ho Ho in October? The leaves are just starting to change and the kids are still wearing shorts around here, but the holidays will be here before you know it, so now's the time to place your order for one-of-a-kind custom silhouette gifts and cards for the holidays. All of our products are handmade to order and can require a lead time of up to 4 weeks, while we create them especially for you, so we encourage you to order as early as possible to make sure you receive your products in time for gift giving. This year we've got a great selection of customized gifts for everyone on your list and at prices for every budget. 

Thankful Plates

Barbies? Legos? Family? A pet goldfish? Whatever your kids are thankful for this Thanksgiving, we've got a great way to capture this moment in time with our new Thankful Plates.

Just send us a profile picture of your child along with 6 to 8 things that they are most thankful for and we'll create an instant heirloom for you. Plates are just $35. You can order yours here at our Etsy Holiday Shop.

Handmade Holidays

As a mom and pop shop, we love supporting other parent owned businesses whenever possible, so today we're happy to be part of two great shopping opportunities full of unique and handmade items, just perfect for holiday gift giving.

First you can find us over at the at Market Mommies at their first Mom's Night In Shopping Event

Then head on over to Blessed Little Nest where Heather has compiled a collection of 14 unique  handmade and vintage shops  that she'll be highlighting  over the next week. Plus each will be offering a discount or giveaway (sometimes both!)

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Let the holiday shopping season begin!

Mary Janes and Galoshes Giveaway

It's time for another giveaway. We're so pleased to be sponsoring one of our favorite blogs, Mary Janes and Galoshes this month, and if you head on over before September 30th and leave a comment on this post, you can enter to win a $50 Gift Certificate to Simply Silhouettes.

A few of my favorite things

I got the book  Crafting a Meaningful Home yesterday and have been poring through it. It's packed with great DIY projects, including several silhouette related ones. My very favorite has to be this one combing two of my favorite things - silhouettes and garlands.

The Family Banner created by Samantha Hahn.

You can purchase your copy here.

Anthropologie

Today, I'm loving this wallpaper. Leave it to Anthropologie.

You can get yours here.

New Halloween Shop

Dress your kid into their favorite Halloween costume, snap a picture and capture the memory on one of our new Halloween Silhouette Plates. 

This collection is now available exclusively in our Halloween Shop on Etsy. And like all of our products, they are completely customizable with a selection of festive colors and fonts. More holiday products will be coming soon so check back often.

Happy Autumn!

via Jenny Lee Fowler

I Know a Mom Giveaway

You've got a few more hours to head over to I Know a Mom and enter two win, not one, but TWO silhouette prints. You can scratch someone off your holiday list early and keep one for yourself. The contest is open until midnight (PST), September 23, 2010.

While you're there, take a look around. Jill has created a great blog celebrating moms with big ideas.

How Pinteresting!

Have you heard about Pinterest yet?

It's a virtual inspiration board where you can post collections of the things you love, and "follow" collections created by people who inspire you. We've added a few of our favorite projects, some great Halloween silhouettes and some of the silhouettes we've found that inspire us. Just click here to take a look and follow us. Hopefully you'll be inspired to start your own.

Silhouette Inspired Wedding

I'm loving the silhouette details of Amy & Miguel's wedding seen today on 100 Layer Cake:

You can see more here.

Try our New Color Customizer

One of the unique things about Simply Silhouettes is that you get to play a role in the design process, and now we've made it even easier for you with our Color Customizer.

Not sure which colors and patterns will work together to reflect your personal style? Now you can use this new tool to find the perfect combo. Just click here to try it out.

Christmas in July

Head over to Tip Junkie today and enter to win a $50 Simply Silhouettes Gift Certificate that can be used on any of our holiday products - from custom holiday cards to gift wrap to our favorite Cookies for Santa Plates.

Image of the Day

from here

Happy 4th!

Here are free printable cupcake toppers and wrappers for you to help celebrate the 4th of July.

You can download your toppers here and wrappers here.

Happy Memorial Day

At Simply Silhouettes, we send out a  huge, heartfelt thank you to all of our servicemen and
women, past and present, who have risked their lives for our freedom. Happy Memorial Day!

Happy Memorial Day

Wishing all of you a happy and relaxing Memorial Day weekend. Here's a little freebie from us for your Memorial Day weekend celebrations - Free Printable Cupcake Toppers and Wrappers.

And wouldn't they look cute on these Red, White and Blue Cupcakes?

Get your recipe here from Skip to My Lou.

Simply Silhouettes Facebook Friend Contest

At Simply Silhouettes, we love our fans and want to reward you for joining our Facebook page and sharing it with your friends and family.

Here are the rules: Just join our group and then send an invitation to your friends and family as well. (Here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/SimplySilhouettes) And every time someone you referred becomes a fan, you are both entered in our drawing to win a free 8x10 Silhouette Print The more people you refer, the better your chances of winning. We will be selecting two pairs of winners on Tuesday, June 8th.

How do we know you referred them? They just have to write a message on our wall and let us know that you sent them our way. The person who refers the most people will also receive a free 8x10 silhouette print.

Don't forget, here's the link: http://www.facebook.com/SimplySilhouettes - and don't forget to tell your friends and family to let us know (via our wall) that you referred them.

Contest ends Monday, June 7th at 11:59 PST.

Happy sharing!