I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but it’s been a little slow over here in the land of Cropped Stories.  Today, however, I thought I’d let you in on the big reason behind me being MIA for the past several weeks with the exception of my blog hop (of course) and a little venting about the little one driving me absolutely bonkers! 

I’m excited to share that I’ve been designing birth announcement cards for the Minted design challenge!  In case you aren’t familiar with Minted, here’s a little about them straight from their website:

"Our purpose in life is to uncover exceptional design from all over the world and bring this to savvy consumers who won't accept anything else."

Along with the minted mission:

I’ve been a faithful and happy customer of theirs for several years now.  I’ve ordered all of my holiday, birthday, and announcement cards from them since Alivia was born in 2010.  Their selection of card and stationery options is one of the best I’ve seen, their paper quality surpasses their competitors, and their customer service is outstanding!  With that said, I jumped at the opportunity to design for them!  And although the competition was quite intimidating with amazing submissions from veterans in the design industry from all parts of the world,  I  still managed to swallow the big lump in my throat and push past my artistic insecurities to submit a nice assortment of designs I am proud of!  Especially considering I’m self taught with design and illustration software such as Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

In the process of submitting my designs, I noticed that in addition to being judged by a panel of Minted’s chosen designers/editors, the community and designers are also able to vote on their favorites.  While exciting and a little scary, I can’t lie, I was generally concerned. I don’t believe in soliciting votes from family, friends, the blog-o-sphere, etc. just for the sake of getting votes.  I want people to vote on my designs because they truly love them and/or would purchase them.  That’s not to say I don’t understand why Minted allows the community to vote.  In fact, I think it’s a great business decision on their part as an additional way to gain exposure which they rightfully deserve being the great and reputable company they are.

Even still, I am not asking for your vote. Instead, I would love for you to check out the designs (not just mine) and vote for your favorites.  I guarantee you will not be disappointed as these birth announcements have been created by some truly talented designers!  Their website also makes it convenient to share designs with others, so feel free to spread the word via your preferred social media method(s).  THE DESIGNS WILL BE OPEN TO VOTING AFTER MONDAY, THE 13TH where I will display a voting badge on my website that will take you directly to their website.

To tempt you, I included my 8 designs below.  By clicking on the link below my images, you are NOT voting for me.  It will only take you to Minted’s website where you can view my design, vote on it (only if you like it please), and  view the other submissions.  You can also view the other submissions right HERE.  Oh, and please feel free to critique my designs on Minted’s website; I welcome the feedback and look forward to hearing from you!

*All photographs were provided by Minted

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, participate in the voting process, regardless of whether you voted for me, and for any shout outs or social media shares you may choose to do!  Also, if you know anyone, perhaps with a design background, that may be interested in checking out this challenge to vote or enter, please feel free to pass this post along.  Although the deadline for this particular challenge is January 13th, there are always other design challenges on Minted to enter!

Thanks again, and happy Friday!