Birthday Giveaway!

Hello again and ... Happy New Year to you and ... Happy Birthday!!

What? Haven't you got a birthday today? No?

OK, that must be just me then!

On my birthdays when I was young my Grandma and Great Aunts and Uncles would often give my sister a little gift too. And no, we're not twins. They just used to think it was nice not to leave her out on when I was receiving lots of presents [and vice versa on her birthday]. So, with that in mind, I'd like to offer a little gift your way today:

You might have already seen my 'Plundered Pages' range of themed vintage paper packs in my Etsy shop, but if not then you can catch up on what they are here.

This year I'd really like to build on the idea of offering custom packs tailored to suit exactly what you'd like to find in a pack of papers so here's your chance to grab one for free. As my birthday gift to you.

GIVEAWAY DETAILS - NB: the giveaway is now CLOSED - thank you to all who entered.

• I'm offering one person a fully customised [large] pack of original vintage/retro papers and images.
• The deadline for entries is Saturday 14th January 2012 at 6pm [GMT].
• To enter simply make it clear in a comment on this post that you'd like your name adding to the giveaway list.
• If you'd like to add in details about the kinds of themes and topics you might like to find in your pack, you're welcome to do that too. [It won't effect the outcome at all - it's just for fun].
• I'll select a winner at random on Sunday.
• If you're selected as the winner I will need to be able to get in touch with you so we can discuss what you'd like in your pack - so please bear that in mind when you log in [or not] to leave your comment. I need to be able to click a link, or at least copy + paste an address you've added to your comment so I can find you again and let you know you won. 

Examples of custom themed packs:

If you need some inspiration as to the kinds of things you could request in your custom pack here's a few I made earlier ...

This one was requested by someone putting together an album to celebrate a 60th Birthday:

For me to know what to include the customer gave me some details about the man for whom the album was being made, things such as:

• where he grew up;
• his activities as a child [trips to the beach etc];
• his occupation in the advertising field;
• his love of art and culture;
• and his current hobbies and activities.

I then tootled off to browse my collection to put this pack together.

As with all my packs, there's far more tucked inside than what is visible in the front + back photos.

Anothe request came from someone compiling an album of recipes handed down through her family and she gave me the theme of 'Vintage Food / Cooking / Kitchens' to work with. Here's a few of the items which made it into this pack: 

It included various vintage advertisements, recipes, dictionary definitions, illustrations ... and more:

Next up is a pack I put together as agift for a friend, tailored very much to the things I know she likes such as: cats; cute dogs; baking; pink ... and flamingoes:

I even parted with a fabulous 1950s dress-pattern advert for this pack ... because I like her and I'm kind like that ....

I've also put together a couple of packs for friends I know through their blogs and the stories they tell there, which is what I based their themes around.

For some reason I haven't taken photos of any of these but luckily Sian of From High in the Sky blogged this photo of the pack I made for her. [This computer won't let me add a link properly but you can find Sian here:

http://fromhighinthesky.blogspot.com/2011/11/tuesday-tuesday_15.html I'll change it when I get home!]

As I was compiling her pack I was stunned to find a page in one of my books which featured part of her blog name in it! It was a perfect Plundered Pages moment for me!

I hope these examples give you an idea of the range of themes, topics, images you could receive and approaches you could take if you win a pack for yourself.

Feel free to contact me if you'd like a custom pack of your own at any time too.

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Right then, I'll be off to enjoy the rest of my birthday ... so far [being in work on and off today] I've had a celebratory banana and a drink of water and am just about to walk up 7 flights of stairs to attend lecture. You're jealous, I know. I predict dark chocolate, caramel and sea-salt truffles later this evening to make up for things!

See you soon. Good luck with the giveaway.

Julie [aka The Birthday Girl]