Fixing Our Videos

So one of the little things that has been driving me crazy for almost a year is our video library. We have some awesome and dead useful instructional videos showing the step-by-step application of a Wall Written Statement.
We made these videos by borrowing my dad's sweet video camera, then my sister, Natalie, had a five minute lesson on videography, and we cranked out some movies like it's nobody's business. Having no previous editing experience, I sat down for two days and put together some rough-but-good-enough videos for your viewing pleasure.
The clincher (and what's been giving me that irritated twitch whenever I so much as think of YouTube) is: when I rendered the good-enough videos, they became blurry and not good enough anymore.
Want to see one and decide for yourself? I present to you Exhibit A: Blurry Step One Video:

BUT (eedle-deedle!) today I was able to sit down with an awesome videographer who is going to edit our videos and re-render them for us within the next week or two. I'm so excited!
Another cause for excitement, is that we'll probably be able to make some more useful videos with application tips, design ideas and craft projects, as well as some tutorials for our website. So look forward to that for the summer.
Does anybody have a suggestion for a video project you'd like to see us make? Just leave a comment!

This Week's Giveaway: Love Gives Us A Fairy Tale

This week we're giving away a perfect, 22" x 5.75", Black, "Once in a while, right in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives us a fairy tale." Wall Written Statement.

(Just keep in mind that this design is 22 inches wide, and almost 6 inches tall. It isn't the same size as the design shown in the photo, but quite a bit smaller. But, it is free!)

To Enter: become a fan on Facebook, or follow this blog. (Just look to the widget at the right and click "Follow").
THEN fill out the form below.

(The winner will be announced on Monday, May 3rd.)

[This Contest is Closed.]

(Don't worry, your information will only be used to contact you if you win, and will not be shared)

And the Winner Is ...

Congratulations to Becky Gartner! She's going to receive our "Be Your Own Kind Of Beautiful" design in Bronze.

The Mother's Day Collection

Announcing the new Mother's Day Collection! Find the perfect gift for mom at Wall Written. (But you'd better hurry, Mother's Day is May 9th!)
This collection was a lot of fun for me to design- and oh, I love so many of them, I couldn't even choose a favorite. This first photo is high on my list- and my husband liked this next design.
One idea my husband had, was to switch out the name "Abraham Lincoln" for the name of the child giving the gift to their mother. (If you wanted to add customization like that, just contact us before ordering).
This last design is one of several Grandmother quotes- and we've got a lot more Mother's Day Designs.

We've also got a new promotion going:
You can get this Mother's Masterpiece design for free with a $75 order. Click here for more information. (and yes, those are my real kids in this photo. Aren't they just beautiful? I sure think so.)

And for all of you wondering what the deal is with our "Earth Laughs in Flowers" promotion, don't worry, it's still going. You have to request it specifically, though. There's more information about it if you click here.

Giveaway of the Week: Be Your Own Kind Of Beautiful

This is for the color "Bronze" (a Matte Metallic) and the size is 12" x 12.5". And yet again: there isn't anything wrong with it! We're giving away a perfect design.
To Enter: become a fan on Facebook, or follow this blog. (Just look to the widget at the right and click "Follow").
THEN fill out the form below.

The winner will be announced on Monday, April 26.

[This Contest is Closed.]

(Personal/contact info will be used for contacting the winner only, and is private.)

Funny New Mother's Day Design

I've been sitting down to design the Mother's Day Collection, and was showing some of the new designs to my husband. I read him the following quote:
Without skipping a beat, he said:
I thought it was so funny, that I added it to the design. Of course, if somebody doesn't want it to say "Dirty." at the bottom, they can just leave off that piece during the application. (Since it's a separate color, it will be on it's own sheet.)
So- here is the final design:
The Mother's Day Collection will be released in 1-2 weeks. You can order this design along with several others just in time for Mother's Day.

And the Winners Are...

The winner for the "Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass..." quote is Ciera Stout! Congratulations! She was chosen at random, but told us this story when she entered:

"I would LOVE to have the dancing in the rain quote! My life is all about making it through the storms. My husband has had 4 heart surgeries in the last 21 months and will probably need another soon. I've got 2 boys, a 20 month old and a 3 week old. Life is crazy and hectic, but we still find the time to DANCE!"

And the winner for the "Love and Cook with Wild Abandon" is Holly Jackson! She posted several comments on Facebook- including:

"You have darling designs! ♥
I LOVE the Dance in the Rain quote and the Wild Abandon...
I also have a son that has Spiderman stuff in his room... so the design you have featured for this page is GREAT!! My husband is BIG into genealogy... I can envision that Tree behind old family history photos... There are a couple PERFECT for some granddaughters: "Never underestimate the power of acting young and silly and crazy" Dancing is like dreaming with your feet" & "A girl should be two things, Classy and Fabulous -Coco Chanel" Another favorite is "Breathe, you're home". I am TRULY a HOME BODY! :) Home is my sanctuary! ♥ I still have tons to look through! Your designs are DARLING!! *HUGS*

Congratulations, Ladies! I'll be announcing next week's giveaway on Monday, the 19th. In the mean-time, be sure to enter the $50 Wall Written Giveaway on the Bargain Divas Blog.

Giveaway Listing: Keeping Track of It All

I know it's kinda getting hard to keep track of all our giveaways and contests lately, so allow me to lay it all out:

1. Win $50 to spend at Wall Written. No purchase necessary. (Deadline: April 19) *UPDATE: Contest is now closed*

2. If you are a past customer, you can submit a photo for consideration in 2 separate contests.
a) Our April Photo Contest. Winner gets $50 to spend at Wall Written. (Deadline: April 30)
b) Our Wall of Fame: Winners get $150 to spend at Wall Written. (No Deadline)
Just email your photo to designer@wallwritten.com. (See other customer photo submissions on our facebook page)

3. Win one of two free designs. Simply follow the instructions in this week's giveaway blog post. (Deadline: April 17) *UPDATE: Contest is now closed*

4. If you spend $75 at Wall Written, you qualify for a Free "Earth Laughs In Flowers" Statement. (Deadline: April 30)

$50 Wall Written Giveaway

My friend, Jacki, has a blog with her sister called Bargain Divas. Right now she is hosting a giveaway for $50 to spend at Wall Written. And for those of you who are already followers of the Wall Written Blog, and/or fans of our facebook page, you probably already qualify for an entry or two. So go on over and check it out, -but you have to hurry! The giveaway ends on Monday, April 19!

Awesome Customer Photos

Don't forget to enter in this week's giveaway.

So we are having our first Monthly Photo Contest for April, and have gotten some great photos. This one has an interesting story:
"These statements mean a lot to my fiancee and I. The lovebirds on the tree represent us, and the statement was very simple to apply. We are very happy with our statements."

Dennis - Ankeny, Iowa

I just wanted to point out how he said they were very simple to apply. This is by far our most difficult product. The tree comes in 5 large pieces, and is a floor-to-ceiling design. I would consider it an "Intermediate - Advanced" level design, but he still thought it was very simple.
A different customer left a comment about the I Love You quote:

"I ordered this. I put it in my future husband's closet so every morning he gets up to get dressed he sees how much I love him. It's just our little inside love note!"
Misty - Norman, OK

What a completely adorable idea.

It's going to be REALLY hard to choose the winner at the end of the month.
AND - There's still time to submit your own photo - the monthly winner gets $50 to spend at Wall Written. (Plus, some of these photos are being considered for our Wall of Fame, which wins $150 to spend at Wall Written - your picture could be next!)

Another Benefit to Submitting Your Photo

Okay - One of the hidden perks of sending in your photo, is that somebody who knows exactly what the end design should look like (that's me), will be closely inspecting your photo. A few months ago a customer sent in this picture of her design, and we noticed a couple of problems. The first was that one of her letters (check out the "G" of the last word "Goodnight") had ripped, and only part of it was on her wall. She hadn't complained (and maybe didn't notice), but as I've said before, we take care of our customers. We immediately sent out the replacement letter - and she got it a couple days later.The other problem we found with her photo, is that she left in one of the "Alignment Diamonds".
(See it between the words "Kind" and "Prayer"?)

We see this a lot, and always have customers calling us up asking what the deal is. Basically, on all the word-based designs we send, there are arrows marking the exact center point on the left, right, top and bottom of the design. These are to help you work out your positioning. On larger sized designs, we also place a diamond or two going through the exact middle horizontally. (You know, like marking the 'equator' of your design.)

This is essentially to help people out with drawing that center line for the level. We try to make the diamonds close enough together that a person could have just a ruler to make their line, and wouldn't have to use a yard stick to match up the arrows on each side of the design.

BUT- these diamonds are just tools for the application process, and are meant to be removed. :)

I feel a little guilty, because they aren't mentioned in our instruction pamphlets, and I've seen lots of customer photos with random diamonds. So it's really my fault. And we'll get new pamphlets pretty soon, that are more clear about it.

And I hope you'll all forgive me when I Photoshop out your diamonds.

Customer Photo Followup

A couple weeks ago I blogged about a custom monogram I had designed:
Today the customer posted this photo to our facebook page.
"We finally finished putting up our Family Name wall art and we LOVE IT! You guys did a great job of designing for us. Thanks so much. We ended up painting a decorative square underneath it for a little more color in the room and finished it with painted moulding."
-Misty, Oklahoma City, OK

Isn't that rad? So this design is still applied directly to the wall, but I think they really set it off in a super creative way! I have to say, I love it, too.

Giveaways(!) of the Week

This is for the color "Black" and the size: 38" x 8.5". And yet again: there isn't anything wrong with it! We're giving away another perfect design. (You lucky winner, you.)
And as an extra treat, we'll be having another giveaway!
This is for the color "White" and the size 18" x 8". This design has no flaws, it was just ordered by a customer by accident. This is one of my favorite kitchen designs (and a perfect gift for newlyweds). (Oh, and keep in mind, there is NO background - it's just there to help you see the white.)
So here's how to enter:
To enter for ONE of the designs: become a fan on Facebook, or follow this blog. (Just look to the widget at the right and click "Follow").
THEN leave a comment on this blog post saying which design you'd like to be entered for and why. (Doesn't have to be long or glamorous - don't stress)

Want to enter for BOTH of the designs?

You'll need to do one of the above, then write about Wall Written, this Blog, or this contest either on your Facebook Page, or on your blog. (Again - don't stress)
THEN leave a comment on this blog post with a link so we can read what you just wrote. (Because it makes us happy.)

We'll be announcing the winner on Saturday, April 17th. Good Luck, everybody.

And the Winner Is ...

The winner for this week's giveaway is Dana Jones Snedigar! She entered on our Facebook Page, and was chosen at random.
Check back in a couple minutes, and we'll post next week's Giveaways. (Yes, you read that right! 2 Giveaways! Deedle!)

Announcing Our First "Wall of Fame" Winner (of $150!)

Our first Wall of Fame winner is Candy Latham of Canton, Ohio. All she did was submit a photo of her Wall Written Statement, and she's going to get a $150 Shopping Spree at Wall Written! Congratulations!
Here's what she had to say:
"Thanks again for making me your wall of fame winner! My husband and I had looked for something to go in the spot in our kitchen, but everything was so bulky and did not look right until I ran across your wall words on line. It was the perfect thing in our kitchen. Everyone who has seen it says how unique and different it is.We love it there and now I can't wait to put one in my dining room. Thanks for the unique addition to our decorating."
If you'd like to submit a photo for our Wall of Fame, just attach the photo in an email (to designer@wallwritten.com) and include a story about your statement - maybe why you chose it, or how easy it was to apply - something like that. (Don't stress, it doesn't have to be long.)
If it doesn't make it to the Wall of Fame, it still might win the Customer Photo of the Month. (Which gets $50 to spend at Wall Written!) We'll be announcing April's winner on April 30th.
To see all of the photos submitted so far, check out our facebook page.

Customer Letter

Today we got an email from a customer who had made a custom statement, but needed a little extra help with the sizing. She ordered this design in Split Pea:"Just wanted to let you know that my recent purchase of your wall art was a big hit. My daughter put it on her daughter's bedroom wall and she loves it! It is so cute and so original. Thank you for your help in making the design and size. All looks great!"
Pat - Weaverville, NC

Thank you for the note, Pat! I'm always wondering what our designs end up being used for- and I seriously adore getting letters like this.

Giveaway of the Week: Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass...

This is for the color "Mocha" and the size: 38" x 8.5". And the best part is: there isn't anything wrong with it! We ended up changing the design from what we offer on the site (slightly), and had already cut this version before we made the change. So this week we'll be giving away a perfect design.To enter in the giveaway, either become a fan of our Facebook page, or follow this blog. Then comment on this post (be sure to include a way for us to contact you if you win).
(To follow the blog, just find the widget to the right, and click the "Follow" button.)There is no purchase necessary to win. We'll be announcing the winner on Saturday, April 10th. Good Luck, everybody.

And the Winner Is ...

The winner for this week's giveaway is Katy Ives. (And just so you know- she was chosen randomly - we weren't playing favorites, promise! :) Be sure to check back for next week's giveaway - it's going to be awesome!

How to Create Established Date Monogram

For this design above- I used our new Damask (Headboard Length) Monogram (shown in size: 36" x 11"). Then I opened the Custom Design Tool. The first thing I did was click the button in the lower left side of the tool labeled: Background.

Change the background size to match the width of the space you're putting your design. In this case, I'm trying to fit the established date and last name to the monogram, so I'll change the width to be the same as the monogram size I chose. (36").

You can also chose the color of the wall where you'll apply your design, but keep in mind that the color you chose is just a visual tool to give you an idea of the colors - there is not a background included with the design.

Next, select the words "Make Your Statement Here", and type in the text you want to be directly below the monogram. In my case, I typed in "e s t a b l i s h e d 2 0 0 4" (note the spaces between each character - this is not required, and would not work at all with a script-type font). Then I chose the font by clicking another button on the lower left side of the tool labeled: Font

We chose the font "Mrs Eaves Small Caps" to match the monogram.

The next step is to choose your size. Just pick whatever size you need to make your letters fit in the white part of the screen. (I even gave myself a couple of inches on either side, because I wanted this part to be slightly smaller than the monogram itself.) You can see how many inches the lettering will be by comparing the words to the rule bars on the top and left side of the tool.

Because I wanted the last name portion of my design to be larger than the established date, I need to make a new layer. Find the button on the lower left corner of the tool.

Now you need to click on the new layer that was created, select the text (Make Your Statement Here), and type the last name portion.
Then follow the steps above for changing the font (Mrs Eaves Caps is what we used again), and choose the size for the second layer.

Since the drag tabs above each layer that let you position the layers may block your view, you can simply un-check the box in the upper right corner of the design labeled: Drag Tab Visible. (Just be sure to recheck it if you want to move anything around). To make changes to a specific layer, just click on the layer you'd like to modify.

You can see the price in the lower right corner of the Design Tool, as well as the "Add to Cart" button.
After your design is in your cart, don't worry if the layers aren't displayed in the order that you made them; each layer will come on it's own piece, and you'll be able to position them however you'd like.

These same concepts can be applied to our Field of Flowers design.

First choose the size for the Field of Flowers, then input the width to match (give or take a couple of inches, if you'd like). Then just make the name look the way you want, and choose the same color as you did for Part 2 in the Field of Flowers design (the color of the flowers).

Good luck, and Happy Designing!

New Fonts in the Custom Design Tool!

We have just added some great new fonts to our Custom Design Tool! I've underlined my favorites fonts below. (Although it was hard to decide - there were several that I love but didn't underline.)
Many of them were fonts we'd had available before, but not in the tool - so there are lots of PreDesigned Statements made with them. Here are some examples of Designs that can now be made with the fonts in the Design Tool:

So go nuts! We'd love to see all the stunning designs you can come up with. If you'd like to learn more about making your words into works of art, check out our Custom Design Tips page.