We've Moved! Announcing the New Anders Ruff Website

Exciting News! We've Moved!

Announcing our Fresh NEW Anders Ruff Website:
www.andersruff.com

Come visit us and check out our new, fresh, more organized and resourceful site!

We have loved having you follow us so we hope to see you there!

Visit us
www.andersruff.com

{Giveaway} Double Wrap Bracelet from The Lucky Elephant

I "met" on Twitter Jutta, the talented craftswoman behind The Lucky Elephant. Jutta's bracelets are beautiful. I purchased one from her several months ago and was blown away by the quality of her work, as well as the packaging and presentation of her special bracelets.

In her own words:
Elephants with their trunk raised up are said to bring good luck and to have magical powers to take troubles away. With the lucky elephant's GOOD LUCK ELEPHANT leather wrap and stack bracelets, you can now wrap yourself in good luck while being stylishly accessorized!

Each bracelet can be mixed and matched, stacked in groups - the more the merrier! -or worn by itself. They are designed to go perfectly with any outfit. Wear them to express your very own, unique personality & style while wrapping yourself in an aura of good luck and excellent fortune! Or, give them as a gift to a loved one who could use a little extra luck boost in her endeavors.

The Lucky Elephant was borne of a love of easy-to-wear, unique jewelry and a strong believe in the trunk-up elephant's special power hoping to spread good luck all around the world through stylish and fun jewelry! Mix 'em, wrap and stack 'em, keep or give 'em... and let the elephants work their magic!

Jutta has generously agreed to give away to one lucky follower a double wrap bracelet. Pictured below are just a few of her gorgeous creations. You can view all of her bracelets here.

Lemon Drops GOOD LUCK ELEPHANT

Sea Shell GOOD LUCK ELEPHANT

Curry GOOD LUCK ELEPHANT


Giveaway Description: One double wrap bracelet of winner's choice, not to exceed $58 shop value.

First Way To Enter

• "Like" The Lucky Elephant on Facebook and leave us a comment (here).

Please check back next Friday afternoon to see if you have won!

For Additional Entries* (Not required, but may increase your chance of winning!)

• Follow The Lucky Elephant on Twitter

• Favorite The Lucky Elephant on Etsy

• Like Anders Ruff on Facebook

• Follow Anders Ruff on Twitter

{*For each additional entry, please leave a comment below indicating which additional step(s) you completed. We will check if you win!}

Winner will be chosen via Random.org, on Friday, July 29th, at 1:00 PM EST

Please note: International shipping charges are the responsibility of the winner (if applicable).

{Giveaway Winner} $75 Shop Credit to the Cupcake Stand

The winner of the {Giveaway} $75 Shop Credit to the Cupcake Stand (drawn via Random.org) is lucky #50, Lisa

Lisa said...

I like and follow all 4!

Lisa, please email carrie@andersruff.com so that we can get you your credit! Thank you everyone for all of your support; and a special thanks to Georgiana at the Cupcake Stand for sponsoring this week's giveaway!

Free Printable School Bag Luggage Tag

We recently styled a classroom photoshoot at a 1980 one room schoolhouse.
The full photoshoot will be shown soon, but for now, here are some sneak peeks.

We designed a full printable "School Day" collection that has everything to keep you organized throughout the year. It also has fun designs for the classroom or for parties!
33 pages of designs!

We designed a FREE printable school bag luggage tag for you!
Thank you for being such loyal and fabulous customers and fans.

You can download the free printable here.

The full printable design collection is available here.

On sale for $15 in the shop!

About Carrie Kane

Today's introduction -
Carrie Kane
Director of Social Media & Marketing

Carrie grew up in Orchard Park, New York, a suburb of Buffalo. A resident of Charlotte, North Carolina, since 2000, Carrie's first and foremost job is that of a mother to her amazing sons, Simon and Bryce.

Carrie works full-time as an Executive Assistant. Social media began as a hobby, and turned in to a part-time opportunity (but always a full-time passion) when she met Maureen and Adria.

In her "spare" time, Carrie is the Twitter "voice" of Anders Ruff Custom Designs. She also contributes to the Anders Ruff blog, interacts with giveaway sponsors and potential advertisers, and attends to the other miscellaneous items that land in her inbox.

One of Carrie's Twitter avatars drawn by @notthatkendall
(Carrie wanted to look happy because she generally is!)

Carrie's Favorites:

TV Show: Most anything on Bravo, South Park (I know, I know), Pawn Stars, Pickers, Cody and the other guy from that Survival show

Fashion Designer: Purse Designer: MZ Wallace

Hobbies: Google+, Twitter, Running, Eating dessert

Food: See Dessert

Dessert: Iced sugar cookies, hot fudge sundaes, chocolate mousse cake w/whipped cream & ice cream, airplane cookies (you know the kind they give out in airplanes...sometimes)

Random: I flip cars like some people flip houses

About Maureen Anders

Today's introduction-
Maureen Anders
Anders Ruff Creative Director / Designer / Stylist

Maureen was brought up in Novi, Michigan by 2 interior designer parents. She grew up surrounded by creativity and design and has always had a true passion for creating her own masterpieces. Drawing and sketching, painting and paper crafts, graphic design, sewing and smocking,… the list goes on. Ever since she was a little girl, she had an obsession with paper. It was the only thing on her “wish list” to Santa every year! (She even cried with joy one Christmas after getting a huge stack of various colored cardstock and mat boards from her dad's framer).

Even with her art and design passion, she attended the University of Michigan College of Engineering to obtain a Bachelors in Industrial and Operations Engineering. She began her career with GE Healthcare as a Diagnostic Imaging Sales Account Manager. She met the love of her life during her sales training program, moved to North Carolina and hasn’t looked back!

Woven in between the mathematical equations and scientific principles came design inspiration and attention to detail. More than anything else, Maureen has always been completely fulfilled by simply designing and creating from her random daily inspirations. After she had her first son, Jeffrey, Maureen decided that the stressful and travel filled capital sales career was not going to work and she became a stay at home mom.

She loved staying home with her boys (Jeffrey, 6, and Pierson, 3), but had always needed a creative outlet to keep balance. Maureen started a business in 2006, Posh Papier, where she designed handmade invitations and also took on large scale art projects seen in House Beautiful and Lonny Magazine.

She loved working for herself, but always missed having a partner to bounce ideas off of, to be inspired by, and to collaborate with on late night projects. Maureen’s dream was to meet someone with the same goals, interests and vision. When she met Adria at a random preschool open house, it just clicked and she knew it was meant to be!

Anders Ruff has been a dream for Maureen and every day she wakes up with as smile knowing that she will never "work" a day in her life since this is her true passion.

Maureen’s Favorites:
TV Show: Curb Your Enthusiasm, Entourage, Bachelorette
Fashion Designer: Tory Burch
Hobbies: Graphic Design and Styling (of course), Restaurant Critiquing, Tennis and Zumba
Food: Chicken Picatta with Spinach
Dessert: Cheesecake (Plain with berries)
Random: Self proclaimed OCD – enjoys buying in bulk and several of the same clothing article in various colors.

About Adria Ruff

This week, I am introducing my fabulous team in preparation for our new website launch!

We will start with Adria Ruff! Adria is a designer and stylist for Anders Ruff and has been with me since the very beginning! She has become one of my very best friends and I LOVE having daily interaction with Adria. She is funky, hilarious, edgy, beautiful, witty, creative and talented! I am so lucky to have Adria as a part of Anders Ruff!

Adria was born & raised in Lancaster, Ohio. She attended Auburn University, with a Bachelor’s of Science and studied Fashion Merchandising, Design & Product Management (specializing in Design). She met her husband in her hometown during Christmas break in college. She has been married for 11 years and has two daughters, Brynne (8) & Grayce (5).

Adria’s first job out of college was as a Costume Technician for a Ballet Company in Columbus, Ohio (Ballet Met). Following that position, she jumped over to the corporate world in Fashion. She worked for Limited Too for 6 1/2 years (now known as Justice).

Before she had her second daughter, Grayce, she quit the corporate life. While staying at home with her daughters, Adria created a small photography business in her hometown. A few years later she incorporated graphic design with my photography as well as custom invitations. (all self-taught) Once she realized what could be done with graphic design, she phased out photography and devoted her spare time to graphic work. She had finally found her true passion!!!

In December, 2009, Adria’s husband’s job was uprooted, which brought them to Fort Mill, SC. The first two months she lived here, all she did was paint and decorate her house…. until one day she bumped into (and officially met) Maureen. They hit it off immediately, and spontaneously decided to start working together in graphic design and party branding and styling.

The design work started selling immediately, and in a blink of an eye Anders Ruff Custom Designs had been created.

Adria has enjoyed the freedom of creative expression and the opportunities to attend some amazing events including a weekend at Martha Stewart's Headquarters.

Adria’s Favorites:

TV Show: Modern Family and American Idol (if only I could sing….)
Fashion Designer: Givenchy (when he designed for Audrey Hepburn), current fav: Kate Spade
Hobby: Interior Design, wii karaoke, and live karaoke, wine
Food: Prime Rib & Lobster
Dessert: Cream Puffs, Creme Brulee
Random: Over the years, Adria has aquired many nicknames. Here is the list, in this order, and she am still called these names at various times. Audrey, A-town, Paris, Gremlin, Grem, Nipsy, Nips, Ma-Slater, Honey Badger, HB, Salt

I love ya, Adria!

{Giveaway} $75 Shop Credit to the Cupcake Stand

You've made some yummy, gorgeous cupcakes and want to show them off. What do you do? Put them on a plate? Well, you could, but why not display them on a cupcake stand. This week's giveaway from Georgiana of the Cupcake Stand will make your cupcakes stand apart (pun intended).

In Georgiana's own words, "Like so many of you, I fell in love with all of the cupcake and cake shows on television these days. The more I watched them, the more I thought I would really love to do what they do. But who was I kidding! I couldn't even draw a good Happy Birthday on a cake with frosting! But one day I decided to give it a try and made my husband a birthday cake using fondant. I couldn't believe it! I did it and it looked great! So then I started making cakes for everyone, for any reason because I loved it so much. Everyone told me I should start my own cake/cupcake decorating business. So that's what I did. Shortly after starting my business I started looking for the "perfect" cupcake stand. I couldn't find what I was looking for so my husband and I created our own. The more cupcakes we sold the more people would inquire about purchasing a cupcake stand from us. So that is how Cupcake Stand was created! "

We are so proud to have created these cupcake stands that are worthy of the most special moments of your lives. We truly love our business and take pride in every detail. Customer satisfaction is our top priority! We thank you so much for being part of our "sweet" journey!"

Here are just a few of the amazing stands sold by the Cupcake Stand. Your cupcakes could be sitting pretty if you win our giveaway.

Giveaway Description: $75 credit to the Cupcake Stand

First Way To Enter

• "Like" Cupcake Stand on Facebook and leave us a comment (here).

Please check back next Friday afternoon to see if you have won!

For Additional Entries* (Not required, but may increase your chance of winning!)

• Follow Cupcake Stand on Twitter

• Like Anders Ruff on Facebook

• Follow Anders Ruff on Twitter

{*For each additional entry, please leave a comment below indicating which additional step(s) you completed. We will check if you win!}

Winner will be chosen via random.org, on Friday, July 22nd, at 1:00 PM EST

Please note: International shipping charges are the responsibility of the winner (if applicable).

{Giveaway Winner} Hand Embroidered, Personalized Pillow for Boy or Girl from The Embroidery Collection

The winner of the {Giveaway} Hand Embroidered, Personalized Pillow for Boy or Girl from The Embroidery Collection (drawn via Random.org) is lucky #9, Ashley

Ashley said...
I love the pillows. I woudl love one that said "Hello Caroline".

Ashley, please email carrie@andersruff.com so that we can get you your gift certificate! Thank you everyone for all of your support; and a special thanks to Felix and Manuel of Southern Collection for sponsoring this week's giveaway.

A Load of Fun at a Construction Party!

A talented client of ours, Maylene, shared photos from her son's construction party. It turned out super cute!

This party is seriously themed-fantastic!

I adore the neon orange vests... they are completely decked out for the occasion!

Enter the party...

Look at the cupcake stand with the orange cone base with the "caution" sign in front!
So creative!
She used a tool belt as a utensil holder...

I adore how the favor bags are being displayed in the dumpster!

The "Men Working" Sign is perfect for a backdrop!

Great job, Maylene!

Maylene has an etsy shop with fabulous party decor.
You can visit Maylene's site here.

{Featured Clients} Grace's 1st "Birday" Party

"Tweet." "Tweet." The birds were a chirping at our client Molly's house. Molly's daughter Grace turned one and it was time for her to spread her wings (so to speak). We worked together to customize for Grace's party our Sweet Tweet Birdie Birthday Printable Design Collection. Molly did a fantastic job styling the party...take a peek:

Welcome to Grace's 1st "Birday" Party

Feathers "around" her cap

Happy Birthday Grace

The nest (filled with yummy treats)

Bird feeder

The watering hole (Molly, kudos for providing adult beverages!)

Baby Grace and her cupcake. So cute!!

The fabulous favor table

Thank you Molly for sharing with our followers pictures from Grace's special day!

The new Anders Ruff Website is on its way!

We may be a little quiet around the blog for the next week or so as we tie up loose ends with our new website. The scheduled launch date is in 2 weeks!

The image above is just an ad that we created but it gives you an idea of the "feel" of the new site. We will have the same fabulous colors (pink, aqua, lime and navy) and can't wait to show off the fresh site!

I can't wait for everyone to see. We will have much more organization, ideas and we will have some new resources for you fabulous party planners....
Also, we will be launching some new products for the shop.

Can't wait to share!

If you are interested in advertising on our new site, let us know! We have had a lot of interest in advertising and look forward to working with some fabulous sponsors!

School Day {Video} Sneak Peek and New Printable Collection!

All I can say is "FABULOUS!" This weekend was full of fun. Friday, we had our new Halloween photo shoot. Saturday morning, we had our School Day photo shoot.

We held the "School Day" collection photo shoot at a 1890 old one room school house!
My little Jeffrey (in the nerdy cute bow tie) and Adria's little Grayce (in the blue dress) were in the shoot along with two other precious models. Can't wait to share the whole photo shoot.

For now, here is a teaser - a video. We were making the kids laugh by talking about how Jeffrey was stinky. He got a kick out of it (he wasn't actually stinky but its all that we could say to make everyone laugh at the same time!)....

The printable "School Day" collection is in the shop and includes everything you need for a full year of organization, decoration and school - fabulousness.
(Great for teachers and/or parents!)

PS. "Nerd" is in.. just check the J Crew catalogs!

Sneak Peek of Haunted Halloween & Adoption Request

We had a fun weekend of photoshoots!

On Friday, we shot our Haunted Halloween Printable Collection. (coming soon to the shop!)
The night before the photoshoot, we realized that we couldn't do a Halloween photoshoot without a black cat (of course!).

Adria went early in the morning to the Humane Society to "borrow" a cat.
She was stunned at the amount of cats that are available for adoption at our local Humane Society. The kitty was so sweet and we wish we could have kept him!

If you are interested in adopting this kitty (we are near Charlotte)
here is the contact info and info about the kitty:

VF #4614 A
DSH/Black
Male
DOB 3-1-11

www.HumaneSocietyofYorkCounty.org
hsyccats@comporium.net (Vickie is the contact)

{Giveaway} Hand Embroidered, Personalized Pillow for Boy or Girl from The Embroidery Collection

We are thrilled that Manuel Lira and Felix Achenbach of Southern Collection, the amazingly talented duo behind the Etsy shop, Embroidery Collection, have offered to sponsor this week's giveaway. One lucky follower will win their choice of a hand embroidered, custom children's pillow.

Felix says:

"I was lucky enough to grow up on a farm in Argentina until it was time to start school. It was 1945, no TV, no refrigerator just an ice box, a recently installed crank telephone, a radio and land that extended to the horizon. The simple life that we all miss so much living in the big city.

My toys were rudimentary so I preferred to play with animals.
Those were my real toys! Every morning I went to see each one and greeted them by name…and they replied to me “Hello Felix!”

The inspiration for this embroidery design comes from those innocent happy years and these animals are trained by me to greet your baby by name.

Tell me the name of your baby and I will teach them how to say it."

"Hello Jacob!"

"Hello Isabella!"

Giveaway Description: One personalized embroidered pillow for boy or girl.

First Way To Enter

• Visit Embroidery Collection on Etsy and leave us a comment (here) telling us what you what name you would have embroidered on this amazing pillow if you win!

For Additional Entries* (Not required, but may increase your chance of winning!)

• Add Embroidery Collection as a favorite on Etsy

• Add Pillows Collection as a favorite on Etsy

• Add Fabric Collection as a favorite on Etsy

• Add Anders Ruff as a favorite on Etsy

In addition to their Etsy shops, Felix and Manuel also have a shop on eBay called

"sell-e-bratefabrics"

{*For each additional entry, please leave a comment below indicating which additional step(s) you completed. We will check if you win!}

Winner will be chosen via random.org, on Friday, July 15th, at 1:00 PM ET

Please note: International shipping charges are the responsibility of the winner (if applicable).

{Giveaway Winner} $25 Gift Certificate to My Little Love - Sweet Party Supplies

The winner of the {Giveaway}$25 Gift Certificate to My Little Love - Sweet Party Supplies (drawn via Random.org) is lucky #7, "Jenn"

jenn said...

I like Anders Ruff on FB.

Jenn, please email carrie@andersruff.com so that we can get you your gift certificate!

Thank you everyone for all of your support; and a special thanks to My Little Love for sponsoring this week's giveaway

4th of July Block Party

Our client, Jen Carver, impressed us away a couple months ago with her sweet bumble bee party. (Remember?) Now she is impressing with her 4th of July party!

I know 4th of July is over, but I still want to share her party because I just LOVE it! Plus, there is some great inspiration for summer BBQs and parties!

First off, a photo of her precious daughter in a Hang to Dry shirt.
The owner of Hang to Dry, Crissie, reached out to us after seeing our 4th of July Pinwheels collection photoshoot and wanted to create matching shirts inspired by our graphics.
Isn't it precious?! (and the model, too!)

Loads of photos below with a writeup at the bottom in Jen's words....

In Jen's words....

Food, friends, fireworks and fun--what more could a neighborhood 4th of July block party need? Just one thing-- a classicly gorgeous printable graphics collection by Anders Ruff Custom Designs to coordinate those 4 'F's previously mentioned. This year, we wanted to kick our neighborhood block party up a notch. We chose Anders Ruff's 4th of July Pinwheels collection to tie the elements of our 3rd Annual BBQ together in a beautiful way. Families enjoyed decorating bicycles, wagons & scooters for a bicycle parade, feasted on delicious food & dessert, participated in a little water balloon competition, made S'mores, ate & ate & ate dessert, & observed a colorful fireworks display to conclude the night.

The focal point for our party was definitely the dessert smorgasbord. Josh (Jen's handy husband), jumped on the DIY task of building a backdrop out of PVC pipe for hanging the red & white striped fabric (a cheap tablecloth purchased at Target) & pennant banner created with coordinating patterned papers from AR's graphic package. A few accordion rosettes were added for a bit of patriotic flair. The table was covered in a navy polka dotted vinyl fabric purchased from Ikea. Styrofoam blocks were covered in wrapping paper to act as a platform for more patriotic decor and desserts. Red graduated hat boxes were stacked, adorned with coordinating wrapping paper & Whirly Pops for added whimsy.

Dozens of homemade treats lined 3 different dessert tables. Much of the patriotic candy housed in various apothecary jars was provided by Oh Nuts! Candy Company and was a huge hit. Kids were delighted by the fun colors & delicious variety of sweet treats (rock candy, gumballs, mint lentils, Jelly Belly jelly beans, patriotic mints, red pistachios, striped candy sticks & such. In addition, Oh! So Yummy Cookie Favors & Confections provided spectacular coordinating pinwheel cookies which perfectly coordinated with Anders Ruff's graphics. Johanna Dellino of Pop.O.Licious Cake Pops created custom pinwheel & patriotic cake pops for our event. Not only did they look amazing, but they were delicious! (I may have eaten 3-4 myself. Oops.) Other homemade items included: caramel apples (recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chewy-Caramel/Detail.aspx), hand-dipped caramel & white chocolate "sparkler" pretzel rods, patriotic marshmallow pops, cupcakes, whoopie pies, chocolate dipped strawberries, strawberry/blueberry trifle & rice krispy treats on a stick. Fresh popped popcorn & roasted peanuts were also on hand as a late night snack while watching the fireworks. (The adorable vintage popcorn & peanut bags, as well as cupcake liners can be found on Etsy in Hey Yo Yo's shop.)

We loved finding fun ways to use the Pinwheel Collection . AR's patterned papers were used to bundle blue raspberry licorice, & wrap napkins and utensils, as well as create pinwheels for the tops of the cupcakes. Water bottle wraps were added to boring water bottles to add some festiveness. These were reduced in size and added as cute little matchbox covers to be used later in the evening with the darling sparkler favors created from AR's printables. Coordinating mini flags were added to caramel apple sticks. Various circle tags were used to decorate the candy jars and metal favor tins, as well as top off the cupcakes.

While everything was a huge hit with our neighbors, I'd have to say the most loved & useful item were the S'mores kits we put together for our marshmallow roast, using the treat toppers. Not only were they cute, the kits were so helpful in keeping that portion of our party organized and less chaotic. Firepits & little friends can sometimes be crazy!

We are grateful to Anders Ruff for inspiring a wonderful neighborhood BBQ and block party!
-------------

Thank you, Jen, for sharing! You did a wonderful job!

Vendor Credits:
Patriotic Candy & Nuts: Oh Nuts!
Pinwheel Cookies: Oh! So Yummy Cookie Favors & Confections
Pinwheel & Patriotic Cake Pops: Pop.O.Licious Cake Pops
Cupcake liners & Peanut/Popcorn Bags: Hey Yo Yo

The 4th of July Pinwheels collection is available for purchase in our shop.