Guess what time it is? Time for yet another moo.com contest! We had such a blast with the first one (not to mention several thousand entries) that we just had to do it again.

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MOO is an online print company that creates a variety of materials including business cards, postcards, and MiniCards. Today we are focusing on their MiniCards. Half the size of a standard business card, MiniCards are great for showing off your portfolio, your products or your business. With the option of a different image on every card, upload your own artwork or choose from thousands of designs.

Ok, let's get down to the details now! I know you are all dying to enter our MiniCard contest.

How to Enter:

Head on over to our contest page and submit your best color palettes for a MOO MiniCard pack. Once you have created something you are proud of, show it off! The palette will be in the gallery to gain "love" from the community.

As a tip, you can adjust the width of each color using the red bar right above the palette color.

Submissions close at the end of the day on Wednesday July 25, 2012. You will have the chance to gain love votes until July 29, 2012. We will announce the winner on Monday, July 30. The top five most ‘loved’ designs will be announced as the winners and these five designs will be bundled as a new COLOURlovers pack and will be available for sale on moo.com.

Once you create your awesome palettes, check out the other entries and vote for your favorites.

The Prizes:

The people who created 5 most loved color palettes will each receive a $100 MOO voucher to be used at Moo.com for any of their available products.

Not only will you receive a voucher, but the 5 most loved palettes will be included in the next set of COLOURlovers mini cards by MOO.

Good luck and get designing!

Who doesn't love the ampersand? It is one of those symbols that is used in a lot of designs and something that will class up any logo. Here is a collection of ampersands that people have created for various uses. How fun are these?

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This artistic Ampersand is the branding behind makeup company MAC teaming up with social community Milk for a campaign.

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Which ones are you favorite? Do you use an ampersand in your design work?

Mobile design and branding are two very important pieces of today's design culture. More than ever, people are jumping into the world of mobile and trying to tackle the needs of consumers.

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Here is a collection of iPhone apps that have a great design as well as top-notch branding from start to finish. Check out the various mobile trends that are taking over the mobile design world.

Source: Flowerly by Justalab

Source: OATbook by Rob Cleaton

Yardsale by Sarah Mick

Source: Dribbble, Dribbble

Source: Dribbble, Dribbble

Source: Dribbble, Dribbble

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 What mobile design elements are your favorite of the moment?

I hope you have all enjoyed designing your 4x4 piece during our 4x6.com design contest! We really enjoyed seeing all of the awesome entries that you guys created.

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4by6.com is a printing company that focuses on high-end printing services of all types of collateral including business cards, fliers, square cards, etc. It is definitely worth checking out for all your printing needs.

Winners:

To recap, here is what the winner's will receive!

·         First Place: $250 in 4by6.com print dollars

·         Second Place: $100 in 4by6.com print dollars

·         Third Place: $50 in 4by6.com print dollars

·         4th - 20th Honorable Mentions: 50 Free 4x4" Satin Square Cards (not including S&H)

In First Place with the most loves was happy swing by COLOURlover blimblimb.

Second Place was Primitive art by COLOURlover Alisa Overland.

And Third Place went to magnolia morning by COLOURlover twister.

Below are the 4th-20th place Honorable Mentions:

Congrats to all the winners and thanks to everyone for voting!

Wedding invitation design can go in so many ways. The options are endless which means that you can as creative as you would like.

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It is an important one as it will set the mood for your guests as to the tone of the event. Though invitation design can sound like an overwhelming task, so many fabulous print designers are top notch invitation designers and can often help you hone in on that exact style that you want.

Check out these designs below. Which styles are your favorite? What are you leaning toward for your invitations? Would like to see your inspiration and final designs in the comment section below!

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Source: Neon, Black & White

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Source: Dribbble

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4by6.com is an online printing company that offers high-quality products and services for all of your printing needs from business cards to postcards, and more.

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One of the unique products that 4by6.com offers is their Portfolio Packs, which allows you to print 4 different cards. Portfolio Packs come in every size and finish that 4by6.com offers. Send these cards to your client list, one after the other (or go ahead and send them to whoever you want).

We are very excited to announce a new design contest with 4by6.com. So let's get to the details.

Contest dates:

Monday, June 11 through Monday, June 25th

How to enter:

COLOURlovers use our design tools to create a pattern and color in a 4x4" square card and submit it to our online gallery. Use your own patterns and then color them however you like! It really is that simple. Give it a try, and keep in mind you can submit as many entries as your heart desires.

Voting process:

COLOURlovers will vote for their favorite submissions, and the most loved entries will receive their respective prizes. The entry that receives the most love notes will be awarded 1st Prize; the entry that receives the second most love will be awarded 2nd Prize; the entry that receives the third most love will be awarded 3rd Prize. 4th - 20th Honorable Mentions will also be determined in the same way.

Prizes:

·         First Place: $250 in 4by6.com Print Dollars for any product on 4by6.com (not including S&H)

·         Second Place: $100 in 4by6.com Print Dollars for any product on 4by6.com (not including S&H)

·         Third Place: $50 in 4by6.com Print Dollars for any product on 4by6.com (not including S&H)

·         4th - 20th Honorable Mentions: 50 Free 4x4" Satin Square Cards (not including S&H)

The timeline for the contest will go like this:

Submissions will close at the end of the day Wednesday, June 20th. Voting will remain open from Thursday, June 21st to Sunday, June 24th. The winner will be announced on Monday, June 25th.

Good luck!

View all the entries here: 4by6.com Portfolio Pack Entries

Who knew a feature could be so inspiring! Feather artwork is nothing short of beautiful. People have experimented in a variety of ways to create different kinds of feather art. We have put together a collection of some of our favorite and most inspiring feather features.

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Feathers have become a huge trend in the fashion industry, though you can see them a bit on clothing, accessories are where feathers inspire beyond belief. Earrings, hairpieces, and just about everything in between get an extra fashion kick when adorned by feathers.

Source: Frau Grau

Source: Yellow, Earrings

Source: Colorful Feathers

Source: Etsy

Source: Hair Extension, Colorful Feather

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Source: Etsy

Source: Brit

Source: Feather, Watercolor 

Source: Etsy

Artist Markus Linnenbrick creates some amazing and colorful art pieces. Whether he is creating art installations or sculptures his use of color is so creative and much different than anything you will probably ever see.

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Here are a few of his art installations that he has created in multiple buildings.

These sculptures are so amazing. The process involves glass pieces and a drill! Look how amazing these sculptures look.

Here are some great pieces he created on canvas. Wow, I really want one of these pieces in my house right about now.

Check out Markus Linnenbrick's art work! Would love to see the palettes and patterns you all could create using this as inspiration. Send those over in the comments!

Gelaskins is filled with some amazing designs, and the option to make your own. Is really doesn't get better than that, does it? Thanks so much to Gelaskins for allowing one awesome COLOURlover to be the next Gelaskins artist!

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We hope you have had time to poke around their site, especially to check out their newest product, the Hardcase.

You guys really killed it with the designs this time around. There were so many awesome ones, it is hard to choose a favorite.

The Winners:

1st place prize:
Winner will become the next GelaSkins artist, and will collect royalties on the sale of their design to our customers. Chosen by Gelaskins.

close to you by jjolimie

Runners Up:
The 2nd-5th runners up will receive $100 gift card towards custom GelaSkins featuring your pattern. Selected by most votes on COLOURlovers.

❤Plasmic by praxicalidocious

Wilderness Glory by o2bqueen

Tweet iPhone's Tone by Any Palacios

C a n d y * by hana*

Congrats to all the winners! And thanks to everyone for voting.

Today we are interviewing a budding interior designer with an eye for style and a love for interiors. Make sure to check out her interior design blog and portfolio at HOP Interiors. Ok, let's get started.

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First up, why don't you tell the community a bit about who you are, what you do, how long you have been doing it, and your background.

Hi COLOURlovers ladies and gents! I am Mary-Ellen Paul, Editor & Founder of HOP Interiors. My creative interiors blog is my platform to share my thoughts, personal style and design aesthetic.

(Me with Interior Designer, Potter, TV Presenter Jonathan Adler)

What past experiences do you think have contributed the most to where you are now?

My passion for interior design has been an immense contributing factor. When you have the passion you are more likely to take the bold risks needed to succeed. Through my passion I am continuously seeking to develop my knowledge of interior design, taking risks with colour and exploring its effects.

What colors do you think we will see a lot of in 2012?

I think that bold strong colours will push through this year such as cobalt blues, bright yellows and fiery oranges and tangerine. In a contrast to that, pastels will start popping up, lots of sugary tones of pinks, greys and blues, will be coming through this year.

(Image credits – Main: trendenser.se, Top: etsy.com, Middle: farm6.static.flickr.com, Bottom: savedbythesouthernbelle.tumbr.com)

What patterns and trends do you think will be big in 2012?

There seems to be a lot of the iconic zig-zag Missoni style print which has segued into the interiors stratosphere. Simple prints with both bold and subtle colours will shine through too.

 Which colors, patterns & trends are you personally most excited about?

Cobalt and Navy blues are my favourite colours but I always enjoy designing with colours I’m not used to – taking me out of my comfort zone.

When you are feeling stumped, where do you turn for inspiration?

When I’m stumped I tend to take a break from it. I go through loads of magazines, tearing out anything that fits into my idea and then build upon that.

What is your favorite website or app right now?

At the moment I’m addicted to the Pintest app. I also adore decor8 as Holly is immensely inspirational. I use housetohome.com for inspiration for images for a particular space, be it the living room or the bedroom.

When decorating your home, what are the top three colors you turn to for the space?

What is your favorite paint color?

When decorating a space in your home it’s vital that you assess the space for its size and the amount of light it receives. The more light it receives, the cooler the shades, the less light it receives the much warmer the colour may be used (interior design 101). The colours I tend to use most are Night Jewels, Velvet Truffle and Cocoa Blush – colours from the DULUX paint range. However my fabric choices for my last interior project did encompasses rich reds and lush silver tones.

What's the best home design-related advice you've ever received?

If in doubt, always go back to the brief. The brief is the central core to any interiors project. When designing a space in your own home try writing a brief, detailed statement of what you want and don’t want to include in the project. This will be your blueprint to refer back to. There may be times when your eyes go into interior overload with so much choice out there, but if the products and colours you choose do not relate to the brief or the ethos of the scheme then it’s a no-no.

For someone that is just beginning down the rode to create a better home, what resources or advice would you give to them?

One of my mantras is that ‘a room must not only look great, but feel right’. The room must be right for you, it must be comfortable and feel just right for you. There are so many fads and trends but instead of going with the flow I would advise going for that is right for you and your home. When embarking on a better home or a redesign I would advice taking it one step at a time. It’s easy to get carried away and so my advice would be to slow down and take it room by room. If you are unable to do a complete redesign you can always add a few little changes to make a room appear brand new. For example, you can add a new splash of colour to your room or a change of colour to your fabrics and textiles. My blog will give you a lot of handy tips on making changes to certain rooms in the home.