Posted by Holly on July 9, 2010
***7/10/10***
Limited Edition Extinct Frame coming soon!
Silver Frame
priced $200-$800
Flag Frame
priced $200-$800
Featured Artist of the Month Silver Frame
priced $200-$800
Silver Limited Edition Endangered Frame
priced $200-$800
People’s Choice Frame
priced $500-$3000
Gold Frame
priced $1,000-$6,000
Featured Artist of the Month Gold Frame
priced $1,000-$6,000
Gold Limited Edition Endangered Frame
priced $1,000-$6,000
Diamond Frame
each Diamond Frame is unique.
Posted by Holly on July 7, 2010
We have got some new exciting news to share with you this month. We have added another member to our team. You may recognize one of her sets that was recently released called Blue Ridge Mountains. Rhonda Christian was previously an Editor of the Month and she did such a wonderful job that was have asked her to join and she has accepted. Please watch for the rest of her EOM sets and her future sets to be released. Welcome Rhonda to the team!
For the first time, we will be introducing the new series called Featured Artist of the Month. As we stated in last month’s newsletter, this series will feature artists or photographers that help us to celebrate nature with their stunning examples of nature through their eyes. To help these sets stand out, we have created new frames for them as well. We have new silver and gold frames and will be priced as such. There will be between 2 and 4 sets published each month for whoever is featured.
The Vote page has changed a bit. We have noticed numerous duplicate entries and suggestions for sets that have already been published. So to help you out (and us) we will be clearing the Vote page once a month, after we have selected the new People’s Choice set (PC set). With this change, we have also implemented a new perk to your idea being selected. If your idea is selected and we publish the set, you will receive one free set 48 hours after the release. So if your idea is not selected, please don’t feel discouraged! Make sure you get that idea up there the next month and get your friends to help you vote it to the top. Remember, you can Vote on any set idea once a day. Please note that we want to make as many sets for our users as possible so some of your ideas may be used as regular sets. Only the ideas made for PC Sets will receive one free set. One reason why we do it this way is because we may have come up with a set idea and created the set before the idea was put up on the Vote Page.
There seems to be a bit of confusion with Store Release times. A few months ago we had asked the users to submit suggestions to help us improve the app. One suggestion was to make the Store Release times different so that it gives everyone a chance to be the first to complete their set. Paul has taken this one step further and has posted in the Store the time of the next set to be released. Paul is formatting the release time to US Military time based in California, USA. The military operates off a 24-hour clock, beginning at midnight (which is 0000 hours). So, 1:00 AM is 0100 hours, 2:00 AM is 0200 hours, and so-on up until 11:00 PM which is 2300 hours. I hope this explanation helps everyone understand how the store is refreshing and releasing sets now.
One last thing, Buy Back Days are coming soon so get your sets ready to sell back to the Store!
Happy Trading
Posted by Holly on June 29, 2010
This is the first set published by our most recent Editor of the Month, Rhonda Christian.
The Blue Ridge, or Blue Ridge Mountains, is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most portion in Georgia, then ending northward in Pennsylvania. To the west of the Blue Ridge, between it and the bulk of the Appalachians, lies the Great Appalachian Valley, bordered on the west by the Ridge and Valley province of the Appalachian range.
The Blue Ridge Mountains are noted for their bluish color when seen from a distance. Trees put the blue in Blue Ridge, from the isoprene released into the atmosphere, thereby contributing to the characteristic haze on the mountains and their distinctive color.
Within the Blue Ridge province are two major national parks: the Shenandoah National Park in the northern section and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the southern section. The Blue Ridge also contains the Blue Ridge Parkway, a 469-mile (755 km) long scenic highway that connects the two parks and is located along the ridge crestlines along the Appalachian Trail.
Card 1 Dawn
Dawn on the Blue Ridge Mountains is always a spectacular beauty.
Card 2 Asiatic Dayflower
This introduced annual plant is 1-3′ long. It can be erect or sprawl across the ground like a vine. The round stems are smooth and hairless. The hairless alternate leaves are up to 5″ long and 2″ across. They are ovate, lanceolate-ovate, or slightly cordate. Their margins are smooth and their veins run parallel to each other. The base of each leaf is sessile or clasping, and it has a membranous sheath that wraps around the stem. This sheath is about 1″ long and has green longitudinal veins, otherwise it is white or greenish white. The upper edge of the sheath is usually hairless, although it has fine upright hairs for an uncommon variety of this species.
Card 3 8-Point Whitetail Buck
The white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), also known as the Virginia deer, or simply as the whitetail, is a medium-sized deer native to the United States (all but five of the states), Canada, Mexico, Central America, and in South America as far south as Peru. It has also been introduced to New Zealand and some countries in Europe, such as Finland and the Czech Republic.
Card 4 Abbott Lake
Abbott Lake is a 24-acre impoundment located along the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway in Bedford County and is one of the attractions to the Peaks of Otter Park. Fishing is just one of the many recreational opportunities available in the Park. Numerous hiking opportunities range from very demanding hikes up high mountain peaks to the short flat trail around Abbott Lake. The Park also offers the outdoor enthusiast lodging at the popular Peaks of Otter Lodge or campground. Other facilities include picnic sites and shelters, a restaurant, restrooms, and scenic drives.
Card 5 Blue Ridges
The Blue Ridge Mountains are noted for their bluish color when seen from a distance. Trees put the “blue” in Blue Ridge, from the isoprene released into the atmosphere, thereby contributing to the characteristic haze on the mountains and their distinctive color.
Card 6 Autumn
Autumn in the Blue Ridge Mountains is ablaze with colors such as red, yellow, orange, purple, green, blue, brown and gray. Many people travel to the mountains during autumn to witness the amazing bloom of foliage.
Card 7 Black Bear
The American black bear (Ursus americanus) is North America’s smallest and most common species of bear. It is a generalist animal, being able to exploit numerous different habitats and foodstuffs. The American black bear is listed by the IUCN as Least Concern, due to the species’ widespread distribution and a large global population estimated to be twice that of all other bear species combined. The species is not overly dangerous to humans, but has been responsible for a few deaths, as well as property damage and livestock predation. The American black bear has been the source of inspiration for numerous popular cultural depictions of bears, including the Teddy Bear and Winnie the Pooh.
Card 8 Blue Star Flower
This is an erect, clump-forming plant with clusters of star-like, dark lavender-blue flowers in late spring. Narrow, willow-shaped, dark green foliage turns an attractive bright yellow in fall.
Card 9 Bald Eagle
The Bald Eagle (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) is a bird of prey found in North America. It is the national bird and symbol of the United States of America. This sea eagle has two known sub-species and forms a species pair with the White-tailed Eagle. Its range includes most of Canada and Alaska, all of the contiguous United States, and northern Mexico. It is found near large bodies of open water with an abundant food supply and old-growth trees for nesting.
Card 10 Blazing Azaleas
Bright orange in color, the Blazing Azalea is a flowering shrub making up part of the genus Rhododendron. Originally azaleas were classed as a different genus of plant, but now they are recognized as two of the eight subgenera of rhododendrons - Pentanthera (deciduous) and Tsutsuji (evergreen). Azaleas bloom in spring, in damp mountainous places, their flowers dying only a few weeks later. They do not need as much sun as other plants; they live near trees and sometimes under them. Azalea is also the flower of the astrology symbol Sagittarius.
Card 11 Overlook
Overlooking the valleys one can see for miles. In some places you can see several states depending on what direction you’re looking from.
Card 12 Fire Pink Flower
Fire Pink (Silene virginica) is a wildflower in the pink family, Caryophyllaceae. It is known for its distinct brilliant red flowers. Each flower is approximately five centimeters in diameter and composed of five notched, brilliant red petals which extend into a long tube. It is a small (20-80 cm tall), short-lived perennial (2-3 years), with lance shaped leaves. Its stems, and the bases of the flowers, are covered in short sticky hairs. Fire Pink begins blooming in late spring and continuing throughout the summer. It is sometimes grown in wildflower, shade, and rock gardens.
Card 13 Daisy Fleabane
Daisy Fleabane (Erigeron annuus) is a herbaceous plant with alternate, simple leaves, and green, sparsely haired stems. The flowers are white with yellow centers, borne in spring through fall. The most widely used common name, fleabane, is shared with related plants in several other genera; another common name is summer starwort. The common name is derived from the belief that the dried plants repelled fleas, whilst the name erigeron is derived from the Greek (eri = early; geron = old man), a reference to the appearance of the white hairs of the fruit soon after flowering.
Card 14 Autumn Morning
Autumn, while a spectacular beauty, can be a time of danger. Leaves wet from the morning fog and dew can be dangerous to travelers. Many vehicular accidents occur when automobiles lose their traction on wet leaves.
Card 15 Fern Blossom
The stereotypic image of ferns growing in moist shady woodland nooks is far from being a complete picture of the habitats where ferns can be found growing. Fern species live in a wide variety of habitats, from remote mountain elevations, to dry desert rock faces, to bodies of water or in open fields.
Card 16 Rhododendron
Rhododendron (from the Greek rodi, meaning “rose”, and dendron, meaning “tree”) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Ericaceae. It is a large genus with over 1000 species and most have showy flower displays. It includes the plants known to gardeners as azaleas. It is the national flower of Nepal, the State flower of Uttrakhand, India and the State Flower of both West Virginia and Washington in the USA.
Card 17 North American River Otter
The Northern American River Otter is found throughout North America, inhabiting inland waterways and coastal areas in Canada, Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, the Atlantic states, and the Gulf of Mexico.
Card 18 Frosty Morning
No matter what the weather condition might be, morning and evening offer breathtaking views of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Card 19 Wild Flower
Wild flowers are abundant in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Every color, shape and size of flower exists.
Card 20 Climate
Many areas of the Blue Ridge Mountains average more than 60 inches of rainfall a year; higher elevations may get as much as 80 inches. Temperatures in mountain valleys average six to eight degrees cooler than the nearby Piedmont in the summer months. At higher elevations the difference can be ten to twelve degrees.
