One of those rare posts from the technology department. I'm very pleased to announce the MOO API. The API allows those with some programming skills to write programs that can specify all the data required to make an MOO product (including fully variable images AND text), and then redirect a user to the checkout process for that product.

At present, the API is in beta - we think it's mostly done, but we might make a few changes before we 'go 1.0'. We expect any changes to be backward-compatible at this point. What's more, when we go 1.0, we'll be sharing revenue back with the API key holders (and we'll backdate for any packs made during the beta period). The exact revenue structure is still being worked on, and we'll announce it nearer the time.

At moo.com/api, you can sign up to play, find the documentation, and join the developer's mailing list.

So, what can I do with it?

Simply, if you have some images that you want people to be able to print, you can build an integration to connect up to MOO.

I'm more excited by things that people will make that we haven't thought of, but here's some things that have been done:

I hooked up the TheyWorkForYou.com API to our API to produce a stats-based political trading card game, a project I've been meaning to do for about 5 years now.

Dan Coulter (of phpFlickr fame) has written a PHP wrapper library that makes building MOO API applications really very simple indeed, and a couple of sample apps

Basic - add some images, make a pack. Basic, indeed.
Mosaic - takes a big picture and makes pack of minicard tiles from it.
Rainbow - makes a pack out of your most interesting flickr photos, sorted by colour.

Alberto from Tagmore has a 3D barcode sticker generator.

I'm looking forward to many more!

Enjoy.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

One of the nice things about MOO products, is the chance to get your stuff OFF the computer and into people's hands. As more and more people take digital photos, more and more people have virtual folders full of stuff they never do anything with. You can't stick a digital file on the fridge, and you can't prop it up on your desk. You can't send it in the post, and you can't frame it and put it on your wall.

And you know what? It's a bit of a shame, that.

Today we're going to celebrate people who take 'getting-stuff-off-your-computer' one step further. Scrapbookers! MOO cards and stickers are all acid and lignin free (took us a while to research that one, but people asked, so we thought we should check.) This means they're perfect for adding a unique and personal touch to your scrapbook designs... Something you can't buy in a shop.

It also means you can make a scrapbook full of images about your life, loves and friends and get everything lurking on your hard drive *off* and turned into something beautiful.

Here's a lovely example by Relly, who used MOO MiniCards for this design:

And another example using MiniCards - this time in a journal, by Heather:

Taking a different tack, Jamie Bloom made this beautiful calendar:

and Gina created this mix of painting and collage.

Relly has also taken advantage of MOO Stickers - to great effect. Look at this! Its a page full of a whole StickerBook's worth of images, detailing an entire year:

(If you fancy making Stickers, now's a good time - we've got a special offer!)

But some people do scrapbooking a little differently. These beautiful cards have been made by Renske. She creates collages and then photographs them. The resulting pictures make great MiniCards themselves:

and I've just spotted this - a scrapbook style design, made of the MiniCards which feature photos of Renske's scrapbook style designs!

Scottish scrapbooker, Emma has done something similar, and used photos of her beautiful collages, for MOO Postcards. Her designs are fantastic - check out the more detailed photo.

So, the moral of the story? Get out the glue, get your photos off the computer, and get creative!
Happy weekend, everyone!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Yes, MOO's having a Sticker Design Competition! After heading off to various conferences, we've seen a *lot* of stickers on laptops. Some are good, some are ok, and some would just be a lot cooler if they were designed by someone good. That's where you come in.

We want to create the perfect StickerBook of laptop Stickers. 90 different Stickers, with great designs, illustration or photography. Something that will really stand out, and something you'd be proud to stick on your shiny new laptop.

How do you enter? Well, it's as easy as 1,2,3

1) First, design your sticker. It should be 283x283 pixels, at 300dpi. (Or 24x24mm at 300 dpi).  You should save it as a high quality RGB Jpeg.

2) Next, submit your design to Pixish. (Pixish is free, and easy to join - so don't worry. They're nice people, and they don't do spam).

3) Vote on other people's entries and wait to see if you win.

What will you win?
Well, every entry chosen for the book will win a Flickr Pro account. We'll also choose one overall winner, who will win a £100 voucher for Magma Books. Magma are one of the best design bookshops around, so if you love design, you'll love the prize.

So, what are you waiting for? Find out even more about prizes and sizes and get stuck in!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

There is much excitement at MOO for a variety of reasons this week - first up, we've been nominated for a Webby! Twice!

We've been nominated once in the 'Retail' category, and once in 'Services'. You can see all the nominees here. As you can imagine, we're honoured to be in such great company - among sites that we use and love ourselves.

Voting has already started on the 'People's Voice' section of the site, and the winners will be announced on May 6th. If you'd like to take part in the voting yourself (and vote for MOO, obviously) - sign up and when your registration has gone through, you'll find us under the 'Marketplace' group in the 'Retail' category and under the 'Services' group in the 'Services' category.

And if you *do* vote for MOO, we will of course, love you forever.

Next up - The London Marathon is on Sunday! While we haven't been training, exactly, we have been preparing. Our friends at Just Giving will be out in full force - and they've got MOO Stickers! Look out for them at the London Marathon Expo. And do make sure you get a Sticker pack, because it took us ages to put them all together - as you can see...

Here's Pete, working hard (he was last seen... working hard)

And here's a lovely pile of Stickers, all ready to go.

Good luck to to friends of MOO who are running in the Marathon - especially to Francis Storr, and Emma and Zoe - who were kind enough to let us feature their cards all those training days ago. We're right behind you. Quite a long way behind actually, but we are there.

Next up - leather holders! If you want one - now is the time to get one. We have the very last holders in this style that Cobu will ever make. That's right, they're not making these little holders any more. BUT If you're not in the mood for Lime Sorbet, the perfect colour for Spring - don't panic. We have a slightly different Leather holder in other colours coming very soon.

And finally, are you a London based MOO user? Those lovely people over the road would like to talk to you... Help them out, if you can - there's cake involved.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Oh alright then, we admit it - we were just kidding about the MightyCard - happy April, everyone! (It has to be said though, I'm rather attached to the name. Here, take my card - my MIGHTYcard!' What's not to like?)

But enough about cards, lets talk about Stickers. For the whole of April we'll be selling 3 StickerBooks for the price of 2, when  you enter this promocode: moostickersfree.

You can use the code on any 3 packs of Stickers - which means 3 different packs, or 3 identical ones. Just make sure that there are 3 packs selected in the basket, before you enter the code.  You can use the code as many times as you like (you can even pass it on) - and the offer ends at Midnight, GMT on 30 April, 2008. Happy Stickering!

If you haven't tried the Stickers yet, and you're wondering how big they really are, Flickr has the answer - the right size for your bag:

Leif's bag and Stickers...

Stickers and MiniCards in slightly awkward's bag

A bright yellow book, in NerdsUnite's bag

Three different coloured packs in natashalcd's bag

And a nice orange book, and more MiniCards in Kømär2069's bag.

No Stickers in your bag? Get some!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Or the Oyster, anyway. Not long ago, Meg Pickard, MOO friend, inventor of the anti-valentine card - and the MOOgnet - blogged about her Stickers, and the fact they're the perfect size for an 'Oyster' card holder. For the un-initiated, 'Oysters' are a London thing. No, it's not a deep-seated love of expensive bivalve mollusks, merely the the crazy-spectacular name for bus/train pass, available from London Transport. (Personally, I think they called it that because they planned it to go in a holder like this and they think that opening up the 'shell like' holder reveals the 'pearl' of a card inside. What do you think? Have I over thought this? Have you ever travelled in London? Believe me, there's a lot of time for thought.) Anyway. This is Meg's holder And this is mine. So now we've shown you ours, I reckon you should show us yours. It doesn't have to be from London, but if, like us, you had a pack of stickers and a boring 5 minutes, where did your Stickers end up?

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Time for a round up of some of the great MOO photography we've spotted out there recently. A relaxing little read for a Friday afternoon...

Look at these lovely designs for Stickers, by shutterblog! Nice subtle colours and strong graphics make for great Stickers to be used on envelopes and gift bags.

piktorama* is a MOO designer, and these are some of the lovely Postcards she's made, using her own designs.

Gumby and Pokey are old MOO friends (scroll!), and look - they like Stickers too! This photo was taken by horizontal.integration

Do you ever wish computer commands would hop off the computer and into your real life? Well, Flickr faves have just lept off screen and onto MiniCards, aided and abetted by nataliej. She's even set up a group to go with them, so have a little read, to find out more. (Personally, real life 'Control Z' is what I need...)

Ella Pedersen has made a MOO memory game. This is an idea we blogged about a long time ago, and then mentioned in our email newsetter. Easy to make, and a great little personalised gift.

Meta MOO - this is great, by splityarn although it almost made my head pop... You need to see a larger version to get the full effect.

And finally, if we don't get a chance to say so on the day... HAPPY CHRISTMAS! We hope you have a great day, whatever it is you get up to. Here's a few of the MOO crew, to wish you well.

(Or at least I think that's what they're doing... Although now I come to think about it, I think someone had just offered them a drink.)

Happy Holidays everyone!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

This is important! If you want to get your orders in time for Christmas please check out the Shipping dates. If you can't face doing that - I know, it's Friday, every click hurts - here's the basic facts:

To ensure receipt of your items by 24th December these are the dates you need to remember:

If you are in the UK then you must place your order by;
Sunday 16th December

If you are in Western Europe you must place your order by;
Wednesday 13th December
(StickerBooks should be ordered by 7th December OR if you choose express shipping, by midnight GMT, 12th December )

If you are in USA, Japan, Canada or Eastern Europe you must place your order by;
Sunday 9th December
(StickerBooks should be ordered by 7th December OR if you choose express shipping, by midnight GMT, 12th December )

If you are anywhere else you must place your order by;
Friday 7th December

Express options are given on the shipping payment page, so if you're in a hurry do check that out. (If you're you're bored of shopping already, go gift certificate, give yourself a stress free Christmas!)

-------

So, now that's all over, some fun stuff! Whist having a little mooch around one of the many MOO Flickr Pools I came across this nice picture of a lovely wrapped package, by LadyFort

It's an Etsy order she's sending out to a customer. The next picture is even more interesting - she says, "Because I just can't bear to use Sellotape when everything else looks so scrumptious. So instead I use Moo stickers - these are Lara Cameron's from the Moo designer's range.

It's a nice idea - looks great, and also gets over the problem of never being able to find the Sellotape when you need it.

Using  MiniCards is a popular idea for gift tags this year. How could you not be excited to receive presents like these!

Pretty in pink, wrapped by jek in the box

Smooth and sophisticated, wrapped by Black Dog Designs

Grace and favour, by William Spaetzel - these are actually wedding favours, but you could do something similar as a party favour, or stocking filler. (Extremely belated congratulations to the happy couple!)

Smart as a button! Wrapped by crazycatladymel. (Such a neat idea)

'Scrap bags'? I think not! Beautiful fabric bags, again, by jek in the box

And if you're making tags yourself, these are really lovely, by Yarnissima - who I've mentioned before - she really knows how to wrap!
.

If you've got loads of presents to give out though, and you need something a little more obvious to identify what should go where, Text MiniCards are the key. And even better? They're multi-purpose! You can use them for more than just gift tags.

But you know what? However you do it, make sure you have some fun along the way.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Hello, it’s been pretty busy here in MOO office, as we’re frantically working on new stuff. I can’t tell you what of course, as it’s Top Secret, but rest assured it’s all looking very exciting. In the meantime, here’s a quick round up of great creative ideas we’ve spotted. A feast for the eyes and the brain…

We featured allisonisugly’s sticker lamp in our last post, and she’s been at it again, with this cool MiniCards set. You put the top and bottom halves together to make a huge variety of faces. They're all kinda scary looking, but the idea is great. It reminds me of the polyorama cards, featured a while back, so if you like this kind of thing, check those out too.

Game designer joshleejosh has also been having fun with his MiniCards, creating a set of Bunny/Pig/Robot/Monster/Ninja cards. You can use these to play a game like Rochambeau (Rock, Paper, Scissors). I love this idea - and now I’m intruiged to know, does he have to hand out 5 cards every time, or are people happy with just the one? (I'd like the whole set, please)

Developer Aral Balkan has also been getting creative, but this time with code. He’s made a set of MiniCards featuring the code needed to get the 100 most recent photos from Flickr into Flash, using SWX. (SWX is the native data format for Flash - if you want to find out more about that, hot-foot it over to Aral’s site to find out more about that.)

And Flickr user anneso_cachemireetsoie has been creative with her designs, in every possible format! She's made beautiful looking Stickers, MiniCards and Notecards, featuring her lovely illustrations. I must admit, I spotted these as they were being processed, and it's great to see how well they've turned out.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

It's Friday! It's sunny! (At the moment). So why not get out in the sunshine this weekend and do something almost healthy? I wrote about the ParaMOOs a while ago, but they really swung into action recently at a FlickrMeet in North Yorkshire.

ParaMOOs? Little MiniCards on parachutes, launched off hills or tall buildings and making their own way in the world. Not sure what the point is? Me neither, but it's cute and it's made for some great photos.

This is one from a lovely set by ~Glen~ aka Wickerman

    
And this one, by Robin Kelly shows just how far the group walked to start the launch.

See, doesn't that make you want to get out into the country and get some healthy exercise? No? Oh.

Well how about this instead... Susan Collins has submitted an article to JPG magazine, for inclusion in the next issue. All about how to frame your MiniCards she gives step by step instructions, and includes her own photography.

You might need a steady hand for this... See more images in the Flickr set

And if neither of those ideas take your fancy, but you've just received a StickerBook and really don't want to share a sheet, how about spending some time chopping your stickers up, so you can hand them out one at a time?

Josh Russel has worked his way through numerous books so these can be included in the dConstruct swag bags.

Talking of which, if you're going to the conference, in Brighton, put your orders in now so you get everything in time!

Have a lovely weekend, whatever you get up to.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend