Friday, January 29, 2010

Friday Feature and Giveaway!

And the winner is.................... Kimberly Ries!!! Enjoy your prize!!!

This week Im featuring a wonderful and cute shop, called Valebella Bracelets and More. The owner has been kind enough to put this Valentines Bookmark up for grabs! To see how to enter to win this super cute bookmark scroll to the bottom of the feature!
Valebella Bracelets are one-of-a-kind handmade bracelets featuring: Handmade Clay Beads, Swarovski Crystals & Sterling Silver Growth Chain (the bracelet allows for approx. 1/2 inch of growth, it actually grows along with you!)

I am a stay at home mother of two wonderful children, with whom I have named my business after. They are my inspiration. With the support of my amazing husband and wonderful family, I started Valebella. Luckily, business has been going quite well. My OOAK bracelets are sold in a local Long Island store. You can now purchase them direct without paying the department store mark up on Etsy. I started out by taking a jewelry making class at a local craft store. I have been crafting Jewelry for about 2 ½ years now and love it!!!

I really enjoyed it and began taking more classes, reading jewelry making books and find myself creating more and more often. I now do craft fairs, home parties, sell on etsy as well as in a local shop. It is a great way for me to continue to be a stay-at-home mom and help pay the bills. Heysista technically is my shop name.

I started out on etsy as just a buyer. “Hey Sista!” Is how me and my sisters greet each other, just family silliness. When I opened my shop I left the name. The true name of my business is Valebella Bracelets and More. The name “Valebella” is a combination of my two little girls names.

Here’s where else you can find Valebella:
On Etsy, On Flickr, and on Facebook!

Or you can Email me at Valebella [!at] optonline.net to join my monthly newsletter, mailing list includes new items, show dates, coupons and special promotions.I gladly take custom orders.

If you can dream it I can make it! I will gladly work along with you to come up with a custom design that you are sure to love. It can take up to 3 weeks depending upon the request.

And now for the Giveaway! This cute bookmark is up for grabs!

To Enter:
1) You must be a follower of this blog to enter!
2) Go to Valebella's Shop and pick out your favorite item, and leave a comment with that item in it!

Extra Entries:
1) Heart Valebella's Shop and say so in a comment (must be a new heart) ~1 Entry~
2) Make a purchase in Valebella's Shop and post the transaction link in a comment ~3 Entries~
3) Become a follower of Valebella's Shop and say so in a comment ~1 Entry~
4) Heart The Green Haven and say so in a comment (must be a new heart) ~1 Entry~
5) Make a purchase from The Green Haven and post the transaction link in a comment ~ 3 Entries~

GOOD LUCK!!!!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Friday Feature and Giveaway!

And the winner is............................................ 409cope! Thanks to everyone that participated!

This week Im featuring a wonderful Jewelry shop, called My Gemstone Designs! The owner has been kind enough to put these wonderful earring up for grabs! To see how to enter to win these great earrings scroll to the bottom of the feature!


Now here is a little bit about the wonderful designer!

Hello, my name is Hazel Wollbrinck and I am (almost) 63 year's young. I live in a small town in Wyoming with my husband Fred, two dog's Katie and Fay Fay and two fish Lovey and Dovey.

My hobby is gardening, my passion is designing jewelry. I am retired so I have the luxury of working from my home and dedicating as much time as I like to my craft and running my Etsy shop My Gemstone Designs. My shop name was easy to come up with as I love working with gemstone's.

I started beading a couple of years ago. My sister had been making jewelry for a while and I decided to give it a try and make a few Christmas gifts for family and friends. To make a long story short once I started I couldn't stop and before I knew it I had more jewelry than family and friend's thus the birth of My Gemstone Designs. I would like to give credit to my husband for encouraging me to start an online business to sell my jewelry.

I worked very hard for a year and a half trying to build my business and I have to admit I wasn't very successful. Like so many other's I was totally lost on the big World Wide Web. I was ready to throw in the towel and call it quits when I received a beading catalog in the mail from my sister.

That evening I sat down to read it and came across an article (Do You Etsy). It featured a very successful seller on Etsy and her story was very similar to mine. Lost in Cyber Space. I read her story and immediately went to see what Etsy was all about. I was impressed with what I saw and read and within a couple of week's I closed down my website and moved to Etsy. The rest is history; I have been there for four months and am loving it!! They make it so easy to set up shop and the forums are a wealth of information. I have learned so much and continue to learn something new every day. Thank you Etsy and fellow Etsians :)

You can also find me on my Facebook Fan Page.I also have my designs in a local boutique in my hometown.Bryd's Paradise


Now to enter her wonderful giveaway! Please remeber to add an email or etsy shop with every comment so I can get in contact with you if you win!!!

YOU MUST!!!

1~ Be a follower of this blog

2~ Go to My Gemstone Designs shop and pick your favorite item and leave a comment saying what it is!

To get EXTRA Entries!

1) Heart My Gemstone Designs and say so in a comment (must be a new heart) ~1 Entry~

2) Make a purchase from My Gemstone Designs and post the transaction link in a comment ~3 Entries~

4) Heart The Green Haven and say so in a comment (must be a new heart) ~1 Entry~

5) Make a purchase from The Green Haven and post the transaction link in a comment ~ 3 Entries~

Last weeks Feature Friday Giveaway Winner is.... K! Congrats! Ill be sending over all the information you need to claim your prize!

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Whats new?

Whats new with you? Well I can tell you whats new with me! Ive gotten two little ones running around my house! Marley, whos almost 1 and Ian who just turned 2. Let me tell you when your not use to havin little people around boy does it make a difference having them around! Lots of noise, lots of messes, but most of all lots of smiles =) I love having them around. Heres a few pictures of the little ones!

And heres a quick reminder! I still have TWO giveaways up and running! Lots of great prizes to be won, and all for FREE!!! What is better than that! Cute items all you have to do is be a follower and leave a comment! Sooooo easy!
Domt forget to enter, here are the links!
Good luck to everyone! And dont forget to check back every friday to see the new featured shop and maybe a new giveaway!!!

Friday, January 15, 2010

Feature Friday and Giveaway!

Hi everyone! Ive started my features!!! Im going to start today and follow up with a new shop every Friday! The first shop being featured is....... Peppermint Sage and she was kind enough to do a giveaway with the feature! (Scroll to the bottom of the feature for entering details!) And what an adorable shop it is! Heres a little bit of information on the shop from the shop owner!


My shop started because I work for the State of California and I decided to be proactive and use my furlough days as a way to generate extra income. I wanted to do something with re-purposed fabric, so I started off making reversible wine bags and sunglass cases...but I found myself gravitating to making accessories and mostly that is what I make now. Headbands, bib necklaces, and some crochet ear warmers. The shop name is a compilation of my dog's name: Peppermint and Sage because that is my favorite color and I garden too so it just seemed to flow.


I started learning to crochet in college about 7 years ago, from my roommate. I just learned to sew a few months ago because I always wanted to learn but never had the opportunity. So, with the help of the internet and a couple of friends I resurrected my mom's sewing machine from the garage and picked it up quick. I’m a gal in my early thirties, who loves to create pretty things. While also going back to college for a second degree in Nutrition, and I just enjoy hanging with family and friends.


Where else can you find PeppermintSage??? On her blog of course =)
http://www.peppermintsage.com/


PeppermintSage has been kind enough to host a giveaway!!! She is offering up an adorable ear warmer! The winner will get to pick the color of the warmer as well! They come in 3 colors, teal, heather gray, and heather pink. (The teal ear warmer is pictured to the right! Isnt it adorable!!!) The winner of this giveaway will be announced on next Fridays Feature!

To Enter:
1) You must be a follower of this blog to enter!
2) Go to PeppermintSage’s shop and pick out your favorite item, and leave a comment with that item in it!

Extra Entries:
1) Heart PeppermintSage’s shop and say so in a comment (must be a new heart) ~1 Entry~
2) Make a purchase in PeppermintSage’s shop and post the transaction link in a comment ~3 Entries~
3) Become a follower of PeppermintSage's Blog and say so in a comment ~1 Entry~
4) Heart The Green Haven and say so in a comment (must be a new heart) ~1 Entry~
5) Make a purchase from The Green Haven and post the transaction link in a comment ~ 3 Entries~

Have fun and Good Luck!!!

Monday, January 11, 2010

Re-Giveaway

Drum roll............................... and the winner is........................... Christie Cottage! Thank you to everyone who entered!!!

Remeber my Handmade Holiday Shopping Guide??? Well remeber the giveaway I did with the items I reviewed??? Believe it or not the winner of the second prize never claimed it!!! SOOOOO im going to give it away again! So here goes nothing, hopefully the winner will claim their prize this time around =) This giveaway will go until Midnight (EST) January 22nd.

This giveaway will include the following:
~ Set of cards from Leslywrytes
~ Bath fizzie samples from Bathgasm
~ Set of place cards from Ohhappydaycreations
~ Pendant and zipper pouch from Jo's Jewels
~ Donut charm from Emariecreations
~ Business cards from all the shops that participated in the guide

To ENTER:
1) You must be a follower of this blog
2) You must leave a comment under this post listing your favorite product from the guide
*Thats it then your entered!

To gain EXTRA ENTRIES:
~ Make a purchase from ANY of the shops featured in this guide, then link the purchase in a comment ~3 entries~
~ Make a purchase from my shop ~3 entries~
~ Heart any of the etsy shops featured ~1 entry per shop (limit 3)~ but feel free to go ahead and heart everyones shop =)
~ Heart my shop ~1 entry~

***Please note: I am a college student so money is tight, i will only be able to ship within the United States! Due to this please enter only if you live in the US!***

GOOD LUCK!!!!

Friday, January 8, 2010

What a change!

Ive spent these first couple days of the New Year updating my shop! Ive redone pictures, added a few new items, redone a few discriptions, made a new shop banner, updated my policies and created a twitter! All these changes have done my shop good, atleast I think =) Take a peak and let me know what you think!

Wanna hear about my new items? Of course you do =) Well Ive started trying to list something everyday, at least one thing, that way my shop is hopefully seen more. Because of this ive come up with a few new products, and a combination of products! Ive added some lunch sets to my site! These sets either include a Lunch box, Sandwich bag, and a Snack bag -or- a Sandwich bag, and 2 Snack bags! These sets run a bit cheaper then buying them individually, just a tip =) Im currently in the process of making a few more of these sets now.

Ive also added Lunch Buddies to my shop! These Lunch Buddies are basically fabric "brown paper bags"! They look just like a brown paper bag but with a cute fabric instead. The interior is vinyl so that it wipes clean super easy! And last but not least, ive added cloth napkins to my shop!!! These come in 3 sizes (although only 1 size is currently listed) and many different patterns!

Oh and I should have my first Monthly Shop Review up soon! Dont forget to come back and check it out!!!

Friday, January 1, 2010

Happy New Year!


Happy New Year everyone! Hope its great! Its time to bring in the new year with a bang. With the start of the new year I feel its time for few changes! Its always great to start things fresh as the year starts fresh! Lets just hope these changes wont be like new years resolutions and I'll actually be able to stick to them!

To start these changes ive updated my shop policies. Added a few new policies, changed things up a bit =) Im also thinking of redoing a few photos and adding some details to my listings! Something else new: I listed my first Lunch Set. It includes a lunch box, a sandwich buddie and a snack buddie! In a cute Strawberry Shortcake print!

Something else im excited about introducing is Etsy Featured Sellers! I want to start featuring sellers on my blog! Hopefully bringing them some promotion. I would like to feature atleast one seller a months, two if I can keep up with it! If I can find shops willing I would like to do a giveaway with the review as well, but thats just an idea and completely optional! If any shop wants to be featured just send me and email or a converstaion on Etsy! Id love to find my first Shop!

If anybody has any ideas for my shop let me know! Id love to hear some imput from all of you! Whether its something you would like to see in my shop, something you think I should change about the shop, what you think about my prices, anything at all!!! Critques are great, even if there not the best! The whole goal of this is to better my shop and get it as close to perfect as I can! Any and ALL imput is greatly appreciated!