SHABBY ELEGANCE BRIDAL BOUQUET GIVEAWAY - AND THE WINNER IS ...

Finally!!! Here is how I prepared for the draw. See photo below clockwise : 1. Prepared the entries sheets and printed them out - 2. Cut into strips and pieces - 3. Folded each entry twice with the name facing inside - 4. Put all the entries into a jug and didn't forget a red ribbon to make it pretty :-) - 5. Couldn't wait for my daughter to get back from school :-)

And she's back! See photo below clockwise : 1. I told her to take the jug and shake it vigorously. Apparently she had fun doing it - 2. She took one entry out... - 3. and THE WINNER IS :

AVE

Then she took another entry, and another one! Our first runner-up is:

JANETTE

and second runner-up is:

JBEAR

Thank you very much everybody for participating and congratulations to all the winners!
All other participants will get 15%discount for any item purchased in my shops until November 12th 2009

Have a nice weekend everyone!

EART TEAM BLOG RING : Preparing for holiday seasons

This week EART TEAM blog ring talks about how far ahead we prepare for holidays such as Halloween, Xmas etc.
Personally I just make items for 3 big holidays: Fall (Halloween/thanksgiving), Christmas/New Year and Easter
Based on my experiences the latest time I should have my things ready for Christmas is the middle/end of October as I started to have Xmas orders around the end of October. Things for Easter should be ready in February and for Halloween in middle of August.

Sadly, I am not always be able to do what I plan :-). Trying to think about it positively, I would say, that way I always have my things ready for those seasons the next year - I made my things almost one year ahead :-). I am also glad that most off my stuff are One-Of-A-Kind and pretty classic there is no fear for them to be "de-mode' "- out of fashion. Also I love to create things right in the middle of the festive season, when I feel in my heart that true holiday spirit - but it'll be too late for sale :-)

This year, I am getting better however. Xmas already appears in my Etsy shop. Check it out if you have the mood. I haven't listed so many as I am still catching on custom order, but I did list my favorites there and a good thing is I offered some really good deals on those items!

Want to know how other EART TEAM members plan ahead for holidays? Please continue our blog ring at A.W.E Shop Blog

NUTFIELD WEAVER - Perfect uniqueness!

Planning for a dream wedding and want something unique? You must visit this etsy shop of Nutfield Weaver . Be prepared to be blown away with her creation, simple as beauty itself and at the same time so classy and elegant !


'Handmade' has become really trendy recently as we learnt to appreciate all the labour, creativeness , heart and soul of the crafter/artist put in his/her creation. Nutfield Weavers creations are handmade deep down to the core! She handweaves all the yardage lace to make her things from a ringsbearer pillows or flower girl baskets to a tissue holder and so on. Yes! No eletricity or computer program involved but totally handwoven with her 8-harness LeClerc floor loom. Her beautiful light weigh handwoven lace are woven with all-natural fiber.


Look at this beautiful handwoven ivory lace petal cone! I just love it! What an unique alternative to a traditional flower girl basket. And after the wedding, fill it with potpourri or silk flower petals so it can beautify your bedroom or your dresser. Priced at $30, this is really an awesome deal.

Source: Nutfield Weaver

And to match with it, nothing can be better than this ring bearer pillow. Simple, subtle and elegant. If I were you I would get it now at $25 before the seller raising her price as I guess she might do it, imagining all of the time and work she must have put in it.

Source: Nutfield Weaver

And here is another beautiful wedding related item from Nutfield Weaver. I think I should not say anything as the picture says for itself. This Handwoven and crocheted lace wedding garter is just as unique as how pretty it is.

Source: Nutfield Weaver

So, yes, I say, come to her Etsy store and explore more what she has to offer! You will find more beautiful wedding items as well as a wide range of items for your home, holiday or an anniversary!

Nutfield Weaver, keep up the great work! Thank you for contributing to make this world greener and more a beautiful place :-)

Christmas is on the way!

Christmas will be at our doors before we realise that! I started to have that warm, wonderful feeling I always feel this season. With that in my heart, I created this tiara, may be for a christmas bride :-) ???!

My fingers hurt a lot after 5 hours working with it, but I love how it turned out. Almosts 150 fresh water pearls are handwired to a metallic gold alice band, together with 4-petal filligree flowers in a warm colour combination of gold, ivory and champagne/light gold. I just love the filligree flowers despite they made my fingers hurt the most while making them from filligree beads.

The inside of the tiara is lined with gold satin ribbon and gold metallic ribbon for a comfortable wear. I leaf two strands of curly metallic ribbon at the two ends, so they can be tied behind the neck. Two gold sheer ribbon bows are also added for a final touch.

This can be worn as a tiara, and I think it'll look great with or without a veil. A gold birdcage veil will match perfectly - If you want it custom made for you, just let me know.

It can be worn as a headband, too. The two curly gold metallic ribbon strands can be tied behind the head or just left freely as extra trim.

This can akso be worn as a neck bangle / necklace.

How handy is it? There are so plenty of use of it after the wedding. It's also perfect for a Christmas party / Cocktail event. Have somewhere fancy to go? This is a perfect accessory to bring with you :-)

Available in my ETSY SHOP. This can also be custom made in off-white/silver.

EART TEAM BLOG RING : How do we cope?

My constant thought is always that why I don't have 10 pairs of hands and 48 hours a day! I guess it's the same story for us somehow, being wife, mother, artist and business woman at the same time. This week the EART Team Blog ring dicusses about how we manage to find time to create & be on an active Street Team & still have a life offline?

This is not easy! I used to have lots of troubles with this and get upset as I could not accomplish all my goals. Desperate to find more quality time for my children and taking care of my family, and sometime for myself to keep me sane, I started to think really hard bout it, trying to find a solution.

So I started to write down what I do and the time I start and finish. Guess what! I could not do it properly as I postponed to complete tasks. So, first tip: Never postpone! For example, I used to check my email in the morning - with my morning cofee, reading through the whole lot, knowing that I need to reply but thought - I'll do it later! Wrong move! It took me quite a lot of time to go back to those emails again to reply. Sometimes I didn't go back as I ran out of time so I would need to log back again in the afternoon. Now I answer my email right away if I need to and if I can when I finish reading it. Of course this is not only about emails!

Second tip: Don't set my goal too high! I used to set many tasks in a day for myself to complete. Then in the end of the day when I saw there was no way to complete them, I would get desperately stressed and things got even worse. I now plan to do a little bit less than I can . So when I complete my check list and still have sometime I can do some extra as a bonus for the next day. That way, everyone in my family is happy :-)

Third tip: Use any help available. I try to get my children involved in some housework but make it fun for them. I get help and they're proud that they can help. They learn a lot while playing. All are happy. They especially love helping in the kitchen and tidying in my craft room :-).

Finally: try to set specific amount of time for your work, your family and yourself and keep them balanced. Of course, sometimes in busy seasons when I was buried with orders I'd need to work over time in the night but I tried not to take the time I set for my familly.

PS: I almost forget the last (but not least) thing! Control your online time. Internet is SO time consuming and can be so additive. Don't log in ALL day. Make a time table for the internet to suit your need and stick to it!!!

If you are interested in how other EART TEAM members manage to be productive and still have their own life, please check the next blog of the ring http://www.aweshop.blogspot.com/

SHABBY ELEGANCE BRIDAL BOUQUET GIVEWAY

Finally! Now it's time for this giveaway which was announced in this blogpost : http://hairbowswonderworld.blogspot.com/2009/09/bridal-bouquet-giveaway-shabby-elegance.html

I've chosen this time to start the contest to celebrate my best friend's (you know who you are :-) ) and my dear daughter 's birthday!!!

***** What is the prize: A custom handmade bridal bouquet as seen in the photo below - my best selling last season in the SHABBY ELEGANCE line. (This is currently priced at $125 in my etsy shop : http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=32389599). The ribbon to wrap the handle can be changed to match your colour scheme. Depended on your colours, I can also add matching colour feathers or skeleton leaves but you need to confirm the colour availabilities. Simply convo me on Etsy or Folksy. I will need 4 weeks since the winner is announced to make your bouquet, and I ship your prize from the UK, so please allow time for it to arrive :-). There will be only one winner. The winner will be entitled to a 20% off if she/he wishes to order any matching items for the bouquet (second picture below - My SHABBY ELEGANCE collection)

*****What if I am not the winner: Second and third runner-ups will get small surprise presents. All others still can benefit from this giveway. I offer 15% discount in my etsy and folksy shops for everyone who enter this contest. This offer is available with any purchase from my etsy / folksy shops from 28th October 2009 to 12nd November 2009 including items in my sale and instructions/ebooks sections. Convo me on Etsy / folksy and provide the link to show you participated in the contest, and let me know what you want to buy, I'll revise the listing with reduced price for you.

*How do I enter : There are many ways to enter.

1-I've hidden 5 letters of the word P-R-I-Z-E in my etsy listing's pictures and my blog(4 letters in the listings and 1 letter in the blog). Hint: The letters are purple. You will find them and send me the links to those letters (Please convo me on Etsy / folksy). The 1st person who got it will get 15 entries, all other who found those letters will get 10 entries. (Please remember you need to convo me on etsy / folksy the links, not posting them here. Posting them here will disqualify you. Convo me on Etsy / folksy the links and leave a comment here to let me know it was you :-) )

2-Take a good look in my etsy / folksy shops and tell me which item you like the most and what you want to see more in my shops. Simply leave a comment here to let me know : 5 entries

3-Post this giveway in your blog, twitt about it on twitter, post it on your facebook, myspace or any public forum you are in , come back here and post the link to let me know : 5 entries

4-Follow my blog or follow me on twitter , leave a comment to let me know: 2 entries

5-Simply visit my blog and comment on any post, then come back here, post a comment to let me know about it : 1 entry

*How is the winner picked?

The contest will start today 28th October 2009 and last until the end of 4th November 2009 UK time. My daughter whose birthday is tomorrow :-) will randomly pick one amongst all the entries. I will post on Thursday 5th November to announce the winner.

*How do I give you my contact detail?

This is very important! you need to let me know your email address or your etsy /folksy username so I can contact you in case you win. Either post it here in your comment, or convo me on Etsy with both your email adress and your blogger ID so I will know who is who.

So let's play! HAVE FUN and GOOD LUCK!

Again:

My etsy shop: http://www.hairbowswonderworld.etsy.com

My folksy shop: http://folksy.com/shops/hairbowswonderworld

ESPRESSO OF LOVE

This is my favorite line of product. I love everything about it, starting from the name. The colour pallette I used in ESPRESSO OF LOVE is Chocolate Brown, Dusty/Antique Pink and Sparkly Gold. Sparkly and elegant but in the same time warm and welcoming.

The main materials are Cotton Fabric (I love how nice it frays) , Feathers - quite a few types- (they give beautiful volume and texture and a luxury touch), and Filigree and Glass Beads (how sparkly they are!). This line screams vintage yet still has something modern in it and it will be great for weddings in any season.

Available in my ETSY SHOP , please check it out! I will list a SAMPLE SALE PACKAGE soon - an awesome deal!

The line includes :

* Bridal bouquet

*Bridesmaid bouquet

* Mini top hat with birdcage veil

*OOAK sinamay hat (sold out! )

*Boutonniere

*Baby boutonniere and bow tie

*Hair flower