Box of Pearls Coupon Code March 2015

Congratulations to Jennifer Blanton, winner of the

Box of Pearls Giveaway!

Don't frown, I have a coupon code for the rest of us!

Use MARCH at checkout to receive free shipping

from Box of Pearls all month.

What to buy, what to buy...

It's really hard to pick photos to show you.E

Everything is beautiful.

You can really see the time put into every piece.

I need these.

Spread the love!

Thanks again for entering.

Please visit the giveaway tab at the top of the page for additional chances to win,

or follow this blog for future promotions.

Summer Freebies

Etsy sellers and vendors are stocking up on business cards and tags for their handmade items in preparation for local craft shows. Brides are ordering up chalkboard labels right and left to hang from mason jars and wedding favors. The clouds are rolling back and the sun is shining through, it feels like summer!

I've decided to give away some freebies to celebrate the start of summer!

The first 5 customers to place an order and write the code SUMMERFUN in the notes to seller at checkout will receive a FREE set of assorted chalkboard tags!

To make this deal even sweeter, enjoy an extra 10% off your order using coupon code SUMMER10. Offer expires June 30th, order now!

Happy Summer!

Holiday Shopping

Are you ready for the holidays?

Be sure to check out my guest post over on the Etsymom blog.

I'll be putting together a few holiday shopping posts here and there throughout the season.

While you are at it, check out the Etsymom team. Support hard working moms!

Also I wanted to let you know about a new item in my shop.

I don't know who is more excited about it, me, or the kids!

Buy it here

 I picked up a new embossing folder and put together a set of 25

Countdown to Christmas Bags.

Buy it here

I took my set and colored in the numbers and took a few pictures just to give you an idea of one way you could use these. Eleanor just about exploded when she saw me making these. She can't wait to see them hung over the mantle, filled with presents through December.

I'm working on a list of filler ideas, so be sure and check back soon.

I'll be sure to pin the list as well!

Buy it here

AND I'll be hosting another magazine giveaway so stay tuned!

Meet the Artist and Giveaway: LaNae from Crumbles Cookie Factory

Another Giveaway?

Yes, Indeed!

Lucky for you, Mari from Hobbies from The Heart

mentioned Crumbles Cookie Factory in her giveaway post.

When I let LaNae know about the feature, 

she said she'd love to host a giveaway, too!

For this giveaway one lucky winner 

will receive a package of Red Velvet Sandwich Cookies

from Crumbles Cookie Factory!

Buy it here

Here are just a few of the items

I had the pleasure of sampling:

Caramel Candy Brownies

Buy it here

These are not your average, everyday cake like brownies.

These rich, delectible treats are dense and full of true cocoa flavor.

The caramels are like a fun little surprise.

Warm these suckers up for just a few, and they'll melt in your mouth!

TwinkleCream Pumpkin Sandwiches

Buy it here

This was the first thing that caught my eye,

I'm a sucker for pumpkin and nuts.

While the nuts are optional, I highly recommend ordering with

as they are the perfect match for the buttery filling.

The cake is just perfect, need I say more?

Let's get to know the genius behind these creations

while I tempt you with a few more pics:

Crumbles Terrific Toffee

Buy it here

Q: Tell us a little about yourself.

A: I grew up with my mother the artist ( painter ) she also baked and cooked from scratch! She taught me baking at an early age, fast forward to cake decorating classes, and decorating cakes for weddings. My obsession then became decorating cookies, thus Crumbles Cookies on Etsy.

Q: 790 sales in less than 2 years? In edibles on Etsy that's incredible! Did you ever see yourself taking it this far, online?

A: I did have plans to take it this far, however, I am still surprised that it happened so quickly on Etsy.

Guinness Beer and Pretzel Marshmallows

Buy it here

Q: In a category like this, it is really hard to stand out from the crowd. What do you think sets you apart from other sweet shops?

A: I feel you need to stay true to yourself and your own artistic abilities, use the freshest, highest quality ingredients and don't compromise. Good photos also help, because online it is all about the visual.

Q: Which is your favorite creation? Are the recipes your own?

A: My fav is the 3D Peach cookie- they were inspired by a recipe I got from a Victorian Magazine years ago and I have been baking ever since. Most of the recipes are my own, some are inspired by mentors such as Martha Stewart and the like.

Q: I imagine in baking, consistency is key. I imagine you must run a very tight ship. Do you do this all from your home kitchen? Do you have any help?

A: I do certainly feel that consistency is most important and we have to stick to a tight schedule. My husband and son help tremendously with the shipping and business end. We are looking into a commercial kitchen at the moment, and maybe our own bakery someday.

3D Summertime Peach Cookies

Buy it here

Q: What is your busiest time of year? 

A: Christmas is the busiest. 

Q: Do you sell locally? Have you sold any huge orders? Special events?

A: Many friends and family keep us busy locally. I'm doing 250 mini red velvet whoopie pies for a wedding in just a couple weeks. We have supplied many a wedding, including a 'Georgia Peach' wedding thru Etsy with my afore mentioned 3D Peach Cookies!

Q: Do you take custom orders?

A: Yes, I welcome custom orders and have done many.

Q: I hear you make dog treats, too. Be honest, do they taste as good as people treats (in other words are they shareable?!)

A: My doggie treats are 100% shareable...I have one friend who has to eat one every time he smells them baking :) They are just not sweet like the human cookies.

Stirrup Steak Dog Cookies

Buy it here

(See more from Dog City Bakery)

Q: Just for fun, name a few of your favorite Etsy shops.

A: A few of my fav Etsy shops are my Mom's shop Dragonfly Studios 74, my friend Michelle's vintage clothing shop KnowItAllGrrrl, my cookie friend on Esty Aymee, the cutest decorated kids cookies Wacky Cookies, and I almost forgot a great silhouette artist I love Tina Tarnoff.

Q: Would you like to offer my readers an exclusive coupon code?

A: Use coupon code MELSBLOG15 to receive 15 % of of your order!

Follow Crumbles Cookie Factory on 

Facebook, Twitter, and Etsy to stay up to date on the latest.

Hungry yet? Thought so!

Go buy yourself something already.

Before you know it, something delicious will be

waiting on your doorstep.

And now, what you've all been waiting for...

How to Enter the Giveaway:

1. Follow this blog (Mandatory)

and leave a comment here saying you did.

2. Add Crumbles Cookie Factory to your 
favorite shops on Etsy 
and leave a separate comment here saying you did.

3. Leave a comment about your favorite item 
from Crumbles Cookie Factory.

Best of Luck!

Make sure to bookmark my giveaways page if you haven't already, 

and READ THE FINE PRINT

Fine print:

Only 3 entries per household please

Giveaway ends June 22th at midnight PST

Winner will be chosen by random.org

Entries will be validated

Winner will be announced here

Winner will have 3 days to contact me, 

after which a new winner will be chosen

Must be 18 years of age or older to enter

Otherwise open to everyone! 

Remember the Artist and Giveaway: Mari from Hobbies from the Heart

Remember my friend Mari from Hobbies from the Heart?

Mari gave away a $15 gift certificate 

in what has been one of the most popular giveaways on this blog!

I can feel the excitement building already.

Yes, Mari is doing it again!

You'd better sit down for this one.

She's giving one lucky winner

a $20 gift certificate!

Buy it here

For those of you familiar with Hobbies from the Heart

$20 is like $1,000,000 over there.

Mari has the best deals around on craft supplies such as

twine, tags, and paper cutouts.

Mari turned me on to a lot of my favorite products,

and gave me some great ideas for my shop.

Not only is she talented, she's very kind and obviously generous.

I can't wait to show you some things from her shop!

Buy it here

Q: Your giveaway was one of my most popular of all time! 

Why do you think your products appeal to such a wide variety of readers?


A:

I think this might be because of the variety of items I offer. 
I have things for “DYI’ers” but I also sell other things already made for a variety of occasions, 
such as seals/stickers, tags, twine, etc. Who doesn't love doesn't love stickers? 

Buy it here

Q: As we know, you are a busy lady! 

What have you been up to lately, other than running a fabulous Etsy shop?

A:

Yes. I’m about to finish my Masters degree this summer and I’ve been very busy finishing experiments and working on my thesis defense. It has been one of the busiest semesters ever with the juggling work/baby/house/etsy, and everything in between. The good thing is that hard work pays off (and having a supporting husband too!). We’ll be moving to Wisconsin later this year and I will be starting my Ph.D in Neuroscience next summer. Yay! 

Buy it here

Q: What is your favorite item to make? 
A:

Seals/stickers are my most favorite things to make. I love working with the customer to come up with custom designs for their special occasion or business. (Ps. There are a lot of creative people out there!)

Buy it here

Q: Any new products coming in the near future?

A: Well, since I will be moving in the Fall, I might want to do some “de-stash” sales to get rid of extra “stuff” I don't want to take with me to WI. I might also create new seal designs, and such, but I haven’t much time to plan right now given that all of my attention is on my thesis right now. 

Buy it here

Q: Just for fun, what are a few of your recent favorite Etsy stores? 

Bought anything amazing lately?


A: I actually love shopping on etsy for me, and my family either through this account or another one I have. One of the last few things I ordered was this cute mustache seal 

that I’ll probably be using to create some neat stuff soon.
I also ordered some time ago these super unique little earrings which I wear almost all the time.
And of course, everyone deserve a little treat, and these smores are just that… they are AMAZING (I’ve also tried her chocolate chip cookies and they are pretty good too!) 

Ready to win? Let's do this!  

How to Enter the Giveaway:

1. Follow this blog (Mandatory)

and leave a comment here saying you did.

2. Add Hobbies from the Heart to your favorite shops on Etsy 
and leave a separate comment here saying you did.

3. Leave a comment about your favorite design(s) 
from Hobbies from the Heart.

Best of Luck!

Make sure to bookmark my giveaways page if you haven't already, 

and READ THE FINE PRINT

Fine print:

Only 3 entries per household please

Giveaway ends June 15th at midnight PST

Winner will be chosen by random.org

Entries will be validated

Winner will be announced here

Winner will have 3 days to contact me, 

after which a new winner will be chosen

Must be 18 years of age or older to enter

Otherwise open to everyone! 

Meet the Artist and Giveaway: Claire from Aden Creations

Wowza, ya'll are some lucky readers.

Here's ANOTHER giveaway, just for YOU!

Claire from Aden Creations has graciously agreed to gift

this lovely necklace to one very lucky gal:

Buy it here

You are going to LOVE it. 

How do I know? Because I love my Aden Creation!

Ain't it perty?

Buy it here

It's delicate, well crafted, elegant

and very reasonably priced.

There are so many lovely items in her shop, you really must check it out

for yourself. But I'd be happy to share a little more whilst we learn a bit more

about this talented lady. 

Buy it here

Q: Tell us a little about yourself. 

A: I am a friendly outgoing woman who loves meeting new people and spending time with my family and friends. I am a mother to two children, daughter Aden and newborn son Spencer. I love spending my free time designing and making my jewelry.

Q: How did you get started making jewelry?

A: Honestly I began dabbling a bit when I was around 12 years old. I would spend any money I earned on supplies and made jewelry all the time! I decided to open my shop on Etsy once I became a stay at home mom when my daughter was a baby. First it was just a hobby - an outlet for me do to something creative that I loved. As time went by I began to see how this might eventually become something wonderful and decided to treat it more like a business instead of a hobby and the sales continuously began to escalate.

Buy it here

Q: You've had over 1000 sales, congratulations! Do you remember your first sale? Are you surprised by how far you've come?

A: Yes :) My first sale was actually from one of my aunts! She heard from my mom that I opened my shop on Etsy and wanted to give me a boost.

Q: Jewelry can be difficult to sell on Etsy, so much competition. What do you think sets you apart from other sellers? To what do you attribute your success?

A: Yes it can be very challenging sometimes. What works for me is to only create jewelry that I would wear and not try to create something that I think people would wear. Because I prefer a simple style of jewelry, I stay close to that niche. It seems customers aren't looking for a seller to be good at everything, just really good at one thing.

Buy it here

Q: Any advice for new sellers?

A: Even though it sounds cliche, keep believing and stay true to yourself. It's so easy to look at successful sellers and try to copycat or mirror them, but seldom does that work. The more effort you put into your shop the more you will see what does and doesn't work for you. Don't let people who think you're silly or jealous get you down.

Q: What are your future plans for your shop/business?

A: My goal is to reach 2000 sales before the end of 2012. My pebble necklaces have been very popular and I am currently working on more styles in that direction.

Buy it here

Q: What is your favorite piece of jewelry to wear?

A: I always wear jewelry, but most days it's a necklace. I feel a necklace simple or statement can really add to an outfit.

Q: Just for fun, what are a few of your favorite shops on Etsy?

A: Oh I have many! But these are my top 5:

BlueBirdHeaven - repurposed organization and more

BeSomethingNew - unique hair accessories

OneGarnetGirl - fine jewelry

LovelyMelodyClothing - soft feminine styles

JewelsForGrace - beautiful gemstones and supplies

Buy it here

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for..
your chance to win a lovely piece from Claire's collection!

How to Enter the Giveaway:

1. Follow this blog (Mandatory)

and leave a comment here saying you did.

2. Add Aden Creations to your favorite shops on Etsy

and leave a separate comment here saying you did.

3. Leave a comment about your favorite design(s) 
from Aden Creations.

Best of Luck!

Make sure to bookmark my giveaways page if you haven't already, 

and READ THE FINE PRINT

Fine print:

Only 3 entries per household please

Giveaway ends June 15th at midnight PST

Winner will be chosen by random.org

Entries will be validated

Winner will be announced here

Winner will have 3 days to contact me, 

after which a new winner will be chosen

Must be 18 years of age or older to enter

Otherwise open to everyone! 

Meet the Artist and Giveaway: Kimberly from Honizukle

It's Giveaway Time!

Ya'll know I love me some letterpress.

I was SO excited when Kimberly over at Honizukle agreed to sponsor a giveaway!

One lucky winner will receive 2 sets of absolutely gorgeous 

handmade mini letterpress cards from Honizukle!

Buy it here

I can't tell you how in love I am with Kimberly's work.

When she showed me her latest collection, I thought it was so beautiful I just had to pin them.

Buy them here

Let me just tell you, the cards are even more beautiful in hand.

The stationery is thick and luxurious. The impressions are rich and precise.

The colors are modern and vibrant. The designs are one-of-a-kind.

Let's learn more about the talented and lovely Kimberly who made this all possible:

Q: Tell us a little about yourself.


A: A little about myself… well, it's hard to describe myself. I'm very driven. Anything creative inspires me and there's nothing artistic that I don't like to do or want to try my hand at. Of course, I have to narrow it down and concentrate on something to be any good at it. I love designing and working on the press. When I'm not working I'm spending time with my apprentice in the making, my two year old son, Jack. We have fun together and he and my husband inspire a lot of my work.



Q: How did you get started doing letterpress?


A: I've always loved stationery. Even before I came to the US. It was something my sister and I used to collect and really enjoy. I don't remember exactly when I first laid eyes on a letterpressed card but once I saw what could be done I knew I had to do it. My husband was kind enough to allow me to invest in my own press and I took an intensive workshop in Brooklyn that really cemented my love for it. 



Buy it here

Q: Do you sell your products anywhere besides Etsy? How does it compare?


A: I don't yet. I've sold through my own site but I'm redoing it at the moment so I've only been selling through Etsy. I will hopefully be in a few shops soon and that's exciting but Etsy is a great marketplace. The kind of people that appreciate handmade are already going to Etsy to find things, so you already have the clients you're looking for. Etsy also puts so much work into their marketing and that's work they do for you. Each listing is like a little ad of your own. I think Etsy is a great place to sell and I don't think I'd ever stop selling there.



Buy it here

Q: What is your most popular item?


A: It's hard to say. I design new items for holidays so there are definite favorites during those times but I'd have to say what I sell the most are personalized sets. There's something great about getting or giving personalized stationery and it shows in the amount of sets I sell.

Buy it here



Q: What inspired your new collection?


A: My new collection is all Spring. I picked a palette I love and went with it. I was also very inspired by the Pearl Lettra stock I had acquired. It has a very creamy feel because of the color and that just made me want to do soft pastels and of course sweet designs. I'd say a lot of it was inspired by Mother's Day and my own mother actually. She loves flowers and used to draw them all the time. We're far away so I think about her a lot, this collection could be a subconscious ode to her too.



Buy it here

Q: Where do you see yourself/your shop in 3 years?


A: In three years I hope to be in stores. I'd really like to enter a store and see my cards on a counter. I know there would be a lot of satisfaction in that. I also hope to acquire another press, specifically a Vandercook. I have big ideas and I'd love to expand into other products and so I'd need a bigger press. I'd keep Charlotte of course but I'd love my studio to grow.



Q: Any advice for new shop owners on Etsy?


A: Stay on top of your Shop Stats. See what's bringing people in. If you have a product that you can tailor (like cards) pay close attention to the key words people are looking for and make a product that fills that need. Make sure to renew listings and to keep making new products to keep your shop fresh.

Buy it here



Q: Just for fun, what is the last thing you bought yourself on Etsy? 

A: The last thing I got from Etsy was the cutest little apron. I saw it and knew it would be perfect for me to print with. Indeed, I've printed with it already and it's fantastic, no more searching for my tools all over the place. :)

ATTENTION SHOPPERS!!! COUPON ALERT!!

Kimberly is offering my readers an exclusive coupon code to Honizukle:

Use MT2012 for 10% off your entire purchase 

(excluding wedding/custom orders).

Buy it here

Are you ready to win some funtabulous stuff from Honizukle?
Thought so :)

How to Enter the Giveaway:

1. Follow this blog (Mandatory)

and leave a comment here saying you did.

2. Add Honizukle to your circle or Favorite Shops on Etsy

and leave a separate comment here saying you did.

3. Leave a comment about your favorite design(s) from Honizukle.

Best of Luck!

Make sure to bookmark my giveaways page if you haven't already, 

and READ THE FINE PRINT

Fine print:

Only 3 entries per household please

Giveaway ends June 15th at midnight PST

Winner will be chosen by random.org

Entries will be validated

Winner will be announced here

Winner will have 3 days to contact me, 

after which a new winner will be chosen

Must be 18 years of age or older to enter

Otherwise open to everyone!