Sweet & Simple Jewelry Winner!!

Are you ready to see who won the gorgeous necklace from Sweet & Simple's Etsy shop??

This giveaway was one of my most popular ones yet, with around 466 total entries!

Thanks everyone!

The winner of last week's giveaway is.....

Kaytee!!

Congratulations!

I have forwarded your e-mail to Kelly, and she

will contact you about getting your prize sent.

Enjoy your new necklace!

Today's featured shop is isheshop, an adorable jewelry shop

that offers a wide variety of fabric covered earrings and

vintage pieces.

The Frosted Button:
What are your inspirations?

isheshop:
My free time is my inspiration. And my work time is my inspiration. I think when you are busy or vice versa bored it makes your brain entertain itself. And here is when ideas come.

TheFrostedButton:
What are some of your best sellers?


isheshop:
Certaint designs in my herbarium series {visit here} . I don't know why but locally my herbarium brooches are sold so well but none of them was sold on etsy.

TFB:
Do you have a favorite design in your shop?

isheshop:
I love my embroidery but right now my favorite is smth with chains and lockets. Perhaps this necklace. I wear this necklace almost every day.

THF:
What are some tips you can share with others who are starting a home/handmade business?

isheshop:
Schedule!

TFB:
Which Etsy shops inspire you?

isheshop:
So many. Etsy is a huge inspiration itself. I think every time I see a shop with more than 1000 sales it inspires me. Yes, I can be such a material girl. )) But if I had to peek one it would probably be OrangeThyme.
I read her interview on Etsy- she is a real time manager pro.

Thank you so much for letting me feature your lovely shop!  You are off to a great start, and I wish you many sales!

{Links}

Facebook: ISHEstore

Blog: isheblog



FotoMacro Winner!

Happy (belated) Easter everyone! I hope you all had

a special time with friends and family yesterday.

I was busy on Saturday making food for our Easter

celebration, so I didn't have a chance to pick the winner

of the FotoMacro giveaway yet. I hope I didn't

keep you all waiting too long. =)

The winner of the photography print of the winner's choice is..

Kady!

Congratulations! I have sent your e-mail to Angie,

and she will contact you about which print you would like.

I'm sure you will enjoy it!

Handmade Monday Feature- Sweet & Simple Jewelry Designs

Today's feature shop isSweet & Simple Jewelry Designs.

The pieces in this are so pretty- they definitely bring out the girl in us!

This shop offers a wide variety of vintage, shabby chic and feminine jewelry

pieces for ladies.

I was thrilled when Kelly (the owner of the shop), agreed

to a shop feature and giveaway for this week's Handmade Friday Feature!

The Frosted Button:

 When did you first begin creating your jewelry?

Kelly:
 A few years ago I started to try different jewelry making techniques and went from there.

The Frosted Button:
What are your inspirations?

Kelly:
Vintage, shabby chic, flowers and family.



TFB:

 What are your favorite pieces to make?

Kelly:
Anything with a vintage component. I love going to garage sales and estate sales and finding old jewelry and making it into something new. I really like making the collage pendants also.

The Frosted Button: 

What are some tips you would like to share with those who are running

                             a home/handmade business?                                

  Kelly:

Start small and simple and take good pictures. Do local craft fairs and get the word out about your new business. You can even approach local shops and ask if they will sell your items on consignment.

5. What is the most popular piece in your shop? My flower post earrings are a fast selling item these days. I have also been very busy with bridal and bridesmaid orders.

              You have a beautiful shop, Kelly, and I

wish you much success in your handmade business!

{Links}

~Blog

~Facebook

Sweet and Simple Home

( Kelly's new shop opening soon

that will feature vintage and shabby chic

home decor)

I am very excited about today's giveaway- and you will be, too, once you

see the lovely piece that is being given away!

One of my readers will soon the lucky owner of this gorgeous necklace:

Isn't is simply lovely??

Here's how you can enter:

{Mandatory First Entry}

Visit Sweet & Simple's shop, and take

a look around.

Then come back here and tell me what item(s)

you most love from the shop.

(1 entry)

{Extra Entries}

1. Heart Sweet & Simple's shop

( 2 entries)

2. Add Sweet & Simple's shop to your Etsy Circle

(1 entry)

3. Heart Kelly's new shop (link above)

(2 entries)

4. Fan Sweet & Simple's Facebook page (link above)

(2 entries)

5. Follow Sweet & Simple's blog (link above)

(2 entries)

6. Follow this blog

( 2 entries)

If you already follow, just let me know

7. Purchase any item from Sweet & Simple's shop

( 15 entries)

8. Blog, Facebook or Twitter about this giveaway
(2 entries for each you do)
Please leave the link to the post in your comments

Please do each comment separately!

Also, leave a way for me to contact you if you win.

Your e-mail or Etsy username is best.

If you would prefer to not have your e-mail

published, just leave me a separate comment

with your e-mail and ask me not to publish it.

This giveaway is open Worldwide!

This giveaway will end on April 30 at 12 noon Central Time.

The winner will be announced later that day.

Have fun!

Product Review- ManeMessage

Are you ready for another product review? I am!

Before we get started on this week's review,

let's reveal the winner of the last product review.

The winner of the scrub of their choice from Scrubz Body Scrub website is....

*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*

Anna-Faith!!!!

Congratulations, Anna! I have forwarded your e-mail

to Scrubz, and the owner will contact you about

which scrub you would like.

A big thank-you to everyone for entering!



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Several weeks ago I came across an adorable Etsy shop by

the name of ManeMessage. I love anything to do with

hair accessories, so this shop was a real find!

I was delighted when Olivia (the owner of ManeMessage)

kindly offered to send me 15 hair ties of my choice!!

As you can imagine, I was quite excited.

The shipping was very fast ( 3-4 days),

which was a huge plus for me. =)

The hair ties were packaged in a clear

plastic bag and tied shut with ribbon.

The first thing I noticed when I opened

the package was the color of the hair ties- I could

hardly believe how bright and vibrant

 the colors were! They were simply gorgeous!

My favorite colors of the ones I picked

were the bright orange, fushia pink,

deep blue, red and yellow. They are incredible stretchy, and very comfortable to wear.

The only downside I found with them is that they don't hold my ponytail really tightly, like a normal hair elastic would. But that was quite understandable, considering how extremely thick my hair is. So if I need my hair to be held back tightly, like when I'm doing something active, I will just put a regular hair elastic in and then one of these over it for color. But if I am just doing things around the house, they work perfectly to keep my hair out of my face. I also love the fact that I can wear them to bed and they won't make my hair break off like normal hair elastic would tend to do to my hair.

So overall, I would HIGHLY recommend ManeMessage to those who want something pretty and stylish to wear in their hair. The prices are extremely reasonable, which is great, because once you start looking around this shop, you won't be able to decide on just one package of hair ties!

The shop also offers embellished hair ties and headbands.

Here are a few of my favorite items from this shop:

{via}

{via}

And if solids aren't your style, you can always get some tie dye ones!

Thank you so much for sending me a sample

of your lovely products, Olivia!

I wish you much success in your business. =)

{Links}

Etsy shop: Mane Message

 Facebook

 Twitter

Blog

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Olivia has kindly offered to a 10% off special

to my readers!

Just enter the coupon code MANEMESSAGE10

upon checking out to receive the discount.



The item(s) reviewed above were sent to me
for the sole purpose of revewing it on my blog.
I was not asked to write anything about the product;
all thoughts are my own.

Oh Spring, Where Art Thou?

{via}

Why must spring tease me this year?

One week it will be a beautiful 79 degrees,

with a warm wind and full sunshine,

and the next week it is cloudy and in

the 50's.

I don't know about you, but this year

I am SO ready for spring!

What are your favorite things about spring?

 I love....

~Bare Feet~

~Pale Pink Toe Nail Polish~

~Flowers~

~Budding Trees~

~Green Grass~

~Long Daylight Hours~

~ White Skirts~

~Cute Sandals~

~Long Walks~

and the list goes on.

Tomorrow looks hopeful, at least

in the way of sunshine.

I greatly pity those in New York who

just had snow several weeks ago.

Has anyone had snow lately??

And, I must ask - do any of you

actually enjoy having snow around this late?

P.S.

Don't forget to enter my Scrubz giveaway!

It ends on Monday, and there are low

entries so far.

Please make sure to spread the word about

it and enter if you haven't already.

Who knows, you just might win!

Handmade Friday Feature & Giveaway- FotoMacro

Today's featured shop is FotoMacro.
I first came across this shop when the owner, Angie,
contacted me about doing a giveaway and feature
on my blog. I'm always looking for lovely shops to feature,
so I was happy to agree!
Angie was also very kind and offered to let me pick
any print from her shop as a little gift for featuring
her shop!  I picked this photo,
because I love the color yellow so much:

Isn't it pretty? It looks even more stunning in person!
The shipping was very fast (2 days!!), and I couldn't be more
happy with the print I picked.
Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness, Angie!

For the feature, I let Angie write out a little
bio about her interests, instead of doing my usually
interview questions. Let me know how you like
this set up, as I will consider doing more like this in the future.

Angie Lilly Bio:
Here is a little bit of info about who I am and what I find important.

*I am a HUGE animal lover and have had as many as 13 fur babies (cats in my case) living with me at any one time. I currently have 8.

*I am a passionate environmentalist and do everything I can to be "green," including but not limited to and constantly changing/adding to: recycling, composting, living a vegetarian lifestyle, buying locally and organic whenever possible, harvesting rainwater, reusing gray water, using only non-toxic/eco-friendly/petrochemical-free/vegan household cleaners and bath/body products, conserving water and energy as much as possible, etc.

*I am an avid gardener (flowers, veggies, herbs, etc.).

*I am a birder and have 13 bird feeders and 4 bird baths in my yard.


*I have always had a photographer's eye but not until 2008 did I get the camera that allowed me to make my art a reality and my passion come through.

*I am also a poet, with a BA in English specializing in Creative Writing.

about my store:

Hi! Welcome to my little store! I am a passionate artist who loves nature and likes to show nature's beauty by getting into the nitty-gritty details of the natural world. I enjoy tromping through my yard, local parks, city streets, etc. looking for that perfect macro shot that will show nature in all of its perfect and jaw-dropping glory. I hope you enjoy my photography as much as I love taking the photos. My wish is that it will inspire you to not only make a purchase of one of my prints, but to see nature in a new and exciting way--a way you never have before.

All my prints are available in either standard 8x10 for $19.00 or 11x14 for $29.00; however, I also offer a variety of other sizes of my prints (i.e. 5x7, 8x10, 8x12, 11x14, 12x18, 8x8, 12x12, 16x20, 20x30, etc.). If you want a size other than what I generally offer, contact me and we will work it out!

All prints come on Fujicolor Crystal Archive photographic paper, which will last a lifetime if stored properly. They are also available in either glossy or luster finish.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For today's giveaway, Angie offered to let one of my readers

pick their choice of any 8x10 picture from her shop or her "For Sale" page on Facebook!

You could pick this one...

(I love the little ladybug on the leaf!)

or this one.....

or this one...

or any of her other lovely macro prints!

{Mandatory First Entry}

Visit either FotoMacro's Etsy Shop or Facebook Page,
then come back here and tell me what your favorite print is
from either place.

1 entry

{Extra Entries}

~Heart FotoMacro's Etsy shop

2 entries

~ Add FotoMacro to your Etsy circle

1 entry

~Fan/follow FotoMacro on Facebook and/or

Twitter

2 entries for each you do

~ Follow this blog

2 entries

~ Purchase any item from FotoMacro

 15 entries

Make sure to tell me what you purchased in your comment!

~ Tell what you most love about spring

1 entry

please do each comment separately!

Also, leave a way for me to contact you if you win.

Your Etsy username or e-mail is best.

If you would prefer to not have your e-mail published,

just leave me a comment with your e-mail, and ask me

not to publish it.

This giveaway is open to U.S. residents only

Giveaway ends April 22 at noon Central Time.

I will pick a winner later that day using Random.org.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sneak Peek of next week's featured shop:

If you love shabby chic, vintage and feminine jewelry,

then you won't want to miss next week's featured shop

and giveaway!

We Have a Winner!!

Are you ready to see who won the boxes from LilithEvy's Etsy shop?

The winner of this week's giveaway is.........

Anna!!!

Congratulations! I contacted you via e-mail,

and your will have 48 hours to respond before a new

winner is picked.

Enjoy your boxes!

Product Review & Giveaway- Scrubz

Today I am posting about my first ever product review! *jumps for joy*

I first got interested in doing product reviews after I stumbled on a blog that

was devoted solely for product reviews and giveaways.

Now I am hooked!

I've sent out quite a few e-mails to Etsy shops and companies, and while

I still haven't heard back for many of them, but several e-mailed back and

are sending me some pretty neat items.

I'm really looking forward to showing them to you all throughout the month.

Right now (and this will depend on how often I have items), I am hoping to

do a product review twice a month.

But enough talk! Let's get on to the review!

Product:

All-Natural Sugar Scrub in April Showerz scent

Company:

scrubzbodystore

My Thoughts:

When it first arrived, I was afraid that the scent would be too strong for me.

But I was pleasantly surprised to find that though the scent was pretty strong

while in the container, it only left a light, refreshing scent on my skin.

And unlike most off-the-shelf scrubs and body washes that smell great in the container

but disappear shortly after showering, the scent lingered on my

skin well after bath time.

Now that I know that the scent is lighter on your skin, I would definitely like

to try some of the other scents like Lavender, Floral Fantasy and Warm Vanilla.

Another huge plus for me was the ingredient list- it is so natural!

It contains nourishing oils like olive, jojoba and Vitamin E,

essential oils, and sugar. That is about it!

Pretty much everything that we apply to our skin is soaked

into our bodies, so why not nourish it with something that will be

safe for the inside of us as well.

{Click the picture to see a bigger image}

Not only does this company offer body scrubs, but they also offer lip balm, body butter,

facial scrubs and more!

There's something for everyone at Scrubzs!

I would like to thank the owner of the Scrubz company for being

so kind and sending me an item of my choice to help

kick off my product reviews- I really appreciate it!

{Mandatory First Entry}

Visit scrubzbodyscrub, then come back here and tell

me what your favorite scent is.

(1 entry)

{Extra Entries}

1. Blog, Tweet or Facebook about this giveaway

( 2 entries for each you do)

2. Follow this blog

( 2 entries)

if you already follow, just let me know

3. Let me know about a company that you

would love to see sponsor a product review or giveaway

on this blog

( 2 entries)

Please do each comment separately!

~Open to U.S. and Canada residents only~

Please note that with this giveaway you must include an e-mail address

in written form (i.e. yourname{at}gmail{dot} ) in at least one of your comments.

If you would rather not have your e-mail published, just leave a separate

comment with your first name and e-mail and ask me to not publish it.

This giveaway will end in two weeks on Monday, April 18 at noon Central Time.

The winner will be announced later that day, and I will also post

about my second product review.

Thanks for reading!

~Disclaimer~

I was not asked by this company to write this review or endorse the product in anyway.
 This product was sent to me at no charge

for the sole purpose of reviewing and blogging about it.