Featured Etsy Artist & Giveaway...Pluto's Gift Shop (CONTEST CLOSED, Winner announced)

We are happy to introduce to you Pluto's Gift Shop! I found this lovely shop through Etsy and I was enchanted by the beautiful pieces and all their sparkle. I had a chance to chat a little with Pluto's Gift Shop owner & creator Jennifer, she was kind enough to give us some insight into her busy life and business and she has graciously offered to give one of her gorgeous sparkling pieces away to one lucky winner!!

Pluto's Gift shop has been open for business since February 2, 2009 on Etsy, but creating is nothing new for Jennifer because her skill has been pasted down from generation to generation in her family. Pluto's Gift Shop offers a variety of jewelry pieces made with authentic Swarovski Crystal beads. Every item is personally hand crafted by Jennifer.

Here is what Jennifer had to say!

1. Who are you? My name is Jennifer Johnson. My family and I live in Kettering, Ohio just outside of Dayton. I am 24 years old. Currently, I am studying for a college degree in Accounting while working part time at a local restaurant. When I am not busy taking care of my family, working, and studying, I love to create. I love creating jewelry because, it allows me to take time out from the rush of the day and focus on creating something beautiful for someone else.

2. What made you decide to start making jewelry? I started making jewelry as a way to create unique gifts for my family and friends. This past Christmas I made Swarovski crystal jewelry for all the women on my list. After the holidays, with all the buzz about the jewelry, my sister suggested that I start an Etsy shop. I loved the idea of buying and selling handmade products. My shop opened in February of this year!

3. What is your favorite piece and why?

My favorite piece is the Spring Floral Bouquet Brooch. I created this brooch with my grandmother in mind. The first one I made is going to be her Mother’s Day present for this year.

4. Anything else you want my readers to know? All of my products are handmade by me with care and attention to detail. I use genuine, high quality materials. The majority of my jewelry is made with Swarovski crystals! Swarovski is among the best crystals in the world....

You can also find Jennifer on Twitter!!

Jennifer has graciously agreed to GIVEAWAY 1 Midnight Sparkle Bracelet (pictured below) to 1 lucky WINNER!! YAY!We are going to give everyone a chance to receive a total of 10 entries into this contest! Just leave a post for each entry!

1. Go to Pluto's Gift Shop and let us know what your favorite sparkling beauty is! (This is required to enter) This is one entry.

2. Follow our Blog or already be a follower for one entry.

3. Add Pluto's Gift Shop to your etsy favorites to earn 2 entries (leave 2 posts)

4. Tweet or blog about this contest (leave us a link to your post or tweet) and link back to this contest for 3 entries ! (leave 3 posts)

5. Make a purchase from Pluto's Gift Shop to receive 3 more entries (will be verified, leave 3 posts)

PLEASE BE SURE I CAN CONTACT YOU THROUGH YOUR BLOGGER ACCOUNT OR LEAVE AN EMAIL ON YOUR POST!

THIS CONTEST WILL END SUNDAY APRIL 19, 2009 @ 5PM CST.

CONTEST OPEN TO ALL!

A big THANKS to Jennifer @ Pluto's Gift Shop for sponsoring this great GIVEAWAY!!

Good Luck to EVERYONE!! :)

♥Amy

Congratulations!

Congratulations to minishoes! You are the winner of the Mireio Feature and Giveaway!

Thank you to everyone who participated, and a special thank you to Wende of Mireio for the wonderful interview and for sponsoring this great giveaway!


Have a good day :)

Mireio Feature and Giveaway! ( Closed, winner announced)

I would like to introduce everyone to Wende the very talented owner of Mireio.

Mireio specializes in luxurious and relaxing spa products, fragrant soy candles, beautiful vintage glass candle holders, and much more!

I met Wende through the Etsy forums, and her shop immediately caught my eye. She makes such luxurious products, and best of all, they are affordable!

I had the chance to ask Wende a few questions about her and her products; here is what she had to say:

Q: How long have you been making your elegant creations, and what inspired you to start doing this?

A: I'm the child of a seamstress, so I grew up sewing. But it took me a long time to work up the courage to actually sell my work. I've made housewares for my own home for years before I took the plunge last fall and started Mireio. As for inspiration, before I opened Mireio I had a vintage store online that did very well. But I found over time that I really wanted to create with the vintage materials that I was finding. I love to mix new with old and find new uses for long forgotten items. So I'm a big fan of upcycling and recycling and refashioning. Creating a new use to something beautiful is a thrill!

Q: There are a large variety of handmade items in your shop from candles to napkins, which do you like creating the most, and why?

A: I must confess, I'm fickle. I tend to love whatever I'm working on at the moment. But if I had to choose, I'd say creating custom orders for people is a real joy. I love listening to what they want and need and then coming up with something totally unique just for them!

Q: What, in your experience, has been the best part about owning your own business as a handmade artist?

A: I've so enjoyed my experience on Etsy--and meeting people and finding new independent artists has been a lovely bi-product of owning my own business. I've had so much fun with it, that I actually write and tweet The Best of Etsy each week. I can't tell you how many amazing people I've met through the process. I love the community it provides. And it's absolutely gratifying to make something you know will be treasured.

Thank you Wende!

Here are a few of our favorite things from Mireio


Wende has graciously agreed to sponsor a GIVEAWAY!!!

What’s up for grabs?????

This beautiful set of six fragrant spring acorn sachets!

Vintage fabrics and prints adorn the adorable sachets. Each is filled with luxurious lavender from Provence. Topped with a real acorn cap and accented with a tiny glass seed bead, each of these Acorns is unique--one of a kind. While small, these lovely sachets are quite fragrant with an amazing palette of lilac, lavender, and hyacinth.

We are going to give you a chance to receive 10 entries into this giveaway!

1.Go to Wende’s shop Mireio and take a look around, then come back here and leave a comment letting us know what item in her shop you like the most. =1 entry

2. Leave a comment letting us know that you are a new or current follower of this blog =2 entries

3. Grab our button (leave a comment, letting us know) = 3 entries

4. Blog or twitter about this giveaway (leave a comment with a link to your post or tweet) =4 entries

5. Purchase any item from Mireio, come back here and leave a comment letting us know what you bought (will be verified) and you will receive 6 additional entries for a total of 10 entries!

All entries must have an email address on them (so we can reach you). If your email is located in your blogger account that is fine, just make sure to leave us a way to contact you.

We will end the giveaway and announce the winner on Sunday April 5th at 6pm central time.

Thank you again to Wende for a great interview, and for sponsoring this wonderful giveaway. You can get even more info about Wende and her shop by visiting her blog , or you can catch her on Twitter.

Good luck everyone.

Introducing The Cutzie Pa Tutzie Shoppe! (CONTEST CLOSED)

Our next featured artist is the talented mother Amanda, owner of The Cutzie Pa Tutzie Shoppe. Amanda makes the cutest handmade hair assecories, tutu's, tutu dresses, ribbon onsies, and shirts. I was immediately drawn to her products because I too am a mother and I have 4 little girls. I can just imagine my little girls prancing around the house in Amanda's adorable creations!

I spent some time talking with Amanda, she just opened her online shop, and she has agreed to be our featured artist. She has also graciously agreed to a GIVEAWAY!! (Yay, free stuff!)

She gave us some insight into her life as a busy mom, business owner, and creator.

Here is what Amanda had to say:

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

My name is Amanda. I am a stay at home military mom to 2 amazing little girls who are 15 months apart in age. They are currently 2 3/4 and 18months. I am the owner of The Cutzie Pa Tutzie Shoppe. I have a myspace page that I was originally set up on as my only way of taking orders. I took the plunge into the online world and opened a web page for my business in November of 2008. I took on 2 partners in my business in January of 2009. I figured that it would help keep the business local when we leave Oklahoma, and would help to expand on what I can do alone. We offer a wide selection of handmade hair accessories, tutus, tutu dresses, ribbon onesies/shirts and are currently working on a whole bunch of new items as well!

How did you become interested in making these cute little hair accessories, tutu's and clothes:

I have always been the extremely crafty type but never knew how to move it into something I could make money doing. Shortly after my youngest was born, I discovered that I couldn't find hair accessories for either of my children's lack of hair. One of my very close friends had been making bows for her girls for quite a while and she showed me some basics. I was hooked after making my first bow! That was in November of 2007. In May of 2008 a woman I was friends with through myspace posted a notice that she was selling all of her supplies and I decided that it was meant to be. I took over on July 6th and have been having a blast making bows since. I love the feeling of making something that someone else will appreciate and find beauty in.

What is the most difficult aspect of your craft, the business, and/or creating:

It is difficult to not buy new ribbon. I sometimes think that I might have more ribbon than sense! I have so much ribbon that hasn't been used yet and I keep buying more. There are just SO many cute prints and I have so many ideas but never enough time in the day to get them all finished!

Anything else you would like us to know about your shop, you or your products:

We are currently running a BOW MADNESS sale, loosely based off of the March Madness tournaments. There will be 4 bows to vote on every day. The top 2 will move on to a later day until only one remains! The daily bows will be 20% off on the day that they are featured and 10% any day after. The winning bow will be 25% off for the rest of March and all of April. Anyone who votes will be entered into a drawing for any bow that was featured during the promotion. The more you vote the better your chances but please only vote for 1 bow per day.

Here are a few of my favorite items from The Cutzie Pa Tutzie Shoppe

GIVEAWAY time!!!!

Amanda has graciously agreed to give away one of her beautiful custom hair bows to one lucky winner!! (if you are the winner, and you choose to make a purchase at the Cutzie Pa Tutzie Shoppe, you will also receive 25% off your order)

To enter this contest you need to head on over to The Cutzie Pa Tutzie Shoppe and take a look around.

Come back here to Ozark Scents blog and leave us a comment on this post, tell us what you thought was the cutest item or items in her shop and you will get 1 entry into this contest.

Earn extra entries by:

1. Signing up to follow our blog here at Ozark Scents or already be a follower for 1 extra entry.

2. Make a purchase @ The Cutzie Pa Tutzie Shoppe to get 5 extra entries!! (will be verified)

All entries must have an email address on them (so we can reach you). If your email is located in your blogger account that is fine, just make sure to leave us a way to contact you.

This contest ends Monday March 30, 2009 and a winner will be picked that evening.

Good luck everyone!!
Amy :)

Surprise! (This Contest is now closed, winner has been chosen)

Its finally here!

What you have been waiting for all week!

The SURPRISE!!!

To celebrate our blog makeover, we are going to be giving away an 8oz candle of your choice from our shop!!!

To enter the giveaway, go to Ozark Scents Candle Co. and take a peep at the fragrance list.

(The fragrance list is located in the “Shop Policies” at Ozark Scents Candle Co.)

Come back here to the blog, and leave a comment letting us know what your favorite scent is.

Your comment will enter you into a drawing to win an 8oz candle in the scent of your choice.

Please include your email address, entries without email addresses will not be considered.

If you become a follower of our blog, let us know in the comments section and you will receive an additional entry. If you already follow, then say so in your comment and you will also receive an additional entry.

The giveaway will be open to US residents only.

We are going to draw a name next Sunday night March 1st 2009.

Good luck, and have fun!!!

And the winner is...........

Kathy55439!!!!

Congratulations Kathy! You have won a pendant of your choice from the Giggles & Grins Bowtique!!!

Thank you very much to Dawn at Giggles & Grins Bowtique for sponsoring this great giveaway! She is a great seller, and a very talented artist:)

Thank you to everyone who entered, and a very special thank you to our followers. You all have made this a wonderful experience!

Please swing back by later today to see the big surprise we have for you!

Thanks again,
Amy & Jenny at Ozark Scents

Our fresh new look!

Hello again

We hope you like our fresh new face, we did it just for you! Yes, we feel so much better since our transformation, and it actually didn’t take as long as we had expected, but I’m just now posting about it because today was my wedding anniversary! So why am I on here blogging? Well, it’s almost my bedtime, hubby is in bed, and all the anniversary fun and games (wink) are over. It was a great day, love you honey (kisses).

Hey, speaking of celebrations, we are so excited about our new look that we are going to be celebrating it with a big surprise! However, we are going to make you wait until Sunday to find out what it is (ha, ha, ha), but believe me, you are going to love it!!!!

Anyhoo, we are counting down to the final days of the featured artist giveaway, and boy are we excited about that too! We should probably calm down before our faces turn blue and we pass out, but we can’t help it! We thought we would let everyone know that we have marked an official time for the ending of the giveaway on Sunday; it will be at 3pm central standard time. Don’t worry, we won’t jump the gun again, pinky swear.

As we said before, we will contact you personally if you win (don’t be like us and pass out if you're the winner, we wouldn’t want you to get a boo boo) but we will also be posting the winner here on the blog that evening, so swing by to see who won! Oh yeah, there will be that surprise thing too.

In the mean time, we have conjured up some cool projects from the DIY Network to keep you occupied while you wait for Sunday to get here.

Enjoy!

Blog Makeover

Hi There everyone!

Thank you for participating in this great giveaway! We really appreciate all of the great comments, and kind words you have left for us and our featured artist Giggles & Grins Bowtique (you guys are too good to us). And we especially appreciate all of you who have decided to follow our blog! As cheesy as it may sound, it really is a great honor to us to get new followers.

So, to thank you for your sweetness, we have decided to give you something sweet to look at! We know you love us just the way we are, and we know that you would never leave us just because we gained a few pounds, but we feel that we have become a little saggy around the eyes, and the love handles we acquired during the holidays are still flappin around. Yes, we feel it may be time for a makeover, a blog makeover that is.

So for the next few days we are going to be on the HTML treadmill getting fierce and fabulous just for you! So come back soon to see our new look.

While you’re waiting for us to get done primping, you can scroll down to the post below and check out the featured artist, and enter the drawing. (if you haven’t already). And don't forget to leave your email address, or we won't be able to let you know if you win!

And if you have already entered, don’t fret, we got you a magazine to read while you wait for us to get out of the bathroom, we will be out soon, we swear:)

If you don't like magazines, then hop on over to Etsy and check out some of our new candles!

Thanks again!

Featured Artist (Contest Closed-Winner Announced)

Hi Everyone! First of all, thanks for coming to our blog! This is our first feature and we hope everyone joins in for the fun & goodies! We jumped the gun a little bit by posting the contest details at the Etsy shop last night, and we just couldn't wait until 2pm to start the fun, so here we go.......

Our guest of honor this week is Giggles & Grins Bowtique! I chose this particular shop because I have made several purchases here and have always been 110% happy! Dawn Wilcox is the talented and wonderful seller behind Giggles & Grins Bowtique, she makes beautiful and unique necklaces from recycled dominoes and scrabble tiles, as well as, cute little hair bows for girls. My twelve-year-old daughter has become addicted to Dawns Twilight inspired bottle cap and scrabble tile necklaces; I have purchased several for her and one for my cousin, and they absolutely love them!! I love the price and quality of Dawn's work and I highly recommend Giggles & Grins Bowtique to anyone looking for a one of a kind, high quality necklace, or hair bow.

Here are some of our favorite items from Giggles & Grins Bowtique

Remember when we said that there would be a surprise? Well here it is!

Go to Giggles & Grins Bowtique and browse through Dawns awesome handmade products

Come back to our blog, and tell us which wonderful item you dig the most (you can only choose one).

Your comment will enter you into a drawing to receive the item you have chosen! Be sure to leave your email address in the comments, entries without email address will not be considered.

If you are already a follower of our blog, your comment will grant you two entries into the drawing, if you choose to follow our blog, let us know, and you will also be granted two entries, and if you choose not to follow then your comment will grant you one entry:)

Dawn has graciously agreed to give away one item of the winner’s choice from her shop! (She is so cool)

We are going to put everyone’s name in a hat and draw a winner next Sunday February 22, 2009! (This drawing is open to US residents only)

We will contact you via email next Sunday if you are the lucky winner! We will also be posting the winner here on the blog!

Thanks so much for participating:) Be sure to drop us a line if you would like to be featured on our blog, or would like to nominate someone else to be featured.

Good luck, and have fun!

Amy