First Giveaway of the YEAR!!!

Who's Ready for a GIVEAWAY??? I know I am :) 

I've decided it's time to start doing regular giveaway's! Everyone like's getting things with out spending money right? And what woman doesn't want more jewelry? So the plan is to do one about every 4 weeks (about once a month) and I'll be giving away a wide variety fun gifts! 

What will I be giving away? This round I'm giving away 3 pairs of earrings valued $15 total! In the future - who knows? Just about anything is possible! 

So how can you win the above pair of earrings and two more surprise earrings? Simple! The first, and easiest way to enter the contest is to simply leave a comment on this post - just make sure I can reach you either through a follow back link to your blog or by leaving your e-mail address. 

But wait, there's more! There are a LOT of ways you can get entries into this contest! Here they are:

1. Leave a comment on this blog = 1 entry

2. Visit my FB page and "like" it. Leave a comment there to let me know your a new or returning fan! = 1 entry

3. Visit my Artfire page or Etsy page, come back and leave a separate comment with your favorite piece = 1 entry

4. Follow this blog or let me know your already following = 1 entry

5. Announce this contest on plurk or twitter, come back and leave a comment with a link = 1entry

6. Blog about it! Since this is means monopolizing your blog space it = 2 entries

7. Make a purchase in either of my stores (Artfire or Etsy) = 5 entries! 

That's a total of 12 possible entries! Please remember to leave separate entries for each entry to make my job easier! I'll be keeping track in a spreadsheet and each entry will be given a separate number (based on order received) and I'll pick a winner using the random number generator. 

*** Winner will be announced Saturday Morning, February 5th! ***

Have Fun :) 

~ Ruthie ~

So Tired....

It's been a long day, but a good day. I haven't gotten much done on the crafty front, but I got some bills paid, had a good doctors appointment (plan to talk about that tomorrow), spent some time with my Mom, time with John/Bec/and babies, and now I'm wiped out!

I just wanted to let everyone know, in case you noticed, that I haven't run my blog contest the last two months. (I think that's all its been. I do plan on running it again this month, so comment, comment, comment if you want to win free stuff from my shop!

I'm drooling...

See that pile of goodies? That's just a SMALL portion of all the incredible beads being given away over at the Silver Parrot! Seriously - it's an insanely awesome giveaway. I would so be in heaven if I won this giveaway. And I need to buy a LOT more storage boxes :D So head over there and enter - because as much as I want to win I think it would be pretty cool if one of my friends won too!

CONTEST WINNERS!!!

I'M SO EXCITED!!!

Ok, I'll stop screaming at you. But I AM really excited! Why? Because, this being the first day of June, I get to announce my contest winners! Woohoo! What contest is that you ask? Why who left the most comments on my blog this month! And don't worry if you didn't win, this is going to be a perpetual contest - so there's always this month, and the next, and the next! 

1st Place:

Edi - 35

 comments

2nd Place:

Sharla - 32 comments

3rd Place:

Theresa - 21 comments

Have I mentioned yet that these ladies rock my world? Before I tell you a little bit more about our winners let me tell you what they won :) 1st place - $15 off my shops, 2nd place - $5 off my shops, 3rd place - a write up on this blog! Now for you to meet our wonderful winners :)

EDI is the wonderful artist behind "Memories for Life Scrapbooks." She both creats incredible albums that you can buy to play with, and she also does scrap booking for you! I've seen some of those custom scrap books on her blog, and I can tell you that she does an incredible job, if I had the money I can think of one I'd like her to do! Or to help me with if she lived closer... *sigh* 

Edi is one of my fellow Etsy Bloggers, and I hadn't really gotten to know her very well before this last month. I knew she was cool, but that's about it! Through our comment exchanges this last month or so I feel like I've really made a friend, and I really look forward to her feedback on my newest projects! 

SHARLA is the artist behind Beaded 

Tail. She shares the shop with her Mom, so some of the work is her Mom's, which I think is just a ton of fun! She is, as you can see from the picture, a fellow jewelry artist, and I always have fun seeing her new creations! 

Sharla loves animals - and part of the fun of reading her blog is that you get to follow along on the adventures of her furbabies! Trust me, these babies are CuTE, and you'll have a lot of fun getting to know them!

Sharla is a fellow North Westerner and we actually only live about 2 hours apart! One of these days, if I can get just a wee bit stronger, we plan to actually meet up. I look forward to that day as Sharla has been a very dear and supportive friend to me here on-line! 

THERESA is another dear friend :) She is the artist behind TiLT Creations, and she's having a huge sale right now! So make sure you check her out :)

Theresa and I have had a lot of fun bonding over many different interests. Blogging, crafting in general, Firefly, vampires, geekery in general... Oh yes, we have way too much fun :P

She runs several blogs - because she's crazy like me! 

http://tiltcreations.blogspot.com

http://tilttreasures.blogspot.com
http://tiltcreationstoo.blogspot.com

Now for some geeky fun on my part....

When I first announced the contest on the 13th these were my currents stats:

~ Top Commentator: 9 comments

~ 70 Comments total

~ 35 Different Commentators

I was BLOWN away when I added up the entire month's stats today! Here they are:

~ Top Commentator: 35 comments

~ 277 Comments total

~ 71 Different Commentators

Can I just say you guys ROCK??? I've had a lot of fun tracking this, and getting to know all of you guys better! I know I don't always get a chance to respond to each and every comment, but I try to at least do a blog swing by for all of them, and your comments keep me going both as a blogger and as an artist. Thank you! 

Sweeting the pot: I had so much fun with this that next month's prizes are even better! All winners will receive a write up on this blog like I did this month. BUT the prize monies have gone up! 

June Winners will Receive:

1st Place - $20 Gift Certificate

2nd Place - $10 Gift Certificate

3rd Place - $5 Gift Certificate

Also remember, any posts that are spotlights of my most recent listings are worth TWO comments if you tell me your favorite piece out of that collection and why :)

Talk to you soon!

~ Ruthie ~

Comment Contest

Trust Your Heart

Well I thought I mentioned this in one of my posts...but I'm not finding it :P So it's a good thing I decided to do a mid-month update! I'm apparently spacey sometmes...

Anyway, I decided that along with working to respond to the comments I get, I wanted to reward my commentators. So each month I'm going to do a contest! I've been keeping track of all comments left this month so far, and it's been a lot of fun to see who's commenting and how often! 

So what will you win? This is the part I KNOW I hadn't decided on :) 

1st place: $15 gift certificate to my shop! Plus I'll mention you on the blog w/ a link.

2nd place: $5 gift certificate to my shop! Plus I'll mention you on the blog w/ a link.

3rd place: A mention on the blog with a link :)

Yes, there already is one person in the lead, but there are several people who are following up and fighting for first and second! And if you haven't been keeping up with my posts your welcome to do some back reading and leave some comments. :) Please say more than "cool" though ok? Thanks!

Now, because I'm geeky, here's a few stats from the month so far :)

~ Top Commentator currently has 9 comments.

~ I've had a total of 35 different people leave comments.

~ There has been a total of 70 comments! 

*all numbers prior to posting this post :)

I'm kinda geeking out and wondering what the numbers will look like by the end of the month :) I love interacting with all of you guys and I look forward to getting to know each one of you better! I'm also really excited about giving out the prizes :)

Tuesday's Tips #3

I had so much fun talking about blogging in last week's Tips that I'm going to do it some more today! Today's focus is on building relationships. That's why I chose the pic above. It's a picture of me and two of my closest girl-friends. Left to right we have Kat, Bethie, and myself :) That was taken Valentines Day Night. My hubby and I had gone out for a date earlier that day and he quite sweetly let me go out in the evening with my single girlfriends. Isn't my hubby sweet?

Ok, talking about my wonderful hubby is NOT the point of this post. Don't get me wrong, I could go on and on, but that wouldn't be much of a tip now would it?

Seriously though, building relationships is key to having a successful on-line business. I'd say probably 90% of my sales are to people that I've built some sort of connection with. That's a pretty high number! 

So how does that apply to blogging? Well there are a few things you can do. 

1. Reply to your comments! Go to their blog or e-mail them back. Even if it's just a quick "thanks." 

2. Find other blogs to follow and don't just read and leave, give them a comment! 

3. From time to time do a post that requires reader interaction. That could be a contest or even just asking a simple question. 

Lastly - be consistant! I try hard to respond to all my comments in some way shape or form, and I think I've really seen a difference since I started doing that. Now sometimes I won't respond to a comment if I'm really sick, or if that person has been catching up on my blog and left me four comments in a day, but I do get to the majority of them. Some times with a response to their comment, other times by leaving them a comment on their blog. 

Thought for the day: Time invested in building strong relationships is time invested well :)

New Site to Share - and MORE

I found out about an AWESOME site today that will save you some time on Etsy! Do you love looking through the treasuries? Does your face light up when you find out your in one? Do you get tired of searching through the pages with bated breath to find out if your IN a treasury? Well be tired no more! Click on the picture below and find a one stop, 3 second, stop to find out if your in a treasury!


Now this is a contest you'll have to visit NOW if you want to enter. Why? Because it's all about finding out when the babies coming! So go here and enter your guess - it could be any minute!
Look at this big sale that's going on over at my friend Mama's Little Monkey's shop :)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*HUGE CLEARANCE SALE~*~*~*~**~*~*~*~**~*~*~
20% off EVERYTHING in Shop (Except Items Marked "Made with Love by Katrina)
Wait for adjusted invoice before making payment, or I can refund you via PayPal!

Making Room for NEW Items!!

And while your out there - don't forget my HUGE sale over in my shop! 20% off many items!

Oh So Much Going On!

Where to begin? That's the question! Ok, I'll start off by telling you about my sale item of the week. I absolutely LOVE the earrings! I'll be sad to see them go, but I'll also be glad to see them go to a good home! Here's the details:

Don't you just want to get up do a groovy dance with these wild and fun earrings? The center blue circles are made from African opals and the pink has a shiny finish that's sure to catch people's eyes!

These earrings are shoulder dusters at 3 1/2 inches! On sale on this blog for only $10 including shipping and handling! What a steal eh?

Now I was planning on waiting a few days before I listed my next set of contests and sales that are currently going on. Then I found out about a WHOLE bunch yesterday - and I decided I just had to share them with you today!

You can find this lovely bag and more over at Tilt Creation's St. Patty's Day Sale! All items in that section are 15% off! Woohoo!


CeeJayBags is doing not one but TWO giveaways! You can enter the first one here:

And the second giveaway here:

MercyMing is doing an AWESOME sale in her shop! Buy 3 get one free sale. Buy any three cards and she will send out the 4th of your choice at no charge! And I got to say - these cards are fabulous - time to stock up!

And while your having fun shopping, saving, and entering contests, don't forget to stop by my March Madness Sale!

Lots of Contests and Sales Going On!

I'm doing a HUGE March Madness Sale - and that got me thinking. I know that some of my friends over on the Pluggers United Team are doing sales or contests right now - I should feature them! So I sent out an e-mail and here's the responses I got :)

Head on over to the Damn Nation's blog to get a chance to win this lovely bracelet! And while your there, why not sign up to follow her blog? She's a fun gal, you won't be disappointed!


Kate, of Om Shanti Handicrafts, is doing an all things green sale! In honor of St. Patty's day don'tcha know :) Not only does she make incredible jewelry pieces, she has a wide variety of bath and body products - so head over there today!


This next contest is actually sponsored by one of my team mates, and hosted by another! The contest is being hosted by TiLT Creations and sponosered by Pigatopia. There are lots of fun ways to win entries - so head on over and check it out today!


And of course, don't forget about my March Madness Sale while your checking out all this fun stuff! I have a whole bunch of items at 20% off - like this wonderful necklace - currently only $16!!!