Today I opened up Blogger, ready to buckle down and write a few new posts. Then a super-sparkly number caught my eye: 300! I have 300 Blogger followers!
I can't believe how big my blog has gotten over the past few years. I began Shealynn's Faerie Shoppe-- unspellable name and all-- when I was 14 so that I could have an online place to dump all of my craft photos. It was a purely friends and family sort of blog, and I imagine that very few people actually read it. :) I do tend to ramble when it comes to artwork.
Since then I've certainly learned a great deal about art and crafting and jewelry. Just look back in my archives; I almost cringe when I look at some of my old posts! But life is a journey and every day in which you don't learn something new is wasted... so I've been happily indulging in all sorts of creative pastimes and sharing some of them here on the blog. And earning the money to indulge in the supplies by selling jewelry at my Shoppe.
So this is a THANK YOU to everyone who has been with my on my journey. Thank you for encouraging me with your comments, and helping me with your critiques. Thank you for understanding when I have to take breaks from blogging (because life is crazy!) and for being so friendly (I can't count how many great friends I've met online). And thank you for just purely being awesome, whether or not you read my blog. Because everyone's got some awesome in them. Aaaaaaand now I'm sounding cheesy.
So! Let us commence on the part I'm sure you are more interested in than me mumbling some incoherent thankyous... the giveaway! Allons-y!
I made this little jewelry set especially for this giveaway. Right now I don't have any up on the Shoppe (a problem that will need to be remedied soon, since I've got a lot of leaf beads in dazzling colors just waiting!).
I don't know about you, but I prefer to wear small, elegant jewelry. This might come as a surprise, since some of my favorite things to make are big, intricate affairs, but for everyday wear I usually only slip on a small necklace and a pair of tiny, lightweight earrings.
And it goes without saying that I love anything fairytale, elven, flowery, sparkly, or shiny.
This "Slender Elven Jewelry Set" is just the ticket for me and I wear something similar all the time. It is made from firepolished Czech glass leaf beads and a Swavroski pearl. The chain is the most slender (slenderest?) that I could find. And the green! A lovely periodot, matte on one side, shimmering with sparkles on the reverse.
Like most of the giveaways I've held in the past, this one is going to last for two weeks. However, I've changed it to be open internationally. Yes siree, I'm an old hand at customs forms now, having mailed jewelry to over five different countries! I'm also experimenting with RaffleCopter. This should make the giveaway easier for you and I to manage. *crosses fingers* By the way, no one gets to see your email except for me, and that's only if you are the winner.
The only mandatory entry is for you to tell me what you would like to see more of on my blog.
As I'm sure you've noticed, I like to post about just about anything. But lately my time has been very crunched. I have a little notebook where I keep sketches and lists of ideas for the blog, and my "to-do" list is currently five pages long! But writing posts takes a long time, so chime in and tell me what you like the most. It might just inspire me to actually write the posts that are bouncing around in my head!
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a Rafflecopter giveaway
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One last question! I'm considering making a little stationary line of greeting cards, invitations, envelopes, and perhaps writing paper. They would be decorated with some of my artwork (I've got several ideas already, including pen-and-ink clockwork, watercolor fantasy drawings, and colorful calligraphy/typography).
I'd like to sell them in my Shoppe, but I've been a bit hesitant about jumping in head first... so how about it? Do you think that's a good idea? Would you or a friend be tempted to buy some? What type of artwork would you love the most?