Posted on | December 23, 2011 | 22 Comments
happy christmas eve eve! i wanted to share Stella Grace Boutique with you guys today, and a little interview i did with Kara, the super woman behind the adorable shop full of handmade goodies for your little one. please say hello and check out the giveaway as well!
how did Stella Grace Boutique come about?
My little business came about as part of the recession. I started making rag dolls for people at church and thought about selling them online. When my husband was laid off I decided to follow my dreams and make them a reality.
what is your favorite item to make?
These waldorf snuggle dolls are amazing. we are a natural parenting family, and have recently embraced the waldorf method of teaching. I made them for a custom order and almost didn’t want to send them they were sooo cute!! Of course since they were Christmas gifts off they went.
do your daughters inspire your shop?
If I didn’t have my girls, I wouldn’t have a shop. My 4 girls love and appreciate handmade toys, and love helping make items. they love stuffing little limbs, and legs of dolls. packing orders. putting together my gift card packets. They are so fun!
Also, some of their favorite things inspire me to make dolls. I try to keep an eye on trend with them and their friends to make sure that what I am making will be a popular toy.
do you have any advice for others thinking about starting a handmade business?
I would search through the Etsy forums. Go slow, and don’t overload yourself. Also, don’t price like people that have been in business for awhile. I found that pricing items to get them in the hands of consumers, and getting your name out there helped. Then slowly raise your prices. But never ever under-cut yourself or other artisans. If you do that you will end up burned out emotionally and financially.
I read through this book many many times, and took a online indie business class (www.indie-business.com) last year that really helped me find my business purpose and niche.
and because it’s december, what is your favorite holiday treat?
My husband is the cook and baker. He makes these amazing pizelle cookies and rolls them in dark chocolate and pizelles. YUM!!!
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>><<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Kara would like to give one reader a $25 credit to her shop! all you need to do to enter is like her facebook page and leave a comment here letting me know you did so. yay for fun friday giveaways! i’ll announce the winner next week after the holiday hoopla is all done with. thanks to Kara for the giveaway!
Posted on | December 9, 2011 | 708 Comments
this giveaway is now closed – Rachel Albert was the winner! Thanks to everyone who entered!
i’m so excited! today, Tribe Bags has generously offered up an amazing giveaway for my readers and one of you will win big. let’s get our jumpkicks and air punches out of the way right now, shall we?
(go ahead, i’ll be right here. doing mine.)
ahem.
so this past monday i shared my weekend mama style with you guys, including my new Tribe Bag, which i adore. we are attached at the hip these days, and i don’t see that changing anytime soon. all of Tribe’s gorgeous bags are genuine leather (it smells amazing, if you’re into that sort of thing WHICH I AM), and as we discussed the other day, the inside is a vast ocean of places to put things. it’s so organized though, that i have had no trouble finding things, which is awesome because the last thing i need to be doing as Harper REALLY needs her winter nose wiped is digging around for kleenex. which i absolutely was doing with my regular purse (see also: trying to find snack while toddler melts down, trying to find chapstick, trying to not curse while sippy cup leaks onto all of my belongings. you know, etc and all that).
now, these are diaper bags. we kissed diapers goodbye a few months ago (the glorious, it hurts) but i dub them also to be toddler bags. i think you get at what i’m saying: i love my tribe bag. and you will, too.
so let’s get to the good stuff, that you’ve undoubtedly scanned over my rambles to get to: the giveaway.
Tribe is giving away a bag of your choice to one very lucky reader of The Haps (a $400-$530 value, depending on which you choose). there are a few ways to enter, so here is the dealio:
>> first entry (required): head over to Tribe and comment here telling me which bag you’d get if you were to win (don’t worry you won’t be held to it).
>> second entry (optional, for an extra chance to win!): like Tribe on the Facebook, and leave a SEPARATE comment here telling me you did so.
{logistics: this giveaway is only open to US residents. entries will be accepted here until Thursday December 15th and the winner will be announced on Friday December 16th. Tribe sent me a bag for review, and all opinions are my own. no compensation was otherwise received.}
ready? go!
Posted on | September 24, 2011 | 49 Comments
on Harper > tank: h&m // jeans: baby gap // sandals: target. on Mandy > tee: target // jeans: gap // shoes: target // bracelets: thrfited bangles + h&m braided // necklace: a gift from dolly + boy
one year! how exciting. it flew by, amiright? crazy. i know one thing for sure – i love doing SOS and look forward to continuing it. i hope year two will bring even more people participating. join us if you’ve been thinking about it, k?
(if you’re new around these parts, there are really no rules to participating. come link up your weekend style posts each sunday, grab the button for your post, and enjoy visiting others to get style inspiration. boom.)
for the first few days of fall, the northwest sure has been summery (this is me not complaining. yay sun!). 80 degrees, yes please. this kitty shirt on H slays me, and lets not even get started on the top knot she sometimes insists on wearing. “i want a hair like mommy!”. cutest ever. i went casual as Scot and i were headed to a concert (more on that later!).
these photos are really special to me. anyone with a toddler knows getting them to stand still, and act half interested in a photo is near impossible, let alone getting a smile, hugs and kisses. needless to say: framers.
ok! in honor of our first year, Ruche wants to give one lucky participant $50 to spend on something pretty! the rules are pretty simple so here we go:
> you must link up to enter! use the linky tool below. please be sure you use the URL to your SOS post, not just your blog URL. we need to be able to click and see your post! (this is a good reminder for every week, actually).
> after you link up, visit Ruche and peek around. leave me a comment here telling me what you’d buy if you won!
easy, yes? as a recap: link, visit Ruche, comment. done!
you can comment on this post even if you’re not entering the giveaway. i’ll be matching comments with links as entries!
this giveaway will be open until Tuesday, September 27th at 11pm PST, and i will announce the winner Wednesday!
i hope you all have a great rest of the weekend and THANK YOU so much to everyone who participates in my little old blog hop. and good luck to everyone!
this giveaway is now closed! the winner is April from Knocked Up Fabulous! congrats!
Snag the Code Here:
Posted on | May 26, 2011 | 394 Comments
shoooes! the perfect way to round out our oh so fashionable giveaway week, don’t you think?
the perfect icing on the birthday week giveaway cake – a rockin’ pair of shoes from Blowfish – and you get to choose! yes sir-ee, the fabulous folks at Blowfish are giving one of you the gift of shoes for my birthday. luckyyy!
i just adore these shoes. no matter what style of shoe you like to wear, there is a pair for you – wedges, sandals, comfy flats, heels, platforms or boots – Blowfish makes them. and how! pair after pair of adorable shoes to adorn your feet. i really love the new neutral canvas line and colors, and the sandals for summer. you just really can’t go wrong. i have had a pair of their booties for a few years and they continue to be a favorite of mine. comfy, cute and unique.
you want to win a pair, right? here’s how you can. 3 ways to enter today again. you’re a pro by now, right?
- first and mandatory entry: visit Blowfish and leave me a comment here telling me which shoe makes you swoon (i know, there will be multiple, you can tell me your fave or which you may choose should you win!).
additional entries:
- like Blowfish shoes on Facebook. leave an extra comment here telling me you did so, or do so.
- follow Blowfish (the lovely Elise!) on Twitter. again, another comment!
then cross yer fingers. you have until Sunday May 29th at midnight PST to get your entries in and i will announce the winner on Monday May 30th. open to everyone. get to getting!
thanks to EVERYONE for helping me celebrate this week. i know it’s been giveaway crazy around here, but it’s been so fun! a huge thanks to Ruche (enter here!), Boden (enter here!), Krust (enter here!) and of course Blowfish Shoes for giving my incredible readers the chance to get some pretty amazing goodies. i’m all warm and fuzzy. be SURE to check in monday to see if you have some jumping up and down to do!
keep looking »
