Weekly Giveaway March 30-April 5 - Candle Confections

Enter this week's giveaway for a chance to win a Berry Creme Brulee Jumbo Cupcake Candle from Candle Confections

This week's giveaway will only be shipped to addresses in the United States.


Berry Creme Brulee Jumbo Cupcake Candle valued at $14.49

Sweet raspberries and blackberries will be the first fragrance you'll notice. Then, slowly, you'll notice the warm, crisp caramel and cool smooth custard. This is a dessert that must be slowly savored, and this candle is no exception. The subtle, sweet fragrances of this candle will slowly unfold, so enjoy...This is a scent you must experience!

The "cake" part of this candle is a warm, caramel color, while the color of the "frosting" is a light caramel. A generous handful of raspberries and blackberries are carefully placed on top, and a drizzling of berry "syrup" completes this confection.

How it works:
Every Monday, Nature Manipulated hosts a giveaway from a fabulous Etsy or Artfire shop. For a chance to win the prize you must leave a comment on NM's blog (to this post) with the following items:

1) A link to your favorite item in the featured seller's shop
2) Your contact information (email, Etsy or Artfire shop URL)

If you do not include BOTH items in the comments your entry will not be included.

The contest will run through 11:59 p.m. Eastern, Sunday, April 5, 2009. The following Monday, I will pick the winner at random and contact the winner via email or Etsy convo.

One entry per person.

This week's giveaway will only be shipped to addresses in the United States.

Sherry, Candle Confections' artist/owner has always been involved in art. She graduated from Maryland Institute of Art with a degree in Interior Architecture. Sherry was an Interior Designer for many years and while she loved certain aspects of it, she was never entirely satisfied. It took the birth of her son to quit her full-time job and begin making candles. Looking back, Sherry does not regret any of it. She is finally doing something she loves.

Sherry makes candles using high quality ingredients. She's tested many waxes, fragrance oils and wicks, and brings to you what she believes is the best looking and best smelling product. In addition, unlike many other "imitations", the wax on the top of Candle Confections' cupcake candles is whipped by hand, then carefully arranged on the base of the candle. Sherry does not use molds to create the yummy "frosting" you see on her Jumbo Cupcake Candles.

While you ae looking around Candle Confections, please take advantage of the special offer Sherry is offering NM's blog readers: Enjoy 20% off your order (excluding shipping) through April 30th. Please write "NMBLOG-20" in the notes to seller section upon checkout and Sherry will refund the difference through PayPal.

Post a link to your favorite item from Candle Confections, along with your contact information (email, Etsy or Artfire URL or username) for a chance to win a Berry Creme Brulee Jumbo Cupcake Candle.

CandleConfections.etsy.com

Nature Manipulated is not responsible for any lost, stolen or damaged items. The prize will be shipped directly from the featured seller and Nature Manipulated is not responsible if the seller does not produce the item or do so in a timely fashion. Once the winner is selected, Nature Manipulated will notify the winner and provide the winner's shipping information to the featured seller. From that point on, all questions or concerns regarding the prize should be addressed to the featured seller. By entering the requested information in the comments, you are agreeing to the terms and conditions of this giveaway.

Good luck and hope to see you again next Monday for another great giveaway, and throughout the week for other great features and posts.

Weekly Giveaway March 23-29 - Plush Goodness

Enter this week's giveaway for a chance to win Sophie the Squirrel from Plush Goodness

Sophie Squirrel valued at $25.00

Sophie Squirrel is a gentle soul who loves spending time in the trees bird watching, or looking for butterflies. Plush Goodness' Leeanna Butcher made Sophie in response to all the squirrels who are constantly running back and forth along the top of her fence, teasing her dog as they go.

Sophie Squirrel is made from dark gray heathered fleece, with cream fleece, printed cotton, felt, and hand embroidered accents. She is dark gray on the front, cream colored on the back and measures 14 inches wide by 7.5 inches tall.

How it works:
Every Monday, Nature Manipulated hosts a giveaway from a fabulous Etsy or Artfire shop. For a chance to win the prize you must leave a comment on NM's blog (to this post) with the following items:

1) A link to your favorite item in the featured seller's shop
2) Your contact information (email, Etsy or Artfire shop URL)

If you do not include BOTH items in the comments your entry will not be included.

The contest will run through 11:59 p.m. Eastern, Sunday, March 29, 2009. The following Monday, I will pick the winner at random and contact the winner via email or Etsy convo.

One entry per person.

Leeanna is in the midst of fulfilling a childhood ambition - having a room to herself that's full of stuffed toys. Leeanna spends most of her days in her sewing studio, creating new one of a kind plush designs from multitudes of sketches. She is a huge fan of cartoons and animation, as well as fairy tales and nursery rhymes, which lead her to receive a BFA in Character Animation from the California Institute of the Arts.

Leeanna was taking a break from a painting she was working on one day a couple of years ago, and decided to make a hand sewn plush from a doodle in her sketch pad, a bunch of leftover felt, and a small sewing repair kit. As soon as she finished sewing up this creature she'd created, Leeanna knew that was it: she was hooked-which is ironic when you consider that she absolutely hated the sewing portion of her Home Economics classes in Jr. High. To this day she still hasn't learned how to sew clothing.

Now totally addicted to buying fabric, and a passionate member of the plush community, Leeanna loves to collect other artist's plush as much as she loves creating her own.

Post a link to your favorite item from Plush Goodness, along with your contact information (email, Etsy or Artfire URL or username) for a chance to win a Sophie the Squirrel.

PlushGoodness.etsy.com
To learn more about Leeanna and some of her favorite things, please stop by her blog at leeannasthread.blogspot.com

Nature Manipulated is not responsible for any lost, stolen or damaged items. The prize will be shipped directly from the featured seller and Nature Manipulated is not responsible if the seller does not produce the item or do so in a timely fashion. Once the winner is selected, Nature Manipulated will notify the winner and provide the winner's shipping information to the featured seller. From that point on, all questions or concerns regarding the prize should be addressed to the featured seller. By entering the requested information in the comments, you are agreeing to the terms and conditions of this giveaway.

Good luck and hope to see you again next Monday for another great giveaway, and throughout the week for other great features and posts.

Going through Hoops on Artfire

In an effort to promote Artfire shops, I have been putting together some great spotlights on byhand.me featuring select items on Artfire. The byhand.me spotlights are great - you don't have to wait to get one (like on Etsy) and they get posted to the site's front page. They are also tweeted about which draws more visitors to the spotlight.

My latest spotlight features some of the wonderful hoop earrings available on Artfire.

Going through Hoops on Artfire


Featured shops include (from top left to bottom right):
Shiny Adornments
J.C. Jewelry Design
Artwork by KD
Mocahete
Nature Manipulated
Wyred on Wire
R Fefie Collection
Bella Jewels
Beaded Bauble

Thinking about opening an Artfire shop? Register on ArtFire.com here.

Weekly Giveaway March 16-22 - CrankyPickle

Win a pair of TiSpring Flowers Bottlecap Set (1 Pendant, 1 Magnet and 1 Button) from CrankyPickle

This week's prize will only be shipped within the U.S.
If you are an international contestant and would like to win this prize you will be obligated to pay the shipping costs.

TiSpring Flowers Bottlecap Set (1 Pendant, 1 Magnet and 1 Button) valued at $17.00


How it works:
Every Monday, Nature Manipulated hosts a giveaway from a fabulous Etsy or Artfire shop. For a chance to win the prize you must leave a comment on NM's blog (to this post) with the following items:

1) A link to your favorite item in the featured seller's shop
2) Your email or Etsy (or Artfire) shop URL (so I can contact you if you are the winner)

If you do not include BOTH items in the comments your entry will not be included.

The contest will run through 11:59 p.m. Eastern, Sunday, March 22, 2009. The following Monday, I will pick the winner at random and contact the winner via email or Etsy convo.

One entry per person.

Jessica, CrankyPickle's owner/artist is from Chicago. She works from home as a graphic designer, which gives her the time to do all the craft and art and design projects that she enjoys. Jessica takes recycled, upcycled and repurposed materials that would be thrown away and uses them to make art work on or with. Her bottlecap designs are fantastic!

While you are browsing around her shop, take advantage of a 15% discount (shipping not included) for blog readers. This discount lasts until March 22, 2009. To receive the 15% discount you must enter "Nature Blog Contest" in the notes to seller section upon checkout and wait for a revised invoice.

Also, if you are in the Chicago area, be sure to look for CrankyPickle at the Do Division Fest on May 30 & 31, 2009 - Division Street at Damen, Chicago, IL

Post a link to your favorite item from CrankyPickle, along with your email address (or Etsy URL or username) for a chance to win a TiSpring Flowers Bottlecap Set.

Reminder: This week's prize will only be shipped within the U.S.
If you are an international contestant and would like to win this prize you will be obligated to pay the shipping costs.

CrankyPickle.etsy.com

Nature Manipulated is not responsible for any lost, stolen or damaged items. The prize will be shipped directly from the featured seller and Nature Manipulated is not responsible if the seller does not produce the item or do so in a timely fashion. Once the winner is selected, Nature Manipulated will notify the winner and provide the winner's shipping information to the featured seller. From that point on, all questions or concerns regarding the prize should be addressed to the featured seller. By entering the requested information in the comments, you are agreeing to the terms and conditions of this giveaway.

Good luck and hope to see you again next Monday for another great giveaway, and throughout the week for other great features and posts.

It's So Clear ... Black and White

Here's a spotlight I put together on Made By Hand. By Me. of some of the great Black and White photographs on Artfire.


It's So Clear... Black and White


Artists included (from top left to bottom right):

Wanderlust Designs Photography
Hours and Times
McGuinness Photography
Eternal Images
Melissa Lund
Idle Type Photography
Through her Lens
Nature Manipulated

Monday Giveaway - Sarah Kathleen Warner

Congratulations to demmi and the Giveaway Diva for winning last week's giveaways

Win a pair of Tiny Pod Stud Earrings from Sarah Kathleen Warner

Tiny Pod Stud Earrings valued at $40.00


How it works:
Every Monday, Nature Manipulated will host a giveaway from a fabulous Etsy or Artfire shop. For a chance to win the prize you must leave a comment on NM's blog (to this post) with the following items:

1) A link to your favorite item in the featured seller's shop
2) Your email or Etsy (or Artfire) shop URL (so I can contact you if you are the winner)

If you do not include BOTH items in the comments your entry will not be included.

The contest will run through 11:59 p.m. Eastern, Sunday, March 15, 2009. The following Monday, I will pick the winner at random and contact the winner via email or Etsy convo.

One entry per person.

Sarah Kathleen Warner is a studio jeweler who recently relocated to Brooklyn, NY. She received her Bachelor of Industrial Design from N.C. State University in 2000. During that time she began making jewelry, and has continued her education in craft materials at Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts, Penland School of Crafts, and Virginia Commonwealth University. A year of study at the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture provided access to a rich history of objects to mine for ideas and inspiration to combine with her own. Nature and materiality also influence her designs. Sarah loves to travel and learn foreign languages. She has spent time in Italy, France, Spain, and Brazil.

Sarah's work explores materiality, movement and symbolism. She seeks to create a sense of luxury utilizing the weight, luster and tactility of traditional materials including silver, gold and pearls, as well as less conventional acrylic and silk. The human body provides the catalyst to create motion (and even sound) in many of these pieces. History provides a rich mine of symbols to explore and abstract.

Post a link to your favorite item from Sarah Kathleen Warner's shop, along with your email address (or Etsy URL or username) for a chance to win a pair of Tiny Pod Stud Earrings.

SarahKathleenWarner.etsy.com

Nature Manipulated is not responsible for any lost, stolen or damaged items. The prize will be shipped directly from the featured seller and Nature Manipulated is not responsible if the seller does not produce the item or do so in a timely fashion. Once the winner is selected, Nature Manipulated will notify the winner and provide the winner's shipping information to the featured seller. From that point on, all questions or concerns regarding the prize should be addressed to the featured seller. By entering the requested information in the comments, you are agreeing to the terms and conditions of this giveaway.

Good luck and hope to see you again next Monday for another great giveaway, and throughout the week for other great features and posts.

Etsy's wickedworld Makes the Stage at the Oscars

Betina Wassermann of wickedworld.etsy.com made the stage at the Oscars without ever setting foot on it! She walked the red carpet and up to Ryan Seacrest on the neck of Mickey Rourke ... and she did it doggy style! For those of you who pay close attention to what the celebrities are wearing, you may have noticed the necklace Mr. Rourke was wearing at the 81st Annual Academy Awards (and if you weren't paying attention, you made have heard Mr. Seacrest point it out). The necklace, exhibiting a picture of Mr. Rourke's late chihuahua, Loki, was a wickedworld original. Now you must be wondering, how did Betina pull that one off? That's what I was wondering when I read about it in an AM New York article.

I contacted Betina last week to congratulate her and ask her how she did it (along with some other questions). As many of you can guess, she has been SWAMPED with orders but she managed to squeeze in a few minutes to talk to me yesterday ... This is what I learned:

Betina didn't plan on any of this happening and she definitely didn't expect the outcome. A few day's before the Oscars, Betina learned about the death of Loki. Understanding the pain of losing a beloved pet (and being the huge Mickey Rourke fan that she is), Betina thought it would be really nice to send Mr. Rourke one of her necklaces in memory of Loki. After hours and hours of research, Betina identified Mr. Rourke's publicist and sent an email asking if she could get the necklace to him. Mr. Rourke's publicist replied asking to have the necklace ASAP. Betina was so shocked when she saw him wearing it she couldn't stop screaming. Betina told me, "I was just trying to get someone through a tough time. I never thought he would wear it." Luckily, Betina recorded the Oscars! ... on VHS!

Since her major and unplanned debut at the Awards, Betina has seen a lot of traffic to her shop and lots of orders. Although her shop is filled with glass pendants, beaded jewelry and great photography, most of her customers are requesting custom orders. According to Betina, "98% of the orders are for pendants with images of pets." Betina has been incredibly busy. There is currently a 3-4 week wait on orders... but she's not complaining.

Betina is a native New Yorker with a long history of working in the arts. She graduated from New York's Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) with a degree in photography. Five or six years ago, Betina began making beaded jewelry. As the times changed and styles changed, Betina moved on to chain work and approximately one year ago, glass pendants like the one Mr. Rourke showed the world. Betina describes her work as eclectic - with a dark twist. Although her pendants may not convey her dark side, her photographs of cemeteries illuminate it. Although Betina finds cemeteries beautiful, serene and incredibly statuary, she believes what draws her there are her macabre qualities.

If you are interested in seeing more of Betina's work or placing a custom order for one of her famous custom pendants, please visit her Etsy shop. Betina's glass pendants will also be available soon in select New York City boutiques.

Betina was also featured by the New York Post and Access Hollywood

wickedworld.etsy.com

Monday Giveaway - Fairy Wallah - CLOSED

Win one of two giveaways from Fairy Wallah - Monarch Butterfly and Pretty Orchid Hair Clip or Beautiful Exotic Orchid and Butterfly Comb. First winner will have a choice between the two giveaways. Second winner will receive the remaining item.


Monarch Butterfly and Pretty Orchid Hair Clip valued at $15.00



Beautiful Exotic Orchid and Butterfly Comb valued at $17.00


How it works:
Every Monday, Nature Manipulated will host a giveaway from a fabulous Etsy shop. For a chance to win the prize you must leave a comment on NM's blog (to this post) with the following items:

1) A link to your favorite item in the featured seller's shop
2) Your email or Etsy shop URL (so I can contact you if you are the winner)

If you do not include BOTH items in the comments your entry will not be included.

The contest will run through 11:59 p.m. Eastern, Sunday, March 8, 2009. The following Monday, I will pick the winner at random and contact the winner via email or Etsy convo.

One entry per person.

Fairy Wallah's artist/owner is Talita Choudhury. Talita is an accessories collector, a small children's clothing designer (www.fairywallah.com) and a lifestyle marketer. Talita grew up in Bangladesh where she was surrounded from an early age by books, flowers and vibrant colors. It as there that she developed a love for all things bejewelled. The name "fairywallah" is Bengali for a traveling salesman selling ribbons, laces, and trimmings from village to village...often a Pied Piper of sorts.

Fairy Wallah offers silk orchids and floral butterfly hair clips. Materials used include corals, mother of pearls, pearls, Swarovski crystal rhinestones and river shells. Fairy Wallah also has a semi-precious gemstones hair clip selection.

While you are visiting Fairy Wallah's shop, take advantage of her special offer valid through March 2009 - 10% discount. Enter the code "Nature" in the notes upon checkout and wait for a revised invoice before you pay.


Post a link to your favorite item from Fairy Wallah's shop, along with your email address (or Etsy URL or username) for a chance to win either a Monarch Butterfly and Pretty Orchid Hair Clip or a Beautiful Exotic Orchid and Butterfly Comb.

FairyWallah.etsy.com

Nature Manipulated is not responsible for any lost, stolen or damaged items. The prize will be shipped directly from the featured seller and Nature Manipulated is not responsible if the seller does not produce the item or do so in a timely fashion. Once the winner is selected, Nature Manipulated will notify the winner and provide the winner's shipping information to the featured seller. From that point on, all questions or concerns regarding the prize should be addressed to the featured seller. By entering the requested information in the comments, you are agreeing to the terms and conditions of this giveaway.

Good luck and hope to see you again next Monday for another great giveaway, and throughout the week for other great features and posts.