Giveaway: Set of 4 Mini Cards by SimplyInvitingCards

This week giveaway is sponsored by SimplyInvitingCards. Win a set of 4 Mini Textured EnveloCards - Espresso.

I really encourage you to read her profile featured yesterday here where you could always learn a thing or two from her.

There are Seven ways to win the giveaway with a total of 18 chances to win. Please make sure you leave a separate comment for every entry. How to enter to win:

Mandatory entry:

• >>EDIT>>: As Jen's away for vacation and her shop is temporarily closed, go to either:

SimplyInvitingCards sold items.
or
SimplyInvitingCards Flickr Galery

and return to my Adore By Nat blog and simply leave a comment here about your favorite item.

Extra entries (only qualify once mandatory entry is fulfilled):

• Heart her shop and earn an entry. Simply let me know your Etsy username.
  
• Follow my blog and you earn another entry. If you're already a follower, you still get an entry, just says you're following already.
• Become my Facebook Fan and you earn another entry. If you're a fan already, you'll also get an entry. Let me know your FB username please.
  
• Tweet about this giveaway. Provide me with your tweet please. Each tweet worths one entry and you can tweet each day until the end of the contest (a maximum of one tweet per day is counted). That's a total of 7 entries!
  
• Blog about this giveaway to earn 2 entries. Leave two separate comments here please providing me with the link to your post.
• Purchase an item from SimplyInvitingCards shop and earn 5 entries. Don't forget letting me know by leaving comments :-)
  

Contest starts now and ends on Feb 13th, 2010. Contest opens worldwide.
Max 18 entries per person please (based on the rules above). Don't forget to leave me your e-mail address. Entries without contact information will be disqualified. Entries that do not follow the rules will be disqualified. Contest winner will be drawn on Sunday, February 14st by a random number generator. Winner must respond within 48 hours after being contacted otherwise another winner will be randomly selected.

Saturday Artisan: SimplyInvitingCards

Meet Jen, the artist behind SimplyInvitingCards, our Saturday Artisan this week.

As a papercrafter myself, I adore her designs! She is one of my favorites designers. Her papercraft creations appear on Etsy Front Page quite often, and let me tell you that it's ain't easy to be on a front page and yet she made it a few times. One must have a beautiful art/ craft to begin with, supported by not just an average photograph expertise. Find out Jen's little secret to her success.

Tell us a bit about yourself and what arts/ crafts that you make?

I've always been a creative spirit. My first art form was music. I started playing the French Horn when I was about 9 or 10 and continued for the next 15 years. After a long, convoluted series of life events and decisions, I wound up designing web sites and eventually dabbling in the fine arts as well, where I discovered a love for working with acrylic paint and creating mixed media work. It was only when my husband and I were planning our wedding that I began my current venture of making cards and keepsakes. What began as a necessity became a hobby and is now growing into a business for me!

What is your best seller?

My best seller are my word shape photo albums. Every one of them I have ever listed on Etsy either sold on Etsy or sold at a craft show because it was seen on Etsy. My handmade paper has done well, too.


What inspires you?

There are a lot of things that inspire me! Found objects, odd knick-knacks, old sepia photographs, 2D fine art, any items or ephemera from 1950 or before, interesting color palettes and compositions, dramatic landscapes, rough textures . . . I could go on for eternity!



What is your favourite tool that you cannot live without?

That's a toss-up between my die-cutting tools, inking tools, and my Crop-A-Dile. I use them all pretty heavily.

Any advice for a newbie running his or her on-line shop?

Yes. First, be patient. Overnight success happens to very, very few people. Use those first days or weeks to develop your shop, network, and improve your craft. Second, I cannot stress enough how important good item photos are not only for your shop, but for things like Etsy's various features and treasuries. I am very particular about what I even feature on my own blog! I strongly recommend going to a Shop Critique in the Etsy Virtual Labs. People there are really nice plus I always think it's a good idea to get feedback from people who aren't too close to your craft. They'll look at your shop very much the same way a buyer would. Third, enjoy what you do and it will show in your work!



Stay tuned for tomorrow's giveaway sponsored by SimplyInvitingCards.