Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Website Review & a GIVEAWAY!

**THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED**
Congrats to Shannon, our winner!

I got an email from Ricky a while back, asking if I would do a review and giveaway for a fair trade artisan website, Novica. What made Ricky's email stand out to me was that he was very forward in that he KNEW that I'm not big on reviews/giveaways, and still asked! So I gave him a quick chance and headed over to novica.com and looked around.

My first impression was that it was just a Nat Geo store (imagined Discovery Channel store), and I figured it probably had a ton of artisan-like stuff, but mass produced. Like Pier 1.

I was wrong.

Here's what Ricky said,
"NOVICA is one of the leading fair trade artisan websites. We work with National Geographic to give talented artisans around the world a place to express their artistic talents and provide access to the world market. We have thousands of top fair trade corporate gifts, accessories, jewelry and home decor items on our website."

After a few clicks, I was on something that I thought all of you would like, the Cotton Letter Holders


But I've gotta be honest, my favorite part was reading the artist's bio. It's included in most (if not all?) of the the products, and I just started clicking on random stuff to get to the bios!

Novica was generous enough to fund my purchasing a product, so I could give a fair review, and I chose the Horn Box



I want to say that it was a tough decision, but I had a few "maybe" items that fell to the wayside when I saw this box!

It came wrapped like crazy, directly from India, and I couldn't rip open all of the wrapping quickly enough! I got through two boxes, a ton of paper, and way more tape than my patience could handle, only to find....


More wrapping.

But this was totally endearing, so I didn't mind :-)

Inside was my amazingly beautiful box that I stroked lovingly, and some paperwork.


Oh. And I got a post card from "my" artist...



Can't get that from Pier 1.

If you're still with me, let's get to the BEST PART!

GIVEAWAY!

Novica is giving me a $32.50 gift card to give to one of my awesome readers!

To enter:

*Leave a comment telling me that you'll forgive me for doing another giveaway because you love me.
*Extra entry: Head over to Novica and tell me what your favorite thing is!

note: make sure to leave your email address in the comment so that I can contact you if you win!

Giveaway will close 11:59pm MST on Tuesday, June 19th and the winner will be announced Wednesday, June 20th.

While you're waiting to see if you won, go check out some of Novica's featured items:
Silk Fans
Women's Accessories from Indonesia
Men's Cufflinks from India
Alpaca Shawls
Men's Shirts
Painted Silk Scarves

20 comments:

  1. ssmtmb@knology.net

    totally forgiven for doing another giveaway because we love you.

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  2. Love the hand blown glass pitcher "Sangria Afternoon:

    ssmtmb@knology.net

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  3. I love the lapis peacock necklace!

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  4. forgiven :)
    family74014 at gmail dot com

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  5. I love the bubbles vase from bali!
    family74014 at gmail dot com

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  6. You are forgiven for doing another giveaway, because I love you...in that strictly "I read her blog and it had cool DIY ideas plus a great giveaway" kind of love sense.

    I love the mail organizers you actually listed in this posting. I know my wife would think they are beautiful and I would stop getting fussed at for leaving mail on the bar. Worst case scenario, she splurges on some other artist's great work and I have an excuse to mess around and build your pottery barn letter holder. Win-win.

    mprez333 @ Gmail dot com

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  7. What's to forgive? :)

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  8. Are you kidding me? They have so much stuff. I can't decide. So I'll just go with one of the sections that I liked: panchos.

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  9. LOVE the scarves - especially jade jasmine. Lovely!

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  10. aj107527@windstream.net
    I love their deal of the day today which are peridot earrings. Novica is one of my favorite places to shop online!

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  11. Oh, my favorite item is the green peridot earrings I mentioned in my last post. :)
    aj107527@windstream.net

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  12. Totally okay with you doing a giveaway! It's all good!

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  13. I like this necklace: Pearl torsade necklace, 'Party Balloons'

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  14. flashy@plateautel.net, I loved Novica, so much to see and want,lol impossible to decide but love the jewelry boxes. Also love the idea to help people of the world to sell there craft.

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  15. I forgive you (especially if I win this contest HeeHee)

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  16. My favorite from Novica is ALL the instruments, especially the flutes and drums.

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  17. I forgive you! Thanks for the chance to win!
    gina.m.maddox (AT) gmail (DOT) com

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