Tomoka's Twists DNatural Set Contest

This giveaway is now closed

DNatural is made of round,

dark wood beads of various

sizes. This hair tie will go with

just about everything from

boho to conservative styles.

The contest - In 100 words or less please leave a comment telling us why

you're natural and represent your state.

Rules: Bloggers will be notified by a post on their blog. If you do not have a

blog, please leave an email address in the comments or send it in an email

to carmennc@tomokastwists.com . This contest is international friendly.

Start-end dates: Friday December 19, 2009 ending on Sunday December 21,

2008 at noon. The winner will be notified upon conclusion of the contest. The winner

has 12 hours to respond or an alternate will be chosen.

Spotlight On ...

Lily of LilyPoh!

1. Tell us a little bit about who you are and your life up to this point in time.
I am a Singaporean Peranakan Chinese living in a small and relatively modern country, Singapore. Peranakans refer to the descendants of the early Chinese community who settled in the Malay Archipelago from the 17th century. The Peranakan culture is a rich blend of the Chinese and Malay cultures with some influence from the Portuguese, Dutch, British, Thai, Indian and Indonesian cultures as well. Singapore consists of Chinese, Malay, Indian and European immigrants, the culture of Singapore expresses the diversity of the population as the various ethnic groups continue to celebrate their own cultures while they intermingle with one another.I have a strong desire for handmade products as it allows me to be creative with my hands. My Peranakan cultural background provides a rich blend in style for my products. I sincerely hope that my handmade products would bring joy to you and your love ones.

2. Besides your fantasy creative life, what else are you doing currently?
It seems like I can't get away from creative life as I am a Graphic Designer in the day. Designing printed materials, like brochures, catalogues, calendars, business cards, invitation cards...etc. Besides doing all the designing works, I also love to bake cookies.

3. What do you offer in your Etsy Shop?
I love cute and personalized products that will personalize my cell phone, gadgets and handbags, making it truly mine. As such, I would also like others to have such personalized products too. Therefore, I offer the following in my Etsy Shop:

1) Appointment Diary with Personalized Initials

2) Note Pad with Personalized Name

3) Limited Phone/Bag Charms/KeyChains

4) Jewellery

5) Pouch Gift Sets

6) Business Cards Case/CDs Case

4. Where do you create?
All my products are created in my study room. I would sketch my thoughts and ideas on a sketch book and then convert it into a detailed blue-print. With this blue-print, I would then create it into a final product.

5. Where do you get your inspiration from?
I get my inspiration from almost anywhere. Example, a cute image from a t-shirt, wrapping papers, cloths, cartoon, children’s story books, plates, cups...etc.

6. How did you learn your craft?
Self-taught from crafted books especially those felt charms (I should thank God for giving me this creative gift). As for printed products such as appointment diary, note pads, namecards..etc, they are taught by my aunties. They taught me how to bound the pads and do those printing layouts.

7. How do you promote your wares?
I have printed postcards and business cards that I take with me everywhere I go. I also have a portfolio on linkreferral, facebooks, Dawanda, eCrater, a blog, flickr, Smidge, I love Etsy (unofficial website)and a personal website (desire2.com). I also give out samples of my products in trade shows from US, UK, Germany for their goodies bags.My philosophy of my product is that even if it is sitting in a shop somewhere untouched, someone will see it and remember it and would eventually find it’s way to a right buyer.

8. What has been the most important lesson you've learned since you started selling your own creations?
Go for an extra mile when serving a customer, even though the product may cost less than $5.

9. Is there any advice you can give others who are just starting out?
Be passionate about your work! This passion will stay motivated even if your sales are low. Meet other members in the Etsy community, participate in the forums and chat rooms as these are great places to post questions and find help. Take good pictures of your work and provide many angles of shots so that your product speaks for itself. In my opinion the customer is the most important part of a successful Etsy business. Treat your customers like they are valued, give them a little gift, throw in a little discount whenever possible, ship your product promptly and hopefully the word about your site will spread through positive recommendations.

10. Do you have any favorite Etsy artists you'd like to promote here?
Yes, definitely! There are many favorite Etsy artists I like and they are: 1) SaNaHandmadeSoap.etsy.com. This Etsy seller has a range of soaps that are suitable for sensitive skin. 2) HipBone.etsy.com .This soaps seller's philosophy is that if the customer like the product it will be worth the customer paying the shipping cost in the future. 3) Athenasolivetree.etsy.com. This seller can give good advice on her products which best suit your skin and also will not push to sell her products to you. 4) HOST.etsy.com. The seller is friendly and help etsy artists who need helps. Of course there are also more others that I love to work with and I truly appreciate and enjoy their good service.

FREE GIVEAWAY!

Enter our giveaway for a chance to win a box of handmade goodies valued at over $200!

Our Sponsoring Member Shops are:



Here's a sneak peak of some of the items or a similar item: Bracelet, ACEO, Facial Cream, Gift Tag Set, Cards, Scarf, Body Mist

No purchase is necessary to win. Open to US residents only. You simply have to go to one of our sponsors above and take a look around. Then come back here and leave a comment. Your comment is your entry. Only one comment per person, duplicate entries will be discarded.

Your comment should include:
Your “name” and “contact info” (Email addresses are preferred, anonymous comments will be deleted!)
The name of an item you like in the sponsor’s shop AND the URL to it. (blank entries will also be deleted.)

The contest ends on Monday November 24th at 8pm EST/NY.
The winner will be chosen randomly by random.org.

Fine print: Please submit original comments only. Obscene or duplicate entries will be deleted. Entries without contact info (email address)will be deleted. Winner will be contacted Tuesday, November 25th. If the winner does not reply within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen.

Spotlight On ...

Ella of EllaParry!

1. Tell us a little bit about who you are and your life up to this point in time.
I'm not very good at descriptions, especially about myself. Hmmm!!Hmmm!! Firstly, I can tell you that I love art, I love to create art. I have always had a strong passion for art ever since I was able to pick up my first pencil as a child. I'm a Chinese born artist but because of the color of my skin plus my curly hair, Chinese people don’t think I am Chinese, but I am Chinese! I am originally from Cambodia, lived in Thailand and Laos as a child and spent most of my teens to mid twenties growing up in Hong Kong. I now live in the London with my lovely musician husband and my cat. I have been here in London for 10 years. I am a freelance illustrator and graphic designer and have been mainly focusing on creating my own products, such as greeting cards to market to major companies.

2. Besides your fantasy creative life, what else are you doing currently?
Art and all the surrounding aspects of art take up the majority of my time. If I’m not drawing, painting or thinking up ideas for my next project, I’m 0n the net promoting myself through companies such as Etsy, naturally. When I’m not doing that, I’m normally “Doing that” or maybe feeding my cat, Summer, she is forever hungry.

3. What do you offer in your Etsy Shop?
My Etsy shop offer happiness to the people, I aim to make people feel relaxed, smile and forget all the worries they have in the real world and bring them into an Ella Parry fantasy---through my paintings and my greetings card collections.

4. Where do you create?
I don’t have my own studio so I work at home at the moment. If you want want to buy me a studio I won't refuse, I promise!

5. Where do you get your inspiration from?
The main inspiration for my work is the hope and happiness of life. I truly believe we all are searching for happiness for our life everyday; my work is an expression of my feeling and my view on life and others.

6. How did you learn your craft?
It kind of came natural for me to draw and paint. I learned graphic design through Art College and that did help me to transfer my artwork into what it is now.

7. How do you promote your wares?
I have signed up to different web sites, such as facebook, myspace, blog, flicker and twitter to promote on line and let everyone about my Etsy shop wherever I go. I will always add my cards to any wall space or chat room that will let me!!!!! Give me more, give me more!!!!!!!

8. What has been the most important lesson you've learned since you started selling your own creations?
Don’t be shy to tell people what I’m doing. Observe everything around me where ever I may be and Communicate with people I meet from all walks of “Real life” as well as the life we know as “Virtual!!

9. Is there any advice you can give others who are just starting out?
Believe in yourself and go for it, never give up no matter how hard and how long it takes Do it from your soul!

10. Do you have any favorite Etsy artists you'd like to promote here?
To be honest, there are so many great artists in Etsy, “Lauren Alexander” is the first Etsy artist I added on my Favourites seller box. I love the style!!!!

Coming Soon Stay Tuned

EAOC December Bloggy Giveaway Box
We are a talented and gifted group here at EAOC and we want to give someone a chance to find out, so we are putting together a Big Giveaway Surprise Box that can be won. So stay tuned to this blog for the information on how you can win some very beautiful gifts.
Here is our timeline so that you won't miss out:
Nov 17: Official Giveaway is posted on the blog.
Nov 17 - 21: Giveaway Entry Period.
Nov 24: Winner announced
Dec 1: Packaged mailed to confirmed winner.