Celebrate! A giveaway - closed.

The lucky winner is Kate Robinson. Congratulations! Email me your address and bookmark preferences and I'll have them in the post to you quick smart. 

It was actually my birthday yesterday, but while it's still my birthday in the northern hemisphere I thought I could quickly sneak this post in to let you in on this little celebratory giveaway we're running over the weekend. I really wanted a quiet birthday this year, after a busy few weeks travelling about the idea of quiet dinners, sleeping in and secretly having an entire day to myself to catch up on work was pretty appealing. As well as my own, it seems that I know a number of people celebrating birthdays this week and with Mother's Day coming up it got me thinking about the traditions we make for ourselves in order to celebrate those we love. Early on in our relationship, when our communication was mostly via email, Richard and I got into a routine of swapping ee cummings poems. Now that we don't have to rely on email, which I naturally far prefer, the poetry has gone by the way side a little. It does make an appearance for birthdays and special occasions every now and then, and this birthday Richard was able to surprise me with one I was unfamiliar with (arrogantly I was sure I had at least heard of them all). We definitely have our favourites, excerpts that pop up more often than others, but it was exciting discovering something new. Especially as it felt so timely for us.

You are tired,

(I think)

Of the always puzzle of living and doing;

And so am I.

Come with me, then,

And we’ll leave it far and far away—

(Only you and I, understand!)

You have played,

(I think)

And broke the toys you were fondest of,

And are a little tired now;

Tired of things that break, and—

Just tired. So am I.

But I come with a dream in my eyes tonight,

And knock with a rose at the hopeless gate of your heart—

Open to me!

For I will show you the places Nobody knows,

And, if you like,

The perfect places of Sleep.

Ah, come with me!

I’ll blow you that wonderful bubble, the moon,

That floats forever and a day;

I’ll sing you the jacinth song

Of the probable stars;

I will attempt the unstartled steppes of dream,

Until I find the Only Flower,

Which shall keep (I think) your little heart

While the moon comes out of the sea.

So! The giveaway. Leave a comment here or on our Facebook page telling me about a celebration tradition of yours to go in the draw to win our beautiful geminate earrings and a pair of bookmarks of your choice for yourself or someone you love. Share it on Facebook or on Twitter with the hashtag #blisscelebrates for a couple extra entries! The competition will close at midnight on Sunday 12th May. I'll make it northern hemisphere time, since I'm a little late, so you southerners have until Monday to be in to win.

Summertime Blues

I'm so excited to have my dear laptop back and running! I felt kind of terrible how antsy I was without it, addicted much? But really, it was mostly just because I had a bunch of work related stuff on here that I'd planned to work on over the weekend and apparently I don't react well to change? Either way, it's back and nothing is missing and I'm happy about that! And just as I was thinking when people were making fun of people for watching Lost and being very, very excited for the finale (and perhaps just generally talking about the ins and outs of the show), I'm not going to apologise for things that make me happy. Even if those things at the moment only amounted to a show about a magical island, and a more streamlined keyboard.

But also, ice cream! Well, sorbet but still so delicious. We took advantage of the sun making an appearance on Monday to take the first stroll of the season to La Casa Gelato for some sorbet and waffle cone goodness. I got lemon raspberry, and Richard lemon ginger, but I also tried pomegranate and lemon tequila which were both also pretty amazing although I'm not sure if I could handle a whole scoop full. I'm all about the samples, and I think there's over 200 flavours so I'm pretty sure you'd never run out of things to taste!

Oh, one last thing! Now that I have my computer back I was able to do the draw for the bunting giveaway! Thank you all again for entering, as much as I love doing giveaways I'm always a little bummed that I can't give something to everyone! The three winners are Chrissy, Diana and Francesca! I'll send you gals an email over the next day or so to get your info, colour choices, etc and I'll have your bunting and treats off to you quick smart.

Etsy-versary!

Hello! First of all, I wanted to say a big thank you to everyone for all of your wonderful Portland tips! The train ride down was absolutely beautiful, and I completely fell in love with the city. Unfortunately though, Richard woke up extremely sick on our first morning there and had to spend the rest of our holiday in bed! It was such a bummer as we'd planned so many fun things to do and also because it really is horrible to be sick in a hotel room. I did venture out to see a few things, but mostly played nurse, and while it bummed us out it has made us all the more excited to head back down there sooner rather than later! I'm going to do a little Portland in review style post in a day or so once I get my film back that I took there. Our point and shoot has pretty much given up on us so sadly I have nothing yet to show for our visit.

On a more exciting note, it is our one year Etsy anniversary! Secretly I think it might have actually been a day or so ago, but oh well, I'm going to find myself a cupcake to munch on later on in celebration. It's crazy to think we've been in business for only just a year when it feels like so much has happened. We have been overwhelmed by the support of the handmade and design community, and to think that we're now beginning to wholesale and the like is really exciting. Giving up our day jobs are still a ways off, and I'm not even sure if that is where we'll end up, but having some autonomy over our work like and doing something that we both love is something that we're both extremely grateful for!

So to celebrate and say thank you, we're going to be giving away 3 custom buntings! Each winner will receive the bunting of their choice, either one of the pre-written ones in the store or one with a message/name of their choice. They of course will also be able to choose the colour bias tape they would like, and I have some lovely new colours that will hopefully be available in time. They will also receive a bookmark of their choice, and some little added extras that I will rustle up to fill out the package.

All you have to do to enter is to leave a comment on this post! The winners will be drawn Sunday May 23rd at midnight and announced the following day. Please feel free to spread the word, and good luck!

And the winner is...

image by kyerabianca

....Dana! Congratulations! I'll send you an email soon in order to get all your info.

Thank you all so much for entering and for showing such fantastic support for Finch, it was so great to read all your comments and I'm sure even more so for Tanya and Phil!

Finch

Two things I like; re-using and typography. So when I found out about a friend of a friend back in New Zealand that had started making wallets and bags out of re-purposed coffee sacks and cute thrifted fabrics I was pretty excited. They have a nice summer vibe to them, don't you think? I love the big bold lettering and graphic prints on the burlap and I love that Tanya and Phil are all about breathing new life into old things. You can take a look at the Finch store over here to see all their other lovely goods, and they have very generously offered this sweet bag below* as a giveaway to one lovely reader! All you need to do is leave a comment on this post before next Wednesday April 7th at midnight and you'll go in the draw. Feel free to spread the word and show this new store some love!

*the bag is 12" x 10" with a 20" long strap when worn.

Last Minute Charlies

I really am quite amazed that I have finished my Christmas shopping on time this year, which I think is probably a first in my adult life (ok, ok aside from Richard but he lives with me and so that means there is still Christmas eve to finish knitting and parcels to arrive *please*). Strangely, there is actually a part of me that enjoys the late night Christmas Eve, carol infused shopping. Aside from the inevitable not actually finding what you want and ending up getting Nunzilla (which of course, he totally loved).

However, I do feel for all you other last minute and stressed out Charlies, because you are my people. Especially as you will note that these fantastic printable gift certificates I'm about to tell you about, were listed in the shop just last night, ie: 2 days before Christmas. So yes, we now have gift certificates in le shop! They can be either emailed directly to you to be printed out and gifted, or we can email them directly to the recipient (with a lovely note, of course). OR, if you are not a last minute charlie we can print them out ourselves, gift wrap and mail them to the lucky person. So, if there is someone on your list still present-less, and you think they would like something from our store, this could be just the ticket!

Also, because I love you so and would love to be able to give you all many a Christmas gift, I will be giving away one $50 gift certificate for you to gift or just keep all to yourself. All you need to do is leave a comment telling me about you worst/craziest/funniest last minute gift buying or giving moment. I will draw the winner Christmas morning, whenever it is that I arise (so...around 10ish, ok 11ish pst). If you are not in the habit of last minute gift buying, you may also leave a comment, just this once.

psst....giveaway!

The very lovely Danni from Oh, Hello Friend (her equally lovely blog!) is hosting a giveaway of one of our Embroidery hoop chalkboards! She has also done a little interview with the two of us where I gush about how much I love working with Richard. You can details on how to enter here, along with how you can get free shipping on anything in our store for this week only!

Thanks Danni!

Have your cake and eat it too.

via RCoshow

Thank you all for your congrats, birthday wishes and entries into our giveaway! It was so much fun reading all your comments, I was so surprised to see so many different flavours of cakes! I did love that almost all of you basically said that you just love cake, period. Haha, so true. Every time a new comment came in, I became more and more hungry/desperate for cake. Anabela, you had me at buttercream. I also must say that one of my favourite comment quotes was from Kate at Greedy For Colour...

'I think this is the hardest question I could be asked food-wise but I think a carrot cake with cream cheese icing... but the carrot cake is only there to act as a ladle for the icing'

Haha, so so true.

I guess I should really get on with the results (thank you random.org)! I'm actually doing this as I type, all very exciting. The winners are...numbers 4 & 7, Anabela and Lili! I will be emailing you both to get address info, slate/earring preferences and such.

Like I said, I had lots of fun doing this, and as I have never won a giveaway (and am always secretly bummed) really I just wanted everyone to win. Which means I will for sure be doing some more giveaways soon!

Oh, and look! We were lucky enough to be featured on the front page on Saturday. Not a bad birthday present for a new wee shop.

Right, so I best get back to work. I have some Spring Blossom earrings to make for Lucky Rooster and a movie to watch. I hope you're all enjoying a lovely start to your week!

xx