Spring Celebration Giveaway!

Spring Celebration with
Lenox Knits! Ends April 25

Over $200 worth of Prizes! 9 Winners!

Come Celebrate Spring with me! Thanks to generous friends, I'm offering nine handmade prizes with a combined value of over $200. It is open to everyone and there will be free international shipping! See rules below.

Here is what you could possibly win:
A Crocheted Silk with Pearls Wrap Bracelet or Long Necklace-- WillOaks Studio $20

Wine Bottle Gift Bag with 4 Coasters-- Nature Acre $15

Three bars of handmade soap (your choice of scents)-- Happy Goat's Soap $15

Skein of Handspun/HandDyed Wool Yarn in Spring colors-- Split Rock Ranch $20

Seminole Patchwork Pillow in bold Spring colors-- So Many Colors $50

Antique Vintage Button Pendant-- Alterity Button Jewelry $25

Lime green Spring knit scarf with an appliqued XL tee-shirt from the remaining inventory of GrayEyedScorpio --Lenox Knits combined value at $35

Knitted Yoda Star Wars Golf Club Cover-- Tracey Knits $25

OR 2 like new craft books from my own library Craftivity: 40 Projects for the DIY Lifestyle & AntiCraft: Knitting, Beading and Stitching for the Slightly Sinister valued at $25.

You can enter in multiple ways, as follows (please include your e-mail address if there is not a link to it on your profile page):

1. For one entry you must follow my blog and at least one other participant site from the list below. If you already follow just let me know. You must do this to earn the extra entries mentioned next.

2. You can earn an additional entry for visiting another participant's site below and following their blog, hearting their etsy shop, or becoming a Facebook fan, for a total of seven more entries. Please leave a comment here for each site that you visit letting me know. Here are their chosen sites:

Alterity Button Jewelry's blog
Nature Acre's Etsy shop
WillOaks Studio's blog
Split Rock Ranch's blog
Happy Goat's Soap blog
So Many Color's Facebook page
Tracey Knit's Facebook page

3. You can earn another two entries for blogging about the contest. Please give a link to the blog post and leave two comments here.

4. You may earn up to 5 extra entries for tweeting about the contest, one tweet per day. Please leave a comment for each extra entry with a link to the Twitter post.

You may cut and paste the following for your tweet: Lenox Knit's Spring Celebration Giveaway with over $200 of handmade prizes! Ends April 25 http://bit.ly/9y5Sk3

5. You may earn one extra entry for mentioning the give away on Facebook with a link. Just leave a comment letting me know that you did.

NOTE: You must leave a comment, as mentioned, for each entry in order for it to count.

So there are a total of 16 possible entries. There will be nine winners, chosen on April 25 by random number generator. The first winner selected will be given first choice, with 48 hours to respond. After the first winner responds, I will contact the next winner, who will also have 48 hours to respond, and so on until all 9 prizes have been awarded. There is free international shipping, and the items will be mailed directly from the participating shop owner.

I will be featuring interviews and additional pictures of the items which can be won throughout the month of April. Stay tuned!

My Spring Celebration

So I was thinking about ways to shake things up a bit around here and bring some excitement back to the blog. I thought about having another giveaway for a Spring accessory like the lime green scarf here with wood beads. Then I got the idea to open it up to a few other shops that might like to promote their spring items with a giveaway and make it a Spring Celebration. I would of course want to keep it to handmade items or supplies and you would need to be open to shipping internationally if necessary.

I have had three giveaways in my year and a half of blogging. I've been really happy with how they have worked out. My first blog giveaway was called Lose the Winter Blues just a little over a year ago and was my biggest prize to date. I gave away a $50 spring accessory set in hemp and I had 133 entries into the giveaway. I then had a smaller one in the summer called Summer Fun and gave away a scarf and headband set worth $25. I had 60 entries into this one. I did not promote it quite as much and did not have as many ways to enter so that is why there weren't as many entries. My most recent giveaway was a little different. I had a specific goal of getting newsletter subscribers for this contest. I gave away a $40 gift certificate to one of my newsletter subscribers and I was successful in growing my list from 30 to 117 with the contest this Fall.

I would like to get my blog followers over the hump of 400 and spread some of the love around with other crafters. I would promote the heck out of the contest and would also promote the shops of those participating. I can't promise you a sale if you donate an item but if you want to get some blog followers, Etsy hearts, or Facebook fans I think I can help you with that goal. And who knows if that could translate into a sale in the future. If you are interested please e-mail me at lenoxknits@yahoo.com and we can work out the details.

Giveaway Results and Pet Peeves!

So I just remembered that I hadn't bothered to post the results from my blog contests. Bad blogger! That got me thinking about my blogger pet peeves which is the result of the rest of my post below. I had 117 entries into the contest via joining my newsletter. I had 46 when I opened it up to my blog readers so I guess that means I had around 70 entries from the blog.

But without further ado let me announce that the winner of my Fall Newsletter contest was none other than Carole from Carole's Thoughtful Spot! I was thrilled that the gift certificate went to a fellow blogger partly because I knew that it would be going to a good home and also because she let me know that she would be blogging about it. A little extra dose of publicity out of it, you can't beat that. Carole has impeccable taste and chose to spend her $40 on the luxurious cashmere scarflette above. I hope she loves it!

And now for a few of my blog pet peeves. Lord knows that I'm not perfect but I just wanted to share those little things that drive me crazy as I go about my daily blog reading routine.
1. Confetti throwing up all over the place on your blog or any other graphic that just distracts from the blog content.
2. Too many widgets or ads. I am constantly reevaluating what widgets I can get rid of and I know that my 3 column design can tend towards the cluttered side but when half of your blog is ads I think you have a problem.
3. Too many or not enough pictures. There really is a sweet spot when it comes to pictures. Too many means that it will take forever for your blog to download, too few and your blog looks dull and uninspired. I know sometimes I fall on the too many side but I try to hit the middle ground as best as I can.
4. Pushing your agenda. I really don't mind an occasional ideological post but when a blog completely switches gears and becomes all about one agenda that has nothing to do with its title or original intent it really annoys me irregardless of what side of the aisle they are on.
5. Where did you go posts. I understand life gets in the way but I hate it when someone just pops in and says sorry I've been gone for 2 months, etc. Especially when they keep promoting their blog in ways like dropping their EC card.

So what are your blogger pet peeves? And please feel free to share even if I'm guilty of them!

There's still Time!

I just wanted to let you know that there is still time to enter my Fall Newsletter Giveaway which ends October 31 at midnight. Be sure that you have followed up with the e-mail to accept becoming a member. There are around 5 people who are still pending including a few names that I recognized.

The scarf I'm using as my image for the giveaway sold last week but there is still lots of warm scarves left in my shop. I don't know about you but scarf season is starting early here in the mid-west this year. $40 will get you either of the scarves here with $5 to spare.

The pink Girl Power scarf is a great wool/acrylic blend with a real punch of color. The one at the top was named for my favorite girl band, The Indigo Girls Scarf. It's a wool/silk blend from Noro, my favorite yarn brand. I just noticed that both of the scarves I picked out to feature in this post used a stitch pattern I haven't used in awhile. It's a cool one that combines two different stitches giving a neat textured effect. I'll have to bring that stitch back into my rotation as it really photographs well I think.

I have a little over 100 people signed up the newsletter now which is what I was shooting for. When I started the giveaway in early fall I had around 30 so the names I got at Strange Folk and those from posting on the blog have made a big difference.

Updates!

First I want to say that I'm happy with the response to the Fall Newsletter Giveaway. I knew that joining the newsletter was more of a commitment to me so I made it a worthy prize. Well over 50 people have signed up since I opened the giveaway up so that is a good thing. I sent out an e-mail today to everyone on my subscriber list as of this morning. There were about 10 people still pending so if you thought you signed up but didn't get an e-mail from me today than you had better try signing up again to be safe.

Last night a friend from high school asked me about my Etsy shop on Facebook so I posted another link on my homepage and low and behold I woke up this morning to 5 sales. I have my Etsy mini on my FB page but I guess I need to be more proactive about letting people know about it. I certainly don't want to spam my friends since I primarily use FB to connect with people I know but this was a good reminder that it doesn't hurt to let people see that I sell some cool stuff.

I've been bringing lots of scarflettes back from the dead the past few weeks like the one at the top of the page. Shades of Clay is 100% cashmere and incredibly luscious with a handmade clay button to close it up. I'm a little concerned since a lot of the pictures for these items aren't up to my current quality. I know that they won't sell if they aren't listed, and relisting something is a lot easier than taking the pictures for something new and going through the whole listing process. So I think I'm going to continue to do it and just move them down the page a bit so that the pretty new pictures are at the top. I love that Etsy allows us to rearrange our listings now. This is a major perk for sellers and gives us a lot more control over how our shops look.

Overall I'm happy with how the fall is going so far. I need to do some more Project Wonderful advertising and possibly find a few more advertising opportunities. I hope that you are finding ways to get yourself out there as well. If you have any ideas for cheap promotion please share.

Fall Newsletter Giveaway!

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I am having a Fall Newsletter Giveaway! Anyone who joins my newsletter is entered to win a $40 gift certificate to my Etsy shop. If you already belong to my newsletter list than you are already entered to win. If you haven't joined the list than just enter your information above by October 31, 2009 and follow the prompts to join the newsletter. I will use the random number generator to choose the winner from how ever many people are on the list as of that day. You don't need to leave a message here but if you want to I would love to hear from you.

I promise not to spam you and I will be sending out newsletters just 4 or 5 times a year to keep you up to date on my shop with coupon codes and events I'll be attending. The above scarf rightly named Dramatic Entrance is just an example of what you could win. You can choose from whatever is in my shop with a value up to $40 or request a custom scarf in whatever colors you choose. I will pay the shipping cost up to $5, so if you are overseas and it costs me more than that to ship I will send you an invoice to cover the remaining.

You can use it to get something special for yourself or get some Christmas presents for friends!

Subjective Beauty Giveaway!

I've been thinking a lot lately about where the blog is going. I'll be talking about this more this week but one of the first things I had decided was that I had earned the right to my own custom blog design. When I started I wasn't sure that I would stick with it so I just went with one of the free templates available on blogger. I have definitely outgrown it and want something that reflects me and the shop better. I came across a great contest today when entrecard dropping for a free deluxe blog design by Subjective Beauty Designs. She has made a number of the blog designs I see on a regular basis and I would be thrilled as punch to have her work with me. You can find all about the contest on Punky Monkey's blog, who recently got a full facelift from Subjective Beauty and is hosting the contest. Here is what you get:
Here is what my Custom Blog Designs come with:Custom Template (2 or 3 columns)Custom Header (the sky is the limit)Custom backgroundNavigation image (unlimited links)Unlimited sidebar imagesSocial buttons (Twitter, Facebook, BlogHer, Feed, etc.)Hosting space via my serverButton for linking (150x150)Post signatureEmail imagePost dividerFavicon (bookmark icon)Flash animated greeting messageInstallation*Rollover effects per request.

Things That Made Me Smile

We've been having construction going on in our offices this week so there has been constant drilling, banging, and dust in the air, which is really great for my allergies. So I decided to talk about the things that have made me smile this week to take my mind off what has made me feel like poking my eyes out.

I am coming close to 100 comments in my contest. I know there is actually more entries than that once it comes time to print them up. I want to talk about all the features in the different blogs who have promoted my contest. Here is a list of the sites that I know of at this point:

1. Feel Chic Boutique, seen above, is the one that gave me the biggest smile. She bought one of the custom headbands I blogged about a few weeks ago here. She posted a few lovely pictures of herself modeling her earwarmer and showing how warm and comfy it looks on her.

2.Char's Craft Room entered early and completed all 5 steps in the contest, giving her 9 entries. She has a new etsy shop called stitchary with some amazing pillows in the Arts and Craft style like this one, which would look perfect in my living room.

3. The Lucky Ladybug has a great blog for giveaway junkies. She posts just about every kind of contest you can imagine.

4. Valerie posted on not one but 2 of her blogs about the contest. This is a woman who knows her contests! She has Sweeps4Bloggers and Sweeps4California.

5. Sherry has a great blog called iLUVcontest and I actually advertised on her entrecard widget this week to promote the contest.

6. Joy to the blog has a vintage and crafty blog that is really easy on the eyes. She added me to her list of giveaways and I have a feeling she may become a favorite read of mine.

7. Sweepstakes Advantage dropped in to tell me the contest had been added to their very comprehensive list.

8. I submitted the contest to Etsy Giveaways and it was quickly added. This a great resource for looking for handmade items up for grabs.

9. I was also on the list of hot links at An Island Review.

I think that is all of them! I'm very happy for all of the blog love. I currently have 15 signed up for the newsletter and another 7 pending e-mail confirmation by the subscriber. This a great start for my subscriber list.

Another thing that made me smile this week was a new ring. I buy lots of pendants and necklaces but I very rarely buy myself a new ring. I just couldn't pass up this hammered copper and sterling silver spinner ring from Bonhomie Jewelry. I thought I had conquered my nail biting habit but it has been creeping back the last year. I had a spinner ring before and it was a good tool for distracting me from biting my nails. I was happy to be her first sale on 1000 Markets. She has a great blog were she talks about her adventures in jewelry making and is a great promoter of buying handmade.

Where in the World Are You?

Get Your Own Real Time Visitor Map!

I have to be honest. I actually considered limiting the contest to just U.S. and Canada in order to keep the cost of shipping down. But then I thought about all the great blogs that I visit every day from all around the world and the bloggers that drop in here as well. So I opened it up to everyone and I'm glad I did. It also inspired me to finally get my worldwide shipping set up in the shop. I had originally just shipped to U.S., Canada, and a few other countries I had checked out the rates on at the post office.

I have shipped to Canada a number of times now and have found it to be not much more than shipping here. I've unfortunately never had an overseas sale, and I'm hoping the changes in my shipping on Etsy will change that. I now have U.S. and Canada listed separately and then Everywhere Else set. This way people do not have to stop and contact me to find out what the shipping rates to their country would be. I am the queen of impulse purchases so I know that extra step probably killed a number of international buyer's shopping experience in my shop.

My Google Analytics statistics say that I've had visitors from 53 countries in the last 30 days. My top ten are here:

1.	United States	4,693
2.	Philippines	423
3.	Canada	328
4.	United Kingdom	277
5.	Malaysia	153
6.	Germany	105
7.	Netherlands	103
8.	Indonesia	96
9.	Australia	59
10.	India	46

The only one that really surprises me is the Netherlands. I'm not really aware of any regular visitors from there. The Philippines being my number 2 is certainly no surprise. There are an amazing number of Filipinos that are a part of the Entrecard community. I've gotten to know many of them through my daily drops like Lainy from Lainy's Musing. She has not one but 4 blogs that she updates regularly with original and interesting content. My favorite of her work is in The Certified Fashionable Chic where she discusses fashion from around the world.

I would love to hear from some of my global buddies. How did you come across my blog and have you entered the contest yet? I know that it may not be winter where you are so you may not need to lose the winter blues but I'm sure that everyone could use a freebie to lift their spirits.

Lose The Winter Blues with Lenox Knits Giveaway!

I'm excited to be having my very first blog contest. I am giving away the year round set of knitted accessories worth $50 in the above picture. It includes the following:

1. A lace knitted scarf in a blue hemp/cotton blend yarn with clay beads, worth $18.
2. A knitted pouch in the blue hemp/cotton yarn with the same beads. It has a draw string closing with a long paper bead, worth $12.
3. A matching headband in lace, worth, $7.
4. A knitted wire wrist cuff with matching clay beads and some fun paper mache beads in matching colors, worth $11.

There will be one contest winner and there is free worldwide shipping! Contest closes on March 7, 2009.

Contest Rules:

1. For one easy entry just visit my Etsy shop, Lenox Knits, and tell me what your favorite item is.
2. For another easy entry follow me on Twitter and Tweet to all your followers about the Beating the Blues Contest.
3. Because it involves more effort on your part I will give you 2 entries for blogging about this Contest.
4. If you add my lovely new blog widget to your blog or myspace page, there is code for each, you will get an additional 2 entries.
5. And finally I would be thrilled if you signed up for my new newsletter and will give 3 entries for following through with the steps to submit your e-mail address. I promise not to spam you and you can unsubscribe any time. I will be e-mailing specials and deals seasonally.




Please leave a comment on this post for each step you complete. There are a total of 9 possible entries per person. I will print each eligible entry and put them in a basket, most likely wicker, and have my niece draw a name on March 7th in a secure location, probably my living room. The contest is open to everyone, even non-bloggers. If you don't have an active blog please leave me an e-mail address to contact you. If you have a blog you will be contacted directly through your blog.

Sneak Peek

For anyone who happens to check in this weekend I just wanted to give you a sneak peek to what I'm working on this weekend. I don't know if anyone besides my husband has noticed that I've been particularly crabby lately. Notice the flower above, it was part of a valiant effort to cheer me up this week. It's the middle of winter blues that always hit me right about now. I got so excited last week when I came across SolSisters Studio's blog giveaway. I decided I needed another little pick me up so I have something planned of my own that will be fully revealed on Monday. I hope you will check it out.

I have also signed up with Bravenet.com to set up a newsletter. They also have a lot of other free services for bloggers that I have yet to fully explore. If you are interested in getting some specials and updates delivered to your in box from me please feel free to sign up. I tried it out with a different e-mail account and the sign up process is very painless. I promise not to spam you and it will most likely be a seasonal newsletter. I hope everyone has a good weekend!