a holiday GIVEAWAY!

That's right, I have a giveaway to kick off the beginning of the holiday season! But guess what? There's not just one prize! Yep, you heard me, there will be two winners of this giveaway.

Let's see the prizes and their extremely talented creators, shall we?

prize #1:
The Amber Beaded Bohemian Feather Headband donated by Melanie of Neesie Designs.

When Melanie agreed to donate an item she let me choose which headband from her shop to give away. I was eyeing this one (it was my personal favorite) so I chose it!
When she sent me the headband so I could ship it off to the winner she mentioned she put a little "thank you" in the package for allowing her to be featured on my blog.
Inside the box was the headband above and almost the exact same one! I was so excited. Melanie, thanks again so much for the generous gift :)

Any-who, let's get to know Melanie some more...

Tell us a bit about yourself:

Hi. I'm Melanie and I'm the one woman show of Neesie Designs. I work in the fashion industry and live in NYC. I love going to see shows, eating out at all the unique and wonderful restaurants the city has to offer, flea marketing, thrift and vintage store shopping, and of course crafts fairs. I LOVE craft fairs. 

When did you get into crafting?

I've been creative as long as I can remember. But I think that I truly started to craft things when I was about 11 years old. I would gather dried and fake flowers and make flower arrangements, wreaths, and displays for the holidays. 

What is your very favorite thing to make?

I really enjoy making the woodland crowns. I think that it derives from the joy of making wreaths when I was younger. I've always felt that there's something magical about crowns, which may very well come from my love of princesses and fairy tales. But to make them now for my shoppe and to have people wear them for their weddings, festivals and other special events has been a really joy to share. 

What are some other hobbies you enjoy?

I love collecting postcards of other artist's work and framing them in my house. I have quite a collection. I still continue to make wreaths on occasion. I also love to collect interesting things at craft fairs and use them to make my accessories, which is how I first came up with my bullet headbands. I had a bucket of empty bullet shells just sitting in my room for months. I would just stare at it every now and again until the concept finally came to me. I love making something great from what someone else has discarded.

Thanks again so much Melanie!

∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞∞

Have you guys forgotten there is one more prize? Well, without further ado....

prize #2:
Two eyeshadows from Madison Street Beauty in the colors Wisteria and Galaxy

Now, you guys have heard me rave about MSB's products before, but I don't think you understand how amazing these shadows are.

they. are. amazing.

And these two shadows were specifically donated because the ever-talented Bridget liked my makeup tutorial using these colors, called Midnight Plum.
Ever since I bought my first five shadows from MSB, I have purchased thirteen others and Bridget has kindly included several samples of new shadows, so my makeup drawer is now overflowing with her products, which completely fine with me ;)

Here's a little more about Bridget:

Tell us a bit about yourself

My name is Bridget and I'm 28 years old, I am married to the love of my life, Rhys, and we live in Las Vegas. When I met Rhys six years ago I was a radio personality in my hometown and since then I have been a bartender on a train in Alaska, a receptionist in a spa and a dozen other things before doing what I do now. I feel so grateful that I have a job that I love and that I can also spend the majority of my time with the ones I love.

When did you get interested in makeup?

I can honestly say that I have been interested in makeup for as long as I can remember! When I was a teen I got into makeup in a big way until I turned 20 and my skin really took a turn for the worse. At that point I stopped wearing it for fun and I started wearing it more as a necessity

When did you start making makeup? Was it/is it difficult?

After trying a million skin care products and a million more different cosmetics I realized that my bad skin was caused by what I was putting on my skin. I did a lot of research and I discovered that the only way I could use makeup without anything “bad” in it was to make it myself. I started making foundation for myself about 8 years ago and it wasn't long before I got requests from friends and family so it quickly became a hobby of mine. It was a little overwhelming at first but I always found creating makeup fun so it never felt overly difficult. The more confident I became in making new things, the easier it got. The most difficult thing to do was to believe in myself. I am still getting into new things but now, I have the confidence to try out something new rather than just telling myself that it's too hard to do and never trying it out. 

What is your favorite thing to make?

Eye shadow! Making eye shadow is easily my favorite thing to make because I find it really fun to experiment with and there is no end to the amount of colors that can be made. Lately I have really been interested in lip products and have been playing around with different lip colors.

Are you a huge beauty addict yourself?

I hate to admit it but I am a massive beauty addict. I have always believed that a girl can never have too many shoes or enough beauty goodies! I am always looking for the perfect hair product for curls and have probably spent a small fortune on hair products in the past. 

If you had to get rid of either all of your eye shadows or all of your eyeliners, which would you keep?

That is a tough question! I would have to say eye liners. Although eye liner is so important for framing the eye, I find that eye shadow can really bring out your eyes and even transform your whole look.

A million thanks Bridget!

Okay, so if you're still here, you probably want to know how you can enter to win one of these awesome prizes. Here's how:

•mandatory entry•

leave a comment saying what your favorite thing about the holidays is

•extra entries•

follow this blog

follow Bridget's blog

heart Melanie's shop

heart Bridget's shop

"like" Melanie's facebook page

"like" Bridget's facebook page

add Melanie to your circle on etsy
post about this giveaway on your blog and leave the link in a comment

So enter away friends! And also, the shadows pictures above are actually mine, the winner's are still sealed up tight, but believe me, they are the exact same colors :) The winners will be chosen fairly and randomly by random.org on Friday December 9th.

-hannah

p.s. If you use the coupon code HOLIDAY2011 you'll get 10% off your purchase before shipping in Melanie's shop, and the code SBS60 for 60% off your purchase at Bridget's shop!