Giveaway: Bluebird Earrings from tothemetal

NOTE: This giveaway has ended. Please check for more recent giveaways here!

“Exciting” doesn’t begin to describe this post.  After a five-week dry spell, our famed Westervin giveaways (famed only in my mind, probably) are back in action.  I won’t fawn too much over these sterling silver and titanium “Blue Bird Oval Hoop” earrings from tothemetal, because you can see for yourself how well-crafted and downright darling they are.  But I simply must insist you read the interview with Marina, who is donating these endearing earrings.  She lives in Greece and has talent oozing out of her fingertips!  I for one couldn’t wait to read about her inspirations and the backdrop of jewelry studio.

Read the rest of this entry »

Yayza! ▲nni.

Things are just swinging along today!  Lots of happy happenings.  I keep offering cookies to all the kind people who are tweeting and posting about our current giveaway.  I better stop before I find myself in an overwhelming sea of cookie dough.  Although, that could be kinda fun… Like that scene in Patch Adams where the old lady swims in a pool of cooked noodles.  Only, instead of swimming, it would be more like laying on top of the gooey mess and slowly eating my way to the bottom.  Oh, you don’t think I could eat an entire kiddie pool of cookie dough?  Think again.

{ Untitled by Anni Abeja Indie }

Giveaway! Embroidered Necklace from Marañón

EDIT: This giveaway has ended.  Enter our current giveaway here!

We’re having our fifth and final giveaway, folks, and this one’s very special.  As many of our faithful readers already know, Brian and I are engaged and we’ve entered the Crate & Barrel Ultimate Wedding Contest.  If you’ve already heard about this 10 times, don’t stop reading!  For those of you who are new to the Westervin blog, lemme esplain!  In order to get to the next round in the contest, we need to be amongst the top 50 vote-getters.  We’re barely hanging on — somewhere around 200th place — but we’re not giving up hope.  Should we win, our wedding will be unique and sassy, like us!  We plan to purchase goods and services that are eco-friendly and that support small, local businesses and independent craftspeople.  Craftspeople like the shockingly sweet Lorena of Marañón.  I plan on wearing one of her refreshingly cool embroidered necklaces on the big day.  To help us win, Lorena has kindly donated one of her necklaces for a giveaway.  This giveaway!  We ask that you vote for us in the contest, and in return, you will be entered to win the hand-embroidered and -sewn Peacock Fan Necklace above.  If you’ve already voted for us, you’re half way there!

How to enter:

1. Follow this link to our Ultimate Wedding Contest entry page.
2. Click “Vote for this Entry”
3. Enter your email address (you will NOT receive spam, this is just to verify that you are an actual person)
4. Leave a comment on this post with your vote number (e.g. I’m vote #170).  To get your vote number, just check the vote count on our entry page after you’ve received your confirmation email.*  In your comment, be sure to include your name in the “Name” field and your email address in the “Email” field.
5. Tell others to vote for us.  Why?  Because you’ll get additional entries and increase your chances of winning the necklace!  So tweet about it, blog about it, post a link on your Facebook wall or email it to your friends.  Just ask them to leave your name in their comment (e.g. I’m vote #170 and Kelly Jones told me to vote!)
6. Give yourself a pat on the back!

*If you’ve already voted for us chances are I know about it.  Don’t worry about the vote number unless you remember it.

This giveaway ends Sunday, March 14th at 11:59pm CST

Giveaway! Amethyst Chunk Necklace

EDIT: This giveaway has ended.  Enter our current giveaway here!

It’s that time again, folks.  For this week’s Freebie February giveaway, the endlessly sweet Tawni Wold is giving away this ga-ga-gorgeous necklace to one lucky Westervin reader!  We’re hoping that you will spread the love and visit her shop — she has a beautiful collection of jewelry made from rare and unexpected gemstones, crystals and reclaimed vintage pieces, the sale of which go to pay her doggie’s medical bills.  Read my mini interview with Tawni below, and then leave a lovely little comment to enter the giveaway.  The winner will be notified via email in one week.

To enter:

1. Leave your first name and last initial (full names are encouraged).
2. Leave a working email address (this will not be published).
3. You have one week to enter.  This giveaway ends Sunday, February 28th at 11:59pm CST.
4. Increase your chances of winning by telling someone else to enter!  You’ll get an additional entry (up to 20) for every person you refer — just ask them to leave your name in their comment.  It really works — last week’s winner had an extra entry!

On this necklace, a faceted piece of amethyst hangs from a unique silver chain, measuring 27 inches.  Retail price: $38

What types of materials do you use?

A lot of my jewelry is made from reclaimed pieces. Lots of vintage! I also use lots and lots of gemstones and crystals! I love anything with a bit of druzy and with a sort of rough/raw shape. Hehehehe, rough! raw! Sounds sort of dirty…!

What inspires your beautiful designs?

My mood has a lot to do with how the pieces turn out. My newer pieces are more romantic and feminine, at least I think so. I am almost positive that has to do with my boyfriend finally returning home from Russia. I suddenly want to wear lots of lace and highlight my cheeks with blush. The new jewelry is a result of that, feeling pretty and in love! Really lame sounding, I know, but the same goes for my darker pieces; I was probably depressed when I made them. Or, at the very least, hating all the dark and dreary winter days here in Sacramento.

What’s this little guy’s name?

My doggie’s name is Ren Oir. His last name is Oir as I used to bring him to my classes and one of my professors thought it very wrong that Ren did not have a last name. She said that I MUST give him a proper last name! All I could think of was ‘Oir’. My little brother gave him his first name, after ‘The Ren and Stimpy Show.’

How did Ren get sick?

I’m not exactly positive why/how Ren got sick, as my vet lost his stool sample. How a vet loses a ziplock container entitled ‘REN OIR’S STOOL SAMPLE’ is beyond me, but because of this I never got a definite answer. I suspect Ren may have drank some contaminated water at the river park I’d brought him to the day before… but I honestly cannot say for sure. The poor boy had to be pumped full of fluids and medication for the next few days. I actually had to hook him up to an IV three times a day for a week after he came home from the vet, the poor thing. But he is recovering well, and I am so so so broke because of it! I’ve got ‘pet insurance’ Google results on another tab as I type this, lol. …Don’t want to get into this kind of expensive crisis again.  It was completely worth it though, as I love my little boy

And a big thanks to free!grechen for featuring this giveaway!

Giveaway: Intersect

EDIT: This giveaway has ended.  Enter our current giveaway here!

We’ve got another giveaway for you, kiddos, and boy is this one a doozy!  Shannon Rankin and Justin Richel, the artists behind our last two giveaways, have teamed up to create some stunning artwork.  Intersect is the name of their collaboration project.  Pass is the name of the print (below) that you can win.  WOW is the only word I have to describe it all.  Just leave a comment to enter, but don’t forget these easy-peasy rules:

1. Leave your first name and last initial (full names are encouraged, but not required).
2. Leave a working email address (this will not be published).  How else will I contact you if you win?
3. You have one week to enter.  This giveaway ends Sunday, February 21st at 11:59pm CST.
4. You can increase your chances of winning just by telling someone else to enter!  You’ll get an additional entry (no more than 20) for every person you refer — just make sure they leave your name in their comment.

Final print size:  11″ x 11″ (including a small white border)

Retail price: $25

Our dream wedding: You can help!

If you haven’t already heard, we’re engaged!  And guess what else.  You could help us have our dream wedding!  Just vote for us in the Crate & Barrel Ultimate Wedding Contest, and we could win a big ol’ wedding worth $100,000!  We NEED your vote.  In the name of love and happiness and handmade, eco-friendly weddings, perdy-please vote for us here!  It will only take a few seconds.

EDIT: If you’ve voted for us, you can now enter our giveaway to win a stunning embroidered necklace from Marañón, a featured seller on Etsy.  Enter here.

Our love story: I’m Australian.  On a family vacation in the states, we met and fell in love on a California beach.  In a happy twist of fate, my family decided to move there, and Brian and I ended up going to the same high-school together!  But Brian turned out to be a bad-boy, and my good-girl ways made it hard for us to be together.  But love conquers all!  Eventually, a song-and-dance number at a school carnival brought us back together, and we each realized that “You’re the one that I want”.

Ok, so that’s actually the plot of Grease… but our story is romantic, too!  Brian and I met on the first day of school (college), and we spent the first days of our friendship on a class trip to Memphis.  He put my number in his phone, listed as “Elvis”.  He fell in love almost instantly and spent the next three-and-a-half years patiently and tirelessly bearing the burden of unrequited love, making me mac ‘n’ cheese, taking me on dinosaur hunting adventures and holding my hand when I cried.  Eventually, I received a metaphorical slap in the face, and realized I would never meet another person more talented, fun, handsome or caring.  [insert more gooey-lovey-dovey stuff], and now we’re living happily ever after.

Three important details about our Ultimate Wedding: Our dream wedding?  Picture this.  An underwater reception, a chorus of glittering mermaids, floating off into the sunset in a hot-air balloon piloted by Dolly Parton.

But if that doesn’t fit the budget, here’s Plan B:

1) Environmental and social responsibility:  We don’t want our special day just to be about us (for more reasons than Brian’s shyness).  With every detail, we want to support our community, environment, and small businesses.  We’ll have food from local farms, local wildflowers, a handmade dress from an independent designer, recycled-paper decorations and invitations printed on vintage silk scarves.

2) Nature meets Urban:  We’ll exchange vows atop a landscaped roof in downtown Chicago.

3) Bye-bye traditional:  Champagne pyramids, identical bridesmaids, 6-tierd cake?  NO THANKS!  Yes to cup-pies, quilt-covered hay bails, a bluegrass band.

Our everyday dream day: Our everyday dream day includes shopping at Crate & Barrel *wink wink*  Then, blogging together, baking together, balloon dancing together, playing thought-jinks — all on a warm, summer Sunday, with the windows open and Sam Cooke vinyl crackling on the turntable.  After all that we would be tired little puppies, so we would take a nap until dinner, which would include grilled salmon and scrumptious inside-out BLTs, a Pink Slip (one of Brian’s original cocktail creations that includes basil and raspberries) and cinnamon rolls for dessert.  The rest of the night would be spent dancing with our wonderful friends.

Thank you so much for reading and viewing all these vain pictures of us!  Please remember to vote for us here.  If you really want to help us (and I will love you forever if you do) please post this on your blog or website, asking your readers/viewers to vote for us, too!  Don’t hesitate to email me at sarah@westervin.com if you have any questions.

Giveaway! Love, Heal, Seek & See

Note: This giveaway is closed.  Checkout our latest giveaway here!

Are you sitting down?  Because we’ve got another giveaway!  Starting.  Right.  NOW!  You could win this set of four (count ‘em, four!) mini prints (ACEO) from Shannon Rankin, titled Love, Heal, Seek and See.  Just leave a comment on this post to enter, but please read these simple rules first:

1. You must leave your first name and last initial (at least — full names are encouraged, but not required).
2. You must leave a working email address (this will not be published).  How else will I contact you if you win?
3. You have one week to enter.  This giveaway ends on Sunday, February 14th at 11:59pm CST.
4. You can increase your chances of winning just by telling someone else to enter!  You’ll get an additional entry (no more than 20) for every person you refer — just make sure they leave your name in their comment.

Some details about these prints: Each one measures 2.5″ x 3.5″.  They are signed and dated on the back, and are guaranteed to last up to 108 years.  The originals are made from cut vintage map and embroidered with thread.  Perfect for National Embroidery Month!

Some details about the artist:  Shannon Rankin is partners in crime with Jusin Richel (from our last giveaway).  She’s so sweet, she’ll give you a toothache.  You can see more of her beautiful map collages in her shop Selflesh, and you can become a fan on Facebook here (she has lots of giveaways there, too).