Handmade pearl necklace giveaway

Giveaway: Handmade Pearl Necklace
What’s this?  ANOTHER giveaway?

Yep!  This time, we are giving away a handmade pearl necklace on a gold chain. This lovely item was made by A Brilliant Impression, who has been featured on Fair Ivy surprise gift boxes two times in the past—with the lovely handmade silver heart bracelet and her gorgeous freshwater pearl necklace. As you may conclude, we love her and all her handmade gifts!

Giveaway: handmade pearl necklace

This necklace is particularly dainty, and feels like the perfect addition to wear out on an Anniversary dinner, to a birthday dinner, or even just on a lovely evening out with friends. The gold filled chain and clasp ends in a 5mm genuine freshwater pearl—we love it!

Want to win this handmade pearl necklace?

To enter, simply sign up for our blog newsletter (on the left sidebar) and comment below saying you did!

Good Luck!

EDIT:  Congratulations to Jillian for winning this lovely handmade necklace!  Be in touch to send us your address!

Etsy + Wholefoods presents: A Crafternoon (with me, Lucy!)

Etsy + Wholefoods presents: A Crafternoon with Fair Ivy founder Lucy Fairweather

If you live in or around the Los Angeles area and want to come meet me or learn how to craft pretty packages, swing by the Whole Foods in Santa Monica (on Wilshire) for A Crafternoon this Saturday, December 7th between 3-4pm.  I’ll be trying out some different styles of cute gift packaging, including organic, feminine, and creative!

To RSVP to this event, visit EventBrite: Crafternoon.

lucy-wholefoods

Washi tape giveaway!

Remember that post I did last month on the awesome washi tape I purchased, that arrived all adorably and made me almost panic with excitement?

Washi Tape Giveaway - From Fair Ivy and StickerStop     Washi Tape Giveaway - From Fair Ivy and StickerStop     Washi Tape Giveaway - From Fair Ivy and StickerStop

Well, now our lovely friends over at StickerStop are letting us host a Washi Tape Giveaway, and are offering Fair Ivy fans a chance to win an 8-yard set of washi tape….so you too can have your very own excitement panic-attack!  These wonderful boutique-style tapes are a great way to spruce up some simple gift packaging this holiday season.  Or you can just use them to decorate your house, or do all kinds of other crazy things (see this BuzzFeed article for some kooky ideas).

Look at all the choices of washi tape designs you’ll have if you win:

Washi Tape Giveaway - From Fair Ivy and StickerStop

Entering the washi tape giveaway

To enter, zip on over to StickerStop’s facebook fan page and “like” it, then comment below that you did!

There are two 8-yard sets to be won, so your chances are high!  Contest ends December 10th, winners will be announced here and on our facebook fanpage.

Good luck!

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EDIT: Congratulations to the winners, Johanna and Bridget J.  Thanks to everyone who entered!

Handmade silver square studs surprise

These gorgeous handmade sterling silver square studs (say that 10 times fast!) were mailed out to our October surprise subscriptions, and came from the wondrous jewelry artist Candice Vostrejs.

Silver square stud earrings - handmade jewelry present

We really adored their miniature size, which made them perfect as everyday-wear earrings.  Yet they didn’t feel fragile at all, so we know they’ll stand the test of time (plus they are sterling silver, so they are very strong!).

Silver square stud earrings - handmade jewelry present

Silver square stud earrings - handmade jewelry present

Not only did we love the earrings themselves, but we thought the gift wrapping for these silver square studs was too cute.  Very simple, yet feminine with a touch of fun:

Cute little present box

As with all our handmade artists, Candice included a unique artist information card with the handmade silver square studs. We ask the artists to include these so that our customers get a feel for the real person behind each product they receive.  They learn about their background, inspiration, and sometimes even about some of their unrelated hobbies!

Candice Vostrejs writes:

Candice Vostrejs is a jewelry artist based on Colorado. She graduated with a BFA in Metalsmithing in 2009.

Using traditional Metalsmithing techniques each pieces is individually made from scratch allowing each piece to be unique. Each piece starts out as wire and sheet metal and is cut, formed, textured, soldered and finished by hand.

Inspiration for her pieces is a combination of minimalist and modern combined with the beautiful and decorative style of art nouveau.  Her pieces are designed to be beautiful and feminine but simple enough for everyday use.

Artist's card for fairivy.com

We hope you liked these lovely earrings as much as we did!
To purchase a pair (if you aren’t already a surprise subscriber!) head on over to Candice’s etsy store by clicking here.

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Do you want to receive a gift box every  month?  Or even two or three?  Every surprise gift is handmade and comes hand-wrapped, along with an informational note card straight from the artist, to let you know about their process, business and background.  It’s fun, luxurious, and you will be supporting US artists at the same time!

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Vintage French Chic Purse surprise

This October, our surprise artists really outdid themselves.  This gorgeous vintage french chic purse was custom created for Fair Ivy by Dulcinas (her shop on Etsy where you’ll find lovely purses is called Mi Bazaar Latino).  It is hands-down one of the nicest Etsy purses we have come across, and hope that the artist soon offers it in her store for those interested in nabbing one (that is, if you aren’t already a Fair Ivy surprise package subscriber).

Vintage french chic handmade purse - handmade gift

We absolutely adore the fabric on both the inside and outside of this purse.  The outside is gorgeous linen that came in a variety of styles (see the difference between the above and below photos?), all of which were lovely.

Vintage french chic purse - handmade gift

While this purse technically could be used day to day, to me it calls for special occasions.  One, because it is cream (i.e. dirt is bad), and two because it is just so darn chic.  A prim and proper outing to a tea house with the girls is an fun event idea to take this purse to.  Where would you take it?

Handmade vintage french chic purse

When thinking about how to describe this, shabby chic purse definitely came to mind—and one customer suggested it was “very Rachel Ashwell ” shabby chic couture. Admittedly, we had to go look up what that meant, but now that we’ve done our research, we agree!

Vintage chic purse - handmade gift

The inside lining even came in a variety of lovely vintage chic fabrics—it was a surprise even to us which one you received!  Here are two of the possible lovely floral lining styles:

Linen lining of vintage chic purse

The artists information card was decorated in a similar floral pattern and reads:

“A collection of jewelry and accessories designed and handmade in California since 2007 by Claudia Anaya selling online and craft shows.  Inspired by the post infused with a vintage chic vibe using repurposed jewelry, vintage baubles and findings, fabrics, etc…”

Vintage chic handmade purse - handmade gift

Plus!  The purse came in a lovely re-usable fabric baggie, which also came in a variety of fabric styles.  The one below is polka dot, and we know the lovely folks over at SubscriptionTherapy received a floral one.

French couture purse

What other gorgeous designs did handmaker Dulcinas create this month?  Perhaps we’ll never know (if you got a different style, post it in the comments)!

Linen lining of vintage chic purse

Want to check out the shop where you can find lovely purses such as this, along with jewelry and more?  Visit Mi Bazaar Latino on Etsy.

Ps. Dulcinas created another surprise item for Fair Ivy back in February 2013.  Check it out here.

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Pumpkin Spice soap surprise

Move over summer, autumn is here at last!  We thought that there was no better way to welcome in the fall than to have one of our October surprise gifts be this deliciously-scented handmade pumpkin spice soap from Fabled Soap Co.  It smelled so great that it was a bit tough not to just put it into a pie dish and bake it for Thanksgiving!

Handmade pumpkin spice latte scented soap

The packaging was extremely cute yet had a modern appeal, like something you’d find in an upscale home decor store.  Along with the little soap came a lovely card describing the handmaker Mickey’s goals and efforts to produce the best bath products for your skin and hair.

Pumpkin spice latte soap

Artist's card from fair ivy

The text on her artist info card reads:

Hello, my name is Mickey and I am the creator of Fabled Soap Co.  I’ve always loved beauty products and a few years back I unsuccessfully tried to find the best available/  During this period, I also learned that almost all commercially available products contain harmful ingredients!  For example, shampoos and what we know of as “soap” don’t actually contain any real soap but detergents that are harsh and drying on skin and hair.  

When I learned I could make my own bath and beauty products, I immediately jumped onboard.  Now my goal is to make the very best soap, lip balm, bath soak, etc myself, using simple, high quality ingredients.  I have a great variety of handmade home bath and body products available on my online shop www.Fabled SoapCo.etsy.com.  There’s something for everyone and I regularly add new items, so check back often.  

Fabled Soap Co is all about simple but luxurious products that are effective, fun and accessible.  And perhaps best of all, it is about that handmade tough that makes everything extra special.

Pumpkin spice latte soap

We love every piece of this wonderful product, and hope you did too (here’s one rave review we just stumbled across!).
We included some of her other fantastic items in a recent blog post called Homemade Beauty Products.

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