Posted on February 1, 2010 under: Jewelry, Reviews & Giveaways
 

My First Review & Giveaway: ASA Designs **Closed**

When you are tired of looking like everyone else…

I’m very excited to be running my very first giveaway and present you all to the extremely talented Anna from ASA Designs! I was fortunate enough to meet Anna by winning one of her giveaways a month ago and she was kind enough to be willing to ship the prize all the way to Bolivia and host another giveaway with me!  I chose these beautiful cherry earrings so I could give them to one of my sisters as a Chanukah present. (How darling are they?) Unfortunately, this caused some problems since they are still battling for them!

 

So without further adieu, I’m very pleased to introduce you to Anna and ASA Designs:

How did ASA Designs come about?
ASA Designs as a business has been in existence since 2006.  My sister and I originally started the business as a creative outlet.  We’ve been creating one thing or another since we were very small (Thanks Mom!) and thought it would be fun to see if we could turn a profit from our skills.  We started out selling wine charms to local wineries.  When the wineries wanted more and more elaborate charms that we just couldn’t supply (and incidentally both she and I stopped drinking alcohol), we stopped selling charms and took a break from the business.

About a year ago, I wanted to get the business up and going again because I had boxes of beads just lying around the house.  I stumbled across Etsy, fell in love and the rest, as they say, is history!  I opened the store and have had modest sales.  Actually, I just realized that in two days, I will have my one-year Etsy-versary!  YAY!  I faithfully read the “Quit Your Day Job” series on Etsy and hopefully one day, I can be featured, God willing! In the meantime, I am a trained archaeologist.  I am employed with a Native American Tribe, working towards preservation of their traditional cultural resources.  It’s not a bad gig by any stretch! 🙂

What inspires you when making jewelry?
The short answer is just about anything!  I love looking at jewelry magazines and fashion websites to see what the latest trends are however I would really describe my process as being organic and somewhat arbitrary.  If I’m sitting down to just create jewelry, I use colors from nature, maybe a piece of jewelry I’ve seen on someone else or a particular color or material I feel like working with.  If I’m making a custom piece, I have a specific color or colors/materials to work with and any specific requests from the person.  I also take into account their age, their face and body style (if I know what it is) and what they will be using the jewelry for (i.e. a special event, everyday use, etc).  I’ve created earrings inspired by traditional Indian dress (the Grace earrings on my web), by goth-style clothing and even by a pair of men’s tennis shoes I saw at a craft fair!  Everything is inspiration!

What made you decide to make this giveaway internationally open?
In today’s world, the internet brings together everyone into one global market.  Shipping costs aren’t substantially more to other countries.  And since ASA Designs is mostly an online store, there really isn’t any reason why this shouldn’t be international!  It seems like most of my customers are outside the US anyway.  I don’t want to exclude them! 🙂 Anna has a natural knack for color & design. Her pieces are unique, beautiful and really well made.

Amongst my very fave items are:

The gorgeous Dew Drop Earrings

The Perfect Martini Olives

And the super sweet Lemon and Sky Hoops
GET IT!

 

Can’t wait until you win the giveaway? Browse ASA Designs’ Etsy shop to purchase one of her beautiful items!  Anna offers free gift wrapping and she’s happy to take personal custom orders including modifications for those who have special needs—clasps, clips, allergies, etc.
February is Anna’s birthday month (happy B-day Anna!) so it’s your chance to take advantage of the great sale she’s having at ASA Designs!  For the month of February, Anna is offering free shipping on all purchases over $20 and a free pair of pearl earrings with every order!

 

WIN IT!

 

Thanks to ASA Designs, one lucky winner will receive these gorgeous Vintage Roses earrings, created especially for this giveaway!

 

They were made from large vintage brass rose beads, small brass spacers and brass lever-back ear hooks with mini-shells.  From the roses dangle orange fire-polished vintage crystals.  This beautiful pair retails for $18! (but it can be yours –free!)

The winner of the giveaway will receive the earrings in a special fleece pouch, similar to the one that came with my cherry earrings. (I use mine to store coins – it’s really cute.)

TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY:

Mandatory entry – Visit ASA Designs and tell me which item is your favorite and why. Please answer both questions and be original! (no copying other people’s answers) Remember to post your email address!

Additional entries – Please comment separately for each entry and post as many comments as each provides. In other words, if it says +2, write two separate comments for that entry! You must complete the mandatory entry to post any additional entries!

ASA Designs:
+3 Sign up for ASA Designs’ newsletter by convo on Etsy (send her your e-mail, address, name and birthdate) or go to her website www.designsbyasa.com and sign up on the form.
+2 Heart ASA Designs shop and leave me your Etsy username.
+1 Look through Anna’s sold items and tell me in a comment which item you love.
+1 Tell me something you learned about Anna or ASA Designs through this interview.
+10 Purchase an item from ASA Designs

Follow:
+2 If you become a new public follower of International Giveaways! on Google Friends(click on “Follow” on the right hand sidebar)
+4 If you were already a follower of International Giveaways! on Google Friends previous to February 1, 2010 (yay for loyal followers!)
+1 If you follow International Giveaways through RSS
+1 If you sign up for my mailing list! (left hand sidebar)

Blog:
+3 If you grab my button and place it on your website/blog! (please provide a link in your  comments)
+2 If you blog about this giveaway! (please provide a link in your comments)

Twitter:
+1 Follow ASA Designs on Twitter (please leave your Twitter name in the comment)
+1 Follow International Giveaways! on twitter (please leave your Twitter name in the comment)
+1 Retweet this for one extra entry (you can do this up to three times – once per day. Please provide a link to your tweet in your comments!)

RT@intlgiveaways: Enter to win these beautiful Vintage Roses earrings from @asadesigns! (Ends 2/10) #contest #giveaway http://bit.ly/bGKsTr

That’s it! There are a bunch of opportunities for you to win these gorgeous earrings. The winner will be picked through a random number generator and will be contacted through e-mail, so make sure to write your e-mail address in your comments. Winner will have 48 hours to respond to winning email before a new winner is chosen.  Best of luck to everyone!

Expiration date: February 10, 2010 at midnight BOT (Bolivian time)

OPEN WORLDWIDE! (Yep, that’s right: Anna rocks!)

Would you like to sponsor a giveaway on International Giveaways? Just fill out the form here or contact me at internationalgiveaways[at]gmail[dot[com]!