Fabulous Give-away!!

'What's that you say Ashlee? You are having a fabulous blog give-away?'

Why yes dear reader I am. And believe me....fabulous is only the beginning.

Brief story: February of 2009 - Nomsa opens for business on etsy. The store struggles a bit selling this and that...taking crummy photos....not describing items enough....but eventually Ashlee gets a bit better at doing things, spends time reading up on marketing and business and viola...Nomsa is up and running. Hip Hip Hooray! The thing is though...I can obviously improve in many ways. So I need your help. And for your help, you can hopefully get fabulous prizes. Yes....plural.

I will give you any two items in my store that you want. Anything.
*The only exclusion are 'Reserved' listings because someone has specially ordered that item, so I can't give you what is already someone else's. *

So here's the deal. I am giving each of you a chance at three entries to this contest. Do one, do all three. It's totally up to you.

1) Take a look at my store. Leave me a comment here on my blog letting me know what two things you are currently lusting over. These will be the items that you will win if chosen. Entry #1

2) Take a look at my store. Critique it. Tell me something I can improve upon. Bad lighting in photos, wrong prices, poor descriptions? Leave me a comment and tell me. I will put on my big girl panties and take it. Entry #2

3) Tell your social media networks about this give-away. Blog about it, twitter it, put it on facebook, myspace. Whatever your thing is....do it. Leave me a comment with your blog link, twitter name, or whatever so I can see where you mentioned it. Entry #3.

IMPORTANT DETAILS:

* Now I am going to use random.org to pick a number for the winner. So let's say I get 100 comments. Random.org might choose number 73. Comment 73 wins! So it's important that you leave three SEPARATE comments so you can have three separate entries. Get it?

* Make sure to put your contact info somewhere in one of your comments so I can ship your items to you. I totally don't mind sending one thing to one place, one thing to another. Maybe you want to keep one thing for yourself, give the other thing to your mom, bff or teenager. No problem. You pick the items, you pick the addresses. By the way, it's totally cool to keep both items for yourself.

* I will pick the winner at Noon EST on Monday, May 4th. Make sure you have all your entries in my then. If the winner and I are able to get in contact with each other quickly, I will make sure your items go out on Tuesday so you can have the option of giving one of the items away for Mother's Day (May 10th)

* This give-away is open to anyone anywhere in the world. Let me hear it for my Polish Peeps!!

Questions about the contest? Custom orders? Want to send me love letters? My email is nomsaknits@gmail.com. Also, you can follow me on twitter. My username is nomsaknits.

Alright my lovelies....good luck, have fun and thanks!!

Oh yeah....Here's my store.... http://nomsa.etsy.com
PS...This is how excited I am about this!

MIA

First off....sorry for being a slacker and not writing a blog post in the last three weeks really. I have been a jerk. I know...I know. I am lame. I know some members of my family read this to keep current with my life, so I am sorry that I haven't been more interactive.

With that being said, I do actually have some things to talk about. First off, over Easter weekend, the boy and I went to Georgia to see the actual location we are getting married in September. His mom is a local official of the island off the coast of Georgia and it was our first time seeing the wedding/reception location, so I was a little nervous. Wasn't sure what to expect or on the size...but overall I love it! There are a few problems that we will have to work around (mostly size issues), but overall....it's absolutely perfect and super cute. Here are a few pictures!

This first one shows the outside. The giant turtle is kind of a theme of the island. A lot of the major buildings/businesses have a unique one outside of it. This one features a glass Mosaic shell. Also, you can see that the building has a porch, which wraps around the entire outside. We are thinking of setting up tables outside so people can relax and drink in the evening.

This picture is of the first room looking in from the doorway. Love the color. It is almost a perfect match 0f the classic 'Tiffany' jewelry store shade. Great lighting and naturally a very beautiful room. You can't really tell from the picture, but there is a lot of detailing along the wall/ceiling line.

This room is going to be a bit more of a challenge. The walls are white as well as the floor, and since it is a historical site, we can't tape/hang/etc anything to the walls. I am going to really have to be creative with this room to add some vibrancy/color. Looking forward to the challenge.

This is just a glimpse of the outside surrounding area. I didn't really take as good of pictures as I had hoped. It is really expansive and features some great areas that can be used for games, cooking, socializing etc. There is also a ballpark and playground right next to it, which the boy wants to use for an impromptu kickball game :)

Guess it's not really that impromptu if he is already pre-meditating it....

This last picture is of the gazebo that the actually ceremony will take place. It is a short walk from the reception site, near a stream and has some great foliage. I really think it be decorated in a super cute manner.

So those are some basic pictures of where I am getting married.....in five months....gulp. I have a lot to do still. I have found the invitations that I am going to get though. I am just waiting on some final details before getting them though. Here is a link to their etsy listing though...

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22390204

Um let's see....what else is new....Oh....despite my blog post earlier making fun of twitter....I am now on it.....don't worry, I have already realized my hypocrisy and it tastes good.

If you are hip like me, follow me.... http://twitter.com/nomsaknits

I am not promising excitement...but perhaps an observation or statement might make you laugh every now and again.

Okay...really quick, I have to throw in one shameless plug. I am encroaching upon 100 sales in my etsy store. Yippee! It's been only a little longer than two months and it is going better than I could have imagined. Thanks so much if you were one of those fabulous customers, and if you weren't....check it out. You might like it. You might not. http://nomsa.etsy.com

One last thing....I highly recommend the band MGMT. I am listening to them right now and if I did drugs...I would do them to this music. They are that good. They could be the 'Grateful Dead' of the twenty-something generation.

Etsy Day!!

Today is international Etsy day. It's a lovely day to celebrate handmade and the sellers who pour themselves into their craft (cough...cough).

If you have never been to the website before, go take a stroll. They have amazing search features where you can search by craft, locality, color or fabulous key words (i.e. robot...whimsical...wedding....orchids).

Support handmade. It's awesome, cool and unique. Just like you!


Oh yeah...if you want, you could check out my store as well. I think it's pretty cool.

http://nomsa.etsy.com - to celebrate etsy day in style I am offering FREE SHIPPING to anywhere in the world for all orders placed today. Pretty sweet huh?

Not an Etsy member? Click here to sign up! It's easy & FREE!

http://www.etsy.com/register

Never shopped on Etsy? - Here is a helpful guide:

http://www.etsy.com/help_guide_checkout.php

Biting off Chocolate Bunny Heads...

I like chocolate. Something might be wrong with you if you don't.

To celebrate the holiday that gives me a sugar rush like no other, I have decided to offer FREE SHIPPING to everyone in the continental US. If you live outside the US, I am offering heavily discounted shipping rates (75% off).

I think it's a lovely idea. It's especially nice because my new feather headbands have a higher shipping rate due to it's unique shape.

"Nomsa....are you saying that I can get a beautiful, hip and positively fabulous feather headband for just $15.00 without having to pay S&H?!?!"

Why yes rhetorical reader....I am saying just that.



Check out the goods! http://nomsa.etsy.com

Letters to the nameless people in my life

Dear Cashier Lady at Freshmeal,

Thank you for always smiling at me when I buy my kombucha from you. You make nice polite conversation and have a nice smile.


Dear Lady who cuts her hair in our work bathroom,

I have been noticing lots of hair clippings in our bathroom lately? Are you trying out a new style? Do you like change? What makes you cut your hair during the middle of the work day? Also, could you please clean the counter/sink when you are done? Your clippings are yicky.


Dear Homeless Man near Metro,

Sorry I didn't knit you a hat this winter. I meant to...but I got selfish and busy. I am sorry. I hope other people are nice to you.


Dear Shy Man at Au Pain last week,

Thanks for your business card. I am sorry but I will not be calling you. You were very nice but I am in love with my boy. Thanks anyway though. I thought it was cute how nervous you are.


Dear Metro Riders,

Please don't judge me as I sit huddled over reading twilight. Yes...I am 23. Yes...I am reading a teen romance/thriller. Yes....I know how silly I might look.


Dear Security Guards at my apartment,

Thank you for making me feel safe. Our building is scary but I know that you are working hard so thank you. I will bake you cookies one day as thanks.


Dear Emergency Room Doctor,

Thanks for being nice to me and rubbing my back after you made me cry. I am sorry I cried. I got startled and you pressed hard on my sore areas. You were the nicest thing about Howard University hospital.


Dear Mail Lady,

Thank you for being the craziest mail lady ever. You march to your own beat and cause me to stare everytime I see you PS...I love your wig.


Dear Chopt Salad Boy,

You are a hard worker and very sweet. Thanks for remembering me each time I come in and telling me you can't wait to see me again. I like seeing you too!

Poopy day....

Do you ever have one of those days?

I am not just talking about a waking up on the wrong side of the bed kind of day, but falling off the wrong side of the bed, hitting your head on the nightstand and stubbing your toe while grumbling kind of day.

That was my day today. It was like if anything could go wrong it could. In fact....I am embarrassed to say this....but at one point I sat in the bathroom at work with crocodile tears reading Twilight for comfort. TMI....I know, I know.

But still....today was a sad day for me and I was moaning about it to the boy on the walk home from the Subway, when I found a $10 bill on the ground.

This sudden turn of events made the sun start to shine through the clouds and I giggled a little bit.

Everything is okay now due to my new $10. Someone else's day is bad....but hopefully they will find something soon that will make them happy.

PS....my apartment sounds like there are ghosts swirling around it whenever it is windy. I don't like it when my apartment is haunted.

Coolness Occurred

Oh man.....

Right after I posted the last blog, I had this amazing link in my inbox. Check out my newest favorite blog.

http://greylikesweddings.wordpress.com/2009/04/02/corsages-out-with-the-old-in-with-the-new/

Hint Hint...check out number 8

Coolness has occurred!

So Uncool

I am fairly uncool which results in my lack of blogging. Hopefully coolness will start to pump through my veins, thus allowing me to blog about fascinating topics. But until that happens....

I got to tell you. Today was an exciting day for my etsy shop. The Gods of Etsy smiled upon me and my humble store and gave me front page exposure as well as a spot in the Prom gift guides. This was extremely fantastic and hopefully will result in some more business.


I got to tell you, running an etsy store is WAY more intense than I had imagined. There are so many little details and tricks that I never realized. It's funny because you can have the coolest product in the entire world and if Oprah got her hands on it, she would start to shout and praise you, but if you don't have good pictures, advertising or business smarts....it doesn't matter. This has been a great experience though and it really has opened up my eyes to the business world a little bit more.

My favorite business gadget right now is Google Analytics. It is probably one of the most amazing things ever and really helps me figure out the traffic on my store. If you don't have it yet....drop everything, go to google, sign up for analytics, enter in your blog/etsy store/facebook page/URL and gather the data from it. Bask in the pie charts, giggle over the brillance of the graphs and ponder why you have such a wide following in Poland (shout-out to all my Polish Peeps!)

P.S. I didn't think you could really kill a bamboo plant, but right now I am staring at my pitiful bamboo plant on my table which is obviously dying. Any tips on resurrecting it?

PPS. I have another plant that I had already killed about a month ago, but I continue to water it's dead leaves in hope that I can revitalize it. No luck yet. I will probably give it another month.