Join The Circle Of Love Handcrafted Giveaway!

[Update: The Giveaway Has Begun!! Find Out More Here!]

Like all blog readers, i love a giveaway :) i've never won one yet but that doesn't stop me entering, especially when there is a really special prize!

Giveaways are great for bloggers too - they generate increased audience interactivity and often attract quite a few new readers.


What i have in mind is a giveaway with a difference, a giveaway that will provide the opportunity for a great deal of beneficial connectivity in the craft world, as well as a really super duper prize for the lucky winner!

Here's the idea:

♥ A group of craft bloggers will each donate one of their handcrafted items to the giveaway, creating a fantastic jackpot prize of all the donated items.


♥ People can gain a chance in the prize draw every time they follow one of the participating blogs or fulfil another of the entrance opportunities suggested by individual bloggers (such as liking their facebook page etc). They can also gain 2 chances by blogging about the competition.

Some Finer details

♥ Entrants must leave a comment on 'The Circle of Love Giveaway' blog post of any blog they have entered the competition through saying what they have done to enter e.g. "i have followed your blog and liked your facebook page" (this is very important to ensure you are entered into the prize draw). Entrants are also encouraged to say something positive about the blog or the craftwork of the blogger - this is The Circle of Love after all!

♥ At the end of the competition i will ask all the participating bloggers to send me a list of the people who have entered through their blog (including how many chances of winning they've gained there).

♥ I will use a random number selector to choose the winner, and notify them immediately of the good news! I will also notify the participating bloggers of the winner's details so that they can send them all their lovely prizes :)


♥ The competition will run from mid-day GMT on Sunday the 30th April to mid-day GMT on Sunday the 13th May.

The Circle Of Love

I have called this giveaway 'The Circle Of Love' because i hope it will result in lots of likeminded people connecting to and supporting each other through blogs and other social media networks. One lucky person is going to receive a truly wonderful prize! but it is my hope that everyone involved in The Circle Of Love will come out feeling like a winner! :)

My Donation To The Prize Draw Jackpot

Here is my donated item to give you a taste of things to come... a handcrafted linen heart garland with the retail price of £18. It is just under 150cms long and there are 9 hearts in total. I rather like the way it symbolises the way that blogs will be linked by the Circle of Love Giveaway! :)

If you would like to see further photographs and details about my garland it listed there for sale here: Free Spirit Designs or here on Etsy, Folksy.

Want to be one of the participating blogs? Here's what you need to know:

♥ If you are a crafter with a blog, you are invited to donate one of your own handmade items to be part of the prize for the giveaway. As a guideline, i am looking for items with a retail price of around £10 to £20, but items outside of this bracket are also welcome - the main thing is that they have been handcrafted with love! Please send me and email with a photo of the item you want to contribute to free.spiritdesigns@rocketmail.com by mid-day on Friday 27th April.

♥ I will email out a copy of all of the photos of the contributed items to the participating bloggers before the competition starts, and a list of links to their blogs.  When the competition begins, each participating blogger can write a blog post about it, with details of their own contribution as well as the other photos and blog links to the other participants. (If the item you are contributing is also available for sale make sure to include a link to where people can purchase on in your blog post!)

♥ Following the blog of any of the participating bloggers will count as one chance in the prize draw, but each blogger may add further opportunities to enter the draw on their blog such as 'liking' their facebook page (if you want people to like from their personal page make sure to ask for that), following them on twitter, or following another blog that they write.

♥ Before submitting the names of the people who have entered the competition by commenting on your giveaway post, please check that they have done the things that they say they have (twitter following etc) to keep things fair!

♥ The more you spread the word about the competition once its underway, the more successful it will be for all involved - so get the word out as much as you can from 30th April onward! 

♥ Participating bloggers can't enter the competition themselves, but they are encouraged to leave positive comments on each other's blogs anyway to help spread the love :)

♥ Non uk bloggers who wish to take part are more than welcome although they should keep in mind that they may be sending the item they've donated over seas. On this note, all participating bloggers might want to think carefully about the weight of the item they are contributing! (I have decided to restrict postage to the UK and EU Europe - the winner will need to provide an address within these areas to send the prizes to)


♥ The participating blogs will each write a blog post about, and individually promote the competition. This will create a circle of influence far wider than a giveaway run by a single blog and enable everyone involved to benefit from the increased interactivity. If you are a craft blogger that wants to publicise their handcrafted products, gain more blog readers and social media followers, and connect to more like minded and supportive crafters then this could be a really fantastic opportunity!

Have I Forgotten Anything?!

The competition is not in full swing yet so there is still time for fine-tuning - if you've got any ideas on how things could be improved please do comment here or get in touch - there are bound to be some obvious things that i haven't thought of!!!


p.s. If you would like to be notified when the competition begins, drop me an email, or follow this blog and keep a look out for The Circle Of Love Giveaway post!




[Update: The Giveaway Has Begun!! Find Out More Here!]