a giveaway with brilliant blogger jessika hepburn

it's a fun new series on the blog, nicies! a fill-in-the-blank interview with some of our favourite super-bloggers from around the blogosphere that inspire each of us everyday with their writings! i sent each nicey a page full of fill-in-the-blanks questions { my words in blue } ...  & they filled them in with their insights { their words in grey! } hope you'll enjoy fill-in-the-blanks with today's brilliant blogger: the inspiring handmaking-cheerleader, designer, mommy & blogging superstar, jessika of oh my! handmade {one of my very favourite blogs!}  { AND ... read on to see how you can WIN an amazing advertising & PR package for your indie business, too!} 

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Hello lovely RikRak readers

I'm Jessika Hepburn, editor of Oh My! Handmade and I am so excited to be featured on RikRak, one of my favourite Canadian blogs.

I am an artist & a designer & a mama to two beautiful little girls, Ila Elizabeth and Sela Dae.

I blog about all things handmade and wonderful along with my team of over 20 monthly and guest contributors at Oh My! Handmade.

{You might be surprised to hear that I moved to Halifax from a tiny island rainforest utopia called Sointula in northern BC. Sointula means "place of harmony" in Finnish and is the only place in North America where orca come out of the water to rub themselves on the beach. Founded by Finnish utopian socialists in 1901 it is home to the oldest cooperative in Canada. When we lived there I ran the non-profit resource centre + a cooperative preschool.}

Beyond blogging, my  perfect day would be :  crafting with my girlfriends (who are spread all over the world now) , eating fabulous cupcakes, talking about life,  listening to our children's laughter as they run wild, playing together with handmade toys made by mama's hands.


I'm happiest when I am working with others to create something wonderful. Or when I am home alone crafting-it's split 50/50!

Here's my favourite photo of myself (see top of interview). I love this photo because it's the ONLY recent photo of myself where I'm not hugely pregnant or holding a baby. Also, I am in front of one of my Nana's hand-dyed silk tapestries. She was an incredible artist & woman + her love of colour and fibre is one of my biggest inspirations.

I just finished making a bouquet of felt flowers for a Spring Flowers tutorial on Oh My! Handmade in April and just started building a personal website for my design & consultation business. I'm in the middle of planning a kitchen reno + massive spring cleaning.

I love making  too many things! But I am really inspired by wool & fibre, vintage fabrics, pen & ink & paper, creating with my computer... oh and food-I love making elaborate cakes & meals.
Crafting makes me able to let go of the never ending list of things I need to get done  & cooking/baking makes me happy no matter what else is going on.


A word I love to overuse is lovely, it is like a compulsion.

I am amazed by how much I enjoy blogging!


The community is so supportive  and the creativity of it constantly amazes & inspires me!

I began blogging  when I took over Oh My! Handmade from Sara Tams of sarah+abraham and now I blog because I love it so much!

It amazes about blogging that it's so easy to make new friends I adore and build community with people all over the world!

My 3 tips to a great blog would be:
Originality, excellent content & creativity.

Gosh! It's challenging blogging when there just aren't enough hours in the day!
But fear not, I just chose to let go of some of the other work in my life that wasn't fulfilling me. Plus I stay up late & drink lots of strong coffee!
 One of my absolute favourite blog posts I've ever written is this one on Copycats & Copyright: Keeping Our Handmade Community Safe . I am loving all our Handmade Ethics  posts & how the comments have shown that readers are loving it too!

I am so inspired reading other blogs.

I love the Scoutie Girl blog because Tara & her contributors are filling the world with the ethics & ideas I have lived by for a long time. We can create a better world through living our creative dreams and supporting each other-it's that simple!

and I  adore the Pikaland blog because it's like an online art gallery filled with innovation & new artists to fall in love with.

and of course the RikRak blog is fabulous because it's so filled with heart, kindness & handmade goodness. {editor's note: many thanks, wonderwoman. i feel exactly the same about your fabulous blog!}

One thing I wish I had learned sooner in bloggyville is that it is SO easy to make friends & connections that are fulfilling not just professionally but personally.

My favourite part of blogging is the creativity & kindness of the community, hands down.

However, I could do without hearing so much about copying/plagiarism in the handmade community especially by big business! It makes me really angry & sad, but I know we can find ways to protect ourselves & each other.

Something exciting  happening on my blog these days is our Twitter Tea Party! 2 hours of chatting about whatever our theme is + work/life with my followers who all just awesome. It's a good time & you're invited! Check it out here.
 

jessika hepburn

oh my! handmade blog | twitter | facebook | design website | etsy

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yay!

thanks so much, jessika, for your inspiring words! 

i'm such a fan of all you do, nicey!

jessika is just one of those fabulous fabulous folks in life that you're just gonna love. she's inspiring, sincere, a creative power-house, so generous and loving and warm ... everything i know we all aspire to be in life and qualities we dream of having in a dear friend! kudos to you, sweetie! you're just wonderful!

and now... one lucky rikrak studio reader WILL WIN...

....... an $85 advertising and promotion package from jessika hepburn! ....

that's right ... this prize pack includes:

2 months of banner advertising on the oh my! handmade goodness blog

($70 value) 

&

an animated ad 

($15 value)

.............

WOW! 

1. tell us why you need to spread the word about your crafty business!

=   1 entry

2.  grab the oh my! handmade rss feed.

...  & tell us.

=   1 entry

3. become a fan of oh my! on facebook.

...  & tell us.

=   1 entry

4. heart/fave jessika's lovely handmade shop on etsy. 

...  & tell us

=   1 entry

5. follow BOTH oh my! handmade { she's @ohmyhandmade } AND the rikrak shop (that's me! @therikrakshop)  on twitter

... & tell us.

= 1 entry

6. take a look thru jessika's new design website & tell us your favourite logo design or small business marketing package. 

= 1 entry

7.  follow or burn the rss feed  to the rikrak studio blog

... & tell us.

= 1 entry

8. tweet on twitter

... about this giveaway and come back here and tell us! be sure to include @therikrakshop so i can find you! 

= 1 entry

9. blog about this giveaway

... come back and tell us.

= 1 entry

10. grab one of my rikrak studio buttons,
like this one from the left hand sidebar, for YOUR BLOG!

<center><a href="http://rikrakstudio.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="the rikrak studio" src="http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/rikrakstudio/therikrakstudiorectangle.jpg" /></a></center>

<center><a href="http://rikrakstudio.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img alt="the rikrak studio" src="http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/rikrakstudio/therikrakstudiosquare.jpg" /></a></center>

and add it to your blog!

{ ... just copy & paste the text in the box above  onto your blog sidebar! thanks! }

11. :: PLEASE NOTE: 

each entry must be it's own comment.

thanks! ::

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:: RULES ::

a) it is possible to have a maximum of 10 entries total per person.
b) please make sure to leave each entry as its own comment. thanks!
c) using random.org, 1 winner of the jessika hepburn giveaway will be chosen on thursday, april 7th @ 11pm EST.
d) open to contestants worldwide.
e) please be sure to leave me an email where i can reach you if your account doesn't link to one. thanks.

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