And the winner of the sweet tea set is.....

Pipcake!

Thanks to everyone who entered, keep your eyes open for more giveaways in the near future!

Vegan Craft Samples Blog Giveaway!

Yes, that's right, its time for another blog giveaway!!!! One of our contributors, SBS Teas, sent in something special for a giveaway!

If you have bought a Vegan Craft Sample Bag in the past we are sure you are familiar with the different teas SBS Teas have sent in, we love them here at our house!

NUMI Flowering Tea with Dancing Leaves Teapot, comes with 5 flowering tea blossoms, and the glass tea pot!

So, how do you enter?
You get 1 entry for each thing you do (please post each thing as seperate comments, so we can use a random number generator to pick our winner!)

Follow us on Twitter
Fan us on Facebook
Join is in our Ning community, where you can meet the contributors, add photos of your own, and make new friends!!!
Check out Sbs Teas and post a link to your favorite item!
Follow this blog
Follow Vegan Etsy Teams Blog

This blog giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere....so get your entries in. I dont have a set date as to when I will draw the winner, but I want to get a decent amount of entries first! Tell your friends....please.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE remember to leave your email address so we can get ahold of you if you win!!!!

Valentines Day the Cruelty Free Way! Vegan Craft Sample Bags

We are already receiving samples from our contributors for Valentines Day 2010 sample bags! 100% profits from each bag will go to Pigs Peace Sanctuary!

Late to the Revolution sent in these awesome cards!

Donations Needed For Animal Sanctuary Raffle FOR THE ANIMALS

For The Animals is an animal sanctuary located in Montclair, New Jersey. For The Animals gives sanctuary to victims of the food farming trade.

This morning when I woke up I saw a post on Vegan Etsy that For The Animals is looking for handmade items for a raffle they plan to do to raise money for the animals!

Perfect, we happen to have 1 regular sized sample bag left and ready to be shipped to For The Animals!

I really hope that the raffle goes well and whomever wins enjoys all of the items from handmade folks who love animals and creating!

If you are interested in donating items for the raffle please contact Deb:
info@fortheanimalssanctuary.org
or simply mail your items to

for the Animals sanctuary
8 Cherokee Trail
Blairstown NJ
07825

Earth Day Sample Bags Looking for Contributors

Ok here is a bit of incentive for people (as if these bags arent already cool enough)

Any person that signs up to send in 50 or more samples, and does so
will receive a free small sample bag
you must check out a bag, like you are going to pay for it and put in notes to seller
what you sent in for samples and how many

Unfortunately this only can go for folks who send in actual samples, coupons and business cards (or pins with just your shop promo on it)
do not count toward a free bag

So the bags are totally cute, they are full of neat samples from handmade folks around the world...and if you contribute 50 or more samples you get one for free!

What more can you ask for?

Profits from our Earth Day bags will go to a Rat Rescue/Sanctuary in honor of the month of the rat!

Vegan Craft Samples in VEG NEWS!

Cute Overload with Vegan Craft Samples Pick Of The Pack

Each and every single one of the cards from Fuzzy Umbrella makes me want to say "AWWWW" out loud.

Seriously tho, the use of "you're in my heart" who wouldnt want to open up an envelope from the mail carrier and see this sweet card? Check out fuzzy umbrella for more crafty cuteness!

Todays Pick of The Pack...this little piggie went to the market.....these little piggies hung out on etsy!

These little piggies raise money for Hearts on Noses , and are super cute to boot!

These cute cards are from Cards and Jewelry by Michele, a shop that gives cute little pins, earrings, hair barrettes to Vegan Craft Samples, always cute and generally animal themed!

I thought these little piggie cards were perfect since the profits from our New Years Vegan Craft Sample Bags go to Pigs Peace Sanctuary!

Today's Pick Of The Pack from Vegan Craft Samples Chocolate Soap?

Yes, thats right, todays pick of the pack is a bar of chocolate soap....yum how I love chocolate!

Earth Natural Essentials has a wide array of delicious natural soaps, lip balms, lotions, bath salts, body butters, bath oils...etc. etc. etc. When I look at Earth Natural Essentials I get so excited with all of the awesome choices and great bath opportunities! (we all know I love bath items!!)

I absolutely love their lip balms, I have the citrus one from a previous sample bag..yumm

Today's Pick Of The Pack from Vegan Craft Samples

Today's pick of the pack is from Eat Me Alive, one of our awesome contributors to our New Years Vegan Craft Sample Bags!

I chose these Lavender Bath Truffles, because they look like the perfect thing to cure my "working all the time" blues. Lavender is naturally calming...I can picture it now, a nice hot bath, some lavender truffles, and a nice hot cup of lavender tea....beddy time for me!

Vegan Craft Samples- where have you been?

Things have been crazy around here! Between taking care of my grandmother, getting a full time job, and trying to do all the crafty fun stuff too....I have been lost in the shuffle for quite a while. I hope we didnt lose everyone who was reading our blog...tap tap, is this thing on?

Well to get this fire cooking, warm up our spirits and bodies and take a peek at a contributor to the first sample bag of the new year!

Warm up with a nice hot cup of tea from SBS Teas

100% profits from our January 2010 bags will go to Pigs Peace Sanctuary

Meet Bubba and Charlie, they've been together for years and are best of friends...making their home at Pigs Peace Sanctuary

January 2010 Vegan Craft Sample Bag Contributors and Video

I just finished making our January 2010 video of Vegan Craft Sample Contributors!

Things around here are exciting as usual, with the new sample bags in the works, the giveaway going on for the new design on our bags and I got another day job. HAH the tangled webs we weave. The January bags are going to be limited edition/quantities so we are suggesting you get yours the day they go on sale (January 1st, 2010)

This blog has been super lacking lately, I am just a bit overwhelmed I suppose, please find us on facebook, twitter, and Ning as well as here!

I also changed our website back to the cow look, and I am interested in opinions...I am awful with computers so I did my best...would also like to change the blog back, but I have no clue how...anyone out there that can help me?

Win a Vegan Craft Sample Bag Design Our Logo

We are looking for the perfect logo for our bags, yes thats right we will be switching to premade bags, but to keep handmade alive we will be hand printing or stenciling a logo on each bag!

What does that mean for you?

Come up with a design for our logo, email it to us, and when we receive all of the entries we will have a vote on this very blog!

Here is some useful information when coming up with your design
Vegan Craft Samples
Its All In the Bag

both are titles of our bags,used together and interchangeably

100% profits go to animals ( would like to have that mentioned on the design if possible)

our web address
vegancraftsamples.com

Those are the basics, go wild, run with it and have fun!

Please remember to email your design to
ecosampler@yahoo.com

Good luck, the due date for the designs is December 20th

Please remember that if I do a stencil of the design it will be hand done, and if i screen print it it will also be hand done.....nothing too crazy hhah

Good luck!

Andy Eats Only Candy, Can You Blame Them?

Andy Eats Only Candy is a super cute shop that sent in hand screenprinted patches for our Holiday Vegan Craft Sample Bags. Upon further detective work I found a shop full of cute screenprinted items!

From handscreened fabric with pretty birds to handscreened plushies to super cute totes with bicycles screenprinted on them! (we all know how much I love bicycle items on etsy!)

So many cute items and guess what, all printed on recycled materials! That is a major plus with me, I love working with recycled fabrics and bringing them back, giving them a new life!

Compassionate Crafting With Starrlight Jewelry

One of the first packages we receive for the sample bags is always from Starrlight Jewelry, and with a smile on my face I tear into the package expecting greatness! Starr is also a member of Vegan Etsy Team and does a lot of the foot work for the team.

Starrlight Jewelry also donates a lot of time and pieces from their collection to animal charities and events, in addition to Vegan Craft Samples.

Starrlight keeps a blog where she has recently been posting about the 8 new rescued kitties she is sharing her love with and often has giveaways and offers for shoppers!

Starrlight has recently made a "customer appreciation" folder on her website and is offering up this great deal! "All my Customers Whom Submit a Customer Appreciation Photo Get A 10.00 Shop Gift Certificate ~OR~ 25% Off their next order from my shop.
To Submit a photo, email it to StarrlightJewelry@hotmail.com and include your Etsy account name or pm me on etsy and add it as an attachment."

You can even get a glimpse at my mug in her customer appreciation folder on her facebook!

Thanks a lot Starrlight Jewelry for all your hard work with the animals, your contributions time and again to Vegan Craft Samples and the love and work you put into Vegan Etsy Team !

Youtube Video Promotion Of Vegan Craft Samples, etsy promotion!

I just finished putting this together, please leave comments, show love, and most importantly share with your friends and family! Our bags are on sale now, 100% profits go to help Peaceful Prairie Animal Sanctuary.

Pamper Yourself With It's All In The Bag- Vegan Craft Samples

After a long weekend getting all of the sample bags ready, I am exhausted and really needed some pampering. So I reached into my Vegan Craft Sample bag and here is what I found....

First I pulled out my "sex on the beach" vegan candles from Wicks to Wax, and set them up all around the tub. Hey, I said I was going to pamper myself, didn't I? These candles actually smell! I have had so much trouble looking for vegan candles that give off scent, and the scent lasts too! Sex on the beach smells great, fresh and clean, it really set the mood for my bath.

Then I started the water, really hot because I need the heat to relax today, and poured in OSayin' Holisticsvegan milk bath, watching it dissolve as it hit the water. Put my tip toes in to test the temperature then laid right into the milky delight. The milk bath really added a nice touch to the water, I could feel how soft it was on my skin instantly.

Then came the time to wash up, and I reached right for my little slice of heaven from Heaven and Earth Essentials(I swear I thought of that analogy, typed it out, then realized I mentioned heaven when referring to their soap hah!). This little chunk of soap, is so pretty I hated to use it, but alas, what am I going to do stare at it for years to come? I love the light fragrance of this soap, and the dried herbs right in the bar, such a pretty touch.

What a nice long relaxing bath, and boy oh boy did I need it! I hopped out of the tub and tried my first of 5 new lip balms from Earth Natural Essentials, the orange. I love orange scent and orange flavored anything! A shop after my own heart, using hemp seed oil, this lip balm glides right on and has a wonderful orange-y scent!

ON SALE NOW! Vegan Craft Sample Holiday Bags

100% profits to Peaceful Prairie Sanctuary!

Due to a large response we are having 2 different sized bags this time, a regular and a large. The large contains 25+ samples and the regular contains the usual 17-20.

You can get your bag in the following places

There is an easy checkout cart in the right margin, through artfire (for the large bags)
Click above on HOME, and go to the order section of our website! You can choose the size bag you would like
Or finally, go to our Etsy where you can also buy either size!

Bella Pure is pure magic for your lips!

Bella Pure recently sent us samples for our Holiday Sample Bag and included a sample just for me! What did I get? One of their new CoQ10 Vegan Lip Conditioners!

Of course I eagerly and liberally applied my new lip conditioning balm, and it went on so smooth and soft. No greasy feeling lips, they just feel smooth and soft, which is great as I ride my bike all winter and my lips turn into a mess!

I am stocking up now on great lip moisturizers and preparing for yet another wild bike riding winter in Upstate, NY, where the winter seems to last atleast 7 months of the year.

Veg News Magazine

Has anyone seen the new Veg News Magazine yet? Well when you pick one up and start perusing it, look out for Vegan Craft Samples/It's All In The Bag, and Vegan Etsy Team. I was interviewed not that long ago for the piece, and I am quoted in the article a couple of times, definately worth checking out!

With the sample bags sale date only 1 week away, people are rush shipping packages of beautiful samples to make it just in time! Here's what last week brought us! (sorry the blog has been so slow, things are crazy around here trying to sew up all the bags, yes thats right, I am Holistically Heather and I make all of the bags!)

Cellphone Charms from Ladies Blend

Earrings from Airport Love Story

Photographs from 3AM Art Productions

Earrings and Rings from Apache Moon/ Pointy Paws

Vegan Milk Baths/ Soaps from Osayin Holistics