Pick Up Sticks Design Contest Winner – The Mole Hole of Somerset, KY

We thought holding a contest to find the best displays from Pick Up Sticks retailers would be great fun – give us some new ideas, show us how all of you out there do it. . .We just had no inkling how tough it would be to pick a winner.  But we have, and we’re pleased to announce The Mole Hole of Somerset has taken the cake, set the standard, seized the prize!  And won themselves $200 of wholesale jewelry by doing so.

Are these displays great or what?  We especially love the dog, which The Mole Hole calls Pick the Dog.  Their story is that they found him waiting outside the front door one morning and decided to let him in for a while.  He was so grateful that he chose to make himself useful, and has been displaying their Pick Up Sticks jewelry since day one.  He makes us laugh out loud. . .

And these framed, themed displays?  Rosa from The Mole Hole says, “One of our employees keeps a large supply of scrap-booking materials – vintage papers, stickers, quotes, decals, etc.  We thought the concept behind Pick Up Sticks would be enhanced by displaying similar subjects in a shadow box or frame. . .”

We agree.  Using vintage materials to display Pick Up Sticks, and doing it in such an appealing way (hmmmm – a frame within a frame?) is a great way to sell jewelry.  You make us proud, Mole Hole, and you’ve given us some great ideas so share with other retailers.

By the way, you can find The Mole Hole at 370 S. Hwy 27 in Somerset, Kentucky, or follow them on facebook.

Thanks to all of you who entered the contest – we posted the runners-up on Facebook, and may have space here to show you some of their amazing displays in the future.  It really was a daunting task to choose the winner – we’re blown away by how creative ou retailers have been with their Pick Up Sticks displays.  Can’t wait to see how you wow us next time!

ANOTHER PICK UP STICKS CONTEST – TELL US YOUR STORY!!

 

Glena and Sabrina, when their story was just beginning. . .

 We blog because we love a good story, and we figure you do too. Based on your comments and feedback, you love the stories of Glena and Sabrina when they were just getting started, how our retailers display their Pick Up Sticks, how we come up with new designs, and how the poodles make our lives complete.

But what we’ve found is that, most of all, you love stories about people just like you, how they wear their Pick Up Sticks (thanks Carly Cristman!) and how sometimes, if we’re really lucky, Pick Up Sticks has a small part in touching their lives (thanks Erika Martinez for your story – see at https://pickupsticksjewelry.wordpress.com/2010/06/03/desere-and-erika-an-amazing-pick-up-sticks-story/).

Erika and Desere

All of you may not have had the chance to read the post on Erika and her cousin Desere. But at the studio, we were inspired by Erika’s story of her love for her cousin and their deep bond. We were touched and grateful that we were able to share just a moment in their lives.

Based on the fact that everyone enjoys a great story, we’re having a “testimonial contest.”  Send us your best Pick Up Sticks story (please include photos or videos) to sabrina@pickupsticks.net by midnight on Christmas Eve and we’ll read them all and pick a winner.

If your story’s chosen as the winner, you’ll receive a charm and trinket of your choice on a stainless steel ball chain. We’ll also run your story on our blog and Facebook on January 5.  And because you all love stories so much, we’ll try to run several additional entries after we announce the winner.

Do you have a favorite Pick Up Sticks story? A moment between you and a sister, mother, daughter or best friend, when Pick Up Sticks helped make the moment more complete? Do you just want to say how much you love Pick Up Sticks (we’d be happy to hear it!) and send us a photo with your favorite necklace or bracelet? Do you have a favorite charm, and if so, why? Are you a retailer with a great customer story?

Stories. We’ve all got them. We’re betting your’s will make us proud to be a part of your life. We have great fun designing and selling our jewelry – getting to hear about how it fits into your day is icing on the cake.

Here’s the fine print:

THE RULES

Deadline: December 24, 2010, midnight

1. Who is eligible? Anyone! But please understand, if you win, we can only ship your prizes to United States or Canada. You may enter as many stories as you want, before the deadline.

2. What is eligible? All stories must be original.

3. What do I need to submit? Entries accepted via email only. High resolution images work best.  Please email images in a jpg format.

4. Where do I email the entries and who do I contact if I have questions? Sabrina@pickupsticks.net

You don’t have to purchase anything to win or participate. Internet access and valid e-mail address required. Void where prohibited. All entries must be received by December 24, 2010, 11:59 pm (MST).

When you submit a story, it means you have read and agree to the following:

Submissions must be the exclusive original work of the entrant. You must have the unrestricted right to provide this narrative. You guarantee that the submission does not infringe upon any third party’s proprietary, copyright or other rights.

You transfer to Pick Up Sticks all rights, title and interest in and to the stories you submit.

Pick Up Sticks reserves the right to alter any story submitted for the purpose of grammar, syntax, and spelling, in any way they see fit.

If you’re not the winner of the competition, you still grant Pick Up Sticks the right to use your story if they deem it appropriate.

You grant Pick Up Sticks the worldwide, perpetual right to use your name as the narrator of this story and winner of this contest, without approval or compensation.

The Wild Child Has Arrived!!

 

It’s here – the charm to celebrate the Wild Child in all of us!  You know who she is – that little voice in your head that says you’re not like everybody else, you’re ready to go at the drop of a hat, you’re excited to be alive, you’ll fist fight anyone who wrongs your best friend (or your kids. . .).  We now have a charm to celebrate the side of all of us that refuses to conform.  We have our own Wild Child photo charm.  With a reverse side that reads, “You can’t make me. . .” 

As usual, Sabrina has designed a charm that’s incredibly fun, but also true.  And wouldn’t you know it, it’s also good-looking. 

Even better – she had help with this design.  The image in this charm was the winner of our design contest.  As you may recall, back on August 6 we published a post about our design contest winner, Deanna Hamsley.  We told you then that Sabrina was tweaking the adorable photo that won the contest, and that someday soon we’d have a new charm to show you. 

Now that the charm has been designed and is ready to order, we wanted to tell you a little more about Deanna and that irresistible baby.  Turns out it’s Deanna’s daughter, Emerson, who’s a Wild Child in her own right.  According to Deanna, little Emerson Hamsley was a sassy baby and a total “ham” from the moment she was old enough to smile for the camera.  She was a 7 month-old wild child in her high chair when her mama, looking for a photo of a sweet girl, pointed the camera and told her to say “cheese.”  This image is what Deanna got from her girl. 

Emerson’s grandparents loved the photo so much they had an 8 X 10 made and put it near their dining room table.  Emerson has thought all along the girl in the photo is her great friend – she talks to her when she eats at their table.  Deanna decided this was the perfect photo to enter in the contest – a face to make anyone smile. 

Deanna loves Pick Up Sticks.  She says she accosted a customer where she works when she saw the women wearing one of our necklaces.  She picked up her first piece at Bella Vita in Collierville, TN, where she lives. 

We asked Deanna about her favorite charms – she says she loves owls and owns the So Tweet charm.  She also owns the Love Cake charm and a few initial charms, but the cake charm is her favorite.  We’re betting that the new Wild Child charm may quickly become her favorite. 

This is what Pick Up Sticks is all about – creating charms that both reflect and speak to our lives, our friends, our families and our hearts.  Thanks again, Deanna, for giving us your wild child’s smile and sharing her story! 

Deanna, her husband and the adorable Emerson

Blog Subscriber Contest!

Pick a Necklace - You Could be Our Winner!

For the three of you out there who aren’t on Facebook and just got lucky enough to locate our blog from our website or a search engine, we want to announce our newest Pick Up Sticks contest.  Because we’re so proud of our blog, and because we have so many posts planned that will give you ALL the insider info on the Pick Up Sticks crew and everything that’s going on at the studio, we want you as a subscriber to our blog.  Basically we want you on our team.  We want your feedback, your comments, and we want to be able to find you when we have a really juicy story to tell (soon. . .very soon)!

So, click on the subscriber button in the right-hand column, then be sure to check your e-mail for a confirmation and the link that insures you’re getting on our subscriber list.  To thank you for becoming tuned in to the Pick Up Sticks blog, we’re going to give some lucky subscriber a prize.

The 50th subscriber wins ANY photo charm and trinket their heart desires on a stainless ball chain.  But that’s not all!  The 100th subscriber will get one photo charm, one word candy, and one trinket of their choice on any CHAIN of their choosing!  It’s the perfect chance to win the Pick Up Sticks necklace of your dreams while subscribing to one of the funnest blogs in cyberspace.  For all you retailers out there, feel free to print this post and let your most faithful Pick Up Sticks collectors know so that they can stay as informed as you are and maybe win a necklace in the process!

Good luck!  We LOVE being in touch with you guys.