Holiday Giveaway.... WINNERS Announced!

I am so pleased to announce the Winners of our Holiday Give-away contest.  A quick recap of the prizes, generously gifted by several talented Etsy artists:

Prize #1: A Tammy Thorpe original (purse)
Prize #2: A $25 shop gift certificate from Heather of olive and ollie
Prize #3: A day planner from Leah Johnson of The Musing Nerve
Prize #4: An upcycled hat from Chloe Hennesy of Salvador Salamander
Prize #5: A business card holder from Tori of Toriska

Readers left some great comments that mirrored my own feelings about shopping local and supporting small business. 

Some highlights:

“I love knowing the money stays in my community. I love supporting someone's dream of having a business and supporting their creativity.” ~ burrito

“That local shop has an owner that knows me by my name and hot food with local names to remind me that I am not in just any old town.” ~ Kathy Zeigler Lindemer

“I shop local because I LIVE local. I want MY money to improve MY community and MY schools. I would much rather MY money go to helping the local community grow stronger.” - Jacqueline

“Can we calculate how much we loose of life in the guise of getting a "better deal"? I want to spend my money in support of a life where we still interact as person to person. I want products that display human expression and artistry.” ~ Eve Young, Somerville, MA

"I support local for many reasons: 1) environmental: sticking to locally made cuts down on Packaging waste, shipping etc. 2) handmade is so much better than store-bought :) 3) supporting local supports the community.” ~ Holly

“I like to see the faces behind what I eat and buy” ~ Glo

“I assume a local business is making an investment in their community--I see that first hand now that my oldest son is on sports teams. SO I feel like we should support them as they support us.” ~ muffintopmommy

Thank you all for sharing your thoughts so eloquently in support of small business!!

Now, who won?

First we used the sequence generator from Random.org to randomize the participants.  Following that, we used Random Number Generator to then pick the winners, pictured below.

Matching this to the randomized entry list, we now have our Winners:

So yes Al, that does mean that you won the purse! Amelia has been gifted the $25 with Olive and Ollie. Marie, you will soon be in possession of a new planner to keep yourself on track. Kathy will soon be donning an upcycled hat and Jacqueline will be receiving a fancy new card holder from Toriska. 

Congratulations Winners!! I hope you all enjoy your gifts or have someone special in mind that will appreciate them if you choose to gift to another!We will be in touch with you shortly to arrange details in getting your prizes to you. 

Happy Holidays Everyone and thank you again for participating!