Oakland Rose Garden and a Special Giveaway

Having only lived in the bay area a few years, there’s still so much we haven’t discovered or visited yet. One of the “places to see” on my list was the Morcom Rose Garden in Oakland. Given that we have dry season here almost year round, I figured there were only a few months of the year when I could catch the roses in full bloom after the California rains have finally fallen.

I recently had the pleasure of visiting this beautiful garden last month with one of my nieces, and I am so glad we went! The garden was much larger than I had anticipated. Among the rows upon rows of gorgeous roses, each one different (and labeled!.. although I didn’t bring a notebook..) the garden also had a gigantic multi-tiered waterfall that cascaded down the hill.

We meandered through each pathway and took many pictures, of course! Here’s a few of my favorites.

Not roses obviously, but these pretty flowers filled a median in the entryway.

Gorgeous magenta petals!

Partial view of the tiered waterfall..

This gorgeous rose looks like it had been hand painted.

Watercolor petals..

This rose trio reminded me of a necklace I made before..

See the resemblance?!

Classic ivory roses. So beautiful and delicate.

The petals are starting to fade away, but still look so pretty and fragile..

I just adored this one. It looked so unique!

After our tour of roses, we decided to take a break for a snack and some silly pictures!

Well, that garden sure was inspiring, to say the least. Now onto the giveaway!

Hand formed clay roses on sterling silver posts (approximately 3/8″ wide.)

As part of my Etsy Christmas in July special (and because I just love flowers, which is obvious) I’m giving away a pair of my Petite White Clay Rose Earrings! Want to win them? Here’s how to enter:

Required: Leave a comment telling me what your favorite kind of flower is. No, it doesn’t have to be roses to qualify. ;)

Additional Entries: Up to two bonus entries can be earned by doing either of the following (Please leave a separate comment for each additional entry)..

A. Become a fan of Victoria Camp Designs on Facebook, http://www.facebook.com/victoriacampdesigns. Leave a comment here to tell me you did! (Addendum 7/11: Already a FB fan? Gain this extra entry if a friend signs up! For privacy, just let me know their initials in your comment here so that I can verify on my page that they’ve joined. FYI, fan name lists do not show up publicly on the FB page!)

B. “Pin” one of my jewelry items onto Pinterest and comment with the link of your pin! Items can be pinned from my Etsy shop, Website, or this blog. You can pin as many items as you want, but please be aware that only one extra entry per person will qualify.

Entries will be accepted from 7/11/2012-7/22-2012 midnight PST. I will randomly select a winner using a number generator from random.org on 7/23/2012. Winner will be notified via email and announced on this entry. Good luck!

7/23/2012- Time’s up! Congratulations to winner number 11, Marj!

1000th Sale Milestone – Shop Sale and $50 Gift Certificate Giveaway!

Happy Monday!

I am excited to announce that I have reached a milestone – 1000 sales in my shop on Etsy! I am so thrilled and grateful for all of your support in helping me reach 4-digits, and wanted to celebrate with you!

Now through Sunday May 13th, I’m holding a shop-wide sale for 10% off any purchase. The discount has already been applied to the listings, so there’s no need to use a coupon code or anything else.

I’m also holding a giveaway for a $50 gift certificate to my store! To enter, simply leave a comment on this post and let me know which of my designs is your favorite. It can be something you have already purchased, or something you would like to own! I’ll use Random.org to choose a winner at random from all of the entries. Leave your comment on this post before Monday May 14th at 11pmPST. Comment entries are now completed for this giveaway. Thanks to all who participated! The winner will be randomly selected on Tuesday the 15th and will be announced here!

Now it’s time to hold a sweet little celebration of my own..with a pint of my favorite gelato on this gorgeous sunny day!  :)

 

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The winning number has been selected! Congrats, Lillea!

November Raffle

First of all, Happy (almost) Thanksgiving! As much as I love cooking, baking, and ..well, eating!.. I think we’re going to take it easy this holiday. I’ve been working non-stop almost every day of the week and I think we’re going to have something in the form of a crock pot dinner. You don’t really have to twist my arm here – I love pretty much anything that comes out of a crock pot!

‘Tis the season for crazy (er – determined?) Black Friday retail shoppers. Are any of you waiting in line all night to get a deal? I sure am not. I don’t think you could even pay me to go stand outside in the cold all night and then brave the mad rush of shoppers that follows. I much prefer online shopping – you can browse all you want without being pressured to purchase, you can comparison shop and price check from various retailers, and you can do it all in your pajamas! – what’s not to love?

I will, however, be gearing up for Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend in my own store. This involves prepping some designs to get more items ready for shipping on short notice, making sure my shipping area is organized, and getting some extra wrapping materials ready to go, and general running around my work space like a madwoman until everything is 100% completed and ready to make my life easier. (Which it never really is, is it?)

This holiday weekend – November 24th-28th, I’ll be offering free shipping on all orders in my Etsy shop. Additionally, for this last full week of November, all orders placed through either my Etsy shop OR regular website (http://www.victoriacamp.com) will receive a raffle ticket with their package. The winning raffle ticket will receive a FREE custom map key chain (with any city/town of their choosing!) The winning number will be announced on my Facebook page on 12/4/11.

Shipping your purchase directly to your recipient? I can include a gift message with the item, just let me know in the Message to Seller in the checkout screen. Your message will be sent in a small map or dictionary envelope, depending on the item ordered.

Have a great rest of November!