Hello everyone! Welcome to the fun that is a Canadian+Handmade contest, with fabulously Canadian+Handmade prizes! In conjunction with our Handmade Holiday challenge, we thought it would be in the holiday spirit to help someone gift a little more handmade this season… so we chatted with our featured artists, and these are the deliciously lovely gifts that some of them have offered to us, to offer to you! Each of these artists has been featured on C+H in the past 7 months, so you can click through to read more about them and see some more of their work. In fact, we’d really like it if you did. We just want to spread the love and on their feature posts you can find links to their shops and Facebook pages, blogs etc.!

Scroll to the bottom of this post to find out how to enter (but don’t scroll too quickly – make sure you get a good look at all the gifts below!)

So, without further ado, these are the goodies you will find in the Handmade Holiday Helper Gift Pack, coming to you in time for you to sneak them into a stocking on Christmas Eve or wrap for under the tree!

This prize pack is worth over $325, so get commenting and join us over on Facebook and Twitter, too :) One lucky winner will receive this package, and it could be you!

A) Nyne, creator behind Brilliance Found jewellery, has included a feather wrap ring and a skeleton key ring. Both are adjustable and made of raw brass for a really lovely colour. To see more of her work, visit her original feature post here.

B) Penny People personalized prints and artwork has donated a gift certificate for one of Lindsay’s 9×13″ alphabet prints! Anyone with kids will appreciate adding a bit of customized artwork to their child’s room or playroom, or make it a family name and add a little colour to the kitchen or the family office space! Aside: if you haven’t ordered your holiday cards yet, Penny People has some great designs available!! To see more of her work, visit the original post here.

C) Laura from Prairie Peasant has sent us some gorgeously patriotic Oh Canada! envelopes. Perfect for sending little love notes across the ocean… or an invitation to tea for your friend next door. Love these! Check out our original post about Laura’s travel journals and other stationery goodies here.

D) The artwork of Shira Sela grabbed me and spoke to me earlier this fall, and I’m so happy that she volunteered to include one of her pieces in this gift pack! The 8.5×11″  “My Favourite Spot” print is such a lovely image, and I’m sure you won’t have any trouble finding the perfect home for it. It is backed with foam core and ready to frame! You can see the original post about her work here (warning, I got a little sappy! ha ha!)

E) The lovely Thursday of My Girl Thursday has sent us a fabulously vibrant scarf, from one of her new product lines. She use lots of reclaimed fabrics, and this piece has some vintage flair! Since we featured My Girl Thursday, her product line has expanded to include adorable belt buckles, scarves, screen printed totes and most recently, a Book of Secrets download that she is selling for charity. Fun stuff! You can check out our original post here.

F) Kathy from Navy Blue Notes must be a pretty fun lady, because her cards and notes are full of humour. Jenn laughed out loud when she first found their shop! They’ve sent us a package of their new Book Club Notes – perfect for the book lover on your list, or keep them yourself for your next book club get together! The original post (with giggle-inducing cards!) is here.

G) Take a yeti, add a little hermit and you get Yermits. We love them, and we think you will too. Seriously cute, this little spaceman wants a home with you! He’ll just hang out, eat some pizza. Maybe write a blog post on his laptop. He won’t get into trouble (much!). Thanks to Jenny at Yermits.com for sending this dude our way. You can see the original post here.

H) I’m a little partial to this particular prize item from Bstudio, because I happen to have one of Brenda’s ruffle rings and I get compliments on it every time I wear it! Her embroidered pieces are really lovely, too! You can see more examples of her work on the original post here.

I) Amanda from Little Knits on the Prairie caught Jenn’s eye with her little baby booties and lovely knits, but she’s recently launched Prairie Sparrow – a new shop, with cozy knitted cowls and felted bowls and more goodies! You can see her original post here, but do check out The Prairie Sparrow as well!

J) We kind of love the idea of all those holiday cards that get sent out having a little bit of spring included – this set of Season’s Greetings cards from Botanical Paperworks all have a plantable Christmas Tree shape that will blossom into wildflowers next summer. Awesome. See the original post here for more details.

K) Creations by Uli has been a supporter of C+H almost since day 1, and we’re happy to have one Uli’s chainmaille creations to include in this package. The Celtic Star below is anodized titanium in various colours, and measures about an inch across. You can see more of her work here.

For these last few, we don’t have photos to share unfortunately, but please click through to their websites or original posts to see the type of work they do!

L) We featured Cloud + Lolly just a little while ago, and I’ve been stocking up on their pretty and modern scrabble tile pendants for babysitter gifts and, yes, even one for myself! The lucky prize pack winner will get a tile pendant of their very own, along with Cloud + Lolly’s 2011 calendar with hanger. You can find out more (much more!) about Cloud + Lolly on their original post here.

M) Shirley from Ear Curls Etc. has included a set of curls to add some sparkle to your holiday outfits! Her booth is always busy, busy, busy at the OOAK show in Toronto and she has a ton of selection! Check out the original post here.

N) And last, but certainly not least, is Magz-Bagz. This shop was one of our first features when we started C+H in the spring, and we’re thrilled that Megan has included a tote bag from her line of modern, funky accessories. Her bagz are laminated, making them easy to clean and perfect for moms on the go, or for anyone who likes a stylish bag with a little bit of flair! The original post is here.

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You have to agree we have some pretty talented and unique people in Canada, don’t we?!

Now for the details…

How to enter the Handmade Holiday Helper Gift Pack contest:

1. You MUST comment on this post (including a valid email address) and answer the following question: What is the best handmade gift you’ve ever made yourself and gifted OR what is the best handmade gift you’ve ever received? Feel free to answer both if you’re feeling chatty, but your answer will only count as one entry. If you don’t answer, you can’t win :)

2. For a BONUS entry, head over to our Facebook page and “like” Canadian+Handmade. Make sure you comment here to let us know, and if you already “like” us on Facebook, that counts too, but you need to comment here so we know!

3. For another BONUS entry, follow us on Twitter. You must comment to let us know, and if you already do follow us, you still need to comment to let us know for that extra entry to count!

See, totally easy, right?

If you’d like to help us spread the word about our Handmade Holiday challenge and this contest to bring a little more handmade Canadian goodness into the holidays, we’d love it if you’d tweet about it or spread the love via Facebook. Let us know by including @canadahandmade in your tweets or by linking to our Canadian+Handmade page in your Facebook status. We’ll offer an awesomely awkward high five and a shout out :)

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Contest Details and nittygritty:

Comments will remain open on this post until 6:00 pm (MT) Friday, December 10th. Winner will be announced the morning of December 11th and the recipient will have until noon on Monday, December 13th  to respond with their mailing address. If they do not respond within 48 hours, a  new winner will be selected and the original winner will forfeit the prize.

The prize pack will be shipped by courier to arrive by December 23rd. Canadian+Handmade is not responsible, however, for courier shipping or postal delays resulting in the package not arriving prior to December 23rd.

The winner will be selected using a random number generator (random.org), based on the number of qualifying comments received on this post.

Gift sponsors are ineligible to win the contest (sorry, guys!).

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Thank you so much for your support of Canadian handmade, and Canadian+Handmade! Get to commenting, folks :)

Cheers,
~Sarah and Jennifer