Featured Etsy Shop, Review, + Giveaway: Dots & Dahlias

For the first time ever, two shop features in one week! Sadly we weren't able to coordinate everything in time to offer them in time for the holidays, but Dots & Dahlias is hosting a giveaway here that will be beneficial for the New Year + after the holidays!

I'd like to introduce you to Julia, creator of Dots & Dahlias...

Where are you located + are you from there originally?
I live in St. Charles, Illinois with my husband, and 3 year old son. I've lived in the Chicago suburbs my whole life.

How did you come up with your shop name?
When I began creating cards, one of the first cards I designed included dahlia flowers and another with dots, so that's quite simply where my shop name came from.

How long have you had your shop?
After my son was born, I decided that I needed a creative outlet for myself and decided to open a shop in August 2009.

What inspires you?
I'm inspired by everyday things, nature and my son. So, a lot of designs in my shop contain floral illustrations and children's themes.

What is your favorite item in your shop?
I would have to say that my favorite item in my shop is my "Train Ride" notecards. I originally made them to use as thank you cards for my son's first birthday. He's obsessed with trains, and every time I look at them, I think of him.

Do you have any other jobs or hobbies?
Most of my time is spent with my son and husband, and then working on my business. In my free time, I enjoy taking art classes, where I make pottery and create artwork with oil pastels.

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Shandell's Review

Julia sent me some notecard samples of my choice for review. I chose the Dahlias personalized notecards + Christmas tree ornament holiday cards. Both sets came with richly colored coordinating envelopes. 

I love how the design on these cards looks hand painted. Julia has a great sense of color, all of her products are contrasted beautifully. 

The Christmas tree card has such a modern feel. I used these to supplement our photo cards since I had over 60 people to send cards out to this year. 

The card stock is the perfect weight and is easy to write on. My other cards were slightly glossy and I had to use permanent ink to avoid smudging. These, I could use whatever pen I wanted. I would definitely recommend purchasing a card set from Dots & Dahlias. Beautiful designs and great quality. 

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Giveaway!

Julia has generously offered to give either a personalized set of 12 flat notecards or a set of 8 folded notecards in any design from Dots & Dahlias! What a great chance to score some cards to thank your loved ones for all the great Christmas presents!

For your chance to win, leave a comment on this post relevant to the following entry requirements. Be sure that your email address is easily accessible in your blogger profile or leave it at the end of each entry comment. example: shanleann1 at gmail dot com (to avoid spam + such). Be sure to leave one comment for each entry. 

Mandatory entry:

~ Visit Dots & Dahlias, then come back here + leave me a comment to let me know what design you'd order for yourself or as a gift. (1 comment)

Extra entries:

(you must complete the mandatory entry before the extras)

~ Tweet the following: "I want to thank my loved ones in style, with a set of note cards from Dots&Dahlias + @ShanLeAnn at Breaking New Ground. http://bit.ly/er45UR" (1 comment)

or

~Facebook the following: "I want to thank my loved ones in style, with a set of note cards from Dots & Dahlias at Breaking New Ground http://bit.ly/er45UR" (1 comment)

~Publicly follow Breaking New Ground through Google Friend Connect. 

~ Purchase an item from Dots & Dahlias by December 28th and receive 2 extra entries! (2 comments)

In her unending generosity Julia is also offering all of you a 20% discount on any item in her shop through the month of January. Just enter code SAVE20BNG!

This giveaway will end December 28, 2010 at 11:00 pm PST. Winner will be announced + notified on December 29th, 2010 (my birthday! yahoo!). Winner will be selected at random via random.org and will have 48 hours to respond in order to claim the prize or it will be awarded to an alternate. 

Open to U.S. residents only. All comments will be verified. Comments subject to removal without notification based on their relevance to contest. All comments will be verified. So, please be sure to follow instructions carefully. 

Questions? As always click on the "email me" button to send me a message. Please do not leave a comment here that isn't intended to be an entry into the giveaway. However, feel free to include additional comments within your entry if you want to leave some love for Dots & Dahlias.

Disclosure: I received no compensation for this review. All opinions are my own. Click for additional disclosures and PR policies.

Best of luck!