May Giveaway Day!
May Giveaway Day is now officially a tradition here at Sew,Mama,Sew! We’re doing it again, and you can join in the fun either as a giveaway host or as an eager participant! Mark your calendar for Monday, May 23rd!
We coordinate one day when everyone with a shop or blog can give something away. We create a master list, and we leave the lists up for several days so readers can take their time visiting the hundreds of participating blogs and shops. We also provide some structure with categories and international shipping info. Giveaway Days have been a lot of fun for everyone involved!
Over the years we’ve fine-tuned our process. Here’s some background about Giveaway Day, plus tips and info on how to participate:
Why do it?
Participants benefit because a) they get new readers (many participants end up with hundreds of comments & visitors); b) they get potential shoppers/readers; c) they can experience the joy of giving something they’ve made to a virtual friend. Readers benefit because a) they get exposed to blogs with great ideas; b) they get directed to shops with wonderful items; c) they get the opportunity to win a cool handmade prize; d) they know exactly when to tune in! Want to join us? Here are some guidelines:
Guidelines
- Your giveaway item must be either handmade (for example, bags, artwork, etc.), or something that can be used for making handmade gifts (for example, buttons, ribbons, patterns, etc.).
- You need to write a post about the item and ask visitors to comment on that post. This must be posted no later than 9 a.m. eastern on Monday, May 23. We check links at 9 a.m. eastern and if there isn’t a giveaway post we delete you from the list. You can post the night before if you want to be sure to remember!
- Decide how you want to choose the winner (random, best answer to a question, etc.).
- State in the post whether you’ll ship the item internationally.
- Leave your giveaway open until May 25. This gives plenty of time for people to visit you.
- Ship your item by May 30, one week from Giveaway Day.
- Spread the word! Make May 23th a Giveaway Day everywhere! Grab our button and link back to this post to let your readers know you’ll be participating. Tweet about Giveaway Day, spread the news on Facebook, write on your blog… http://www.sewmamasew.com/blog2/may2011/MayGiveawayDay.jpg and here is the link url: http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/?p=17334
Tips
- Make it easy for people to enter to win your giveaway. There was a growing trend there for awhile to have people take multiple steps in order to enter to win (i.e. become a “follower,” tweet about the giveaway, etc.). Feedback from participants tells us those types of hoops tend to frustrate readers and might make them less likely to visit you again.
- Keep your Giveaway Day post as your main entry for several days. If you post other things, just be sure to include a link at the top directing readers to your giveaway post. Again, you want to make it really easy for folks to visit.
- Include a picture of your giveaway in the post.
- Have fun!
Sign-Up
Want to participate? Email beth@sewmamasew.com (Subject: Giveaway Day) by Friday, May 20th. Please include the following info:
- Site URL (the URL for your blog, etc., where people will find your giveaway post)
- Blog or Shop name (the blog or shop name where people will find your giveaway post)
- Tell us your location and whether you’ll ship internationally
- Category for your giveaway (pick one): Handcrafted Item(s), Handcrafted Item(s)+Supplies/Materials, Sewing and/or Knitting Supplies/Materials
On Giveaway Day we’ll post a master list of participants on our blog (divided into a series of three posts with different categories). Stop by to verify your information (please check all three lists for your name first before freaking out!), explore other sites and try your luck at winning a great giveaway!
73 Responses to “May Giveaway Day!”
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I love this idea!! I’d been planning a giveaway on my blog and now will have a lot more fun with it!!
Oh yay, giveaway day is back! Can’t wait to discover loads of new blogs and maybe win something!
I really enjoyed participating the first time. It was a lot of fun!
Love your guidelines and tips! As a fan of giveaway day and a participant, those are very insightful and helpful! Can’t wait for this year’s!
is it ok to do more than one prize?
Oh my, I may have to participate this year.
love love !
I love giveaway day! I can’t wait to participate!
I love giveaway day! I can’t wait to participate, I had fun the last time and discovered so many new blogs.
I think I might just be up for this, I’ve been thinking about doing a giveaway for a while.
In! It is soooooo much fun!
Excited to participate on the giving side this year, instead of the getting!
I’m going to get organised and participate. It sounds really fun!
This is awesome! Thanks for doing this again!!
Yeah! I checked out new blogs last time and will have time to participate this time!!
Fantastic!! And I was planning a giveaway for May. This is perfect. Count me in.
Oh I am in, I love Give Away Day!! Thank you for hosting this again.
I love giveaway days I’ve found many new cool blogs.
Great! Last year’s Giveaway was such fun, I’ve been looking forward to this one for ages! You can count me in for sure.
This is so very exciting! I would absolutely love to participate!!
I am so in!
I’m going to give something away for the first time this year – I love the sew mama sew giveaway day!
Eeek I am new to this but would love to take part – this will be my first one!!
Clare
x
I am going to do my first giveaway as part of this – such a good idea!
Pomona x
Can’t wait to see what everyone is adding…I read/follow several favorites but have missed the give away somehow…luck to all, this is going to be fun!
I shared this on Facebook…would be such a hoot for some of my friends to enter and win!
It’s the first time for me as well and I’ve just signed. Can’t wait!
I wanted to do this last time, but missed out. How fun to be part this time around! =)
Absolutely perfect – I’ve been promising a giveaway on my blog and have been busy gathering all the goodies. So I will be participating as a giver and a getter!
My calendar has been officially marked!!
Okay…I think I’ll try this too. My first giveaway! I’m excited!
Just blogged our giveaway and sent my email info in! I’m so excited.
http://americanfeltandcraft.wordpress.com/2011/05/11/have-your-short-cake-and-sew-it-too/
Andie
Creative juices are flowing!
Sent my email…now I just have to decide what to give away!
this is going to be my first ever giveaway and I really appreciate the opportunity
I am excited!!!!
So excited for another awesome year!!!
Oh boy! Fun, fun! Just sent an email requesting to participate! Do we wait for response before posting?
I’ve already said I’m in, but I want to put the button on my blog but I can’t find the html code for it…
great idea and looking forward to it!
Such a great idea!
I would like to participate and I already sent an email with all the information. Are we supposed to receive a confirmation email before we publish our post? Thanks
hi Beth
I have sent you a email!
waiting for confirmation
hugs
I am a rather new quilter and am enjoying all the quilting blogs and learning a lot.
I’m so excited about Giveaway Day and what I’ll be posting! And I’m looking forward to visiting everyone!
This is a great idea..I have emailed my wish to participate.
How exciting, I am really looking forward to Monday, going to sit down now and make something pretty.
I sent an email to you Beth, thanks for such a great opportunity.
x
I found out about give away day last year, the day AFTER it happened. I almost missed it again this year, but thanks to stumbling onto a blog post about it this morning, I plan to visit and comment on several blogs before the drawing date.
Thanks for coordinating a fun day.
So excited to join in on all this fun. I’m preparing my blog post and getting ready for giveaway day. Looking forward to paticipating in this Yr’s giveaway!!
the only time i won anything was when i was 6 years old. it was 1966 and our local (and our ONLY) clothing department store was hosting it’s annual easter coloring contest. the picture was a black and white drawing of a bunny. that was all. just a simple bunny. we were to color it in, and embellish. i was really into the artsy appeal at that age of massive clashes of colors. hence, i made a jet black bunny with blue eyes, against a sunset of shocking pink (we lived on lake michigan on the michigan side, so i was quite enamoured of our sunsets), and the grass was really, well, psycho-delic, to say the least. i included the required easter basket of course. filled with baby bunnies. all of them were jet black. i won my age group. the prize was…..and i was so happy
) …..A BIG SHOCKING BUBBLEGUM PEPTO PINK TWO-WHEELER BIKE!!! COMPLETE WITH PINK-RIMMED TRAINING WHEELS!! boy was i happy. when i was much older, my grandmother explained a few things to me about that day. one was that my picture was NOT the best of my age group. i lived in a town that was nearly all white, in the 60′s, in michigan, and my last name was Smiley. i had made a whole herd of various sizes of jet black bunnies. the judges assumed i was a poor little girl from a large LARGE black family, and wanted to gift that poor little girl with a big new bike. egads. my grandmother said they had the press out there and everything. it was supposed to be a poster moment for political correctness. they about had a cow when after a long discussion with my grandparents and my parents, the judges were grudgingly convinced that i was indeed the little girl who made the black bunny picture. i have the newspaper picture of that day. still. i have never seen such a big smile on my face as i had that day in st joseph michigan. moral of the story? do the right thing, dont do what you think is a good photo-op 
)
I loved the last give-a-way. I found so many new websites to visit. I’m ready to win something this go-around.
Gonna be fun!
I would love to win something, anything, please!!!
I sent you an email, a few days ago. Am looking forward to participating again this year!!!
I’m so excited!!! It’s such a great way to find so many new blogs!
Oh I wish I would have known about this, I would have loved to participate. Checking calendar for next May
Amy
I just love the way you work with color and have learnt al lot from your instructions. I have just started quilting but still need some tools to make it easier and very difficult to come by here in SA as there aint many supply stores of these items.
Thanks for organizing this event.
Its so much fun to discover new friends!!
Too late to participate but I’m marking my calendar for next year!
Once again I am amazed at all the creativity that flows from you. I usually don’t comment but want you to know that I enjoy your emails showing all your doing. You truly do amaze me!
how did I miss this, it would have been fun to participate..
Happy to comment; this looks marevlous! Trying my hand at sewing more and more, and learning as I go!
This is a really fun opportunity! I am just now getting into “blogland” and I love all the new ideas that I find from all the talented ladies….
Thanks for the opportunity to win.
nettie@live.com
This should be great fun. I will visit as many blogs as I can.
Thanks for share, nice
So cool
Whoo-Hoo!!! What a great giveway! Beautiful items!!
love the solid quilt just need more time love the fabric keep up good work
Off to go blog hopping… Love to meet new bloggers!
I have found so many fun things to make and do.
This is exciting, I would love to win something for my patchwork. I have learnt so much from visiting blogs, there are some really talented people out there
This sounds like a good thing! I appreciate having a list of good sites I can visit.
How did I not find your blog until this second? I happened to post a giveaway on Monday, but I don’t have a lot of traffic. This would have been perfect for me!