VALENTINE’S SALE FOR SINGLES 50% OFF EVERYTHING (24 HOURS ONLY)

You are single, true, but nobody said you also have to be miserable on Valentine’s day. Spoil yourself with a nice take-home dinner, a good glass of wine, and why not!? Surprise yourself witha new pair of earrings! 

You don’t need a boyfriend to have a beautiful valentine’s gift, you can buy one yourself, with Twice’s help… 

Use coupon code VALENTINE for 50% OFF anything you want in the store. We are no Macy’s, this is a one time event, here at Twice! 

***Offer is not valid on custom and bridal orders.

 

Diamonds last forever, and so does plastic.
Copyright © 2012 All Rights Reserved

North American friendly #connectfriday on Twitter

A few weeks ago, I discovered #connectfriday on twitter: a group of folks involved in some sort of green business and interested in chatting, exchanging their ideas and expanding their networks. Only drawback, the event occurs at 10AM-11AM Greenwich time… While discovering the event due to my insomnia was a great thing, perpetuating my insomnia for participating in the event seems a bit extreme.

Because of that, and given the great success it is having in the U.K. the amazing response I’ve had while participated, I decided to start a U.S. friendly #connectfriday every friday 10AM-11AM EST  (New York Time). Needless to say, U.K. folks are invited for an early tea (it would be around 3PM their time).

If you are a green business, or simply interested in green businessses, log in onto your twitter account and include your #connectfriday hashtag in your tweets. You can follow other green businesses and find out about events. I’m telling you, it’s great!

Looking forward to seeing you all there!

Square Gift Cards Hype and Why I Am So Excited

Big deal on technology blogs and business news: Square has gotten into the gift card business. Some crafters are super excited and according to reporters, it could be a big deal for small businesses by boosting their sales by a lot. Some folks though are lukewarm about it, for two main reasons. First, the whole thing is a bit counterintuitive: the sender has to download wallet (Square’s mobile application for making payments without sliding your card) and then find the business (which has to have a square account and shop enabled), to be able to use the gift card option. Second and most important, the sender has to have wallet, the new Square application; and Square is not very popular yet, as a matter of fact. Yet, something tells me that this may be potentially a big deal for me. I’ve been wanting to offer gift cards through my shop for such a long time, but all the option I’ve explored so far are way out of my reach (aka, too expensive!)

Here’s how I see it:

1) The wallet option per se does not provide gift cards. Gift cards are part of every shop on the wallet shops directory. However, you can enable your shop visibility on the directory. This is done through your account @ squareup.com, by changing your business profile options. If your shop has a physical location, it come up very easily, also because of the relatively low competition at the moment.

That said, I have a “mobile” business and my shop does not come up easily in the business search on wallet if I type generic words such as “jewelry” and there’s not much room for customization on the Square profile. Besides, the person HAS to have Wallet, to be able to buy gift cards, and I don’t see a large number of people having it anytime soon. The next option is my real source of excitement.

2) The person ordering the gift card needs to have wallet. True, but who said that it cannot be YOU at a craft show, ordering the gift card from your phone and sending it to the receiver’s email on the buyer’s behalf?

I think this is the real deal.

Any thoughts?

If you are an Etsy seller and want to participate in the discussion, I have an open thread here.

Stefania – Twice

Creator and Owner

Copyright 2012 © All Rights Reserved

Final’y Friday

It is finally friday folks! Come and celebrate the end of the week in Philly. There is a free concert and a delightful  artisan showcase. Here’s more info from:

The Business Association of Mt. Airy (BAM)

Come and join us for fun, music and more!

Celebrate local life in Mt. Airy on 9/28 with Finally Friday: “Mt. Airy Local,” showcasing local artisans, food, businesses and more! Friday, September 28th 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm Germantown Avenue: Mt. Pleasant to Mt. Airy   For More Information, Including a Full Listing of the Evening’s Events, Specials, Guest Vendors and MoreCLICK HERE

Fall news

FALL NEWS

Diamond last forever, and so does plastic.

 

 

*

 

5 tips to green your wedding

*More and more brides-to-be are becoming concerned about the environmental impact of their wedding. Join them and green your wedding with 10 simple tips. Greening your wedding can also be a surprising way to save precious  bucks in this tough economy. Find out how:1. Send electronic invitations. I was recently told that some family member—especially grandmothers— are still pushing brides to paper options and sometimes, even more expensive handwritten ones. Grandmas, we love you, but we are in 2012 and there is really no reason to waste money and paper in invitations that can get lost in the mail, while there is the possibility to safely deliver your invitations electronically, and FOR FREE! If you can’t renounce to the paper invitations, at least consider emailing save the date announcements. 2. Choose an environmentally responsible venue. There is plenty of choice regarding venues, and what it typically comes down to is location and price. You will be surprised to see how you can save money and have a delightful location if you choose a local park or botanic garden. 3. Choose a green dress. Yes, I know you want  a white dress but of course I was not referring to the actual color… There is ample choice of environmentally friendly fabrics and be sure you will not have to be restricted to rustic themes. There are green dresses for every style, from minimal to eccentric, from romantic to casual. 4. Choose green accessories. Starting from jewelry, you don’t need to stick to diamond and freshly mined precious metals. Recycled sterling silver is a valid, durable and affordable option for bridal jewelry and wedding rings. If you want gold, there are artists who use only recycled gold. Yes, I say artist because I’m assuming that if you are reading this you’ll probably choose local artisans for your accessories. If you are even more adventurous, consider buying your of your bridesmaids jewelry from an  artist specialised in UpCycling and ReCycling. Here at Twice we  just updated the wedding section of the online store, so make sure to check it out. We offer discounts and custom options for bridal parties. 5. Dump the flip-flop wedding favor. Sure, guests love those little plastic shoes to replace their super uncomfortable heels at the end (some at the beginning) of the party but come on… how much plastic and rubber is going to be dumped in the garbage the next day!? Do you want your guests to be feet-pain-free? Add a reminder to the invitation for your guests to bring their own flat shoes or slippers. To encourage them to bring their slippers, you can plan to have a contest for the best or most extravagant slippers, and they’ll be grateful of having them at the hotels that night as well. To find out more about green weddings, visit our green weddings expert partner website Green Bride Guide. Copyright © 2012 All Rights Reserved

Coming soon:
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Craft Shows and Festivals

Not that this is a good reason to neglect my blog readers… but man, I’ve been busy with craft shows lately!

Past shows

August 15, 2012
Mt.Airy Festival, Philadelphia, PA

September 8, 2012, 11AM-10PM
Green Expo Edgerton Park, New Haven, CT

UpComing shows

September 15, 2012
Mummers Cow Chip Festival, Philadelphia, PA

September 23, 2012, 12PM-6PM
Raritan River Festival, Boyd Park, New Brunswick, NJ

September 28, 2012, 4PM-8PM
Final’y Friday, Mt.Airy. Philadelphia, PA

September 29, 2012, 11AM-4PM
PEC Fall Festival and Arts and Crafts ShowPennypack Enironmental Center, Philadelphia, PA

September 30, 2012, 4PM-8PM
Final’y Friday, Mt.Airy. Philadelphia, PA

October 6, 2012
7th Annual Midtown Village Fall Festival, Philadelphia, PA

October 13, 2012, 10AM-5PM
Haddonfield Fall Festival, Haddonfield, NJ 

October 14, 2012 10AM-7PM
Pumpkin Fest, Salem County Fairground, 735 Harding Hwy (Rte. 40) Woodstown, NJ

Twice Newsletter: issue 1 | July 2012

May Events Update

 

Twice will be at the 20th ANNUAL JURIED ARTS & CRAFTS SHOW sponsored by the Branford Womans’ Club. Details regarding the event are attached below. Stop by, if you live nearby!

 

20^th ANNUAL

JURIED ARTS & CRAFTS SHOW

SPONSORED BY

THE BRANFORD WOMAN’S CLUB

DATE:     Saturday May 19th, 2012

TIME:      10a.m.- 4p.m.

PLACE:   Branford Town Green, Branford, CT.

DIY – Jewelry Roll

With 2 craft shows coming up within the next 2 weeks, I have been frantically accumulating earrings in my studio (ok, my bedroom). Probably because of the spring coming up, I suddenly had the urge to organize the pieces I will be taking with me to the show. Needless to say, I have a ton of scrap fabric to upcycle, which made the whole thing possible.

First, let me tell you, I am not a sewer, never been and never will. It just gets on my nerves. Don’t give me wrong, I know that it is partially because of my underdeveloped tailoring skills, but on the other hand I also have more than a handful of skills that require some patience. I just happen to have a particularly bad aptitude about sewing. But I overcame the initial fear, because I was super excited about organizing jewelry as well as reusing some of that old fabric that has been accumulating for quite a while.

The result is far from being professionally looking, but it was worth the effort and—as for now—I am not excluding the possibility of replicating the experience.

First I looked online and found a bunch of amazing patterns to follow. But I am lazy (yes, don;t judge me), so I could not possibly thing of downloading and printing patterns and even using a measuring tape was out of discussion. So I closed my laptop and started cutting right away. I had an old pair of jeans, which served as the outer layer (but any stiff fabric will work). Then I decided to have an inner layer and the internal linen. Thinking back, I could have probably avoid the inner layer, which makes the roll a little bulky.

First I made the actual earring holder, by folding a stipe of the same fabric. Then I attached it to the inner and linen layers (excluding the jeans, external layer).

Here you can decide on whether you want it divided, to be able to hang several things and prevent them from moving around too much or not. But that is really up to you. As for me, my laziness lead my dividers to become larger and larger, but that was clearly neither intentional, nor planned (yes, I wish I were that smart). This was the most annoying part of the project and it seemed to take forever. Probably also because my thread kept getting out of the needle, and it take me at least 20 seconds to put it back. It literally happened twice every three seams, so I probably spent about 30 minutes on this. But again, timing is off because of my poor sewing skills. I am sure a slightly more experienced sewer would do an excellent job in half the time it took me to do this one single step.

At that point, I was finally ready to assemble the roll. I did it working with the fabric on the wrong side.

 

The earrings fall of at times, so I’lll probably make a better one, but this is good enough for now. Feel free to share your project if you want.

Enjoy!

Stefania

 

 

 

 

Copyright © All Rights Reserved

May Events and Craft Fairs

Dear earth lovers, jewelers and friends,

I am very excited to announce that I will be taking part of two amazing Craft Fairs in Connecticut. There will be artisans from over the North East and the focus will be on beautiful art, crafts and sustainability. Make sure to stop by if you live nearby, I truly look forward to meeting you!

Twice will be @ the East Coast #CraftFair | New Haven, CT | May 5th and 6th, 2012 10am-4pm | make sure to stop by!

Twice will be @ the Crafter’s Haven #CraftFair | New Haven, CT | May 12th, 2012 10am-4pm | make sure to stop by

 

 

Also:

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NEW WEBSITE!!!
http://www.twicecreations.com
coming soon
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