Welcome to the First Ever Udderly Amazing New Shop Contest! And a Giveaway, too!

Welcome to the very First Udderly Amazing New Shop Contest! Since contests such as these hinge upon publicity, we need your help in letting others know about this event. We want to give these new shops as much exposure as possible, so getting the word out is key.

To that end, I'm having a small giveaway. I whipped up a batch of soap last night:

The above pictured soap is in a lovely Lavender Vanilla Dreams scent, though I can make another batch in another fragrance. (I have a bunch of fragrances that the winner can choose from). One thing about Lavender Vanilla Dreams: I don't particularly care for Lavender, but wow! This scent is amazing!

The winner will get a few bars of soap - as much as I can stuff into one of those small priority mail boxes. Since postage is so costly, I can only ship to a U.S. address. But...those who are live outside the U.S. can share the win in that you will be added to the sponsors' page. This list is something I will compile of all who post about this giveaway - adding your blog or website's link - and posting it after the giveaway is over. Thus, you'll be getting a link back, and you might gain followers in turn! You can even enter the contest, too, if you qualify. :)

The yummy smelling soap giveaway will be held until April 5th at 11:59 PM Central Time. To enter, all you have to do is post about this Udderly Amazing New Shop Contest and Giveaway on your blog, linking back to this blog post only. Enter by putting your post's url in the comments section on this post only. Not only will you be getting exposure to your blog in this comment section but, as I mentioned above, you will also be put on our sponsors' list. :)

Now, on to the contest!

Meet our judges and give them some appreciation by visiting their blogs:

Deb from Paxton Valley Folk Art Shop. Deb is a self taught artist who initially started out as a decorative and water colour painter. Then she discovered the joys of wood working, sewing and pattern making, anything considered vintage, antique, or primitive. Not one to box herself into a corner with her creative endeavors, she's open to exploring new creative avenues to express herself. For more info about Deb, check out her Sunburnt Cow Handmade Shop artisan interview.

Teresa of Teresa's Prim Treasures. For more info about Teresa, check out her Sunburnt Cow Handmade Shopartisan interview.

Wendy of Ravenwood Whimzies. She has been crafting for over 30 years and has recently been asked by a local decor shop to supply them with some of her handmade items!

Brenda from The Rusty Thimble. She's a primitive doll maker and has been sewing and crafting various items for over 30 years.

Our alternate judge - should any of the above judges be unable to fulfill their duties - is Christina, the proprietor of The Tattered Tag. In her own words, she is "inspired by my faith, my family and let's face it, all the great craft and decorating ideas on the Internet. The Tattered Tag is my reverie, allowing me to share my homespun charms (crafts) and reclaimed treasures (great junk) with the world because my husband will not allow me to keep it all to myself, stashed in our garage."

(Some judges didn't get their bios to me in time, so some of them are short. No slight is intended to the terseness of some of the above bios).

Here are some FAQs about the contest. Please read them if you're going to enter the contest.

What will the judges be looking for in an Udderly Amazing New Shop?

How can I get more exposure as an entrant to the contest?

What does the winner get?
The winner will receive some awesome exposure on all the participating judges' blogs, as well as being regularly featured on the Sunburnt Cow for at least four months. Additionally, if the winner has a button banner, that banner will remain on the Sunburnt Cow's sidebar for six months.

Can I be a judge?

How can I be a sponsor?

Additional FAQs:
If I'm not chosen winner, can I enter again? Yes, as long as your shop is 6 months and under.

Do I have to have a shop open to participate? Yes, this is a new shop contest, so you have to have a shop.

How will this process work?
Week 1 (from April 1st through April 8th). You will link up a handmade item you have for sale that best represents your talent and your shop.

Week 2 (from April 9th through April 16th). People will vote on who they would like to see go on to Round 2. You can vote for your project. Encourage your blog readers to vote for your project. The more the merrier! The top half of the entrants will move on to the second round. There will also be an additional entrant who will move on to the next round. This will be considered a "wild card" participant in which the judges can vote. This is to discourage any sort of vote tampering.

Week 3 (from April 17th through April 21st). The participants who were voted on to proceed (as well as the "wild card") will link up another product they have for sale during the link party. This round will also last a week.

Week 4 (from April 22nd through April 29th). The judges will get together and make their final decision.

Please note that in the interest of fairness, those whose handmade items have been featured on regular blog posts on Sunburnt Cow are not eligible to enter. Plus, those artisans have had plenty of opportunity to be a judge on these contests, so entering this contest would be too uncomfortable for my - and I'm sure others' - comfort levels.

Those who have participated in the link parties and I've featured them are eligible to enter since they weren't regularly blogged about.

Now on to the linking up! If you've never participated in link parties, here's a quick run down. Do NOT link up to your actual blog, but to the post itself of the item you want represent you in this contest. If you don't know how to do this, simply click on the title of your blog post, and that will give you the url address to that particular post up in the website address bar. Copy that, and then click on the "Add your link" button on this link party.

Up will pop three boxes, one for adding your url to that particular blog post, (which I just explained how to find it and copy it), what you want the title of the entry to be, and your email address. Click on "next step," which will bring you to another page that pulls up all the photos associated with that blog post. Select the one you want to represent the thumbnail in this link party, and there you have it! Easy peasy!

If you want to link up a specific handmade item you have for sale in your Etsy or Ebay shop, you can do so. Bear in mind, however, that if that item is sold and you linked it up, we cannot judge it since the item will disappear. Thus, you'll be disqualified since we have nothing to judge.

After linking up your one item, put the following button in your blog's sidebar in a prominent area:

<div align="center"><a href="http://sunburntcowhandmadeshop.blogspot.com/" title="Sunburnt Cow Udderly Amazing New Shop Contest" target="_blank"><img src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOrZpU531qGqhotCi1tkNj2yO5d7bIs5hERt4rrHsrj0_eTXEtNPfBrcHji3v0OtjUakOjcmt0qp5ZRsauD176buJ7WnoqndXPhfn4JiRfjYgjG7dZXYRNlo8lIIJwsAo_kIAMhyphenhyphens6QVlb/s320/sunburntcowudderlyamazingcontest.jpg" alt="Sunburnt Cow Udderly Amazing New Shop Contest" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Simply copy the code and paste it in the Design module of your blog, under Configure html/java script.

Additionally do a blog post about entering the contest and encouraging your readers to check out the contest and cheer you on!

Do not link up your online shop; link only one item. You will also have to do a blog post about this contest, as per the rules above. This is only fair to the other entrants who are following the rules. :)