Sep 23, 2011  •  In Art/Design, Giveaways, Home, Reviews, Shopping

NOVICA Review and a $75 Gift Card Giveaway!

Update: This giveaway is now closed. Congratulations to Di, who entered via the comments section below!


I will be the first to admit that I am not always a socially-conscious shopper — while I do my best to support local businesses, I hardly ever really hold a newly purchased product in my hands, wondering about the hands that touched it before me.

But whenever I do hear about some of the horror stories behind mass-produced items, I cringe inside and become even more determined to lend my hand (and money) to small businesses and individuals whose products were not only were created with love and passion, but who also rely on the money made from these items.

So when NOVICA first contacted me about a giveaway on my blog, I became very intrigued. You see, NOVICA is a leading fair trade artisan website, working with National Geographic to “offer talented artisans around the world a place to express their artistic talents online and provide access to the world market.” In other words, they not only provide a forum for these artisans to sell their goods worldwide, but also to connect people together to improve lives and help preserve traditional arts and crafts in other countries.

The site offers a wide variety of products — everything from home decor, jewelry and apparel, to paintings and even musical instruments! You can search by category or you can use one of their specialized searches like “Gifts for the Animal Lover” and “Wine & Cocktail Enthusiast”.

Each item that is available for purchase has in its description the name of the artisan and country, along with their photo, story, and even a quote. When you register for a (free) myNOVICA account, you can save specific products or artists to your ‘Favorites.’ You can also choose enter a photo, description, and other general information about yourself so the artisans can find out more about who is purchasing their products — you can even upload photos of the products you’ve purchased and how you are use them!

NOVICA also hosts a microfinance program which helps artisans around the world to enhance their craft and expand their market by offering them 0% interest loans. Additionally, it has also recently launched a new home party division called NOVICA Live, where Consultants can showcase beautiful gifts and jewelry through home parties in an entertaining way, while supporting artisans worldwide. Because it is a fairly new program, there are tons of promotions going on for early Consultants, including a trip to Bali for anyone who becomes a Director this year!

NOVICA generously offered me a $75 gift card to choose an item for myself, and I decided to go with the ‘Frangipani Garden’ Ceramic Tea Set, which is no longer available on their website. But don’t worry — here are some pictures I took of this gorgeous tea set!

Hand-made by the ceramic artist Putu Oka Mahendra, this tea set hails all the way from Bali. I love the single frangipani blossom detail on each of the pieces.

As is the case with all NOVICA purchases, my tea set came complete with an artisan story card in addition to a little personal note.

Here’s another shot of the set:

J’s family, being Chinese, is VERY into their tea and are pretty much tea snobs. 🙄 I’m happy to say that this tea set passed their inspection with flying colors. Additionally, I’ve always had trouble drinking tea from the traditional Chinese tea cups without handles due to the hot temperature of the tea…I know that the handles on these cups — aside from being simply gorgeous — will serve me well!

Now, for the part you’ve been waiting for: the giveaway!

NOVICA has offered to give one of my readers a $75 gift card!

Would you like to purchase for yourself or a friend one of the many amazing items at NOVICA.com? AND support a talented artisan while you’re at it?

If so, here are the rules…

Each reader is eligible for up to three entries via the following methods (each method will grant a separate entry):

  1. Leave a comment to this post about how you would spend the NOVICA gift card.
  2. If you haven’t done so already, go to the Geek in Heels Facebook Page and “Like” the page. Then click on the NOVICA Gift Card Giveaway link (located right under the profile picture, or just use this link) to enter the sweepstakes.
  3. If you haven’t done so already, follow @geekinheels on Twitter and tweet exactly the following: I just entered for a chance to win a $75 NOVICA gift card via @geekinheels at http://bit.ly/qUWzSx and you can too!

Please do not leave extra comments here if you enter via Facebook or Twitter.

You can increase your chances of winning by using all three methods of entry. There is only one entry allowed per person, per method  — for a total possible number of three entries — and any additional entries will be promptly deleted. (Yes, I have ways of checking this. And yes, this will only cause me to get annoyed at you.)

For the complete list of rules, go to this link.

The giveaway begins as soon as this entry is published — September 23, 2011 @ 12:00pm EDT — and will run until September 30, 2011 @ 11:59pm EDT. The winner will be announced here on October 1 and will also be notified by email (so please use a valid email when entering so that I can contact you if you win!) or via a Twititer DM.

Good luck, and thanks for reading! (I love giveaways, don’t you? :-D )

You may also like:

43 Responses to “NOVICA Review and a $75 Gift Card Giveaway!”

  1. Bookish Bella says:

    Love supporting fair trade when I can! I would use the gift card for something to decorate our house.

  2. Megan says:

    Oh what a neat giveaway! I think I’d go for one of the handblown glass vases, because we don’t have many vases in our house and I have always been impressed by glass blowers!

  3. Evelyn says:

    Probably use it to buy a gift for my mom.. it’s always nice to give her things 🙂

  4. Teresa says:

    I’d use the card for upcoming birthday gifts!

  5. Susan says:

    I love that tea set, and I think this is an awesome giveaway.

  6. Amy says:

    I would probably pick up something with wood, i love that it’s handmade.

  7. MelissaT says:

    Ooo. The moonstone solitaire ring is calling my name. Gorgeous!

  8. Jay says:

    Christmas is not far away and I could see my mother loving one of those paintings as a gift.

  9. Patti says:

    My fiance and I just moved into a new place and I’d love to use the giftcard to find something special to decorate with! Otherwise, we are in desperate need of a tea set too

  10. Neal says:

    Wow – this sounds pretty cool.

  11. Nichole says:

    I love that tea set! I think I’d use the gift card for that 🙂

  12. Catherine says:

    The tea set is adorable! I’d definitely get one of those.

  13. carmen says:

    I would use it towards the Celadon ceramic tea set. My husband would absolutely love it!

  14. Judy w says:

    Would totally get the Ceramic mugs, ‘Frangipani Brew’ (set of 4). They are so beautiful!

  15. Rachel says:

    I’m loving the wrap rings. I’d probably get one for my MIL for Christmas- she’s virtually impossible to shop for!

  16. MrsW says:

    I would probably do Christmas gifts, as I still need something awesome for my dad and father-in-law. Something like this would be nice for the “recipient who has everything” syndrome.

  17. Heather MK says:

    I really like the ceramic flower pots…..and about a million other things I came across on the NOVICA website. Love it! Thanks for hosting this giveaway and sharing details about this site – what a nice way to start the weekend. 🙂

  18. Sarah says:

    I would probably browse the jewelry section carefully…

  19. Angeline says:

    i’d also get a tea set! i’m chinese myself and my mom would enjoy this set so it’d be more like me getting something for my mom =)

  20. Danielle says:

    I love this site! I think I would probably get the “Clouds” gold vermeil dangle earrings.

  21. Kira says:

    I would love to use the giftcard to buy unique gifts for my mom and grandma! They are both super creative and wordly and hard to please with gifts! : )

  22. Lisa says:

    This is a great giveaway!
    A friend of mine will be marrying in April, and I’d gift her this necklace:
    http://jewelry.novica.com/necklaces/favorites/pearl-strand-necklace-river-of-snow/165549/

    Then, as a bridesmaid, I would wear this:
    http://jewelry.novica.com/necklaces/pearl/pearl-choker-charming-rose/97219/

    dreamy!

  23. JMeg says:

    I have become more and more interested in Fair Trade since wanting to adopt from Haiti and Ethiopia. Supporting those artisians with the money they are worth is one of the best ways to help their economies—and so many others.

    I’m in LOVE with the Alpaca wrap…and it’s RIGHT at that $75! See, it’s fate. I should TOTALLY get. 🙂

    Thanks for the post. Love having a new site to play on.

  24. Lori F says:

    I’d look for something incredible for my daughter. She works hard and deserves a treat!

  25. Cindy says:

    The jewelry looks beautiful! I’ll be buying some things for my mom’s birthday ^^

  26. Di says:

    Since I desperately need new clothing, that would be where my money is headed.

  27. amanda KB says:

    dang capcha! I managed to erase that I would buy some kitchen wares; bowls or cooking utensils.

  28. Elizabeth says:

    I would use the gift card for Christmas shopping!!! I take Christmas shopping seriously and this looks like a good site to get unique and beautiful gifts.

  29. bonnie says:

    Great giveaway! I’d probably save it for gifts.

  30. Shannon says:

    Great company and gift store! I’d pick the Cotton blouse, ‘Carefree Cinnamon!