Happy Birthday to Us! {Hoorah and Giveaway #1}

What is any birthday without a bit of cake and presents? 

Throw some confetti, and it's just topping on it all.

While we here at The Fangirl Initiative can't actually supply cake (it's kinda hard to ship...hard and messy), the presents part has been, almost miraculously, open to us. 

Unlike most birthdays, where the birthday-person is lavished with presents all wrapped and topped with a bow, and sung to while blowing out little flaming pillars of wax stuck into a layered and frosted baked good; we want to gift you.

Because let's be honest, without our followers and their support, this first year wouldn't be happening. 

So in both joint celebration and thanks, we, along with some of the best sponsors in the world, have put together a whole parade of birthday present fun! (I know. I'm really excited too)

Let me just talk about these sponsors for a moment, though.

We have nine, yes, you heard that right, nine sponsors lined up with so many pretty and lovely things that, quite honestly, I'm a little jealous.  These darling shop owners are precious and have been so generous and excited about this little week-long party of fun. I feel so incredibly blessed by the sponsors who have made this possible.  So if, during this week, I get a little sentimental or end up blabbing endlessly about them on the giveaway posts...you are just going to have to forgive me.

On that note, let me introduce you to today's sponsor!

Lauren from 'From A Fable'!

Ashley: “I guess the first and foremost question is: are you a fangirl/boy yourself? Tell us a bit about yourself!”

Lauren: “I am ABSOLUTELY a fangirl!! I geek out about anything I can get my hands on or anything that catches my horribly short attention span for more than a minute and a half. Books especially are something that I lose my mind over and get completely swallowed up in. TV and movies are wonderful, but I fangirl over video games and books the most!”

Ashley: “How did you decide to combine your love and interest of your fandoms and your craft together? Was there an ‘ah ha’ moment?”

Lauren: "I found a love for making candles, and enjoyed going on Etsy and finding fandom inspired scented candles. However, beyond the usual Doctor Who, Supernatural, and Harry Potter, I couldn't find anything inspired by my favorite book series: The Hollows Series written by Kim Harrison. So, I made something inspired by it! As far as I can tell, the joy I felt from making that gave me the idea to start making the less-known but just-as-loved fandoms into fan art. I'd have to say that's where it began."

Ashley: “You cater to a wide variety of fans with your shop. Have there been any interesting experiences because of that?”

Lauren: "The interesting thing that I love the most is seeing the joy that comes through messages to me, notes on orders, etc. There are so many exclamation points or thank you's for when someone finds something they love, or finds the perfect gift for someone they love. Seeing others get as excited as I feel about my products is the greatest thing I could ever ask for. As for interesting, I also discovered so many people who love the same books and things that I do, as much as I do. Something I did not expect!"

Ashley:  “Where else can our lovely readers find you to keep up with you and your shop?”

Lauren: "I am on Tumblr (I need to update that way more frequently....I am working on my horrible procrastination), and will soon be on Facebook. Feel free to check me out, I will even be implementing a full website soon, so stay tuned for that as well if you'd like!"

(Lauren's Tumblr)

Ashley:  “Do you ever create a candle from a show or book that you love and think, ‘Oh, I’m keeping this one’? I ask as a ex-craftswoman myself who...did this way too often.”

Lauren: "Haha, the beauty of my shop is that I have to make the candle to not only design the product, but to take the picture of it. Since I make most of my candles to order, I often get to burn the first of each product. If someone orders it right away, they actually receive the first perfected one. My family adores getting my "oopsies" and the candles that I just don't have enough rooms or time to burn them in!"

Ashley: “What show/book/movie are you super into right now?”

Lauren: "My current absolute OBSESSION, is the Throne of Glass series written by Sarah J. Maas. I am currently designing the candles inspired by that series as well!"

Ashley:  “What have your experiences as a fan been like?”

Lauren: "I'm not terribly sure how to answer this as...mostly my experiences have involved my family and friends rolling their eyes or chuckling at me while I obsess and fangirl over things. However, I have met a lot of people, some through my shop, who share my deep love for all things fandom. Fan fiction has become a recent love of mine, and I have had the pleasure of even making a candle inspired by "Green Girl" written by Colubrina. If you haven't read it, please do! (And then get my candle...it smells like books! I finally found an oil that captures that scent!)."

And finally...

Ashley: “Can you tell us about the product that you are (so very very sweetly, may I add) sponsoring for this giveaway?” 

Lauren: "The product we selected for this giveaway is inspired by the Supernatural Christmas episode titled "A Very Supernatural Christmas." Seeing as Christmas is creeping up on us and I adore the holiday season with all of my soul, I wanted to do something Christmas themed. So, it smells like Christmas! The second piece of awesome-ness about this candle is that the winner of this giveaway will get the candle a full week before it will even be available in my shop! So, this giveaway is a preview, exclusive...thing. I just hope others are excited as I am. Because at this point I'm fangirling over my own candle...which I do a lot.

Enjoy!!!"

You know you want it.

So without further ado... I present the giveaway!

 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

If you are unfamiliar with the operation of a Rafflecopter widget...it's amazingly simple.  Click on the options, and there will be a further description of what to do or a bar for you to validate your entry.  I'm trusting the integrity of your own goodness to do no cheating.  That would break our fangirl hearts. Also, please do not log in via multiple email addresses to enter more than once. We'd like to keep this fair for anyone. :)

Giveaway ends on 11/23 and I will then contact the randomly selected winner. 

I'm looking forward to opening this week of fun, and enjoying it with you, and, it feels required to add: