The days are getting warmer and sunnier here in Eugene, Oregon and I'm looking forward to a great summer.  In another month, Summer Solstice Day will mark the first day of summer which is also my birthday :) 

On Monday, June 21 at 10:28AM PST (West Coast USA), the sun will reach it's farthest position north. 

Solstice Glass is named after this time of the year and in celebration of the season, I'll be giving away 2 free glass pendants every week for the next month!

That's EIGHT FREE PENDANTS to be given away by June 21!

If you're a fan of Solstice Glass' Facebook Page, you're invited to enter the giveaway.  If you're not a fan yet, just become a fan before entering. 

To enter, just post a status update mentioning your favorite Solstice Glass pendant.  If you're one of the winners for the week, you'll receive your chosen pendant free of charge!  You may post to your wall as often as you like and will be credited for an entry each time you post. 

PLEASE NOTE: your entry is valid only if you post to your own wall by following the steps below...not Solstice Glass' wall.

It's easy to tag the Solstice Glass page and register your entry:

1. use the "@" and start typing Solstice Glass in your profile status update window.  You'll see the page pop up in the selection window.  Hit enter to tag the page.

2. After tagging, just continue with your status update mentioning your favorite Solstice Glass pendant. 

Here's an example:

I'll pick two winners randomly each week.  If you're a lucky winner, I'll congratulate you on the Solstice Glass Page wall and you'll receive the pendant you mentioned in your status update for free (free shipping included).

Thanks for all your support this last year and good luck winning one of these free pendants!

One day about a month ago, I was packing up a bunch of orders to ship.  I got to thinking about how much cardboard I was using to ship out each pendant.  Then I started wondering if I could find a way to ship with less waste while still getting my glass art to my customers quickly and safely.  I was already using biodegradable Bio-Bubble wrap for packing but I wasn't happy with the volume of cardboard I was using for each order.

I started doing some research and ended up spending several days investigating my options.  I finally settled on using mostly 100% post consumer recycled boxes for shipping.  There aren't many small box sizes available that are made with recycled materials so I decided to save cardboard and go with specially-sized smaller boxes for orders that don't fit well in the recycled boxes.  That took care of the packaging and I was starting to feel good about how much more earth-friendly my business was going to be.

Then I thought about the environmental cost of the actual travel involved in shipping a package.  I started looking for a way to offset the CO2 produced by shipping packages and I found a great company that provides that service.  GreenShipping.com actually uses the USPS package tracking system to calculate the CO2 emmisions produced by the travel of a package to it's destination.  Then they bill me for the carbon credits it takes to offset the produced emmissions.  The result is so-called "carbon neutral" shipping, where the impact of each package shipped is offset by investing in earth-friendly energy production.

It feels good to be able to offer my customers earth-friendly shipping to complement my nature-inspired glass art.  To learn more about my green shipping practices and watch a video about carbon neutral shipping, please visit my Green Shipping page.

Today I added a selection of gift certificates to the Solstice Glass site.  It's something I've been meaning to do for a while.  A number of my customers have suggested it and I thought it would be a nice option to offer, especially during this gift-giving season.

Although it can be a lot of fun choosing glass gifts for friends or people on your holiday list, some people are just difficult to buy for.  Maybe you haven't seen an old friend in a while and don't know what colors they wear anymore.  Maybe you're buying a secret Santa gift for a co-worker and have no idea what they like.  Or maybe you just need a unique and classy gift in the next 48 hours and don't have time to wait for anything to be shipped.

When you purchase a gift certificate, it is delivered to your email within 48 hours.  Your gift certificate arrives in a printable file attachment that you can either print out and give to the recipient in person or send to them via email.  Upon request, I can also personalize your gift certificate with your name and the recipient's name.  This works especially well for gift certificates you plan to email to the recipient.

I hope these gift certificates make your gift-giving a little easier and more fun and as always, I welcome any feedback you might have to share.