She Was Stunning | Holiday Giveaway!

The giveaway is now closed. Thanks to everyone who participated!

I think that womanhood is universal. No matter where we’re from, what our backgrounds or beliefs are, we’re connected by a sisterhood based on our similar experiences, especially the challenges we face. We can all relate. That’s why I firmly believe that we should all support each other – and also why I love my friend Sarah’s artwork, which she has transformed into a business of magnets, greeting cards, luggage tags, and most recently, desk calendars.

she was stunning offers these products featuring beautiful black & white photographs of women depicting the stories underneath. The inspiration for SWS came from an assignment Sarah was given when she was studying photography at the Alberta College of Art and Design, where she had to produce a series of ten images that pertained to a theme. The original portfolio was made of metal, with magnetic poetry spelling out the captions. It was awarded “Most Outstanding Portfolio” by her peers. That was four years ago, and she was stunning was born soon after. Now, there are also lines of products featuring just the inspirational phrases, artistically arranged in the company’s signature colours.

The stories were inspired by Sarah’s own experiences and those of her friends. She wanted to portray women just as we are, with our strengths and insecurities, our ups and downs. I think she’s done a very good job of it, because it’s the relatability of the stories that caught my eye in the first place.

I remember I was helping my mum out at a trade show, when I started exploring the venue on a break. Sarah’s booth caught my eye because it was decorated in my favourite colour combination – hot pink, black and white. I sauntered over to have a look, and when I saw a picture of a girl’s legs rocking killer d’Orsay stilettos with the caption, “The night was hers. All hers. She could feel it right down to her three-inch heels.” I thought, That’s me! That’s exactly what goes through my head every time I make myself pretty and go out. I read over all the other stories, identified with them too, and proceeded to gush to Sarah in the most embarrassing way about how much I liked her work. She was so sweet, and since then, we’ve kept in touch.

I loved her magnets first, but I also adore the desk calendars, which is her newest line. They’re so chic, and the magnet-letters, apart from looking cute, are a neat little homage to Sarah’s original idea, and what got the SWS ball rolling in the first place.

Her business has been doing really well; in just a few short years, she’s signed on with a national distributor and her products can be found in over 100 retailers from all over Canada – and counting. You can also find her products online at Orangefish, Ravensara and Two Wolves Trading Company.

And because Sarah loves The Soap Heiress, she will be giving out a desk calendar and a couple magnets (pictured below) to a lucky reader for this holiday season! To enter, send me an e-mail at thesoapheiress(at)gmail.com with “SWS Giveaway” as the subject. Entries must be received by 12:00 AM (Eastern Time) December 14th. The winner will be notified by e-mail and announced here on Monday, December 15th’s post.

For more information and to see the product catalogue, visit http://shewasstunning.com.