My job was to choose a product to review. I found myself literally on a mission – a mission where I needed to find the perfect item to give my daughter to treasure forever. The reason behind this goes back to when I was a little girl. I was about 7 yrs. old and my dad brought me home a set of bobble head Japanese guy and girl figurines that were hand-crafted by one of his customers. This customer was from Japan. I treasured these bobble heads, not only because they were from him to me, but because they had a history behind them and their creator; and yet more importantly, because my dad passed away shortly after.  I knew him giving them to me meant something special to him as he had once traveled the world in the service. No – I’m not dying, but I would love to give something to my daughter that displayed a meaning behind it that she could treasure forever. The details of those bobble heads were astonishing and I knew the same would be true for any product I choose on the Novica site.  Crafters as such, put so much time and effort into their pieces having a lot of pride in what they create.

So off I was to explore what I could find for that perfect gift.  I started by viewing category by category on the website. I came upon the unique gift section. There I found these beautiful figurines with lots of character that depict Japanese Bobtail Cats (ironic – my dad gave me a gift depicting the Japanese and here I was falling in love with these Japanese Bobtail Cat figurines!). Yes, I fell in love with them, and even more so after reading the complete meaning behind the figurines.

I knew these were the perfect gift for my daughter.  My daughter and I are very much cat lovers and these little guys are suppose to bring good fortune. The raising of their right paw is to attract money and the raising of their left paw is to draw customers.  Okay – she’s only 14, but some day maybe she’ll be in business and need customers.  In the meantime, one is never to young to pass up the chance to attract money!

I continued on moseying throughout the site – I wanted to see more.  I came upon snowmen.  I collect snowmen and love the ones that display a country air.  My eyes laid upon this set of four wooden snowmen ornaments.  Aye yup, my name was written all over them and I knew I had to have them too.

I placed my order – check out was very easy. Now I just neede to await their arrival.  The items I purchased were coming from Bali and Java – so I knew it would take some time before they arrived.  However, I was kept well abreast of their travels through emails and tracking numbers.

Being all too excited when they did arrive, I couldn’t wait to open them. The outer packaging was of a heavy cardboard box.  In each box was what I had ordered – gift wrapped!  I was NOT expecting that at all – and no I didn’t pay for it.  I was so dying to see what the items looked like, but I had to wait until my daughter came home so she could open the package that was hers.  As much as I wanted to, there was absolutely no way I was going to attempt opening hers and then try re-wrapping it – they were too beautifully wrapped…see for yourself:

The white wrap is of a heavy crinkled paper with leaves imprinted on it. The other is of a heavy colored paper.  I finally captured my daughter long enough to open them – WOW – you want to talk about well wrapped – it’s a real good thing I didn’t try to unwrap them! The gift inside the white paper was my daughters and it had several protective layers of wrapping from brown filler paper – and lots of it wrapped around the figurines – to corrugated cardboard and a paper a bit thicker than tissue paper.  The same held true for the smaller package – minus one layer.

Now the fun part – viewing the items.  The bobtail cats are stunning. They’re painted a celadon (cool green) color displaying a subtle crackle finish with very fine details on the paws, face, and neckline.  They are actually bigger than what I thought they would be.  The snowmen – they too are delicately painted, feel like they are of a hollow wood, as they are much lighter than I anticipated them to be considering they are crafted out of wood.  In hand, they depict a country flair just as displayed on the site. I just love them!  These items definitely aired the pride that went into crafting them.

Earlier on I mentioned Novica Live.  What exactly is this recently launched program?  It’s a Gifts and Jewelry Home Party offering the same kind of products you see on the Novica website.  They are looking for consultants to become part of their team.  As a consultant, you can earn trips abroad to NOVICA’s world regions, and FREE handcrafted jewelry & gifts.  In fact, does a trip to Bali sound really cool?

If you’re interested in becoming a consultant, they are offering a fantastic opportunity of doing so for $199.  In return, you’ll receive $400 worth of products and $150 in business materials to get you started in your new business adventure.  This is a fantastic way to earn some extra cash along with having the ability of working out your own schedule.

If you happen to decide to sign on as a consultant – make sure you tell them you heard about this opportunity from a blogger and please use http://fingerclicksaver.com where it’s asked for on the application.

Onto the giveaway!  One lucky winner will win a $40 Gift Code (supplied via email) to use on the Novica website on anything they chose!  Entry is quick and simple – Rafflecopter powered.  Good Luck!