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Tuesday, August 31, 2010

August Giveaway Winner

Once again the monthly giveaway was a huge success!
Thank you to everyone the commented for your chance to win!

The prize goes (as always) to a person chosen at random using the random generator

And the winner is...
Chani

Your prize is a
$35.00 gift voucher
to spend in
our store!

Thank you to everyone who entered,
We wish that we could give you all a free mouse!
You'll have a brand new chance to win
tomorrow in the September Giveaway!

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Monday Moodboard - Back to School

Canary Yellow Felt Pencil or Pen Cozy by swiedebie
Pencil Stamp Notebook by buechertiger
Blackboard, ring by Evrydiki
Long Wool Handknit Hooded Cardigan by boutiqueseragun

See more Monday Moodboards on Fleur's Blog

Happy Stats

Things that made Anna happy this week:

Things that made Naomi happy this week:

  • Going to the cinema with my family to see Toy Story 3 (it rocks!!)
  • Spending the day with my Ma on her birthday
  • Getting a chance to catch up a little with the European Street Team chatter on Etsy
  • Declan and Vincent "chatting" on the webcam! Can't wait for them to meet in person again very soon :-)

Friday, August 27, 2010

Matt Smith's The Doctor Mouse



This little Doctor Who Mouse is the 11th regeneration of The Doctor: Matt Smith. He has braces, tweed jacket and of course a little red bow-tie. He carries his own little sonic screwdriver and even has Matt Smith's characteristic floppy fringe.

This mouse is hand sewn using felt, silks, ribbon, beads, glue, cardboard, wood, monofilament and he is stuffed with polyfil. He stands approximately 2.5inches tall (6.5cm)

See more photos HERE

Thursday, August 26, 2010

My Creative Space

This week I received another batch of mice from Naomi in the mail. Amongst them was a special little surprise for me: an Anna Mouse! She is so special, just look at that tiny mini-mouse she is sewing! She even has little dreadlocks. I will treasure her always, what a wonderful gift.

Hop on over to Kootoyoo's blog for more Creative Spaces.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Wednesday Wisdom

To make an Etsy Treasury really special,
choose listings that mean something to you.


Sometimes, even though I want to make a Treasury, I just can't think of a decent theme to tie it all together. I bet I'm not the only one! I realised recently that if I make a Treasury based on my feelings or my life situation at the time, it often flows really well. It has more of a 'meaning' to me, and it's easier to spot the items that fit in with my 'feeling' (like a Moodboard!) than it is to randomly look for items that might look good together.

Also, this way, if it does make it to the Front Page, I'd be sharing a bit of my life or my soul with thousands and thousands of people. That's pretty cool!


The first Treasury that I made for The House of Mouse.

Much love,
Naomi xx

Play along with us and share your knowledge. Leave a link to your Wednesday Wisdom (not your whole blog, just the individual post please) below in Mister Linky.

For more information on how to play visit this post


Monday, August 23, 2010

Monday Moodboard: Midnight

My little boy had a nightmare last night and woke up crying. After comforting him back to sleep, I couldn't get back to sleep myself, so I put together a fitting moodboard ;-)

Naomi x


Colourful Stardust Gift Tags by marlyscreations
Sexy Midnight Cuff by mysticfibres
Midnight Blue Pearl Earrings byAMIdesigns
Midnight Blues Journal by Baghy

Love Moodboards? Find more here!

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Happy Stats

Things that made Anna happy this week:
  • Combing out my dreadlocks and getting a nice new haircut
  • Declan's first tooth coming through
  • Receiving another package from Naomi full of amazing little mice
  • One of those new mice was a gift for me: a little Anna Mouse!

Things that made Naomi happy this week:

  • Making two perfect little chef mice!
  • Spending lots of time with my happy little family.
  • Putting together and sending my first mouse parcel from here in the UK.
  • Making good use of Karyn from releasesbyrufydoof's awesome Wednesday Wisdom advice from a couple of weeks ago, and putting vaseline around the nozzle of my glue tube to stop the glue blocking it up! Genius!
  • Releasing Spidey and Venom into the big wide world ;-)


Happy Pic of Naomi's family

Friday, August 20, 2010

Spider-Mouse and Venom




In the chill of the night, at the scene of a crime, like a streak of light he arrives just in time: It's Spider-Mouse! Since he was bitten by a radioactive bug, spinning webs and catching bad guys are what this little mouse does best. As long as you have Spider-Mouse beside you, you have nothing to fear. This super-cute mouse is the perfect gift for your comic book geek!

Click here for more pics of Spider-Mouse

Venom Mouse is arguably the most notorious of Spider-Mouse's arch-enemies. From his deathly black costume to his sparkling white teeth and super-long tongue, Venom Mouse truly is a fearsome creature. You wouldn't want a friendly lick from this little guy, that's for sure! This terrible little mouse is the perfect gift for anyone who loves Spider-Man and comics, or even those who root for the bad guys...

Click here for more pics of Venom Mouse

Thursday, August 19, 2010

My Creative Space: First parcel from the UK

Hi there, it's Naomi here, I'd like to share my Creative Space with you today!
This week we sold a Graduate Mouse to someone in the UK. It was the 1001st sale at The House of Mouse, and as it was going to a UK buyer, we agreed that it would be best for me to make and send it from my UK studio. It's the first time we've done that since I joined the team; so far, all of my mice have been sent to Anna's studio in Holland to join their mousie friends before being sent on to their adoptive families. But I was definitely ready for this one to be totally my responsibility, so Anna bravely trusted me to take care of it!

Here's the very mouse I made:

Here he is jumping into his little box for postage:


And here's my very first parcel put together for a sale:




Is it silly that I was ridiculously excited?! ;-)

I can't wait for the next 1000 sales, and to really make my mark on The House of Mouse!

Naomi xx

P.S. Hop on over to Kootoyoo's blog for more Creative Spaces.

Wednesday, August 18, 2010

Interview with a Mouse: Alfonso the Artist Mouse

Those of you who have already subscribed to our new The House of Mouse newsletter will know that we've started doing monthly mini-interviews with the mice. They're lots of fun, and hopefully will give you a unique "mouse's perspective" on things! We thought it was only fair to share them here on the blog as well, but those of you subscribing to the newletter will see them at least a week in advance as a special treat ;-)

Our very first Interview with a Mouse features a very special Mouse: Alfonso the Artist Mouse was the first Mouse ever sold at The House of Mouse! He's a bit of a veteran, really, so we hope you enjoy meeting him.

Hello Alfonso, welcome to the newsletter! Thanks for talking to us.
'Allo, merci, I am 'appy to be 'ere! I 'ope I 'ave plenty to talk aboute.

Well, why don't we start by talking about your work as an artist. Are you inspired by any particular famous artists?
Aaahhh oui, I 'ave zeveral idols from zee artiste world. I admire zee vork of Mouselangelo and Vincent Van Gogh Mouse, 'oo can alzo be found at zee delightful 'Ouse of Mouse. But my all-time favoureet artiste, 'ee iz Leonardo Da Vin-Cheese.

We hear from The House of Mouse that you sometimes get so excited in your painting that you splatter the paint onto the canvas with your tail, is that true?!
(Alfonso shuffles around in embarrassment) Uhm... Zat vas just... Uhm... Zumtimes, oui...

What do you most love to paint?
I love to paint zee cheese, and ven I 'ave 'ad a leetle too much of zee Roquefort, I zumtimes paint zee dancing cats in pink pyjamas!

Sounds intriguing... What about your time at The House of Mouse? Who has been your greatest friend there, have you come across anyone you don't like?
Ahh, vell, I 'ave to say, 'Ootie zee 'Wise' Brown Owl can be a leetle bit of a pain in zee bottom ven you get 'im talking. But my most special ami 'as to be Nona zee Cellist Mouse. She is very very artistique and a very sweet Mouse. I 'av very much enjoyed 'er company at zee 'Ouse of Mouse. It is a vonderful 'ome, vee all 'ave great fun zere.

That's fabulous, thank you so much for sharing with us Alfonso, and best of luck with your next adoptive family, whoever they may be!
Merci beaucoup, mon ami! Au Revoir, zee you again.



Don't forget; to be the first to read our monthly mini-interviews with the mice, as well as to receive special discount vouchers and hear all of our other news and updates, subscribe to our monthly newsletter!

Wednesday Wisdom

If you sell small items, use a light box to create beautiful photos every time no matter what the weather is doing.

Great photos are one of the most important things to get right if you sell online. Your photographs are your virtual shop window: If they are not light, bright and eye-catching then often buyers will surf right past your store without even noticing your work.

Here's a tutorial Anna wrote on how to make your own lightbox


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Play along with us and share your knowledge. Leave a link to your Wednesday Wisdom (not your whole blog, just the individual post please) below in Mister Linky.

For more information on how to play visit this post

Monday, August 16, 2010

1000 sales and a very special giveaway

Today we had our 1000th sale on Etsy!! We want to say a massive THANK YOU to all our customers, friends and fans for their support over the last 2 years. It has been such an amazing journey so far, and we both feel that there is so much more to come.


To celebrate we are giving away a very special, one of a kind mouse to whomever we feel deserves her most. This little mouse is called Miss Universe Mouse, she is covered in diamonds and pearls, wears a beautiful tiara and carries some very pretty white roses. She is the only one of her kind that will ever be made.



If you would like to win her, please leave a comment telling us why you feel you should be the one to adopt her. Are you a big (the biggest?) fan of The House of Mouse? Tell us why!

The competition will be open for a week. Good luck!

x Anna and Naomi x

Giveaway closed.
Winner to be announced soon!

Monday Moodboard - Leaf

Orange Autumn Tree by NancyvdBoom
Beauty Queen Brooch by Stemellina
Felted soap with embellishment by ingermaaike
Red leaves and sunshine by sunshineartdesign

Love moodboards? See more here

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Happy Stats

Things that made Anna happy this week:
  • Celebrating my 3rd wedding anniversary with a nice lunch out together and a wander about Amsterdam shopping for each other
  • Publishing our first Monthly Newsletter
  • Making a Zombie Mouse army
  • Getting to 999 sales in The House of Mouse... Just ONE more to go!

Things that made Naomi happy this week:

  • Sending off my second batch of mice to Anna in Holland. (There are some exciting new characters coming!)
  • Splashing down the log flume with my stepdaughter.
  • Watching Vincent take one tiny first step on his own, before collapsing to the floor!
  • Interviewing Alfonso the Artist Mouse for our new Newsletter! (The interview will also be on our blog soon).


Happy Pic from Anna's wedding: August 11th 2007

Friday, August 13, 2010

Figgis the fuzzy Piggy



Plump and fuzzy, Figgis the piggy loves nothing more than snuffling around for truffles, especially the chocolate kind. Figgis loves having his little porky belly tickled - go on - listen to him squeal with delight!

Figgis was hand sewn with felt and beads. He is stuffed with polyfil. He stands approximately 2.5inches tall (6.5cm)

More pics HERE

Thursday, August 12, 2010

My Creative Space

... has been invaded my Zombie Mice! I have just been restocking some Zombie Mice for Halloween, and thought they looked great together. A little Zombie Mouse Army.

Sometimes my sense of humour worries even me ;)

-Anna

~

Love looking into other peoples creative spaces?
Check out Kootoyoo's blog to find more!

Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Wednesday Wisdom

My Wednesday Wisdom:
Increase the price of your highest value item by 25%, or create a new item for your store that costs 150% more than anything else in your shop.

If you have a higher priced item in your store it makes your lower priced products look more attractive to buyers. This is because most people avoid the cheapest items and the most expensive ones, they like to fall somewhere in the middle.

This technique is called Price Anchoring. Even though you will probably not sell any of your highest priced items, just having it in your shop will increase the sales of your lower priced products.

Make sure that this high-priced item is very visible in your store, put it in your featured items or at least on the first page of your listings, and watch as it helps you sell more!

Play along with us and share your knowledge. Leave a link to your Wednesday Wisdom (not your whole blog, just the individual post please) below in Mister Linky.

For more information on how to play visit this post

Monday, August 9, 2010

Monthly Newsletter


Want all the latest The House of Mouse news direct to your email?

Our Monthly newsletter will include updates on what Anna and Naomi have been up to, new designs, fun mini-interviews with the mice and special discount offers available only to our subscribers.

Monday Moodboard: Dusty Pink

Soft French Lace Bag by tortillagirl
Pink Lace Stocking by SabiKrabi
Love Moodboards? See more here

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Weekly Happy Stats

Things that made Anna happy this week:

Things that made Naomi happy this week:

  • Having lots of fun with my stepdaughter while she stays with us for 9 whole days!!
  • Taking Vincent to the zoo for the very first time with his big sister, seeing the elephants and lions and other exciting animals.
  • Making my first Chewbacca mice, laughing and laughing at how totally adorable he is and feeling desperate to make loads more!
  • Launching my idea of Wednesday Wisdom and seeing some lovely people taking part in its very first week!
  • Hearing that Anna managed to get a good night's sleep ;-)

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