September Giveaway Winners

Once again the monthly giveaway was a huge success! Thank you to everyone the commented for your chance to win! This month I have decided to award TWO prizes.

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

And the winner is...
D.Suplicki

Congratulations!!

Your prize is ANY mouse from
my store* worth up to $40!

The second prize goes to someone who has entertained me with her daily comments in the form of poetry. Purely for the effort I am giving Alisa a mouse with up to $40 as well. Alisa, you didn't leave any contact information, so please use this page to send me your info.

Here is one of my favorites from Alisa's daily poetry posts:

Which Mouse Am I?

The Mouse named Yorrick lay prone.
Said he, "Studies have shown:
"It's bad to eat bread,
"Fats, dairy, and lead,
"So I won't eat at all till I'm bone!"

by A. Mouse

Thank you to everyone who entered, I am sorry that I can't give you all a free mouse. But don't be too sad, there is another chance for you to win coming tomorrow in the October Giveaway!

Last chance to enter the September Giveaway

Today is your last chance to enter the September Giveaway

The winner of the September Giveaway
can choose ANY mouse from my store
worth up to $40!

Click HERE to enter


Good luck!

Monday Moodboard

From top left:
1. Wedding Classic Felted flower Corsage by JaneBoFelt
2. Flowers Earrings by bijouxdellostregatto
3. Become Rose Garden Shawl Brooch - Pin by meltemsem
4. Unconditional Love, Soft Fabric Journal by Kreativlink
5. Custom made dragon skin by ingermaaike
6. Harmonizing - 11 Untreated White Ceramic Rose Bud Beads by
alatceramics

Love moodboards? Click here to see more!

Father Aaron the Priest Mouse

Father Aaron the Priest Mouse was hand sewn using felt, silks, beads, cardboard, paper, metal, glue, fake leather and monofilament. He is stuffed with polyfil. He stands approximately 2.5inches tall (6.5cm) His costume and accessories are not removable.

Available to buy in my store

Don't forget to enter my September Giveaway
to win your very own mouse!

Legolas and Gimli Mouse

Legolas Greenleaf Mouse is an elf, (as if the pointy ears didn't give it away). Beautiful, immortal and wise, he travels the land as part of the fellowship to save Middle Earth. He comes in green clothing and holding his bow and arrow.



Gimli son of Glóin is a dwarf, but don't let his short stature fool you; this little creature packs a wallop! Although he may not be able to beat Legolas in a kill count competition he is still a formidable member of the fellowship of the ring. He comes with brown clothing, axe, helmet and beard.

Available to buy in my store

Don't forget to enter my September Giveaway to win your very own mouse!

Gollum Mouse

"We wants it, we needs it. Must have the precious. They stole it from us. Sneaky little hobbitses. Wicked, tricksy, false!"

Available to buy in my store

Another Lord of the Rings mouse coming tomorrow!

Aragorn Mouse

Aragorn mouse is the rightful heir to the throne of Gondor, but has chosen exile to wonder the wilds. He has brown curly hair and stubble on his chin. He comes dressed in leather and cloth holding the reforged sword Anduril with which he will fight to save Middle Earth and reclaim his throne.

Available to buy in my store

Another Lord of the Rings mouse coming tomorrow!

Monday Moodboard

From top left:
1. Double strap baby booties by LittleHuismus
2. Rose/ 7x7 by JKphotography
3. Signs of the Zodiac - Virgo by Krize
4. Textile Fan Brooch by binkaminka
5. Tiny French Flower Gourd Art Lampshade by studiotempera
6. Little Orange Felt Mouse Pincushion without Tail by swiedebie

Love moodboards? Click here to see more!

Gandalf the Grey Mouse

Gandalf the Grey Mouse is a powerful wizard. He comes with grey cloak and hat as well as a fluffy white beard and wooden staff.

Available to buy in my store

Another Lord of the Rings mouse coming tomorrow!

Frodo Baggins Mouse

Little Frodo Baggins Mouse is on a mission to destroy the One Ring and save Middle Earth from Sauron. He comes with furry hobbit feet, curly black hair, his trusty sword "Sting" and the ring hung around his neck.

Available to buy in my store

Another Lord of the Rings mouse coming tomorrow!

A warning to Etsy Sellers

As users of the internet most of us are aware that we should protect our personal information as well as we can. But as there is a new scam happening with increasing instance on Etsy I thought that I should post a little reminder....

The scammer(s) on Etsy are convoing sellers to ask for personal information to apparently pay for items by cheque or bank transfer BEFORE they have actually bought anything from the store. They are asking for Name, Address, phone number, email address and bank details! My advice is to stick to PayPal as your preferred method of payment (which is relatively safe) and if you receive a convo like this then reassert your payment policies and forward the convo to abuse@etsy.com

You should never take part in business transactions you don't feel comfortable with, nor reveal private information to those you don't trust.

I guess because my husband is a computer security expert I am more aware of this stuff than most. For instance did you know that posting your full name, telephone numbers, email addresses, home address and birth date on your Facebook info page is a welcome invite to identity thieves! They will happily use them to create bank accounts and other fraudulent accounts like credit cards and phone bills in your name. Even worse you can hand over your bank details, social security numbers of drivers licence numbers to anyone who feels like going through your trash... Always shred any information like this before throwing it away. Identity theft is ugly when it happens, and as it is increasing all the time so does the chance that it will affect you.

Giving myself some "Me" time

When you run your own business it is amazing how many different tasks can take up your day. There is a never ending list of orders to fill, packages to ship, supplies to buy, emails and convos to answer, suppliers to call, marketing, promotional and networking work to do that we rarely find enough hours in the day. It is easy to let certain things in our life take 2nd place. The things that lose out can be anything from your social life to remembering to clean the house. Although personally I know I should clean, I just don't want to!

There are several things that I continuously fight to keep in balance, but something I noticed I am not doing enough of is giving myself some creative "me" time to just explore new ideas and dream for a bit. I know that it is essential to enjoy what I do to keep my passion for The House of Mouse going. But somehow over the last few months I have let the orders and everyday chores completely take over so when I am in the studio I am only making the "old favourites" from my store and a few custom orders when they come in.

Yesterday I gave myself some time to create and just enjoy the process again, and oh how I needed it! It has really sparked my interest and fascination with sewing all over again. I have several new mice that I am going to make over today and possibly tomorrow too. I can't wait to show you my new designs!

To any sellers out there who let their other chores take over, I say reserve some time just for you with no interruptions or detractions, and make something just for yourself. You won't regret it and you will probably be rewarded with a whole load of new ideas and excitement over what you do.

The House of Mouse Studio Live!

Ever wanted to visit my studio and see me working? Well now you can! I am launching my very own live feed coming directly from The House of Mouse. Come to catch live shows and chat at the times below, or check out my channel to see old recorded shows.

Click HERE to view my channel

I should be in my studio between
2.00pm - 4.00pm Week Days

Times are local to Amsterdam the Netherlands,
to find out your local times HERE

I will be in my studio at other times too,
so feel free to stop in often.

If you are having problems viewing my videos click HERE for help

Going crazy

New bag + new coat + pregnancy-brain = lost mobile

@*&$#@$!

I am contemplating starting a new blog called "crazy things pregnant women do" or just "crazy pregnant women" the star of this blog would be me of course, for the next 5 or 6 months. While I continue to lose things - including my mind - and humiliate myself publicly by telling the whole world about it on my blog.

My very sympathetic (!) friends tell me that it is all downhill from now, that after pregnancy-brain comes mommy-brain - which is just as bad if not worse - maybe I should call this blog "Mommy's gone Mad"?

I hope my continued loss of brain cells is providing you with a few laughs. For now I will hope that things will get better and I won't have enough material to justify a whole new blog!

*Edit - 6 hours later* I just found it lurking under my car seat, I think it wanted to go into early hibernation.

Custom Mouse: Marco Pierre White Mouse

I love it when my customers introduce me to new famous characters. Living in Holland I had never heard of Marco Pierre White, but after my customer (and now good friend) Pam asked me a custom Marco Mouse I had a lot of fun learning all about this Celebrity Chef! I wonder if any of you recognize him?

September Giveaway

Four months ago I announced that

I would give away a FREE MOUSE
every month for a whole year!


The winner of the September Giveaway
can choose ANY mouse from my store
worth up to $40!



To enter the September Giveaway all you need to do is
leave a comment under this post
telling me about your favorite mouse or mice
from my store The House of Mouse
(you can choose more than one)
Easy!

You can enter the September Giveaway
as many times you want,
the more I see your name the better.


This competition is open to everyone!
My shop is international so I will ship to anywhere in the world.

The winners will be announced on September 30th.

My Store: The House of Mouse

Competition CLOSED
Winners will be announced shortly