Sale this weekend only!

To celebrate Black Friday and Cyber Monday we are offering 10% OFF everything in our store between November 26th and 29th! To claim your discount simply input the special coupon code during Etsy checkout.

Coupon Code: CYBERSALE

Enjoy!

FREE SHIPPING WORLDWIDE!!

Happy Holidays to all of our blog readers, newsletter subscribers, beloved customers and fans!! As a big THANK YOU we're offering free shipping to any destination worldwide when you make any purchase at The House of Mouse. We hope you all have a wonderful holiday season :-)

Much love,

Anna and Naomi xx

Monday Moodboard: Yellow

Ikabags

Bonzie

LaLaShoes

sunshineartdesign

Love Moodboards? See more on Fleur's Blog

Father Chris Mouse's Makeover!

Little Father Chris Mouse has been a part of The House of Mouse since 2008, and until now he has always worn a white felt beard. He's a very popular Christmas Mouse, naturally, and so we thought that this year he could use a little "makeover"! We decided to change the white felt beard for a full and lustrous fluffy white fur beard, and I have to say, I think it looks dead cool on him ;-)



What do you think?

Father Chris Mouse is available to buy here

My Creative Space - Creating a Time Machine

Our first "Mouse House"; The TARDIS; sold this month, and we are keen to get another one in the shop as soon as possible. It has been very popular! So I have been hard at work creating another of these very special Time Machines. It is a delicate process, as you'd imagine... ;-)



There are several very important components, and they are all lots of fun to make and put together. But there are also some extras which appear in the creation process, and I can't bring myself to just throw them away:


I think for sure that they must be destined for some wonderful project of their own, these little blue squares, but I can't think what it might be!

Any ideas or suggestions?

Naomi xx

P.S. Love checking out Creative Spaces? Join us over at Kootoyoo's blog for more!

Dumble Dormouse Giveaway

Hey everyone! Out friends over at vvb32reads' blog are hosting a very special mouse giveaway to celebrate the release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows part 1. Visit their blog to find out how you could win your very own Dumble Dormouse!

The competition closes on November 28th.

Artist Interview - feltmeupdesigns

Each week we invite a different Etsy seller to visit us at our home: The House of Mouse, where all the mice live. This weeks guest is UK based fiber artist Melanie Green from feltmeupdesigns.etsy.com

Mel and I wander down one of the many paths in The House of Mouse garden eventually finding ourselves at the old pond surrounded by trees, twisting vines and the tumbledown remains of a potting shed. Mel’s little birds are happily playing splashing games in the shallow end of the pond, letting out little squawks and twitters of joy. Our mice scamper around their feet and dance up and down the vines, they are so happy to have new friends to play with. The mice were a little weary of Mel’s owls at first, but they are so sweet and gentile that all fears are soon forgotten. We sit ourselves down on the old wooden bench (well out of splashing range). Mel watches the merriment while I locate my notes.

Ahhh, here they are! Welcome to our home Mel. Thank you so much for talking to us today.
Thanks Anna, Thanks mice! I brought you some homemade fudge to share with the mice... I hope they like chocolate... it's my malteser fudge which I make for special occasions, very chocolatey and yummy but very sweet so they'll have to remember to clean their teeth before bedtime!

Ohh that sounds delicious! I am sure they will love it. (All the mice scurry over and start tucking in, silence follows, punctuated with a few appreciative squeaks)

We'd like to begin by asking you a little bit about your Etsy store and what it means to you: when telling someone about your shop for the first time, what do you say about it?
I'm get very shy talking about my shop to people (mice of course are another story, it's very easy to open up to a mouse... I think it's probably the whiskers!) I don't know why I get so bashful about it... here goes then!

I make needlefelted birds, I call them Tweets because that's what they call themselves! Needle felting is a process where you take pile of fluff and turn it into something wonderful using only a barbed needle, big foam pad and your imagination! I make all sort of birds from little tweets with love hearts on their bellies right up to the owls which are much more complex.

Would you share a memory with us of when you first fell in love with your craft?
I started out doing a wet felting course at my local community centre and the teacher mentioned needlefelting… I tried it and didn’t like it at first, so my needles returned to their box and stayed there for over a year, then when I moved house I found them again and decided to have another go. After making a few bunnies and aliens I decided to try my hand at making a bird and the first tweet was born! I fell in love with him straight away he was a little skinny blue tweet with pink spots on his belly. The basic design hasn’t changed much since then… it’s just got more complicated as I have started making real bird portraits!

I adore your shop name, it is so clever and easy to remember. How did you come up with it?
I wish I could remember! Me and a friend came up with it one night after sharing a few glasses of wine… and it just kinda stuck!

I have watched your designs become more and more complex over the last few years, is it important to you to continue challenging yourself as an artist?
Most definitely, I have the world’s shortest attention span so I need to keep it interesting for my self and keep developing my designs. It has to be fun, I always said the minute it stops being fun I’ll stop… I still love every minute of it tho!

How do you plan for a new item in your Etsy Shop, if at all? Do you know how something will look before you start?
I tend to work in lots of different ways; sometimes it’s just a case of putting colours together and seeing what works. When I make the owls and real birds it’s a different process though. I watch a lot of nature documentaries for inspiration and when I find a bird I like I research its markings and shape so as to get it as close as possible… the hardest part is working out what to leave out so the tweet will still look like its real life counterpart! I only have a vague idea what they will look like when I start, they tend to take shape under the needle.

We do hope that you're a keen Etsy buyer as well as seller. What are some of your favourite shops on Etsy and why?
Thehouseofmouse… of course… gotta love those mices!
I love Alibalijewellery http://www.etsy.com/shop/AliBaliJewellery I met Ali on a weekend away with some of the etsy girls and watched her make some speckled sparrow earring, her work is so beautiful.
Kitlane makes the cutest Jacabobs and Jacabunnies http://www.etsy.com/shop/KitLane she an inspiring needlefelter... Her creations have real character.

We'd love to get a little snippet of your home life, please describe your home in just 5 words.
Ooo… hard question! Leaking? I live in an attic flat with slopping ceilings and lots of quirky corners so:
Quirky, cosy, felt covered loft!

Värmod the Viking Mouse loves a midnight snack. If he were to raid your refrigerator right now, what treats might he find there?
Cheese… lots and lots of cheese… so he’ll have crazy cheese dreams.

If you were a mouse living in The House of Mouse, which one would you be and why?
I’d be the devil mouse because I have a wicked sense of humour!

Thank you so much for taking the time to visit us, Mel. Please let us know how we can find you on the internet by sharing some links.
Thanks Anna, thanks mice… I had a great time, I love your garden! I’ll leave you the rest of the fudge… oh wait… the mice ate it all!

My Felty shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/feltmeupdesigns
blog http://feltmeupdesigns.blogspot.com/
facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Felt-Me-Up-Designs/31648065832
twitter: http://twitter.com/Feltmeupdesigns
My Inky shop: http://www.etsy.com/shop/inkmeup
http://inkmeupdesigns.blogspot.com/

Weekly Happy Stats

Things that made Anna happy this week:

• Marvelling at how fast my little boy is growing up. Took him out for lunch twice this week and both times he behaved perfectly.
• Starting a knitting project for the first time in ages.
• Watching the Christmas sales start to roll in. 
• Enjoying making fun custom orders again.
• Finally getting a full nights sleep since before Declan was born.
• Treating myself to this bag by ThongBaiTatong

Unfortunately Naomi and her little boy are sick this week, so it's just Anna's happy stats today.
Get well soon Vincent and Naomi! xxx

 

Happy Video of Declan Laughing

Lord Cuthbert of Mousehole

Lord Cuthbert of Mousehole comes from a long line of distinguished gentlemice. He enjoys watching polo and having a little flutter at the horse races. Every evening you can find him sat in his comfy chair by a roaring fire reading his favourite leather-bound novel. Ol' Bertie is dressed in a fine cream suit, red bowtie and top hat, he carries a cane decorated in gold and silver and even has a little monocle.

Available to buy in our store

New Certificate of Authenticity

Introducing the new Certificate of Authenticity! 

This has a gold heat embossed (raised) stamp in the corner. 

We think it looks kind of awesome.

Artist Interview - staroftheeast

Each week we invite a different Etsy seller to visit us at our home: The House of Mouse, where all the mice live. This week's guest is jewelry- and bag-designer Estella from staroftheeast.etsy.com. Estella lives and works in Turkey with her mother, Esther.


The moment Estella enters the House of Mouse, she is crowded by dozens of girlie mice who are enchanted by her gorgeous jewelry! They excitedly lead her to the living room, where a roaring fire and several comfortable chairs (mouse-sized and human-sized!) await them. Pearl the knitting mouse nudges Estella's ankles to offer her something: It is a newly knitted blanket to lay on her lap and keep warm. Pearl says that Estella can take it away when she leaves, as a souvenir. Naomi pulls out her notebook and begins the interview.


Welcome to our cosy little home, Estella. It's wonderful to have you here to chat with us today.

Thank you so much for inviting me, Naomi! And look at this gorgeous blanket I just got from Pearl, how sweet and generous, thank you so much!
(Pearl blushes bashfully)

We'd like to begin by asking you a little bit about your Etsy stores and what they mean to you: when telling someone about your shops for the first time, what do you say about them?

When people ask us what we do we tell them that we make jewelry, most people do not take it very serious as they just think it is a hobby, playing with some beads. They do take us seriously when they find out that we live off that income and even take care of 14 dogs with it! Although it is not always easy, we are very happy to be able to live creatively!

Our main passion is jewelry making and so is our main shop and focus on staroftheeast. To give us a break from that we often make home decor and other creative outlets which end up in our giftshop, GiftsandStars. And we have a huge amount of fabric and textiles, vintage and new, which we sew into mostly one of a kind and always eco friendly bags for StarBags. As we are supply addicts we sometimes buy a little too much of some kinds, and to be able to circulate that into new supplies we sell them in our supply shop, StarofSupplies so that we can buy new supplies.

Would you share a memory with us of when you first fell in love with your favorite craft?

We always have been a creative duo one way or the other. Jewelry making started with the fact that I loved wearing earrings and didn't like or couldn't afford the ones for sale in shops here, so I started making my own. During that period a course opened here, and my mother and I went there together, we were very soon in love with it and wanted to make it our job!

How do you plan for new items in your Etsy Shops, if at all? Do you know how something will look before you start?

An idea can come in many ways. Inspiration often comes from the material we have but it can also be a movie, a conversation about something totally different, other artists works (in-an-inspirational-not-copy-way) and of course nature, which is also our main supply source. Ideas sometimes do not work out as we planned in our head, or might turn into a completely different way.


We do hope that you're a keen Etsy buyer as well as seller. What is your favourite shop on Etsy and why?

There are too many to choose just one! There is so much talent on Etsy. You will be able to find many of my favorites by searching for 'europeanstreetteam'.

We'd love to get a little snippet of your home life, please describe your home in just 5 words!

1. 14 dogs; much love and fur
2. lots of books, we both read alot
3. computer = internet, a huge source of inspiration and of course our income source
4. materials, as we usually create every day
5. comfort food, life is way less fun without it!

Ahh, so "dogs, books, computer, materials, food"! What a lovely mixture, your home must be very inviting.


Musculus Maximouse gets terrible midnight cravings. If he were to raid your refrigerator right now, what treats might he find there?

Mostly vegetables, cheese, Nutella, bread, and leftovers.

(Musculus licks his mousie chops at the sound of Nutella!)

If you were a mouse living in The House of Mouse, which one would you be and why?

I think I would love to be the Frida Kahlo mouse, I love her hair, her dresses and her art! But I love all of them differently so wouldn't mind to be any of them, hmmm maybe not Axel the executioner :)


And finally, one of the mice would like to ask you a question. Flower the Hippy Mouse would like to ask you: What is your most treasured possession and why?

I have many treasured possessions, as I give a lot of value to what I have. But not replaceable and very treasured are my mother and the furry kids :)

Those "furry kids" are lucky indeed to live in a household filled with such love.
It has been a pleasure having you here, Estella. Please let us know how we can find you on the internet by sharing some links!

The pleasure was all mine, I'm so happy to finally have met the famous Mouse Family after seeing them on the web so often! Oh I brought a special notebook with me, I would love to have their autographs, before they are too famous to have time for such things!


(The mice giggle excitedly and crowd around to put a "pawprint" in Estella's little book.)

You can find our shops at staroftheeast.etsy.com starofsupplies.etsy.com starbags.etsy.com and giftsandstars.etsy.com

we blog often at http://star-of-the-east.blogspot.com
and very recently started a visual blog at http://staroftheeast.tumblr.com

We feature a different Artist each week: If you'd like to come and visit us at The House of Mouse, please feel free to pop us a message and we will try to book you in!
xxx

Monday Moodboard - Treasures from the Forest

Top Left: Les Doux et Durs Earth by zsazsazsu1963
Top Right: Day and Night Reversible Bag by StarBags
Bottom Left: Pebble Form Ring by lilarubyking
Bottom Right: Nno Felted Shawl- Forest Green by JurgitaMi

Love Moodboards? See more at Fleur's blog!

Weekly Happy Stats

Things that made Anna happy this week:

- Hearing Declan saying "Da da da da" for the first time (His daddy is glowing with pride, I can't wait for "Ma ma ma ma").
- Finishing building a whole new set of IKEA cupboards, Yay for more storage!
- Making little warrior mice for a very special customer.
- Catching up with friends for a good old girlie chat.
- Making Declan's first Halloween costume.

Things that made Naomi happy this week:

- Getting a lovely new Blu-Ray player and lots of freebies with it.
- Starting my Abundance Quest and through it meeting lots of likeminded people.
- Hearing about Vincent's "Fireworks" painting at nursery!
- Selling our first Mouse House: The TARDIS, with a little David Tennant Dr Who Mouse.
- Enjoying the unusually warm and very beautiful weather this November.

Värmod Catcrusher the Viking Mouse

 Värmod Catcrusher is a doughty, stalwart Viking Mouse. He is strong and tireless, frequently shouldering burdens that would tire lesser mice. As a Viking, Värmod is one of the "berserkers", and has been known to rush into battle with no clothes on. If the sight of him naked isn't enough to disable the enemy, his battleaxe certainly will be.

Available in our store now

My Creative Space - Finding a Warm Spot

Three little Terry Mice have found their way into a cubby hole on my bureau: Just like real cats, they've snuggled into a cosy little corner. Don't they look cute all huddled in together? :-)

Want to check out lots more creative spaces? Head on over to Kootoyoo's blog!

Wednesday Wisdom - Making lists online

If you are anything like me, you can't remember everything you need to do unless you write it down. If you are even more like me, then you also have a habit of losing your lists! I found this great, simple to use website for keeping all my lists on, called tadalist.com Now they are stored on-line so I can't lose them! I can even share the list with other users.

Do you have wisdom to share this Wednesday? It doesn't need to be long or complicated, or even craft related. Any little snippit of knowlege that might help others is welcome! Once you have shared your Wednesday Wisdom with the blogsphere, leave a link to your post here so others can find you too! (the actual post url please, not your main blog page thanks!)

Artist Interview - BHBKidstyle

Each week we invite a different Etsy seller to visit us at our home: The House of Mouse, where all the mice live. This week's guest is Hungarian children's clothes designer Eva from BHBKidstyle.etsy.com, who is currently based in Portugal.


Eva arrives with armfuls of brightly colored tiny Mouse t-shirts hand painted by her, which she tells us are gifts for all of the mice! The mice that have gathered to welcome her are squabbling over the beautiful designs, but in the end each of them is wearing a vibrant little outfit and they are all very impressed. Naomi and the mice guide Eva to the House of Mouse library, where we are surrounded not only by hundreds of beautiful books but also bright and cheerful hanging mobiles and wind chimes to catch our eyes as we chat. It is a warm, serene little room with comfortable chairs and a lovely atmosphere. There are cheesy nibbles laid out on the low tables for us to munch on! Naomi settles Eva in one of the comfy chairs and begins the interview.

Hello, Eva dear, and welcome to The House of Mouse! We're all so glad that you could make it here today.

Thank you for inviting me! I do pass your house quite often while doing my errands in town and I often wondered how so many different mice with different personalities can live under the same roof in peace. And your library! It's such a comfortable place! It has a very pleasant, relaxing atmosphere. I can just see myself sitting here under the mobiles nibbling yummy cheese scones while musing about my next design.

Well you'd be more than welcome to visit any time! For today, we'd like to begin by asking you a little bit about your Etsy store and what it means to you: when telling someone about your shop for the first time, what do you say about it?

Well, me and my Etsy store have a very up-and-down relationship. I opened it just over a year ago full of hopes and dreams. As we all know dreams don´t always come to true, or at least not immediately and that is when the relationship has its down moments. However, I´m a dreamer by nature. Dreaming keeps me going and make me a positive thinking person.

I like my Etsy store because without it I wouldn´t have been able to show the world my craft and my belief that kids have vivid imaginations, good humor and that they like wearing it. Without my Etsy store I wouldn´t have had the courage to start selling my products at craft fairs and see how much people appreciate what I do. And without my Etsy store I wouldn´t have met some wonderful people.

Would you share a memory with us of when you first fell in love with your craft?

To be honest first I fell in love with my youngest daughter's drawings. At the age of four she produced a quite complicated picture with lots of details and a full story behind it. That was the time when I decided that they shouldn´t go to waste. But of course complicated pictures can´t really go onto t-shirts so, I just use snippets of them
My first ever t-shirt was the grazing colorful sheep. I made lots of them since then in different sizes. Adults like wearing it too and I have had quite a few custom orders. I even have them for babies.

But the first time I fell in love with my craft must have been when I made a leaf print t-shirt with bugs. I adore nature! I love leaf prints and I find that when having a closer look at little bugs they are beautiful.

How do you plan for a new item in your Etsy Shop, if at all? Do you know how something will look before you start?

Well, I either get the folder out that contains my kids artwork or I start drawing the design that has been “bothering” me on paper first. It usually takes several attempts to get the picture to look vaguely like the one I imagined. If I´m not sure about it, I get one of my kids' old t-shirts out and do the design on that. For me, painting on t-shirts is much easier than on paper. However, I never know exactly what a design is going to look like until I finish it. It´s always the last touches that makes them just right. It used to freak me out but I´m fine with it now. Well, most of the time.

(Gizmo the Mogwai Mouse has crept up to Eva and is offering her a huge piece of cheesecake. Eva's eyes have lit up at this, and she nibbles at it as Naomi carries on with the interview)

We do hope that you're a keen Etsy buyer as well as seller. What is your favorite shop on Etsy and why?

(Eva starts coughing and choking) I must say (coughs – coughs) it is very mean of you waiting for me to let my guard down with this delicious cheesecake and then shooting a question like this at me! Bad manners! (Making herself at home, Eva reaches out to take another slice of cheese cake without being offered it or asking permission first!)
I like things that are out of the normal and different from the mainstream. I like shops that sell things that I would never be able to make. That is why I like
http://www.etsy.com/shop/13threads, http://www.etsy.com/shop/Jealousydesign, http://www.etsy.com/shop/Kreativlink, http://www.etsy.com/shop/ingermaaike, http://www.etsy.com/shop/StarBags,

We'd love to get a little snippet of your home life, please describe your home in just 5 words!

Disorganised, noisy, smell of bread, welcoming, loving

(Naomi points out that this must be why Eva feels so at home at The House of Mouse, as it sounds very familiar!)

Musculus Maximouse gets terrible midnight cravings. If he were to raid your refrigerator right now, what treats might he find there?

We love dairy products and the fridge is always well stocked with milk, yoghurts and of course different kind of cheese. The most precious bit in it at the moment is a very mature bit of Stilton. Do you want to come round and have a bit of it?

Some of the mice are a little too young for such strong cheese, but we do happen to know that Alfonso the Artist Mouse has a real weakness for Stilton, and Naomi shares his love! We may raid your fridge some day soon!!

You are more than welcome!

If you were a mouse living in The House of Mouse, which one would you be and why?

I think I would like to be Gourdon, the Mouse dressed as a Pumpkin. My favorite colour is orange and I really like his pumpkin outfit. It is big and roomy and he can keep lots of different things in it. Not just sweets and cheese.

(Gourdon is puffing out his little chest proudly, but admits that it is mostly sweets and cheese stuffed in his costume today after Halloween! It will need a wash in the morning...)

And finally, one of the mice would like to ask you a question. As he's taken such a shining to you, your question this week comes from Gourdon. He says that color is clearly a very important part of your work, and he'd like to ask you: As well as orange, what are your favorite colors?

Well, Gourdon, I like orange because it´s bright, shocking and warm. I also like different shades of green because it reminds me of nature and I like the different shades of blue because they go well with orange.

It has been a pleasure having you here, Eva. Please let us know how we can find you on the internet by sharing some links!

It was my utmost pleasure! I really enjoyed being here and the yummy delicious food!

Through my Etsy store, of course: http://www.etsy.com/shop/BHBKidstyle
On facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Condeixa-Portugal/BHB-Kidstyle/142217155821572
On twitter: http://www.twitter.com/BHBKidstyle
And my need to work on blog: http://bhbkidstyle.blogspot.com

Join us every week for Etsy seller interviews!

xxx

Monday Moodboard: Domestic Goddess

Fold Top Shoulder Bag by StarBags
Sewing forever, housework whenever by dindi

Crafting Cindy Desk Organizer by lessandmore
Purple Felted Pincushion by colouritgreen

I've made the decision: The time has come for me to buy (and learn to use!) a sewing machine. It's on my Christmas list, so hopefully by the new year I will be sewing beautiful clothes for all my family and friends!!! (Well, I can dream, can't I?)

Have a magical week ;-)
Naomi xxx

Psssst! Love Moodboards? Find more wonderful Moodboards at Fleur's blog!