Ten Methods of the Heavenly Dragon

Some of you may not know that I (Anna) am also a fine art painter. One of my paintings has become the cover art for this amazing book written by a very good friend of mine. The book is about a man searching for a path to enlightenment and his travels in Asia with a western born monk. Reading the book changed my life and I was over the moon to be given the opportunity to have my art on the cover. I am so excited about this for so many reasons!! *bounces around the room happily*


"A truly remarkable book, profound and deeply moving! This first person account of a lifelong seeker’s apprenticeship with Shun Yuan, a gentle Western-born Adept of the Tao and Taiji martial arts, enthralls the reader both as a teaching story and an introduction to as remarkable a man as any hero out of fiction. In the end, one is left with a sublime sense of inevitability and peace. An amazing achievement!"

- Irving Karchmar, 

Author of Master of the Jinn: A Sufi Novel

To read some excerpts from the book and find out more 

you can visit www.10methods.com

New notebook

I bought a new notebook today. 

I felt it needed a title that reflected my plans for next year

*Rubs hands together maniacally*

Little felt Cellos

Three little cellos for 3 little cello playing mice. I named our Cellist mouse after my mother who has been a Cello teacher since before I was born. The first Cello mouse I ever made was a Christmas gift for her. She has her own shop oddsandendpins where she sells colourful enpin rests for children and teaching aids for music teachers.

x Anna x

Black Friday Sale at The House of Mouse!

Hello everyone! It's the Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend: The official weekend for great deals when shopping online. We hope our American friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are feeling comfy and cosy at home today. What better time to do a little online shopping! We know we will be doing ours in our PJs ;)

For the next 4 days only we are offering 

an extra 10% off everything in our store 

AND free worldwide shipping for all ornaments. 

Use the coupon code "CYBERSALE" during checkout to claim your discount. 

The free shipping has already been applied to our ornament  listings!

(Some of our stock is limited so catch them while you can)

Happy Shopping! 

Anna and Naomi

The House of Mouse

Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet Mice

 
A customer with a Dutch husband asked for my Sinterklaas and Zwarte Piet mice, I had made them 6 years ago back before I really understood the characters and now I knew I could do better. She was so patient while I remade them and I am so pleased with the result. I hope our Dutch fans (and my customers hubby) will agree, they look rather dashing now!

Dorothy Mouse from Wizard of Oz

Little Dorothy Mouse is not in Kansas any more. Having squished the Wicked Witch of the East she has made friends and enemies all in one go. She's off for a journey down the Yellow Brick Road to see the Wizard of Oz, who knows what characters she'll meet along the way!

Dorothy Mouse was hand sewn using felt, silks, ribbon, glue, paper, card, wire, beads, monofilament and stuffed with polyfil. She stands approximately 2.5inches tall (6.5cm)

See more photos of Dorothy Mouse here

Spud the Gardener Mole

Little Spud the gardener Mole spends as many hours outdoors as he can. Enjoying all the seasons he always has a ruddy face and dirt under his nails. Spud lives for planting (and eating) lots of lovely fruit and vegetables! During the harvest season he often hands out his surplus to his friends and neighbours.

Spud was hand sewn using felt, silks, ribbon, paper, wire, glue, monofilament and stuffed with polyfil.

See more photos of Spud Here

Einstein Hedgehog

I love little Einstein Hedgie's hair, it made sense to me to extend his hair into his spikes so the white fluff goes all down his back! I hope you like him too. 

Albert Einstein Hedgehog is a genius and will happily come to your home and theorize with you for hours on the meaning of the universe. This little hedgie wears a black suit and has his trademark untidy white hair and moustache.

Albert Einstein Hedgie was hand sewn using felt, silks, ribbon, beads, fake fur, paper, card, glue, cotton, monofilament and he is stuffed with polyfil. He stands approximately 2.5inches tall (6.5cm) His costume is not removable.

See more photos of Einstein Hedgehog here

Lucy the Knitting Mole

I'm so excited about the new moles that have arrived at The House of Mouse this week. Their little feet and hands make me giggle, and there is something about the black and pink colour combination that I just love. The moles join the hedgehogs as new creatures to come and live with the mice in our shop. I hope you like them! 

Lucy the Mole loves to knit! She's always clicking her needles, making something new. Nothing makes her happier than a new ball of yarn and a whole day to sit and knit! She would make a great gift for anyone with a healthy yarn obsession!

Click here for more photos

Abominable Snowmouse

Hoorah! My latest parcel of stock has arrived at our shipping depo (aka, Naomi's house) so I have lots of new mice, hedgehogs and moles to show you! The first of these is possibly my favourite design of all time... The Abominable Snowmouse!! I hope you like him as much as I do. *squeeeee*

Little Abominable Snowmouse has spent so much time out in the cold that his little nose has gone blue! It's a lonely life being a Yeti, when other people see him then tend to run away screaming. The Abominable Snowmouse would be very happy to come and live on a nice warm bookshelf or spend his days sitting next to a computer keeping you company.

Click here for more photos

October Giveaway Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered the October Giveaway

for your chance to win a mouse from The House of Mouse

And the winner is...

Roni

Congratulations! 

This was our last giveaway of 2011, as we are now snowed under with Holiday season sales. We want to make sure our customers get the best possible service, so it is all hands on deck. We hope you will be back in 2012 for more chances to win!

A little sneak preview...

The Moles are burrowing their way to The House of Mouse and will be in store very soon! Here's a little sneak preview of one of them! We hope you like :D

If I had wings....

I adored owls even as a child, my facination with these amazing birds has only increased. These amazing pieces from Etsy leave me in awe and I had to share!

Top left: Owl Wood Sculpture Attacking Pose by jasontennant
Bottom Left: Burrowing Owl by VeganTaxidermy
Right: Spirit Owl by creaturesfromel

Happy Stats

Looking back at what made me smile this week...

• A whole week of sunshine after a disappointing summer.
• Finally revealing the secret and releasing the Hedgehogs into The House of Mouse. What fun! 
• Watching the sunrise as I drove my boy to nursery.
• Sending another box full of mice off to Naomi in Devon. 
• Working on a very exciting project with a film company (Can't say any more right now, hehehe).
• Looking forward to seeing my family very soon! 

There won't be any Happy Stats next week as I will be away visiting family. But we should be back up and running again the week after next.

October Giveaway

Every Month we give you the 

chance to win a FREE MOUSE
from The House of Mouse

The winner will receive a $35.00 gift voucher 

to spend in our store The House of Mouse

 

To enter this months give away all you need to do is
leave a comment under this post
telling us about your favourite character(s)
from The House of Mouse

(you can choose more than one)
Easy!

You can also visit our flickr page
to see every design we have ever made!

Maximum of 10 entries per person 

This competition is open to everyone!
Our shop is international, we will ship to anywhere in the world.

The winners will be announced at the end of the month

Good luck!  

Competition closed! Winner to be announced soon!

River Song Mouse

Here's another mouse to add to our Doctor Who collection. River Song is my favourite character on the British sci fi series at the moment. I couldn't resist making her! And if she doesn't sell then I will be quite happy to keep her for myself!

Yes, I am a geek and I love it ;) 

You can see more photos and close ups of River Song Mouse here

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend! 

x Anna

September Giveaway Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered the September Giveaway

for your chance to win a mouse from The House of Mouse

And the winner is... 


Jessi

Congratulations! 

Sorry to those who didn't win this month, we wish we could give you all a little mouse to take home. We are starting a new giveaway tomorrow so don't forget to come back and try again soon.

Please welcome... The Hedgies!

 

Quentin Turpenspine the Artist Hedghog

Naomi and I have been working in secret for week on these new hedgehog characters to join our store! We are so excited to finally list them in The House of Mouse. They may at some point move to a new shop, but for now they are keeping the mice company. We hope you enjoy them. Please let us know what you think.

Branston Prickle the Chef Hedgehog

Sonic the Computer Geek Hedgehog

Hannibal Lecter the Hedgehog

Jack Skellington the Hedgehog

 

Les the Photographer Hedgehog

Esmerelda Maggotmincer the Witch Hedghog

Monday Moodboard - Hot and Cold

Vintage winter coat by dirtybirdiesvintage

Felted Scarf by vart

Evening Dress by LuciaVerona 

Big Guy Necktie by petitepeanut

Love moodboards? Visit Star of the East for more! 

Happy Stats

A few things that made me happy this week

• Reading my hubby's wonderful book as he writes it. A chapter a day at the moment! I know it will be amazing and seeing him so happy for the first time in a year makes it all the better. 
• Booking my tickets to visit my family in October. I can't wait to see them! 
• Creating lots of new designs for the shop. 
• Seeing the orders starting to rise again now that summer is over. Sending lots of new mice out into the world. 
• Working on a secret new animal to be introduced to The House of Mouse soon. Hehehe, it won't be long now.

Photo: Happy Tea by wildroot

3 Wise Mice - Nativity 3 kings, Three Wise Men

3 new very wise and dazzling kings have dropped by The House of Mouse on their journey to find baby Jesus. I had so much fun making them using bright sparkly gold ribbons and regal colours! I hope you enjoy them too. They are the last members to join our Nativity Collection. We will soon be releasing listings for entire sets of different sizes for you to take home.

  Click here to see more photos of the Three Wise Mice

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!

Interview with a Mouse: Gourdon the Mouse dressed as a Pumpkin

Hello Gourdon! We are so excited to be chatting with you today.
Thanks very much. Would you like some candy? I have so many in here… *Gourdon reaches inside his costume and after some rummaging he pulls out a large lollypop with a bit of fluff on it, it looks like he has had it in there since last Halloween*

Oh… er… Thank you Gourdon. We’ll save this for later if that’s ok. So… *I quickly look down at my questions* are you looking forward to Halloween this year?
Oh yes! It’s my favorite holiday of course! I can collect enough candy to keep me going through the whole year. Of course there is less room in my costume this year, for some reason my belly is filling more of the pumpkin than it used to, but that doesn’t matter - the costume covers it nicely!

Do you wear your costume all year round?
Most of the time yes! I love my pumpkin costume. It’s so cute and fun and I get a lot of admiring looks when I wear it. But I do have to take it off when I go shopping, because otherwise I have a tendency to get stuck in doorways and cause jams in supermarkets. Once, an old lady picked me up and put me in her shopping cart, I think she wanted to make a pumpkin pie out of me! I was lucky to escape with my life!

Many of your brothers have found new homes since you came to The House of Mouse last year. What do you think about them sitting on shelves all over the world?
I think it’s brilliant! To imagine so many of my brothers and sisters from the House are sitting on shelves and peeking out of cupboards or keeping their humans company at their computers, it’s a lovely feeling! I look forward to my turn. I hope whoever adopts me likes candy, I still have lots more in here. Would you like a few more?

*Gourdon starts rummaging again but we quickly stop him before he can offer us anymore year-old candy*

That’s ok thanks Gourdon, I am trying to watch my waistline.
Oh ok… more for me then! *Gourdon stuffs a large, slightly fuzzy toffee in his mouth and chews happily*

-oxo-

The interviews with the mice are published first in our monthly newsletter. Be the first to read them, get updates on all our newest designs and receive exclusive discounts for subscribers only by signing up here

Don't forget to enter our September Giveaway for your chance to WIN up to $35.00 to spend in our store!

Monday Moodboard - We're coming in from the cold

JurgitaMi, StormsHandicrafts, tenderblue, babycricket 

Love Moodboards? Visit Star of the East for more

Happy Stats

I haven't done Happy Stats for a while so here are some of the things that made me happy over the last few weeks...

• Celebrating 10 happy years together as a couple with my hubby. His gifts included a family photo session so my happy stats must also include...
• Receiving some stunning photos of my wonderful little family.
• Working hard to stock up my shop with lots of mice (and a new secret animal too, watch this space - they'll be arriving soon!)
• Introducing more Nativity Mice to The House of Mouse
• The day Declan learned how to say "bum". I was pushing him through the English book store and he was shouting "Bum!“ loudly at everyone. It made me laugh.
• Catching a few days of sunshine in September. They always feel like a bonus. 

What made you happy this week? If you also do Happy Stats, you can leave a link here for others to visit.

Scribblitzsky the Journalist Mouse Ornament - NEW

Scribblitzsky the Journalist Mouse is hot on the trail of the latest story, he's dressed in a suit and hat with a piece of paper sticking out of the top that says "press". He carries a notebook, smartphone and microphone so he can tell the public in the mousey world all about the latest stories.

Scribblitzky was hand sewn using felt, silks, ribbon, plastic, card, beads, glue and monofilament. He is stuffed with polyfil. He stands approximately 2.5inches tall (6.5cm)

See more photos of Scribblitzsky here

He's available to buy in our store The House of Mouse

What do you think? We hope you like him!

Alex A Clockwork Orange Mouse ornament - NEW

Little Alex Mouse is based on the character from the popular film A Clockwork Orange. This less than savoury character comes complete with his iconic bowler hat, cane, mascaraed eye, suspenders and jock strap! He is sure to tickle anyone who loves the movie.

Alex was hand sewn using felt, silks, ribbon, wood, beads, glue and monofilament. He is stuffed with polyfil. He stands approximately 2.5inches tall (6.5cm) His costume and accessories are not removable.

See more photos of Alex here, 

He is available to buy in our store The House of Mouse

We hope you like him!

Monday Moodboard - Butterfly

Photograph by sunshineartdesign

Stained Glass by PamelaAngus

Children's Cello Endpin rest by OddsandEndpins 

Vintage Postage Stamps by P8iosities

Love moodboards? Visit Star of the East for more

Nativity Shepherd and Sheep Mouse

Goodness me! Have we been gone for 3 weeks? Well I guess a lot has been going on. Naomi has been redecorating her house (literally all of it!) and I have been working my socks off creating lots of stock and replacing a wholesale order that got lost in the mail. But now Naomi is back from her break and my wholesale order is almost complete (again) so it's time to get back into the swing of things, and what better way to do that than to bring you a couple of new designs:

 

Amos the Shepherd Mouse

 

 Shaun the Mouse dressed as a sheep

As part of our expanding collection of Nativity Mice, we hope you enjoy these new additions. 

All are available to buy in our store The House of Mouse

Coming soon: 3 Kings Mice

September Giveaway

Every Month we give you the 

chance to win a FREE MOUSE
from The House of Mouse

The winner will receive a $35.00 gift voucher 

to spend in our store The House of Mouse

 

To enter this months give away all you need to do is
leave a comment under this post
telling us about your favourite mouse or mice
from The House of Mouse

(you can choose more than one)
Easy!

You can also visit our flickr page
to see every design we have ever made!

Maximum of 10 entries per person 

This competition is open to everyone!
Our shop is international, we will ship to anywhere in the world.

The winners will be announced at the end of the month

Good luck!  

Competition closed! 
Winner to be announced soon

August Giveaway Winner

I'm sorry for the delay in announcing this! We have been very busy (see yesterday's post)

Thank you to everyone who entered the August Giveaway

for your chance to win a mouse from The House of Mouse

And the winner is...

Brolo

Congratulations! 

Sorry to those who didn't win this month, we wish we could give you all a little mouse to take home. We are starting a new giveaway tomorrow so don't forget to come back and try again soon.

Ray the mouse dressed as a star

Ray wants to be the star of the show and has put on a little star shaped costume!  We think his little mouse bottom sticking out at the back is just toooo funny hehehe. Wouldn't be be adorable on your Christmas tree this year?

Ray will also be part of our large Nativity set, some of the mice for this are yet to be released. Watch this space for them, they are coming soon!

See more photos of Ray in our store

August Giveaway

Every Month we give you the 

chance to win a FREE MOUSE
from The House of Mouse

The winner will receive a $35.00 gift voucher 

to spend in our store The House of Mouse

 

To enter this months give away all you need to do is
leave a comment under this post
telling us about your favourite mouse or mice
from The House of Mouse

(you can choose more than one)
Easy!

You can also visit our flickr page
to see every design we have ever made!

Maximum of 10 entries per person 

This competition is open to everyone!
Our shop is international, we will ship to anywhere in the world.

The winners will be announced at the end of the month

Good luck!  

Competition closed. Winner to be announced soon!