June Giveaway Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered the June Giveaway

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

And the winner is...

Kiddo

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.

Way-Back-Whensday

Just over 3 years ago I started running a monthly give-away for The House of Mouse. It is hard to believe it has been running for 3 years already! We have given away over 30 mice in that time (I took a break from the shop and blog when Declan was born).

The giveaways have been great for everyone, those who have won mice have been so happy! At the same time the giveaways encourage new people to look around our shop without feeling like we are forcing them to buy something.

If you are an Etsy seller I highly recommend running a giveaway: Our views, hearts and sales have increased - not to mention it is lovely to give something back to our wonderful fans!

The June Giveaway is running now and there is only one day left to enter.

Monday Moodboard

Creations For Him by dindi, beemaya, animadesign, Baghy, 

To see more moodbaords please visit Star of the East

Happy Stats

It's Saturday again already?! Where did the time go? There were many things that made me happy this week, here are a few of them:

• Finally getting my crafting room organized, a tidy room makes for a tidy mind!
• Writing about the history of The House of Mouse and the story of my Granny who started it all. 
• Taking Declan to an indoor adventure playground. He loved it and really worked up a sweat! This is the best photo I got of him, all the others he was just a blur because he was moving around so fast. 
• Introducing Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson Mice to our collection. Naomi did an amazing job on the details - a little pipe, magnifying glass and even Sherlock's deerstalker hat!
• Interviewing Terry the Mouse dressed in a cat suit for our newsletter. The mouse interviews always make me giggle.
• Getting to 800 fans on our Facebook page

What made you happy this week?

NEW - Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson Mice

 

We are so happy to introduce two new mice to our collection. Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson Mouse. Thank you to our very good customers Jessie and Nancy for ordering these as custom mice, we were so thrilled with the way they came out we asked if we could make them regulars in our store. Jessie and Nancy were very kind to say yes!

  

Little Sherlock Holmes Mouse is the world’s only “consulting detective mouse”. He sees his work of deduction and crime detection as an art, and he lives for the thrill of problem solving. He is as brilliant as he is aloof, and although he has a soft spot for his mousy friend, Watson, more often than not he enjoys his own company. When working on a case, he is agile and energetic and can sniff out the faintest whiff of cheese from miles away!

Dr John H Watson Mouse is the friend and companion of Sherlock Holmes Mouse. Dr Watson Mouse accompanies his brilliant friend Holmes Mouse on many of his most exciting adventures, and then chronicles the best stories for the public to read about their beloved mouse detective. He puts up with Sherlock’s irritating habits and eccentricities for the excitement of the adventures in which they often they find themselves, though Holmes’s taste for the strongest “stimulating” cheeses is sometimes too much for Watson to bear.

 

Please check out The House of Mouse for more photos

Interview with a Mouse: Terry the mouse in a cat suit.

Interview with a Mouse: Terry the mouse in a cat suit.
This month’s interview is with Terry, the mouse dressed as a cat. Welcome Terry, we are very pleased to talk with you.
Thanks very much, I’m so happy to have been chosen!

So Terry, tell us a bit about yourself, why did you decide to dress yourself as a cat?
Well, yes. I know it might look a bit odd to you but let me explain. The Cats are everywhere *Terry looks around nervously* they used to sneak up on me when I least expected it, pouncing out from behind things and biffing me around all over the place *Terry looks terrified at the very thought and gives himself a little shake* I think they actually enjoyed it. So I decided that if I disguised myself as a Cat, they would just think I was a kitten or something and leave me alone. It seems to be working so far! The Cats I have encountered have been too confused to try and eat me.

Does the costume alone convince Cats that you are one of them?
Oh no, it takes a lot more than just a costume to fool a cat. I have been studying how to behave like a cat too. Luckily it involves a lot of lazy things like lying in warm places, not bothering to check their spelling and praying to their God: “Ceiling Cat”… It’s a pretty easy life.

Wearing a cat costume seems like a very good plan Terry. I wonder why other mice have not thought of it.
Some mice are just too proud to dress up to save their whiskers. Some of the other mice laugh at me and say they would rather get caught in a mousetrap than be seen dressed as their sworn enemy. But little Vincent the baby mouse likes to come and cuddle up in my fur, he loves my cat costume.

Have you ever dressed up as other things?
Oh yes, lots! When I was a little mouseling my mum and dad would throw me a fancy-dress party every year for my birthday. Once I wore a dragon costume with a long scaly tail, wings and a head with lots of teeth. I loved my costume so much that I wouldn’t take it off. My mum did everything she could to convince me to change but I wouldn’t.  I loved being a dragon and didn’t want to be a boring old mouse any more.

What made you take off the Dragon costume in the end?
*Terry looks a bit bashful* If you must know, after a few days of wearing it I ran into a real baby dragon on my way home from school. He seemed to think I was his Daddy... He followed me all around town and kept asking for piggy-back-rides. He was soooo heavy that I got squished and Grace the Nurse mouse had to splint my arm. After that I never wore the dragon costume again!

Thank you so much for talking to us today Terry. We hope your costume continues to keep the Cats away!
You’re welcome! Now I must get back into character *Terry nonchalantly walks onto my laptop, curls himself up and promptly falls asleep*

-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 June Giveaway for your chance to WIN up to $35.00 to spend in our store!

Way-Back-Whensday

This time 4 years ago I introduced 6 new mice to The House of Mouse! It was obviously a busy week. Here are four of the designs that have remained popular for all those years:

Clockwise from top left: Frida Kahlo Mouse, Dumble Dormouse, Indiana Jones Mouse and Elvis Mouse

The Mouse Hole - Where it all began

Below: Inside the Mouse Hole                                                                     Above:Granny's Shop "The Mouse Hole"

Hello everyone, Anna here. Today I thought I would tell you how The House of Mouse came to be what it is today.

The story starts with my Granny, Margret Greaves. Granny and my Grandad “Crispy” (short for Christopher) lived in a little seaside village called Mousehole (pronounced “Mou-zul”) in Devon, England. They owned a little shop on the seafront that sold Crispy’s watercolor paintings, tourist gifts, postcards, shells and little felt mice that my Granny made. Granny would sew these little mice during the winter when the shop was quiet; she made them wearing little costumes – a priest, a chef, a gypsy lady and many others.

Sadly Granny passed away when I was only three, so I don’t really remember her. I have a vague memory of being in her shop – where the shelves seemed to go up forever - But I grew up with her little mice peeking out of nooks and crannies in my parents’ home. Many of the mice came to live with us after Granny died.

Granny's mice still live with Anna's parents

I used to make my gifts for family and friends and for Christmas 2007 I took inspiration from Granny’s mice and decided to make one for everyone: A Chef mouse for an uncle that likes to cook, a photographer mouse for my snap-happy dad. I didn’t know Granny’s pattern or technique, so it took a month or so to work out my own. Everyone was so thrilled with their gifts! My Grannys three children - My dad and his two sisters - all said that I should sell them! Which is when I took my first steps to opening The House of Mouse on Etsy. My family regularly tell me how proud they think Granny would be, if she could see what I was doing now.

Granny and baby Anna

Taken in 1980

Monday Moodboard

It's dangerous out there! Here, take this...

Monday morning listings by 

JurgitaMi, niftyknits, krize and CraftUnikat

To see more Moodboards or Join in the game
visit Star of the East 

Happy Stats

Here are a few of the things that made me happy this week:

• Adding the little Messenger Mice to our store!
• Joining the European Street Team's treasury group, making some pretty treasuries and seeing many of our little mice getting featured too.
• Listening to Declan's constantly developing vocabulary.
• Enjoying a sunny Wednesday afternoon in my garden with my feet in the paddling pool.
• Publishing another of our monthly newsletters. This month included an interview with Terry the Mouse in a Cat Suit and the story of how The House of Mouse came to be. I'll publish both here on our blog later this week. 

Mr. Happy T-shirt by pinipirukids

NEW - Messenger Mice

Last week Naomi had a brilliant idea, to make little messenger mice holding up signs. You can choose any of the four mouse designs and any short message you like. What cuter way is there to say Sorry, Congratulations, Happy Birthday, I love you, Thinking of you, Thank You, or even *gasp* Marry Me?

 See, I told you it was a brilliant idea! 

I hope you like these little guys as much as I do.

Visit The House of Mouse to see more

Way-Back-Whensday

This Wednesday I am so looking forward to introducing a new feature to you: Way-Back-Whensday will show you the old designs we made a few years ago or talk about other events and how they shaped the development of the store. We hope you enjoy looking back way back when we had just begun!

Back in June 2008 our little shop was only 3 months old and Ninja Mouse had just arrived at The House of Mouse. He was later renamed "Little Grasshopper the Ninja Mouse"

Above is the first Ninja Mouse I ever made, compared to the current version below. Not much has changed in the design, but I must say the current one does have some extra cute ;)

Monday Moodboard

I am enjoying the sunshine in these beautiful creations! 

Featured items by:  

BrotherWorks zavesfelt girltuesdayjewelry and JKphotography

To see more Moodboards or Join in the game
visit Star of the East

Happy Stats

After a few months of having less to smile about than usual I decided to bring back the Happy Stats as they are an excellent way to remind myself to see the good in each day. So, here are the things that made me smile this week:

• Hearing Declan speak his first words "Cat", "Duck", "Step" and "Ten" among other things. 
• Spending some time in England with my family
• Going to the Exmouth kite festival, watching a Punch and Judy show with Declan
• Taking Declan to the zoo for the first time. He loved the Gorillas, Orang-utans and riding on the zoo train! 
• Enjoying my mums cooking, the highlights of which were full roast chicken dinner and Chocolate Mousse pudding. 
• Fitting into size 12 trousers for the first time in years

June 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