Here Comes 2012!

It has all been a bit quiet on the Mouse Illustration front over the last couple of weeks and that is because I have been home for Christmas.  I thought I would have enough time to work and play but as I always find when I make that long flight home to Scotland I never have enough time to get everything done. 

As new Year approaches and my time at home is coming to an end I am reflecting on what this year has meant to me and my business.  At the beginning of this year I decided to launch my little jewellery business and I promised to give myself a full year of working hard to see where it may take me.  If at the end of that year I hadn't made any progress then I had decided to reevaluate my situation.  However, I can gladly and proudly announce that I will continue with my business and through 2012 I will be working harder as Mouse Illustration keeps on growing. 

Christmas at home with family is always amazing so I thought I would share a few snapshots of our house at Christmas.

 Santa Clause is coming to town..................

Christmas Tree Oh Christmas Tree..............

And of course what Christmas would be complete without a pair of Mouse Slippers!

We are now getting ready for our New Year Celebrations here in Bonnie Scotland.  In true Scottish style I ended up at a Ceilidh a few nights ago singing Auld Lang Syne as if it were New Years Eve so I think tonight will be a quite celebration bringing in the Bells with the family. 

I hope wherever you are in the world that you have a very Happy and Joyful New Year!

Happy New Year Eveyone!
x

Vesta Design and Gift Store

I am very proud and pleased to announce that Mouse Illustration Jewellery can now be purchased from Vesta Design and Gift Store in Queenstown NZ.

This is a very unique and adorable little gallery space.  This historic cottage is located right on the lakefront of the beautiful Lake Wakatipu in Queenstown.  Many of the original features are still present in the cottage, including the wall paper. This backdrop acts as a wonderful contrast to the wide range contemporary NZ design products that Vesta showcases.  They even have an adorable surrounding garden where you can relax with a coffee and take in the views.

I just love looking around this Gallery as they have such a unique range of artists showcasing their work.

If you live in Queenstown or are just visiting then please make sure you do not miss out on this little gem!  Pop on in for a coffee and cake and find yourself a unique gift all handmade by New Zealand artists.

I am very happy that Mouse Illustration is now a member of the Vesta Design community :-)

You can browse the Vesta Gift and Design Store website here.

Love from a Happy Mouse!

Christmas Gift Ideas

Orders have started coming in for Christmas so I just wanted to share with you what the favorites seem to be, and maybe give you some ideas along the way :-) 

It's hard work deciding what gifts to give, especially to those family members that you have just run out of ideas for!  Well for those book lovers how about a handmade bookmark?  With ten to chose from I'm sure you will find one that suits that certain someone perfectly!

My customers have also been loving my Licorice Delight Bracelet.  Seems to be a definite favorite at the moment, but how about treating someone to the Necklace and Bracelet set for Christmas.

Other Mouse Illustration products that are trending at the moment are my Charm Bracelets and Necklaces, along with my Cupcake Pendant Selection.

And of course the ever popular Love Bunny and my new Jewellery Range
And for those wine lovers in your life you can never go wrong with some wine charms!

Well I hope I have given you some fun ideas for Christmas.  Please remember that all my products are handmade with love and are available to purchase online from  www.mouseillustration.com

Jingle bells Jingle bells............... :-)

All I have to say is..........

Doughnuts!

I don't know if I told you but I decided to go Vegan about 6 weeks ago....

As I live in the South Island of New Zealand I have to say I am struggling to satisfy my sweet tooth due to lack of Vegan products!  I can't find dairy free cooking chocolate anywhere so can't indulge in some chocolate chip muffins!!! I miss them :-( 

Needless to say I have been making treats from clay this week instead of eating them!

Hope you like my latest delight.......my Doughnut Bracelet.  Was done for a bit of fun but I think it's pretty cute :-)

Market Day tomorrow so I'm having an early night tonight! Hoping for some sunshine please! :-)

Have a fun weekend everyone!

Business Cards have Finally Arrived!

So I have to admit that I was getting a little frustrated waiting on my new Business Cards to arrive, especially since I had run out of my last order and had none left.  I did order them from the UK and since I live in New Zealand I expected to have to wait a couple of weeks......but over three weeks was truly testing my patience.  However, they were most definitely worth the wait!

My friend over at Pink Pig Illustration introduced me to Moo.com and I am very happy she did.  The paper quality and finish are better then I expected and I will definitely be using this company from now on (I just won't leave it till I have run out of cards next time).

Moo.com offers a great service especially for designers looking to showcase their work through their business cards.  You can upload up to 100 images for each print run........so you can order 100 business cards and each one can be different! Amazing huh!  You keep the side with all your details the same for each card and the flip side can have a different design so I chose to have five designs for my batch.

They arrived in a great display box..........

They even give you a separate holder for you to store your cards............

The paper quality is fantastic almost feeling like a thin plastic and the amazing thing is they are guilt free!  The paper used for the cards is sourced from sustainable forests and the black holder is 100% recyclable and the structure is made from recycled pulp.  I feel better ordering from a company when I know the care about things like this.

Thanks Moo I'm a big fan :-)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like.........

Christmas!

Sorry to bombard you with Christmas but you know you need to start thinking about it very soon.  I had a fantastic week with the Wine Tasting Store I am selling my products at placing a re-order of my Wine Charms because they have sold out!

They also asked me to design a special Christmas range for them so I thought I would give you a peek at what I came up with.............

Since I live in Queenstown and the shop caters for a lot of tourists I decided to make a Kiwiana range to keep things cohesive with my products already in store.

I hope you like them and I will let you know how they are selling.  They are also now available from my website along with my other Christmas Decorations. 

Happy Christmas Shopping :-)

The C Word........

Yup you guessed it Christmas! (If you were thinking of something else, shame on you)!

Sorry folks I hate to mention it but it will soon be upon us with only just over 8 weeks to go!

I have decided to get organised and get going with my Christmas Range. Last year I sold some Tree Decorations that seemed to sell quite well and I got a really positive response from them. Therefore, this year I have decided to carry on with the range and have added what I have so far to my website.

This set of four decorations can be bought individually so you can mix and match.  I will be adding more decorations to the Mouse Illustration website as I make them.  There will be a few Christmas Bookmarks and maybe even a set of Festive Wine Charms which would make a great Present for that special someone.

I must admit that I really enjoyed making the Christmas page of my website and I really need to get some Christmas Illustrations done as well!

I will keep you updated when I put more Christmas goodies up on the site but in the mean time start thinking about decorating your tree :-)

Packaging

It has been a busy week here at Mouse Illustration and I just wanted to share my packaging ideas with you today.  Since my product is handmade I like to make sure that the whole Mouse Illustration experience has that handmade feel.

I am still working on my packaging design and I have some new business cards on the way from www.moo.com which I will share with you when they arrive. (I heard about moo.com from my friend Mabel @ www.pinkpigillustration.com who recommended them)  Once my business cards arrive I will make some labels to match but in the mean time this is what I am sending out to my customers who order online.

I wrap the jewellery in tissue paper then put them in these cute little bags that I found on a trip to Brasil.  I like to make them look like a bag of sweets.

Lastly I always like to write a note by hand as I feel that I would appreciate this extra touch when buying handmade.  Each customer appreciates that you have handcrafted the jewellery and I like to respond to their purchase on a more personal note.

I am always looking for new ideas regarding packaging but I hope this gives you a little insight into how I like to interact with my customers.

Maybe you could share your thoughts on what you would expect when buying handmade?

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend!

And the Winner is..........

Merrin Robinson

Congratulations!  You have won this delicious Licorice Allsort Bracelet and a Bookmark of your choice :-)

Please contact me at mouseillustration@yahoo.com to claim your prize! Plus you can start shopping the Mouse Illustration Bookmark page to decide which one you would like :-)


Winner chosen by Random.org number generator

Market Day

There was a food and wine festival in Queenstown this weekend that coincides with the Arts and Crafts Market that I attend every Saturday.  It was a double market this weekend (Sat and Sun) and that will continue for the next two weeks during the Rugby World Cup Finals.  Needless to say Scotland are out so that's all I will say about that topic :-)

It was a great atmosphere with live bands and a few Pinot Noir tastings and also lots of new stall holders came along for the event.

Mouse Illustration Display

New Bracelet Range I am trying out

My Little Bookmark Friends

Cupcake and Lollipop Earrings

Well the sun was shining for both days and lots of fun was had.  Here's to a great weekend and hopefully a few more to follow :-)

Business Card

I just wanted to share my new business card design with you.   Any thoughts or opinions are welcome :-)

Front

Back

And just a little reminder about my Giveaway! Entries will be drawn on the 16th October so Good Luck to all who enter x

Amazing Giveaway!

This Giveaway is now Closed.

To celebrate the re-design of my online Jewellery Shop I am going to giveaway a fantastic prize to one lucky winner!  (keep reading to find out more)

The New Mouse Illustration Jewellery Shop is now up and running! It is easier to navigate and has many more delicious products for you to check out. 

New Home Page

The New Jewellery Home Page

It is also more interactive and it is now easier to share you favourite Mouse Illustration products with your friends on Facebook and Twitter from each product page.

So now to the fun part!  I am giving away one of the above Licorice Delight Bracelets to one lucky winner PLUS the Bookmark of your choice!

Here's How to enter!

Simply have a browse around the Mouse Illustration Jewellery Shop and leave me a comment below telling me what your favourite product is!

And for THREE extra bonus entries you can also.....

Bonus Entry 1 - Share your selected favourite product on your own Facebook or Twitter page via my new TWEET and SHARE buttons and come back and tell me in a separate comment.

Bonus Entry 2 - Like the Mouse Illustration Facebook Page

Bonus Entry 3 - Spread the word on your own Facebook and (or) Twitter page about this Amazing Giveaway and let me know in a comment below.  Here is the link http://bit.ly/nTghXV

That's up to FOUR ways of entering the Giveaway so good luck to everyone who enters!

This competition is open to All Countries and will get drawn by random number generator on the 16th October!

Inspiration Friday

I'm always looking for ideas and colour inspiration and a great place to find just that is Pinterest. 

I love looking at cupcake decorations to get ideas for my jewellery and on Pinterest I can pin them all to one board and keep it as a reference for whenever I need to refresh my brain.

This is my 'Yummy' board from my Pinterest page which everyone can view alongside my other boards filled with products and other things I love.

Have a go a your own inspiration board on Pinterest and have fun :-)

I wish you all a fantastic weekend!

Finished Product

Here is the Necklace I made from the Polymer Clay Cane Tutorial I posted a few days ago.

I hope you like the final result :-)

Polymer clay cane - Mini Tutorial

Hi folks!  I thought I would share with you the process I go through to make a polymer clay cane.

I have finished the cane and have made a bead to show you how it all comes together.  The final results (which might be a necklace I think) will have to wait because I have run out of white clay and am waiting on my order!  Unorganised!

So here is the process:

I start by putting together my shape (in this case a flower).  This is the longest part of the process as your are forming all the individual shapes, a pasta machine definitely comes in handy as you can roll your outline colour into a flat sheet easily.  Then you fill in the gaps with the white clay making sure that it completely surrounds the inner flower to prevent any colour mixing on the outer rim. 

After that you start the process of squeezing your cane to condense it.  While you do this you are gradually blending all the joins together on the outer rim.

Next you start squeezing and pulling your cane from the middle out towards the ends.  You cannot roll your cane yet as it will distort the shape in the middle.  Once you are satisfied that there are no air bubbles and your cane has been reduced enough, you can start the rolling process until your cane looks like a long cylinder.

Next leave the cane to cool before slicing it in the middle to reveal your shape.

Then you cut thin slices from your cane and start placing them around a ball of clay to cover the entire ball.

You then mould the ball and your cane slices together until there are no visible joins and the bead is completely smooth.

Lastly put a hole through the centre of your bead and you are ready to cook!

When I have completed my necklace I will post some pics of the finished product.  I hope you have enjoy seeing how the beads are created, maybe you could try one of your own and let me know how it goes?

New Display

I have been a busy little mouse this week so far.

A local wine shop here in Queenstown has selected some of my products to stock so I have been making the goodies for them over the last few days.  They also want me to put together a display for them (I love doing that kind of thing) so I bought..................cake stands of course :-) 

Imagine a bigger, fancier wine glass on the top.  They will obviously have a better selection than I have in my cupboard :-)

Anyway I am super excited so I just wanted to share it with you.

Inspiration Friday

Some Fun Quotes from Etsy this week..........

                         UUPP                               rawartletterpress                              backtoherroots

                        JayHell                                          Candidate                            hairbrainedschemes


Hope you all have a wonderful weekend x

Mini-Break

This week my boyfriend and myself decided to go away for a few days and relax.  We stayed in a little town called Cromwell in the South Island of New Zealand.  It is located in the valley of the Upper Clutha, deep in the heart of Central Otago where you are surrounded by beautiful orchards and vineyards selling some pretty tasty wine.

We stayed in an apartment on Lake Dunstan and I have to say it was so peaceful and beautiful I felt I had to share it with you.

 Photo taken from the Pisa Range Resort Website

The View from our Private Deck - photo taken with a Fujifilm Finepix S1600

You could sail up up to your own private deck and moor your boat, or for the less affluent such a myself maybe a kayak that the resort provides for hire :-)

 This was the view at sunset - photo taken with a Fujifilm Finepix S1600

Imagine a nice glass of local Pinot Noir in your hand as you sit and watch the stunning colours of the sky at sunset.  I think you can tell that we will go back here again next time we need a mini-break.

http://www.pisarangelakeresort.co.nz/

Inspiration Friday

Do what you love.....and do it often.

I have been so caught up with re-orders over the last few weeks that I forgot that I love to create NEW ideas.  So this week my inspiration to you is Do What You Love and don't forget to Do It Often.  I love to try out new designs and thats exactly what I took time out to do this week.

Here is the result.

Cake before I baked it

Cake after I baked it and made a Bookmark and Necklace

I hope everyone has a great weekend and remember to try out that new idea you have next week :-)