psst...my new blog is hosting a contest

Love the pandacub (now known as frolic) flaunt bobby pins and rings? They're my most popular collection in the shop.

Well, I'm giving away a set of the flaunt bobby pins and a matching ring in your choice of colour in my November weekly giveaway (which means there are lots of other goodies being given away all month!) on my new blog. Go check it out now!

new name, new shop, new blog!

Ok, I know I haven't been blogging for a LONG time, so I'm hoping to start anew and catch up on everything soon.

But first, some exciting news - pandacub has a new name and a new blog! After a lot of deliberation, I've decided to change my Etsy shop name from pandacub to frolic. This has been a decision I've been thinking about for over half a year, so it's finally taking shape.

I did want to keep my old blog posts active, so instead of closing down this blog completely, I'm keeping it open and starting a new one to match my new shop look.

I would love it if you joined me over on my new blog! You can find it at blogfrolic.blogspot.com.

I'll be launching lots of exciting new things to celebrate the new name of the shop, including a new e-newsletter, lots of contests and special discounts and other fun goodies, so head over to the new blog to stay up-to-date!

See you soon!

refocusing my blog

When I first started this blog, it was basically to talk about my Etsy shop and feature some of the things that I was making to sell, but as the blog evolved, I found that I wanted to talk more about other things outside of my Etsy work.

So I'm going to re-focus this blog in the next couple of weeks to reflect more of the personal nature of it. I'll still talk about my Etsy shop once in a while, but it will be only part of what I blog about. I hope you'll keep reading as you get to know a little bit more about me and I hope to get to know you as well!

Stephanie

and there goes march!

*sigh* So much for my resolution to blog more often! I've been so bad about keeping this blog up to date lately. I guess with work and trying to keep my life balanced, I'm trying to spend less time in front of the computer when I get home since I stare at one all day at work.

I'm definitely looking forward to the warmer months - more time to get out and do stuff and take some great photos!

I just wish the spring weather would get here! I'm feeling a little depressed because we're in the midst of a big snowfall and it seems like winter will never go away!

hair combs winging their way to milwaukee

A couple of weeks ago I finished a huge batch of pandacub hair combs and sent them all off to Sparrow Collective in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

I loved the way they came out - and I'm hoping to make another batch soon.

Currently, Sparrow Collective is the only place that you can purchase my haircombs, but if there's enough interest, I may start to offer them in my Etsy shop soon.

deja vu...

My hubby and me were looking forward to watching this year's Heritage Classic. The 2011 NHL Heritage Classic was a scheduled outdoor regular season NHL game between the Montreal Canadiens and the Calgary Flames, played in Calgary this past Sunday.

But it was the Flames' jerseys that really caught my attention.

The Flames jerseys were made especially for the event and was a replica of the jerseys worn by the Calgary Tigers of the 1920s with the Flaming C in place of their logo. But beyond their cool retro look, their jerseys made me automatically think of something else...

Hello Harry Potter and the Gryffindor Quidditch team....

For the record, the Gryffindor lions, I mean, the Calgary Flames, won 4-0 over the Montreal Canadiens. :)

discovering tea: uji no tsuyu green tea with roasted rice

brand: uji no tsuyu

tea type: green tea with roasted rice

brew method: teabag

loose leaf, teabag or other: teabag

colour of brewed tea: light reddish brown

My sister recently dropped off several of these tea bags for me to try out and I was intrigued because of the "roasted rice" mention on the tea bag. It's something I've never seen on tea before, so it would be something totally new for me.

The tea steeps into a nice light brown colour within a few minutes and has a pretty strong aroma, which wasn't typical of green tea. I think it was the roasted rice. It was pretty strong - not sweet or fragrant...almost like a burnt rice smell.

I don't know if the smell turned me off but I didn't enjoy this tea at all. It had a weird taste that I can't really place, but not something I've ever had with the green teas I've tried before.

I left my cup on the coffee table and my husband caught a whiff of the tea and told me that it smelled "horrible" - this coming from another green tea fan. So, I guess this is tea is definitely in the "never again" pile for us!

hi february!

Wow, I can't believe it's already mid-February! I have been very remiss with my blogging for the fast few weeks and I've been feeling awfully guilty.

However, I have had a really busy time at work, plus our furnace broke down so we didn't have heat or hot water for several days (brrrrr!).

Anyhow, I'm hoping to catch up on my blogging now that things are a little more settled.

In the meantime, check out the fun groceries my hubby picked up recently! It's like we're back in my childhood!

discovering tea: tea oh Sencha Ceremony green tea

brand: tea oh

tea type: Sencha Ceremony green tea

brew method: glass teapot with infuser

loose leaf, teabag or other: loose leaf

colour of brewed tea: medium green/brown

I recently got a great deal for tea at Tea Oh, an online tea retailer based here in Ontario, so I ordered a bunch of different loose leaf teas. I had wanted to start brewing more green teas using loose leaf, but it's hard to give up the convenience of teabags!

I haven't tried any of them yet, so I'm going to start brewing them up soon. The first on the list is this green tea, which was amazing!


The tea is a little more orange in colour than I had expected from a green tea but it's very clear and light.

I steeped the tea for about 5 minutes in my cute little single-serving teapot with built-in ceramic infuser. The tea has a lovely jasmine tea smell to it that was very promising. The tea is light in taste and doesn't leave any after taste or tartness on the tongue. It's one of the lighter green teas that I've tried and I really like it. It's definitely a tea that I could drink every day without getting tired of it.

hair combs at sparrow collective

A few months ago I created a new line of hair combs for my pandacub accessory line.

They came out really cute and adorable and then I shipped the whole batch to the lovely gals at Sparrow Collective in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Yes, that's right. Sparrow Collective is the only place on the planet that you can buy pandacub hair combs! :)


I had taken photos of the hair combs before I shipped them off, but for some reason, I can't find the photos anywhere, but luckily, Sparrow Collective posted some of them on their Facebook page.

Enjoy!