what's your sign?

I have all these lovely ideas swirling around in my head, so there's lots of fun excitement going on at pandacub.

I've only listed 3 of these so far, but I wanted to give my blog readers a sneak peek into a stunning new line of rings that will be showing in my shop soon!


These gorgeous golden rings feature a glass-domed intaglio that combines a golden zodiac symbol with a tradtional birthstone shade.

The intaglios are vintage and the golden-toned ring is adjustable. I was only able to get my hands on two of each zodiac sign, so these rings are definitely a limited-edition product!


My sign is Capricorn (and I'm keeping one of these beauties for myself!).

What's your sign?

new in shop

I'm so excited to show off pandacub's latest products - adorable stud earrings!


These are tiny, but very sweet, and their bright colours and floral designs are perfect for spring! At only $5 a pair, they're perfect for adding some freshness to your wardrobe!


Check out my shop, pandacub, to see the latest earrings available!

May kudos

I've been having a great week, thanks to some lovely fellow Etsians!

In the past week, my little shop, pandacub, has been lucky enough to be featured in 2 Etsy treasuries and on 2 lovely blogs! All four places featured different items - check it out! (you can click on the images to get a larger version)

Treasury: A BEAUTIFUL day in the...
Curated by: opheliamiller


Treasury: deer love
Curated by: LANCERIKA


Blog Feature on The Long Thread


Blog Feature on PapierBlue


A special hug and thank you to all four of you for making my week great!

Happy Holiday Weekends!

There's a couple of holiday weeknds coming up here in North America, so to celebrate I'm offering free shipping on both weekends.

On both these weekends, you'll get free worldwide shipping on everything in my shop! That includes hair accessories, rings, wristlets, necklaces and much more!

May 15-18: Victoria Day Weekend in Canada

May 22-25: Memorial Day Weekend in the USA

Shipping fees will be adjusted accordingly on those days, so no waiting for refunds or anything - just shop and pay and your goodies will be on their way in the blink of an eye!

Oh, because of these holidays, please keep in mind that the postal offices will be closed on certain days and so orders may be delayed slightly.

If you like my shop, please help me out and promote this free shipping offer!

doing a happy dance!

Whoo-hoo! It just seems like yesterday that I held a super giveaway to celebrate reaching the 100-sale milestone and a few days ago I hit 200 sales!!! I'm super-excited and am grateful to all my wonderful customers for helping me get here. I never thought I would be here in less than a year (less than 9 months, actually!!!)

Sometimes it's really tough to do what I love (crafting) when I have a full-time job, plus a 1-hour commute (each way). I get home and just want to zombie-out in front of the couch. And then, of course, there's chores, and spending time with hubby, friends and family...unfortunately, crafting and creating has to take a back seat.

But I know that it's something I want to make time for. I'm constantly daydreaming about my shop and what I want to do next.

And hitting 200 sales just vindicates my daydreaming and inspires me to keep creating fun and fresh accessories. And a huge hug to all my customers, Twitter friends and blog readers for helping keep me inspired and motivated.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

another snail spotting!..and a tragedy

I was taking out the garbage and look what I found on top of our recycling bin! Another snail! These things are EVERYWHERE this year! I think I have enough photos to start a snail collection.



But then, when I turned around to go back in, I spotted a teeny little blue speck. I thought it was a bit of plastic garbage, but bent down to pick it up to throw away, I saw with some sadness that it was half of a perfect little blue egg. Empty. :(


It must have fallen out of the robin's next that's on top of our rain spout. Poor mommy bird.

all hail the...hail?

I had such an exhausting week that I was planning on having a really nice, long sleep-in this morning (yay for Saturdays!). So I wasn't impressed when I was awoken this morning at around 9 am by heavy thunder.

So, as I lay there listening to the rain, it got quiet for a minute and I thought it was over and then it started getting LOUD. Loud enough for me to get out of bed and investigate.

And this is what I found - who heard of hail at 9 in the morning?!?



So...all those pretty tulips I took photos of yesterday? Half of them were totally wiped out by the hail... :(

more spring blossoms

A week ago I blogged about some of the lovely flowers that were blossoming in my mom's garden. Well, I was out there again and the daffodils that were there last week have drooped and withered, but the tulips are now out in full force. It's amazing how quickly the garden is changing. Most of the tulips my mom has planted are red and yellow.


But check out the rare dark purple tulip.


Amongst all the lovely tulips is this stunning white flower. I have no idea what type of flower it is, and there's only one in the whole garden, but it's so beautiful!

50 books in 2009 - update 5

Here's update 5 for my "50 books in 2009" goal. OMG - still more behind schedule than I'd like to be! I'm either going to have to read like a mad-woman in the last half of the year or pick shorter books...

If you have any favourite books that you think I might enjoy, please leave me a comment or send me an email! I'd love to hear some of your book suggestions as I'm always look for something good to read!

1. I, Elizabeth by Rosalind Miles, finished Jan. 18
2. Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir, finished Jan. 27
3. Miss Marple's Final Cases by Agatha Christie, finished Jan. 30
4. Brief Gaudy Hour by Margaret Campbell Barnes, finished Feb. 8
5. The Last Wife of Henry VIII by Carolly Erickson, finished Feb. 18
6. The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir, finished Mar. 3
7. Elizabeth by David Starkey, finished Mar. 11
8. A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson, finished Mar. 31
9. The Thirteen Problems by Agatha Christie, finished Apr. 3
10. King's Fool by Margaret Campbell Barnes, finished Apr. 21
11. Poirot Investigates by Agatha Christie, finished Apr. 28
12. Gastronaut by Stefan Gates, finished May 3