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!

which house are you?

So, Harry Potter fans - are you excited for Part 1 of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows coming on November 19?

I'm a big fan of Harry Potter and was inspired to create some bobby pins to represent the 4 Houses of Hogwarts. All 4 sets are available in my pandacub Etsy shop.

The 4 pairs of bobby pins encompass the House colours:

Gryffindor: scarlet and gold

Hufflepuff: canary yellow and midnight black

Ravenclaw: blue and bronze

Slytherin: green and silver

"You might belong in Gryffindor,
Where dwell the brave at heart,
Their daring, nerve and chivalry
Set Gryffindors apart.
You might belong in Hufflepuff,
Where they are just and loyal,
Those patient Hufflepuffs are true
And unafraid of toil.
Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,
If you’ve a ready mind,
Where those of wit and learning,
Will always find their kind.
Or perhaps in Slytherin
You’ll make your real friends,
Those cunning folk use any means
to achieve their ends."
- J.K. Rowling
from Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

So, what House do you belong to?

vacation photos

I'm the laziest vacation photographer in the world. Well, not really. I love taking photos while I'm ON vacation. I just don't have the energy after I come BACK from vacation to upload all the photos, go through them to delete any blurry ones, then crop the good ones and upload them onto Flickr.

As many of my regular blog readers know, at the end of September, I travelled to Hong Kong with my husband, sister and brother-in-law for a two-week trip (with a short excursion to Tokyo).

Ginza district at night, Tokyo, Japan

My friends, co-workers and family have all been bugging me to get something, ANYTHING online to share with them, so I finally managed to get a few shots up onto my Flickr site.

I actually have 2 Flickr accounts, in case anyone wants to add me as a contact (and I'll return the favour). pandacubcafe is the account I use to show off all the lovely things I've made for my pandacub shop. My newer account, sc_wanderlust, is more just vacation and personal photos. I've been slowly moving my personal photos from pandacubcafe to sc_wanderlust, but, as I said, I'm pretty lazy when it comes to Flickr (trying to change that!)

A cleansing pool outside a temple, Tokyo, Japan

Nan Lian Garden, Hong Kong

Anyhow, I had an absolutely AMAZING two weeks in Hong Kong and Japan and wish it were much longer. As you'll be able to see in my photos, there was a lot of eating and good food to be had.

I used to go to Hong Kong almost every other year when I was younger, but I haven't been back for over 15 years and it was by husband's first time there. It was also both our first times in Tokyo, which was really cool.

The iconic Star Ferry with Hong Kong island in the background

I've only been back for less than a month but I'm already daydreaming about our next trip! Although, I must admit, we'll probably choose somewhere that's a little closer to home - those long-haul flights are just a pain in the butt (literally!).

To see more of my vacation photos, visit my sc_wanderlust Flickr account, or click Hong Kong or Tokyo.

The Hong Kong skyline at night, as seen from the Kowloon side, Hong Kong

brand new for 2010

The holidays were just what I needed to get some much-needed energy to re-focus on pandacub and I'm excited to see what 2010 will bring.

I already have 2 new collections of products that I've introduced into my Etsy shop:

- the flaunt collection: sparkly flower bobby pins - perfect for special occasions or those days that you just want some extra pizzazz in your hair.

- the contessa collection: another line of bobby pins for special occasions - these are a mixture of pretty and elegant bobby pins. Each set comes in 3 so you can mix and match and create several looks with each set.

There will be new sets of bobby pins added to both these collections in the coming months, so keep an eye on the pandacub shop for the new additions!

star sign rings - update 2

What a great way to start the new year! Just the other day I got a message from someone asking about my star sign rings. She had seen them on this site and wanted to know if I had any left in her sign.

Since this lovely mention, I have definitely noticed an increase in interest in these rings, which is very exciting.

I have searched high and low and have been totally unable to find more of these stunning vintage intaglios, so these rings are VERY rare and unique. I have only been able to make 2 of each symbol and unless I can uncover more intaglios, this will be it. A couple of the zodiac signs are already sold out, so get yours before it's too late!

Here's an update on what's available:
Aries - 2 available
Taurus - SOLD OUT
Gemini - 1 available
Cancer - 1 available
Leo - 1 available
Virgo - SOLD OUT
Libra - 1 available
Scorpio - 2 available
Sagittarius - 1 available
Capricorn - 1 available
Aquarius - 2 available
Pisces - 2 available

introducing pandacub pips

I was kind of bored last night and doing some random Etsy stuff for my shop (cutting fabric, gluing bobby pins, etc) while watching TV and for no reason, decided to rename one of my products and expand the collection.

Some of my bobby pins that are made up of smaller buttons are sold in sets of 5 and I love making pretty matching sets. I had a few that were based on the seasons for inspiration and then others that were matched based on colour. They're a great way to accessorize with a little colour.

So, as I was playing with my fabric, I decided to try and create as many different colour sets as possible and will be posting these in my shop in the next couple of weeks.

Also, they used to be named after the seasons or colours, but I've decided to give them a common name and make it a real collection. So...I'm officially introducing...pandacub pips!

According to wikipedia: "Pips are small but easily countable items. It is used to describe the dots on dominoes, dice, denote suits, and is the name for the small seeds of some fruits. It could be used as a synonym for dot in most situations, for example morse code."

So, I think "pips" are a cute way to describe these little bobby pins. What do you think of the new name?

what's new in the shop

I picked up a set of super-adorable pendants and I've paired them up with some little glass flowers that I had lying around. And voila! A new line of necklaces. The first "little lady" made her appearanace in the pandacub shop tonight:


Watch for more colour combinations and little ladies coming soon!

bobby pins aren't just silver anymore!

I was thinking of ways to introduce new hair accessories into my shop and discovered these brightly coloured bobby pins that are PERFECT for spring and summer! Add a pop of colour to your hair! More colours coming soon!

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!

blue pebble re-launch and opening weekend sale!

After many sleepless nights and hours wasted daydreaming, I've decided to re-launch my jewellery shop, blue pebble. I love creating romantic, vintage-inspired jewellery and started blue pebble early last year, but it started to get neglected when my pandacub button accessories took off much faster than I had ever dreamed of. Needless to say, blue pebble suffered and I reluctantly closed the shop while I concentrated on building pandacub.


Now that I have streamlined some of the day-to-day processes of pandacub and have a few extra hours every week, I can't stop thinking about my jewellery. I started listing a few necklaces and earrings here and there on pandacub, but it kind of bugged me to see my adored buttons sharing their happy space with more elegant, non-button jewellery and the jewellery getting lost in the cuteness of my buttons. So, after a couple weeks of agonized deliberation, I decided to separate the two and give them each their own space and personality.


Now I know many Etsians warn about the pitfalls of having 2 (or more) shops, but I refuse to let 2 shops equal 2 times the work. I plan on talking about both shops in 1 blog (this 1), 1 twitter account and 1 flickr account. That should cut down on my work so I can concentrate on creating more accessories!


So, that means that pandacub will soon be back to selling button accessories exclusively, while all the pretty non-button goodies will be sold in blue pebble. I'll be starting to list items tonight, so please come by for a peek!

To celebrate the re-launch of blue pebble, this weekend (March 21-22), all purchases in blue pebble ship FREE, to anywhere in the world! Please come and visit my new shop and help me spread the word!

items in bloom

I recently bought some stunning crysanthemum blossom cabochons and I couldn't wait to create with them. They were a little smaller than I expected, but the colours are gorgeous!

So far I have 9 different colours (more to come!) and you can order this stunning "nessa . ring ." in any colour you wish.


I also made the sweetest bobby pins with the blossoms. Aren't they pretty? Perfect for the coming spring!


Check out my shop for more blossom sweetness!

exclusive wristlets at pandacub

My sister, Suziesaurus, who I've already said is WAY craftier than me has sewn up a batch of her adorably cute and useful wristlets and has decided to part with some of them by letting me sell them exclusively in my pandacub shop!

These sweet wristlets are perfect for carrying around some spare cash or your camera, or some makeup whenever you need to run some errands (I use mine for toting my BlackBerry, my passcards and some spare change around at work).

Here's one she did in the ever popular robot fabric:


And here's one of my favourites because it's really pretty and feminine and would be perfect for the springtime!


As a special introductory offer, the wristlets are being sold for $15 USD until April 30, 2009 (regular price is $20 USD).

trying out new things...

So I've filled my shop with buttons, bobby pins, ponytail ties and rings...what's next? Always on the lookout to create even more things, I'm in the process of adding even more goodies to pandacub's line of accessories!

Coming soon are button cufflink and button earrings (just waiting on some supplies), but this past weekend I introduced button brooches/pinbacks and non-button necklaces and earrings!


Now, the jewellery is a bit of a curveball, since, up until now, my shop has only been selling button-related accessories. To understand the jewellery thing, I'll have to take you back...waaay back.

I've always been obsessed with beads (am I part magpie?) since I was a child. I just can't resist them - shiny, colourful, sparkly...so a few years ago I finally decided to put my obsession (and growing bead collection) to good use and started making my own jewellery. Next thing I knew, I had lots of pretty necklaces and earrings and not enough time to wear it all. I started giving some away as gifts, but also toyed with the idea of selling them

A couple of years ago, when I first discovered Etsy, I opened up my first shop, blue pebble, and started selling my jewellery. I sold a few pieces, but just didn't have the time to fully devote myself to the amount of work that went into a successful business. So I took a break.

Then I fell in love with my little fabric buttons and a new obsession (with fabric) was born.

Last month, though, I glanced longingly at my racks and racks of beads and findings and half-finished necklaces and decided that I just couldn't let that part of me go. My wonderful sister, suziesaurus, who's my semi-business partner, encouraged me to start selling non-button goodies on pandacub as well, so here we are!


I'm a little weary about branching out, as I know many veteran Etsians preach "find your specialty, stick to it", but to me, it's still all about creating fun and affordable accessories to make every day life a little more sweet, whether it's button-related or not - I hope you agree!

a pony a day...

...keeps the bad hair days away! :)

New in the pandacub shop - a set of 7 different adorable ponytail elastics. Now you can add cuteness to your day every day!


I'm also working on making a set of 7 ponytail elastics that feature patterned fabric so on those days when you want to wear something a little more "formal" at work, you have other elastics to choose from!

new fabric means new products

Back in early December I bought some new fabric and I finally made some cute new accessories for my shop and got them listed. Here's a few of the new products - aren't they adorable?

Cute new bumblebees (I also got this fabric in brown, but I love the blue!)


Haha, this little dachshund was too long for one magnet! :)


I've been looking for this little sailor boy fabric for the longest time and finally found some on Etsy at a great price, so here he is! Isn't he adorable?



At the Holiday Trunk Show at the workroom back in early December, my robot magnets sold out super quick and I had to remind myself to stock up on the robot fabric whenever I can. And I was also asked to expand the robot "offerings" in my shop. So here are some robot bobby pins for the techie gals!

cats everywhere!

I absolutely adore cats. I have had a huge love of cats and kittens since I was really, really young and now I've finally added some cats to my shop!

Some are really pretty and others are whimsical - which ones do you like best?


top row: princess kitten; purring harmony
bottom row: hi kitten; here kitty kitty
(by pandacub)

ponies for the grown-ups too!

An Etsy forum reminded me that adults wear pony-tails too (I know I do!) so I was inspired to start thinking of a line of hair accessories with a more "grown-up" flair and I think there's some great ideas coming out.

Check out this gorgeous dark blue pattern I turned into ponytail elastics!

flowers in the dusk (by pandacub)

my best seller...

Happy Monday everyone! As anyone who knows me can tell you, I'm NOT a Monday person, but I've decided to make the best of it.

Pandacub has officially been open for just over 2 months now and I'm already at 33 sales! I never thought that it would be going so well after such a short span of time and want to give a huge thanks and virtual hug to all my customers, Etsy friends, and blog-readers for your support. :)

To celebrate, I'm posting a photo of my current best-seller. this cute little deer - part of my In the Forest bobby pin set. I like this pattern so much I've bought the same fabric with 2 other background colours (blue and pink) and will start posting those soon!

In the Forest (by pandacub)

my favourite little nut collector...

I recently bought some great new fabric from an amazing Etsy seller that I have just discovered - sweetflavor. I can't wait to buy more for her, but in the meantime, I have used some of the fabrics I bought to make new items for my own shop.

in my garden (by pandacub)
And I fell in LOVE with this adorable little squirrel! I made bobby pins with him and he and his little red birdy friend sold within ONE DAY of listing! Wow!

So now I have to make more adorable little squirrel bobby pins!