pandacub shops local in...belfast, ireland

I've just discovered some pretty amazing shops from sellers all over the lovely country of Ireland thanks to the Etsy Ireland blog and with St. Patrick's Day coming up, I've decided to "shop local" in Belfast, Ireland! :)

Tomorrow, I'll be "shopping local" in Dublin!

For more things Irish - check out the lovely Crafty Ireland team over at the Etsy Ireland blog!


Left to right:
Top row:
1. Six Tea Cups, Card, $5.00 by bridbird
2. Special Spiral Necklace - Silver and Black, $43.00 by aurajewellery
3. Little Book of Love, Hand Made Artist Book, $12.00 by BridgetFarmerBooks

Middle row:
4. big bubble beads, $45.00 by poisonits
5. Donegal Sunset Greeting Card, $3.00 by fatlittlepixie
6. Celtic Organic Cotton Fair Trade t shirt, $25.00 by GreenWorks

Bottom row:
7. Textile brooch pin, $12.00 by lilgreenshop
8. Blueberry Bubbles Pearl Bracelet, $24.00 by AMIdesigns
9. Shifty Cat - ACEO, $5.00 by moonkooki

pandacub march giveaway

Yep, that's right! The pandacub giveaway returns for the second month in a row (having such a great time with this I may make it permanent, but we'll see...)

One lucky winner will receive their choice of ONE pair of bobby pins from the House Collection:
- the house collection - lions (Gryffindor House): red blossoms on gold bobby pins
- the house collection - badgers (Hufflepuff House): yellow blossoms on black bobby pins
- the house collection - snakes (Slytherin House): green blossoms on silver bobby pins
- the house collection - eagles (Ravenclaw House): blue blossoms on copper bobby pins

These bobby pins are fairly new to the pandacub shop and were inspired by the Harry Potter series. But, of course, you don't have to be a fan of the book/movie series to enjoy these pretty blossom bobby pins (perfect for spring!)

Visit my shop, pandacub, then come back here and tell me what your favorite thing in the shop is! Just leave it in a comment on this post.

Want extra entries? (you must complete the first step above before doing these)
- 1 extra entry: Follow this blog. Leave a comment telling me that you've become a Follower (or that you were already a Follower).
- 1 extra entry: Become a Facebook fan at http://www.facebook.com/pages/pandacub/82432588156. Leave comment telling me that you've become a fan (or that you were already a fan).
- 3 extra entries: Follow me on Twitter (pandacubcafe) and tweet about this contest (use the tag @pandacubcafe so I can see your tweet). Leave a comment letting me know you've done this.
- 10 extra entries: Buy anything from my pandacub shop. Come back and leave a comment letting me know what you bought and your Etsy username.

Remember to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win!

Notes:
- This contest closes at midnight (ET) on Monday, March 29, 2010.
- Winner will be contacted via email shortly after the contest closes.
- This giveaway is open worldwide.

GOOD LUCK, EVERYONE!

mulling around...

I love it when the weather starts to turn and things get warmer. Although I can't really complain much about the winter we just had, I still am a much happier person when the warmer months start kicking in. Just the fact that it's bright when I wake up and still light out when I get out of the office makes me smile.

So, with the change in weather, there are lots of fun ideas bubbling around in my mind in regards to pandacub. Some will probably never see the light of day, but there are others that have great possibilities...

- a really fun contest that involves all my lovely pandacub customers

- a monthly e-newsletters with special giveaways and discount codes

- a Tudor-inspired collection of pandacub accessories

Of course, much of this will depend on my day-job schedule and how much I can actually accomplish in the few hours I have after work, but I'm having fun daydreaming anyway!

What do you think?

pandacub wants...lemons

I love lemons. I love how cheerfully yellow they are. And the smell - it's so fresh! And I love a nice lemonade...and lemon candy...and lemon sorbet...mmmm.


Top row:
1. Lite, Low-Cal, Low-Fat Lemon Love Cheesecake, $15.00 by GoomasGoodies
2. Hand Painted Modern Lovely Lemon Slice Recycled Wall Clock, $14.99 by bearlyart
3. Lemons in a bowl - original oil painting - 6x6, $58.00 by sharonschock

Middle row:
4. Lemon Verbena Handmade Soap, $5.00 by seaspritesoaps
5. Lemons on Blue -5 x 5 Fine Art Photography Print, $15.00 by JenniferAitchison
6. Dollhouse miniature Lemon Meringue Pie, $8.00 by BlueKittyMiniatures

Bottom row:
7. Lemonade Cross Stitched Refrigerator Magnet, $12.00 by DefiantDamsel
8. Meyer Lemons Sandwich Sak, $7.50 by WasteNotSaks
9. Lemon Sugar Lip Balm, $3.50 by FlourishBathBody

50 books in 2010 - update 1

Eek, it's already March and I'm not making much headway on this goal. Of course, it doesn't help that I chose a HUGE book to read that took me nearly all month...But I seriously will not be anywhere close to my goal if it takes me 2 months to read 5 books!

1. The Last Boleyn by Karen Harper, finished January 13

2. The Wives of Henry VIII by Antonia Fraser, finished February 7

3. Lamb by Christopher Moore, finished February 12

4. The Man Who Ate the World by Jay Rayner, finished February 20

5. There Will be Dragons by John Ringo, finished February 26

Currently reading:

- Buon Appetito, Your Holiness by Mariangela Rinaldi & Mariangela Vicini

- The Boleyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory

what a weekend!

I had a great Etsy weekend and wanted to do a quick thank you to everyone!

This past weekend, I hit 400 sales in my pandacub Etsy shop and I was featured in THREE treasuries!

addicted to mooching

Mooching can be fun! Well, it ends up being more like "trading" than mooching, but it can get quite addictive.

As many of my regular blog readers know, I read quite a bit (trying to hit that 50 books read in one year goal again!) and buying new books can be quite hard on the wallet. And I love "owning" my books, so I tend not to go to the library very often (although I know I should). Besides, whenever I go, they either don't have the book I want or the waiting list is about 100 people long!

Anyhow, there must be lots of other people who feel the same way because I've discovered "BookMooch"! Basically, it's an online site that lets you give away books you no longer want/need (people "mooch" them from you), get points for books you give away and redeem those points to "mooch" books from others! Yes, you do have to cover the cost of postage, which can be expensive for heavier books, but sending things via surface mail helps keep that down (plus you can choose where you want to send books - within your own country only or internationally).

Anyhow, I've already mooched a few books and am waiting for them to arrive, meanwhile I've already sent some books out to other countries. The best thing is discovering new titles, and meeting other book lovers.


Illustration credit Andrice Arp, courtesy of BookMooch.com

pandacub wants...a happy chinese new year!

To celebrate the upcoming Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year) which begins on February 14, pandacub took a peek at all the lovely Year of the Tiger goodies on Etsy!


Top row:
1. Year of the Tiger Shirt-Black, $15.00 by 88avenue
2. Year of the Tiger Print, $25.00 by tsaifi
3. PDF pattern guide for Gurumi 'O' Tiger, $2.75 by gurumiorama

Middle row:
4. Year of the Tiger mounted archival print, $26.00 by betsythompsonstudio
5. Year of the Tiger Lucky Red Envelope - Printable PDF, $2.00 by katwright
6. Happy New Year Tiger, $15.00 by 99marga

Bottom row:
7. Chinese New Year Tiger Card Set-A2, $20.00 by stillwaterartstudio
8. Lil' Tiger Hat, $15.00 by DinkyDimples
9. 2010 Year of the Tiger(s) Calendar Poster Print, $40.00 by aruppel

thank you!

I just wanted to post a happy hug & thank you to my lovely friends, fans and customers. :)

My little pandacub Etsy shop shop is 2 sales away from its 400th sale and this week we hit 900 shop hearts!

Yay!

february giveaway

I had such a great time with my November giveaway that I figured it would be a nice cheerful way to brighten up February.

One lucky winner will receive ONE pair of Flaunt bobby pins in the colour of their choice (available colours: black, purple or red).

These bobby pins are new to the pandacub shop and are very sparkly and would be a nice feminine touch for a night out on the town or just to to brighten up a normal day!


Here's how to enter:
Visit my shop, pandacub, then come back here and tell me what your favorite thing in the shop is! Just leave it in a comment on this post.

Want extra entries? (you must complete the first step above before doing these)
- 1 extra entry: Follow this blog. Leave a comment telling me that you've become a Follower (or that you were already a Follower).
- 1 extra entry: Become a Facebook fan at http://www.facebook.com/pages/pandacub/82432588156. Leave comment telling me that you've become a fan (or that you were already a fan).
- 3 extra entries: Follow me on Twitter (pandacubcafe) and tweet about this contest (use the tag @pandacubcafe so I can see your tweet). Leave a comment letting me know you've done this.
- 5 extra entries: Blog about this giveaway on your blog with a link back to this post. Leave a comment here and include the URL where I can see your post
- 10 extra entries: Buy anything from my pandacub shop. Come back and leave a comment letting me know what you bought and your Etsy username.

Remember to leave your email address so I can contact you if you win!

Notes:
- This contest closes at midnight (ET) on Monday, February 15, 2010.
- Winner will be announced on this blog shortly after the contest closes.
- This giveaway is open worldwide.

GOOD LUCK, EVERYONE!