Coupon code

Here's that coupon code, as promised :) 

The details
The code - THANKSGIVING2010
20% off your purchase
At The Whimsical Muse on Etsy only
How to?  Select your items & enter the code at check out

Just a quickie

Unfortunately, I didn't add anything new to my shop since my camera stopped working at the beginning of last week.  My new camera has a bit more of a learning curve, so I'm working on it.  Hopefully I will get to some more sticker seals posted by the end of the week.

**Stay tuned this week for a special coupon code to The Whimsical Muse on Etsy for my blog visitors :)**

New at The Whimsical Muse! 1-inch round envelope seals

New in my shop today! 1-inch round glitter envelope seals!
Currently available in silver, gold, green, red, white & sky blue.
Next week I will be adding a few more colors :)

In use on some enclosure envelopes that measure about 2 1/2" x 3 1/2"

The envelope with the red seal reminds me of Rudolf! I could see this becoming  part of some fun envelope art for doodlers :)

Here are the small glitter heart seals also available in my shop layered on top of the 1-inch round seals.
http://www.etsy.com/shop/thewhimsicalmuse

Is it snail mail or...

I got the cutest items in a package yesterday.  I knew they would be cute when I ordered them but...they are just adorable, no?

I found these cuties at studioCee on Etsy.  There are so many more adorable & fun chipboard items at studioCee that it's worth a look.

New at The Whimsical Muse

New in the shop, coffee dyed crinkled seam binding! It still has a coffee scent, as well as some lovely spots of darker brown where the coffee pooled a little more which gives it a slightly distressed look. You may find a tiny bit of sparkle here and there in this seam binding. It is wrapped with a bit of hand stamped muslin and an arms length of black and white baker's twine.

Crinkled seam binding is fun for both prim (primitive) & vintage style gift wrapping, crafting and decor. It would be lovely to use in wedding decorations and favors. I'm offering it in 5 yard increments but am happy to discuss custom lengths, as well.  

I have some pretty new crinkled seam binding that I dyed blue with hints of indigo & purple.  I will be listing it soon.

It's a Fabulous Friday!

I received a surprise in the mail a few days ago! A lovely bloom from ThiliBlooms on Etsy! It can be used as a hair pin or a brooch. Isn't it darling?

Thrilled!

The lovely(oh, hello friend) you are loved blog is doing a "lovely packaging" giveaway & there is, among many other things, a $10 gift certificate from The Whimsical Muse in the giveaway! The giveaway features many fantastic shops from Etsy that offer a beautiful array of items to dress up those lovely packages.

New at The Whimsical Muse!

New at The Whimsical Muse on Etsy.com, glitter heart stickers - envelope seals in red, gold, pink, lavender (not shown here) & a set of all four colors. They are perfect for Valentines day, anniversaries, weddings & just to say "I love you." Great to seal an envelope, make a simple card, dress up a present, add to a mixed media project, embellish a scrapbook page...

holiday sale day 4

Free 1st class shipping for purchases over $20 within the United States at The Whimsical Muse! For my fabulous international customers who purchase $20 worth of items from my shop, I am offering discounting shipping based on the discount my US customers receive. For example, if someone in the US would normally pay $3.00 for shipping the purchase you are making, I will subtract $3.00 from amount of your shipping. The $20 amount refers to the total purchase price of the items. Valid Saturday, December 12, 2009 only.

To take advantage of this deal, please "commit to buy" $20 worth of items from my shop then:
1) either go all the way through & pay using PayPal or 2) ask that I send you an invoice with the shipping modified.

Sale is still on over at Random Creative Moments/HandmadebyPam.

Have a fantastic weekend!
Pam

holiday sale day ??? & something new in my shop!

So we missed a day buttt...things are still on sale over at Random Creative Moments http://www.etsy.HandmadebyPam.com. Do take a moment to check things out over there. I will have a new category on sale tomorrow in one of both shops.

New to The Whimsical Muse...tinsel wire ribbon! It's so flipping cute & there are really so many things that you can do to use it in your crafting, gift wrapping & home decorating! It's great year round but super special for the winter holidays.

I think it would be great in place of ribbon on presents, to top ornaments, in place of string or other ribbon on gift tags, on mini (or regular) Christmas trees... It could be used to create a simple but lovely card holder for Christmas or birthdays. If you hung a length of it horizontally on a wall, you could attach some cute little clothespins or paper clips to it & hang Christmas (or birthday) cards from it.

Anyway, without further ado, here it is:







I offer it in 3 yard increments (it's about 1/2" thick) in gold, red & silver. I'm happy to cut additional amounts. I wrap a length of antique white ribbon adorned with a jingle bell around the tinsel wire ribbon. You can check out TheWhimsicalMuse on Etsy.com (check out the right side of my blog) & comment here or convo me on Etsy if you have any questions.

Back later with more sale stuff!
Pam

holiday sale day 2

Baker's twine is just fantastic, isn't it? Fantastic for putting the finishing touch on a package whether a wrapped present or some yummy cookies in a tin or bakery box, baker's twine can add a nice bit of simplicity and some nostalgia. Baker's twine is a lovely detail at weddings & in crafts. I offer baker's twine in: black & white; brown & white; red & white; blue & white; lime mint green & white; & light blue & white (the latest in my shop & really very nice). My current listings include baker's twine in 4 different increments: 5 yards, 20 yards, 50 yards & 100 yards. If you're interested in a different length please don't hesitate to contact me. I've set up many custom orders & am happy to do more. Please do understand that custom orders may take 2 days from payment for me to mail (rather than 1).

Anyway, time to get to the sale! Buy 3 get the 4th baker's twine FREE! Each listing must each be the same size but can be on any size listed (or custom). For example, you would purchase 3 of the 20 yard packs of baker's twine & then you get the 4th for free (whatever color you choose). Valid all day on Wednesday December 9th. Valid only at my shop, The Whimsical Muse on Etsy. If you don't see the size in a color you see I have, please let me know so I can list more :) This sale is happening Wednesday, December 9th only, through midnight PST.

Here's how to take advantage of this deal:
- "commit to buy 3 of the same size of baker's twine"
-let me know you would like the "buy 3 deal" & your color choice for the 4th pack in the "notes to seller" or by contacting me using the Etsy convo system
pay for your purchase using PayPal (you can use a credit card this way!)

If you have absolutely an questions, you can contact me by using the comment section here or by convo on Etsy. If you haven't yet made a purchase on Etsy.com, here are some FAQs that may help http://www.etsy.com/faq_buying.php?utm_source=etsy_success&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=etsy_success_090109

Pam :)

holiday sale day 1

Today until midnight (or until I post the next sale), the holiday sale deal is:
25% off all paper goods including greeting cards, tags, stickers, & bookmarks in both of my shops
The Whimsical Muse and Random Creative Moments This doesn't apply to the shipping price. I am, however, happy to combine shipping on items purchased in each shop, so your shipping will probably end up being a little lower than listed.

There are two ways take advantage of this deal:
1) "commit to buy the item(s)," let me know you would like the "25% off paper goods deal" in the "notes to seller" or by contacting me using the Etsy convo system, pay for your purchase using PayPal (you can use a credit card this way!), I will refund the discount.
2) "commit to buy the item(s)," let me know you would like the "25% off paper goods deal" in the "notes to seller" or by contacting me by "convo" on Etsy. I will send you an invoice with the sale price.

If you have absolutely an questions, you can contact me by using the comment section here or by convo on Etsy.

Pam :)

Here it is...

...some fabulous new light blue baker's twine (bakery twine)!!! It's a lovely sky blue. It will be listed in my Etsy shop very soon!

There are so many fun things that can be done with it! I made some pamphlet booklets in the shape of shipping tags.

New stuff soon!

The UPS guy just dropped off a package of goodies tonight! More black & white baker's twine & some fantastic new baker's twine. Will be back soon with some pics in the next couple of days & then will be listing it at The Whimsical Muse on Etsy by next week, if not sooner.

Exploring!

Hello everyone!

Today the kid & I had a little adventure! We were tasked by her preschool teacher to go on a nature walk & collect leaves that had fallen to the ground to bring back to school on Thursday. As today my car's temperature gauge said it was 105 degrees, it was a tad toasty to go on a "real" nature walk. I was able to show her how to gently feel the leaves as she picked them up. I also showed her how the newly fallen leaves & the ones that have been on ground longer were so different. She probably would have kept on collecting leaves had it not been time to move on to another activitiy.

Our next stop continued our exploration mode. We hunted for buttons at our favorite button box (a bit of treasury box). She filled her tin & dumped it over & over. We talked with another lady as she was button hunting. We found some fabulous buttons, some of which might end up listed in my Etsy shop (TheWhimsicalMuse).

TheWhimsicalMuse on Etsy:
Newest additions:
1) A set of handstamped Christmas cards
2) baker's twine in 100 yard increments in black & white; red & white; brown & white; blue & white; and green & white

Items I've been cooking up for The Whimsical Muse
1) hand crafted items, including holiday tags
2) baker's twine offered in 50 yard increments (rather than it being a special order only item)

That's all for now :)
Pam

My life in a nutshell...keyword "busyness"

Things have been really busy around these parts:

1) We had a fantastic extended weekend trip to Durango, Colorado. A really nice place. Fun to visit my sister & her boyfriend (along with their 50 lb puppy & two cats who hid most of the time we were around. Yummy yummy food. My sister's boyfriend smoked chicken & ribs. The ribs were TDF...probably the best ribs I have ever eaten. My kid & my sister made pizza one night. Pretty amusing but fun with tasty results. We got out to restaurants, the hot springs, the local playground, more restaurants & more. Thank goodness for having the laptop with us...

2)...because sales on Etsy at The Whimsical Muse have been really great! Especially while we were on vacation. I don't know if it's Murphy's Law (or what) but I had an inkling that I would have a bunch of sales while we were on vacation & I did. A number of requests for custom cuts of bakery twine, along with a number of in stock, "on the (Etsy) shelf" items. I was up late the night we got packing orders & getting things ready for the week. I have been amazed at how quickly orders have gone from the local post office to their destination. Two days to get from San Diego, CA to the east coast.

3) The kid is back in preschool, absolutely adores her new class & wakes up every day asking, "do I get to go to preschool today?"

4) I finished a million flowers (okay, 28) for the flower swap at Scrapbook Club. We had SB Club tonight. Fun fun! I think people focused more on their swap items than on creating new things. The flowers...wow! Every person's flower creations were so different than the others but oh so fun. I love love love the creativity in this group! I will try to get a pic or two up eventually with all of the flowers. Crazy but I didn't end up doing anything (yet) with the kit from the last SB Club meeting. I guess I was busy :)

5) I just started singing again with a choir group I used to sing with :)

I think that summarizes the (happy) busy-ness in my life. Of course, the mundane is still there.

Little update & contest details!

First things first...The Whimsical Muse. I've been finding fun craft supply items here & there & thought it would be fun to share on Etsy. I decided to start up a little supply shop with quirky bits of this & fun bits of that like bakery twine, ric rac & whatnot (well, sorry, no listing for "whatnot" as yet). I do sell a few handmade items but they do tend toward the "handmade supply" end of things. I do have more items in stock that I will be listing soon.

I've been putting together a list of things that can be done with bakery twine in addition to wrapping it around a cake box. Here is where the contest comes in...1) you share 3 or more ideas of what can be done with bakery twine, 2) a winner will be picked randomly & 3) the prize is...you guessed it, 20 yards of bakery twine, in the color(s) of your choice from http://thewhimsicalmuse.etsy.com/ The deadline for entry is Tuesday, July 14, 2009.

Dusting off the ol' blog

Time to dust off my blog! Boy, it's sure been a while! There are all kinds of things going on in the world of My Random Creative Moments, including the addition of a new Etsy shop (The Whimsical Muse). Over the course of the next few days (well, probably week or so), I will be updating on the new shop, recent projects, fun random things, and a contest. Yes, I did say contest :) Stay tuned & check back soon! :)

International shipping

I just had my first international sale via Etsy last week. I had been hoping that at some point this would happen & was thrilled when I saw that someone from across the globe had made a purchase from my shop. I'm not usually a worrier but I was a little concerned. Should I have packaged the item differently? Would the item make it in it's current condition? Would it end up stuck in customs? Would it arrive at all? I sent a note to my customer informing them when the item shipped & asking that they let me know when it arrives. I received a message from my customer today that the item had indeed arrived & was in perfect condition. Sigh of relief! Ahhh! Interestingly, I put the item in the mail on Thursday the 3rd of March & it arrived Wednesday the 11th. I've seen mail take several days to get to different parts of the county I live in, so for mail to move so quickly is quite surprising. The postal services of each country apparently worked mighty quickly & it must have sped through customs. It's so nice to have someone receive something I've sent & in this case, it was extra special since it was so far.

I have another parcel enroute to another country from a sale this week. The postal worker sorta smirked & smiled at the same time when I smoothed down the metered stamp/postage thing on the package. I laughed & explained that I hadn't sent much out of the country & was still just a little detail oriented about it. I have my fingers crossed that this new customer receives their item in it's original condition in a timely fashion. Will have to report back :-)

International shipping is not all that different from mailing an item in the U.S. There are a few things that helped me in the process of figuring things out. My advice: 1) make sure that you weigh the item, everything you will be packaging it in & the box/bubble mailer/envelope (each ounce when you ship to Canada is only .24 cents but to, say Australia goes up to .80 cents, not a huge amount of money but it sure can add up if one is less than careful), 2) like in the U.S., make sure you are clear in what category your item fits (envelope, small package, etc.), 3) check out the United Postal Services website on international shipping for pricing & information (see below), 4) package your item well, 5) fill out the customs form & afix it to the front of the package. Rumor has it that some postal workers will say that you don't need a customs form. The one who helped me last week seemed to think that it was a good idea & said that it would be less likely to be opened at customs since it said what it was on the form.

FYI, the USPS has information on each country & the types of items that are not accepted in each specific country.

USPS first class international mail: http://www.usps.com/prices/first-class-mail-international-prices.htm

If you have anything to add about international shipping & your experiences, I would love to hear them!