You’re all winners. Unfortunately my empire building is not yet complete so my funds don’t stretch far enough to send something to every fabulous blogger and internet friend I come across. But a couple of lovely ladies will be getting something!

First off the amazing Sarah Hannah wins the randomly generated draw. Sarah Hannah said she’d like one of three choices “‘everything was beautiful and nothing hurt”, “death wears diamond jewellery”, or “team bubble”.

Secondly we’d like to give a necklace to the ever stylish Ela for coming up with a fancy name to call these square boxes. We love C² (C squared), so thank you!

I’ve also contacted a fellow blogger about using her suggestion in the shop. If she decides to let us use her words we’ll let you know.

Send an email to [kim at cupcakesandmace (dot) com] letting me know what you want your necklace to say; which colour acrylic and chain you like; and if you have a sketch or some instructions on how you want the words set, which words should be bigger, smaller, on each line etc include that too. I’ll also need your addresses.

We’re going to be offering create your own C² necklaces in the etsy shop, they’ll be $30 each, slightly more than the nameplate necklaces because there will be quite a bit more work involved. However, if you’d like to get your hands on one created especially for you before they’re even an option in the shop you’re going to get it for $20. Yep, early aaaaaaaaand a third off. This is for my readers only, and is available until the end of October.

Your necklace can say what ever you like. It can be cut in any of the colours we have. And you can either send us a sketch to give us an idea of how you want it to look or you can leave the design up to us. Send me an email referencing the secret blog deals and I’ll know what you’re talking about.

Photos of the winning C² necklaces will be posted when they’re ready.

It’s a very exciting day in the Cupcake Factory as one year ago cupcakesandmace.com was born.
“But posts in your archive go back to March 2008″ I hear you cry. And yes, you are right. When this blogging thing started for me I went through a few names before I decided I wanted to take blogging a more seriously and register a domain.

Life has changed a lot since then. I’m self employed now, blogging, thinking up pretties, and interacting with customers on a daily basis. I really appreciate everyone who has joined me along the way. Thanks to you I have no plans to give this thing up.

To say thank you and to celebrate this milestone I’m giving you the present! We’ve started designing necklace squares with helvetica text. I have no idea what to call them collectively, so feel free to help me out.

The Rules

All you have to do is comment and let me know what you’d like your square to say if you win. It can say anything at all. Easy as.

The winner will be picked by a random name draw, but if we really like your idea there might be a prize heading your way too.

And as per usual if you’d like extra entries post a link from your blog to the comp or tweet about it.

You have a week. I’ll draw the winner next weekend on the 3rd of October. And then it’ll be your turn to send me the presents as it’s my birthday on the 9th of October. :D

We’ve been busy in the Cupcake Factory this month, adding a lot of new things to the store in an effort to give you something to look at for more than one minute! We’re going to continue adding new stock and designs until we reach at least 100 products so there is plenty more to come.

These are new products added over the last couple of weeks. Each picture will take you to the Etsy page for more photos and information. (And everything is less than $18 :D)

Last weekend while out shopping with Chickie Little and our significant others we came across a wonderful place. A place full of trinkets, organised just enough that you can find what you’re looking for, a place where the price is right. An emporium so full of wonder it exclaims that there is something for everyone inside. We all scoffed and bet that The Boy wouldn’t find anything, but we were wrong (he bought some wheels)!

This magical place is Pete’s Emporium, in Porirua, about 20 minutes north of Wellington City.

It’s a little known fact that emporiums are one of my favourite places in the world. A favourite shopping destination second only to supermarkets (food emporiums if you will). I can shop for hours, sorting through the junk and inspecting the treasures, deciding how many of each brightly coloured button I’ll choose.

I ended up getting a few brightly coloured treasures for my jewellery making, including some pink and blue bunches of grapes. After much wrestling I managed to turn one pair of each colour into earrings. Get them in pink or blue in the shop now. :] The hooks are sterling silver so your ears stay pretty.

It’s often the case, when a hobby turns into a job, that you love it a little bit less. That your friends are no longer gifted your experiments. And that you only allow yourself to keep the work that doesn’t turn out perfect.
I find myself wearing all the jewellery that doesn’t cut properly and has scratches.

Sometimes we’ve got to remind ourselves that it’s no fun to work like that! There is a reason you count yourself lucky to be your own boss. It’s because you love what you do, and you love it so much you probably started off doing it for free.

On that note I started making myself a charm bracelet. Not just from the left overs that didn’t fit anywhere else, but from the charms I actually liked. The ones that mean something to me, or look pretty, or make me laugh.

The Jack in the Box is my favourite. My Mum gave it to me, it really closes up and then pops out on a spring when you unhook the lid!