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!

• Mini panics when I suddenly think I’ve only got one day left in my weekend till I have to go back to my horrid workplace. Obviously working in a nasty office left deeper scars than I’d realised.
• Finding out I’m a night owl and my body would rather sleep until 2pm and then stay awake till 3am than get up with everyone else.
• Not feeling the need to feed my face constantly. I’m eating probably half of what I was eating when I was in the office. No more eating to cure the boredom, no more left over cake in the staffroom. I often have my first meal of the day at about 4pm now. (um, except for last week where I ate almost 3 blocks of chocolate, a box of popcorn, two ice creams, a bag of lollies, cheese and crackers, and fish and chips)
• Becoming a bit of a recluse. I haven’t been leaving the house unless we’ve been invited out somewhere, so I often leave the house only once or twice a week. Many days I live in a dressing gown because I don’t see the point in getting dressed!
• An obsession with the Gilmore Girls. Now that I have no office these ladies are my workmate replacements.
• Wanting to/having the time to bake again.

And some expected side effects: losing the bags under my eyes, not having such dry skin due to air conditioning, being happy!

The biggest jewellery seller in the Cupcakes and Mace shop is the nameplate necklace. Any name you like (up to 9 letters included in the price) in any colour from our range, and a choice from two chains for just $25 USD.

People love them, they love that they are completely customisable, and that we can cut a shape out of many of the letters for no extra charge. We’ve cut cupcakes, hearts, apples, a bird and a skull so far. The biggest problem with customising these nameplates is finding appropriate fonts, most of the flicks in the script type fonts are too thin to hold it all together during a bit of wear. Our current default font is Courier New (#1 below), it looks good and holds together really well. We let people choose their own fonts too, but we’ve figured that people don’t like having to find out what they want by themselves, it’s much preferable to be given a short list to choose from.

That’s where you come in. Have a look at the list below, and let me know your top 3 choices (in order of preference) in the comments. Your comment will get you in the draw to win your very own nameplate so make sure you use a valid email address! :D

Extra entries are available to anyone who spreads the word about the competition, just leave comment letting me know where you left the link.

The competition will close in 2 weeks on the 15th of July so get commenting.

My favourites are 5, 8, 1, and 3.

As an indie seller working with something I’ve designed and created myself (rather than working in a larger office type setting) I’m finally beginning to realise just how important giving positive feedback is.

Often the companies you’re dealing with are a lot smaller than you realise, or than the “companies” lead you to believe. I often receive emails addressed to “the people of Cupcakes and Mace” when officially there’s only me. With a one or two person team the feedback reaches deeper than usual, and if they know their customers are enjoying something they’ll make an effort to create more, and communicate more. You may even end up getting a few freebies.

Even though I’m undecided on whether feedback for Etsy sellers is appropriate to display on their shops (much like Ebay or Trade Me does) I always get a big grin when I do get feedback or emails praising my work or my service.

So don’t forget to praise your local business owner, blog writer, volunteer, or customer service rep when they do a good job today. They’ll love you for it!

Abby – A beautiful Cupcakes and Mace customer who even sent me a photo of her wearing her necklace and gave me the rights to it!

1. Stove elements should not be tested for heat by placing your hand on them. If they do happen to be hot YOU WILL GET BURNT.
2. Hands are also not the correct tools to use to break sharp pieces of perspex apart. It is sharp, and can make you bleed.
3. Staying up an hour past your bedtime every single night will make you tired, cranky, sick, and give you bags under your eyes. It will also  make you lose your concentration and do stupid things like putting your hand on an element to test if it’s hot.