Some of you may have already noticed there is a big sale in the Cupcakes and Mace store right now. For the rest of you here is your notification.

We have a whole heap of mostly red, pre cut jewellery sitting here in the Cupcake Factory. We’d prefer if they were sitting around the neck of you and your BFF though so we’re running a buy one get one free sale. We have scissors, narwhals, guns, seahorses, vultures, Darwin fish, cupcake rings, minicorn brooches, candy, and ghosts and you can mix and match.

The sale is on till it’s gone. The first 10 pictures below link to the sale items (up to the vulture), the rest are recently added pieces.

Giftmas shipping. I know it’s early, but down here at the end of the world we’re so far away from you Americans and Britons that the shipping cut off is the 30th of November. There is a chance that orders after that will still arrive in time, but not a chance I’d take. Make sure you get in by the 28th to be sure.

Aussies fare slightly better as you’re pretty close, but your cut off date is still the 7th of December. Please try to get your orders in by the 5th.

Kiwis, you have until the 19th of December. Because we’re shutting up shop for the year on that day. We’ll be open for orders over the holidays but nothing will ship till we’ve had a nice long break and get back to Wellington in the second or third week of January.

Don’t forget we can cut other designs for you – you’re not limited to what is currently in the shop. Prices will be around the same as listed items.
If you order 10 pieces you’ll get 25% off everything (excluding sale items).
We also offer flat rate shipping, no matter how many things you buy!

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.

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)

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!

Observant followers of Cupcakes and Mace may have noticed some Etsy advertising that popped up on the sidebar in the last couple of weeks.

Well, it is my very own work! The jewellery pieces I have been promising for a while now have been getting created and listed, it’s all still in the early stages but I’m very excited about it.

Now our laser cutter is working I can offer nameplate necklaces for USD $25 + shipping, cute laser cut pendants, and my usual array of crocheted and knitted wire bracelets, beaded necklaces and earrings and any other whimsy I imagine.
Any questions or requests can be emailed to me or you can leave a comment.

I have a competition for all of you! The main prize will be your very own Cupcakes and Mace ring and pendant set in your choice of colour. Depending on the number of entries I receive there may be a couple of runners up prizes too.

How to enter:

• For one entry – Go to the Cupcakes and Mace Etsy shop http://cupcakesandmace.etsy.com and take a look. Let me know what you like, or what else you would like to see in a comment.
• For an extra two entries – Write about the Cupcakes and Mace blog or Etsy shop on your own blog and come back to let me know. You could tell me what you like in your next Things I Love Thursday post and then leave me the link in a comment and get all three entries!

It’s time for all you lurkers to come out of hiding (and I know there’s quite a number of you), and win something for yourself or the one you love. :D

The winner will be drawn randomly on the 21st of March.

Can’t wait? Email me at kim at cupcakesandmace dot com or send me a convo in Etsy and I’ll set up a reserved order just for you at 20% off. Woo-woop.