STILL OPEN

Our shop is open over the holidays! Since this is a busy time of year (for most of us) items ordered December 23 through December 26 will be shipped on December 29 (Monday). Other than this... our shop is still the same!

Happy Holidays from Our Shop to You!

Marie, Jacque and Malin

BLOG

We recently found out that our shop had been featured in a blog (House Things) at timesunion.com. It is a wonderful blog. You should go visit! You will find a lot of inspiration there! http://blogs.timesunion.com/housethings/

It is great for us to hear feedback from people who have visited our shop. And positive feedback is fantastic! It is also great to see that someone is spreading the word about our shop! Thank you! =)

CUTIES

You can buy these in our etsy shop or make them yourself! Here is how: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=17553521.

Now you can make our magnets at home

Do you like these magnets shown in this picture? You can make them at home! This is original Mostly Magnets artwork that we are selling as a PDF file, for you to download to your computer and print over and over again. We hope you like this one. There will be more posted this week, so make sure to check back with us regularly for the other additions to this new series.

Another treasury!

Another treasury for Mostly Magnets today: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list_west.php?room_id=32708. It's the Dala horse cards and tags PDF file! Thanks dividivadesign!

Our snowman is in a treasury

We are in a treasury today: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=20983. Thanks a lot buddysan!

Christmas cards and tags

Can you believe that Christmas is here soon? Time is flying by. We have been working on a lot of original MM artwork lately, and decided to create some PDF files for our cards and tags. Last year we sold cards with envelopes, but this year we decided to let people buy our PDF files, then download to their computer and print at home. Over and over! I think it's a pretty neat idea. Each PDF file comes with one page with two folded cards and another page with ten gift tags (tags are folded). We have several designs available, for those who want to mix and match. Just go and check out or shop: http://www.mostlymagnets.com/. We hope you like them!

All cards say "Merry Christmas", perhaps because we are girls who love Christmas. I suppose that we can make some that say "Happy Holidays" as well. :) Here is a preview of the images that appear on the cards and tags:

NEW PRODUCTS

We now have some new sets of magnets and push pins in our etsy shop! Please come and check them out! We have magnets of different kinds: glass marble magnets, glass tile magnets and wooden magnets (these are very unique). We hope you like what you see! =) The items we sell make perfect gifts for Christmas! They make perfect stocking stuffers! Here are some of our most recent listings:

Studio M; THANKS!

Thanks Studio M for featuring us on your blog! We appreciate your kind words! Go and check it out at http://studiomcards.blogspot.com/. Nice page!

It's been a long break for us

We closed our shop for a little while.... but now we are back. It's been a lot for all of us lately, trying to juggle work and family and our shop. So we took a break, and I think we feel pretty good about it now. I think we feel a little bit more rested. The holidays are just around the corner, and there is nothing better than this season! So, we posted a few new things, and some old and familiar ones that people seemed to like a lot. Go and check out our shop at http://www.mostlymagnets.com/ or just click on the link above. You can see some of our things up there, wooden brooches, marble magnets and push pins and some glass pendants for Halloween. Rememeber they are all original and unique, none are exactly the same. :)

Thanks Alpha Phi!

Thanks to Alpha Phi at the University of Oklahoma for placing a huge order with Mostly Magnets last week. We made about 1000 push pins and magnets combined, all in Alpha Phi colors (pink and green). They turned out great. Jacque will take pictures this week and post on etsy. We will need to make quite a few different ones for different sororities (well, Jacque will make these, since she is the graphic genious of the three of us).

Treasury

Both Mostly Magnets and Artbloc have been featured in a treasury today!

Welcome back, Malin!

1/3 of Mostly Magnets (Malin) is coming back from Sweden today! Welcome back! =) It is exciting to have her back but I know she will be missed in Swedeland. A lot of things have happened in our shop since Malin left at the end of May. We have sold a number of items and heard from people who heart our shop. =) Also, thank you for visiting our blog! It means A LOT to us. Thank you!

For Etsians - How to get perfect pictures every time

Every Etsian knows how important it is to have great pictures of your products on your site. For a long time we struggled with getting the perfect picture. We waited until it was sunny out, we waited until it was cloudy out, we took pictures on the windowsill, we tried everything. We finally decided it was best to take pictures outside in indirect sunlight on the sidewalk. They look pretty good. But what if you want to list something and it's raining? What if you want to list a new product at night? I recently found a way to get perfect pictures every time!! I'm using it for all the pictures in our new shop (http://www.artbloc.etsy.com/). And now you can do it too!

This is my tutorial on how to make yourself a very easy and cheap, but very effective light box.

Materials:

• cardboard box. Mine is 15 1/2" by 10 1/2"
• utility knife
• tracing paper
• scissors
• tape (I used duct tape)
• work light and bulb (I use a 100 watt Reveal bulb)
• craft foam or colored paper (I used brown craft foam. You could use white, or black or any color you want)
  

Directions:

Use a utility knife to cut out three sides of your box leaving about one inch of material on the sides to make three windows....like this:



Cut your tracing paper to the size of the side of your box and attach it with tape to cover the windows....like this:



Place a piece of craft foam or paper in the box so that one side is resting on the back of the box and one side is resting on the floor.

Shine your light into the box. You might want to experiment with different light angles before you get it just right. If you are able, you should set the white balance on you camera to tungsten.

And here is the final product.
You can see more of my pictures on our etsy at http://www.artbloc.etsy.com/

Let me know if you try this and if it was helpful to you!

Artbloc

Mostly Magnets has a new venture. It's called Artbloc! www.artbloc.etsy.com

3 ½ square Artbloc. Definition of Art (red).

My digital artwork is printed on HP paper with genuine Epson archival inks and decoupaged onto a 3 ½ inch square pine block that is handcut and sanded. After a layer of stain and polyurethane, the piece is sanded again, distressed, sealed with a matte finish and signed on the back.

Each 1 ½ inch thick bloc comes with a paper template that indicates exactly where to place nails for hanging. You can position the paper templates on the wall to see exactly what you want your display to look like before putting any holes in the wall. You also receive two of the perfect size nails for hanging these pieces.

Go check them all out!

Beautiful Oklahoma weather

The weather was wonderful today (a bit warm during the day but perfect in the evening) and I sat outside making marble magnets. Hopefully the weather will be beautiful tomorrow as well... =) So I can be productive! I am going to make a few more pendants that hopefully will be posted on our website soon. =)

Congratulations to Joanne!

Joanne won the "Hello" pendant in our very first giveaway. Congratulations!

Thank you to everyone who visited our shop and entered our contest. Please keep checking back because we plan to have another one soon!

Winner

The winner of the "Hello" pendant will be chosen this weekend. Check back to see if it's you!!

To do list

This weekend I am going to work on some projects for our shop. So go visit to see if they turn out great and we can list them!

• fan pulls
• new "Art Under Glass" pendant series
• tiny pendant series (I don't even know what this is going to be. I just got some pretty little bails and I need something to attach them to!!)
• relaxing in the sun (okay....I know this isn't shop related, but I'm going to do it anway)

feature

We were featured on a blog today. On the Dot Creations. She features dotty inspirations and our Retro Polka Dot push pins made the cut! Go check it out!

http://onthedotcreations.typepad.com/onthedotcreations/2008/05/pretty-tacky.html

"Dala"

This morning we posted some pretty cool push pins on our website. These push pins are from the "Dala" series. This is a brand new series that we like very much. The Dala horse is a traditional wooden statuette of a horse originating in the Swedish province of Dalarna. The Dala horse is used as a symbol for Dalarna or sometimes the whole of Sweden. The Dala horse is also recognized as an unofficial symbol of Sweden throughout Swedish-America. It stays very close to our hearts. We think the push pins look pretty cool. These little horses would look pretty cool anywhere in your house!

The friendship of women pendant

Here is the third pendant in our "words and thoughts" series. "I believe that these circles of women around us weave invisible nets of love that carry us when we're weak and sing with us when we're strong..." a quote by SARK is handwritten against a light bright green background.

We have gotten a really good response to our new series. We hope that you love this one too! You can find it here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11888592

Shipping to Canada

MostlyMagnets is now offering shipping to Canada! Yay!

Another glass pendant

This is the second glass pendant in our "words and thoughts" series. If you love it you can buy it here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=11792921

Spring cleaning and SALES!

How fun it is to clean... Spring cleaning with Mostly Magnets is pretty fun though. Right now, it's happening in our shop. We have several items on sale. Prints, plaques, flat cards. Go and check it out!

Glass Marbles

When it comes to our glass marbles please keep this in mind: If you like a specific design (paper) we can use that design to make both magnets AND push pins. Just send us a little note and we can make it happen. At the moment some of the paper is only being used for magnets OR push pins. We are working on this! We are also working on our very own designs and we are very excited about these! MM Originals!

Giveaway! Enter to win!

Thank you to everyone who entered our contest! Please check back often because we plan to have another giveaway soon! Congratulations to Joanne, who won the Hello Pendant!

Hello internet. We would like you (the whole internet) to visit our shop. You might find something you like there. You might even want to buy that something. And we think that if you find something you like in our shop and you buy it, you will be happy. That is our goal. To make the internets happy.

SO....to encourage you to come to our shop, we are giving away a prize! And a fantastic prize it is!!

This pendant is made with a large glass marble and features some cool original MM artwork. This is the first pendant in our new "words and thoughts" series. "Hello", written in many languages against a light blue background makes this a very interesting piece. Measuring approximately 1 1/4 inch in diameter and attached to a pretty bail, this pendant is sure to please! This prize includes the pendant only - the ball chain is not included.

Rules: All you have to do to enter to win this prize is to visit our shop here: http://www.mostlymagnets.etsy.com/, come back to this blog post and leave a comment telling us which of our items you like best and why. But don't say you like the "Hello" pendant, because that doesn't count. Any item besides the "Hello" pendant, please.

This contest will run from May 12 to May 30. Please only enter once. Duplicate entries will be deleted.

Please note: If you are leaving a comment, there must be a way for me to contact you should you be the lucky winner. I cannot accept anonymous post entries since there is no way to award the prize. You can leave a website, blog address or email address.

We hope that you love our shop! Good luck!!

And Go to http://wincrafty.typepad.com/ to find more Etsy Blogger giveaways!

New pendant series

We are working on a new series of pendants that we're calling "words and thoughts". These pendants are made from a large glass marble and feature original MM artwork and well.....words. Sometimes in different languages! Here is the first of the series:

This pendant features the word, "Hello" in many languages against a blue background. A pretty bail is attached and it comes with a 27" ball chain. Some other pendants in this series will have quotes and one will feature the words, "I love you". Check out our shop for more new listings soon!

Personalized notecards

We are personalizing some notecards now. Each set comes with 4 folded cards and bright white envelopes. So far, we have just a few up on etsy, but I am sure there will be more soon. Here are some samples (the sports one says Mrs. Sizemore; she is a gym teacher that will be receiving a set of cards at the end of the school year). Just wanted to clarify... most people would probably give a set of notecards like this to a little boy. :) Then we made another one with an eagle on it for someone working for a school that has an eagle as a mascot. Makes for pretty nice gifts.

Wooden brooches

I finally bought a wood burning tool. I used one in woodshop many years ago, and remember it being a lot of fun!I got little round wooden pieces from the hobby store and went nuts in a matter of minutes. :) I got so excited about them and decided to turn them into pins. Pretty cool clothing accessory if you ask me! Here are some examples of what I have made so far (three of them just sold, but I will be making more soon).

Marble MAGNETS

Mostly Magnets will soon be selling marble MAGNETS again. Right now we only offer marble push pins but keep your eyes open. I also think we may start using those rare earth magnets. Some designs will look similar to those of our push pins but we will most likely offer new ones as well. We love making our magnets! =)

funky new collage notecards

I'm working on some new collage notecards. These are from some old pictures and some new pictures. I will post them on our Etsy soon!

Where will you be on April 19th?

Come to Norman, Oklahoma's 89er Day celebration on April 19th at Andrews Park. We will be out there selling our stuff with our new friends from Etsy!! Come by and say hi!

Little Birds

This week little birds will be flying into our shop! I have been painting little birds on wood which I will make into cute (if I may say so myself) little round magnets. A fun way to bring a little piece of art into your kitchen! -Marie

Jump!

This is the new picture on the front page of our website. I think we lost about 5 pounds each jumping today!

www.mostlymagnets.com

Sneak peak of our flat card designs

Finally! It has taken me so long to finish our flat card designs. Marie and I have been working on different sets, and it has been difficult to finish them with work and everything else. I finally was able to finish it today, and Jacque is bringing her photography talent over here tomorrow so that we can take pictures of them for our etsy shop. We will post some later tomorrow hopefully. Here is a sneak peak of our little images (we have text also to go along with them but I am not posting that yet). Oops, sorry for the large images. I can't seem to figure out how to post them smaller. I hope you like them though!