Thank You for a Great Holiday Season!

Hello everyone!
I know everyone is so busy this week running last minute errands, wrapping gits, eating cookies, spending time with loved ones and hopefully making beautiful handmade items : )
I just wanted to say thank you to all who have supported Pinks & Needles this Holiday season!!! It has been a pleasure making my little pin toppers for all of you and I am pleased to say I have learned a lot about how to run a small retail business during a busy time of year.

I only hope to be even more prepared for the Holidays in 2010!

Here are a few pictures I've taken of some gift wrapping the last couple of days! It's kind of sad but I never had any of these gifts under the tree this year. They went from the gift closet, to the living room floor (for wrapping) and then straight to a shipping box : (  I have a few more gifts to wrap for neighbors and friends here in Tucson - so I hope to get those done tomorrow so I can at least enjoy looking at them underneath the Christmas tree for about a week!

Holiday Decor in Progress

Hello friends! I hope everyone has recuperated from The Thanksgiving Graze Haze! We had a nice mellow day with our neighbors Jill, John and extended families. I made my Gramma Merle's homemade Cranberry Relish (recipe blogged here), Grasshopper Pie (a tradition on Thanksgiving since I was a little girl and a layered Italian Torta you spread on crackers or bread.
So we finally got Halloween put away and I've been working a little here and there when I need a break from the studio to get the Holiday stuff up! As I've mentioned a ga-jillion times I love the 1950's and retro style seems to be my favorite since I can remember so my decorations seem to follow suit. Don't get me wrong I love traditional things too but to me there's nothing tackier and more fun than shiny tinsel trees and big ridiculous over the top (too many) decorations!

I LIVE FOR THE HOLIDAYS!

 

 

 

I really do...it's true! I'm not sure if I'm the only one who does this but all the year through I think about Christmas time and imagine our home decorated like a gingerbread house. I have so many favorite "things" that are sequestered to plastic totes in the garage for most of the year that you can almost hear my vintage elves gasp for fresh air as soon as I open the containers! So Saturday night hubby put the Nutcracker Suite on for me while I unearthed (literally) tons but not all of our holiday decor. It may sound like a normal task but mind you we have about half of our house packed  ready to move as soon as we're done building (which has been delayed) since hubby received a contract to build low income housing in S. Africa before the World Cup starts next year. We almost decided on NOT decorating this year because Holiday boxes were shoved to the back corner of the garage!!! Could you imagine not decorating for he holidays? I think I would've headed into a downward spiral and quick! I know....I know.....stay calm. Not to worry! A little decoration is better than none! Whew!
My favorite to decorate are my small tinsel trees that are sooooo 1950's. I have been collecting vintage ornaments for sometime now. Thrift stores are the best for old Shiny Brites! I think I must have about 1000+ ~ no joke! I imagine them all clustered together in a huge wreath. Those however are still somewhere in the garage not to be seen until 2010 sometime. I did manage to find 5 trees which I plan on going to town on! Since they're small ~ they really make for excellent quick decor in a jiff.
I have big plans for the kitchen! Sweet related decor of course! I found some wonderful plastic jars from Michael's that I put my sprinkles in and also Wal-Mart has the best glass canisters right now with silver screw on lids - I'm thinking a great place to put ribbon candy and other sugary treats. Here's a couple of photos from last Christmas to share with you. I look forward to decorating all this week so I'll be sure to post some good pics by next Monday : )
Happy Thanksgiving week everyone!

Portabellopixie is Hosting The 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway!

Hello Friends!
Today is Day 2 of Sandi Henderson's 12 Days of Christmas Giveaway! Hurry on over to Portabellopixie for details!

Pinks & Needles was lucky enough to be picked by her to give goodies away today November 20th on her blog! Sorry I didn't mention this yesterday when the hoopla started : ( I was so preoccupied getting caught up on things. Yesterday (Day 1) was hosted by the lovely and talented Megan of Brassy Apple! Talk about cute aprons ~ Oh me oh my!
I'm excited to see who she has picked to host tomorrow (Day 3) be sure to pop over everyday to enter in your chance to win!
Pinks & Needles will be giving away 2 prizes:
One lucky winner will receive a Frosty the Snowman Cupcake Ornament + a Surprise Holiday Pin Topper and also we'll be giving away a pretty Chocolate Cherry Cupcake Ornament + a Surprise Holiday Pin Topper to another winner!
I already posted a sneak peek pic of Frosty the Cupcake Ornament a couple of entries ago (scroll down a little way to see) but here's what Prize #2 is going to be:

Have a wonderful weekend! I hope all of you get some Holiday tasks done ~ like baking, shopping or maybe even decorating. Hubby will be busy today digging into the ornament boxes and helping me get Halloween put back into it's rightful place : )

I Lied!

Okay....so remember how I've been yammering on and on about how I will remain OPEN 24/7 through the Holidays after I Re-Open on the 16th? Well it's safe to say I've been caught in a lie! I had no idea how busy it would be! After careful consideration late last night I have made some changes to my shop hours.

New Shop Hours through the Holidays:


OPEN: Mondays 9am through Tuesdays until 9pm
CLOSED: Wednesdays
OPEN: Thursdays 9am through Fridays 9pm
CLOSED: Saturdays & Sundays

I think I can keep up with everything now! We'll see! Fingers crossed : )

P.S. I tried needle felting for the first time last week. Hubby purchased me a kit from Fancy Tiger on Etsy! Go check out her shop - all different kinds of kits and supplies! I think this would make a great stocking stuffer + the cupcake kit contains enough wool roving to make 2 darling cupcakes!

The Shop Is Now Open Through the Holidays!

Hello everyone!

Well to be honest I never thought today would come but it's finally here and I'm so excited! I'm up early getting all the final touches done to my shop before 9am Arizona Time. If you visit my shop before then, you will notice there are older designs listed in the shop that will remain available through the Holidays. My newest creations will up very soon! Looks like Frosty is ready to make his debut in a couple of hours!

I wanted to post some new information about Pin Topper of the Month Club (PTMC) for those of you who are interested in an update. There's some Big News I want everyone to know! First of all I am pleased to announce that Pinks & Needles will be teaming up with Moda Bakeshop! Please check out their fun site! So the idea is that once PTMC is full swing starting in January one of our subscribers and friends Vickie E will be writing a tutorial for a pincushion that will coordinate with that particular Pin Topper of the Month's theme!!! I am super excited about this team up!!! Thank you Vickie for making this happen! Stay tuned for more details : )
Other Big News for PTMC is we will be offering 3 different CLUBS to choose from! Please note the prices are not set in stone but just to give you an idea. Here's a mini breakdown of the 3 CLUBS:

Option One: PTMC ~ you will receive 1 pin per month for a year + every month your name will be entered into a random drawing to receive a FREE pin. = 12 pins per year
($12 per month for US subscribers)
($13 per month for outside the US)

Option Two: 4 SEASONS ~ you will automatically be enrolled in PTMC + you will receive a trio of pins 4 X a year coordinating with the Seasons + the random monthly drawing to receive a FREE pin. = 24 pins a year
($21 per month for US subscribers)
($22 per month for outside the US)

Option Three: CUPCAKE CLUB ~ you will automatically be enrolled in PTMC + the random monthly drawing + you will receive 1 cupcake pin every month for a year + a FREE Birthday Pin in your Birthday Month! = 25 pins a year
($22 per month for US subscribers)
($23 per month for outside the US)

If you are interested in joining all 3 CLUBS the prices will be $34 per month (US subscribers) or $35 per month for outside the US! That's 37 pins a year!!!!

I hope you all like these options for PTMC!!! I am really excited to get started! I look forward to hearing your Feedback on which CLUB appeals to you most!

On a business note: it is very important you know ahead of time that when you sign up for any of the CLUBS you are committing to a Full Year Subscription : ) I don't want there to be any confusion once we're in full swing! Thank you everyone for your interest in PTMC! It really means the world to me!

That's all for now! I hope to see you all around the shop this Holiday Season!!!

My Wheels Have Been Turning.....

Hello all!
As promised here's another sneak peek of what will be available in the shop next Monday when we RE-OPEN! This cupcake sculpture is OOAK (One of a Kind)!

Now on to some really big news:
Hubby and I had a big discussion last night about the future of Pinks & Needles. It seems like we talk a lot about it all the time but there's always been so many unanswered questions that have been lingering for about 2 years now!!! Kind of frustrating....... but last night we got some clarity on a few key issues! This was exciting!
From the very beginning of me opening my Etsy shop (February 2008) I didn't have a clue about what I was doing or if what I was selling was going to be something people liked or not. I just put on my "Wing It"  face and moved forward. I will never forget the first week my shop went live. I was so excited about it that I was literally getting out of bed in the middle of the night to see if items were selling! And the good news was that they were! I wasn't sleeping much the first couple of weeks and I never left the house either! I had to get myself organized and quick! So to make a long story short...it's been almost 2 years of making pin toppers pretty much every day (give or take).
Now back to getting some "clarity" on a few key issues. It kind of just came to us last night that things have to change some how in order for me to keep up with this pace and I think we found our answer!
First off I would like to offer a "Pin Topper of the Month Club" to the first 50 people who are interested ~ where people can subscribe to receive one pin every month! Each month will have a different theme and I would like to ask all of you to cast your votes as to what themes you would like me to offer. It doesn't matter to me if you cast your vote for 1 theme or 12 - it's up to you! The goal is to have all 12 themes picked by mid December. I am limiting the "Pin Topper of the Month Club" to the first 50 people that contact me via email or here on Pinks & Needles blog. The pins that are offered in "PTMC" will not be sold anywhere else and would be considered Limited Editions. I will continue to sell the subscriptions until they are fulfilled. For example: say the 50th person subscribes in June they would receive January through June's pins all at once. They won't miss out on any pins! Also we will hold a drawing once a month for all subscribers to win a FREE pin topper too!
We (hubby and I) are still working out the details such as cost etc. but wanted to post this right away since time is of the essence. Our goal is to keep this very affordable! Somewhere in the ball park of $10-$12 a month shipping included.
I would like to offer "The 4 Seasons Club" too! Instead of 1 pin topper every month it would be 4 times a year and the pin toppers would be "seasonal". For the folks living in the Southern Hemisphere I would accommodate to your seasons accordingly : )
PTMC will mean BIG CHANGES for my Etsy shop. For those of you who shop with me on regular basis, I am sure you are used to my shop being OPEN on MONDAYS ONLY. I would like to change this and have my shop OPEN 24/7! I will be offering a wider selection of items other than pin toppers. I guess what I am trying to accomplish by making these changes is squeeze in time for all my other crafty passions and share my handmade goodness with all of you! In turn creating more "One of a Kind Items" too.
I could go on and on about tons more stuff but will cut this post for now. Please stay tuned for more updates!
I really look forward to hearing from all of you about theme ideas for PTMC! Please post your ideas here or shoot me an email.
Have a great week!
Oh I almost forgot....if you live outside the US shipping might be just a tiny bit more but not much : )

P.S. if the email link doesn't work above (which it may or may not depending upon your own computers applied applications) then just comment below. I check my blog throughout the day!