pencil set promotion

i've got a new sale to share with you! for a limited time, you can get a free one of these:



with the purchase of one of these!:



purchase any maoiliosa pencil set and you get your choice of any one maoiliosa pocket mirror free!

just add a pencil set to your cart (along with any other maoiliosa merch you'd like to purchase), mention the mirror you'd like in the 'message to seller' box during checkout, complete checkout and pay as usual, and ta-da: yours :). if no pocket mirror is mentioned, i will select one for you at random.

i am completely in love with these pencil sets, and i know you all are, too! since the launch a few days ago, various sets have been included in 6 treasuries on etsy, and have also been featured in two blogs! and all the new 'hearts' on these are really making me smile - 'kawaii koi' is in the lead, but all the other pencil sets are getting love, too :).

happy shopping, and happy back-to-school!

♥,
melissa

did you know?

all of my pocket mirrors have been reduced to just $3! i'm trying to clear them out, people ;).

here's where you can find them.

oh, and of course the "$2.50 each when you purchase 10 or more" still applies! contact me for details and i'll make you a reserved listing.

i am running very low on certain styles, and they're selling quickly, so get it on this while you can! i do have 30+ of some popular styles that would make excellent wedding/party favours, like the 'taking flight' and 'sakura in the clouds' mirrors. and don't forget - free shipping on your entire order until the end of the month! (maybe longer, i haven't decided yet ;D).

♥,
melissa

ginger, the cutest dog ever

squee! i love my dog! ♥ we couldn't even make the bed without her burrying herself in the freshly clean and warm sheets to be super cute :).

♥,

melissa

lizard life

hi there!

i talk about my leopard geckos on here from time to time, so i thought it might be helpful if i showed you their homes, with them in them, looking cute :).

when people find out we have no dogs or cats, but a handful of lizards, we generally get strange looks. don't get me wrong... we love dogs and cats! if we had the room (read: a suitable yard), we would definately have a dog by now, at least. but i have always had a warm place in my heart for geckos. when i was younger, i would catch the little house geckos that would hang out by the patio lights outside at night and catch them, give them a tiny little kiss, and let them go. i was a strange child :p. okay, it continued into adulthood, don't judge me! ;). i only learned after i had a real pet gecko that you can get salmonella from kissing lizards, so i don't do that anymore (you think i'm so weird right now, don't you?), but i do have a lot of fun watching and caring for my little critters.



that's asuka on the top left. she was a gift to me from brandon, on our first christmas together ♥. the first time i held her, she bit the crap out of me, so i named her 'asuka' after the bitchy anime character on my favourite anime, neon genesis evangelion.

trent is on the top right. he's called trent because he looks mad all the time, and that reminds me of the most dreamy, angsty man alive, trent reznor ♥.

sonny is on the bottom (you can only see his illusive tail in this picture, sticking out of the hole in his rock on the right), and he is an albino leopard gecko. he may not be as pretty and colourful as the other two, but he has a lot of character to him (they all do, actually! they each have their own personality and behaviours), he's very sweet, and he often looks like he's smiling. i call him 'cling peach' because of his colouring and how he grabs onto my thumb when he's in my hand. brandon named him after the character from his favourite movie, the godfather.

sonny had a brother named mike, but he died last fall after being very sick and a terrible mishap at the vet :/.

anyway, those are my little ones! definately not your standard pet, but they're low-maintenance (which is great for me!), silly, and bring joy to my little life :).

see what i mean about personality? asuka's being sneaky in her hidey-hole :p.

♥,

melissa

feature friday: boygirlparty

i am so excited to begin my 'feature friday' series with popular etsy artist susie ghahremani of boygirlparty!

having been completely infatuated with susie's etsy shop since, well, practically since i discovered etsy, i recently decided i owed it to myself to partake in some boygirlparty items that i had been adoring from my favorites!

what i bought:

yellow owl to do list notepad, $8

as you probably know, i loooove owls, so of course susie's whimsical version of one of my favourite creatures was a must for me to own! this notepad is very practical; i am always scribbling ideas and plans on post-it notes, which are definately not as cute :), and also, having this one notepad keeps everything in one place, not scattered across my desk! my favourite part? the "do later" column ;D. i am such a huge procrastinator!

there is also a blue version of this notepad, also for $8.

what i got as gifts:

my birthday was january 13th, and my beloved husband took the hint that i wanted a very etsy birthday :). he bought me these goodies:

finch notepad, $6

soooo cute! i admit the paper is so pretty i am hesitant to use it, but i just love this! the bird is darling, and the stick trees and stylized hills make nice accents to this stationary!

owl notecards, $12

my obsession with owls continues! while brandon bought these for me, i'm sure he'll be getting the majority of them back when i write "love you" notes or birthday messages in them for him (he also loves owls!). or i might just hang them up as little mini pieces of art!

other notecard styles are available in susie's illustrated paper goods section of her shop.

favourite things about my shopping/receiving experience:

susie is incredibly friendly and sweet! also, i thought the packaging was lovely, especially the vividly-coloured tissue paper she uses to wrap up each order.

what i still want:

hedgehog piano giclee print, $20

well, if i could buy everything available at boygirlparty, i totally would! but right now, my most desired piece is this precious little hedgie! look at his little smile, awww!

boygirlparty is truly a fabulous shop. with all these unique, functional, and affordable goodies, you can't go wrong! it's no wonder susie is so successful :).

♥,

melissa

(all photos courtesy of and copyrighted by susie ghahremani of boygirlparty)

a cute happening and a pendant i made for myself

happy monday, the internet! how was your weekend? mine and brandon's was alright, although we got stick from some food we ate on saturday, and i had this headache that lasted from thursday till last night :/. but one really cute thing happened that i wanted to share with you.

brandon and i were just chilling in the computer room yesterday morning, and i happened to glance out the window. out of the corner of my eye, in our side yard (which is enclosed by a tall concrete wall: i'll take pictures all around our custom-made house and show you in another blog) i thought i saw a bird in the middle of the tall weeds (which i swear we cut down 2 weeks ago. they grew back way too fast! urg!). i turned my head to look head-on at the creature, and it was actually a baby deer! you should prepare yourself, because you are about to melt:

he was standing when i first noticed him, then he plopped down into the grass and he was perfectly hidden! brandon and i went outside (i grabbed my camera, as you can see :p), and i approached the little-one. he just laid there calmly. then he sniffed the air to see if i was a predator or not. i talked softly to him and he let me pet him (he was soooo soft!), even on his little head. oooooh, i melt just remembering it! he was so adorable. well, brandon found a cactus thorn in his leg, so he pulled it out (ouch!). we were wondering where this little guy's mom was, so we looked all around our house (deer like to eat in our backyard), but we didn't see any deer. this little-one is probably only a week or two old, and it needed its mom! so we wanted to make sure he could walk/run, and that nothing was wrong with him (hopefully he simply got lost), so brandon picked him up, and while he made (cute) little grunting sounds, he didn't protest. brandon set him down on our patio, and he took off! unfortunately, he ran in the wrong direction: back into the walled area :p. so we had to kind of fake-scare him into running the right way, and as soon as he found the opening (our entryway), he dashed off on his cute little legs. he ran all the way down our dirt road, and when he got to the end, he turned down the next road and took off! he was so cute, and he brightened our little day. hopefully he found his mom.

in other news, i made this for myself (of trent reznor, for me to wear at the nine inch nails concert):

i made it from a picture i made super-tiny, then printed it on computer paper (of course, i would never sell anything of this low quality. it was just for me). it hangs wonky, which is what i was going for. i like it :). what do you think?

well brandon just came home sick, so i'm off to take care of him. i hope everyone has a great day!

♥,

melissa

contest: name my squidlet!

as i mentioned in an earlier blog, this is my new squidlet. he's basically the cutest thing ever, as you can see. well, i have a problem that i hope you can help me with: i need a name for him! sure, i could name my own squidlet, but then i wouldn't have a mildly-amusing premise for a contest, would i? ;p

here's the deal:

• you name my squidlet. i don't care what kind of name you come up with, just whatever you think he should be called! enter your name ideas as comments to this blog entry. enter as many times as you like. sunday, april 20, i will look at my comments and decide, from your entries, which name i like best for my little squidlet. if i pick the name you suggest, you win a $15 gift certificate towards anything in my shop (you can apply it towards shipping, too)!
• but that's not all! depending on how many people participate, i will give out a FREE pendant necklace (coin or tile, your choice) to the person who gives my second favourite name suggestion! you see, i am planning on adding to my squidlet collection (hoping for a pink one and an orange one), so i can save your name ideas for later :).
• that's basically it. this isn't a super-fancy, rulesy contest. it's just for fun! and you could win some pretty cool stuff, so give it a try!

good luck to everyone! i think you can see my personality pretty well through these blog entries, so come up with something you think i'd like to name my squidlet!

♥,
melissa

kenya believe it?!

as a permanent fixture on my blog, i've decided to share a different and fun video/flash with you each week, the internet!

this week's is one that i think is super cute (and silly!). weebl even sells the stuffed animals of the tiger and lion in their shop! i love most of the flash videos on the site, but this week we'll just focus on this little gem.

i present to you: kenya

both lions and tigers only in kenya,
melissa