...cut off dates for Christmas shipping at WMS

I just wanted to let folks know the following regarding items ordered for Christmas.

The following dates are the cut off dates for Christmas ordering. This means that any items ordered after these dates will probably NOT get to you in time for Christmas.

Instock items ordered before these dates should make it in time. Backordered items ordered even now most likely will not arrive in time, please be aware of this folks.

UK - Friday 17th December

South & Central America, Middle East, Asia, Far East (including Japan), Australia and New Zealand customers - Friday 3rd December

Europe, USA and Canada - Tuesday 7th December

Christmas store arrangements

Waltzingmouse Stamps will cease shipping on the 21st of December for the Christmas holidays and will recommence shipping on the 5th January 2011. Our webstore will remain open on the web, but orders will not be processed until the 4th January.

...TAG you're it! Stand outs!!!

Apologies, heaped upon more apologies, I should have had this post written up weeks ago, but as usual, there's always a heap more to do than I plan for! lol.

Anyhow, if you're new to the blog, you might not know that we ran a fabby competition a wee while ago for folks to make Christmas tags, we wanted your very finest! And that's exactly what we got!!

164 deliciously fabulous tag designs!!

If you haven't yet seen them and are in need of a little inspiration, then check them all out right here.

We awarded a fabby grand prize to one lucky random participant but NOW I'm taking the chance to award a few more little spot prizes to tags that especially, shall we say, tickled!!

Let me stress, this is not a talent competition, I was not looking for technical skill, I was just on the look out for those tags which particularly tickled for one reason or another!

So, here they are, my top ticklers!!:

Kelly, loved the wooden look tag and wee house from Sewing box Hugs all gussied up for Christmas!


Debby, for the beautifully soft colour and CAS design


Anne Kristine, for the authentic Vintage style of her gorgeous tag!


Laurie, for the genius of this super snowflake tag, sentiment stamped on clear film!


Gabi, for the fabulous hand crocheted detailing, and the beautiful deep blues of winter.


And, last but not least, Meredith's mum-in-law, for the hand beaded garlands on this wee tree and the fabby vintage detailing!


All six ladies, if you could please email me, adding the words TAG SPOT WINNER to your subject line I will email you with details of your spot prize! email me on: claire.brennan1@ntlworld.com

I could have went on and on, indeed I intended to pick only three! but there were so many beautiful creations put forward for our challenge that I just could not stop at 3!

I want to thank everyone who took part and joined in to make our tag challenge such fun! I very much enjoyed looking at all of the creations and it was so hard to decide on only six!!

So folks, Christmas is nearly upon us and I encourage everyone to play along with our next challenge...details coming soon...LOL, it's called the Waltzingmouse Stamps, NICE List, and I'll fill you all in tomorrow...don't worry, we know you don't have time to make anything...

...5 mins

There is light at the end of the tunnel! I got out loads of orders this week, for folks who have been waiting, but I still have some to get out as soon as I receive more stock. I am currently shipping all in-stock items, and sending out backordered items as they come in to stock.

Please note folks that at this stage I'm sure that shipping all over the world is slowing down as Christmas approaches, so folks who are thinking of placing an order should be aware that things may take longer than normal to reach them.

I will be getting the Tag you're it challenge post written up over the weekend, loads of folks have been asking about it and I just have not had a spare moment to do it, but hopefully this weekend! There are still 3 (I think, but I will check) prizes that I need to give out!

And who know's, maybe next week I will get to make something!

Also this week, we've had a lot of stuff going on at home, we're getting a bit of building work done and OMGood gravy I was not prepared for the upheaval.....

...Ordering Backordered items

I just want to remind folks to check whether the items they are ordering are on backorder, or are instock before ordering - we are reaching the stage where backordered items may not arrive with me in time to get them to folks before Christmas. Christmas will be here sooner than you think, so please consider this when ordering, this really applies to folks ordering from today onwards.

Just FYI Backordered items can take around 10 days to come back into stock, it can then take between 2 - 14 days for the item to reach you depending on where you are, Uk - 2-3 days, Europe - 5-7 days, Rest of World, 7-14 days.

Many thanks.

Winners - November Friends of WMS Blog Waltz!

Hey y'all! Lisa the Mousekeeper here, squeaking in to announce the winners from our November Friends of Waltzingmouse Stamps Blog Waltz!

The winner from all who participated in the blog waltz is Vera!

The winner from all who correctly counted all the hidden watermarks in the design team posts (which was 16!) is Lorraine!

Congrats ladies!!! Please email Claire at claire.brennan1@ntlworld.com with your choice of stamp set and mailing address, and Claire will ship your prize right out to you!

Thanks again to all who joined us, both as a participant and as a waltzer! We hope you'll come again in January when our theme will be Valentines/Love. Please click on the link in our sidebar to get more information and grab the HTML for your blog!!! 

... Spellbinders Holiday Hoppin' Day 2

Welcome to the second day of the Spellbinders™ Paper Arts Holiday Hoppin’ Blog Hop! Spellbinders, are showcasing their newest products just in time for your Holiday crafting and gift giving. Lots of creative ideas are in store, as well as prizes galore! Each participating company has generously donated towards the prize package listed on the Spellbinders Blog. A total of two identical prize packages, one for each day, November 18 and 19 will be given away! To enter, just leave a comment on a participating blog! Comments in the first 48 hours of the post are eligible. One commenter each day will be randomly selected as the winner. Winners will be announced on November 22, on the Spellbinders Blog!

Be sure to see all of yesterday’s Holiday Hoppin’ blogs for inspiring projects and another chance to win!

Visit all of today’s Holiday Hoppin’ blogs:

Mona Pendleton
Gina Hanson
Deborah Young
Becca Feeken
Julie Overby
Kimberly Crawford
AJ Otto
Margie Higuchi
Beth Pingry
Jennifer Holmes
Kerry Urbatch
Shona Erlenborn
Tammy Inman
Jessica Turner
Brenda Hurd
Julie Koerber
Rae Barthel
Rachel O’Crowley
Kellie Fortin
Kristen Cohen
Joy Dickson
Candy Rosenberg
Laura Craigie
Stephanie Hester
Leesa Crutcher
Nina Brackett

...Spellbinders holiday hoppin!

Please scroll down to the previous post for important info regarding November Orders, thank you!


Waltzingmouse Stamps is thrilled to be included in this event! All of the designers in this hop are showcasing the newest products available, just in time for your Holiday crafting and gift giving.

Lots of creative ideas are in store, as well as prizes galore! Each participating company has donated towards the prize package listed on the Spellbinders Blog. A total of two identical prize packages, one for each day, November 18 and 19 will be given away! To enter, just leave a comment on a participating blog! Comments in the first 48 hours of the post are eligible. One commenter each day will be randomly selected as the winner. Winners will be announced on November 22, on the Spellbinders Blog!

Visit all of the Holiday Hoppin’ blogs, 3 0f our ladies are hoppin between today and tomorrow:

November 18

Latisha Yoast

Judy Hayes

Kazan Clark

Ashley Cannon Newell

Holly Simoni

Debbie Olson

Heidi Blankenship

Sherry Cheever

Linda Duke

Laurie Schmidlin

Cheryl Marie Walker

Jill Jacobsen

Jennifer Priest

Christina Klauer

Jodi Sanford

Leslie Miller

Mimi Leinbach

Robyn O’Crowley

Sharon Harnist

Liz Hicks

Sarah Hamer

Christie Bryant

Wendy Sue Anderson

Anary Baumgarth

Jenifer Dove

Gina Krupsky

There will be more blogs to visit tomorrow and I'll post a list here tomorrow! Enjoy!

Simply leave a comment on each blog to be eligible to win the Spellbinders Holiday Hoppin’ Prize Package (Hyperlink to http://spellbinderspaperarts.com/blog/holiday-hoppin-with-spellbinders blog post w/prizes)! One winner will be chosen from all the comments on all the blogs participating today. Comments made in the first 48 hours of this post will be eligible to win. Winner’s names will be published on the Spellbinders Blog on November 22, and they will have 48 hours to reply to Spellbinders to claim the prizes.

Thank you!

...November Orders

At present the following sets are on backorder in our store:

Vintage Ornaments

Compliments of the Season

Vintage Labels no. 4

Holiday Labels No. 14

Fancy Phrases

Irish Blessings

please be advised that backordered items may take 10 days or more to come back into stock. If you order backordered items along with other items that you need in a hurry for Christmas, please pop me a note on your order, I will do my utmost to get In-stock items out ASAP with backordered items following on in a later envelope.

November Release
An important notice to folks who ordered from the November release.

As you will know, two of our November sets were delayed. Also during the release, other sets sold out and went onto backorder. These are listed above.

I have been taking shipments of replacement stock all week, but I have not yet received enough stock of everything to fulfil all of the orders that were placed.

I am fulfilling orders chronologically as stock comes in and I had intended to only ship orders once they were complete.

However, I am mindful that Christmas is just around the corner and so I have taken the decision to go ahead and ship out everything that I have in stock. What this means is that if you placed an order for several stamp sets, I will ship out to you those that I have in stock while we wait on the items that are on backorder. I will automatically send on the backordered items as I receive them. Many folks will receive their order in two shipments, but I feel uncomfortable about holding back instock items while waiting on backordered items.

No-one will pay any extra shipping, I will absorb this in favour of trying to get in-stock stamps to customers in time for their holiday preparations.

This past release was so busy that despite what we thought were buoyant stock levels, the sets listed above sold out during the release and although I had already ordered replacement stock, the replacements are not due here until next week. I would feel totally uncomfortable about holding back orders until then.

The upshot of all this is that there is now perhaps double the packing and paperwork and so I am going to be very slow to answer queries via email over the next couple of days. I hope you can bear with me.

The Waltz is On!

Lisa the Mousekeeper here to throw open the ballroom doors! Let the November Friends of Waltzingmouse Stamps Blog Waltz begin! Even if you aren't participating with a post, please do waltz along and see all the lovely Christmas creations featuring Waltzingmouse Stamps. We'd love for you to play along in our game for a chance to win a stamp set of choice! The competition goes until November 19th at 11:59 pm EASTERN, so you have plenty of time!

See you there!

...shipping update...

I did begin receiving the two sets Twas the Night before... and Vintage Ornaments yesterday and I am working though getting all outstanding orders out the door! I am hoping to fulfill all orders containing backordered sets over the next day or two, more stock is arriving tomorrow (fingers crossed).

I aim to do a big roundup of shipping notices this eve so that folks will know their stuff is on the way.

At present the following sets are on backorder:

Vintage Ornaments
Compliments of the Season
Holiday Labels No.14
Fancy Phrases
Very Vintage Labels No. 4 (Nestie friendly)
Irish Blessings

...water, water, everywhere...

Ok so maybe I over-reacted a little...LOL! it's not as bad as we thought at all! phew! normal service will resume shortly! lol!

Just wanted to pop on to let folks know that I am a bit thin on the ground for the next day or two, as we have a small (ok huge...) household emergency involving flooded ceilings...AArrgh!

Anyhow, shipping is going on as normal, but it will take me longer than normal to respond to customer emails, I am sorry!

Our two delayed Christmas sets from last Sunday's release are due to arrive with me today and will begin shipping immediately, depending on what time they get here, most waiting orders will ship either today or tomorrow morning!

November Mouse Tracks - Day 4

'tis me again, Lisa the Mousekeeper, with one last look at Around Christmastime. I think we all agree that this is a MUST HAVE for holiday card making!

 by Anya

 by Belinda

 by Bonnie

 by the amazing artist herself!

 by Jennifer

 by Joan

 by Julia

 by Laurie

 yep, it's mine

 by Lynn

 by Sandie

This concludes Mouse Tracks for November! What a wonderful trip down memory lane. Don't forget, you can always find ideas for all Waltzingmouse Stamps sets in our Gallery. We'd love to see your WMS creations there, too!

I'll see you all on the Waltz on Wednesday!

November Mouse Tracks - Day 3

C'est moi!!! Lisa the Mousekeeper here to present 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. Seriously, have you ever seen anything so clever? Mind your feet because your socks are about to be knocked off!

by Mona

 by Anya

 by Belinda

 by Bonnie

 by the fabulous Claire

 by Jennifer

 by Julia

 by Laurie

 by moi

Okay, even I can make this stamp set look great! LOL I know it's one of the two that are shipping a tad behind schedule this month, but totally worth waiting for. Enjoy!

...PAypal Issues

ED - If you ordered and DID receive an order confirmation email, then your order has been noted at the store and should proceed just fine.

It seems that there are some issues over at paypal, and this seems to be affecting many stores, we are investigating the impact on our store. In light of this, please note that if you placed an order at the store and DID NOT receive an order confirmation email, then there may be a problem with your order, the best thing to do is to contact us! email us at: claire.brennan1@ntlworld.com

It should be said that most orders seem to be going through ok, but I have been alerted to two folks who experienced an issue.

Please note: We can only send store order confirmation emails to orders that are actually registered on the store, so if we're handling your order via email, then you will not receive a store generated order confirmation email.

November Mouse Tracks - Day 2

Squeek Squeek. It's me, Lisa the Mousekeeper, again. Is it tomorrow yet? (*giggle*) No matter... the view is wonderful any day! Behold the amazing creations featuring the very popular Festive Foliage.

by Anya

 

 by Belinda

 by Bonnie

 by Claire

 by Jennifer

 by Joan

 by Julia

 by Laurie

 by yours truly

 by Mona

 by Sandie

Oh, the more I see this set, the more I want to ink it up! How about you???

I promise I'll be back tomorrow with more!