National Chocolate Day! How'd I Miss That?

Yesterday, October 28th was National Chocolate Day. On a Monday. Cruel.

It whizzed right by without me even knowing. And this is a day I can celebrate!

Don't get me wrong. I had chocolate...a packet of hot chocolate mix in my coffee to start the day.

And Brownie Brittle! Oh my. If you haven't tried this you should. It's the best crispy part of the brownies that so many of us fight over.

Let's face it, a nibble of chocolate is like a little hug. Did you know that Theobromine is the chemical in chocolate that makes it feel that way?

Hand Stamped Theobromine Molecule Necklace

I apparently also missed National Chocolate Cupcake Day on October 18th and National Chocolate Milk Day on September 27th. Luckily, there seems to be some sort of chocolate-inspired "holiday" at least once a month. Whew. Found this helpful list.

Who am I kidding? Everyday is a Chocolate Day for me! Off to celebrate!

Simply Charming – More Ways to Build Your Own Creation

Our Simply Charming Memorial Glass Locket

You may have checked out our Build Your Itty Bitty section or our Simply Charming Collection. Both allow you to order one of our popular combinations, or start with a chain and simply add charms and crystals, as well as hand stamped and personalized discs.

We are so excited to announce yet another way for you to build your own Punky Jane creation!

Start with this sterling locket made with antique glass and add to it.

Our new Simply Charming Glass Lockets section allows you to order one of our popular combinations, or start with the sterling locket and build your own by adding charms and crystals. You can even order additional message discs for inside the locket and switch them out. (We like options.)

Our Simply Charming Glass Lockets let you create a truly personalized keepsake with a vintage feel.

Add clusters of charms and crystals.

Order an extra message disc
and switch them out.

Gift Ideas: Pet Lovers

With the holidays right around the corner, we'll be posting Gift Ideas to help make your shopping easier.

Today we'll showcase a few hand stamped and personalized ideas for the Pet Lover in your life.

If you know someone who's lost that special fur person, this makes a wonderful tribute. The date tag can be personalized another way if you'd like...another word or design stamp, for example.

Simply Charming Pet Memorial Necklace

Perfect for the person who wants to carry their pets names with them:

Love Circle with Paw Charm

The cat lover in your life will love this secret message locket that can have a message stamped inside:

Cat Lovers Hand Stamped Secret Message Locket

Be sure to check out our entire section of ideas for Pet Lovers.

And keep in mind our Holiday Ordering Deadlines:

• Normal production time is 2-3 weeks. 
• All orders placed by November 29, 2013 will ship no later than December 19th. 
• Orders placed after November 29 will be handled on a first come first served basis. 
• Please choose your shipping method accordingly...it's easy to upgrade your shipping during checkout on our site, www.PunkyJane.com. We ship from Northern California.

Look What Punky Found: Quotation Calendar

'2014 Handwritten Quotation Calendar' by Lettergirl

We're crazy about calendars (in any form) in the Punky Jane Studio...big surprise right?

As I perused Etsy a few days ago, I stumbled upon this handwritten quotation calendar by one of my favs, Gina Selesky of Lettergirl. Each month combines a calendar and an inspirational hand lettered quotation, plus a doodle or two.

It amazing how Gina can take something as simple as hand writing and make it into something truly beautiful. I absolutely love her various handwritten lettering styles and doodles!

One of her calendars would be a perfect holiday gift for any calendar lover, typrography lover, or anyone who needs an inspirational pick me up.

'2014 Handwritten Quotation Calendar' by Lettergirl

Be sure to take a look around her shop. She also creates personalized address and name stamps in your choice of her hand lettered fonts. But even cooler is a 'Love Your Letters' self-paced workshop to improve your own handwriting!

Letter Girl aka Gina Selesky's:
Etsy Shop
Facebook
Blog
Pinterest

And the winners are....

Five Years of Punky Jane = Five Winners!

Drumroll please...the grand prize winner of the 

Mark Your Calendar Necklace or Keychain is:

Karen T!!

You will receive an email with information on how to order.

The $25 Punky Jane Gift Certificates go to:

1. Valerie B.
2. Randi C.
3. Donna J.
4. Casey B.

You will receive an email with your exclusive code.

CONGRATULATIONS!

Didn't win? We want to keep the celebration going!

Use the code PJ5YEARS and save 15% off everything at www.PunkyJane.com, now through next Monday, October 28, 2013.

Thank you to everyone that entered!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Handmade for the Holidays...Start Your Shopping Early

For many of us, it's tough to think about holiday shopping before Halloween. For others, most of your shopping is already done and you have your purchases hidden throughout the house.

I tend to fall somewhere in the middle. While I haven't started yet, I won't be waiting until the last minute either. My biggest struggle if I shop early is remembering where I stashed the gifts!!

When you're shopping handmade and personalized for the holidays, it's a must to get started early.

Here are our Holiday Ordering Guidelines to help you plan.

Normal production time is 2-3 weeks. 

• All orders placed by November 29, 2013 will ship no later than December 19th. 
• Orders placed after November 29 will be handled on a first come first served basis.
• Please choose your shipping method accordingly...it's easy to upgrade your shipping during checkout on our site, www.PunkyJane.com. We ship from Northern California.

The following information is from USPS and FedEx:

United States Postal Service

• First Class Mail: 2-8 day delivery to most U.S. locations 
• Priority Mail: 2-3 day delivery to most U.S. locations 
• Express Mail: 1-2 day delivery where available 

FedEx FedEx 

• Express Saver: delivered in three business days 
• FedEx 2day: delivered in two business days 
• FedEx Standard Overnight: delivered next business day by 3:00pm 
• FedEx Priority Overnight: delivered next business day by 10:30am

International orders can take 2-3 weeks via USPS Regular First Class Mail and 6-10 delivery days via USPS Priority Mail.

      

"Hey Punky Jane! What was the first design you ever sold?"

I opened my Etsy shop October 21, 2008 with a handful of listings, scared and not feeling like I knew what I was doing.

Four days later, I had sold an item. My first customer wanted this design personalized with her son's name. I was excited and panicked all at the same time! What do I do now?

I stumbled through, completing my first order and shipping it out a few days later.

It took some time to feel comfortable and get things rolling, but I'm so glad I stuck with it. I look at this picture once in awhile to remind myself how far Punky Jane has come.

~~~

ps...Did you hear we are celebrating 5 years of Punky Jane with a giveaway??
Get the details here (previous blog post).

      

What's in a Name?

Since we are celebrating five years of Punky Jane and feeling all nostalgic, I thought I'd repost this from October 24, 2008 with the added picture of my Grandmother, Gertrude Jane.

[originally posted October 24, 2008]

You probably don’t know that Jane is my middle name. Growing up, I never really embraced it...for a number of reasons that today I can’t even remember.

When our second daughter, Ella was born, I felt a strange, warm and somewhat fuzzy feeling when we pondered middle names, and considered Jane. I was lucky enough to share my middle name with my paternal Grandmother, Gertrude Jane, and had always counted my blessings that my parents passed on the middle and not the first.

My Grandma was apparently relieved, as well. Whenever someone called me ‘Baby Gertie” she got quite angry, afraid I would grow up hating her because of her name.

Now I come from a long line of peculiar names...Ival, Skeeter, Denzil, Mervyn, to name a few, and had always felt a little plain....Sandra Jane...Sandra Dee...Plain Jane...Jane Doe. But to my mom, I was always Punky Jane. Short, I guess, for her little Pumpkin Jane.

As I began creating personalized jewelry designs, I got a similar strange, warm and fuzzy feeling. Not to equate naming a business with naming a child, of course, but as I was creating the jewelry, I hoped it would make people feel good, both giving and receiving these little trinkets.

Now that I’m older, have kids of my own, and have those moments thinking about the good old days, I appreciate my name and the history behind it even more. Punky Jane it is.

Here’s to warm and fuzzy.

~~~

ps...Did you hear we are celebrating with a giveaway??
Get the details here (previous blog post).

      

Tell Us Something We Don't Know.

Part of my collection.

Someone asked me to tell them something about myself that most people probably don't know.

It's pretty obvious that I'm a coffee-loving chocoholic. That won't do.

I'm a geek. Yeah, the periodic table earrings and the molecule necklaces are a dead giveaway.

Hmmm...okay...got one! I have an eraser collection! That's right...an eraser collection. 

Back in 5th grade, I met my soon to be best friend, Nora. We hit it off right away, and spent great times together acting out all the songs from Grease, having sleepovers, talking about boys, eating too many Starbursts in one sitting, substituting Dr. Pepper for baking soda in our chocolate chip cookies...you get the idea!

The one that started it all...

I don't remember exactly what made us do it, but we started collecting erasers. Not only did we have the cool Sanrio designs (Hello Kitty, etc.), we collected everything. In one less-than-brilliant moment, we even snagged some horrible, brittle, left out in the sun too long chunks off the roof of our school. Not smart.

I still have my collection to this day, and I'm guessing Nora does as well.

My favorite? This little dog named Henry. Still makes me smile.

Okay. That has to qualify as something most people don't know about me.

Do you have an odd collection?

~~~~

ps...Did you hear we are celebrating five years of Punky Jane with a giveaway??
Get the details here (previous blog post).

      

The Punky Jane Studio: Then and Now

I remember that day so clearly back in 2008. I had decided to order a few tools and supplies so I could make a necklace with my daughters' names on it. After much trial and error, I showed my husband and said, "I think I can make a business out of this." 

He was incredibly supportive. Off I went.

I started stamping on our somewhat wobbly kitchen table. Not the best spot when you're striking steel stamps with a hammer. I would need to make a change.

A few days later as I walked my daughter into preschool, I noticed a large green mid-century metal desk with a 'free' sign taped to the front. That would make a sturdy stamping desk! We hauled it home (no easy task, I might add) and carved out a little corner in our one-car garage (also no easy task). I moved all my tools in and it was official.

While I still didn't consider it a 'studio,' it was a functioning work space that I didn't have to clean up every day so we could eat breakfast. Making progress.

Those early days in the garage were tough sometimes...too hot in the Summer, too cold in the Winter, and not great lighting, but it was a space. And I did enjoy opening the garage door and pretending I was working outside.

Working in my 'open air studio.'

A couple of years later, we needed to move. Luckily, our new home had an old tool room that could be converted to my work area. My husband got to work repairing, cleaning, painting, and installing new flooring....which he salvaged from the dump. 

The tool room before... 

...and after. Now it feels like a studio.

Punky Jane continued to grow and I realized I needed help. But hiring would mean needing more space. My talented husband got to work again! The tool room is connected to a three-story water tower. He renovated the water tower and then cut through a wall to create a door to connect the two spaces. (I make it sound so easy, don't I?)

Scraping paint and choosing colors...

The exterior is looking good!

I still stamp every day on the same old, green metal desk. I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful studio space at home. Separate but together. Five years later, I still love what I do and look forward to what the next five years will bring.

~~~

Did you hear we are celebrating 5 years of Punky Jane with a giveaway??
Get the details here (previous blog post).

      

Celebrating Five Years of Punky Jane with a Giveaway!

Next Monday the 21st will mark exactly five years since Punky Jane began. I think we should celebrate, don't you? How about a giveaway? Let's do it!

Five (5) lucky winners will be chosen at random at noon (PST) on Monday, October 21, 2013. Entries for this giveaway will close Sunday, October 20 at midnight (PST).

The first name selected will win a sterling silver Mark Your Calendar necklace or keychain (winner's choice)!

The next four winners will each receive a $25 Punky Jane Gift Certificate to spend on anything they'd like at www.PunkyJane.com.

Use this handy dandy gadget to enter...good luck!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

Family Pizza Movie Night

It's Friday. Finally.

Fridays around here usually mean family pizza/movie night. Tonight I started wishing I could order from Pizza Planet. I'd love to see that little yellow ToYOta pick-up pull into our driveway.

We love Toy Story. All three of them.

Thought I'd share a couple of little bits of Pizza Planet Trivia with you.

• The robot guards at the entrance are based on the Cylons from Battlestar Galactica.
• Pizza Planet was originally going to be a miniature golf course called Pizza Putt, but was changed to the space-themed restaurant so Buzz could be lured into thinking he was going home.
• WALL•E is the only movie where you can see the Pizza Planet truck's engine.

And my favorite...

• The Pizza Planet truck has made a cameo appearance in every Pixar film to date except The Incredibles. How cool is that?

Get more fun facts at the Pixar Wiki for Pizza Planet.

What are your family's Friday night traditions?

Outlook Good

Feeling a little nostalgic today...thinking back to that fun black plastic ball filled with a mysterious liquid and a little triangular die. As a kid, it seemed all knowing, especially when I just kept shaking it until I got the answer I wanted.

Paying homage to the Magic 8 Ball.

Our hand stamped version will not only show your love of the Magic 8 Ball, but also express your spirit for the day.

You can order one, two, or all three tags and simply switch them out depending on your 'yes,' 'no' or 'maybe' mood. Tag messages include:

• 'OUTLOOK GOOD'
• 'ASK AGAIN LATER' 
• 'MY SOURCES SAY NO' 

 This unique design is only available at PunkyJane.com.

Look What Punky Found: List Making Help!

The Make-A-List to Plan Stamp by The Small Object

As a stationery and office supply geek, I love this Make-A-List to Plan stamp by The Small Object. It makes any notebook or sheet of paper just a bit more official...like to-do list official. There's nothing like crossing tasks off your to do list. Sometimes I even list things I've already done just so I can cross them off!

[Come on. Admit it. You do it, too.]

The Make-A-List To Do Stamp by The Small Object

Sarah Neuburger, the cool lady behind The Small Object also makes a Make-A-List To Do stamp. Both would be fun stamped on fun papers in different colors!


Check out her Etsy shop for lots of fun stamps (even personalized ones!) here.