New Product Line – Foldable, Portable Purse Hangers!

by Jennifer Tang of  MaJenta Designs

TIRED of going to a restaurant or bar and having your purse taking up half your seat? or risk being knocked off the back of your chair? or worse yet – sitting on the dirty floor?! Then you’ll really love my new product line of Foldable, Portable Purse Hooks!

I was so excited to put these to use when I went for a night out on the town, and I can attest that they really do wonders!  After a long day at work, my friends wanted to hit up a bar, but the only table left was a tall standing table.  Well, its never fun to be standing around, with your stuffy coat on, and heavy purse wedged into your arm pit and weighing down your shoulder.

Then I realized that I had a handy dandy “Foldable, Portable Purse hook” inside my purse, and viola!  I was able to hang my very heavy purse (with a heavy academic textbook inside) AS WELL AS my coat too! 

I’m so excited to have these products available at MaJenta Designs Etsy shop as well as soon to be available at my upcoming shows!These convenient little hangers will make their debut at the:

Boston Handmade show at the SOWA Outdoor Market

Sunday, June14, 2009. (10am – 4pm)

540 Harrison Avenue, Boston, MA 02118

Happy Lunar New Year!

(photo of decorations for sale during my trip to Singapore in 2006)

Most of us celebrate the new year on January 1st, counting down until midnight, singing auld lang syne, and making resolutions to lose weight, particularly all the pounds gained from all the holiday feasts with family and friends.

Well just around the corner is the Lunar New Year, which as you can guess, is based off of the lunar calander; therefore the date changes year to year, but this year, it will be on January 26, 2009.   In Mandarin Chinese,  you will often hear people greeting each other with “Xin Nian Kuai Le, Gong Xi Fa Cai!” which translate to “happy new year” and “wishes that you be prosperous”!  

Its a time to wish each other a happy new year that will be filled with good fortune and blessings! Wikipedia lists out many of the exciting traditions in details, but one of my favorite traditions of the holiday is when elders give the younger children lucky red envelopes “hong bao” with money inside! I find it a great concept, to wish that prosperity would come to your loved ones, and literally to give them some money to kick start the year!   In addition to the envelopes, you are sure to see everything decorated with red and gold, including lanterns, auspicious sayings postings on doorways, etc. because Chinese view red as symbolic of good luck and ward off evil, and gold of course to symbolize fortune.

Another thing you might see during this holiday is the Chinese character 福 (“fu”) meaning  “good fortune”, sometimes you might even see it upside down!  The reason for it being upside down, is Chinese love play on words! The Chinese word “dao” (3rd tone) for “upside down” (倒) sounds similar to the word for “arrived” (also “dao” but 4th tone: 到). Therefore, the word upside down is also symbolic to mean “fortuen has arrived”!

This a great holiday that brings generations of families together and eat traditional foods that are also symbolic of good fortune for the new year, like fish, oranges, noodles, sweet sticky cakes, and much more! 

Also, it being the new year, brings on a change in the zodiac as well! This year will be the Year of the Ox/Cow!  The ox is symbolic of being hardworking, patient, with a logical mind.  I am trying to put out new pendants in my Etsy shop that you can purchase to give to all your friends who’s Zodiac symbol is the cow! (i.e., anyone who will be turning 12, 24, 36, etc. multiples of 12. )

 

~Best wishes to all of you in the new year, and that despite the state of our economy, I hope you all will be blessed with good fortunes to come!~

 (Glass magnets with 4 Chinese blessings of long life, health, good fortune, and peace)
 

 

BLOG A DAY GIVEAWAY!

Koi Pendant - $15

Win a chance to get your very own adorably cute and fun Japanese Koi fish Pendant Necklace from Majenta Designs or 30 other amazing handcrafted items from other talented artists! See below for pictures of the items for GIVEAWAY as well as the DETAILS on how to play!

 

 

The Blog A Day Giveaway!

We’re hosting a giveaway this month and is a massive one! We’ve got 30 amazing prizes to giveaway. So let’s get started shall we?

TO ENTER:
This is a little different than our usual giveaways but I thought it would be fun since most of us will be shopping for holiday gifts anyways. I love to blog and if you do too this giveaway is perfect for you! Browse through our wonderful list of giveaway contributors and find shops or items on the list that you like and write about them on YOUR blog, Myspace, Ning site or any other type of post that you can link to. Then, come back and leave us a comment with your contact info (email address) and a link to the blog post and tell us who you blogged about. I will post up reminders daily so you don’t forget! BUT, if you are busy or you miss a day or two you can blog about up to 2 shops per day.

GENERAL GUIDELINES:
♥ If you blog about more than 1 shop per day you will have to post up seperate comments for each individual shop you blogged about for it to count. For example if you posted about 2 shops the first comment would say “I blogged about shop1 – http://shop1.etsy.com/” and the second comment would say I blogged about shop2 – http://shop2.etsy.com/
♥ Enter once for each shop! That’s up to 30 times! 30 chances to win!
♥ Interenational residents can enter too!
♥ Contest starts Oct 31st and ends December 4th at 11:59pm (EST)
♥ Winners will be drawn using a random number generator and a winners list will be posted on Dec 8th. Be sure to check back to claim your prize.

BLOGGING IDEAS:
Here are some fun topics and ideas for you to blog about!

♥ Blog about your favorite item from a shop along with a photo and link to the shop
♥ Pick something that reminds you of a story from your life and tell us about it
♥ Post about who you would buy a gift for from a shop
♥ Pretend to be a critic and review a shop
♥ Create a questionaire for a shop owner to fill out
♥ Choose 4 items from the shop that you think work together as a group (by colour, pattern etc.) ♥ Post about your wishlist from one of the shop
♥ Tell us why you like the shop
♥ Pick an item from X shop as great gift idea for “Dad” or “Grandma” or one of those hard-to-buy-for-people
♥ get a shop owner to fill out a meme
♥ If you are a past customer of one of these shops tell us about your experience shopping with them

GIVEAWAY CONTRIBUTORS:

♥ Fruit Variety Candle Gift Set from Moodwax, $26
♥ 15 oz. palm/beeswax blend pillar scented in our Cinnamon Spice essential oil blend from BeSem Natural Scents, $20
♥ Ice Crystal Resin Necklace from PennyDogAccessories, $24
♥ Xmas Dancer Gift Set from kittyhawke, $95
♥ Snow Bunny washi covered notebook and a Japanese fabric badge set from Asking For Trouble, $21
♥ Fabric Shopping Bag and Earrings from avocadocreations, $28
♥ Desert Dreams Hairsticks from stringmealong, $15
♥ Rose Quartz and Leather Earrings from HeartofaCowgirl, $16.95
♥ Handbound Leather Journal (7×4, 300 pgs) from myhandboundbooks, $30
♥ STUD from museacdonline, $18.50
♥ Silver plated Marsa Ring ,Two Beaded beads and Polymer Clay Flower Pillow Bead from dicopebisuteria, $24
♥ Island Vibe burp cloth from SnugBugClothing, $22
♥ Red Hum Love – Original Scratchboard from TidbitsandBits, $25
♥ Pink and Green box from gmistudio, $15
♥ Limited Edition Cloud Print Wristlet from TheTinyFig, $28
♥ Evergreen Earrings from GenuineArticle, $35
♥ Your choice of any pewter pendant from 2monkees, $15
♥ For the Birds – Felted Birdhouse Ornament in Pinks & Browns from thatissocute, $15
♥ Black and White Floral Bangle from tooaquarius, $25
♥ Orbitals 3-strand Wire Crochet Bracelet ‘mod dots’ in purple from pomomamadesign, $25
♥ Marbled Earth Earrings from chendric, $18
♥ Sweet Tooth Gift Set from threeofwands, $26.75
♥ Loves Me, Loves Me Knot from xiztance, $40
♥ Lucky Fishpond Necklace from majentadesigns, $15
♥ Hazy Raindrop Earrings from zahour, $35
♥ Shark Attack Dog Leash from Organidog, $15
♥ Sterling Silver Drip Necklace from BeadsInTheBelfry, $25
♥ A Little Black Box from littleblackboxes, $23
♥ Falling Leaves – Hand Spun Merino Wool from jilldrapermakesstuff, $20
♥ Custom Gift Set (Scrub, Butter, and Perfume) in White Gift Box with Ribbon from thegardenbath, $25

For an extra chance to win post an entry on your blog and invite your friends to join in on the blogging, then come back and post a link to the entry in the comments section.

Good luck to all and Happy Blogging!

Latest Line of Chiyogami Products! – Mirrors & Keychain Bottle Openers!

by Jennifer Tang of MaJenta Designs

I just love creating with the gorgeous Japanese chiyogami papers!  I love the intricate patterns and the way they reflect light and the beautiful array of colors they come in!  My pendants and magnets have been hugely popular, but this time I wanted to  expand my line of chiyogami products to accessories that make great practical gifts for daily use!

First off, I have these great keychain bottle openers!  They are beautiful and fun and are great for those who need to organize their keys in style! It also serves a second purpose with its built in bottle opener back, which is great for those who want the practical aspect of a bottle opener keychain without appearing like a lush!

I also now offer great pocket mirrors as well!  These are equally as stunning and vibrant!  The mirror fits perfectly in your pocket, but also comes with a classy black velvet pouch, so you can keep the mirror in your purse as well without it getting dirty!

You can find either of these, as well as any of my other chiyogami products and Asian-inspired gifts in my MaJenta Designs online shop!

Front Page!

Lucky Fishpond Pendant - $15

Wow I cant believe it, but I actually made the front page of Etsy! 🙂   Thank you to the person who took the time to take this screen shot of the page, as well as the other blog that lists the names of sellers who’ve made the front page, or else I would have never known!  What more fitting for the image that they used, than none other than one of my Lucky Koi fish pendants, which are my most popular items!

Lucky Koi Fish Ring – Featured

$5 – Lucky Koi Fish Adjustable Ring

One of my latest creations, my adorable koi fish ring has been featured in a blog article at www.tryhandmade.com.  These rings are sure to put a smile on anybody’s face, they are adjustable so can fit all ages, and are only $5! Koi fish are not only cute, but symbolic of good luck and good fortune!  To order one for yourself, please check out my e-boutique at www.majentadesigns.etsy.com .  The exact link for the ring is: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=12270344

The featured article can be found below or at the original website athttp://tryhandmade.com/lucky-kawaii-koi-fish-glass-ring/

 

LUCKY KAWAII KOI FISH GLASS RING

If I had this ring I’d end up giggling to myself every time I caught sight of it on my finger. I see my future and it involves me laughing maniacally at my desk while my co-workers sit and wonder. From Etsy seller MaJentaDesigns.

 

New Item — Pop-up Invitation Cards

PLEASE VOTE:  I entered this invitation as part of the Etsy Wedding Challenge which is  sponsored by the Jetteam, EstyGreetings, and EstyFAST.  Please vote for my item (#5) at http://www.etsyfast.com/blog/?p=65

DESCRIPTION:  This accordion popup booklet makes a perfect invitation card or a wedding party favor! Simply untie the ribbon and it unfolds into a 6″x6″ display.  I used traditional Japanese handmade paper, picking this particular design not only to match the bride’s color scheme, but also the colors red and gold are auspicious colors of good luck and good fortune which are always used in Chinese wedding decorations. Cranes are also symbolic of peace, happiness, and longevity, as well as are often used in Asian weddings because it is said that cranes mate for life and are devoted to their partners in all seasons.