Servers are Back!

Thanks so much for your patience!  Our email servers are working properly now (thank you tech geeks).  Email away!

Our Email is Temporarily Down

Little Bugs Boutique is getting a make-over and as such our email is temporarily down as we are switching servers.  Please bear with us as we make this change over.  If you have any questions in the meantime, please call us at 888.619.8880.

Bitty Block | Early Summer NEW Releases

We are proud to introduce 43 new designs!
Below is a sneak peek at the newest designs.  And if you are a retailer, we have a fantastic new promotion running now through June 30th.  Contact Us for more details and new line sheets.

Thanks so much for your continued support!  Happy Spring!

Spring Break at Little Bugs Boutique | April 13 - 21

It's time for Spring Break!

The Little Bugs Boutique studio will be closed April 13th through April 21st. Any orders placed after April 5th at noon will be processed AFTER the 21st in the order they were received. Please remember to allow 7-10 days for production AFTER the 21st for these orders. All orders placed BEFORE NOON on April 5th will ship prior to April 13th.

Thanks so much for your continued support!  Stay Tuned!

We have some exciting new products that will be released in Early May!

Little Bugs Boutique at the Dallas Market Center This Week!

See Y'all in Dallas!

Thomas & Moore Showroom

#2953

January 19th - 25th

Hello ... Our New Toll Free Number & Sale!

We now have a new toll-free number! 

888-619-8880

Of course you can still reach us at our local number if you'd like

610-444.8944

To celebrate, we are having a little promotion!  Now through December 1st, save 20% on your ENTIRE order using coupon code FREECALL.  {retail orders only}

Holiday Ordering Cut-Offs:

December 13th at noon for all Retail Orders with First Class Shipping

December 15th at noon for all Retail Orders with Priority Shipping.

December 2nd at noon for all Wholesale Orders.

Red 2 Green Promotion

Now through September 15th, receive 3 FREE pendants and coordinating neck cords with any $200 order or more.  Click on image below for more details. Promo code RED2GREEN must appear on your order.

Promotion valid on wholesale orders only.

Product Overview

Watch the video below for a quick overview of our products!

It's Show Time!

Going to market? Make sure you stop by and visit us!

Visit Us at the Kathleen Milne Company Showroom in the LA Mart

Tuesday, July 13th through Monday, July 19th

Suite 867

Visit Us at the Gib Carson Showroom at the Atalanta Mart

Wednesday, July 14th through Wednesday, July 1st

Suite 1319

Dallas Total Home & Gift Market

Join Us this week at Dallas Total Home & Gift Market.  You can find Bitty Block and the entire Little Bugs Boutique line at the Thomas & Moore Showroom at booth 2953 in the Dallas Market Center.  Show runs June 23rd through the 29th.  

Can't make the show, no problem.  Little Bugs Boutique Studio has permanent home in the showroom so you can visit anytime.  Happy shopping!

Women, Kids and Everyone in beTWEEN

Let's face it, women love to accessorize.  Nothing is cuter than a toddler playing dress up.  Girls start young and we never tire of finding that perfect little add-on to compliment an outfit.  I'll admit it, I've designed an entire outfit around a pair of shoes before (more than once).  According to Earnshaw's latest issue, women of all ages LOVE to shop for accessories, but children's retailers are finding this category to be the fastest growing category!

Here at Little Bugs Boutique, we've always known that those little divas are all searching for ways to ways to express their individual style.  Bitty Block and Bitty Caps are the perfect fit in the Tween category for any store.

With price points under $20, these handcrafted pendants fit so many gift-giving budgets and offer a wide appeal for women of all ages.  There are over 1000 designs in the collection, many with a Tween focus.  And a large selection of necklace cords and chains too!

Read the Hidden Gems article of Earnshaw's current issue and get inspired!  And don't miss page 42 for a case study in the buying habits the 7-14 crowd.  Tweens know what's hot!

2010 Mid-Year Supplement: Product Preview

Our Mid-Year Supplement is out to press and expected to arrive by mid-month.  But why wait?  Here is a sneak peek at some of the new styles.   And don't forget, all Bitty Block designs are available as Trinkets too!

 

There are over 75 new products included in this supplement and we've lowered the price on our two most popular accessories (suede necklaces & 3-strand organza cotton cord necklaces). The stainless stell ball chain necklaces are now available in 16" length and we are introducing a NEW silicone necklace cord that is super strong and stretchy.

Be sure to ask your sales rep about our NEW Storyboards too!  A super quick and easy way to get started with our product lines.

Congratulations Longwood Performing Arts Dancers

Congratulations LPA on another amazing year!

Meet the Little Bugs

We thought is was about time that you met our Little Bugs.  Our 3 fantastic girls are the inspiration behind everything we do here at Little Bugs Boutique Studio.  They are becoming quite the fashionistas being around all this jewelry!   They have lots of fun in their studio clubhouse, but also jump in and help around the studio too (well, not that little one, she just comes for the lollipops).

Click Here to read more about each of them and find out what their favorite products are!

photos by Beth Erisman Photography

Refreshing: Think Green, Save Green

It's Spring and everything is coming up GREEN! 

Aaah, Spring!  It always inspires me for a little clean up! We have refreshed our website and blog and to celebrate, we are offering 25% off your entire purchase for 1 week only. Enter coupon code "REFRESH" during checkout.  So go ahead . . . Think Green & Save Green!  Wholesale orders excluded.

Tell Us!  What is your preference?  Bitty Blocks, Bitty Caps or Trinkets.  Let us know, we'd love to hear from you.

Totally Charming

Here you can create your very own necklace and that's what makes it TOTALLY CHARMING! Since gifting jewelry is personal, meaningful and from the heart, we wanted to allow you to design a special creation geared specifically for the recipient.

Includes 2 charms and 1 crystal. Additional crystals can be added.

Click Here to view our entire collection of sterling charms.

Click Here to view our crystal color chart.

Order Now!

Easter Fun Facts & Jokes

Here are a few Easter Fun Facts to share with your friends & family.

Easter Fun Facts
1. The name Easter comes from Eostre, an ancient Anglo-Saxon goddess, originally of the dawn. In pagan times an annual spring festival was held in her honour.

2. Easter is now celebrated (in the words of the Book of Common Prayer) on the first Sunday after the full moon which happens on or after March 21, the Spring Equinox. Therefore it can occur on any Sunday from March 22nd through to April 25th. This year it’s on Sunday, April 12th.

3. In medieval times a festival of egg throwing was held in church, during which the priest would throw a hard-boiled egg to one of the choirboys. It was then tossed from one choirboy to the next and whoever held the egg when the clock struck 12 was the winner and retained the egg.

4. Easter Bonnets are a throw back to the days when the people denied themselves the pleasure of wearing finery for the duration of Lent. By tradition, it was obligatory (or at least lucky) for churchgoers to wear some bright new piece of clothing - at least an Easter bonnet, if not a complete new outfit.

5. The traditional act of painting eggs is called Pysanka.

6. The custom of giving eggs at Easter time has been traced back to Egyptians, Persians, Gauls, Greeks and Romans, to whom the egg was a symbol of life.

7. The most famous decorated Easter eggs were those made by the well-known goldsmith, Peter Carl Faberge. In 1883 the Russian Czar, Alexander, commissioned Faberge to make a special Easter gift for his wife, the Empress Marie. The first Faberge egg was an egg within an egg. It had an outside shell of platinum and enameled white which opened to reveal a smaller gold egg. The smaller egg, in turn, opened to display a golden chicken and a jeweled replica of the Imperial crown. This special Faberge egg so delighted the Czarina that the Czar promptly ordered the Faberge firm to design further eggs to be delivered every Easter. In later years Nicholas II, Alexander's son, continued the custom. Fifty-seven eggs were made in all.

8. In 1878 President Hayes and his wife Lucy officially opened the White House grounds to the children of the area for egg rolling on Easter Monday. The event has been held on the South Lawn ever since, except during World War I and World War II. During the war years the Easter Egg Roll was held at the National Zoo, and other Washington locations.

9. The Guinness Book of Records holder for the largest Easter egg ever made is the Belgian chocolate producer Guylian who made the chocolate egg with at least 50.000 bars on behalf of the city of St. Niklaas. The egg measured 8.32 metres high . Twenty-six craftsman worked altogether 525 hours to build the egg. They needed 1950 kg of chocolates.

Easter Jokes
1. What is the difference between a crazy bunny and a counterfeit banknote?

One is bad money and the other is a mad bunny!

2. Why did the Easter egg hide?

He was a little chicken!

3. What do you get when you cross a bunny with an onion?

A bunion 4.

4. What did the bunny want to do when he grew up?

Join the Hare Force.

5. What does a bunny use when it goes swimming?

A hare-net.

6. What did the grey rabbit say to the blue rabbit?

Cheer up!

7. What do you get when you pour hot water down a rabbit hole?

A hot cross bunny.

8. How does the Easter Bunny say Happy Easter?

Hoppy Easter

text ©Alison Berry 2006

This August, the U.S. Congress enacted the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act 2008 (CPSIA), one of the most comprehensive transformations of consumer-product safety regulations since the 1970s. The Act expands the role of the Consumer Product Safety Commission in ensuring the safety of consumer products, especially those designed for children.

Little Bugs Boutique currently conforms to safety standards of California (Cal Prop 65). This law adopted in 2006, established limits for lead in metals and several other components. Significantly, in recognition of the limited risk of availability of lead from crystal, the settlement agreement standards as incorporated under California AB 1681 allows the continued use of crystal without limitation in jewelry not intended for children. However, the new CPSIA legislation overrides the Cal Prop 65 law in regards to children's jewelry (up to 1 gram of crystal allowed per piece) and goes into effect on February 10th, 2009.

We have developed a reasonable testing program to ensure that the children's products you purchase from us comply with the aspects of the law that pertain to our products. However, as of today, we have not been able to source any lead-free crystals. Although many suppliers offer what they claim to be "lead-free" crystals (such as Celestial Crystal), none have been able to provide us with any type of certification that these crystals are indeed "lead-free". Furthermore, we have been told that cat's eye beads (used in so many of our designs) may also contain lead. We are working diligently to identify and quantify the total lead content in these components, but until further notice will no longer be able to market or make any product that contains crystals and/or cat's eye beads for children under the age of 12.

We are in the process of removing the children's sizes option from our website and urge you to make whatever changes you must in your shop and/or website. The Bitty Block collection will continue as designed, as it was never designed, intended or marketed toward children. Our entire collection will continue to be available in adult sizes. Again, any of our products that contain crystal and/or cat's eye components can ONLY be sold for children ages 13 and over. Additionally, we are in the process of designing some new items that will be CPSIA compliant using sterling silver and natural gemstones.

Another requirement of the CPSIA is that General Certificates of Compliance (GCC) be created for all children's products. Therefore, we will be creating General Certificates of Conformity for our products when ordered for children under the age of 12 based on "reasonable testing" of component parts. It is our hope that the CPSC will amend the law to accept component testing in lieu of the required third-party testing come August 14, 2009.

We have been corresponding with other small handcrafted "manufacturers" of children's products, like us, and many of us small business owners have been on a campaign to lobby Congress refine this law, and it seems that the legislators are listening! Below is a link which will take you to a letter dated January 21, 2009 from two representatives urging a hearing be held to discuss the legislation.

http://republicans.energycommerce.house.gov/Media/File/News/1.21.09_CPSIA_Letter_to_Henry_%20Waxman.pdf

You can refer to our Jewelry Safety page on our website to keep informed of updates in government legislation and how it relates to handcrafted jewelry.

Learn More about the CPSIA:
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/faq/101faq.html#leadcontentcertifications
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.html
http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/faq/faq.html

Win the Whispering Flowers Scrabble Tile Pendant

A big thanks to Irene at Irene Design. She has been kind enough to host a giveaway for my Whispering Flowers Scrabble Tile Pendant on her blog. Stop by and leave a comment to enter.

While you are there, be sure to visit IreneDesign's Etsy Shop full of custom pieces for the home which are functional and beautiful.

Contest ends on Friday, September 26th.

Don't Miss Another Sale!

Have you joined to our Email Mailing List yet?

From time to time, we send out email-only promotions. This is the promotion that was sent out today announcing our Buy 2 Get 1 Free Sale. You can sign up to receive alerts to specials and promotions like these using our sign-up form in the right hand column.

While you are at it, why not subscribe to this blog as well?