It’s Luna here once again going way off-topic to discuss something near and dear to my heart: the creation of WordPress dot org blogs. Of course, you’re looking at one now if you’re reading this at the official Moon Mandrake blog site. I make the distinction that this is about dot org and not dot com because I’m about to discuss self-hosted WP blog creation.

Sound familiar? I mentioned this all before about a month ago before the Blog Design Bootcamp program that I took part in again went live. The reason I’m writing about it again is — if you missed it, the program is now available as a home self-study course!

Perhaps a little-known Luna fact is that I dabble in Internet marketing to some extent and one of the tools I just rave about (and I do mean rave) is how a WordPress blog for your business is just such an endlessly good and cool thing. I’m not going into the reasons now because the main thing I want to announce is that you can receive the same ten hours of video and audio presentation that the live attendees received in June right here.

I took the very first Blog Design Bootcamp back in September when I was a complete blog design newbie and after Erin (our lovely instructor) was through with us, I’ve since created probably about six blogs for various ventures. It’s so easy now! Right now, I’m even working on a blog site that looks exactly like a Web site for a friend (of course I would have a psychic friend) that you can look at right here.

So the bottom line is — if I can do this, you can too. Erin will teach you how to: customize blogs and blog sites; install the blog using a FTP client to upload files; customize themes; create a custom header for your blog; work with sidebar widgets; and the basics of blog posting. The final class is how to deliver blog design to clients because after four sessions you may find yourself creating blogs for other people, too.

More info is here (and the price is, btw, half of what I paid in September.) So what are you waiting for?

Hello! I trust your summer is going well. Moon and I have been taking a break as you may have noticed. However, we haven’t taken a break from our weekends of searching yard and tag sales. You may think we’re only looking for vintage finds. Wrong! We look for fun finds at all times. So when yesterday’s haul included the book of Tibetan Buddhist Goddess Altars, a Feng Shui fish, Wonder Woman greeting cards from the Museum of Modern Art and even a lucky pig from Chile (that at 50 cents had me, yes, squealing with delight!), we considered ourselves blessed. Hope your summer yard sale adventures are also going swell.

Summer’s here and the time is right
For dancing in the street (dancing in the street)
They’re dancing in Chicago (dancing in the street)
Down in New Orleans (dancing in the street)
In New York City (dancing in the street)

Well, summer is here but in New York City we were actually dancing around the Midsummer Maypole on the first weekend of summer:

A little Scandinavian tradition here…

Anyway, it is true. Moon Mandrake has summer hours. Does that mean the Etsy shop is on vacation mode? Nope. It just means that in terms of new/old vintage stock, we probably won’t be adding anything until September. We’re taking it easy. We’ve had quite a year. Moon is working on his Moon projects. Me? As I’ve hinted before, I have a background in Internet marketing. I’ve recently made a new site where I give my recommendations for Internet marketing products by becoming the Advice Lady. I hope you visit this site, if only to read the satire I’ve written about the very wacky world of Internet marketing.

Meanwhile, we’ll be popping in and out of this blog, but at a leisurely, summer pace. Best wishes for a happy and safe summer!

Technorati Tags: vintage, collectible, internet marketing, affiliate marketing site

Good morning! Lots of excitement this morning at the Mandrake household as it was time to pick the winner of last week’s blog giveaway. The prize, you might remember, was an original 1960’s key fob featuring the Auto Union’s DKW. Just a little something to hopefully brighten someone’s day. And who is that someone? Why, the winner was chosen at random by Moon himself. We wrote all the entrant’s names individually on a separate piece of paper, then loaded the names in this rather cute figurine we have, as pictured above. You could say this clever donkey with his cart is a hauling ass.

Moon picked one name from the Donkey Cart O’ Fortune and this is who won:

Evelyn! Evelyn, as you might remember, said her best vintage find was the brooch her grandmother gave her. Congratulations!

Technorati Tags: blog giveaway, key fob, vintage, car, dkw, auto union, 1960s, donkey

Just having a little bit of fun today and pairing up another Etsy seller’s item with something from the Mandrake household. Today, we have (seen in the first photo), a sterling silver sailfish pin from the
Metro Retro Vintage shop. This lil’ fishie is comprised of sterling silver. The body is made of a thick layer of abalone shell riveted into place, providing a lovely rainbow of iridescent colors. Very sporty! You may learn more about this item right here.

The photo that I’ve matched up the sweet pin with is with an item right off one of the walls of our abode, and is just one of those great vintage yard sale finds. I remember when I spotted the sailfish, knowing it would be perfect for Moon despite having seen better days, and vowed it would not be the one that got away. I still recall that chilly afternoon: clad in my faux leopard coat and holding this 5-foot, um, conversation piece, in both hands. Cars simply stopped for me and let me pass them as I crossed streets on foot. No, the Mandrake sailfish is not for sale — sorry! (And how on earth would we ship such a thing?) Just felt like matching up pix in a summery kind of way…

Technorati Tags: sailfish, pin, costume jewelry, metro retro vintage, yard sale, vintage

There I was, minding my own business, searching through the items of the Etsy Father’s Day Gift Guide — when a unique item caught my eye. It was a clock, but not just any clock: it was made from the hubcap of a 1965 Rambler by 8 Mile Creek Designs.

Intrigued, I noted that the 8 Mile Creek Designs shop had just been featured in an Etsy interview a few days before. In the article, artist Wendell Pohl describes one of the shop’s bestselling items, the hubcap clock:

Our main items are the hubcap clocks. We get them from friends, find them at auctions, antique stores, on-line, salvage yards, or swap meets. They are just that, “finds.” We can’t order them. Each is different in some way and has a unique look. If they could talk, each would have a different story to tell about where they have been.

What a great item for Father’s Day! And where does the “kismet” come in, you wonder? The Moon Mandrake shop has vintage key fobs from the 1960s available and one of them is — that’s right! The Rambler.

Gotta love it when things like this just happen. A match made in Etsy.

Hubcap clock image used by permission by 8 Mile Creek Designs

Technorati Tags: 8 mile creek designs, hubcap, clock, rambler, vintage, car, key, fob, 1960s, etsy