Farewell 2013, Hello 2014.

I live in Japan and it means I am one of the very first person who says hello to 2014. In 6 and half hours it becomes 2014 in Japan.

2013 was really tough but fun year for me. I had some difficult things like depression ( I am recovering from this. Amazing), having a miscarriage after 6 weeks ( so sad, especially because she or he was our first baby  :( ). And in October, I started my Etsy shop. I was worried if I could not sell my bags as I did not do it for over one month, but I got 22 sales in the end. Most customers sent me messages that they were glad for the bags, which made me really happy.

We also got a really good thing; Our cat, Rotteline. I had not imagined how a cat could be so cute before I got her. She is loved by everyone around us, even though she bites, scrathes and demands a lot.

So, I think 2013 was not a bad year. And I hope 2014 becomes even better.

Happy New Year to everyone!

Zipper tote bag that I have just listed on my Etsy shop :) If you would like to buy the tote, please contact me by Etsy convo. I will give you a coupon code which gives you 20% off. I have only one, so be in a hurry please :)

Finally Holiday

Maybe some of you know that Japanese people do not celebrate Christmas or Thanksgiving. I worked until 20 pm on both Christmas Eve and Christmas day. Instead, we do celebrate New Year. Yes. I am on vacation now. Yubiiiiii!

I made 4 bags yesterday and improved my about page on Etsy a bit. I added Shinjuku (Do you know that Shinjuku station is the largest station in the word?) view from our apartment. I should add some pictures of my craft room, but I do not have my own craft room :(

Anyway, I will add as many bags as I can during this vacation. Today I added this silk cosmetic pouch. If you are intereseted in it, you can look at my Etsy shop.

Scandinavian countries

<< The cafe in Copenhagen where my husband I talked a lot before getting married.


Etsy is made in USA (I think. it is right?), so no wonder most of my customers are US residents. But oddly, I have had some buyers from Scandinavian countries and last night my "customer map" in Scandinavia was filled up; I got customers from all Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland).

I wonder why, and the only one I can think of is this cheesy sentence - Japanese and Scandinavian design have much in common. They are simple and minimum. Maybe people in Scandinavia like Japanese vintage silks' simple pattern?


Anyway, my boxing sale is over but there're still "clearance sale" section at my Etsy shop. There are some bags which costs only 10 us dollars, so please check it out :)

1/340

I got a sale yesterday and shipped it today. I hope the buyer likes the pouch.

I like researching view, favs and orders of my Etsy shop. Since I have had the shop for over two months, I calculated how many views brings me one sale. This is very app. number, but it was about;

340 views brings me one sale.

Really. 340 views. And I usually get only 30-70 views a day (30 is after Christmas season, 70 is before Christmas). I definitely need to get more exposed, but the problem is ;HOW?

Fortunately, my daytime job will be on New Year vacation from 28th Dec. to 5th Jan. I decided to list at least 40 bags. I have bought pretty much vintage silk, so all I need is my will!

This is what I made last night. An wristlet clutch made with Japanese vintage silk. I think this abstract floral pattern is so beautiful.

Oh, did I say that my christmas sale will end tomorrow (26th Dec)? If you would like to have a bag from my shop, use coupon code "christmas" tomorrow!

Christmas gifts

Good morning everyone! How was your Christmas?

We don't celebrate Christmas in Japan. We work normally, and I came back home 10 minutes past 20 pm. (And I was the first one on my floor who came home. Crazy.)
But I did get some nice Christmas gifts. I no longer believe Santa Claus (well, actually, I have never believed his existence), but getting gifts don't hurt me.

This year, I made my wish list on Etsy.

Each item is really beautiful, and I liked everything. My husband has picked up one of them, which is, Butterfly earrings. They are so pretty!

And he gave me the zombie mouse as you already knew.

And I got some really nice fabric of Marimekko from my parents in law, beautiful embroidery thread and pretty earrings.












In addition, I got one sale on my Etsy shop. I made 3 of this pouch, and 2 of them are already sold :) I am very happy with that.

You know my Etsy shop is running Christmas sale until 26th December. Use coupon code "Christmas" and you get 20% discount. I have just added a new item, so don't miss it!

Sweet home? Oita

It sounds weird, but I don't really have hometown. My parents are both from Osaka and I was born in Osaka (the second largest city in Japan), grew up there until I was 4, then moved to Oita. I left Oita when I was 18 to study at university. I live in Tokyo (and Copenhagen, Malmoe) more than in Oita...over 20 years!

But still, I can probably say Oita is my hometown, as my parents and sisters' families still live there.

We don't celebrate Christmas here in Japan and the time families get together is New year. The problem is flight tickets to Oita around New Year are super expensive and we cannot afford to them. So we decide to go to Oita last weekends.

Oita is very minor city. I guess no one who reads this blog does not know Oita (if there are some readers ;). ...It's  amazing that wilipedia has a page about Oita... Oita is famous for hot springs, good fishes and mild weather. Actually, Oita is very beautiful place. There are even several camping places for free in summer.

 A big metal shrimp in Oita airport.

Mt. Ryozen in Oita city. I used to have to run to this mountain from our high school once a year (about 17km!)...<<The mountain has a small temple, which was built in 764.




Every time we go to Oita, we get some weight, for my mother makes a lot of food. This time I gained 2 kg...We should be on diet from today, and I have to make a lot of bags. I got 10 different pieces of kimono silk and I will work on them tonight!

Positive feedback

I always get very nervous just after I ship my bags to customers. When I make them, I don't. I am really happy with how they turned out and think "Wow, it's so pretty that it will be sold in 5 minutes!"(Never happened). But when I ship it....nervous.

I check carefully when I ship an item and if I find a mistake or messy things, I correct it. I even re-sew a bag. But I cannot be 100% confident. I am worried what if she /he doesn't like my bag? What if she /he wants to return my bag?

After 15 sales, I am learning slowly how to handle with fear like this. After all, no one has wanted returns /refunds. Some people left positive feedback and wrote thank you mails to me. maybe, I should be a bit more confident.

This is a cosmetic pouch I made last night. I used Japanese vintage silk which has traditional stripe pattern. You can see & buy this bag on my Etsy shop.

Hungover

Last night I was out with two of my friends, who were my high school classmates. I am not so close to one of them and we saw each other for the first time in 20 years (!) The very first words (even before "Hi, long time no see")he told me was "Wow, you've grown up".

Well, we are 38 years old and of course grown up. I think he wanted to say "Wow, you look old." Actually, Japanese people often comments people's appearance. "Have you lost some weight?" "Have you gained some weight?" "She is pretty" "He is good looking" ---those conversations are very normal, and my Danish husband thinks it's annoying.

For me his word was not annoying, but shocking. So I drank too much... I don't remember how I came home. This morning my husband told me to buy "I'm sorry" doughnuts for him.

I wonder what happened last night, after I came home...

Holiday shopping season in over (probably)

Looking at views and sales at my Etsy shop, I assume holiday shopping season 2013 is over. Maybe it's different seller in USA which can still ship their items before 24th December, but I live in Japan and cannot deliver them before Christmas.

Tomorrow will be exactly 2 months since I opened my Etsy shop. I got 15 sales (well, etsy stats shows it is 17, but 1 was from my husband, and 1 was cancelled after I emailed the buyer that she could not get the item before Christmas. So these two should not be counted) so far.

Like many Etsyans (perhaps), I had an unrealistic expectations at first, like "My items will be picked soon after (maybe 5 minutes) I listed". It cannot be happened and of course it didn't happen. I quit dreaming. My goal 2013 was 10 sales, and I got it!

In 2014, I would like to list at least 50 items and get at least 50 sales. It is not easy, but I will try, as I love buying beautiful fabric and making bags.

During I was in New York, I could not make any bag. I was nearly suffering from withdrawal symptom and now I make bags like crazy. This is what I made last night; White rose silk cosmetic pouch.

New York, New York

< Chelsea Market in New York.


I have been completely quiet here at my blog, but it does not mean I have given up my Etsy shop :)

Like many other Etsyans, I also have to work daytime. Last week, I went to New York on business and that's why I did not write anything on my blog. I brought my kindle with me, but I was so exhausted every night when I came back to my hotel that I couldn't do anything.

New York was really great. I loved Chelsea Market that was full of handmade Christmas decorations. I also went to the famous handmade shop, Purl SOHO and that was just fabulous. (I had never used this word, but after I went to NY, it's stick to my tongue...).

Unfortunately my hotel was pretty far from the city (Long Island...), so I didn't have enough time to enjoy NY.

And you know what? I got 3 sales while I was in NY...I had to email to the buyers and asked them to wait a bit...


After having rest for a while in Japan, I made a new bag :) Maybe holiday shopping season is over, but bags are always good, I think.

COLOSiYAKUN, a cute assassin

I work as editor daytime. It's very demanding job, and sometimes I feel really tired being an editor, especially this holiday season. I work about 10 hours a day, and that is the SHORTEST working time in my company. Crazy.

One of good thing being an editor is that I can get to know so many talented people, like photographers, freelance journalists, graphic designers and illustrators. One of such talented illustrators, Masahiro Matsubara, has uploaded cute movies on youtube. It's about a nice, kind assassin who never kills people.

Here's one of his movies link, titled "Paradise a go go". Please take a look!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pU194uUdhaY

Ghost

Our cat Rotteline is fighting against my room shoes.


Do you believe ghost? I used to (a bit), but now I don't.

In Japan, many people seem to believe ghost. They don't tell that they do, but still. For example, apartments/houses where person/people commit a suicide or get killed are sold or rent at really cheap price. Sometimes 30% discount.

We bought our apartment about 4 years ago. To tell the truth, it is also a "suicide" apartment. It is not registered as a suicide case at a local police but as an accident, but the fact is that an woman at her 20's fell off from the window of the living room. She died soon after.

Because of "the accident", the price of apartment was really cheap. About 90,000 USD (!!!) cheaper than a room just under which has the exactly same layout.

My husband really loved the apartment and decided "OK, let's buy this". But not me... I confess I was really worried. I even thought what if I saw a female ghost in the apartment when I was alone at home.

But cheap price beats always. We bought the apartment and have lived here for about 4 years. I have never ever seen, felt. heard a ghost. Well, sometimes Rotteline says meow to something in the air, so maybe there's something, but I don't care.

If you don't see it, it doesn't exist.


Do you know I sell bags with Japanese fabric on Etsy? Please check the shop when you have time :)

Double Zombie mouses

Currently I am running giveaway at my Facebook page. Please check it out :)

One day in November, I saw this guy at an Etsy shop. I really liked him and showed it to my husband, who loves zombie movies/games. I even posted about him on Facebook!

I thought this would be a really good Christmas gift for my father in law. He also loves zombie movies. I went the Etsy shop and tried to buy him, but it was already sold out. So, I wrote an email to the owner and asked to make him again. She was very nice and made him, shipped him to Japan from USA.

Last night, I got a package from USA and the package showed it had "Crochet mouse" inside. I was really happy to get him. The only weird thing was the name on the package was not mine, but my husband's name---I just thought I gave her his name carelessly.

I tored the package and found the zombie mouse. I showed it off to my husband, saying "See! Isn't it a good idea to give it to your father?". But his reaction was bit weird.

GUESS WHAT. He also bought the mouse from the same shop on Etsy for me as a Christmas gift. That's why the mouse was sold out when I tried to buy him.

Now he stands at my book shelf and I am waiting for an another him.

I wonder what the owner thinks......two zombie mouses to the same address :D

Purple silk clutch

So, my first Black Friday & Cyber Monday was over. I managed to get one sale, which was from my mother-in-law...I could say it was a failure, but anyway, I keep adding items, as I love making bags :)


Here is my view summary, I think maybe some people are interested in the numbers.

29th Nov.(Black Friday)
84 views/ 22 favs/ 0 sale

30th Nov.
52 views/ 3 favs/ 0 sale

1st Dec.
106 views/ 2 favs/ 4 sales

2nd Dec.(Cyber Monday)
85 views/ 15 favs/ 0 sale



Today I added a bag in the picture. It is (again) a large zipper pouch made of kimono silk. I love the deep purple color, which somehow reminds me of very high-class cloth. I made a small fabric rose brooch, that is easily removable.

Please check it out on my Etsy shop, if you have an interest.

Short trip to Kiyosato & Hakushu

Fujisan(Mt. Fuji) from Seisenryo, Kiyosato.

I don't have so many friends.-maybe around 10 or something like that. Instead all of them are really good friends and we often get in touch with each other by email or SNS. Why not face to face? Because most of them do not live in Tokyo.

My friend and I went to Yamanashi prefecture to visit my friend that we met at university. She moved to Yamanashi with her husband in 2009 after they got married. She has worked as proofreader and her husband is a farmer.

It took only 2 hours (and only 4000 JPY for a return ticket) by bus from Tokyo to Yamanashi. We stayed at a small hotel (Auberge） in Kiyosato. We stuffed with a lot of tasty food and wine and talked until late at night.

On the day 2, we drove to Hakushu, where Suntory has its distillery. Anyone can join a tour in the distillery for free, and of course, we can have "whiskey tasting" at last. Well, it whiskey in their drink is really thin that I could hardly taste whiskey, but still, it is for free and it's pretty interesting to see how whiskey is made.

In Hakushu there are also some sake breweries and my friend took us one of them, Shichiken. They have tasting counter and it only costs 30JPY to get a small glass of Sake. They have a restaurant beside the shop. We had lunch and Japanese sake there. The restaurant's atmosphere is really nice, and I believe anyone likes it.

Hand embroidered -a mother's love

Black Friday sale at my Etsy shop will be coming soon!


So far I made 4 sales (on my Etsy shop it shows 5, but the first one was made by my husband to see if paypal worked or not, so I don't count it as a sale). And to my surprise, 3 of them are zipper pouch made of silk kimono. At first, I thought my tote bags would be sold but it seems I was wrong.

I made this red zipper pouch last night. The red part is from old Japanese kimono of a small girl, and it used to be collar. I saw the backside of the fabric and knew it was hand embroidered. According to the shop where I bought this fabric, it was a girl's mother who embroidered.

The fabric itself was quite narrow, so I combined linen with the red silk so that it can be large enough as cosmetic pouch. It may be a bit ridiculous to love an item made by myself, but I love this pouch so much (that I made it my avatar on Etsy and twitter.)

Thanksgiving and Black Friday

←It's autumn in Tokyo. I took the picture this morning on my way to my office.


How is your Thanksgiving day?

We don't celebrate Thanksgiving day in Japan, and I didn't know what Black Friday was last year. Last year, we sent a photographer to Seattle for photo shooting  for our magazine (I work as editor on week days) and he told us about Black Friday at a shopping mall next to the hotel he stayed.

I have decided to have Black Friday sale on my Etsy shop. I cannot give you 60% off like big shops, but all of my tote bags will be discounted 30% off from 12 am on 29th Nov. to 23:59 pm on 2nd Dec. And flat rate shipping, too. Only 7 us dollars will bring you a cute tote bag by EMS (International express shipping, with tracking number & insurance). Usually it takes only 3 to 5 days from Japan to USA or Europe by EMS!

Please check out my Etsy shop tomorrow on Black Friday !!

Oshima-Tsumugi Hobo Bag

Last night after I came home from work, I made this mustard yellow bag. I used vintage silk kimono fabric. The fabric is called Oshima-Tsumugi and has been produced in Amami-Oshima in Kagoshima Prefecture in Japan. Kagoshima is my grandmother's hometown, and I remember she wore Oshima-tsumugi sometimes.

Patterns on this fabric are very big, so I decided to make a large hobo bag so that we can see the whole pattern. I did not put on outer zipper pocket, as I though it would ruin the pattern. You can put A4 size magazines and books and a lot of other things.

The bag has 1 inner zipper pocket and 2 inner open pockets.

Of course you can buy the bag on my Etsy shop. And remember to check my Facebook page before you go to Etsy, so that you can get coupon code.

Do you want to learn more about the fabric? You can read this article, written in English!

Christmas decoration

Usually we don't decorate for Christmas in our apartment. My husband returns to Denmark to celebrate Christmas with his family, while I work in Tokyo. For editors in Japan, around Christmas is the busiest time of year, as we have holidays from 28th Dec. to 3rd (5th at my company) Jan.

But this year, I decided to decorate a bit. My husband will not go to Denmark, for he is busy writing his theses of Master's degree. I wanted to have a Christmas tree, but unfortunately we don't have a room for the tree in our tiny apartment (57 square meter = 613 square feet). And I don't like small plastic trees...So I chose to make a small  Christmas wreath of pine corns and red ribbon.

To tell the truth, I didn't "make" the wreath. I bought the wreath at a 100 yen shop (1 dollar shop) nearby and put some red ribbons. It's easy and cheap, but it's pretty, I think :)

I also made a red heart garland with felt. I clipped heart shapes and sewed with red thread. Rotteline seems to love it!

Combination of different materials.

Last weekend was sewing days. I made 5 bags (well, 2 of them were trial and failures) and ran out of zippers & butting fabric.

I started something new. That was, to combine two different materials; silk and linen.

The idea came to me when I surfed internet. I sew a pouch which was made of linen and cotton. It was really pretty and I wanted to make the combination bag. I looked for my fabric stash, and found light purple linen and deep purple silk Ikat. So I made this large size clutch bag.

I like clutch bag, but some people think it is difficult to hold. That is why I put on an wristlet band which is easily removed.

I hope this will be sold and loved by someone. Oh, by the way you can purchase the bag here on my Etsy shop :)

Rotteline Ørstad

Rotteline Ørstad is our cat.

She was found on a street in Chiba prefecture(suburb of Tokyo), when she was probably 2 months old. It was my boss’s cousin who found her.

As she already had two dogs and two cats, she could not take Rotteline Ørstad. So we decided to have her.

My husband gave her the name Rotteline Ørstad. “Rotte” means “Rat” in Danish. He gave the name because the cat looked like a rat very much. (See the photos. Don’t you think she’s like a rat?) I felt a bit weird when I heard the name for the first time and was against to him. Then he got thinking and decided to put some frills---line.

Rotteline Ørstad is very friendly to anyone. Perhaps she was born at someone’s home, then missed. She was really small (only 600 g), quiet, calm cat. Now she is 6 months old, weighs over 3 kg, and is very demanding. She always brings her toy to us and orders us to play with her. If we don’t, she protests by biting and scratching!

But at the same time, she is really sweet. She loves being hold, sleeping together in the bed with us and she always comes and says Hi (meow?) to us when we return home.

We love her so much.

Wrapping is difficult

As I got the very first sale yesterday (jubiiii !), I was busy in wrapping my items last night.

In Japan, when you buy something at a shop, you can ask free gift wrapping in most cases. So I had hardly wrapped gifts by myself, before I moved to Denmark. I learned how to wrap gifts (a bit), using ribbons and wrapping papers, but it is far from professional wrapping.

Every time I buy something on Etsy, I always get very pretty wrapped items. I also wanted to invent nice wrapping. It was very difficult and it took me two hours to wrap all the items.

I showed wrapped items to my husband and asked his opinion. He said, "it's pretty (kawaii)". I hope my first customer also think it's kawaii!

First Sale!

Today I got my first sale on Etsy.Theree of my bags are sold! I am so excited with this and I really hope the customer will like them. I will wrap them very nicely tonight and ship them tomorrow morning!

Bit sad, pretty happy

My husband was out with friend last night, so I made a tote bag with Japanese vintage silk. The fabric is from Meisen that I really love. I intended to sell the bag, but I decided to have it for myself.

To tell the truth, I was having a couple glass of white wine and made the bag. The result: a small mess at the top of the bag. It is not so big that some people would not notice it, but I did not want to sell it. I was very disappointed and blamed myself.

I bring the bag today. When I was in elevator at our office, an woman of other department said to me, “what a pretty bag you have!”. I said, “Thank you, I made it.”

I got so happy with her words. I got a pretty bag, anyway!

A bag of Japanese design

I have wanted to make a very Japanese bag. I always use Japanese fabric, but the most of my bags are neutral design. I like simplicity, and I do not want too much frills or laces. 

Simple but pretty, it is difficult. Finally I made a bag of very Japanese. It is an wristlet clutch purse, which features Japanese kimono & obi. The center fabric with string & a beed looks exactly like obi, Japanese belt. 

Outer fabric is all Japanese vintage silk. I like this design.

You can buy this bag here at my Etsy shop :)

My "moving" life

 Our apartment in Malmo, Sweden.
We lived there for 2 and half years.













Last night when I took bath, I was shocked, thinking about how many times I have moved in my life. As far as I remember, it was 14 times. 14 times in 38 years...!!

     

age City(District) Pref. Country
0 to 3 Sakai City Osaka Japan
3 to 6               Usa City　(not USA :) Oita Japan
6 to 7 Oita City (Minami Oita) Oita Japan
7 to 18             Oita City (Yokose) Oita Japan
18 to 19 Kawasaki City Kanagawa Japan
19 to 22 Toshima-ku Tokyo Japan
22 to 24 Edogawa-ku Tokyo Japan
24 to 28 Bunkyo-ku Tokyo Japan
28 to 30 Central Copenhagen Denmark
30 Nordvest Copenhagen Denmark
30 Edogwa-ku Tokyo Japan
30 to 33 Oestervaern Malmoe Sweden
33 to 35 Bunkyo-ku Tokyo Japan
35 to now Nakano-ku Tokyo Japan



As I moved many times in my childhood, I sometimes feel I have no loot. People often ask me where my hometown is, but I cannot really answer. My parents are from Osaka and I was born there, but I was raised in Oita most of time. I think that Oita is my hometown, but if my parents decide to move back to Osaka, I have no place to stay in Oita. Can the place still be hometown?

I moved a lot especially between 30 and 35. I moved not only in Japan, but also Japan and Europe. I got divorced and started my new life with my husband now, so no wonder why I moved a lot.

The toughest time was when we were in Malmo. My husband had to go to his university which was in outside of Copenhagen, and it took him almost 4 hours. I did not have a steady job and had no “real” friend there.    But on the other hand, I had a lot of time at home and learned how to knit !

Japanese Vintage Silk

I like Japanese vintage silk. They are mostly from old Kimonos (Japanese traditional cloths). 

Old kimonos, especially from before 1960', have traditional print, while modern kimono patterns are mostly simple.  

What I love most recently is Meisen (See the poster).　

Meisen was very popular when my grandmother & mother were children. It was used for everyday kimono and not so expensive. 

Many artisans made various patterns, and some of them look amazingly pretty still now. You can look some of them here.

The problem is, it is pretty expensive & difficult to buy Meisen fabric now.

I would love to make some totes with Meisen fabric, but could not find any shop which sells the fabrics at reasonable price. There are some internet shops which sell Meisen, but they are too small!

My shop has opened (Well, for a month).

It took me so long to start my own shop here.

I opened my bag shop on Etsy on 18th October, expecting that my shop would be so popular that I had to quit my day job. Yes, I was so naive. Over one month has been passed, and I have not sold A bag on Etsy yet. (I hope I'll do it soon :)

Why did I start a bag shop?

Because I love making bags.

Because I love looking & buying pretty fabrics.

And because I want to introduce Japanese fabric all over the world.

These are the biggest reasons, and of course there are some other "small" reasons.

I am getting tired of getting subway to my work place every day!

I take Marunouchi-sen, which is one of the most crowded line in Tokyo.

Luckily I work 10 to 19:30, which is one and half hour later than ordinary people, but still, trains are filled with unhappy people. (I bet anyone gets unhappy if she/he takes Marunouchi-line every day for work)

My apartment is very cozy. It's not big (only 57 square meters, which is roughly 60 square feet), but I can be very relaxed with my cat, Rotteline and my husband.

To work at home most of the week is my aim. I will struggle!