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.