New logo

I have decided to get new logo for my shop. I downloaded silhouette of cat and added red ribbon & my shop name.

And voira! The new logo is ready! I already ordered fabric tags of new logo which will be sewn to all of my bags in the near future. Yes. of course I ordered tags to an Etsy shop ;) She seems to have shipped the tags some days ago and I am looking forward to receiving them.

The silhouette is free to use for anything, even for commercial use, as long as we link the website. So I link the site here. The website calls 「フリー写真素材のPhoto Chips」 and they have plenty of materials that you can use for free.

Discount on bulk order of three and more

Just for information.

I am running a special sale for people who are getting married and looking for something for bridesmaids. If you buy at least three or more clutches / pouches / totes on my shop, you will get 15% discount :)

In order to get discount, please message me through Etsy.

Alone at home

As my husband is back to his hometown, Copenhagen for a month before starting his job in April, I am alone at home with Rotteline.

I work 10 am to 20 pm on weekdays and come home very tired. I don't even feel like playing with Rotte, which she thinks really annoying (probably).

And on weekends, I make bags and don't have so much time to play with Rotte, which she thinks ridiculous (probably).

And she peed in (not on, either beside, but IN) our washing machine and my towels still stink. I should wash them once again... Good that she didn't pee on my bags or fabric!

<<<This is my newest beach bag that has watermelon pattern. I will list it tomorrow on my Etsy shop :)

February Revenue: Over 500 dollars!

As some of you already know, it's the copy cat of Handmadeology.

February is over in Japan. In February, I earned 486.80 dollars on my Etsy shop and 60 dollars on my Japanese shop at Iichi. Yes, I reached my goal for the first time , which is to earn over 500 dollars per month!

I was very excited to see this result and 5 minutes after, a bit shocked. I saw people's comments in Handmadeology at Facebook and there are so many people who earn over 1000 dollars per month ! I wonder how...I should sell over 50 items per month to earn 1000 dollars, which seems impossible...

OK, I have my daytime job and come home around 20.30 pm. I usually make one small bag or zipper pouch every day and maybe three to five on weekends. That means I make about 30 bags per month and it's far from 50, that will bring me over 1000 dollars revenue.

I'm thinking to quit my daytime job to concentrate on my online business, but it's still too risky I think. At least, I should keep working outside until my husband's VISA in Japan will be extended three years in September. (Well, immigration office in Japan checks MY income, not my husband's...)

My new collection: Constellation embroidery clutch

I cannot say I am an expert of camping. But as a middle-aged Japanese woman, I often go camping, as my husband love camping. He used to be a member of scout, and he loves eating in the nature.

I don't like old style toilet or not taking bath for 3 days, but I still like camping. Maybe mostly because I can watch stars in the sky. Tokyo is too light to watch stars at night, while my hometown, Oita is wonderful place to do it. We can even see milky ways at my parents place, and I miss it.

Constellation clutch

That leads me to make this clutch bag. I made this especially for wedding, but maybe you can use it as night-out bag, too.

This bag is made with navy blue cotton linen and I added constellation embroidery. Shown here are only Cassiopeia and Orion, but you can ask me whichever you like. The white flower brooch is removable.

It cost 30 US dollars per one, and if you send me a message through Etsy that you read this blog, I will give you 10% discount always :)

Funny search keyword

When you run an online shop, SEO is very important. That't why I check Etsy shop stats and search keywords every day. As I wrote the other day, one of the most frequent keywords is "cross body bag". "Makeup bag" and "Japanese fabric" are also popular.

Some days ago, I found very weird keyword on my Etsy shop stats. That was, "nurse who makes bags from Japanese fabric". You don't believe this? Well, it's true :D

I don't know who come to my shop with the keyword and have no idea whether it's man or woman, but still thin it's funny.

People are different. Very different.

Short trip to Kyoto, Uji

Uji river, Kyoto

Probably everybody who is interested in Japan knows Kyoto. It was capital in Japan between 794 and 1869 and still attracts thousands of tourists every year.

One of our friends has moved to Kyoto due to job and my husband and I visited him last weekend. He lives near Uji city, Kyoto and took us Uji area.

Most of tourists go to Arashiyama to see a suburb scenery of Kyoto, but I don't like Arashiyama any more. It's too touristic. Many franchised souvenir shops and cafes and restaurants plus too many people make me tired and disappointed.

 
But Uji was really beautiful. Even though there are several famous temples and the river, there were not so many souvenir shops and people. You can enjoy walking along the river, and if you have time and like walking, 1 hour walk will take you Amagase forest and Amagase hanging bridge. (We didn't have time...)

Koshoji, Zen temple in Uji

Uji is famous for its green tea and there is a big factory museum called Fukujuen along the river. You can get free Matcha (whipped green tea) there.

So, if you plan to travel to Kyoto, try to go to Uji instead of Arashiyama. If you are my kind of people who don't like walking in crowded streets, you will like Uji more than Arashiyama :)